Ch#196
"Grandma, you caught a cold?"
Tie asked in a worried voice.
Chae Bok-su quickly shook her head.
"No, no. Just somethin' stuck in my throat again. Eat up quick."
The child nodded reluctantly.
Chae Bok-su quietly set down her spoon while watching Astie eat.
She slipped the bloodstained handkerchief into her pocket under the table.
"Fried eggs are the best!"
Seeing the child giggle even over the meager side dishes made her nose tingle.
'Poor thing.'
Her heart grew heavy looking at the child's father seated beside her too.
'If only Mr. Kim would snap out of it soon......'
Chae Bok-su swallowed a sigh with a heavy heart.
This morning.
The first thing she did upon waking was check on Tie and Tese tan.
She had doubted if yesterday's events were all just a dream.
But Astie had truly returned.
And Mr. Kim, whom she'd thought dead, had come back alive too—enough to make ghosts weep, but it was real.
Chae Bok-su rose from her seat.
Pretending to fetch water, she poured the rice from Astie's bowl straight back into the rice cooker.
The doctor's voice from earlier that day echoed in her ears.
'Ma'am, you can't keep being so stubborn like this. You need to be hospitalized right away. We can't even do chemo with all this vomiting blood. You'll really be in trouble!'
A self-mocking laugh escaped her parched lips.
'Hospital now? What for.'
Money aside, the illness had already progressed far by the time it was found.
Lucky to last a few more months, they'd said.
So even moving around this much now was a miracle.
'When you're old, you die.'
Above all, Bok-su wasn't optimistic enough to cling greedily to a hopeless life.
'Still......'
Chae Bok-su gazed quietly at Tie's crown.
The recent few years.
A bundle of joy had rolled into her unlucky life, bringing fun and frolic.
Even knowing she'd die tomorrow, these were days she'd remember fondly.
But aside from that, her life had always been unlucky and harsh.
Day in, day out, struggling, tumbling, falling......
'So, you're asking me to take care of your mother now?'
Her son's voice, reached with difficulty, came to mind, making Bok-su clear her throat.
"......Ahem."
Tie's bowl on the table was already empty before she knew it.
"Eat slower. Chew properly."
Seeing Tese tan nag matter-of-factly made her chest ache once more.
'No matter how you look at it.'
He didn't seem completely out of his mind.
Of course, Tese tan didn't recognize Bok-su.
He even insisted he wasn't Tie's father, which was absurd.
'But when I showed him the photos and videos, he nearly burst into tears.'
His gaze toward the child and how he treated her hadn't changed from before.
The vanished urn was certainly strange, but......
Chae Bok-su shook her head to herself.
'Whatever about that urn.'
For now, she should just be grateful his mind was holding together this much.
'Not running off and leaving the child behind is something.'
At that moment, Tie, finished eating, jumped up from her seat.
"Ahh, so full! Thanks for the meal!"
Tese tan naturally began clearing the table.
Claiming he'd forgotten everything from one to ten.
His neat, methodical housekeeping skills were intact too.
"Grandma, watch Tie sing with me!"
Tie rubbed her face against Bok-su's pant leg, pleading.
But Chae Bok-su hesitated before replying.
"Baby, you're supposed to take a nap soon."
She looked up at Tese tan.
"Mr. Kim."
Tese tan froze mid-stacking dishes.
Chae Bok-su beckoned him with a serious face.
"Come out a sec. I wanna talk with you."
Tie tilted her head.
But the child soon sat obediently in front of the TV.
As Bok-su stepped out of the room, Tese tan followed with an expressionless face.
The moment the door closed, Bok-su scanned the surroundings.
To check if anyone was nearby.
Confirming the alley empty, she dragged Tese tan to the far end opposite.
"Mr. Kim, no. Young-su."
Under the streetlamp light.
Tese tan lifted his gaze.
His eyes, neither brown nor green but a strange hue, stared steadily at Chae Bok-su.
Chae Bok-su held back the lump in her throat and parted her lips.
"I was gonna let it be, but I'm gettin' too anxious."
She gripped Tese tan's hand tightly.
"You gotta snap out of it quick. What happened to make you like this? Did ya do somethin' wrong thinkin' just eat and live?"
After Tie went missing.
Bok-su had entertained such thoughts a few times.
Maybe Tese tan had taken the child.
She'd received the urn, but she hadn't seen his body with her own eyes.
"I know it's nonsense. But ya see it in movies sometimes! Fakin' death, stealin' someone else's identity to hide and live!"
"......"
"Young-su, you did that, right? Took the baby and ran, right? Got hurt somewhere along the way, right?"
Tese tan gave no answer.
Tears of frustration finally welled in Bok-su's eyes.
"Aigoo. If you ran, at least live well. Why come back here...... Me too, I'm old now, no use to anyone."
"......"
"It's different from before. Truth is, I...... truth is......"
Her wrinkled hand trembled finely against her unyielding lips.
"You're vomiting blood."
Tese tan murmured.
Bok-su startled and looked up.
"H-How'd you know that?"
"I saw. Earlier."
Bok-su hesitated and released Tese tan's hand.
Tese tan continued.
"Astie doesn't know."
Only then did Bok-su stagger in place.
After gulping for air several times, she leaned against the alley wall.
The yellow streetlamp cast shadows on her face.
"Are you dying?"
A flat question came.
Turning her head, Tese tan was still gazing calmly at her.
"Haha......"
Laughter escaped her lips.
It was strange.
Asked so matter-of-factly, her mind felt at ease instead.
Bok-su squatted down in place.
"......Yeah. They say my insides are all rotted out."
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry my foot. You get sick, you die. That's natural."
Yet the tears she'd held back welled in her eyes.
Bok-su sighed and looked at Tese tan.
"But seein' you like this, Young-su. Suddenly my own death feels daunting."
"......"
"Don't hurt that child, please. Huh?"
"......"
"That little thing relied on you so much. You gotta keep bein' her pillar. What're you gonna do makin' a kid lean on a mountain of a man like she's clingin' to a booger......!"
Tese tan shut his mouth wordlessly.
His complicated gaze made him slowly crouch down too.
A long while later, Tese tan spoke in a barely audible voice.
"About that."
"That?"
"You showed it with this."
Tese tan pointed to her cell phone.
Chae Bok-su quickly opened the phone in her hand.
"Video? Want me to show more?"
Tese tan nodded.
Bok-su fumbled to open the case and clumsily tapped the album with awkward fingers.
Numerous photos and videos scrolled up on the screen.
Bok-su deliberately held the phone toward Tese tan.
"Here, what first. You pick."
Tese tan hesitated before pressing one.
Tie and his image began playing on the screen.
Bok-su watched Tese tan focus on the video with hopeful eyes.
That was when.
"......Young-su?"
A trembling voice came from the dark end of the alley.
The first to react wasn't Tese tan, but Chae Bok-su.
As Bok-su stood, Tese tan slowly rose too.
That was the moment room 107's door opened.
"Grandma, when did you......"
Tie, peeking out, met the other's eyes.
Tie's eyes widened, then a small voice escaped her lips.
"Aunt from this floor......?"
"Oh my god, oh my, oh my! Tie!"
Aunt Jeong Myung-ja from 203.
She dropped her market basket and hugged Tie tightly.
