Page 74 of Perfect Happiness
Eun-ho untied the string and flipped over the cover.There were clear plastic document folders in a binder.They were organized and labeled by year and month, from newest to oldest.The first file was from last month, and the last was from eight years ago.Eun-ho opened the stack to the middle where he found a document from two years ago in January.
Inside the plastic folder was a divorce petition.It had been filed not by Wife but by her ex-husband, on January 11.Eun-ho searched his memory.He didn’t need to search long, though.He had met Wife at Lake Baikal on January 18.
I’m divorced.As of last week.
Eun-ho could almost hear her voice, as well as her enchanting laughter.
The next file contained a copy of the countersuit filed by Wife.It was dated January 25.Eun-ho, Jinu, and Wife returned to Irkutsk on the 21st in the afternoon.That was where they said goodbye.That night, he and Jinu had to get back on the train.And two days later, Wife needed to return to Korea in the morning.
Eun-ho bought another SIM card and put it in Wife’s cellphone.He was determined to continue texting her after he got on the train.The first thing she got when she had service again was the news of her father’s death.The message had been sent a week prior, the same day she lost her SIM card at Vladivostok International Airport.
Eun-ho remembered how heavy his footsteps were as he walked to the train station and how swollen her eyes were.If he could have his way, he would have stayed with her in Irkutsk.He wanted to stay with her until her flight to Korea.The reason he couldn’t was because of a voice in his head.Don’t ruin Jinu’s vacation just because of some woman you met four days ago!
Two days later at a random train station, he received a message from Yuna.She said she was getting on the plane.If he remembered the days correctly, that would mean that four days later, she would have filed the countersuit.
Eun-ho’s mind was foggy with confusion.He couldn’t quite grasp what these dates meant, except for the fact that she had been married, not divorced, when they first met.
Why had she lied?Surely, she didn’t think that “I’m divorced” and “My husband asked for a divorce” could really be equivalent expressions?He also couldn’t understand how someone could file a divorce countersuit just four days after hearing the news of their father’s death.She had looked so despondent when she got the news.She even buried her face in the table and cried.Could someone get over their grief that quickly?
Suddenly, Eun-ho was overcome with a sense of fear.What other lies were waiting for him in this box?Should he start making a list to keep track of everything?Were there lies he’d rather not know?Lies too great to bear?
Perhaps it would be better just to close the box.
Eun-ho looked down at the papers with a distraught look on his face.Two emotions were waging war inside his head.One was the desire to unmask every secret.The other was dread that these secrets might destroy the bits of normalcy that remained in his life—that was assuming there were any remaining at all.
He flipped over to the next page, and the next page, and the next page...All of them implied a long divorce trial and an intense struggle over parental rights.It was a year later when the divorce was finalized.It appeared that for that year, he had been Yuna’s mistress.
But even after the divorce, Yuna continued to receive things from the court.They were all documents related to her ex-husband’s visitation rights.It appeared that on this account, he had won.Wife had paid a fine of three million won for ignoring the court’s orders, but it looked like she was still receiving court orders.The period that she had to execute the most recent court order ended today, November 30.
Had Wife allowed her ex-husband to exercise his visitation rights?And if she didn’t this time, what would her punishment be?It would probably be worse than just a fine.
As far as Eun-ho knew, Jiyoo was at her grandma’s house.That’s what Wife told him.She said she would stay there until things settled down.Did that mean her ex-husband had met Jiyoo there?Or perhaps before that?Suddenly, Eun-ho remembered the detectives that had showed up at their door.Didn’t they say he was missing?Since last Tuesday ...
He had to stop his thoughts from multiplying and blinding him.When he turned the page, he found a white envelope.Inside were two Polaroid pictures.The colors were faded, but Eun-ho had no difficulty in making out the subjects.
The first picture was of a Caucasian man sitting at a kitchen table with his hands wrapped around a teacup.What interested Eun-ho wasn’t the man but the object in the alcove behind him.He recognized it immediately.It was a music box in the shape of St.Basil’s Cathedral.It would probably play Moscow Nights if you wound the spring.Eun-ho had bought the exact same music box at Izmailovsky Market in Moscow—four of them, in fact.Three as presents, and one to keep in his study.
The picture had been taken eight years ago on January 20.As far as he knew, that was the year Wife had returned from Russia after studying abroad there.Eun-ho searched his memory.What month did she say she had come back?March?April?It definitely wasn’t January because she said she came back right before school started in March.If he remembered correctly, that would mean this picture had been taken in Russia.
There were two men in the second picture.The format was similar to the first picture in that they were sitting at a dinner table and with teacups in front of them.One of the men was someone he knew.The picture was thirteen years old, and his face was blurry, but Eun-ho could be sure it was Jinu.
Eun-ho recalled a memory.He could almost hear Jinu’s voice from that day at the Shaman Rock.
“You made me coffee one time.At your apartment, when Jiwoonmoved out.”
Eun-ho put the picture on the floor.He pulled out his phone and opened his camera.He didn’t know what this picture meant, but he had a feeling he might need this later.
Eun-ho looked at the clock to see it was past 7—time for Wife to come home.He put the documents and envelope back in the box and put the box back where he found it.He turned off the light and came out of Jiyoo’s room.As he closed the door, he realized the whole house was shrouded in darkness.Of course it was.He hadn’t turned on the lights when he came upstairs because it was still light out, but that was almost two hours ago.
Eun-ho suddenly felt lost.What should he do now?He didn’t have the confidence to act like someone who knew nothing.If he ran into Wife right now, he would end up asking her questions: who she was with when she disappeared, what was she lying about and why, what was the meaning of the box in Jiyoo’s room.
And even if he didn’t ask, Wife would know something was up.She was a pro at reading his face.Most likely, she would ask him if he had something he wanted to tell her.
But neither could he avoid seeing her.Unlike him, Wife couldn’t stand not knowing things.Even if he tried locking himself in his study, she would come in and pester him about what was wrong.Why didn’t you pick up the phone?What were the test results?What did you do all day?Why didn’t you answer my text messages after you read them?
Eun-ho went over to the window and parted the curtains to look outside.Headlights were moving toward the house.He waited for a while until a white sedan pulled up under the streetlamp out front.It was Wife.
He’d lost his chance to go downstairs.Wife would have already seen that the lights were off.Eun-ho went into Noah’s room.He reached out and found Noah’s desk.He took Pengsoo out of the box and crawled into bed with it.He then took off his socks and threw them onto the ground, as though he had tossed them while half asleep.He then focused all his attention on his ears.
