#108

Since there was no man, Tae-heun occupied the master bedroom. It had only been four days, and even after watching TV with the child earlier, the loneliness wouldn’t fade, and she felt like she was going crazy missing the man. The side of the man’s face as he slept soundly, his chest rising and falling at a steady pace. And his scent. Tae-heun buried her face in the man’s pillow and inhaled the smell.

The man seemed to want to sleep in a separate room. After that incident, they had only slept together for one night. If that night was uncomfortable, how uncomfortable must it have been? That night, Tae-heun had only quietly hugged the man. The house was so quiet that she couldn’t even dare to play around, and even if she tried, the man would have mercilessly rejected her, bringing up the child.

Anyway, the man had been cleaning Tae-heun’s room, which she barely cleaned once a week, for the past couple of days. She thought it was because Detective Oh had come, but it was too thorough for that. Of course, he had washed the blankets, and he had even tried to wash the sheets, but that was cut short when Ms. Lee died.

They were already spending the day apart, and if they started sleeping in separate rooms, what would be the difference from being a lodger? She bit her tongue and resolved to sleep in the master bedroom no matter what. The man hadn’t even suggested sleeping in separate rooms, but Tae-heun was seriously preparing herself alone.

She couldn’t fall asleep. She used to sleep just fine. She let out a small, deflated laugh. She kept staring at her fingers, dyed with the color of the balsam flower. She looked at her nails, which were hard to see in the dark, over and over again. It was fascinating and amusing that even her fingers were dyed. It seemed like the color would suit the man’s dark hands as well. The man would look even sexier. I’m pure, she thought, and laughed.

Would this last until the first snow? Just like the child said, it would be nice if first love really came true. In the middle of winter, lying side by side with the man in a warm ondol room, imagining sharing love while passing the flower-dyed nails into the man’s mouth. At that time, his beautiful and huge member would be buried in her pretty behind.

Ah. I miss him. I want him.

Time passed so slowly. She wished the day would break soon. For some reason, the insects outside were quiet.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock. The sound of the second hand of a palm-sized alarm clock was quite loud. Tae-heun mimicked the ticking sound with her mouth to kill time. Then she looked up at the turned-off fluorescent light.

There was no eavesdropping device. While the child was asleep, she rummaged through her room, the master bedroom, the living room, the kitchen, and even the bathroom, but found nothing. She searched through everything: the fluorescent light, the outlets, the phone, the TV, the radio, the rice cooker, and even the circuit breaker. Not only that, but she also searched through the man’s closet, pantry, walls, ceiling, laundry room, and storage. She was confident she could find any illegal device with her eyes closed, yet she found nothing.

Either it was hidden so thoroughly that she couldn’t find it, or they had already taken everything away. Or perhaps the man had just said that and hadn’t planted anything in the first place.

Since they had taken all the ledgers, there was no reason not to withdraw. Moreover, in the current situation, she had to worry about the betrayal between the prosecution and the police, not her own betrayal. If they had to eavesdrop, they would probably do it to each other.

In her heart, she hoped they had removed all the devices. So that this house, this space with the man, could return to being a secret and private space. But still, Tae-heun’s car had a tracking device attached. The man’s truck probably had the same device as well.

Damn it. This is hard.

Tae-heun scratched her eyebrows.

Should she just act crazy and ask Detective Oh or the prosecutor, “Did you happen to take the eavesdropping device?” Or should she take the risk and ask her accomplice to check?

Either way, it would be a troublesome situation. The more she stepped in, the more the man and the child would be exposed. That was not what she wanted. In the end, there was no choice but to quietly watch the situation.

Honestly, even if there was no eavesdropping device, the man wouldn’t be the type to do such things with Tae-heun in this house. Because of the child. He was a father who thought of the child first above all else. That paternal love that had made Tae-heun fall for him was now getting in the way of their love. Just because paternal love was strong didn’t mean they couldn’t have sex, but the man seemed completely blocked in situations like this.

Back when she was Kim Ji-yoon, living in a one-room apartment, her parents had no problem having sex and making babies. Let alone here, where they had separate rooms. Moreover, even though the house was small, the master bedroom was the farthest from the child’s room, and once the child fell asleep, he wouldn’t wake up.

Ah. Where could they do it? Unless they went to town, there was no answer other than the village hall shower room. Tae-heun felt frustrated and rolled around under the blanket.

Then she dozed off. She woke up to the sound of a siren. Another siren? There were no houses around here, could it be our house? She forced her eyes open. It wasn’t a siren; it was the phone ringing. The house, which had been as quiet as a mouse, was suddenly filled with the loud ringing. Everyone should have been at the funeral. Since it wasn’t raining, it couldn’t be the house of the persimmon tree. Detective Oh’s house? Tae-heun quickly went to the living room and picked up the receiver.

It wasn’t Detective Oh; it was her elementary school classmate and the head of the women’s association, Hyun-sook.

Tae-heun? This is Kang Hyun-sook. Can you come here right now?

The caller immediately recognized Tae-heun and asked without any preamble. It was noisy on the other end, but she couldn’t hear any wailing.

“Yes. I can come. Is Ki-beom okay?”

She had no doubt that the call was because of the man.

Well, sort of. Just come and take him away.

Hyun-sook shouted.

“Is Ki-beom very drunk?”

Do you know the old man Yong-pil in the back? Should I give you the address?

Hyun-sook didn’t answer Tae-heun’s question and only said what she wanted to say. It seemed difficult to communicate over the phone because it was so noisy on the other side.

“Yes. I know. I’ll go right away.”

“Thank you.”

