episode_0032

“It’s strange… no matter how much I think about it, it’s strange…”

Minjeong, who returned home with her mom, placed her monkey wrench, only as long as her forearm, on the desk and fell into deep thought.

The image of her sister, who always treated her kindly. Thinking of her brought a sense of warmth to her heart, albeit somewhat unfamiliar. But the sight of her sister running out of the house, leaving them behind, pale-faced after seeing a photo that her mom had taken, was completely incomprehensible.

Who was the man in that photo that made her sister run out of the house, leaving her mom and herself behind? Why did her sister, who never said a word when they lived at their hometown, ask her mom to find out more about him with such urgency?

And why wouldn’t her mom tell her who that man, Han Eunseok, was?

“Why are both my mom and sister acting so strangely because of that man…”

Minjeong, who vividly remembered the person in the photo her mom showed, started to come up with various hypotheses and tried to deduce the truth, but she could only mumble without reaching a clear answer.

It was because her sister, who didn’t even have a boyfriend, let alone any male friends, had no way to find any connection with this man, Han Eunseok.

In fact, when she visited that house today, it was to confront Kang Sunwoo, who had a rough encounter with her sister at the party, but since Kang Sunwoo was not home and was facing a new problem, she had long forgotten her original purpose.

“I can’t stand it anymore! Fine, if mom won’t tell me, I’ll figure it out myself!”

Unable to resist her curiosity, Minjeong sneaked into her mom, Choi Sunmi’s room in the middle of the night like a cat burglar, determined to find the photo in question.

Luckily, Choi Sunmi was in the annex for some reason, so Minjeong had no trouble sneaking into her room and finding a bunch of information about Han Eunseok.

Although she only managed to grab a few photos that wouldn’t be missed, she was confident that she could uncover the truth about that man without any issues.

“Minjeong, why is a high school senior wandering around at this late hour?”

Suddenly, Minjeong stopped in her tracks at the voice of a man calling her and turned her head towards him.

“Why? Can’t I wander around freely in my own house?”

Looking at the man as if he had seen something unpleasant, Minjeong replied curtly.

“This disrespectful girl… How did that crazy girl end up raising a child?”

Although Minjeong was furious at the man’s insulting remarks towards her and even her mom, she managed to suppress her anger and began to walk away, ignoring her father, Joo Hyunseok.

“Hey, I…!! This brat is more stubborn than Jiae!”

Of course, her daughter’s disrespectful attitude towards him irritated Hyunseok, but Minjeong didn’t care at all.

She had never considered Hyunseok her father for even a moment.

Nevertheless, there was a time when she wanted to get closer to him because he was her father.

But that human called her father repeated the same routine of getting drunk and causing a scene, never showing up for her birthday, entrance ceremony, or graduation, always being dragged out by his parents-in-law, year after year.

“If only… if only you weren’t born, things wouldn’t have turned out like this…”

The first time she heard her father reject her existence was when she was about to graduate from elementary school at the age of 13.

Minjeong didn’t expect much attention. It was just family, after all. She only hoped for her father to look back at her for just a moment.

But the first words she heard when facing him alone left a huge scar in young Minjeong’s heart.

That day, Minjeong, who had been pretending to be indifferent to her father’s cold attitude, shed tears in front of her mother for the first time.

And as she watched her mother shed more tears than herself, she vowed not to make her mother sad like this again.

Perhaps she thought she had started to go astray around that time.

Still, she believed that the reason she didn’t stray further was because of her mother, Choi Sunmi, who always supported her, and her new family member, her sister Juyeonhye.

“Damn it, all the good feelings ruined because of that worthless guy.”

Returning to her room, Minjeong cursed once and then collapsed onto her bed.

The tension that had built up with the reunion with her sister quickly dissipated due to her father’s despicable behavior. Holding a photo of Haneunseok in her hand, Minjeong’s eyes began to close slowly.

“Huh? But this man… um…?”

Before falling asleep, Minjeong, who was recalling the image of Haneunseok in the photo, noticed that the man resembled someone else.

“No way, that can’t be true…”

But the more she thought about it, the deeper her suspicions grew.

The strange resemblance between the two, her sister’s impulsive rush out upon hearing of Haneunseok’s death, and the printouts with Haneunseok’s personal information that she glimpsed in her mother’s room…

“No way… No way!?”

As Minjeong went through Haneunseok’s personal information one by one, she realized that her suspicions were turning into certainty.

#

“Yes, she safely returned home… Thank you for your hard work.”

Relieved by the report that Eunhye had returned home safely after running out barefoot, I opened the door to the room where Eunhye had been staying until now.

It had not been maintained for a long time, with a lot of dust accumulated, but because of that, all the belongings of the child I had neglected were still there.

This child had been living in a place like this… I regret not knowing what kind of life she had lived for the past 6 years that we had spent together.

I never bought her pretty clothes, and we didn’t have any memories together… Eunhye is not my biological child, but she is like a daughter to me, just like Minjeong.

To hurt a child like that… I am unworthy of being a mother.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, Jiseon…”

Suddenly, remembering Jiseon’s last appearance, I felt a surge of guilt squeezing my heart.

But the guilt had started long before… from the moment I found Jiseon, who had been missing for 20 years.

I never imagined that he had kidnapped Jiseon and kept her imprisoned in a villa on Daebudo… I never even dreamed of it.

At that time, we were newlyweds, but I couldn’t have a relationship with him. I felt jealousy towards Jiseon, who had been wronged by him for the first time.

Yes, it was jealousy. I, who had pushed away the man I despised so much and even betrayed my friend, was the one who did it.

“Of course… he was there…”

Longing for a friend I would never see again, I found Jiseon’s image in the album I pulled out from the bookshelf.

This is a scene from the sports day event during elementary school days. I couldn’t help but smile at the confident appearance of the mother and daughter holding a flag with the number 1 written on it.

It’s obvious to anyone that they are mother and daughter… Blood ties are truly unmistakable.

But why is that?

Although the Ji-seon in the photo is smiling, her smile seems forced, as if it was fabricated.

This unfamiliar sight of Ji-seon is unsettling.

And the strange thing was not just that.

Even after carefully flipping through this album from the beginning, or searching for another photo album, I couldn’t find any pictures of Eunhye before she was 6 years old.

Ji-seon, who used to say that memories should be cherished, wouldn’t make such a ridiculous mistake.

[ Sunmi… Please… Please find her… My… ]

Ji-seon’s final words before her breath faded.

It wasn’t just a plea to find Eunhye, who would be left alone after losing her mother.

Perhaps I could have realized earlier… when Eunhye first asked me for help.

But now, it’s too late for regrets.

I was not only unable to protect my precious friend’s daughter, but also failed to fulfill Ji-seon’s final wish, making me a pitiful human being.

“I guess, Ji-seon. It seems like I don’t deserve to have this necklace. So… So… I’ll pass this on to your daughter…”

As I looked at the Ji-seon in the photo, I wiped away tears, recalling Eunhye, who resembled Ji-seon, while holding the garnet necklace with red light, a symbol of our friendship.

I may not have been able to keep my precious friend or her final wish, but I will definitely protect Eunhye, just like that child…