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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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On the train to Gangneung, Eun-ji and Ho-yeong sat facing each other, while Blue and I sat across from them. The children were excited, watching the changing scenery outside.
Despite traveling during the rainy season, they were enjoying themselves, and Blue and I watched them in comfortable silence.
Blue was holding her phone. It was turned off, so there was no reason to hold it, but she seemed preoccupied, her fingers fidgeting with the device.
“Did you talk to your family before leaving?”
While it was my doing that had made this trip possible, I couldn’t help but be curious about how she’d managed to come after being initially forbidden.
“Yes, it’s fine.”
Blue smiled as she answered, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something had happened.
I couldn’t dwell on it, though, so I looked out the window, trying to distract myself.
The train ride passed quickly, and we arrived at Gangneung Station. We checked the address of the pension Kirk had booked and took a taxi.
“A lot of tourists, even during the monsoon season.”
I listened to the taxi driver’s comment from the passenger seat. It seemed more people were traveling than I’d expected.
“Have you been busy?”
“Very busy. Some are here with friends, others with family. Are you guys on a family trip?”
Explaining our relationship was complicated. The children were friends, but referring to Blue and me as just guardians didn’t quite capture the family-like dynamic of our group.
“Yes! We are.”
Eun-ji’s voice cut through the air before I could answer vaguely, and I turned to look at her, surprised by her sudden declaration.
She was smiling at me, and I figured it wasn’t a big deal to play along, since explaining the situation would be complicated anyway.
“Your daughter is very energetic.”
“Yes, she is.”
While I’d agreed to go along with Eun-ji’s claim, I still had to think about how to respond to the driver’s comments.
Blue also seemed flustered by the situation, just staring blankly ahead, based on her reflection in the rearview mirror.
Meanwhile, Eun-ji and Ho-yeong were glued to the window, excitedly pointing at the buildings outside.
“You shouldn’t be too loud, okay?”
Blue gently reprimanded the children as they became more boisterous, and they nodded.
She smiled and patted their heads, and I relaxed, sensing the easing tension.
We arrived at the pension and were shown to our room. The two children rushed to the large window, their faces pressed against the glass, watching the rain and the ocean. The sky was overcast, and the waves were choppy, but they seemed to be enjoying the view.
“Is it that fun just looking outside?”
I asked Eun-ji, and she looked up at me and nodded.
“Yes! I can’t play with Uncle and Ho-yeong like this at home.”
I patted her head and went to the kitchen, where Blue was unpacking the groceries.
“Do you need any help?”
“I’m okay for now, but it would be great if you could play with the children.”
I nodded, went back to the living room, and took out the board games from my bag. While there were many different types of board games, I’d only brought simple ones for the children.
It was just card games and dice games, but Eun-ji and Ho-yeong, seeing the games, immediately came over and sat next to me, even before I’d suggested playing.
“Uncle, are we playing games?”
“Yes, we are.”
We started playing a simple card game, and I heard Blue preparing lunch in the kitchen.
We’d left early in the morning and hadn’t eaten anything since, so we were all hungry.
We stopped playing, drawn by the delicious aroma coming from the kitchen, and set the table. I went to the kitchen to help her, since she didn’t seem to be finished yet.
“Do you need anything?”
Was she not used to having help? She seemed to freeze momentarily at my question.
“Could you heat up the rice in the microwave?”
I nodded and put the instant rice packs in the microwave. I watched Blue as she continued preparing lunch.
People usually ate simple meals or takeout on trips, but Blue’s cooking was quite elaborate. She was making jjigae and several side dishes.
She’d said she enjoyed reading cookbooks but hadn’t had much practical experience, but her movements suggested otherwise.
“Could you… hand me this?”
She handed me a spoon for the jjigae, and I took a spoonful of the broth, let it cool slightly, and tasted it. It was flavorful, not too spicy.
“It’s good.”
Blue’s face lit up.
A day on a trip felt long. Time seemed to stretch endlessly.
But a day on a trip also felt short. Once you started having fun, the hours flew by.
The closer the end of the trip, the more poignant the joy, the memories creating a bittersweet ache.
The rain stopped in the evening. While the sun had set, the streetlights illuminated the town, making it feel like daytime.
We asked the pension owner about nearby walking trails and, worried the rain might start again, grabbed our umbrellas and went out.
The unexpected break in the rain lifted everyone’s spirits.
