Cinnamon Candy - Episode 139
139
Episode 139
* * *
I could barely hear who had put weights on my eyelids. It’s difficult to even lift a finger, and my legs and arms don’t feel like they’re attached to my body. It’s hard to even move my lips. My throat hurt too. My head was pounding and I was extremely thirsty.
Seonju opened her eyes with all the strength she had from breastfeeding. Her sky turned yellow. A swarm of light stung her eyes painfully, and her eyebrows wrinkled. Tears welled up in my dry eyes and fell down.
I blinked and turned my head. At the side of her bed was curly black fur like the beast she had seen in her dream. It took quite a while to wake up my little finger and my arm, but I finally did it. Her fingers crawled up the sheets and touched her hair. I liked the soft, cool feel, so I pushed my hand in a little more.
The black head twitched under my fingers. The head buried under the arm slowly lifted up. The eyelashes that had been hanging down slowly rose upward. The brown eyes hidden within Byeol’s yellow eyes looked at Seonju.
At first it widened as if I was seeing an incredible scene, but then slowly blurred. Water accumulated in the dried egg white, like a well filling up. It looked cold, but the shipowner knew that temperature. It was the water that soaked my body until I woke up from the dream.
“-i like you.”
The ship owner was wondering if he would ever close his eyes again, and the whispered words were urgent. The voice was very deep. Kwon Hee-seong grabbed the shipowner’s hand. The back of his hand was shaking slightly. He seemed scared, but his grip was strong, as if he wouldn’t let go.
“love you.”
Kwon Hee-seong took his hand and buried his cheek on it. Tears pooled on my palms. I wanted to wipe it, but the hand holding it had no strength. Seonju looked up at him silently.
“If it’s a dream, I won’t wake up.”
I wanted to tell you that it wasn’t a dream. I wanted to let you know that I was back in the forest, off the road to the river. However, my throat still hurt and I couldn’t hear my voice. Instead, he gathered all his strength, bent his fingers, and held Kwon Hee-seong’s hand.
The bowed head was raised. It was a face I had longed for. The scent of the forest waved like a wave, pushing away the pungent smell of disinfectant. Brown eyes became wet once again. The water droplets fell and rolled down on the back of the owner’s dry hand.
Seonju didn’t want to cry. She wanted to laugh happily. But her eyes were as wet as Kwon Hee-seong’s. Still, she smiled. It didn’t take any force to push the tip of her lips up. A line was engraved on its own, creating a hollow well on the plain left cheek. Water droplets fell and pooled on top of it.
Kwon Hee-seong stared blankly at the owner and said nothing. He stared for a while and then quietly lowered his head onto the owner’s chest. The area where his eyes touched became hot and wet.
I have a confession to make, but my voice doesn’t come out. Seonju put her mind at ease. I could wait patiently until her throat cleared. Because I know that Kwon Hee-sung will be by my side all this time. Because he knew that honest heart.
Instead of making a sound, I whispered in my heart, “Seonju is back.” Like she once called Hee-seong, over and over again.
Now it’s completely back. Into your loving arms.
* * *
Han Seon-ju woke up.
It couldn’t have been anything other than a miracle. I expected it would take at least a few months, or even years or decades if I was unlucky. At least it was fortunate that Kwon Hee-seong woke up before he completely went crazy. Hyeongwoo secretly rubbed his chest. As he watched Kwon Hee-seong grow thinner day by day, his heart was always anxious, even if he did not say anything, as to whether he would eventually pass away holding hands with Han Seon-joo.
However, with the help of heaven, Han Seon-ju returned, and Kwon Hee-seong finally regained his senses. A smile like the clear sky after a rain appeared on his face, which had lost weight and had sharper lines than before, and his eyes, which had been like the eyes of a dead fish, also had the same brilliant light as before.
Kwon Hee-seong did not try to leave for a moment next to the awakened ship owner. Unfortunately, he still had work to do. When I asked if he wanted to finish it himself, Hee-Seong Kwon unexpectedly said that he would finish it himself.
Is there any reason to stop me if I want to do it?
Hyungwoo opened the door and stepped aside. A grin could be heard between the heavy breathing. It was a creepy sound, as if it were coming from ghosts or crazy people. However, it had little effect on Kwon Hee-sung and Hyeong-woo. Whether or not Han Myeong-ju lost her mind after excessive fear and pain.
Kwon Hee-seong’s steps as he enters are light. She lifted her heel and opened the small window high up. He whispers, rubbing under her nose and making her frown. Until then, she had just done her job and left with an expressionless face, like a doll that smelled bad or was splattered with blood.
“I’d rather kill you.”
As soon as she saw Kwon Hee-sung, she started to urinate, but Han Myeong-ju couldn’t let go of her bravado. A topic that I desperately try to hide in order to save my remaining fingers. Hyungwoo hid his sneer by pretending to rub his mouth.
“Luckily, I only have one finger left.”
Kwon Hee-seong stood in front of him and chatted cheerfully. While tapping Han Myeong-ju’s toes with her toes. As soon as that was over, Han Myeong-ju quickly hid her grin and curled her toes.
