Chapter 8: Fading Light

“…Noona.”

“Dad keeps saying it wasn’t him, but I’m starting to think that maybe he was drunk… and did what people said he did. He’s been in and out of the police station because of alcohol several times.”

“…”

“Siheon-ah, I’m tired now. I’m… tired.”

There was a time when she screamed that her father wasn’t like that, denying it with her whole body.

But Kangeun couldn’t pretend not to see the seed of distrust that had begun to grow within her.

She wanted to believe her father no matter what, but it was because the whole world shook their heads.

It was because the father who should have given her faith was still living soaked in alcohol.

But in the end, her father was released.

It was because there was no other physical evidence besides the witness’s testimony.

The police, who had to release her father after a long investigation, were extremely displeased.

They looked like they had just let go of a captured criminal.

The people in the neighborhood didn’t hide their anger either.

Although he was released without being found guilty, Go Seongho was already the culprit of the blanket factory fire that had claimed three lives in the neighborhood, and the murderer who had driven the factory owner, who had suffered tens of millions of won in damages and gone bankrupt, to suicide.

The neighbors, who said that he must have known more about fire than anyone else because he had worked as a firefighter, used Go Seongho’s usual behavior as a basis.

His credibility was at rock bottom because he had lived soaked in alcohol and had gotten into fights with the neighborhood people several times.

The cause of the fire was never found, and the anger of the people who had lost their way was directed at Kangeun’s father and daughter, and Siheon.

“Actually, those kids in that house have a gloomy side to them. They pretend to be quiet, but how do you know what they’re thinking inside?”

“I heard she never missed the top spot in school even while taking care of her father’s messes, her younger brother, and the household, without even going to a cram school.
And she got into college on a full scholarship?”

“That’s how tough she is.
She’s probably not ordinary either.
She looks like she could seduce a man.”

“What younger brother? They’re not even real siblings, I heard.”

“They don’t share a drop of blood. Their last names are different too.”

“Oh my, then why are they living in the same house?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? Do you think that murderer was clean when it came to women’s issues?”

“Oh my gosh… Seongju goes to the same school, right? Tell him not to even make eye contact with them. Don’t want their bad luck to rub off.”

With the blanket factory completely burned down, the people who worked there lost their jobs and moved away.

Because of that, the neighborhood became bleak.

But the people who had nowhere to go still remained.

Because of that, when she walked down the long alleyway, gazes like soot that couldn’t be wiped away, no matter how much she wiped, would stubbornly stick to the nape of her neck.

To the twenty-year-old her, the road home felt endlessly long.

If she went to the end of the straight alley, the old house where she was born and had lived her whole life would appear.

A house where once, her mother, father, and she had happily tended to the flowerbed and painted the gate together.

But now, what awaited her in that house was her drunk father, piles of liquor bottles, and only

Siheon, who endured the pointing fingers of the neighborhood people with her.

While being pointed at as the daughter of an arsonist, the daughter of a murderer, Kangeun endured by looking only at Siheon.

Thinking of Siheon, who had no one else in the world to rely on but her, she gritted her teeth and endured.

“I’m home.”

As soon as she opened the creaking gate, the pungent smell of alcohol made her frown.

Kangeun, who had greeted the empty air, passed the big room and went straight to the kitchen.

As always, empty soju bottles were rolling around Seongho, who was sitting in the big room.

A few pieces of soggy seaweed, which she didn’t know how long they had been there, were placed on top of a bag.

“Is our Kangeun home?”

Kangeun didn’t respond to Seongho’s greeting, which he gave as if to welcome her with his unfocused eyes.

Kangeun, who had washed her hands first, stood at the sink and turned over the bean sprout bag.
A few handfuls of bean sprouts fell out with a thud.

She had to go to the supermarket in the next neighborhood just to buy a bag of bean sprouts, but where did he buy all that liquor?

Kangeun shook off the thought that briefly crossed her mind as she placed the washed bean sprouts in a sieve.

It was better to memorize one more English word in that time.

“Even you, Kangeun, won’t make eye contact with your dad… It wasn’t me.
I didn’t set the fire…”

The lament mixed with his drunken stupor, as always, was intertwined with sleep and trailed off.

Kangeun sighed and re-tied her slightly disheveled hair.
She had to hurry and make dinner if she didn’t want to be late for her tutoring session.

Kangeun, who was hurriedly washing rice, noticed her phone vibrating and wiped her hands.

Kangeun’s face brightened as she checked the name on the screen of the phone she took out of her pocket.

“Yeah, Siheon-ah.”

