episode_0256

***

“Sia, some water.”

She was sitting on the caregiver’s bed, lowering her head and looking at her cell phone when she heard a sound from next to her.

Yun Shia skillfully tilted the remaining half of the water container and poured lukewarm water into a cup.

“Here.”

She handed him the cup, and her father took it and brought it to his mouth.

Recently, my hand strength had returned to the point where I could hold a cup myself.

Water entered, and the mokuldae moved.

Gulp, I drank water one after another, as if the pain I had felt was thirst.

“How are you feeling?”

My daughter, who was looking at that scene, asked.

The gray-haired man was somewhat weak, but smiled softly.

“It’s okay.”

“The doctor said I was getting better.”

She couldn’t even remember when her father had been sick.

In reality, it didn’t really matter whether the period was short or long. In my experience, it’s been over ten years.

That fact was important.

[It’s not that there haven’t been cases, but it’s a very unusual situation.]

I can still vividly recall what the tired doctor was explaining.

The fact that I got out of the long tunnel of misfortune was important.

“When will I be able to be discharged from the hospital?”

A middle-aged man muttered as he looked outside at the falling leaves.

“Seeing that you are talking about being discharged from the hospital, it looks like you are all better. Still, the doctor asked me to see the progress, so just be patient.”

Yoon Sia chuckled.

At school, hospital, and tutoring,

It seemed like I was smiling a lot these days.

“Sia, nothing bad happened, right?”

The door to the hospital room opened and her mother came in.

Judging by his appearance, it looked like he had stopped by the house and not come straight from the supermarket.

“Yes, nothing happened.”

Yoon Sia stood up and patted her wrinkled pants.

“Shop right away?”

Unlike her usual conversation, her mother asked as she saw her packing her luggage.

“Ah, yes… I have a lot of homework to do.”

After briefly saying hello to her parents, Yoon Sia left the hospital.

A cafe where you can hear jazz-style piano sounds.

Sitting in the corner of the cafe, a sacred place for the Kagong people, Yun Sia was doing an assignment while searching for information on her cell phone.

She transcribed the data by hand on A4.

It would have been nice to have a laptop, but my finances were still too tight to buy one.

Perhaps it was because I was constantly moving my hand, but I felt a muscle strain, so I put down the pen and massaged my wrist with the other hand.

“What is Inho going to do?”

Before I could even perceive it in my head, the words came out of my mouth.

Yun Sia opened her eyes round for a moment, then smiled and rested her chin.

‘I thought I’d never have to laugh in my life… but I’m laughing often these days.’

she thought.

I went to the bathroom. She was stuck in the mirror.

It was different from the picture of myself in my head.

Contrary to the expectation that she would be gloomy and pursed, the woman in the mirror was smiling softly.

It was unfamiliar, but nice to see.

“It’s pretty.”

Yun Sia muttered.

She picked up her phone.

I received a text message from an online shopping mall asking me to confirm the purchase of a product that had been delivered.

She mechanically pressed the button and returned to her seat.

She still had a lot of work to do.

***

As I moved my hands without stopping, my wrists seemed to elongate.

Ugh – my hands hurt so much. I’ll have to look for a laptop when the tutoring fee comes up next month.

If you just use the internet and write documents, you can buy it for less than 1 million won… They say there are a lot of useful used items these days.

[Getting off.]

After swiping my transportation card and getting off the bus, a familiar route home unfolded.

“It’s dark.”

An alleyway without street lights welcomes me.

When will the street lights be installed? Wouldn’t it be better to leave this neighborhood before then?

I follow the road using old sneakers.

Inward, further inward… I walk this dark path toward the home called home.

look at the sky

Unlike the city sky, the moon and stars were visible today.

The brightness is very faint and not very impressive.

Inho, why do I remember the brilliant light of the moon and stars on the hillside I saw with you?

Maybe it was because you were next to me?

The first meeting wasn’t that good. You annoyed me, and I didn’t understand you.

I thought our relationship, once established, would never change.

But, it was my mistake.

You have changed so much that you can’t even remember what you used to be, and your eyes shine.

that’s right. Just like the moonlight at that time.

Is it a coincidence that the situation around you started to change from the moment you tried to change?

My father. They say you can be discharged soon.

I still have debt, but I will be able to pay it off soon.

There’s no causal relationship, but I think it’s thanks to you.

Because you started to change, I was able to get out of this long, long tunnel.

It’s still the end of the tunnel, but I can clearly feel the light flickering before my eyes getting bigger.

thank you. You may complain that it’s not relevant, but I think I owe you a lot.

For listening to my class well, for making my dad okay, for rescuing me from that park…

I was helped by you, so now I want to help.

I don’t want you to miss the opportunity to walk the right path and dream of a bright future.

therefore….

***

With a single scream, the woman collapsed on the side of the road.

And another woman stood in front of her and looked down at the woman crawling on the floor as if she were looking at a bug.

“I warned you.”

“Ah, ugh… it hurts…”

In pain that did not go away easily, the woman crawled on the floor.

“Am I short-thinking or stupid… no, probably both, right?”

The person who sympathized with the pitiful face had a deep sneer in his voice.

“In your hand… that…”

The other person, who had managed to get his body together, stood up unsteadily.

The person facing me was holding something plastic in his hand.

It was an object that made a crackling sound when you pressed the button.

‘So, Inho.’

‘Even if I do something like this… you have to understand.’

Yoon Si-ah looked down emotionlessly at Shin Jeong-ah, who woke up gasping for breath.