The trail was beautiful. Lanterns hung from the trees along the forest path by the beach, illuminating the way.
While there were many people enjoying the evening, the trail wasn’t crowded, and we walked comfortably.
“It’s a beautiful trail.”
Blue admired the simple beauty of the forest path.
“It is.”
Was it because we were on a trip? Honestly, the well-maintained trails in Seoul offered more to see, but the unassuming scenery was more emotionally resonant than any grand spectacle.
Eun-ji and Ho-yeong, walking ahead of us, were whispering to each other.
“Don’t go too far ahead. You’ll get lost.”
“We have phones, what are you worried about?”
Eun-ji giggled and ran ahead with Ho-yeong, and Blue and I followed at a leisurely pace.
“The day went by so fast.”
I nodded, agreeing with Blue’s wistful comment. Was it because it had been so long since my last trip? The day had flown by, even though we hadn’t done much.
“It did. I didn’t realize a day could be so short.”
After this trip, Blue would return to her demanding childcare routine, and I would return to my research on superhumans.
“Taking care of children must be tough. You’re amazing.”
I meant it. Even superhumans felt fatigue and stress.
They were still human.
“It’s okay. I’m used to it.”
Was she used to it, or had she just become numb?
Perhaps numbness was a form of getting used to it. But it was still different.
And I realized childcare wasn’t the main source of her stress.
It was probably her sister-in-law, Ho-yeong’s mother.
It was just a guess, of course; there could be other factors. But considering the circumstances and what Blue had told me, it was a likely conclusion.
“Are you planning to continue living like this? It must be difficult, even for a superhuman.”
I felt Blue’s gaze on me at the mention of “superhuman.” I kept my eyes on Eun-ji and Ho-yeong, walking ahead of us, and spoke firmly,
“Don’t worry, I don’t judge people for being superhumans.”
“How…”
She was probably wondering how I knew. While I knew because I was from Spacetroe, it wasn’t difficult to find information on superhumans, even for ordinary Earthlings.
“I saw you on the news once. A long time ago.”
While it was difficult to find news articles with pictures of superhumans now, since the media had lost interest, there had been several reports on superhumans just a few years ago.
“This might be presumptuous of me, and you might find it offensive, but I’m genuinely concerned.”
“…”
She remained silent, unsure of how to answer.
“I can’t offer any solutions, but may I ask you something?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Blue, her voice quiet and subdued.
She’d also stopped walking and stood there, her head down.
“What do you want to do, Ha-yeong?”
If I’d known she was a superhuman from the start, if I’d known about her struggles, I would have asked everyone this question.
Yu-bin, Yu-ra, Green…
What did they want to do with their lives?
But it was a cruel question. How many people could answer that question? Most people didn’t know themselves very well.
And superhumans, burdened by societal expectations, were even more likely to lose sight of their own desires.
It was a difficult question, a question that brought more pain than answers, and I knew it. It might even stress her out. But I wanted to ask. I wanted her to think about it.
“…Can I… talk about myself… for a bit?”
“Of course.”
We resumed our walk and talked for a long time.
Blue had moved in with her brother’s family after his first child was born.
Having lost their parents at a young age, her brother was the only family she had.
But her sister-in-law had made her a proposition: in exchange for free room and board, Blue would contribute her superhuman salary to the household expenses and childcare.
Blue’s paycheck went directly into her sister-in-law’s account, and she used that money to take care of the children.
She now had three nephews to look after, and Blue recounted the events that had led to her current situation.
And I realized something. She didn’t know what was wrong.
Her sister-in-law had taken advantage of her sense of responsibility, burdening her with all the household chores and childcare, trapping Blue in a cycle of servitude for nearly a decade.
I told her what I thought, that she was being subjected to a form of gaslighting.
Blue, who had been listening quietly, closed her eyes in thought, then opened them and looked at me.
“What do I want to do… you asked me the same question two days ago, didn’t you?”
I had asked her the same question when I’d called her about the trip.
“I’d never thought about it before. What I wanted to do.”
I was thinking about what to say when I saw her looking up at the sky, and I realized she didn’t need any words of comfort from me.
“So, I thought about it. What I want to do.”
Her eyes held a newfound resolve, the kind of look a kind and gentle person had when they finally made a difficult decision, and I felt momentarily overwhelmed by the change in her demeanor.
