“Daehyun.” Yunshi called the guy who was attentively drawing on his white canvas, distracting his concetration.

“Hmm?” he replied shortly, while eyes still glued on every detail he sketched.

She paused, rethink of the need to apologize of her behaviour, that day. “I’m sorry. I am sorry for hugging with my designer, that day. I feel so guitly.” Did she? Did really she feel guilty at all? She doubted she did. Instead, she was in her own game. Game of hurting the couple who had hurt her before.

The pencil fell down, rolling on the floor, coming toward her. Yunshi let her gaze fixed on him for a few seconds before bending down her body to take the wooden thing. Daehyun’s expression was very unpredictable. He was used to be cool and relax. But right now, he looked so scared. Scared of the sin he made. Of course.

He gulped, trying to hide his nervousness. “It’s okay. Well, I just want to ask you.” He paused. “What is your designer’s name?” He eyed her, hoping for the answer that played in his mind.

“Kim Sunggyu. Do you know him?” answered Yunshi, playing safe.

He immediately shook. “No. I never knew him.” Lied. “Do you?”

“So do I. He’s my designer. That’s all.” She nodded.

 He rubbed both of his palm and smiled widely. “Done! Take a look, baby,” he continued, cheerfully. Yunshi stood up from the stool and walked toward Daehyun.

As expected, the drawing was flawless.

But then, she spotted something. “Daehyun.” The fire started to burn inside her. “I don’t have a mole on my chin. It is my sister who have it. Not me.” Her teeth gritted.

Daehyun’s smiling face, changed, in a blink of  an eye. He blinked and quickly checked his own potrait. Yes. His heart started to beat insanely. He did draw a mole when the truth was, his fiancee never had a mole.

Sometime, a little thing may lead into the biggest secret.

“I am sorry Yunshi. I thought, both of you have it.” He rubbed his face in frustration. Did he know he was so in danger, playing with the fire?

Yunshi shrugged. “I’ll let it slide for this time because we are going to get married!” she put her hands in the air and simply wrapped them around Daehyun’s shoulder. “After we got married, I am going to torture you. Take a note, Jung Daehyun.” Somehow, she really meant it.

He sniffed. “Then I’m going to runaway from a beautiful monster like you.” He laughed and pecked her right cheek.

- - - - - - - -

He coughed as the dusk attacked his nostrill. Sunggyu quickly opened the sliding door of his apartment, letting the dusk went away. He rubbed his nose with his finger as it felt very itchy and wore an apron.

Today was Saturday, where he used this time to clean the house. Myungsoo would hang out with his friend, leaving him alone. Besides, Sunggyu hated messy place. He would rather cleaning all the day than making rubbish in the living room.

“Damn awful.” He pouted as the broom he shoved under the couch, attached so much dusk and hair. Probably their hair-fall. He shook his head and forced himself to kneel down and stretched his arm under the couch. He scoffed. “What the heck of these food wrapping papers? Watch you, Kim Myungsoo.” Sunggyu shook and threw them into the plastic bag he provided.

For the second time, he put his hand again as he could imagine of how much trash under this elegant couch. But then, his forehead furrowed. “What is this?” The tip of his finger touched a paper. No. Not really a paper. A photo, maybe.

He took it and it was full of dusk, that barely could be seen. Sunggyu blew them away and coughed. Then only, everything became cleared.

It was a photo. A picture which had been torn as the other part was missing.

That was how, the old book returned.

6^th July 2010

“For what we bury all our things?” Sunggyu whined as Yunshi was digging a deep hole to place all their love letters, presents from each other, some couple photos and Miyu’s pajama. The first pajama of their daughter. “Lee Yunshi!” He raised up his voice when his beloved wife wasn’t giving him any respond.

Yunshi put all the stuffs and buried them. She smiled and spun around, letting out a loud sigh of relief. “I did this for our own good, okay?” she pinched his cheeks and giggled playfully.

He blew his bang and grasped her both hands on his cheeks. “Between us, there shouldn’t be any secret. Remember?”

“All right. Here.” She pointed toward the little grave. “I never want these precious things to lose. As everyone knows, Sunggyu’s wife is a forgetful person.” She shrugged, innocently making his laughter burst out. “And Yunshi’s husband is a person who tend to misplace things.”

Sunggyu smiled proudly and pulled her in his arms. “You are always wise.”

Yunshi closed her eyes in his warmth. She knew, this was love. “Sunggyu, if one day we forgot to love each other, we should come here. We should dig back, and love again.” She stared exactly in his eyes. He nodded.

“I promise. Well now, put aside our little drama and let’s snap some photographs before our daughter awakes.” He winked and immediately took his polaroid camera. “Ready? One, two, three... Smile!”

