"Is mother-in-law an important person to I-yeon?"
"…I suppose so?"
Kwon Chae-woo, who had been staring intently at I-yeon's face, finally nodded.
"Then she's someone I need to make a good impression on."
"No, you don't have to go that far—"
Before she could finish speaking, he turned his head toward Chu-ja.
"Mother-in-law, I'm sorry but I might not be able to keep the promise I made before the wedding."
"I know. I've known since I was bedridden."
Chu-ja replied nonchalantly.
"I-yeon tells me you're kind and well-mannered."
"Hmmo, that's right."
Chu-ja smiled meaningfully while meeting I-yeon's eyes. That sinister smile seemed to say 'You sure talked me up well for once,' making I-yeon feel like her face was on fire.
"It seems it will take some time for me to become the husband I-yeon remembers."
"I know, of course I understand."
"But it won't take too long. The doctor said there's still an inertia trying to return to my original self, so it shouldn't be that difficult."
I-yeon's flinching was clearly visible from Chu-ja's seat.
"I-yeon, then when should I start going to work?"
"You're… going to work?"
When I-yeon's eyes went wide, he instead narrowed his brows.
"Aren't you upset that you've been suffering alone all this time?"
"No, but… You could rest enough! Kwon Chae-woo, you should just focus on recovery. That way I'd feel at ease too…."
She absentmindedly rubbed her pants with her sweaty palms.
"Chae-woo."
"Yes?"
Suddenly he draped his arm over the sofa back and tilted his head against it.
"Chae-woo."
"…."
"Call me Chae-woo."
His voice was eerily low as he pressed her while meeting her eyes directly. His eyes, looking up from a lowered head, had turned into an unsettling three-white-eyed stare that was chilling.
I-yeon froze as if a knife had been pressed to her throat. Kwon Chae-woo buried his face in his forearm at the woman's suddenly pale complexion. However, the raised ends of his eyebrows remained clearly visible.
"Do I not look like a man to you anymore?"
For some reason, she couldn't move a single finger. The atmosphere felt in that split second reminded her of when their eyes first met in the mountains.
He lifted his head and pressed his temple firmly with his index finger.
"I'm a deficient guy with only one thing in my head."
"…."
"Your face."
I-yeon felt the plush sofa suddenly become like a bed of thorns.
"I-yeon doesn't know what this feels like."
"…."
"It's… maddening."
He furrowed his brows deeply as if suppressing something.
"Everything I have is a woman's face I don't know. And if even that fades away, what would become of me."
I-yeon couldn't take her eyes off Kwon Chae-woo's face as he let out a forced laugh with a grim expression. This shouldn't happen. This really makes no sense. He looked pitiful.
"I guess I'll end up being a bad husband."
He reached out and gently rubbed I-yeon's cheek. Her heart raced. From fear, from his cold fingertips, from terror that he might be holding a rope or syringe. Her heart pounded like someone who had just run a hundred meters.
Chu-ja muttered to herself while watching the stiffened I-yeon.
"An unusual energy has entered."
Chu-ja subtly took out her phone and searched for someone's contact.
'First, I need to find out exactly who Kwon Chae-woo is.'
* * *
That night.
I-yeon stayed alone on the first floor using work as an excuse.
Today, she absolutely would not fall asleep with him.
Actually, she wanted to close the second-floor door, but before she could put her resolve into action, the door lock was broken. Most likely Kwon Chae-woo's doing.
The man she had glimpsed in the room then was doing push-ups. His upper body glistened with sweat, and his lower body wore only loose pants. Even as he mechanically repeated the motion of lowering and rising close to the floor, his breathing remained perfectly steady.
His flat back, the indented center line of his waist, his taut tendons, the consistently maintained speed. His recovery was threateningly fast. If she thought back to the vegetative man who had simply lain powerless, this dissonance was almost unpleasant.
'Plants are easy, but beasts are troublesome.'
Ding, ding, ding.
"…!"
A clock chime cut through her wandering thoughts.
