The vision that had been blocked was finally open. A square iron table, a cheap light fixture above it, and a small, palm-sized window with iron bars blocking it. Kim Hyeon sat with one knee bent under his leg. This was a situation she had desperately wanted, but now, facing him directly, it felt strange. The part he had bitten seemed to have been repaired very neatly, his smooth face flawless. An empty shell that, if it were a state order, could have sex without feeling with a woman. A strange feeling suddenly arose, as if it were something without blood.
“If I tell you, will Hyeon know?”
His eyebrows moved slightly. His smooth, almost lifelike face moved very gently. ‘Kim Hyeon is close to you.’ However, why did Kiya’s words come to mind now?
“Are you really not going to look for me?”
“If I start a new life, will it cause trouble for the state?”
“……”
“Ah… will it make monitoring me more difficult?”
Maybe Kim Hyeon had been around all along, the thought flashed through her mind in an absurd way. Even though she had seen the scene where all the joints of the Chinese soldiers were twisted, he didn’t look surprised at all. Then, a strange possessiveness began to emerge. No one should know about Lee Wooshin. I want the state and Kim Hyeon to not evaluate and dig into the people who are important to me like they’re returning them.
However, they must have already checked him very thoroughly. It felt like I was stuck in mud.
“It seems like it’s time to leave.”
He nodded his chin towards the document lying on the table and shook his wrist.
“Kim Hyeon… you won’t look for me?”
“……”
“Really?”
The question asked in a tone that seemed impossible sounded very funny. Hyeon still looked at her as if seeing a misplaced puzzle piece. There was a strange unfamiliarity in the way he referred to himself with an unusual word. However, when I looked at him from above, a strange scratching feeling suddenly arose, as if it touched a nerve. Involuntarily, I pressed the back of his foot hard. I felt as if my instinctual urge led me there.
“――”
His observant gaze remained fixed on Hyeon’s eyebrows, then moved to his forehead, and finally to his eyes. Those gleaming eyes searched for the slightest tremor, as if trying to find something unsettling on the man’s face. I didn’t know what I was doing. However, Hyeon calmly released the handcuffs with an expressionless face and then gave her the pen. Seoryeong composed herself by releasing her sharp gaze. Then, as the sharp object entered her hand, her body instantly lunged forward.
“――!”
The tip of the pen sliced through the air, and just as it was about to reach his neck, his hand caught the back of her neck first.
“Ugh…!”
The hand that was once full of tenderness now pressed Seoryeong’s head hard onto the table. Ouch…! She suppressed a groan, growling angrily. In any case, she was already too far gone to feel hurt or disappointed by Hyeon now.
“Who taught you? Your technique is excellent, honey.”
“Ugh…!”
He immediately pulled up the fallen Seoryeong and roughly rubbed her reddened forehead. If someone had given her medicine and poison at the same time, it wouldn’t have been more shocking than this. Kim Hyeon’s reflexes were incredibly fast. Just by looking at her expression, he could read one step ahead, which still felt very meticulous and seemed even sharper than before. Finally, with the soft sound of paper, he began to sign the documents, checking each page one by one and placing his signature in the bottom column, albeit somewhat awkwardly. They had lived together for many years, yet it felt strange that this shabby interrogation room was the last place they would meet. Only one column remained, and suddenly the pen stopped. Seoryeong stared at him blankly as Hyeon tapped the table.
“That day, at the front door of our house.”
There was no expression whatsoever on his clean-looking face.
“After you left for work and didn’t come back, I sometimes felt like these feet were stuck there.”
“……”
“Now, I really want to leave. I have the desire and the opportunity to leave, but my feet are hard to move. Maybe I could have started sooner, but realizing my own feelings wasn’t easy.”
“……”
“You know? I still live in our honeymoon home.”
He laughed weakly.
“If someone so meaningful to us suddenly disappears again, how am I supposed to cope? Night after night, I have nightmares like a patient, worried about getting hurt again. I, even though my body is much stronger, have become a coward in a strange place.”
“……”
“Hyeon, you left without hesitation, but I still… can’t leave that door. It’s like I’m still waiting for you to ring the bell.”
