to the bone. Take all my strength, my energy, my will. When you let me be your father and let me worry about you, care for you, and even suffer for you, you’re not doing a favor to yourself, you’re doing a favor to me. When you need me, I am alive.” His words felt like a lasso, reaching for her, wrapping itself over her skin. “What you felt, wandering through those streets, looking for Hana, that is the same thing I feel for you. How can you not understand?”
“I do. Father, I do.”
“It runs in your veins, this love. It goes from me to you, and from you to your daughter. You should never worry about causing me pain. It’s the opposite that I’m afraid of. Because that pain is the love, too, and how can you separate the two?”
“Yes, Father,” said Soo-Ja, wiping away her tears.
Soo-Ja found Father-in-law sitting in his room, his eyes closed, leaning back on a chair. Du-Ho stood over him, shaving Father-in-law’s face with paranoid care, as if hair by hair. He dipped the razor—large, more like a knife—occasionally into a bowl of hot water sitting on a tray next to him. He glanced at his father’s chin as if it were a mountain. Du-Ho almost shook with nervousness.
Soo-Ja came in unnoticed, leaving the sliding paper door open so as not to make noise. When Du-Ho saw her, he was about to acknowledge her when she shook her head and put her finger to her lips. He did not speak, confused, but then understood when she signaled to him to hand her the razor. He realized she meant to take his place without Father-in-law knowing.
Du-Ho, who at fourteen was no stranger to harmless pranks, handed her the razor. Soo-Ja then motioned her head toward the door, signaling for him to leave. He smiled and started heading out. For a moment, he stopped and hesitated, as if he could read her mind, as if he knew she might do something terrible. He left, though his look lingered.
Father-in-law opened his eyes and saw Soo-Ja standing where Du-Ho should be. He gave a start, but did not move. He gazed into the mirror Du-Ho had propped up against the wall, and the look he gave her confirmed everything to Soo-Ja. Now she knew the secret that was not a secret.
Soo-Ja held the razor in the air.
“Put that razor down,” he demanded.
“Did you think I wasn’t going to find out?” asked Soo-Ja. Instead of doing as he asked, Soo-Ja lowered her hand and pressed the razor against his neck.
“This is between your father and me,” said Father-in-law, tightening the veins on his neck. He made no pretense of not knowing what she was talking about.
“So I have nothing to do with this?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s funny, since last I knew, I was his daughter,” said Soo-Ja. She began to shave the soap off his neck, keeping the blade tight against his skin. One quick move and she’d hit his jugular.
“In business, we deal with resources. Like your father. It would have been stupid of me not to take advantage of it,” said Father-in-law, sitting very still. His eyes were glued to Soo-Ja in the mirror as she stood behind him.
“You took advantage of my father’s love for me.”
“You’re not mad at me, you’re mad at your father, for being a fool,” said Father-in-law.
“My father is not a fool,” said Soo-Ja, bursting with anger. Her hand began to shake and accidentally nicked his leathery skin. Drops of blood began to coat the blade. When she saw what she had done, Soo-Ja stepped away. “You have no right to talk like that. He saved you! You should be kneeling on the ground, singing his praises!”
“Fool. Yes, fool,” said Father-in-law rapidly, like a machine. He reached for a towel and wiped off the blood. “For giving money away like that. If I were him, I would not have given me the money. But he did, and I, unlike him, am no fool. So I took it. It’s not my fault that he’s a bad businessman.”
Soo-Ja reached for Father-in-law and came face-to-face with him. She held the razor in the air, her face full of desperation. “He gave you the money to save Min. Your own son. And you show no gratitude?”
“Gratitude doesn’t put food in your stomach. Business savvy does, and I have a lot of it. I saw a situation, and I went in for the kill. It took smarts for me to