Chapter 85 - Chapter 82: Episode 80 - Lee Ye-na (2)
Yu-ra asked with a trembling heart what kind of monster Yena's mother was.
Based on her own deductions, Yena's mother had to be a succubus.
Since the place where Seon-ah was kidnapped—and even the last place he was sighted—was within succubus territory, she figured it was only natural.
However, the only answer Yena gave was, "I don't know."
No matter how much she pried, the girl wouldn't budge.
It was as if she'd made a vow of silence; she absolutely refused to say a word.
It was obvious that pushing any harder would only invite resistance.
Since Yena was going to be living in the house anyway, Yu-ra decided to take her time and uncover the truth slowly.
After all, Yena was waiting for her father, Seon-ah, and as long as she wasn't kicked out, she was content to stay.
Besides, if Seon-ah truly did return, he would have nowhere else to go.
Since Min-ah and Seon-ah had been legally processed from missing persons to deceased, their former home had been seized by the state.
This was because Min-ah and Hyeon-tae were orphans with no living relatives to claim the property.
It was clear that recovering a house already reverted to the state would be a long, drawn-out legal battle.
'Among everyone Seon-ah knows, I'm the only one he can rely on.'
Even if Yu-rin was in the house, that was the only path Seon-ah could take.
Nevertheless, the doubt wouldn't leave her.
In everything Yena had said, there was no mention of Seon-ah coming back with Min-ah.
The implication that he would return alone suggested that Min-ah had become someone who could never come back.
Her hands and feet were shaking uncontrollably.
Anxiety took root in the back of her mind.
Although she allowed Yena to stay, she was deeply worried about Yu-rin.
She feared that if Yu-rin saw Yena and mistook her for Seon-ah in a fit of mania, the girl might be in danger.
However, that worry took an unexpected turn.
On the first day, Yu-rin happened to see Yena and acted as if she were welcoming someone she was overjoyed to see.
And after hearing what Yu-rin said, I couldn't help but be shocked.
"My daughter... It's my daughter... It wasn't a dream after all."
Those were the words Yu-rin whispered upon seeing Yena, as if she had finally snapped back to reality.
I didn't have a clue what she was talking about.
I assumed that, lost in her delusions, she couldn't distinguish the fantasy of having married Seon-ah and given birth to a child from the real world.
From that moment on, we began to feel a sliver of hope that we might escape this hellish existence.
It seemed like Yena might provide an opportunity for me and Yu-rin to atone.
The fact that my daughter had sexually abused Seon-ah—a boy I had looked upon as my own child—haunted me.
Perhaps I had failed as a parent, and I wanted to make amends to Yena, Seon-ah's daughter.
I knew it was just self-satisfaction.
Even so, I couldn't stop now.
As time passed, Yena's mannerisms were so much like Seon-ah's that I eventually had no choice but to open my heart to her.
Even though I knew the child was a monster, she looked so much like him...
Yu-rin had another terribly happy nightmare today.
A dream of living a blissful life with her children after marrying Seon-ah.
When that dream shatters, I feel like vomiting at a reality that makes me want to go insane.
The lingering attachment to Seon-ah, whom I can no longer meet, pours out as pure resentment.
Today, after screaming in lamentation over that nightmare, I took my sleeping pills and stumbled out to the living room for a glass of water.
However, someone I had been longing for was standing there.
There were times when my delusions overlapped with reality like hallucinations, but this figure was far too vivid.
It was definitely the daughter of myself and Seon-ah.
I didn't remember her name well.
That existence, which I thought was a fictional character born of my dreams, was looking directly at me as I entered the living room.
"Hello?"
I was a bit disappointed by the child speaking as if she were seeing me for the first time, but when I caught my reflection in the full-length mirror, I understood.
I was in such a miserable state that it was hard to believe I was her mother.
Unlike the version of me in my dreams, I had hollow dark circles and a ghastly complexion.
My skin, which had turned deathly pale from avoiding the sunlight, was a far cry from the woman who went on outings with her family every weekend.
It was also a far cry from the image of me working as a team leader for the Hwaryong Guild in those dreams.
I figured that because I looked so gaunt, the child might not even recognize me.
Nevertheless, I approached her and hugged her.
I felt the body temperature of 'my daughter,' whom I had thought was just a figment of my imagination.
I felt the touch of her soft skin in my arms.
And I realized it.
This wasn't a delusion or a drug-induced hallucination.
This child was definitely my daughter.
To think I had been so confused, even with my own child right in front of me, all because of the mental illness that had taken hold.
To think I hadn't noticed, even though the proof of the happy days I spent with Seon-ah was standing right there.
I felt like a failure as a parent.
Hot tears streamed down my face.
I hugged her tighter, desperate to feel her presence.
"It hurts! Stop..."
'Ah... what have I done... To think I would hurt my own child.'
Startled, I let go of her and stepped back.
"I... I'm sorry... Mommy is sorry..."
My daughter looked bewildered, but when she saw my face, she didn't say another word.
Only silence lingered between us.
It was the third day since I'd come to this house.
Yena had warned me that there was someone else living here, and that it would be best to avoid running into them.
She said she only came out from her room on the second floor to the living room in the middle of the night for water.
Yu-ra had told me to stay out of the living room during that time.
I had kept that promise until now, but I ran into the woman in the living room this morning.
She was a woman with tearstains seemingly carved into her face, skin deathly pale from lack of sunlight, and dark circles heavily etched under her eyes.
My body trembled with fear as if I'd seen a ghost, but I could tell she was alive by the way she moved—weakly—and the look of surprise on her face.
Yena had learned that on Earth, you should greet people when you see them for the first time.
"Hello?"
I wondered if I'd greeted her properly.
However, as if that thought were wrong, the woman started approaching me.
What is she trying to do?
Seeing her unfocused eyes, I was too terrified to move.
The woman reached me, stopped right in front of my nose, and stretched out both arms.
I squeezed my eyes shut, but contrary to my expectations, she wasn't attacking.
She hugged me affectionately.
Her hands, which held me gently as if I were something precious, were shaking like a leaf.
And I realized something.
The expression on her face looked just like my father's when he looked at me with sadness.
Yena felt the warmth of the embrace and thought of her father.
However, when the woman suddenly started squeezing harder, sobbing as she did, I told her to stop.
"It hurts! Stop..."
She was hugging me so hard it actually hurt.
I wondered why on earth she was doing this.
"I... I'm sorry... Mommy is sorry..."
Contrary to my expectations, the woman said something that didn't make any sense.
She was speaking as if she were my mom.
I tried to refute it, but after seeing the regret and sadness on her face as she pulled away, I couldn't say another word.
Seeing the expression she wore, I couldn't help but feel sympathy and pity for her.
Yu-ra could not forget the events of that day.
It was shocking to see Yu-rin treat Yena as her own daughter, pouring out all her pent-up regret onto the young child.
Although it was happening because she couldn't distinguish her delusions from reality, I couldn't stop her from acting as if she were Yena's mother.
How did the daughter who had expected such a happy life with Seon-ah end up destroying him like that?
Or perhaps it was the exact opposite.
She might have been regretting that she couldn't meet Seon-ah, and her delusion was a desperate attempt to make him happy.
But one thing was certain: the things Yu-rin did to Seon-ah could never be undone.
Nevertheless, for Yu-rin to break that delusion and face reality, Yena's existence was necessary.
She needed to face reality to properly reflect on the things she had done.
And I needed to atone as a parent who had failed to raise her child properly.
To escape from this hell.
We needed Yena.