Then Lee Wooshin came to that house and took her out. Just thinking about the instructor made her feel like she couldn’t hold back her laughter. Now, she pressed down on the pen she was holding. Having seen her husband’s face, which she had never known before, she could now think of that face without difficulty. It made her heart feel lighter. The complex that she was a wife who didn’t know her husband’s face was now beginning to disappear. Even though the affection he showed could be considered a deception, Seoryeong still enjoyed it fully. Kim Hyeon was her first family, no matter what anyone said.
“Can you say now that we should separate?”
“……”
His words made Kim Hyeon’s eyes tremble violently.
“Don’t tell me to wait again because you won’t be coming back.”
The man who had difficulty swallowing suddenly turned his body away. He held the blindfold tightly, as if building a wall with force, as if accepting an unfair demand. But even that hand felt fake. It seemed his hands were cleaner than other agents.
“Don’t keep those useless clothes.”
“……”
“And thank you for your hard work. Please say that.”
Seoryeong lifted her bright face, as if she were standing in front of the house door that day. But this time, the hesitant and anxious expression was gone.
“Hurry up, Hyeon, you have to go home from work too, right?”
The back that was turned as if in refusal felt as hard as a wall, but his hunched shoulders looked fragile, as if tired of bearing the weight. After a moment of silence, the man finally began to walk slowly. Kim Hyeon’s shadow grew closer, as if embracing his back, and the sound of fabric rubbing against itself covered her vision. His weak hands slowly retied her blindfold.
“Don’t wait alone anymore, and just throw away my clothes.”
“……”
“Seoryeong, every morning you like to throw off the blanket, so adjust the temperature accordingly, be careful with the knife when cooking in the kitchen. Before I leave, I will sharpen the knives very well. When crossing the street, be careful of cars, and if no one is picking you up, don’t go out at night.”
“……”
“From now on, there will be no more making you wait alone.”
Finally, Seoryeong simply moved her wrist to fill in the last empty column with her signature.
“…Thank you for your hard work.”
There was a tightness in her chest. The trembling pen finally completed the signature with the worst handwriting. Black ink soaked the paper and expanded in a circular shape.
“But if I stand in front of that door again…―”
Suddenly, a choked sound felt locked up like a trapped animal.
“No one can get out.”
With that, her vision was blocked again, and her wrists were tied. The sound of Kim Hyeon’s footsteps slowly ascending the iron stairs could be heard through the floor. Just like that day, Kim Hyeon opened the door and left. Seoryeong was forced to take a deep breath to suppress the surging wave of emotions within her.
“――”
As the heavy footsteps shook the stairs, she remembered his face tearing at his skin, unbuttoning his shirt one by one, and erasing the change in his voice. Once he reached the ground, Kim Hyeon would surely disappear without a trace. Seoryeong didn’t know exactly where she was, but she began to push her body towards the door. However, the chair didn’t break as before, and only her shoulder blades ached. Then, the forgotten hunger returned, slowly draining the strength from her body. How many minutes had passed? Maybe about thirty minutes, or even an hour. Just then, the door opened loudly and the sound of shoes was heard.
“Now, you can go.”
Several men who appeared to be NIS agents unlocked her handcuffs and told her in a flat voice. Immediately after that, Seoryeong, like someone freed from shackles, took off her blindfold and ran out. It seemed like too much time had passed. The anxiety that all her efforts might be in vain made the nails on her fingers start to peel. She had to chase Kim Hyeon. As her body was thrown out of the building into the outside light, the loud honk of a motorcycle was heard and she fell backward.
“Ouch―! Damn it, watch where you’re going!”
Her head spun, but a small laugh escaped her lips. All the signboards around were written in Korean.
“Ha…!”
What… am I in Korea? Not knowing if she had been flying for a whole day, her sense of time had become blurred. She immediately checked her pockets, but the tactical vest that had been useful was gone, and the cell phone she was supposed to have was on the cargo ship. I can’t miss this opportunity…! Seoryeong started running without paying attention to her surroundings.
“Hey, hey, hey―! Damn it, you thieving bastard―!”
Seoryeong grabbed the cell phone that had fallen from the overturned motorcycle and immediately dialed the number she had memorized. Her breath was ragged, as if her heart was about to burst. As soon as the ringing stopped, Seoryeong could barely contain her excitement.
“Channa, I did it…! I succeeded!”