Family on paper

Love Maze 00-5

They said there was a car accident. It was a common hit-and-run accident in South Korea. My father was getting out of the car, so he only suffered minor bruises, and my mother...

아버지

“⋯I’m sorry, ma’am. It wasn’t me who got off, I’m really⋯ really sorry.”

여주

“⋯It couldn’t be helped. It’s okay.”

It can't be helped. Yes, it was inevitable. Those who have it are destined to live somehow, and those who don't are destined to die somehow. I said it was inevitable.

I couldn't bear to stay in the funeral parlor where my mother's photo was displayed, so I dragged my heavy body and ran up the stairs. Perhaps I had anticipated this. Strangely, I didn't shed a tear.

My mother was my only family, and the person I loved most. That fact remained unchanged, but a part of my heart felt empty…

여주

“⋯Then am I going to be abandoned?”

I desperately needed to find a way to survive. I pulled out my phone from my pocket and started searching for orphanages, foster homes, and studio apartments. I even looked for part-time jobs, but no sane adult would hire a young child who had just started middle school.

김태형

"hey."

여주

“⋯.”

김태형

“You there.”

여주

“⋯?”

김태형

“Aren’t you going home?”

I was leaning my head against the railing, my head down, blankly, when someone called out from behind me. It was Kim Taehyung. His tone was curt as usual, but his message felt affectionate. Ah, maybe it's because I don't have a home anymore.

여주

“⋯Where do you live?”

김태형

"what?"

여주

“My mother is dead. Your house is no longer our house.”

김태형

“What the hell are you talking about?”

I thought he was picking a fight with Kim Taehyung, who suddenly started swearing at me, but when I looked at his face, he had a look of genuine incomprehension. It was so obvious that I wondered if I'd said something wrong.

Kim Taehyung approached with a shaky gait, his hands in his pockets. Standing tall for his age, he reached me, crouched on the stairs with his long legs, in an instant.

김태형

“What is your name?”

여주

“⋯?”

김태형

“What’s your name?”

‘Why is this kid acting like this all of a sudden?’

Even though we hadn't spoken a word in two years of living together, I knew his name. Unable to grasp his intentions, I frowned and kept my mouth shut. Then Kim Taehyung urged me on.

김태형

"name."

여주

“⋯Yeoju. Why are you asking when you already know?”

김태형

“Even the last name is attached.”

여주

“Ha… Kim Yeo-ju. My name is Kim Yeo-ju. Why on earth are you doing this?”

김태형

“Yes. You’re Kim Yeo-ju. Not Han Yeo-ju, but Kim Yeo-ju.”

여주

“⋯.”

⋯Ah. Only then did I realize why Kim Taehyung was asking my name. It wasn't Han Yeoju, which was named after my mother, but Kim Yeoju, which was named after Kim Taehyung's father. So Kim Taehyung was asking me⋯.

김태형

“What are you doing? Are you going to live here?”

I wonder if he wanted to say the word family.