The fifteen-year-old Siheon had grown up beyond recognition.

It was as if to mock Kangeun’s worries about him only growing taller and not gaining weight, he had become a teenager with broad shoulders and sturdy limbs.

His features had become more defined and his gaze had deepened, giving him a rather masculine feel.

Because of that, for some time now, Kangeun could often find groups of female students loitering near their house.

The female students, wearing the uniforms of nearby middle or high schools, all had expressions that couldn’t hide their curiosity and excitement towards the handsome young man who was unusually quiet for his age.

The rumors about her father had spread not only in Kangeun’s school but also in Siheon’s.

Nevertheless, the fact that female students with flushed cheeks often came looking for him seemed to indicate that Siheon was very popular among girls his age.

A few times, she was even asked to deliver letters to Siheon.
Each time, Kangeun couldn’t hide the smile that spread across her lips.

It was subtly gratifying that the younger brother she had raised had become an object of admiration.

– I think I’ll be late.

“Why? Is something wrong?”

– Just…

“Just?”

– My teacher caught me.

“Ah…”

She had only found out a few months ago that Siheon had a talent for art.

When the teacher wanted to consult with Siheon’s mother, she had made the excuse that she was busy, but when that went on for over a year, the passionate teacher came to Siheon’s house himself.

“Siheon’s mother is…”

– Ah… she’s away on a trip. If you tell me, I’ll pass it on.

“And who are you…? Siheon’s noona?”

– That’s… I’m the landlord’s daughter.

Publicly, and on paper, Kangeun and Siheon’s relationship was just that.

The landlord’s daughter and the tenant’s son.

It was because of the fifty-thousand-won-a-month rental contract that Miryeong had formally drawn up when she moved in.

The teacher, who had tilted his head for a moment, seemed to think he had to do something at

Siheon’s house, which he had come to with great difficulty, and held Kangeun back, pouring out praises for Siheon’s talent.

He recommended private lessons where he could build his fundamentals without damaging his genius.

“How much do private lessons cost?”

Kangeun bit her lower lip after hearing a rough estimate of the lesson fees.

Siheon was still delivering milk.

He had insisted on doing it alone as morning exercise, but that income alone was not enough for a family of three.

So, as soon as Kangeun became a college student, she had been tutoring four times a week for two hours each.

Fortunately, the pay was not bad.

But the cost of private art lessons was more expensive than she had thought.

She had been saving money separately for Siheon’s college tuition, but that was only possible because Kangeun was attending a national university on a scholarship and was painstakingly frugal with her living expenses.

Lost in thought, Kangeun coaxed Siheon that evening and saw the sketchbook he had been hiding.

The subjects, sometimes roughly, sometimes finely expressed in pencil, were works that felt so deep that even Kangeun, who didn’t know much about art, was left speechless.

“Siheon-ah, do you want to try going to an art academy?”

“No.”

“Why. Is it because of the money?”

“I don’t need it. I’m just drawing as a hobby, why would I go to an academy.”

She had asked with the intention of sending him to an art academy instead of private lessons.

She had asked, thinking of taking on another tutoring session on her now-empty Friday, but Siheon refused as if it were no big deal.

“But you know, why do you only draw with a pencil? Have you ever thought of trying watercolors or oil painting?”

“Just because. That kind of thing is a hassle.”

It was only recently that she had learned why Siheon only drew with a pencil.

She had learned that the cost of getting proper art supplies was not insignificant.

It was after she had gone to an art supply store to buy something for Siheon’s birthday and had come out with only a few pencils.

Even though Siheon didn’t say it, it seemed the teacher at school was constantly trying to persuade him.

To join the art club, or to enter a competition.

Each time, Siheon seemed to refuse, saying he wasn’t interested, but occasionally, he would be caught up in the teacher’s passion and stay at school like this.

– I’ll be there as soon as I can.

I called to tell you not to make dinner if Ahjussi is sleeping and to go to your tutoring session quickly. I’ll make dinner and eat with Ahjussi.

“I can make dinner before I go.”

– You’re going to the new house you started last month today, right?

“Yeah.”

– It’s far from here. Don’t rush like last time and fall and get hurt.

“That’s…”

The house where she had a tutoring session today was at the very end of a rather steep hill.

The walls of the houses lining both sides of the alley were all very high, so it was a little dark.

Because of that, the deserted alley in the evening after the tutoring session was over was definitely a bit creepy.

It wasn’t a fear without reason.

The day she first went for an interview, she had met the person who was the brother of the student she was tutoring.

The man, who looked a little thuggish, had given Kangeun a lewd smile.