Page 51 of Perfect Happiness
Every time Jane heard answers like this, she felt conflicting emotions.She was disappointed in her mom for not taking issue with the flawed questions, angry at Yuna for treating Jane like a thief who stole everything from her, and felt guilty that it was because of her that Yuna had to stay in Woohyeri for two years with Grandma.Among these, it was always guilt that won.And it was precisely because of the guilt that she endured the humiliation and never fought back.
Yuna fought over control of Dad as well.She used their guilt over abandoning her for two years to put both parents under her thumb.Mom’s humoring Yuna was the easiest and most direct way of reducing her guilt.And Yuna knew this all too well.Because she had complete control of Mom, she used Mom to manipulate Dad.
One time, Father took Jane to the movie theater.They were showingMrs.Doubtfire.Father couldn’t take Yuna because she wasn’t old enough.He probably chose this movie on purpose because he wanted to make things up to Jane without the threat of Yuna trying to take it away from her.
That day, Jane laughed for the first time in ages.Jane wanted to cherish the happiness she felt that day forever.But then she made the stupid mistake of coming home with a half-eaten bag of popcorn.
Jane could see Yuna’s eyes rolling to the back of her skull.Everything that happened next happened exactly as Jane expected, in exactly the same order and manner.Yuna’s final magic trick was banging her head against the wall as she cried about how she wanted to die.
That was the first time Dad ever used physical discipline on Yuna.
“If you want to cry like that, I’ll give you something to really cry about.”
Mom tried to stop him, and the struggle that ensued led to her falling and needing to be taken to the ER.After that, Dad never laid a finger on Yuna again.Which was just what Yuna wanted.There was no one to check her power anymore.She took everything that belonged to Jane.With no one to protect her, Jane used whatever excuse she could find to stay out of the house.At first it was her friends’ houses and the playground, but once she got older, it was study rooms or cram school.
Jane had no intention of standing up to Yuna.Confronting Yuna meant confronting her mom.Her only choice was to bide her time.She dreamed of the day she would graduate from high school and could leave for college in Seoul.Her dad swore he would pay for an apartment for her near campus so she could live by herself.All she had to do was endure Yuna a bit longer.
Two years after Jane graduated, Yuna also succeeded in getting into a college in the capital.It would have been economical to make them room together, but Dad shelled out the money to get Yuna a small apartment of her own near campus.He said it was because their schools were too far apart.But Jane knew it was because he was afraid of what Yuna might do to her when no one was around.Thankfully, his business was doing well, so he had the wherewithal to make this work.
Thanks to this, Jane and Yuna stayed out of each other’s hair.And because Yuna didn’t attend family gatherings in Woohyeri, they almost never crossed paths.Jane only heard news about Yuna through Mom.She was a bit shocked to hear Yuna had abruptly ended her studies in Russia, but her concern stopped there.
After Dad passed away, Mom’s depression relapsed even worse than before.She had depended on their dad her entire life, so she needed to lean on Jane for support.She tormented Jane with nightly phone calls that lasted forever and were invariably filled with sobbing.She blamed Dad for leaving her, complained about how the house was haunted, and lamented the fact that no one would know if she suddenly had a heart attack and died.And she did all this while crying her eyes out.
And then one day, she made a sudden apology to Jane.
“I’m sorry, Jane.”
Jane figured she must have run out of things to cry about.
“For what?”
“I’m sorry for being so cold to you when you were young.I just felt so guilty about Yuna.There was nothing else I could do.I cry sometimes when I think about what I did to you.”
But to Jane, this was a confession she could neither understand nor accept.She was still making excuses, and the apology didn’t seem particularly sincere.Jane felt like there had to be an ulterior motive behind this sudden confession.
“Can’t you come home to live with me?”Mom finally asked after crying her eyes out.“We can go shopping together, eat together, watch movies together.”
“Really, Mom?”
Jane’s mom spent her entire life solving problems by crying and feeling sorry for herself.Jane didn’t need any time to think about her mom’s request.
“No.”
A month later, Jane moved in with her mom.She hadn’t been convinced by her overtures of shopping and eating together.But she just couldn’t stand to lose any more sleep by her mom’s nightly pity pleas.
Jane didn’t involve herself in what happened between her mom and Yuna.On the days that Yuna came over, Mom gave Jane a heads-up.This was the agreement they made when Jane agreed to move in with her.Because of this, Jane knew almost nothing about Yuna’s private life.
But even so, there was one thing she knew with certainty.When Dad died in that car accident, Yuna was not in the country.Jane heard from Mom that Yuna had gotten on a plane for Vladivostok that day.That’s also why she couldn’t attend his funeral.Nor could they get ahold of her.Yuna claimed she was in a remote area where she didn’t have service or Wi-Fi.
Yuna had a solid alibi.But even without that, Jane refused to accept Min-young’s theory.It had to be just a coincidence.It would be unwise for Jane to consider any other possibility.
But there was a nagging voice of doubt whispering into Jane’s ear.She tried to change the channel in her brain.But the voice eventually broke through.
What time was Yuna’s plane on the day of the accident?
Yuna knew Dad’s schedule.She knew he would be leaving work early that day, and that he was headed for Grandma’s house in Woohyeri.And it was only about an hour to the airport.Even if she met Dad in the late afternoon, she could probably still catch a flight in the evening.But did an evening flight to Vladivostok even exist?
Jane hesitated for a moment before looking up plane tickets.There were more direct flights than she expected.And Aeroflot even had flights that left as late as 10 p.m.Most of these had layovers; Yuna would have had to arrive late the next afternoon if she bought one of these.Catching an evening flight would be inconvenient, but not impossible.