I-yeon hurried into her bedroom, breathless even in the moment of locking the door, the back of her head tight. Since sunset, she had been constantly thinking only about how to safely get through this night.
Sure enough, a short while later.
—Knock knock.
"…!"
"I-yeon."
A man's foot shadow showed through the peeling paint below the bedroom door. The old door that didn't fully close but slightly gaped had never bothered her this much before.
I-yeon pulled the blanket over herself and curled into a ball.
'Go away…!'
She repeated to herself like driving away a creditor. But she knew from childhood experience. Such mercy would never be granted to her.
Rattle, rattle. The door handle shook roughly enough to nearly tear off. I-yeon bit her lower lip and desperately pretended to sleep.
"I-yeon, open the door."
Her flesh trembled at the emotionless voice. If she could see the man's eyes standing alone, that sentiment might have been less. But his damp voice, as if wearing a gas mask, frightened I-yeon enough.
"…."
"…."
The silence was sharp as needles. How many minutes passed like that? Creak—a friction sound came from the wooden floor.
I-yeon quickly threw off the blanket she had been under. Only at the sound of him moving away did she finally breathe.
How would he take this situation where the person claiming to be his wife was avoiding her husband? But the moment the clock chimed, her body moved before she had time to think.
It was the moment I-yeon quietly got out of bed and pressed her ear to the door.
"Did you think I left?"
"…!"
She started and covered her mouth. As she stepped back hesitantly, he continued.
"Where are you going. Come closer."
Looking down, his foot shadow showed again through the door gap. Kwon Chae-woo was probably watching her retreating shadow as well.
Then what was that creaking sound just now….
I-yeon pressed down her racing heart to calm herself.
"Press yourself against the door. I don't smell I-yeon."
"Wh-what…."
"Didn't you know? You smell like wet grass on I-yeon."
—Thump!
Then the entire door vibrated. I-yeon stepped back as if avoiding something ramming iron bars. Perhaps from the momentary vibration, the light bulb she hadn't yet replaced flickered out then came back on. Her palms somehow grew damp.
"Without I-yeon, I don't even know what I am."
Kwon Chae-woo murmured with his forehead pressed against the door panel.
"Even with arms and legs attached, it doesn't feel real, whether I'm even human."
Grrr, scrape. The sound of fingernails scratching the door grazed her skin. Why did the bedroom she fled to escape Kwon Chae-woo feel like being trapped in a jar? The man was like a ghost trying to enter this place, and so he endlessly bewitched I-yeon.
"So tell me this isn't a dream—"
He bumped his forehead once more.
"Tell me I'm not crazy."
"…."
"Old stories are fine. Even pathetic stories are fine, just give me the certainty that I existed."
—Thump!
His breathing was rough. Even without touching, it seemed like hot breath was boiling.
I-yeon knew he could easily break down this shabby door and come in, but Kwon Chae-woo didn't do that. No, he couldn't. He just scratched the door, bumped against it, and suffered.
Then an inexplicable tremor ran down her spine.
Kind, dignified, gentle….
The nonsense she had spouted to suppress Kwon Chae-woo's wicked nature—evidence that it had worked was right before her eyes.
The empty man shaped himself only through I-yeon. Realizing this fact, her chest rose and fell greatly.
"…Kwon Chae-woo."
At her voice, the metallic door handle rattled again. I-yeon clasped her hands together and took one large breath.
"I'm naked right now, getting ready to wash…!"
So she wordlessly suggested he have some manners. At the same time, she was curious how far he was prepared to follow her words.
"And the shampoo ran into my eyes, so they sting."
"…."
"Isn't the situation a bit bad for telling old stories?"
Suddenly, outside the door became eerily quiet to a frightening degree. When he had been shaking it roughly like a typhoon hitting, when was that. He withdrew all emotion and melted into the night air. It was a change in the blink of an eye.
Finally, "Yes," a heavy low tone resonated. It was a slightly delayed answer.
"Sleep well, for now."
Those were the words she had wanted so desperately to hear, yet something felt unresolved. I-yeon rubbed her cold fingertips without letting down her guard.