Ephphatha Chapter 5

“…….”  

 

She looked around the entrance but saw nothing in particular. Come to think of it, even the mailbox was empty… Where was it? Tilting her head in confusion, she stepped inside the house.  

 

Although it had only been left vacant for a few days, the air inside felt strangely stale. As soon as she entered the living room, she turned on the air purifier. Then, she placed the jar on the living room table, and only then did she realize she was still holding onto a photo of Seo Han-seong. Her brows naturally furrowed.  

 

What on earth was going on…? With a deep sigh, she threw the photo down beside the jar.  

 

That was when—  

 

“Huh…?”  

 

Seul-ah’s eyes widened as she spotted an unfamiliar phone placed at the center of the table. It wasn’t hers—Kwak Chi-gyeom had taken hers—nor was it her mother’s. What was this?  

 

She stared at the white device in confusion and picked it up. The moment she did, the phone started ringing loudly.  

 

Rrrr- Rrrr-  

 

Seul-ah’s eyes grew even bigger. The number displayed on the screen was her own phone number. Remembering how Kwak Chi-gyeom had been shaking her phone around earlier, she answered the call with a conflicted expression.  

 

“Hel… lo?”  

 

— Yeah. Now that’s a greeting worth responding to.  

 

“…….”  

 

As expected, it was exactly who she had anticipated.  

 

“What is this phone?”  

 

— It’s yours from now on.  

 

“What…? Why did you change my phone without my permission? Give mine back.”  

 

— Don’t even think about calling the cops. Just open the gallery. Bye.  

 

Click. The call ended. His voice, which had disappeared after saying only what he wanted, lingered in her ears like a hazy mist.  

 

What the hell…?  

 

Glaring at the phone, Seul-ah did as he said and opened the gallery. If he hadn’t put a tail on her and even gave her a phone, then he must have had something he was confident about. She planned to check, and if it was nonsense, she would report it to the police immediately.  

 

However, the moment the screen changed and the gallery opened, she involuntarily dropped the phone.  

 

Her unfocused eyes stared down at the screen that had fallen onto her thigh.  

 

…Mom.  

 

With trembling hands, Seul-ah picked up the phone again and barely managed to tap on the image of her mother trapped inside the rectangular screen. The video began playing smoothly.  

 

“Alright, let’s begin.”  

 

A low voice was the first thing to be heard, followed by a cough. Kwak Chi-gyeom.  

 

As soon as Seul-ah recognized it, her mother’s gaze shifted to the left. He was probably there—on the side filming the video.  

 

“Seul-ah.”  

 

Her mother called her name softly. Still unable to grasp the situation at all, Seul-ah simply waited for her to continue speaking. Her mother was sitting in a black chair in a room surrounded by dark walls.  

 

“You can trust Kwak Chi-gyeom.”  

 

At that moment, a scoffing laugh came from nearby.  

 

“How touching.”  

 

Then, from the left corner of the frame, Kwak Chi-gyeom suddenly appeared.  

 

“You heard that, right? Let’s trust each other, okay?”  

 

Lowering his head as if looking down from above, he sneered at the camera before disappearing again. Seul-ah was still dazed. Trust him? Why?  

 

“There is a safe deposit company called ‘Ephphatha.'”  

 

Her mother reappeared and began speaking about something incomprehensible.  

 

“Hmm… As long as you pay, they’ll keep anything for you. You can also set conditions for opening the safe. I set up a deposit box there under my name. Inside, there’s something meant as compensation for Kwak Chi-gyeom.”  

 

A safe? Compensation?  

 

“You’ve already heard from Kwak Chi-gyeom about what needs to be done, right? The most important condition for unlocking the safe is your marriage certificate, Seul-ah. If the condition isn’t met, the safe will never open. So, Kwak Chi-gyeom is going to marry you off to someone who can take responsibility for your life, just as he promised me.”  

 

Her mother looked uneasy. And it wasn’t just on the screen. Ever since she was very young, Seul-ah had often felt that her mother was holding onto life by a precariously thin thread.  

 

– “You don’t even feel sorry for giving birth to me like this?”  

 

Even so, had she continued living until now because of Seul-ah’s childish tantrums? That question had remained as a deep-seated guilt inside her.  

 

“Do as Kwak Chi-gyeom says. If you do, you won’t have any problems living your life.”  

 

Kwak Chi-gyeom scoffed again from outside the frame.  

 

“And don’t talk about Ephphatha to anyone. Not even Chae-young. Only you and Kwak Chi-gyeom should know about it. You must not report this to the police either. Understand? Absolutely not. Never.”  

 

“Why…”  

 

She had no idea what was going on.  

 

Her lips moved dumbly as her mother gave a faint smile from the screen.  

 

“I’m sorry, Seul-ah.”  

 

In contrast, Seul-ah couldn’t smile at all.  

 

***

 

Due to a sudden heart attack at the age of 18, Seul-ah had to be hospitalized and eventually had to write a withdrawal letter for convalescence. Unable to live a normal life like everyone else, she felt frustrated and blamed her parents for making her so weak. That was when her mother told her story.  

