Chapter 7: The Murderer’s Daughter

After he had a growth spurt, he rarely tried to hold her hand, which made her feel a little sad, but when he took her hand first like he did now, it felt incredibly reassuring.

Kangeun looked down at Siheon’s hand, which was holding hers tightly.
She had heard people who didn’t know their family situation say that Kangeun was struggling to raise her younger brother.
It wasn’t entirely wrong, as the real reason she hadn’t participated in self-study sessions during her middle and high school years, using their difficult family situation as an excuse, was because she was worried about Siheon being alone.

However, Kangeun knew that she wasn’t the only one raising Siheon.
Siheon had also been a great source of support and strength for her.
Wanting to be a good noona to Siheon, and wanting to lead him on the right path, she too had tried to live an upright life.
If it weren’t for Siheon, Kangeun might have gone through a very crooked adolescence.

So, it’s okay.
Life is still manageable.
She didn’t know the exact balance in Seongho’s bank account, but there was money coming in from the bank every month as a mortgage on the house.
On top of that, they were also delivering milk, even if it was a small amount of money, so if they were frugal, they could probably hold out until Kangeun went to college.

‘If only Dad gets better, I wouldn’t wish for anything more.’

As if to cut off Kangeun’s thoughts, which were about to turn gloomy, Siheon turned around and spoke first.

“Looks like a big fire broke out.”
“Yeah, it seems so.
If it happened during the night, at least there wouldn’t be any casualties.
I guess we should be thankful for that.”
“Hmm…”

Come to think of it, her vision was indeed all gray.
She had just thought it was a particularly cloudy day, not realizing that smoke from the fire had filled the entire neighborhood.

“Should we go to the library today for a change?”
“Sounds good.”
“Then after breakfast… Ah!”

It was the moment they entered the alley, contemplating how to spend the weekend.
Hyungjoo’s mom, who lived next door, brushed past Kangeun, hitting her shoulder hard.
She looked frantic as she ran off.

“Ahjumoni…?”
“Noona, are you okay?”

Kangeun watched the back of Hyungjoo’s mom disappearing over Siheon’s shoulder, who was checking on her.
Her hair was disheveled, and she was barefoot.
Anyone could tell she had just woken up.
Furthermore, she was alone, without Hyungjoo, whom she always carried on her back.

Suddenly, a sense of anxiety washed over her again.
It was the smell of a misfortune she wanted to forget.
Kangeun stood there blankly, watching Hyungjoo’s mom, then snapped out of it when she heard a baby’s cry coming from beyond Hyungjoo’s wide-open gate.

“…What should we do?”
“It’s the weekend.
Ahjussi must be home.
I asked if your shoulder is okay.”
“I’m fine.
But Hyungjoo won’t stop crying.
Is there no one home…?”

Hyungjoo’s family, whose father worked at the blanket factory, had been their neighbors for quite a long time, living just a wall apart.
So, Kangeun often looked after Hyungjoo for short periods, so it felt natural to step inside the house.
Kangeun picked up Hyungjoo, who was crying his eyes out alone in the room.

“Mom will be back soon.
Is Hyungjoo hungry?
Shall we have some food?”

Hyungjoo, who had just started on baby food, seemed to recognize Kangeun, whom he saw often, and stopped crying.
Even if she didn’t know what urgent matter Hyungjoo’s mom had, even if she didn’t know where Hyungjoo’s dad had gone, she couldn’t leave a crying child alone.

“Let’s have a hearty breakfast today.
I want to.”
“Okay.”

It was a day that felt inexplicably unsettling.
Opening the gate, Kangeun saw her father’s shoes carelessly placed below the big room and felt a sense of relief, but at the same time, she pouted.
They weren’t there when she left to deliver milk, so he must have come home in the meantime.

“I need to nag Dad a little.”
“Okay.”

She boldly opened the door to the big room, holding Hyungjoo, but was at a loss for words at the sight inside.
Her father, Seongho, was sprawled out in the middle of the room, which reeked of alcohol, still wearing his coat.
On top of that, his clothes and hair were covered in white fluff, fallen leaves, and dirt, as if he had been rolling around somewhere all night.

Losing even the will to nag, Kangeun turned away with a sigh.
As if he understood her feelings, Siheon comforted her with his eyes and took Hyungjoo from her.

And that afternoon, the police came to their house.

****

“A thousand won’s worth of bean sprouts, please.”

The shop owner clicked his tongue with a “tsk”.
He glared at her with displeasure and held out the bean sprouts in a black plastic bag.
The amount, which didn’t even fill half of the black bag, was very little for a thousand won’s worth, but Kangeun took it without complaint.

“Thank you.”

