about her. Miyoung wanted to shout at him, ask him why he had left her. A part of her wondered what her life would look like if he'd stayed. Would she have been a better person? Could she have been a better person? Or was she always doomed to her monstrous fate? She’d never know now.
“I thought you were dead,” he said. “When I left your mother, there was a fight and you were hurt.”
“No, you left before I was born.”
Detective Hae shook his head. “No, I was there until you were a year old.”
Miyoung frowned; she didn’t remember this. If it was true, it meant Yena had lied to her.
“When I was transferred back to Seoul, I heard about the animal attacks and something about them felt familiar. So I looked into it.” He trailed off, but Miyoung filled in the blanks. Jihoon had told her about how the detective had been looking into her mother’s kills. It made sense now why he’d been so dogged about it.
“I thought I could save her soul once. And now I fear that I’ve cursed you to a horrible fate by leaving you with her.”
“Don’t.” Miyoung half rose in her chair. “Don’t you dare talk as if my mother is the villain here. You left. You abandoned me. She raised me and took care of me and lov—” She broke off, partly because her head was spinning from her rage, partly because she couldn’t finish saying the word. She knew Yena loved her, but she couldn’t say it aloud. She let herself fall back into her chair, suddenly exhausted.
“Miyoung-ah?” Detective Hae came around the table in two quick strides, but she shook her head before he could reach for her. It hurt to hear him say her name like a concerned father. She wasn’t ready to forgive him. All of a sudden, her whole body ached.
“Do you regret it?” she whispered, her words choking in her throat. “Do you regret leaving me?”
“Every day.” He sounded so sincere, and she wanted to believe him so badly.
“Are you here because you want to be in my life again?”
“Oh, Miyoung, I can’t promise anything without your mother here . . .” He trailed off.
“You should go.” She couldn’t meet his gaze. She didn’t want him to see the tears burning her eyes.
“But—”
“Just. Leave.” She bit out each word.
And she waited until the restaurant door closed with a chime before she dropped her head in her hands and let the tears come.
63
“YOU DIDN’T HAVE to knock,” Jihoon said as he opened the front door. Then he froze. Instead of Miyoung, Nara stood in front of him, her hands folded, her head bowed.
“What are you doing here?” Jihoon didn’t mean to make his voice so flat; it just came out that way.
“I need—” She broke off, tried again, and failed. And her choked attempts softened Jihoon.
“Can I come in?” she whispered.
He hesitated. Despite her small stature and hunched shoulders, he knew how dangerous this girl was.
But she looked at him with such hope it melted the rest of the ice around his heart.
He opened the door wider to let her in.
Nara settled onto the sinking cushions of his halmeoni’s couch. It somehow made her look smaller.
“Are you here to see Miyoung?” he finally asked.
Nara shook her head.
“Are you here because you need help?”
She shook her head again.
“Listen, I can’t do anything unless you speak.”
“She should leave!” Nara blurted out, finally lifting her head to look at him.
He wondered whether he’d made a mistake letting her in. “Why?”
“It’s not safe here.”
“Why?” The question cracked out with suspicion. “Because you’ll hurt her again?”
Another head shake. “My halmeoni. She won’t stop until she gets her revenge.”
“And she sent you here to do her dirty work?”
“Before, I was doing what I’d thought was right. I was raised to believe that Yena was a monster. That her daughter must be equally evil.” Nara held out her hands, like she was trying to offer these words to him as penance.
“And now you’ve magically changed your mind?” Jihoon asked, his words harsher than he intended.
Nara shrugged and Jihoon sighed. “So what is it that you want now?”
“This time I want to warn her before it’s too late.”
“So tell her yourself.” Jihoon’s eyes shifted to the door, wondering how things were going downstairs between Miyoung and Detective Hae.
“I already tried. She won’t listen to me.” Nara’s voice cracked with desperation. “But she’ll listen to you if you tell her to leave.”