he couldn’t set it aside. Miyoung’s mother was the reason Halmeoni was sick in the first place. And then Miyoung had disappeared instead of facing it. He couldn’t bring himself to fully forgive or trust her right now.
“I’ll think about it,” he said before crossing the road to wait for his bus.
50
“SO YOU LIED to him?” Junu asked as Miyoung climbed back into the car. When she frowned at him, he tapped his ear. “We have super hearing, too.”
“It wasn’t a lie,” Miyoung said. “His energy isn’t ideal for his halmeoni.”
“But not because he’s a boy. It’s because of the fox bead nestled all cozy in his chest.”
“That’s not the problem we’re trying to solve right now,” Miyoung said, crossing her arms as Junu took off from the curb.
“It’s the only problem you should care about,” Junu pointed out.
“Do you want to get paid or not?”
“Do you want your dear mother to find out where her darling daughter is?”
Miyoung ground her teeth, trapped.
As if on cue, Miyoung’s phone rang and Yena’s number lit the screen. She glowered at Junu in warning before she answered. “Mother.”
“Daughter, have you started feeding again?” It was always the first question Yena asked, and Miyoung bit back a sigh.
“No, I haven’t. But I feel fine.”
“Of course you don’t. Every day you don’t feed you get weaker. I should never have let you stay in Japan. Maybe it’s best if you come meet me.”
“No,” Miyoung said a bit too loudly. She took a deep breath, then continued in a smoother tone. “I really am fine. Junu is making me that gross juice and I’m drinking it every day. It helps. A lot.”
“I’ve become too soft with you,” Yena said as if she was talking more to herself than Miyoung. “I don’t know why I let you convince me to leave you behind.”
“If you’re worried about me being weak, then wouldn’t travel be bad for me?” Miyoung took a chance that she could use her mother’s own logic against her.
“Fine. But remember you have to answer every one of my calls. If I go to voice mail even once, I’m coming back.”
“Yes, Mother,” Miyoung said dutifully.
The call ended without so much as a goodbye and Miyoung leaned back, closing her eyes, sapped. She’d lied to her mother. She felt weaker than ever. She couldn’t seem to catch her breath these days. And her muscles burned, like they were disintegrating slowly. She’d looked up the symptoms of starving to death and it seemed like her body had reached the stage where it was trying to find energy from less ideal tissues.
“How is Mommy dearest?” Junu asked.
Instead of answering, Miyoung asked, “Do you have any more of that sludge you make?”
Junu glanced at her, and if she didn’t know better, she’d have said he looked worried. “I have some at home.” And he stepped on the gas, speeding through a red light.
Miyoung didn’t have the energy to complain about his horrendous driving.
51
THE FOLLOWING WEEKEND, Changwan dragged Jihoon out against his will to see daylight. He’d been spending too much of his time in the classroom or the hospital, according to his best friend. The forecast actually called for rain, which Jihoon sullenly pointed out.
“You want to go to the PC room?” Changwan asked as they entered a coffee shop.
“Wasn’t getting some sun the whole point of coming out?”
“Oh.” Changwan looked crestfallen and Jihoon gave in.
“Well, if you want to spend an afternoon getting your butt handed to you, who am I to deny you?”
Changwan grinned and seemed absolutely delighted at the idea of having Jihoon beat him at video games all afternoon. It was enough to snap Jihoon out of his sour mood. He’d been a bad friend lately. Plus, hanging out with Changwan gave Jihoon an excuse to skip another unnecessary summons from Dr. Choi.
Then Changwan glanced over and his eyes lit up. “Hyeong-nim!”
Jihoon glowered as Junu walked up to the counter.
“What a coincidence! Were you here to get coffee, too?” Changwan sounded like a fan greeting his favorite idol.
“It is a coffee shop,” Junu said with a crooked grin perfectly styled for his face. The counter girl sighed as she replied with a smile of her own. Jihoon wanted to punch the dokkaebi right in the mouth. “Haven’t seen you online lately. When are we going to do another round of Starcraft 2v2?”
“You guys have been hanging out?” Jihoon asked, suspicion blooming.
“We ran into each other at the PC room a couple of times,” Changwan explained, his