TIOAWN Chapter 4

“Could this be a dream?”

 

Maybe if I closed my eyes and opened them again, I’d find myself in my bed. Ha-yoon tightly shut her eyes, filled with desperate hope.  

 

The cold wind stung her chest so much that the tip of her nose turned red. The red scab on her forehead fluttered as if it might fly off, and she reflexively touched her forehead.  

 

It was just a small piece of paper, but the sensation beneath her palm was vivid beyond belief.  

 

It was reality—sharp and clear, like it had been painted with a brush.  

 

Blink, blink. Ha-yoon blinked her large eyes as she tried to regain her composure. Standing before the gate, she straightened her wobbling legs, biting her lips nervously.  

 

I have to find my father?

 

She had never done anything like that before. Ha-yoon’s pupils trembled with unease.  

 

If I don’t act properly, he might really sell me off.  

 

She couldn’t even imagine where or how a person could be sold.  

 

But she knew for certain that man would make it happen. She had only met him once, but Ha-yoon had no doubt about it.  

 

What do I do?  

 

She clenched her fists so tightly that her palms turned white, and her nails dug in painfully.  

 

Ha-yoon took a step forward. One step, then another. Though she was merely walking on asphalt, she moved cautiously as if shards of glass were scattered on the ground.  

 

She stepped forward once, then retreated two steps. Forward again, only to fall back two steps.  

 

No one was stopping her, yet the road felt endlessly long and unyielding. Like someone encountering an unknown world, Ha-yoon froze in place.  

 

\- Bring Seo Myung-sik.  

 

The low, deep voice echoed in her ears, making her heart race.  

 

\- Your father told you, Seo Ha-yoon. You need to act valuable.  

 

The voice she had heard her entire life pierced her ears like tinnitus.  

 

Ha-yoon bit her lower lip hard.  

 

I have to find my father.  

 

Gripping the hem of her skirt nervously with both hands, she managed to walk to the spot where Cha Moo-geon’s car had disappeared from sight.  

 

Honk!  

 

A loud horn blared as a car zoomed past her. She quickened her steps, almost fleeing from the stream of cars passing by.  

 

Her heart pounded fiercely until she returned to a familiar place.  

 

Back to where she started.  

 

Reaching the gate, Ha-yoon placed her hand on her pounding chest and stared blankly at the wall.  

 

I’m scared.  

 

Even when she tried to go somewhere—anywhere—her feet wouldn’t move anymore.  

 

She had to find her father and prove her worth to him. But now, what should she do?  

 

Maybe my father will come back.  

 

If I wait patiently like usual, he’ll come to pick up the painting.  

 

Even after confirming how much everything had changed, Ha-yoon began to avoid reality.  

 

As always, instead of fully accepting the situation, she turned away from the harsh truth.  

 

Because the real truth was far too overwhelming to bear.  

 

As she looked around nervously, her eyes landed on a man with his head shaved like a chestnut.  

 

Had he followed her out from the house? Come to think of it, it felt like he had been trailing her.  

 

“Excuse me.”  

 

There was no response. Was her voice too soft? Did the wind drown it out?  

 

“Excuse me!”  

 

Even when Ha-yoon mustered her courage to call out, he remained silent.  

 

“Could you open the gate for me, please?”  

 

Without a word of explanation, the man suddenly held something out to her.  

 

A… cell phone? Why is he giving this to me?  

 

The man firmly blocked her path and thrust the phone toward her again.  

 

Ha-yoon’s face crumpled in distress.  

 

“You should use this to make contact.”  

 

Ha-yoon had never used a cell phone or made a call before. Who was she supposed to contact with it?  

 

She couldn’t understand why this man was insisting on giving her the phone.  

 

“Nothing else will do.”  

 

He waved the phone in front of her again, but Ha-yoon shook her head.  

 

Her shoulders hunched, and her teeth clamped tightly together. Even the relatively thick fabric of her dress couldn’t keep out the cold wind.  

 

“It’s too… cold… Could I wait inside…?”  

 

Since she had nowhere to go anyway, she was asking if she could wait inside the house.  

 

“…I guess not.”  

 

When Ha-yoon tentatively lifted her eyelids and met the man’s gaze, she immediately shut her mouth.  

 

“No.”  

 

His answer was firm. He seemed to only follow the orders of the man who had sent her outside.  

 

Ha-yoon chewed on the inside of her mouth. The hem of her dress crumpled in her clenched fists. As waves of anxiety crashed over her, her legs buckled.  

 

She crouched down in front of the gate, curling up tightly. Always in that same spot. Just as she had been. Like a doll.  

 

That was what Seo Ha-yoon did best: waiting silently and endlessly.  

 

She wiggled her toes hidden inside her socks. Afraid that she might burst into tears, she held her breath and buried her stinging eyes into her knees.  

 

***

 

How much time had passed? Her fingertips had turned red. Ha-yoon blew on her hands, rubbing them together. Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

 

She mustn’t fall asleep like this. Her instincts screamed at her. Ha-yoon shook her head vigorously.

