Ephphatha Chapter 13

After bowing twice, she turned toward the chief mourner. He was still looking at her with an expression of discomfort. Quickly wiping her tear-streaked face, Seul-ah bowed to him.

 

“I’m sorry. I was contacted so suddenly that I…”

 

“…I see.”

 

Lee Ju-tae let out a long sigh, adjusting his expression. Seul-ah took a deep breath, trying to calm her turbulent emotions.

 

She was curious about what had happened for her aunt to pass away so suddenly, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask. She recalled how uncomfortable she had felt when Seo Han-seong’s mother had asked about the cause of her own mother’s death. She didn’t want to touch a grieving family’s wound. It would be better to ask cautiously after some time had passed and the family had collected themselves.

 

As a short but heavy silence settled, Seul-ah swallowed back her sobs and looked around at Lee Ju-tae, her Aunt Chae-young’s portrait, and the surroundings. She didn’t see her aunt’s daughters. Wondering if they had stepped out for a moment, she suddenly recalled her aunt mentioning not long ago that her daughter had been very ill.

 

“Um… How is Hye-ju doing?”

 

“Why do you ask about our Hye-ju?”

 

“I heard she was sick. Is she better now? With my aunt passing away like this… she must be having a hard time.”

 

“Sick?”

 

Lee Ju-tae asked, puzzled.

 

“Hye-ju is on her way from the U.S.”

 

“What?”

 

“She’s studying there… Anyway, thanks for coming. Let’s go out and grab something to eat.”

 

***

 

“I’m sorry, Seul-ah. I wanted to stay with you until the end, but my daughter is sick, so I have to go.”

 

Something felt off, but she nodded regardless. Since other mourners were waiting, she couldn’t occupy the space any longer.

 

As Seul-ah wiped her damp eyes and made her way through the people eating, she noticed three middle-aged couples sitting at an empty table and approached them.

 

“Would you like me to bring you some food?”

 

“Ah, yes. Please.”

 

Since it was Aunt Chae-young’s funeral, she wanted to be of some help. Even though there were staff members serving food, she took it upon herself to assist. Just as she was setting dishes down on the table, she overheard a conversation.

 

“They should have reported her missing sooner…”

 

A middle-aged man wearing glasses muttered with a sigh as he poured drinks for those around him.

 

Missing persons report?

 

Without realizing it, Seul-ah tuned into their conversation as she continued placing food on the table.

 

“Considering how she was found, do you think she was kidnapped?”

 

“Enough. What’s the point of talking about that?”

 

“It’s just frustrating. If only they had reported it earlier, who knows…”

 

“Thank you.”

 

A woman interrupted the man’s words with a kind smile toward Seul-ah. Unable to eavesdrop any longer, Seul-ah awkwardly smiled and walked away. However, the moment she turned around, her face stiffened.

 

Given the setting, there was no doubt they were talking about Aunt Chae-young.

 

Missing persons report. Kidnapping.

 

The unsettling combination of words sent chills down her spine.

 

Pushing the thought aside for now, she continued welcoming guests. Unlike her mother’s funeral, where the hall had been nearly empty, she barely had a moment to rest. The funeral staff, overwhelmed by the number of visitors, welcomed her help.

 

Although she wasn’t as quick as others, she tried her best to stay busy. Whenever she felt exhausted and took a brief break, new mourners arrived, leaving her with no time to rest.

 

“Haa.”

 

Just as Seul-ah, feeling the limits of her stamina, barely managed to carry two bottles of beer in her arms and stood up, she was startled by a voice.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Lee Ju-tae had stepped out of the mourning room and, looking exasperated, approached her, taking the bottles from her hands as if snatching them away.

 

“What exactly are you doing?”

 

“Ah… I just wanted to help…”

 

“Why are you doing things no one asked you to do?”

 

“Huh…?”

 

“It’s fine, so just leave now.”

 

His cold demeanor caught Seul-ah off guard. She knew she had been meddling, but she didn’t think it was offensive enough to warrant such an attitude.

 

She wasn’t the only one who thought so—displeased gazes came from the table where she had first served food.

 

“Tsk, he really can’t stand seeing her doing something nice.”

 

The man in glasses spoke loudly, clearly intending to be heard. As both Seul-ah and Lee Ju-tae turned toward him, others at the table tried to quiet him down. Clicking his tongue, the man took a swig of beer while glaring at Lee Ju-tae, who frowned deeply before turning back to Seul-ah.

