July 10, 1930 | Kyeon-ju

Another Man | Kang Mira

"The bride has charmed us with her enchanting beauty. We like her, Mr. Kang."

"Sure, sure! My daughter doesn't only have a charming face, but also she can cook, sing, dance, act, clean and..."

Father pushes the tray of cookies to the guest, putting a gigantic smile on his dry lips as he nods every now and then. My hollow eyes find a stiff, middle aged and short man looking at me with a wide gaze, whom I guess to be the groom. His demeanour consists of a pair of bright green trousers and a brown suit that is tight around his huge belly. I look away from him; uninterested.

"We, therefore, want her to be jewel of our household, Mr. Kang."

"As she must, as she must!" my father agrees in delight. Everyone has a proud face and forced chuckle on their lips. I turn around to see a gloomy looking Mrs. Hyun staring at the man in front of me. She must not have liked him at all.

"Let's allow today to be the glorious day for these two to joint their hands!" an old man with a smoking pipe hanging from his mouth speaks up. "What a pretty girl... I must say..."

He looks at me, eyes dripping with both shock and glee. I shift my gaze down on my lap. My vision starts getting darker.

A terrible nausea kicks in. Pain creeps up, making me feel cracks in my bones. My head feels so heavy; as if someone is banging it against the wall forcefully. I can't inhale, or exhale. It turns suffocating and difficult for me to stay focused by the passing seconds. 

Then I start coughing. With horror, I see that blood is pouring down to my nose, staining my white gown.

My fingers tremble, darkness pooling into my eyes as I lift my head up to see father gazing at me with a burning look. He storms forward and grabs a fistful of my hair.

"You foul girl!" he shrieks, and a loud sound of slap echoes throughout the room. "I worked so hard for this! Now you ruin my plans again! How dare you!"

He lets go of my hair, and throws me on the floor. My head hits the table, the glasses and trays sliding down to the ground. The sharp corner grazes my forehead. Drops of crimson trails down to my eyelashes.

"You terrible, absolutely foul wench... a monster..."

Father slaps me on the face. There's a stinging pain that goes down to my spine. I cough more, and it fuels up his anger.

"You cursed girl..."

"Fa-father...no..."

I cough out more blood, my vision turns pitch black and shadowy. All I see around is blood. Blood on my hands, on my arms, on my lap, on my chest and so on...

I can't breathe...

Help... please... help...

"You piece of shit!"

Father lands a kick on my lungs, and I take in the pain with my teeth clicked shut together. My bloody hands find my throat. I try to suppress the coughs, but they don't lessen down.

"Open the door!"

His face is zooming out, and white flickers surround him. I can't make out from where this voice is coming. It feels like everyone is screaming at me, then their words are put silent, and this process keeps repeating.

"Open the fucking door, you wench!"

Gasping for air, I sit bolt upright on my bed, tears all over my face as I look at the banging door. I try to swallow, but my throat is dry. Arranging myself quickly, I get down from the bed and sprint to the door.

As soon as I open it, the enraged face of my father comes to my view, and a hard slap lands on my right cheek. I shut my mouth, not letting pain to strike me.

"How long does a noble lady need to sleep? Didn't I order you to get up before dawn?"

I nod slowly, not looking up at him.

"What nodding? Where's your words, wench? Don't you have a mouth? Do I have to teach you how to speak again?"

"Yes, you told me, father."

"Look, you wench." he pulls my hair and makes me look at him, as I breathe out sharply. "No need to act all haughty in front of me. I don't care how much time you have till you die. But not in my house. Die anywhere else, but don't even dare to do that here. I have found another man who's coming to see you today. If you mess it up this time, I swear I won't let you make it alive today, you foul girl!"

He hisses, and lets go of my hair. I feel a stinging pain on top of my head, throbbing and twisting. He storms off to the corridor.

Again... he is bringing another man...

"My lady!"

I look up at the familiar voice, and find Mrs. Hyun standing before me. She lends me her hand, and I take it. Brushing the dust off my dress, Mrs. Hyun takes me back to the room.

"He means it this time, doesn't he?" I mutter in a dead voice, "He said he won't spare me today."