 

As her eyelids fluttered shut for a moment, the face of the man who had grabbed her hair lingered in her vision.

 

She wanted to draw. Right now, she wanted to draw.

 

An intense impulse arose, strong enough to drive away sleep.

 

Ever since she encountered him, her hands had been itching constantly.

 

Ha-yoon picked up a small pebble from nearby and began to draw lines on the ground.

 

Oh Jae-gyu, who had been standing nearby, followed her movements with a bewildered gaze.

 

“Achoo.”

 

It was too cold.

 

So, this was what they meant by biting cold.

 

She finally understood what she had once heard on a weather forecast. Despite the bitter chill, she couldn’t stop yawning.

 

When would her father come? What if he didn’t come?

 

One worried thought led to a sneeze. Sniffling, Ha-yoon picked up the pebble again. Her fingers moved earnestly as she engraved tiny snowflakes.

 

Her small, rounded back swayed slightly as she worked, making Oh Jae-gyu, who stood by the gate, flinch nervously.

 

“Achoo. Achoo.” Ha-yoon sneezed repeatedly. Naturally, Jae-gyu’s gaze shifted toward her.

 

He was supposed to look for Seo Myung-sik, but instead, here he was, watching a woman draw lines on the ground with a pebble.

 

He felt like he should report something, but there wasn’t anything to report. At this rate, it felt less like surveillance and more like he was keeping watch to ensure no one took her away or that she didn’t collapse.

 

He kept flinching, worried that she might actually faint.

 

[Make sure she doesn’t die.]

 

The text message from his superior, written in a stern font, came to mind, tightening his throat.

 

A sideways glance at the woman’s complexion revealed lips that were blue and cheeks that seemed frozen stiff. She wouldn’t actually die, would she?

 

Oh Jae-gyu didn’t believe the saying that people don’t die so easily.

 

He knew too well how easily people could die.

 

“Damn it.”

 

Looking troubled, Jae-gyu took off his coat and draped it over Ha-yoon’s back.

 

“Oh, thank you.”

 

She didn’t even hesitate. Wrapping the coat tightly around herself as if she had been waiting for it, she left him speechless.

 

Jae-gyu returned to his spot by the gate, only for Ha-yoon to turn her head and pull the collar of the coat snugly.

 

Normally, she should be trembling in fear or crying her eyes out, maybe even running off to search for her father. Wasn’t that how she was supposed to act?

 

What was this, really?

 

The night felt unusually long. Even his own legs were numb from standing still, yet she didn’t seem to feel the discomfort of crouching for so long.

 

Unconsciously, Jae-gyu stole glances at Ha-yoon and the drawing that had taken shape.

 

What the hell is that?

 

Ha-yoon’s drawing was so extraordinary that anyone with eyes would look twice.

 

Even Jae-gyu, who didn’t know the first thing about art, couldn’t tear his gaze away.

 

[Report.]

 

Jae-gyu froze with his phone in hand.

 

What could he possibly say in response to his superior’s message?

 

That she was casually drawing lines on the ground?

 

That she was shivering so much he gave her his coat?

 

He tapped the screen nervously, as though hoping for inspiration, and eventually forced himself to type out a response.

 

[Nothing unusual to report.]

 

Sniffle. Sniffle. The sound of her sniffling broke the quiet of dawn.

 

“Oh, I’m hungry.”

 

The faint voice made Jae-gyu’s hand, which was buried in his pocket, twitch.

 

If she had whined for food like a child, he might have frowned, but she didn’t even do that.

 

Just as he was about to unwrap a chocolate bar for himself, Jae-gyu let out a sigh and held it out to her.

 

“Here. Eat this.”

 

He was just following orders to keep her alive. After all, hunger and cold could lead to death.

 

Jae-gyu tried to convince himself with logic.

 

“Really… can I eat it?”

 

Ha-yoon, who had accepted the coat so easily, hesitated now. Jae-gyu frowned slightly.

 

If she didn’t want it, so be it, but just as he was about to pull it back, Ha-yoon’s chapped, red hands grabbed the end of the chocolate bar.

 

Her clear, transparent eyes looked up at him, searching for permission.

 

With a deep sigh, Jae-gyu nodded.

 

With a swift motion, the chocolate bar disappeared from his hand.

 

Baffled, he tilted his head, only to see Ha-yoon hesitate with the bar in her hands.

 

“I didn’t even… get to show it.”

 

She muttered something incomprehensible. Even as Jae-gyu tilted his head in confusion, Ha-yoon repeated the words once more.

 

Her gaze lingered on the drawing that filled the ground in front of the gate.

 

It was her first drawing in months.

 

She figured she deserved at least a chocolate bar after creating this much.

 

Although it wasn’t a piece she could sell, and it wasn’t complete yet… still…

 

Holding what was, for Jae-gyu, a single bite-sized chocolate bar, Ha-yoon chewed on it for a long time.