episode_0023

Mira kept repeating the same words to Eunseo.

“I have to meet Yunyoung.”

“Yunyoung is already dead. You know that.”

“What are you talking about? Why would Yunyoung be dead? Yunyoung is alive. Don’t say such bad things.”

“That person is dead. Try to remember.”

“No. He’s not dead.”

Mira shook her head, denying it. Then she flashed an empty smile.

“I have to apologize for what I did wrong. He got sick of me because I did bad things. I have to sincerely apologize and be forgiven. Then Yunyoung might look at me again.”

Eunseo listened to Mira’s soliloquy, and anger flared up.

“I have to apologize for what I did wrong. He got sick of me because I did bad things. If I sincerely apologize and am forgiven… then maybe Yunyoung would think of me again.”

Eunseo listened to Mira’s soliloquy, and anger suddenly flared up. She had known of Yunyoung’s death, Mira’s lover, for a long time. The memory of feeling pity and sorrow for Mira, seeing her struggle with death and cry every day when they worked at the same company, was still vivid.

But now, several years had passed. Despite all that time, she hadn’t gotten any better; her condition only worsened. Eventually, seeing Mira’s continuous inability to accept reality and her attempts to escape it, Eunseo couldn’t help but frown.

She also realized that Mira’s baby, who had died before being born, could never have been Yunyoung’s child.

“The baby who died back then wasn’t Yunyoung’s child. It was another man’s child! Think logically. Yunyoung is dead, so how could he have been with you? The timing doesn’t even make sense!”

“Don’t say that! Are you saying I fooled around with another man? Why do you keep tormenting me with such terrible words?”

“I’m saying all this for your own good. Isn’t it time you faced reality? How long are you going to live like this?!”

Eunseo shouted as if scolding her.

“Yunyoung is everything to me.”

“What good is he being everything? He’s already dead!”

“He’s not dead! No matter who you are, if you keep saying such things, I won’t let it slide!”

“Please, snap out of it. Why don’t you understand how I feel?”

“Quiet!”

Eunseo simply couldn’t endure Mira, who kept spouting nonsense. Her body and mind grew increasingly exhausted. When she decided to take care of Mira, she had somewhat prepared herself for a difficult path, but this was too much. She might consider it harsh treatment, but from Eunseo’s experience, Mira was at the level where she should be forcibly admitted to a mental hospital. When she told Mira that Yunyoung had died long ago and that the man Mira spoke of couldn’t possibly be Yunyoung, Mira would get angry. And after a short while, she would repeat the same words again.

Moreover, whenever she had a chance, she’d think of the doll as a baby, try to feed it, or hum lullabies. Eunseo knew it was sad that Mira’s child had died, but having to witness such a scene every time left her feeling like her insides would burst from frustration. She didn’t have the courage to live with her. When she reached the point where she couldn’t even sleep well due to stress because of Mira, Eunseo eventually decided to half-give up on her. She stopped caring for Mira at her own home and found a small studio apartment, sending Mira there.

She planned to help with rent and basic living expenses to some extent, but her help would stop there. After looking after her for a few months, she had no intention of caring how Mira would live afterward. In her current state, Mira might hole up in her room and starve to death. However, Eunseo decided to lightly ignore it. From the beginning, she wasn’t Mira’s family; they were merely friends.

“Even just this much, I’ve done my part sufficiently.”

She was busy earning her own living, and just the time and money she had poured into helping Mira until now meant she had played a role beyond that of a friend. But that was it. Now, nothing else mattered. She couldn’t turn a blind eye to her broken friend out of pity and compassion, but Mira’s exasperating mental illness had completely extinguished even those feelings of sympathy. There was no communicating with the insane Mira, and no sign of improvement. Eunseo no longer wanted to waste time or get angry over this. She planned to contribute to the rent for a few months and then gradually cut it off. Mira’s life after that would be entirely up to her.