As Kangeun turned away, the old man’s cold voice stabbed her in the back.

“You’re that murderer’s daughter, aren’t you?”
“…”
“Don’t come here anymore.
Next time, I won’t sell you anything.”
“…Yes.”

How far had the rumors spread?
She had come to the next neighborhood to avoid the people who shunned her, but since they told her she couldn’t come here either, she would have to go even further from now on.

Thinking that, Kangeun glanced down at her worn-out sneakers and took a step forward.
The coarse salt that the old man had sprinkled flew and painfully scratched her ankles, which were exposed below her skirt.

If you asked if it was unfair, well… I’m not sure.

On a weekend afternoon two years ago, the peaceful daily life that Kangeun had tried so hard to protect was shattered into pieces.
She had just returned from the library with Siheon and was preparing an early dinner when the police suddenly showed up.
It was because her father was on the list of suspects for the arson at the blanket factory.

“It’s not true!
My dad is not that kind of person!
He was a firefighter!”

Kangeun shouted, following Seongho who was being led away with a dazed face, not yet sober.
She chased after them barefoot, pleading with the police, but the police said there were two witnesses and got into the car they had parked at the end of the alley, leaving her behind.

“Noona!
What’s wrong, what happened?”
“What do I do, Siheon-ah.
Sob, what do I do…”

Siheon, who was on his way back from an errand, saw Kangeun standing alone and dazed in the alley and ran to her.
Kangeun leaned on Siheon, who held her, and cried, then belatedly headed to the police station.

“Ahjussi, you don’t have any evidence that my dad did it!”
“We’re looking for it.”
“While you’re looking, at least let my dad go home.
What kind of law is it to detain someone as a criminal when it’s not even certain?”

After that, she went back and forth between school, the police station, and home, insisting on her father’s innocence.
However, the police and the people in the neighborhood thought differently.
Since the exact cause of the fire had not been identified, the witnesses’ statements played a large role, and both witnesses had pointed to Seongho as the suspect.

“There are two people who saw the student’s father loitering around the blanket factory that day!”
“They could have been mistaken.
How could they accurately identify a person in that dark dawn?
Huh?”

The two witnesses testified that the person wandering in the corner of the blanket factory that dawn was definitely Seongho.
They said that Seongho was staggering around, holding a black bag suspected of containing flammable materials, and snooping around a secluded area of the factory.

With the consistent statements from the witnesses, the distrust of the neighborhood people, who had disliked her always-drunk father, was added, and the suspicion soon solidified into certainty.

“This is not something a student should be getting involved in!
Do you think we’re just playing around?
Three people died!
The person we’re trying to catch is not just an arsonist, but a murderer!”

At the time of the fire, two people were on duty at the factory.
The factory manager, who belatedly heard the news of the fire, rushed to the scene and jumped into the flames to try to save the employees inside, but in the end, all three died.

One of the two people who had been on duty was Hyungjoo’s father, who lived next door to Kangeun.
Hyungjoo’s mother, who had fallen asleep early with her child and didn’t know about the fire, received a call from the hospital early in the morning.
And that was when she had run into Kangeun and Siheon entering the alley.

That was why Hyungjoo’s mom had left the crying Hyungjoo alone and ran out barefoot, and why she hadn’t even looked back after pushing Kangeun’s shoulder.

Kangeun, who had been running around trying to prove her father’s innocence, heard the news of Hyungjoo’s father’s death much later.
That day, at a loss for words, she was about to cross the threshold of her house when Hyungjoo’s mom, who had rushed out in mourning clothes, grabbed her by the hair.

“Ahjumoni…!”
“Your dad!
Your dad killed my husband!”
“…”
“Our Hyungjoo’s dad!
Our Hyungjoo’s, dad!”

Siheon threw himself in to stop her, but it was no use.
The cries of the young mother, who had lost her husband to the flames and was crying and shuddering as if she couldn’t breathe, moved the hearts of many people.
Everyone in the neighborhood pitied her, and they cursed Go Seongho, who had brought misfortune to the young wife, as a worthless scoundrel and a murderer.

“I knew it.
I knew that man would cause a big accident one day.
He was always just drinking.”
“The witness said so.
He went into the corner of the blanket factory with a heavy-looking bag.
What do you think was in it?
It’s obvious.
Charcoal briquettes or a butane gas can, something like that, right?”
“That’s what I’m saying.
Unless he was trying to set a fire, what other reason would there be to stagger into every corner of the blanket factory?”
“One worthless human has completely ruined the neighborhood!”

At home, at school, sharp gazes followed Kangeun.
She tried to pretend she couldn’t hear the neighborhood residents chattering behind her back, but as time passed, Kangeun grew tired.