Page 40 of Perfect Happiness

Jane could feel something cold spreading inside her chest. Everything surrounding Jiyoo looked melancholic.

The large two-story house towering behind her, the dead leaves tumbling about on the roof, the ashen sky—even the cypress on the front porch positioned like Jiyoo’s shadow looked depressing.

Jane thought she could hear Jiyoo whisper something to her.

Auntie, don’t touch Mother .

A question popped into Jane’s head, one that she should have asked herself before. If what she feared turned out to be true, and Jiyoo lost her mother, how would Jiyoo handle it?

The answer was “not well.” Jane knew that Yuna wasn’t simply Jiyoo’s mother.

She was an absolute monarch who had dominion over her daughter’s soul.

There was no replacement for Yuna in Jiyoo’s world.

If Jiyoo lost her mother, she would lose everything.

But if Jane continued digging, that’s exactly what might happen.

Jane turned away from Jiyoo. She pulled out her car keys and unlocked the doors.

Just as she did this, Jane heard a car in the distance.

She turned her head to discover a white SUV driving toward her.

Without moving her head, Jane glanced out of the corner of her eyes toward the front door.

Thankfully, Jiyoo had already disappeared.

The white SUV pulled up next to Jane’s car.

The driver’s side door opened, and Eun-ho stepped out of the car.

Jane was astonished by what she saw. How could someone change so drastically in such a short amount of time?

It had been only two weeks since she last saw him.

The hair to the left of his left ear was graying.

There were dark bags under even darker eyes, and his cheeks, which had been as rosy as a child’s, were now thin and hollow. He looked like he had aged ten years.

The cold wind cut across the back of her neck as she was struck by a sense of déjà vu. Eun-ho looked just like Joon-young had looked when he got in her car. It seemed like all Yuna’s men turned out like this. If they didn’t die first, that is.

“What are you doing here?” Eun-ho asked as he stood to the side of the front of her car. He looked out of breath. Jane wasn’t prepared with an answer. So naturally, what came out of her mouth was a jumble of words.

“I just wanted to see how Jiyoo was doing. I missed her.”

Eun-ho turned his ear slightly toward her. He looked like he was genuinely trying to hear her. Because of this, Jane felt the strange obligation to explain more to him.

“I didn’t steal anything,” Jane said, trying to make a joke. “I just peeked inside.”

Jane’s poor attempt at humor didn’t get a laugh from Eun-ho.

“Please keep it a secret from Yuna. Don’t tell her you saw me here. I came here because I heard she wasn’t home.”

Eun-ho looked down at his sneakers and started nodding. Once, twice, five times, six times. He looked like he was prepared to keep nodding until tomorrow if she didn’t stop him. He looked like he was trying to find something to say.

But he didn’t need to say anything. And besides, she didn’t have time for this. Perhaps Eun-ho didn’t mind, since he was just a few steps away from his home, but Jane had someone to meet. And most importantly, she had to get out of here before Yuna came home.

“Well, I should get going,” Jane said.

Finally, Eun-ho stopped nodding and lifted his head.

“Wait, I have something to ask you.”

Jane waited for him to continue.

“From Tuesday of last week to Sunday morning, November 16 to the 21, was Yuna with you and your mother?”

Jane wanted to know why he was asking this question. If he didn’t have memory problems, he would remember Jane came here on Saturday morning specifically looking for Yuna. But since he asked, she might as well answer him.

“No.”

“What about before that?”

This question implied that Yuna regularly left the house. Did that mean she was making frequent trips to Woohyeri?

“If you’re asking if she stayed the night at our house before, then my answer is the same.”

“Not once?”

He seemed desperate for assurance.

“Never.”

A look flashed across his eyes. It was so fast that Jane couldn’t be sure, but it looked like a head nod.

Either he was thinking to himself, I knew it , or he was thinking to himself, So, it’s true.

Eun-ho stuck his hands in his pockets and looked down at his shoes again, as if his lines had been written on the nose of his sneakers.

Jane turned slightly toward the house. Despite it being daytime, she could tell that one of the three second-floor windows was lit.

Jane couldn’t see through the thin curtains, but she could imagine Jiyoo crouching near the window ledge and peering down at them.

She’d be nervous, wondering how her auntie was going to take care of this sticky situation.

“Then where was she?” Eun-ho finally asked. “As her sister, you must know.”

Jane turned back to look at him. This question didn’t make any sense to her.

“Eun-ho. Do you know what you’re implying?”

Eun-ho raised his eyebrows in surprise. He looked like he wanted to ask, Did I say something?

“You’re implying that I was lying, that I asked you where she was when I already knew where she was, that I’m scheming with her to fool you.”

Eun-ho dropped his head and drew air into his lungs through his teeth. She listened to the whistle of the air with suspicion. She thought he might start cursing at her.

“That’s not what I meant.” Eun-ho looked up as if he were looking for an excuse. “I just asked because I thought you might know something. You are family after all.”

They say couples develop similar personalities, and Eun-ho’s explanation sounded a lot like the way Yuna might ask, Why are you being so sensitive?

