TIN 134

Fled.

While feeling deflated, I was also relieved. The ominous feeling that had been creeping up my spine seemed to finally fade away.

At least she didn’t die on that island.

At least she hadn’t died.

Learning that Yoon Ji-soo had lived on the island meant that those people looking for her had discovered her whereabouts. This fact wasn’t particularly surprising, and I was just glad she had managed to escape safely.

However, what I couldn’t understand was…

‘Don’t ever get caught…’

Why did she send me away first? Couldn’t we have left together, like when we headed to the island?

I knew it was easier to be alone than to have someone to look after. That was why I too had pushed everyone away and walked alone.

I just didn’t want to admit it. The fact that I had been a burden to her, that we were destined to part ways eventually.

“It must have been that man’s doing.”

The elderly woman seemed to have reached a similar conclusion about Yoon Ji-soo’s absence. Her face grew serious as she lowered her eyes, appearing as if she was quite angry.

“She must have fled when he tracked her down there.”

It was an incomprehensible obsession. Yoon Ji-soo had no connection to him. Even the child in her womb wasn’t Chairman Joo’s.

“That was 16 years ago now.”

The elderly woman said she kept going back at first, desperately searching, but her visits became less frequent as time passed. She hadn’t given up on Yoon Ji-soo, just on the island. The repeated fruitless efforts must have worn her down considerably.

“I never once thought she was dead. I lived thinking she must be doing well somewhere, that she’d come to see us someday.”

The hearts of those who wait were always similar, and when patience wears thin, it was only natural to start searching yourself. Just as I had gone through countless steps to get here. And just as the elderly woman now carefully asked me, “Child…”

“…”

“You don’t know where Ji-soo is either?”

That was what I wanted to ask. The long story hadn’t led to Yoon Ji-soo’s whereabouts. While disappointing, I had somehow expected this, making my answer come out rather naturally.

“No, I don’t know either.”

Where could she be? Even wondering about this now felt futile. If Sae couldn’t even find Yoon Ji-soo, how could I? That sense of helplessness began to follow me around.

“I see…I see.”

A similar resignation appeared on the elderly woman’s face. Perhaps she too had held some hope when meeting me. Hope that she might see ‘our Ji-soo’ again after 16 years.

“Our Ji-soo…she’s your mother, isn’t she?”

I couldn’t even part my lips at the elderly woman’s final question. How should I answer? My unwavering heart now swayed like a reed in the wind.

Finally, I slowly moved my lips while looking at the elderly woman.

***

The woman didn’t return to the room until our conversation ended. I could tell she deliberately avoided hearing the story when I saw her squat in the yard, busily cleaning seaweed.

The woman, who was washing seaweed with a hose connected to the yard, belatedly sensed my presence and turned to look at me.

“Done talking? How’s grandmother?”

While the story about Yoon Ji-soo was over, the elderly woman seemed to need time to collect herself. When I pointed to the room door to indicate she was still inside, the woman nodded as if understanding.

“So, did you learn what you wanted to know?”

“Thanks to you.”

In the end, I couldn’t find out Yoon Ji-soo’s whereabouts. But learning how she had lived here could be considered a significant lead. Plus there was the album the elderly woman had shown me.

“Oh, it’s nothing to thank me for.”

The woman snorted. Not mockingly, but as if to say such thanks weren’t necessary.

“Actually, I was too young to remember much. I just know what happened from looking at the photos.”

When Yoon Ji-soo stayed here, the woman was only six years old. While she might have vague memories, she wouldn’t know all the details like the elderly woman did.

“Still, I remember Ji-soo unni being good to me. It was shortly after my mom passed away, so I relied on her more. Maybe because I don’t remember well, I wanted to meet her more as I grew up.”

But she said she simultaneously didn’t want to meet. Memories should remain as memories to stay beautiful, she explained, worried she might be disappointed if the person turned out to be different when they met again.

‘I picked up a person when I was young.’

Come to think of it, Joo Do-hwa was also six when he found me. While this woman barely remembers Yoon Ji-soo, I wondered how much Joo Do-hwa remembers of me. Perhaps his search for his “hyung” was also due to idealized memories.

“Is this…a village?”

As if cutting off my thoughts, I looked around the yard and asked the woman. High walls surrounded the yard with its wooden platform, and beyond them would be the sea where I had lost consciousness.

“It’s a village, but this is private property so no one comes in. It’s our land.”

She said it was property passed down since her grandmother’s grandmother, and she naturally continued the family business. It must have been her predetermined future since childhood.

“Ji-soo unni rarely went outside either. So people don’t really know who lives in our house.”

A perfect environment for keeping someone confined. And simultaneously, perfect for hiding someone.

While I hadn’t gone outside the main gate, I knew they weren’t the only ones living nearby. Like the people who had gossiped about the woman’s father in the elderly woman’s story.

But thinking about that raised a new question in my mind.

“How do you manage to live by the sea?”

Long ago, after the sea was closed off, common people including fishermen were banned from accessing it. Going to the sea required Sae Group’s permission, and even then, only the upper class could do so.

But these two didn’t appear to be from that class. While they seemed to live comfortably, that wasn’t necessarily evidence of power. I could tell by how they called me and Yoon Ji-soo “young master/miss from a noble house” and maintained a subtle distance.

“How do we live? We just do.”

The woman pulled seaweed from the water with a dismissive response. The initially clear water had turned greenish and sticky.

I thought she might not have understood my question, but then she added mockingly, “Those great people wouldn’t do this kind of miscellaneous work with their own hands.”

“…Ah.”

It was surprisingly logical. It instantly explained why they were here.

The sea was the source of all things and couldn’t just be enjoyed for tourism. Even when closed off, they couldn’t ignore its many resources. Especially things like salt.

Those high-and-mighty people who wouldn’t even prepare their own meals wouldn’t do such troublesome work themselves. They’d just make others do it. They would inevitably need some fishermen.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t properly introduced myself. I’m Seokyung.”

The woman changed the subject as if trying to lighten the mood. It was a name I already knew from the elderly woman.

“Don’t just stand there, go inside and rest. You’ll be staying here for a while anyway.”

She spoke as if it was already decided. Perhaps she thought I would be staying since the elderly woman had a habit of bringing in guests.

“If you were here looking like that, you must have your reasons.”

She didn’t ask about those reasons. Seokyung warned me subtly, as if she understood my circumstances well enough.

“It’s dangerous outside because of the navy.”

My prediction that news would travel slowly in a closed-off area had been spot on. Just look at how Seo-kyung and her grandmother thought of Yoon Ji-soo rather than the person from the flyers when they saw me.

So even if I wandered around like this, no one would recognize me. They might even think I was from an important family because of my blue eyes.

However, there was just one thing to be careful about, the navy guarding the sea.

While the military belonged to the nation, Sae Group held that nation in the palm of their hands. 

Information unknown to civilians might be shared among soldiers. In a sense, I was a wanted criminal, so there was a high possibility they knew my face.

“Don’t worry about money or anything. Grandmother would say the same.”

It was a kind offer. Most people wouldn’t refuse when they said they wouldn’t take money.

But I didn’t have time to leisurely enjoy the peace here.

“No.”

Why did I push away Theo and Ling ling’s hands? Why did I refuse Kei’s help and come here alone? And why did Yoon Ji-soo take that young child and sail alone?

“I’ll be going now.”

The sense of crisis that I could be caught at any time wasn’t something easily dismissed. I didn’t think I had completely escaped just because I reached the sea.

And I had something I needed to do.

“I want to go to that island.”