Page 28 of Perfect Happiness
“What kind of father are you?”As Eun-ho’s mom held Noah and left the study, she took one more jab at Eun-ho.“You can’t discipline him without almost killing him.”
Eun-ho followed her into the living room.She laid Noah on the sofa, propped him up with a cushion, and started massaging his hands and feet.Then, she started barking commands.“Fetch water.”“Turn up the boiler.”“Turn on the dehumidifier.”“Bring out the air purifier.”“Get him a blanket.”
All the while, she gave Eun-ho the stink eye as she talked to herself in a loud, rumbling voice.‘He almost killed my poor baby.”“Look, your lips are still purple.”“And you’re ice cold.”“He was so mean to you that you fainted.”“And we’re so close to curing you of your asthma.This will set us back months.”“I’ve heard stories about fathers killing children from previous marriages.I can’t believe my Noah almost became one of them.”
No one else was talking.Eun-ho walked all over the house obeying her commands.Wife’s eyes, which were following Eun-ho around as he did this, were saying, “Shut that woman up.”Eun-ho just ignored Wife.His mom wasn’t the kind of person to shut up just because you told her to.Nor did Eun-ho have any intention of stopping her.He was in a daze from the shock of almost killing Noah.
Noah stayed sprawled out on the sofa for a while.The wheezing in his breathing slowly disappeared, but it would take a bit longer for him to return completely to normal.For the rest of today, at least, he would be out of commission.
And yet, Eun-ho was worried.What if Noah’s condition suddenly got worse?Should he take him to the emergency room?
“I’ll prepare dinner.”
Wife turned to the kitchen.
“How can you think about food at a time like this?”Eun-ho’s mom asked to Wife’s back.
Wife went into the kitchen without answering.Eun-ho’s mom’s eyes shifted targets from Wife to Jiyoo.Jiyoo put both hands in front of her and stood there awkwardly by the sofa.Her face looked as if she were waiting for her punishment.She had read the meaning in Mother’s eyes.Noah almost died because of you.Are you happy now?
Despite being in the kitchen, Wife knew what look Eun-ho’s mom was giving Jiyoo.She retaliated by intentionally being loud.She turned on the water full blast and noisily washed dishes.She dropped the utensil holder on the ground, put down heavy bowls too suddenly, and slammed the refrigerator door hard enough to break it.
By now, Eun-ho had come to his senses enough to think about other people.He turned to Jiyoo who desperately needed his help.
“Jiyoo, why don’t you go into the kitchen and help your mother?”
Jiyoo let out a strange sound that was neither “Yes” or “Okay.”It sounded like a sob caught in her throat.Only now did Eun-ho realize the whites of Jiyoo’s eyes were red.As Jiyoo turned around, her shoulders trembled as though she were crying.She looked like she might fall over as she walked to the kitchen.
Eun-ho turned to Noah.But it was his mom’s eyes he met, not Noah’s.Her eyes were spitting at him:You idiot.
The back of Eun-ho’s head was burning, too.Wife’s eyes, which had locked on to the back of his head, were saying,Mama’s boy.
In fact, it was his being a mama’s boy that was Eun-ho’s second marriage-threatening flaw.
Around nine, Noah’s breathing returned to normal.What hadn’t returned to normal was the mood.The only ones talking were Eun-ho’s mom and Noah.No one touched Wife’s goulash.Noah ate yogurt, and Eun-ho’s mom had plain white rice with soup.Jiyoo counted grains of rice, and Eun-ho twice put his spoon in the goulash only to put it back down.
Wife didn’t even sit at the dinner table.She was too busy providing Noah and his grandma with alternative menu items.When Eun-ho tried to get up from the table to help, she would sit him back down with her eyes.And when she was done getting Noah and his grandma their food, Wife started idling her time away by doing chores that could have waited until later.By putting away the unused bowls and wiping down the kitchen sink and gas stove, she was telling them,I’m not eating with you people.
“Are you not eating?”Eun-ho’s mom asked as she took a bite of rice soaked in soup.
This wasn’t something she said out of courtesy.Nor was it something she said to let everyone take a deep breath.She knew what Eun-ho’s wife was doing.She said this to pick a fight.
“I will.”
Wife took off her rubber gloves, hung them over the kitchen sink, and sat down.Only then did Eun-ho notice the bandages on Wife’s right hand.
“What’s wrong with your hand?”Eun-ho’s mom asked.
Wife picked up her utensils with her knuckles as she answered, “I cut my hand while slicing meat.”
This answer gave Eun-ho a sense of déjà vu.Two years ago on Lake Baikal, on the day the two of them left Jinu behind and went on a tour of the north side of Olkhon Island by themselves, Wife had given Eun-ho a similar answer when he asked the third question he had for her.My knife slipped while I was slicing meat.
At the time, Eun-ho had just accepted this answer.Back then, making eye contact with Yuna was enough to make his brain short circuit.But not anymore.As Eun-ho made eye contact with Wife, a completely logical question crossed his mind.Wouldn’t a right-handed person cut their left hand while cooking, not their right?Of course, it wasn’t impossible for a right-handed person to cut their right hand while cooking.But what were the chances of it happening twice?Had she grabbed hold of the blade instead of the handle?
“When did you cut yourself?”Eun-ho’s mom asked.
“A few days ago,” Wife answered as she looked down and pushed the goulash around her plate.
“Did you go to the hospital?”
