TPYH 04

Chapter 04

 I Will Abandon You

Mom…

In that instant, her entire body went rigid.

A voice like bright sunlight—one she had never forgotten even for a single moment.

It was unmistakably Doyoon’s voice.

There was no doubt—her son had left this world.

So there was no way he could be calling her in such a warm and lovely voice like this.

And yet, there was only one being in this world who had ever called her so tenderly.

“……”

Holding both anxious hope and grief that had never cooled, Haryeong slowly turned her head.

On the opposite side of the cliff stood a child, wearing the most beautiful smile.

It was undeniably her son—Doyoon.

“…Doyoon.”

Unable to believe it, Haryeong blinked her eyes wide several times.

Each time her eyelids opened and closed, sorrowful tears pooled and fell.

The child she had believed she would never see again.

Doyoon—white, clear, and soft as always, without a single wound.

Even through her vision blurred by tears, his figure stood out more vividly than anything else in the world.

Was this a dream? An illusion?

Or had she already arrived in the afterlife?

But if it were a dream or illusion, the child before her was far too real.

Through tears falling like rain, Haryeong instinctively reached out her hand toward him.

Just once—just once more, she wanted to hear him call her Mom.

“Doyoon, it’s Mom. Mom…”

For some reason, Doyoon only stared at her silently.

The image of him in his memorial portrait—untouchable now—flashed through her mind, tightening her chest painfully.

“…Doyoon?”

“Are you planning to die?”

“…!”

At the sudden unfamiliar command that burst from the child’s mouth, Haryeong flinched and froze midair.

The voice was still Doyoon’s lively one—but the tone was entirely different.

As she looked more closely at him, her heart dropped.

The face was the same, but the eyes were not the Doyoon she knew.

The eyes that should have been innocent alone were deep and dreamlike, as if the entire universe dwelled within them.

Rather than a child… he felt like an ageless old being.

Though wearing her son’s shell, this was clearly something else.

Standing at the threshold of death, Haryeong was certain.

“Who… are you? Are you… some kind of god?”

“Well, you could say something like that.”

“God…”

For a moment, it felt as if her heart stopped.

After that, she didn’t know whether she ran or crawled.

All she knew was that she was desperately crying and begging before that mysterious being.

“Please save him. Please… save my poor child. Please, please…”

Her sobbing soon turned into wailing, and before long into full-blown lamentation.

Collapsing onto the stone ground, Haryeong shook with grief as she cried out.

Even though every hope she had ever spoken aloud had vanished weakly into nothing, she pounded the ground and begged.

She didn’t even know whom she was pleading to—she just clung and clung again.

Save my child. Take me instead.

If only Doyoon could live—if only that small heart could beat again—she would gladly let her own heart be torn out.

If only she could breathe life once more into those tiny lips, she wouldn’t care if her own breath ceased.

But what returned was nothing but cold reality.

Through Doyoon’s mouth, the answer to her wish came back mercilessly.

“It is unfortunate, but that is impossible. Your child is already dead.”

“…Ah…”

“Do you regret it?”

“…What?”

“I asked if you regret it.”

There was no need to ask, “Regret what?”

Everything in her past was regret—there was no need to single out something that wasn’t.

The unwanted marriage. Living stifled under her father. Even being born.

Loving Baek Juheon. Enduring such cruel humiliation and still being unable to leave him.

Her entire life was nothing but a lump of regret.

That hardened mass rolled as it pleased, trampling her life and swallowing it whole.

“I regret it… I regret it. So much… I want to turn everything back…”

The tears that poured down were heavier than the dreary rain that had fallen for days.

And through that rainfall of tears, a single thread of hope seeped in.

“There is not no way. Though I cannot bring him back to life, I can change the child’s fate.”

“…Change his fate?”

“Yes. If this child had never been born between you and your husband in the first place, he could live well in an ordinary family.”

“……”

Blankly blinking, Haryeong stared and stared at the child.

Soft hair like foxtail grass. A round, white, adorable face. Big eyes, a tiny nose and lips…

This lovely being… would no longer be her child?

“It may be hard to accept at once. But if that happens, the child’s fate will be recalculated. He will not die young. Naturally, the pain you feel now would disappear as well. Of course, the choice is yours.”

The following words brushed past her ears like wind.

What remained, caught in her chest like a sieve, was only the cruel choice.

If he had not been born between her and Baek Juheon… he would not die.

The fear, loneliness, and pain he must have felt in his final moments… would not exist.

“I’ll do it. If I can just prevent my child from dying, I’ll do anything.”

Her once trembling voice finally grew firm.

Whatever this being was no longer mattered.

Though she would never meet Doyoon again, the memories of him lived entirely within her heart.

Even if he were born under different parents, Doyoon would always remain her one and only son.

“I’m glad this is quicker than expected. However, there is one thing you must remember.”

“What is it?”

“If you have another child again, that child will repeat the same fate. Therefore, to achieve the result you desire, you must make the right choice yourself. All regrets in this world ultimately come from one’s own choices.”

“I will remember. I will never, never have a child again. Please tell me—what should I do? I’ll do anything. For my child, I could die a hundred times.”

At her desperate plea, the round almond-shaped eyes narrowed.

After a brief pause, the being in the form of her child said something utterly unexpected.

“There is no need for that. Once is enough.”

“…What?”

“That cliff—jump from there, and everything will begin again. If you have the courage to jump.”

There was no reason to doubt.

She had come here intending to jump anyway.

Quietly, Haryeong nodded.

Then, in a trembling voice, she carefully spoke again.

“One last… request.”

“Speak. I will decide whether I can grant it after hearing it.”

“…May I… hug you just once?”

For a moment, those round eyes seemed to waver.

After a short silence, the being in the child’s form nodded lightly.

At the same time, Haryeong rushed forward and embraced Doyoon.

As if she would never let go again, she clutched him like a madwoman.

Though she had held him only days ago, the time without Doyoon felt like eternity.

Thick streams of tears ran endlessly down her cheeks.

“Doyoon, Doyoon… my baby… my baby…”

Warm blood seemed to flow again through the body that had grown cold.

His hands and feet were filled with warmth.

And ironically, that warmth only made her realize more painfully that he had died.

The broken cry of a beast that had lost its young soaked the barren cliff.

How much time passed like that?

At some point, she felt the child in her arms begin to dissolve like grains of sand.

Like a cloud, like transparent droplets.

One thing was certain—it was heartbreakingly beautiful.

“The choice…”

Brushing herself off, Haryeong walked toward the edge of the cliff with firmer steps than before.

There was no need for hesitation.

Without stopping even for a moment, she willingly threw herself forward.

As she closed her eyes midair, her final thought was a hardened resolve.

This time, she would make a choice she would never regret.

This time, she would absolutely abandon Baek Juheon first.

Between the gap of an instant and eternity, Haryeong fell—down, down endlessly.

It felt like a steep cliff, or like the depths of a bottomless sea.

How much time passed?

Like a butterfly lifting its wings from the grass and flying again, her eyelashes trembled lightly, and her eyes slowly opened.

The air carried the scent of early summer.

Summer? That was strange.

Just days ago, a dreary winter monsoon had been dragging on endlessly…

She had not even gathered her thoughts when—

Suddenly, a face both familiar and unfamiliar entered her view.

“…Hah!”

Startled, Haryeong reflexively shot upright.

The blanket slipped down to the floor.

“You’re awake?”

The man who had been looking down at her slowly bent to pick up the blanket.

Her husband—Baek Juheon.

The heartless man who had stabbed a dagger into her heart and coldly said that if she wanted, he would grant her a divorce.