“I’m going to leave. I’ll have to find a new place, and things will be more difficult, but… it’s for the best.”
Leaving a familiar environment and starting anew would undoubtedly be challenging. But it was the best option for her. There might be other, better paths, but those weren’t her paths.
The path she’d chosen was the best path for her, the best solution.
We’d fallen quite far behind the children and, continuing our walk, finally found them sitting on a bench.
“Were you waiting?”
“Yes. How was it, Uncle?”
Eun-ji’s meaningful look and question puzzled me. How was what? The walk? I hadn’t been paying attention, too focused on my conversation with Blue.
“It was nice.”
I couldn’t say it wasn’t nice, so I just agreed, and Eun-ji exchanged smiles with Ho-yeong.
“How about you, Aunt?”
“Yes, it was nice for me, too.”
Ho-yeong also asked Blue, and while I wasn’t sure what she’d found nice, her positive response suggested she’d at least been paying attention to the scenery during our conversation.
We returned to the pension and went to our respective rooms to sleep. Blue and Eun-ji shared one room, and Ho-yeong and I shared the other.
Ho-yeong was quiet, so I was about to go to sleep without saying anything when he spoke.
“Uncle.”
“Yeah?”
Like Eun-ji, he called me “uncle,” even though we weren’t related. It wasn’t something I minded.
“Thank you for bringing me on this trip.”
“You should thank Eun-ji. She’s the one who wanted to come with you.”
“No, I mean… for bringing my aunt.”
His words, coming from a six-year-old, touched me. Unlike his mother, who saw Blue as nothing more than free childcare, Ho-yeong cared about his aunt and wanted her to be happy.
“You’re welcome.”
I smiled, and the two shy boys went to sleep.
In the girls’ room, they were also getting ready for bed, but Eun-ji seemed wide awake, staring at Blue.
“What?”
Blue, feeling slightly uncomfortable under her intense gaze, finally spoke.
“Unni, what do you think of Uncle?”
“Huh?”
The blunt question made Blue hesitate. She recalled his expression, his eyes, and his words from their earlier conversation.
But she knew Eun-ji wasn’t asking about that. She was asking about her feelings for him.
“My uncle is really nice.”
“Yes, he seems like a good person.”
Blue had sensed it during their conversation. Eun-ji’s uncle, not a blood relative but a close friend, was a good person.
“It would be nice if you two dated.”
The thought of dating a good person wasn’t unpleasant. But thinking about it and actually doing it were two different things.
“You’d like that?”
“Yes.”
It was a childish comment, without much thought behind it.
Blue knew that, but she couldn’t help but feel a little self-conscious.
“Never mind me. I hope you and Ho-yeong stay together for a long time.”
“Don’t worry, we’re getting married.”
It was a typical childhood declaration: dating equals marriage.
Of course, their feelings might change as they grew older, and they might not even be together by then.
But she couldn’t help but smile at their innocent love.
They arrived back in Seoul the following evening.
While there was some regret that the trip had ended, they all agreed they should go on another trip when the weather was better.
“Get home safe.”
A wondered if Blue would be okay, but there was nothing more he could do. He’d asked her a question, prompting her to think about herself, and that was all he could do.
The rest was up to her.
“Yes, see you again.”
They said goodbye, promising to meet again, and headed home.
While I had to take Eun-ji home first, Blue would probably go straight home with Ho-yeong.
As she entered her apartment, she heard a sharp voice call out from inside.
“Yoo Ha-yeong!”
Her sister-in-law, clearly furious, stormed towards the entrance, and Blue looked at her calmly.
“Are you crazy? I told you not to go, and you went on a trip and turned off your phone for two days? You’ve lost your mind!”
“Where’s Oppa?”
Blue ignored her sister-in-law’s tirade and let Ho-yeong inside, looking for her brother. Her sister-in-law was even angrier at being ignored.
“You crazy bitch!”
She raised her hand to strike Blue, who caught her arm in midair.
She still hadn’t decided what to do.
But she knew, with absolute certainty, that this wasn’t what she wanted.
She’d known all along, just hadn’t had the catalyst to realize it.
The recent events had given Blue a glimpse of what she truly desired, and her resolve shone brightly in her eyes.
“Are you deaf? I asked where Oppa is.”
Blue’s gaze…
Yu Ha-yeong’s eyes were different.
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Nice 👍🏼