-3-

As a man walked down the street, a woman suddenly appeared beside him and spoke to him. She was holding a young baby tightly to her chest, as if it were precious.

“Yunyoung-ah. How’s our baby? Isn’t she pretty?”

“Huh…?”

“Look, this is our baby.”

The bewildered man examined the baby she held out and then trembled in surprise. Because it wasn’t a real baby; it was just a doll shaped like a child. It wasn’t realistic enough to be mistaken for a real baby; it was a doll shaped like an infant, the kind young girls play with.

Realizing that, a chill touched his neck, making him shiver. He didn’t know why she had suddenly appeared in front of him to show him a doll and call it a baby, but he was afraid to deal with her. Now that he thought about it, the woman’s eyes were also a bit unfocused, making her seem not in her right mind. Her blurry eyes, out of focus and wandering, suggested she wasn’t in her right mind.

The man’s face stiffened with fear and tension, but she didn’t seem to care; she smiled brightly and spoke to him.

“Isn’t she really pretty? She looks just like both of us, doesn’t she?”

“I… I don’t know!”

“What name would be good?”

The man didn’t answer and walked past her, ignoring her, but the woman was not easily deterred. She seemed to have no intention of letting him go and followed him closely.

“Where are you going? Are we perhaps going on a date?”

“What nonsense are you spouting?!”

“I’m excited. I’m happy.”

“Gasp, d-don’t follow me!”

The man, whose face had gone pale with fear, started to run as fast as he could to shake her off. The woman also ran, seemingly unwilling to lose him, but she wasn’t very fast, so the distance between her and the man gradually widened. As soon as the man was out of sight, she stopped in her tracks as if giving up on running.

She stood silently, with eyes as blank as a doll’s and lips parted in a daze, seemingly unable to comprehend what had just happened to her. Only after some time did she start moving again. She looked around, turning her head this way and that, then spotted a young man and hurried towards him.

“Hey, our baby is really pretty, isn’t she?”

“Huh…?”

The new man showed a similarly bewildered expression.

-1-

This woman’s bizarre behavior continued to repeat endlessly. Whenever she saw a man, she’d go up to him, show him the doll she was holding, ask if it wasn’t pretty, and act friendly.

The day had grown dark, and the night breeze was quite chilly, yet she was still wandering the streets, repeating the same actions.

“Yunyoung-ah, how’s our baby? Isn’t she pretty?”

“Huh? What are you, you hag?”

“This is our baby. What should we name her?”

The man with a scar on his face immediately recognized that the woman was insane. Her eyes were a bit off, and her gaze was unfocused, making her seem not in her right mind. The man also smelled a foul odor coming from her.

*Just how long has she not bathed?*

It seemed she had been homeless for a long time; her hair was a mess, and her clothes were stained and dirty. The man, who was about to curse and push away the foul-smelling woman, stopped. Examining her face closely, he noticed she had a rather decent appearance. Impure desire flickered in his eyes. If she were cleaned of the dirt and stains and given a little care, she’d likely be quite a beauty. The man, fueled by lust, decided to play with this woman for a while.

“How about we talk about that back at my place?”

“Home?”

“Yes. Follow me.”

The man grabbed the woman’s wrist and headed towards his home. He had wondered if she might resist or scream that she didn’t want to go, but there was no such reaction at all. In fact, she was following him with light steps, which he was only grateful for. The man, taking the deranged simpleton to his home, made a call on his cell phone. After a short call and walking a bit, a villa appeared. It was the man’s residence.

Opening the front door, the man led the woman to the bathroom, then took off her clothes and bathed her. As if she had no sense of shame, she showed no embarrassment even when completely exposed. The man surveyed her fully exposed body, licking his lips.

“I didn’t know because it was covered, but it’s quite big, isn’t it?”

He wanted to quickly finish washing her and then unleash his pent-up desires and urges upon her. Even if he was starved for a woman, a woman in this state was too dirty for him to even consider.