“I’m not Yuna’s family. You are.”

Eun-ho used his canine to chew on his bottom lip. Jane decided not to take any more questions. Her watch was pointing to 12:30.

“I’ve got to go now.”

Jane turned around and opened the car door.

“Do you know what Jiyoo likes to eat?” Eun-ho asked suddenly.

This was even more surprising than his other two questions.

Jane didn’t answer him. She also sheathed her criticism: You still don’t know what she likes?

But Jane could understand his ignorance.

He was just her stepfather, and they hadn’t lived together apart from the weekends.

But she couldn’t understand why he was asking her and not his own wife.

It was best not to answer nonsensical questions.

Jane got into the driver’s seat. Just as she started the engine, Eun-ho thrust his head into the car, right between her and the front windshield. He had suddenly invaded her personal space and was looking straight into her eyes from a distance of what must have been no more than ten centimeters.

“Every kid has at least one takeout food they’re crazy about.”

Jane had to answer him. She couldn’t start driving with his head caught in her car door like this.

“She likes McDonald’s Happy Meals. Bulgogi burger, French fries, and a coke.”

Eun-ho nodded and withdrew from the car. He was even kind enough to close the door behind him. Jane didn’t like this sudden gesture of goodwill. He looked like he had finally got what he wanted, but what that was, Jane didn’t know, and that was why she didn’t like it.

Jane took off. The entire drive, her head was furiously trying to figure out what Eun-ho’s questions meant.

She felt like she had an idea why he asked his first question.

And once she remembered her first encounter with him a few weeks ago, that hunch became a conviction.

The question was meant to find the truth about where Yuna had been those five days.

The last question struck Jane as odd and out of place.

Why had Jiyoo’s palate suddenly become a topic of serious discussion?

Was he finally doing his part to become a good stepfather?

Perhaps he wanted to buy Jiyoo lunch. And if that was true, Jane was overanalyzing this.

But if it wasn’t, then she might have no hope of understanding his motives.

It just didn’t make sense for him to be worrying about Jiyoo’s picky eating while he was asking questions about his wife’s disappearance.

He had to have another goal than just feeding Jiyoo.

Another goal . . . That was it. Jiyoo was the only one who could give him answers; she was the only one who knew where Yuna had been those five days.

Had Jane realized this earlier, she could have saved Eun-ho the trouble. He had no chance of getting Jiyoo to talk. She was Yuna’s most devout follower. And Jiyoo knew that the punishment for apostates was hell. She would never open her mouth, not even for a truckload of Happy Meals.

Jane arrived ten minutes late. The café was full of people, but Jane didn’t need to glance around to find him. She recognized him instantly.

He looked just like his picture on Facebook. Jane had never seen someone with such a rectangular head and body. Jane went over to the man and stood before him.

“Jinu Kim?”

Not sure whether to stand or stay seated, the man stood up halfway and greeted her.

“You must be Jane Shin.”

“Sorry for being late.”

“Not at all.”

“Please, sit down,” the two of them said simultaneously.

And yet, both she and he stayed standing.

“Do you want to order something?”

Jane said the first thing that came to her mind.

“Café latte, hot—”

Jinu disappeared without hearing the rest of Jane’s order.

He looked like he wasn’t going to come back until he had the coffee.

After ordering, he went over to the pick-up counter.

Jane’s impression of him over the phone was obstinate and intense.

But now that she had met him, he seemed quite polite.

When she first called the school, she couldn’t reach him. The person answering the phone said he was in the middle of class. Jane left them with her name and phone number.

She got a call back thirty minutes later.

Judging from the caller ID, he was calling from the school phone and not his cellphone.

When Jane introduced herself as Yuna’s older sister, Jinu said suspiciously that he didn’t know Yuna had a sister.

He said he would make a phone call and get back to her once he knew she was telling the truth.

Afraid this meant he was going to call Yuna, Jane suggested an alternative.

“How about I send you my driver’s license?”

In a reluctant tone of voice, Jinu gave her his cell number. After hanging up and sending him the picture, Jinu replied with a message asking her what she wanted.

—I have something I want to ask you about my sister. I’m hoping we can meet in person. This isn’t something I can talk about over text or a phone call. I promise I won’t take up a lot of your time.

A minute or so later, he replied agreeing to meet her. Jane added that she didn’t want Yuna to know about their meeting. Jinu replied with a simple “Okay.” He chose the time and place for them to meet.

“Did you have lunch?” Jinu asked as he placed the latte in front of her. “I bet you’re starving.”

Jane hadn’t but lied anyway. She didn’t want to impose on him. Silence fell between them for a moment as Jane organized her thoughts and he sipped his coffee.

“You were college classmates with Yuna, right?” Jane finally asked. She didn’t want to beat around the bush. She was going to ask him questions up front and directly. She hoped he would be equally direct in his answers.

“Yes.”

“You were friends with the man she was living with, right?”

“Yes.”

“I heard you went to the apartment just before your friend died in a car accident.”

Jinu made an audible gulp as he swallowed hard.

“I came here to ask you about that day.”