Page 137 of Perfect Happiness
Jiyoo changed into her pajamas and got into bed.Mother turned off the light and left the room.Soon, Jiyoo heard footsteps going down the stairs.It was then that the loon started calling her from beyond the wall.It was almost as if the loon had been waiting for Mother to leave.
Jiyoo turned to lie on her side.The longer she lay in bed, the less sleepy she felt.After a while, she could pick out each sound individually.The wind, the snow pelting the window, the maple tree’s branches whacking against each other, Mother’s footsteps as she walked around downstairs, Mother’s shouting, something heavy—like a steal ball—rolling across the wood floor, the front door opening and closing.And then eventually, she heard the front gate opening.
Jiyoo pulled back the sheets and sat up in bed.Mischievous Mouse, which had been quiet for some time now, poked its head out.And with a voice as sweet as honey, it started whispering in her ear.
Think carefully about what Mother said.She said not to leave the room, but she never said you couldn’t leave your bed.Right?
Once Jiyoo thought about it, she realized Mischievous Mouse was right.She could walk around the room all she liked.And even though the lights were turned off, the room wasn’t very dark.The white snow and the light in the front yard provided more than enough light to move around.
Jiyoo got out of bed and went over to the window.Using her palm, she wiped one corner of the frosted window and made a small window within a window.She peered out the hole and looked down at the front gate.Someone was leaving the front yard with the wheelbarrow.Someone dressed in a black raincoat and rain hat, someone with whom Jiyoo had made eye contact that one night, someone whom Jiyoo didn’t want to believe was Mother.
Jiyoo jumped back from the window, but she was already a moment too late.She had seen something she shouldn’t have.She wanted to convince herself that she had seen nothing, but she couldn’t fool herself.She had immediately recognized the two long objects hanging over the side of the wheelbarrow.They were the legs of a person wearing white sneakers.
Jiyoo heard the front gate close.She went back to the window and peered out again.They were all gone—the black raincoat, the wheelbarrow, the white sneakers.All she could see was a white light floating down the footpath.The light soon entered the wetlands, which were engulfed in a flurry of snow.
The loon in the attic stopped whispering.Now that it knew Mother was gone, it was wailing.The loon also went from scratching the wall to pounding on it.Thud, thud, thud...
Jiyoo could feel the strength in her legs draining.Her knees gave out as she collapsed in front of the windowsill.Something was crawling out of the dream she had almost forgotten.She could see two legs with white sneakers on their feet ticking like the hands of a clock.
The call of the loon turned into Father’s voice.She stuck her head between her knees and covered her ears with both hands, but Father’s voice assaulted her ears like a powerful cannon.
Finally, the dream hiding in the thicket jumped out of the bushes.
Jiyoo didn’t remember when she had fallen asleep that night.Actually, she couldn’t even be certain that she ever fell asleep.All she remembered was that at some point, she started to hear the call of a loon.
At first, she thought it was coming from the Half Moon Marsh.It didn’t bother her or hurt her ears.After all, she had come to the cabin before and was used to the loons.But as the call got louder and closer, she realized something was off.She realized the call wasn’t coming from the wetlands.It sounded like it was coming from the attic.
Jiyoo sat with her feet hanging over the bed.It didn’t occur to her that she should call Mother.Nor did it occur to her that she should wake up Father.At that moment, she wasn’t thinking anything.She simply opened the bedroom door and went out into the hallway, as though she were possessed by something.
When she flipped the switch, electricity entered the candle bulb on the wall.The light was just bright enough for her to find the dresser in the hallway.Jiyoo found the key and unlocked the door to the attic.It didn’t occur to her that she should be afraid.If anything, she thought she might be dreaming.
There was nothing in the attic.From her bedroom, it sounded like the loon was in the attic, but now that she was here, it sounded like the loon was downstairs.Jiyoo went back into the hallway and locked the door behind her.She returned the key to where she had found it.And again, with barely any hesitation, she started down the stairs.The loon’s call was getting stranger and stranger.One moment it sounded like someone screaming, the next it sounded like someone crying, and sometimes it sounded like angry shouting.
Once she turned at the landing, everything became dark.The stairs bent at the landing, cutting her off from the light upstairs.All the lights downstairs were off.Only then did Jiyoo feel afraid.She thought something might jump out from the darkness and grab her ankles.And she was afraid that if she called out to Mother in the darkness, she would trip and fall.
But even so, Jiyoo didn’t turn back.She continued downstairs, like a child bewitched by a magical flute.She would feel each step with her toes before moving forward.When she finally arrived in the kitchen, a shriek exploded from the darkness.The sound was so loud and sudden that Jiyoo almost shrieked herself.The sound had come from Mother, from the bathroom.
Jiyoo had no time to think, no time to turn on the lights.Something was happening to Mother.Something terrible, something that Jiyoo needed to stop.That was why Jiyoo ran to the bathroom and opened the door without knocking.
At first, Jiyoo didn’t know what she was looking at.She felt like she was looking at a strange picture book.
Blood on the bathtub and wall.Mother standing next to the tub and looking back at Jiyoo.The cleaver in her hand.The blood splattered on her face.Two legs dangling over the side of the tub.A single twitching toe.
The moment each of these objects combined into one picture, something inside Jiyoo’s mind broke.Darkness immediately enveloped her eyes.She had no memories of what happened after that.Except for the scream she let out before everything went black.
When Jiyoo opened her eyes, she was lying in bed.A dim light was on, and Mother was standing next to the bed.There was concern on her face.
“Jiyoo, are you okay?”
Jiyoo glanced around.She was in her room.
“I came upstairs because I heard you scream.Was there a monster in your dream?”
Mother was wearing a blue bathrobe.Her hair was drying in a blue towel.Nowhere was there anything that looked like bloodstains.A smile twinkled in her eyes, two locks of hair were plastered to her wet forehead, and her cheeks looked moist and clear.She looked like she had just come running out of the bathtub.Jiyoo let out a whimper-like sigh.It was just a dream.
“Are you feeling okay?”Mother asked.
The images of the bathroom appeared in Jiyoo’s mind again.
