Page 80 of Perfect Happiness

The desk drawers were either open or had been completely removed from the desk.Yuna had gone through everything, it looked like.Crayons, pencils, colored pencils, sketch books—everything was in one big pile.Jiyoo’s school bag was under the desk, and the art set that Jane had bought Jiyoo was lying wide open on the ground.

Jane went into the living room to find a similar scene.The doors to the cabinets were all open.Even Mom’s room hadn’t been spared Yuna’s wrath.The album she kept in the closet had been dragged all the way out to the middle of the floor.This didn’t look like the work of someone who was simply trying to pack their things.It was clear that Yuna had torn the house apart looking for something.

But what?

Jane’s cleaning started in Jiyoo’s room.She reorganized all the items in the drawers and hung the clothes piled on the bed back into the closet.She returned Apeach to its proper place.It was then that Jane noticed Dad Puppet.He was lodged between the top of mattress and the bedframe.

Last Thursday, after being in the hospital for three days, Jiyoo asked Jane to bring her Dad Puppet.

“And where is Dad Puppet?”Jane asked, pretending not to know what Jiyoo was talking about.

“In my school bag.”

Jane brought her the puppet.Jiyoo didn’t let go of the puppet once after that.Nor did she really play with it.She just hugged it tight or put it on her finger and stared into its eyes.To Jane, it looked like Jiyoo was in constant conversations with the puppet—both when she was awake and when she was asleep.Strangely enough, Jiyoo stopped having nightmares after that.

“Jiyoo, are you not having any more bad dreams?”

“Yes.Dad Puppet is protecting me.”

Jiyoo wouldn’t leave Dad Puppet behind if she didn’t have to.It was clear that Jiyoo had hidden the puppet from its original owner.Another way of saying this was that Jiyoo had stolen the puppet from Yuna.

Yuna didn’t share, not even if it was just borrowing.She hated people touching her things.Jane thought it might be different if it was with her own daughter.But she had been wrong.People don’t change that easily.Jane placed the puppet back where she found it so that Jiyoo could find it later.

Jane went into the master bedroom.The picture album, which was in the center of the mess, grabbed Jane’s attention again.It was open to a page with two pictures of Jiyoo.Earlier, Jane had passed this by without much thought.But now she realized what it meant.It was telling her that Yuna had been looking for Jiyoo’s passport.

On her way out of the country, their mom had brought Jiyoo’s passport with her to the airport, hopeful that Yuna and Jiyoo might show up before she left for Russia alone.She only handed it to Jane at the last possible moment, requesting that she hide it inside the family picture album.The album was open right to the place where Jane had hidden the passport.

Jane was amazed by Yuna’s tenacity.How had she found it?How could she even have guessed it would be there?But Jane’s astonishment quickly turned to confusion.What could Yuna want Jiyoo’s passport for?Surely, she wasn’t planning on taking Jiyoo to Russia to see their mother.

Jane decided to call her mom while this was still on her mind.As soon as she picked up the phone, she started quizzing Jane.

“Jane, where do you think I am right now?”

It sounded like she was talking with a mouth full of food.Jane wasn’t in the mood for a quiz, but she humored her anyway.

“A restaurant?”

“Wrong!”

She was on a high-speed train headed for St.Petersburg.She bragged about how Russian trains were like airlines, complete with attendants, meals, and free coffee.Jane didn’t ask, but her mom told her all about the itinerary for their four-day trip.

“The first thing we’re going to do when we arrive in St.Petersburg is visit Henri Matisse’s paintings.Then we’ll have dinner at a fancy restaurant, after which we’re planning on going to see Swan Lake at the Mariinsky Theatre.I’m crossing off two items from my bucket list in one day.Isn’t that amazing?”

Jane didn’t want to ruin her mood.But she didn’t necessarily have the patience to listen to this boasting.Plus, international phone calls weren’t exactly cheap.

“Mom, I have something to ask you.Can you go out into the hallway?”

Jane’s mom did as she was told but seemed confused.

“Okay, you can talk now.I’m in the hallway.What’s wrong?”

“On the day Dad died, you mentioned that Yuna had dropped by the house, right?”

She said this was true.

“Did Yuna mention the divorce that day?”

“Yuna said that Joon-young had left the house and filed for a divorce.But why do you ask?That was years ago.”