He counted, but he was the one who did not smile. Instead, he was surprised. A few moments later, the picture went out. Yunshi delightedly took it and laughed softly, seeing Sunggyu’s reaction. “Look at you!”

Taking a quick glimpse, he frowned. He looked terribly shocked when she kissed him on the cheek, in the photo. “One more time.”

“No no no! This is the best picture.” She mocked him and stood up, ready to runaway.

End of Flashback.

The half remaining photo in his hand, fell down and lied on the floor. He became dumbfounded.

“Where is the other half? Where is her part?” He searched it back under the couch. Unfortunately, it was nowhere to be found. “No. Yunshi. Lee Yunshi!” he pulled his hair in frustration. 

And he cried.

- - - - - - - -

Kyunshi smiled in satisfaction as the dinner had been settled up. The last thing she should do was, calling her daughter who had been locking herself in the room like a person who just lost someone they loved. Maybe, that was the real reason of her sorrowful mood.

“Miyu! Dinner is up. Come here, honey.” She shouted from the kitchen while taking a carton of apple juice in the refrigerator. “Kim Miyu!” she repeated.

On the other hand, the hurtful Miyu, weakly got up from her soft bed and walked to the dining table. Her eyes were swollen like ever. She looked miserable. For a kid to look like that, it was something ridiculous. Kids should smile and laughed and played all games they liked.

But Miyu was far from that imagination.

Kyunshi placed two glasses and took a sit beside Miyu. She glanced at the little girl and noticed about the swollen eyes. She lost her words.

“Let’s eat, Miyu-yah,” she spoke, awkwardly.

The small dining hall was mute. Even the sound of chopstick hitting the bowl, couldn’t be heard. Too silent. Usually, Miyu would giggle happily when she ate or maybe talked about stuffs happened in school. Guess, it just wasn’t a usual thing now.

“Omma. Can I stop calling you that, since my mother is going to marry him, by any chance?”

Kyunshi became startled. “Y-Yes.You may stop it.”

Paused.

“Miyu.” She began. She had been wanting to tell this matter to the little innocent girl. “When Yunshi had gotten married, I am going to send you to your father. I will study abroad and Yunshi is going to move to China. Is it okay with you, since he remembers you?” That was it. That was why Kyunshi became superb nice.

“Do you hate my mother?”

The question was out of nowhere and snapped Kyunshi.

“No. Why would I hate my own sister?” she asked back.

The little girl turned her head, gazing at the older who didn’t bother to look at her, in between sadness and broken. “Then why did you do this? I saw what you did. I saw you are the one who simply came to my house and hugged my father.”

She gulped. “Let’s not bring back the past.” She continued eating, although the food felt like a sharp burning things to swallow.

“Then why?” Her eyes watery and soon, it rained. “You’re hurting a lot of people, Imo. You hurt Omma, Appa and even Daehyun Oppa. Not to say, you hurt me too.” She sobbed. “Appa once said, lying may save you but to be saved, you can’t lie.”

Kyunshi became numb. Those words shot on her nose, on her forehead, in her heart.

She slowly gazed at the little girl, beside her. “You never understand me. Instead, nobody understands me at all.” She lowered her head, enduring the pain. “How does it feel to be claimed as perfect? As flawless all the time?” she laughed, cynically. “Everyone. Everyone, Miyu. Everyone always thought I am a perfect daughter. Your grandparents praised me like I am sort of Goddess or something. Daehyun loves my like crazy. Yunshi always thankful to me when I did even a very small matter.” Her lips trembled.

“Do you know it is hard? It is hard because it feels like I can’t make any mistake. Why?” Her forehead furrowed and tears slipped down from her eyes. “Because I am perfect. It feels like, they won’t admit that I am their daughter if I make a mistake.” Kyunshi shut her eyes, calming herself. “And when I accidentally thought that Sunggyu  fell for me, by designing some gowns... I lost.”

She gulped. “I love gowns, and he made something that I loved. Instead of the people around me, who kept compelling me to do the things that I dislike. But then, I knew that those gowns were Yunshi’s. I was wrong.” Her voice began to flatten. “I always be perfect for my family, that was the reason of why, I destroyed Sunggyu.” She smiled. “Because I’m perfect.”

Kyunshi released a sigh of relief. Finally, the heavy burden she held had been removed out. Her shoulder felt lighter than the days before. The years before.

Suddenly, she felt a head leaning against her arm. She knew it was Miyu.

“Imo. Do you know what Appa told me?” The older remained silent. “Appa once said, when people told you that you are perfect, they actually had accepted your flaw, way earlier than saying you are flawless. That is why they said, you are flawless, because your flaw, they see it as something beautiful that makes you look perfect.”

Kyunshi smiled. How awful I am.

Remember, a devil once an angel. 

Day 27