 

“Just leave.”

 

“……”

 

“I understand how you feel, but please, just go.”

 

Seul-ah glanced at her aunt’s portrait one last time before bowing slightly to Lee Ju-tae.

 

“I’m sorry. I’ll be going now.”

 

“……”

 

Since the chief mourner clearly didn’t want her there, there was no reason to stay. With everyone watching, she didn’t want to cause a scene at the funeral.

 

Seeing that she left without resistance, Lee Ju-tae said nothing more. Conscious of the eyes on her, Seul-ah quickly exited the mourning hall. Without properly slipping on her shoes, she crushed the heels underfoot as she hurried away.

 

“Hoo…”

 

As soon as she stepped out of the building, she let out a sharp breath. It was partly because of the humiliation she had suffered from Lee Ju-tae and the exhaustion from carrying food, but the biggest reason was the image of her aunt in the photo lingering in her heart.

 

As she took three or four deep breaths, tears burst forth again. She roughly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and pounded her trembling chest with her fist.

 

Crying wouldn’t change anything. The dead wouldn’t come back to life just because she cried. If she was going to cry, she might as well do it at home. Crying here would only drain her energy, making it impossible to get home. With that thought, she urged herself forward, planning to hail a taxi.

 

That was her plan—until she spotted Kwak Chi-gyeom’s car parked in the lot.

 

“……”

 

Seul-ah sniffled as she noticed the faint smoke drifting out from the opposite window. She slowly approached.

 

As she got closer, her tear-streaked face was reflected in the dark window. She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand, but it didn’t help much. Sniffling again, she knocked on the window.

 

With a soft mechanical whir, the window rolled down, revealing Kwak Chi-gyeom with a cigarette between his lips. The moment the window opened, a thick, acrid scent rushed out, making her cough instinctively.

 

“Why… are you still here?”

 

Still coughing, still sniffling, she gasped out her question. He exhaled the smoke in the opposite direction before replying.

 

“I had something to confirm.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“There was something I needed to check.”

 

“……”

 

She didn’t know why he was still here despite the time that had passed, but since things had turned out this way, she figured she might as well ask for a ride. She barely had enough strength left to hail a taxi, so she clung to the half-open window.

 

“Could you… give me a ride?”

 

“You said you were going home alone.”

 

“I was going to, but since you’re here….”

 

“I didn’t stay here just to play chauffeur.”

 

Despite his indifferent tone, he was smiling. He also looked her up and down, as if measuring something.

 

“Please….”

 

She felt her strength draining away as she shook the window, but neither it nor Kwak Chi-gyeom budged. A teardrop slipped down her cheek. She sniffled one more time, just as Chi-gyeom flicked his cigarette to the ground.

 

“Let’s make a deal.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“In exchange for safely taking you home, I get to pluck out one of your eyelashes.”

 

“What? What are you talking about?”

 

Thinking she must have misheard, she asked again. He pointed to his eye and deliberately mouthed the word, “eyelash.”

 

What kind of nonsense was this? Seul-ah, dumbfounded, withdrew her hand from the window.

 

She had been too lenient in her assessment of Kwak Chi-gyeom. He had taken her to the funeral hall, lent her money, and talked about being a benefactor, so for a moment, she had thought he wasn’t so bad. He wasn’t a gangster, after all—he supported charities and had a love for art.

 

“I’ll just take a taxi.”

 

“You sure?”

 

He waved her off without a hint of regret. Then he pulled out another cigarette, tapped it against his palm, and kicked the driver’s seat with his foot. Just as he lit the cigarette, Kang Jin-ah started the car.

 

Seul-ah also turned away immediately. She didn’t think she could make it out of the hospital on foot, so she pulled out her phone to call a taxi when a sedan passed by her.

 

“……”

 

She had no idea why he had been waiting there when he had no intention of giving her a ride. Judging by how he had just been sitting there smoking, it didn’t seem like he had any particular reason for staying.

 

She stared resentfully at the receding license plate before letting out a long sigh and sitting down on the curb. As she opened a browser to search for a taxi service, a stray thought crossed her mind.

 

– “Considering how she was found, do you think she was kidnapped?”

 

Her fingers started typing an entirely different word than what she had originally intended.

 

‘Kidnapping.’