The man was the type who would just fall asleep when he drank. He wouldn’t have gotten into a fight, so she thought maybe he had just fallen while going to the bathroom. Lately, the man had been limping badly even while wearing special shoes. She was worried he might have hurt his ankle. What was there to worry about? She was excited and put on a T-shirt.

As she grabbed the car keys and was about to head out, she felt uneasy about the child. She was going to take him to a funeral home. The reason the man had left the child behind must have been for that. She peeked into the child’s room. The child was sound asleep, snoring softly.

Let’s leave him. What could happen?

She had never locked a door before, so she didn’t know where the keys were. Tae-heun rummaged through the master bedroom and living room and finally found the keys. After struggling to lock a door that didn’t fit quite right several times, she finally locked it and made sure to close the front door tightly.

Finding the Lee family in the back wasn’t difficult. She could see the lights from afar. If there hadn’t been a light indicating a funeral, it looked like they were having a party. The sounds of laughter and chatter echoed throughout the neighborhood. The alley was narrow, so she parked at the entrance and hurriedly walked.

A man in a shirt was crouched outside the open gate of the Lee family’s house. Next to him was a woman in a black hanbok, who looked like Hyun-sook, sitting in the same position and talking to the man. Her hand patted the man’s back. Whenever her hand went to his face, the man would subtly pull back. Then he fell on his butt. Even just seeing their silhouettes made her smile.

But the moment the man’s face was illuminated by the light, Tae-heun’s smile faded. She frowned deeply. The man was a mess. He hadn’t just fallen and hurt himself; he had been beaten. Badly. Blood splattered on his white shirt, leaving stains.

Damn it. Which bastard touched my man!

Tae-heun walked past the man and Hyun-sook straight to the gate.

“Hey!” Hyun-sook exclaimed, quickly getting up and grabbing the hem of Tae-heun’s clothes. The T-shirt stretched out because of it.

“Where are you going??”

Hyun-sook shouted.

“I’m going to beat up the bastards who did this to Ki-beom.”

Tae-heun growled lowly.

“Are you crazy? Can’t you see it’s a funeral?”

Hyun-sook clung to Tae-heun, putting her full weight on her. Tae-heun could have pushed her away, but if she did, Hyun-sook would bounce back from the force. Damn it. Tae-heun slowly relaxed her body and closed the distance with Hyun-sook, who was holding on to her.

“If it’s a funeral, does that mean Ki-beom can be beaten?”

Thinking she had closed the distance enough, she pushed Hyun-sook away. But the arm that grabbed her was quite heavy. Before she knew it, the man had gotten up and was holding onto Tae-heun.

When she turned around, the man smiled. With tissues stuffed in both nostrils, his lips split and dried blood on his face, he smiled as if he found something amusing.

Tae-heun frowned deeply. Was he really smiling now? She was about to say something when the man casually said, “Let’s go.”

“I’m fine. I feel really good right now.”

The man tightened his grip on Tae-heun’s arm and moved closer.

He didn’t smell of alcohol at all. For some reason, the man hadn’t drunk. Tae-heun raised her eyebrows.

“Are you telling me to just stand here and look at you like this?”

“Yes. I’m really fine. I’m really feeling great.”

The more the man spoke, the more questions Tae-heun had.

“See? Ki-beom says he’s fine. So just take him and go, okay?”

Hyun-sook joined in, pulling Tae-heun away from the Lee family’s house.

The man’s face looking at Tae-heun seemed so peaceful. Still, she had to know who the bastards were that had done this to him. If those bastards looked as messed up as the man, she would just leave, but if not, she would beat them up just the same. She clenched her fist tightly.

“Just tell me who they are. Then I’ll leave quietly.”

Tae-heun said, looking at Hyun-sook. The man would never answer, so she chose Hyun-sook, who had a higher chance of responding.

“If you don’t, I’ll barge in right now.”

Tae-heun threatened, not really threatening. Then Hyun-sook sighed and glanced at the man. The man shook his head vigorously.

“What does it matter? Everyone in the neighborhood knows anyway.”

But Hyun-sook named them. The Eagle Oh Brothers. No matter how reckless those bastards were, they wouldn’t beat someone for no reason at a funeral home. It wasn’t because it was a funeral home, but because there were too many eyes watching. Her parents and spouse were also present.

“Why did you fight?”

This time she asked the man.

“Let’s go. I heard the answer.”

The man, with some confidence, let go of Tae-heun’s arm. Then he bowed slightly to Hyun-sook.

“You should go in too. I’m really sorry for today.”

“I’m sorry for what? Ki-beom, you’ve had a hard time.”

The two exchanged farewells with Tae-heun in front of them.

She thought he would wait, but the man turned his back and walked away. As if he didn’t care whether Tae-heun barged into the Lee family’s house or not, as if he wouldn’t look back again if she didn’t follow him, he walked straight ahead.

Tae-heun looked once at the Lee family’s house and then at the man again. Hyun-sook clicked her tongue.

“Aren’t you going to follow him?”

She urged Tae-heun.

“If you have any questions, come find me when it’s light out. No, you have a cell phone, right?”

Saying this, she pulled out her cell phone from her jeans under her skirt.

“Here, write down my number. I’ll call you.”

When Tae-heun hesitated, Hyun-sook urged, “Hurry up!” and held out the phone.

Tae-heun entered her number into the small cell phone of the same model as Choi Gi-cheol’s and returned it. When Hyun-sook pressed the call button, Tae-heun’s phone vibrated.

“He’s already gone that far.”

Hyun-sook stretched her neck as if she were used to wiping the phone screen. Just as she said, the man was getting farther away. Tae-heun looked back and forth between the Lee family’s house and the man before turning her direction toward the man.

“Take care.”

Hyun-sook said brightly as she waved goodbye.