Still, the poison remained, and his eyelids were swollen and he glared at Kwon Hee-seong with eyes as narrow as solid lines. Her hunched body looked half as small as before, perhaps because of the severed finger.
Hee-Seong Kwon sat down with his knees bent and was at eye level with the other person. When Han Myeong-ju shrugs her shoulders and avoids gaze, she taps her remaining finger as if to look at me. Han Myeong-ju took a deep breath and wriggled to avoid Kwon Hee-sung.
“It’s going to be difficult for you too, so I won’t talk too much about it. Do you want to take a boat or go to the farm? “But I still have to pay the debt.”
Han Myeong-ju seemed not to understand for a moment. Kwon Hee-seong kindly asked once more. Is it a farm or an ocean fishing boat?
Hyeong-woo stood somewhere out of Han Myeong-ju’s gaze and shook his head. A deep-sea fishing boat will make good use of a human with only one finger remaining. If they take it with them, they might put it in a wire net instead of bait and throw it into the sea. I heard that crustaceans and cutlassfish like human meat so much. The farm was out of the question because it was a place where the ending was decided from the beginning.
Han Myeong-ju rolled her eyes, as if she still had a desire for life. It was so swollen that I couldn’t see any changes in his expression or eyes, but the sound of his head rolling seemed to be heard all the way to where Hyeong-woo was standing.
“Farm, farm!”
Before long, Han Myeong-ju suddenly shouted loudly. It seems that they believed that the farm had a higher chance of escape and survival than the boat. Hyeongwoo clicked his tongue inwardly. Even at gambling tables, he only picks and holds bad hands, so how can he continue to pick and choose such bad hands until the end of his life?
“Okay, then. Let’s go to the farm.”
Kwon Hee-seong never asked questions. Rather, it seems like he was just waiting for Han Myeong-ju to choose the farm. He seemed annoyed. As long as Han Seon-ju woke up, Han Myeong-ju was no longer the target of her anger. He no longer even treated them as livestock. It was a level below that.
“It’s saving my life.”
“It depends on what you do.”
Kwon Hee-seong cut off the tape that bound Han Myeong-ju’s wrists and ankles with a pocket knife. As the IV needles were pulled out all at once, Han Myeong-ju fell forward and sobbed loudly. Hyungwoo let him enjoy the joy of being alive. Anyway, it was over in a few tens of minutes.
“Hyungwoo, let’s move.”
The idea was to move objects, not people. Hyeong-woo rolled up his arms and supported Han Myeong-ju’s one arm. Han Myeong-ju bowed her head and said thank you.
When told to go into the trunk, she hesitated at first, but when Kwon Hee-sung looked around the warehouse angrily, Han Myeong-ju crawled inside on her own feet. Kwon Hee-seong slammed the trunk door shut and stretched out. He looked light and relieved.
“I’ll leave the rest to my brother. Oh, what happened to the favor you asked me last time?”
I once told you to find a house. Han Seon-joo’s mother and her younger brother are planning to move to live. At the time, I didn’t think it was necessary to do that, but I didn’t complain. Isn’t it my money being spent anyway?
“I saved it. I also told my mother. “He refused at first, but then changed his mind and decided to move the luggage within this week.”
The truth was that I couldn’t believe it so I told a sweet lie. Your second child won the unranked subscription for the remaining household, but the house is empty because he has to live in another area for work. The house cannot be left empty, so the two of you must go and live there. Han Seon-ju is so busy with work that she doesn’t have time to stop by here, so I came here myself, etc.
“I just said you can bring both of them home…” … . “Seonju’s brother is a bit stubborn.”
He spat it out as if he was disappointed, but Kwon Hee-sung’s expression didn’t look like that at all. If she had really been brought in, she would have used any means to drive Han Seon-ju, her mother, and her younger brother somewhere else, said Chok, who had been watching by her all this time. Hyeongwoo just nodded, pretending not to notice.
After saying goodbye, Kwon Hee-seong got into his car. After letting him go first, Hyeongwoo took out a cigarette and asked. He must have noticed the delay, as Han Myeong-ju knocked on the door from inside the trunk and asked in a hoarse voice when he was leaving.
I didn’t even know that one cigarette added a few minutes to my life.
“I’ll be there soon.”
They say that in life, you can’t predict what’s ahead. The two younger brothers and their mother now have nothing left to do but make a comfortable living, but the other one, who pushed his family into the abyss, must end his life by being crushed by the jaws of boars. I decided to postpone judgment on whether it was retribution or Kwon Hee-seong saved the fate of his family who should have been crawling on the floor until the end.
Hyungwoo put the unburned cigarette into the disposable ashtray. Kwon Hee-seong, who came to his senses, gave it to him as a gift to remind him not to throw away the butts anywhere.
He was leisurely putting out a cigarette, but in the meantime, Han Myeong-ju was thumping in the trunk, urging Hyeong-woo on. Hyeongwoo said yes, yes and opened the driver’s door. If the customer wants, I should go, I muttered and started the car. No matter where the final destination is, my role was to provide a comfortable ride along the way.