 

Seul-ah’s mother had been born as a result of her grandmother’s affair and had been shunned by her family her entire life. To fill the void left by their rejection, she strayed from the right path, which led to her pregnancy with Seul-ah and her subsequent expulsion from the household. Rumors spread that she had been used and abandoned after getting involved with a nightclub waiter, stripping her of any value in the marriage market. However, the true reason lay elsewhere.  

 

– “They just saw me as an eyesore.”  

 

With a bitter smile, her mother confessed that, in reality, she had been abandoned long ago. She added that it was a small mercy that she had received an inheritance when her mother passed away, allowing her to at least get by.  

 

It was then that Seul-ah realized why her mother had always seemed more precarious than even her own fragile self.  

 

Her mother had been a lonely person.  

 

– “It was so difficult when I gave birth to you. Maybe that’s why you’ve had such a hard life. I’m sorry, Seul-ah.”  

 

Bright sunlight streamed in. Seul-ah, who had been curled up on the sofa with her knees drawn in, rubbed her eyes and lifted her head.  

 

At some point, the sun had reached its peak in the sky.  

 

Despite having done nothing all night except replay her mother’s video dozens of times and stare at the urn while reminiscing about her, time had slipped away in an instant.  

 

Only when the sunlight touched her did her mind gradually return to reality.  

 

Gazing blankly out the window, Seul-ah picked up her phone from where it lay beside her. She wasn’t reaching for it to watch her mother’s video again. Instead, she sent a brief message to her aunt, Chae-young, the only person whose contact information she had kept, informing her that her phone number had changed.  

 

In her sparse social circle, Aunt Chae-young was the only one with whom she had maintained enough of a relationship to notify about such a change. Since she was probably busy, there was no immediate response.   

 

Her stomach rumbled suddenly.  

 

I’m hungry…

 

Come to think of it, she hadn’t eaten anything since lunch at the funeral the day before. The realization made her hunger intensify, and she swung her legs off the sofa.  

 

Her limbs tingled from having been curled up for so long, but hunger took precedence. With her already weaker constitution, skipping meals could easily lead to her collapsing. Forcing her numb feet to move, she headed toward the kitchen.  

 

Her mother was gone, she was left alone, and complicated matters about a safe and marriage were unfolding. But she set all of that aside and opened the refrigerator.  

 

Her survival instincts dictated that she replenish her energy first.  

 

Seul-ah prepared her meal. She took out a variety of vegetables, washed them thoroughly, and sliced them thinly. Then, she grabbed three sheets of rice paper and made simple Vietnamese spring rolls—a meal she often ate because it was easy to prepare and provided a good intake of vegetables.  

 

“Ugh.” 

 

As she carried the plate of food to the table and sat down, her body wavered for a moment. She needed to eat something quickly.  

 

Biting into a spring roll, she heard the satisfying crunch of fresh vegetables. As food entered her system, she finally started to feel a bit more alive. Her unfocused eyes regained clarity, her mind sharpened, and her thoughts began clicking into place like puzzle pieces.  

 

Her mother.  

Ephphatha.  

Kwak Chi-gyeom.  

Marriage.  

Seo Han-seong.  

Yugang Group.  

Her uncle.  

 

Her mother had made a contract with Kwak Chi-gyeom, concerned about the future of her daughter, who would be left alone after her passing.  

 

The contract stipulated that Seul-ah was to marry Seo Han-seong. As the only son of the mayor of Gocheon, marrying him would not only provide financial stability but also create an opportunity for her uncle, Chairman Han Tae-soo, to recognize her as his niece.  

 

In return, Kwak Chi-gyeom would obtain something her mother had placed in a safe called Ephphatha. The condition for opening the safe was a marriage certificate proving her union with Seo Han-seong. Once that was secured, Kwak Chi-gyeom would receive his reward.  

 

“…….”  

 

What in the world was Ephphatha?  

 

Seul-ah slowly rolled her eyes before setting down the spring roll and picking up her phone. She immediately opened a search engine and typed in Ephphatha.  

 

[Ephphatha: “Be opened,” the words Jesus spoke when healing a deaf man (Mark 7:34).]

 

That was all the results showed. Just in case, she added “safe” to the search, typing Ephphatha safe, but nothing came up. Not a single company listing.  

 

Was it not a legitimate safe company? What was this?  

 

Staring at the screen with an uneasy feeling, a new thought suddenly crossed Seul-ah’s mind. Her slow-blinking eyes widened slightly.  

 

Now that she thought about it…So many things had happened so suddenly that she hadn’t questioned it before. But now, she did. Turning her phone over in her hands, she examined it closely.  

 

How had this phone ended up in the house?  

 

She pondered for a moment before taking another bite of her roll. Her mother must have left it there in advance. She had probably made the contract with Kwak Chi-gyeom long ago. Before taking her own life, she must have prepared it beforehand…  

 

Pressing her fist lightly against her aching heart, Seul-ah chewed slowly.