"I don't know, I don't know!" her eyes are in verge of tears as she makes me sit on the bed. "I've had enough of this. I can't... I can't endure this anymore.

"You just need better treatment in the city, why can't he understand it?"

I stare at her, all energy sucked out of my soul. My body still seems unstable. It feels like I will start coughing anytime soon.

"Your eyes are red." she sits up after wiping her tears away, "You also have a bruise on your lips. Wait, I will fetch some water and a handkerchief..."

She leaves the room, and I look out of the window. People are passing the backyard. Noise of their loud conversation comes inside the room. I heave a sigh, trying not to listen to them. But their tones grow louder, as if they are attempting to make me hear.

"I heard Mr. Kang's daughter got the curse," one of them states in a fake shocked voice. "That news had got out after she went to that farmer's house to help his wife in labour pain. What was his name again- Ye-hwang or something?"

"Yes, he's Ye-hwang." another man adds into the talk. "But what happened in there?"

"Ah, his wife told my wife that Mr. Kang's daughter suddenly started to cough... and there was a big mess of blood... jeez, must had been a sight! They had enough on their plates already, and she made it even worse. I heard she ran away from the place while crying."

"That's terribly sad..." a third voice muses. "I heard cursed people doesn't live for a long time..."

"What's so sad about that?" The first man laughs in amusement, "Look, there's some strong opinions why these curses come. I heard she doesn't have a character... often was seen speaking with the middle aged farmers working in their fields... always with that heart eyes! Big, round and heart eyes! You know what those eyes mean... the art of seduce..."

They start to simper hysterically, as if it was such a great thing to discover. One of them whispers,

"Quiet! What if they can hear us?"

"Huh, as if we care. His daughter's already wasted... and a wasted thing should be treated as wasted, always."

They walk away from the yard, leaving me staring at their disappearing figures with a blank face. I lean toward the window and shut them tightly. The little rays of the sun coming inside the room fade away.

I can't help thinking, that what went wrong?

If I never went to help Ye-hwang's wife that day, would this news had been kept hidden for a bit more time?

That Councilor Kang's daughter has been cursed and is going to die soon, and this is a huge topic for tea-time gossips?

Father said I won't make it alive today if I mess up.

I am forced to remember the last meeting. Another family came to see me. I started coughing. Blood was everywhere I could see. For that incident, the bruise on my forehead is still fresh and crimson oozes out at the slightest twitch.

I get down from the bed, and walk out of the room. There's none in the corridor. The windows are open, yellow and white are reflecting on the marble floor. I stride toward the back door, and pull it open. There's someone I need to see at this moment.

 "Yeon? Yeon? Where are you? Yeon?"

I step out of the house, calling out while looking around. Instantly, There's shuffle before me. I turn to the spot of noise, and a shriek of pure horror leaves my mouth. Tears gather around my eyesight as I see the white cat whom I named 'Yeon', now drenched in crimson, staggering to me. A littered newspaper was thrown on his back.

"Yeon!"

Horrified and stunned, I start running to him; my heart sinking as I tuck the cat in my chest. He blinks feebly and lifts his paw. I see a deep slash on his skin that gushes out red.

"Who did this to you? No... Yeon... why..."

I look around in hope of spotting anyone, and see Mrs. Hyun. She is standing frozen at the doorstep. Yeon snuggles close to me, as if he is trying to get my warmth for the last time. I shake my head in denial.

No, this can't be it. He can't die. Dying isn't this easy...

"Mr. Kang... b-beat him up," Mrs. Hyun speaks through hiccups. "Yeon littered on his newspaper and he...he-he..."

"Meow..."

Through my wide and terrified gaze, I find Yeon crying in pain. I can't take it anymore. I can't see him in pain anymore.

"Can't we... can't we save him?" the salty taste of tears is grazing my lips. "Mrs. Hyun... I can't lose him, too. He has been my only friend..."

"It happened last night. Mr. Kang... didn't even let me help and threw him out. Oh, Mira, I'm so sorry! He has been breathing till now just to see you..."

How can a person be this cruel? What wrong did this innocent animal do?

Almighty doesn't give me an answer. Yeon lets out the last cry of pain, then his body goes rigid and silent.