Just Twilight

Chapter 21

Junyoung nodded in agreement, almost as if to acknowledge the situation. She hadn’t thought of bringing a hat. Not that she had one at home.

“You can’t cover it up,” Beomjin said.

“Don’t stick too close,” he added.

Beomjin, who had said his piece, quickly quickened his pace, pulling ahead. Junyoung let out a hollow laugh before slowly following him. As she rounded the corner to the alley, Beomjin was leaning against the wall, waiting.

There wasn’t a soul passing through the dim alley. Across from them, rows of motels lined the street.

“So, what are you trying to figure out?” Beomjin asked in a low voice. Truthfully, Junyoung didn’t have any solid plan. She just stared at the motels.

“My mom must be somewhere around here. I want to know where she’s coming from and what she’s doing.”

With just that, Beomjin wouldn’t have been able to understand exactly what she was doubting about her mother. He nodded, his face blank.

“You’re planning to watch until she comes out?”

“I was going to go inside and ask,” she replied.

“What? Are you crazy?”

Beomjin’s voice, which had been purposely kept low, suddenly raised in pitch. Junyoung raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not crazy.”

“If you go into just one of those motels, rumors will spread like wildfire. Sure, there are people from other towns inside, but there could be locals too. If one person recognizes you, who knows what rumors might come out of it.”

His sharp words, spoken with conviction, made it hard to argue back. Junyoung rolled her eyes, staring at the ground.

“So, you want me to just wait here, not knowing when or where she’ll show up? There probably aren’t that many people at the motels at this hour. Plus, no one who’d come around here would even recognize me.”

“Today’s probably the busiest time. Yesterday was Friday,” Beomjin replied without hesitation.

Suspicious, Junyoung narrowed her eyes at him.

“How do you know that...?”@@@@

“Those kinds of rumors stick like tattoos. Even if they’re proven false, they never really go away. In fact, the longer they linger, the more exaggerated they get. Do you really want to live your life in rumors like that?”

His words didn’t carry the force of a shout, but the weight behind them made Junyoung’s face soften as she stared at his profile. She asked, her voice cold.

“Are you talking about yourself?”

Beomjin didn’t answer. He didn’t even look at her. The uncomfortable silence hung in the air, so Junyoung shrugged off her tension and nudged his arm playfully.

“Alright, fine. I was just saying something. You didn’t think I was really going to go in there, did you? But seriously, you worry about me a lot?”

A faint smile appeared on Beomjin’s face, and he relaxed, though still with an annoyed glance toward Junyoung.

“You’re mostly smart, but sometimes you can be really stupid.”

...What’s that supposed to mean?

She usually didn’t let comments like that slide, but calling her stupid was something she couldn’t just ignore. It was a matter of pride. Raising an eyebrow, Junyoung tilted her head toward Beomjin.

“So, you’re saying the rumor about you beating your teacher into unconsciousness with an ashtray at your old school is just an exaggerated story?”

Her thoughts drifted back to Seungwoon. She narrowed her eyes, remembering something he’d said recently.

“You make friends in a pretty unusual way.”

The timing of that remark had felt off. It had been after Hye Soo’s approach. And it had sounded like something he muttered to himself, almost unconsciously.

Just as she was lost in her thoughts, a harsh voice pierced through the silence.

“No, lady! You’re supposed to wash the mop properly! What’s this? The floor’s soaked!”

The door of a nearby motel opened, and a man’s voice sharply reached Junyoung’s ears, just as she peeked out from behind the wall.

“Are you even understanding what I’m saying? Go over there, step on it, and wring it out properly. Trying to cut corners, huh?”

Before she saw him, Junyoung instinctively knew. Slowly raising her eyes, she saw her mother, shuffling forward with the mop in hand.

Her hair, a mess, was barely tied up, and her hand trembled from the weight of the mop. The man shouted at her as she moved toward the parking lot.

“Finish that, then empty the trash in the rooms on the second floor. If you don’t do it right, no lunch for you!”

The filthy words that followed didn’t reach Junyoung’s ears. She stood frozen, her fists trembling in her hands.

She wanted to march over, snatch that mop from her mother’s hand, and throw it aside. She wanted to drag the fragile, hollow woman back home. Before that, though, she wished she could pour the filthy water from the bucket over that man’s head.

But her body wouldn’t move. It wasn’t fear of the man.

She knew. In an ordinary world, there was nothing her mother could do. Even if she worked from early morning and earned just ten thousand won a day, if that job disappeared...

There was nothing Junyoung could do in this small town. It was so small, and with so many idle young people around, no one would hire a minor. That was why Junyoung had always focused only on studying.

The woman mopping the floor seemed to lose her balance, stumbling before toppling forward. The dirty water soaked into the ends of her black pants. When the woman awkwardly rose, her posture unstable, she stepped back onto the mop. Her thin legs looked as though they might snap at any moment.

A chill ran down Junyoung’s spine, and her skin prickled. She let out a bitter laugh. She thought she was laughing, but her vision blurred.

As she struggled to control her labored breathing, her sight darkened.

“Yoon Junyoung.”

Beomjin’s quiet voice called her name, almost as if to comfort her. Blinking, she felt tears fall in rapid succession.

“It’s not because of me,” he continued. His voice was surprisingly steady, and somehow, it felt cold.

“He doesn’t mean it like that.”

...

“I’ve been making people go crazy with my outbursts for so long. I don’t expect her to be a mother. At this point, it’s more annoying to clean up the mess than it is to deal with her. If she really cared about me, she wouldn’t do things like that. Don’t you agree?”

Tears welled up again, and Junyoung clenched her teeth in frustration. Staring at Beomjin’s chest, she spoke in a subdued tone.

“Are you planning on bringing her here?”

“Why?”

Junyoung smiled wryly as she looked up at him. With an expressionless face, she looked straight at Beomjin, mocking him.

“Is there anyone who makes money that easily? Don’t stop people who are working. Even if you try to stop them, all they’ll do at home is have another breakdown.”