36 — To Mend the Cracks I

Su Ah’s POV:

There were subtle changes in the house. It would escape the eye if one didn’t pay too much attention. Su Ah thought it was all in her head, like watching shadows flicker and warp in the darkness. Of course, nothing is ever there, but the visual impression would always build up a bizarre story to explain the phenomenon, like ghosts or shadow people.

But that was not the point. The point was that, this time, she whole-heartedly believed Dae Ho was the driving force behind this change. It wasn’t a trick of the light.

Su Ah had a neutral relationship with him. He was a handful of sunshine, while she was the polar opposite. He thrived in social situations, while she simply survived.

She couldn’t claim to know everything about him, but she’d have to be blind not to notice the sudden 180-degree turn his behavior did. It was like staring at a whole different person, which was quite ridiculous. People didn’t change like that. They didn’t become stupidly talented at football overnight — and yes, she did watch the video. They didn’t start to work themselves out to death, disciplined enough to follow through a harsh regime every day.

And they also didn’t become confident like that. No. Confidence required experience. You had to put in the work to become a man of that caliber; there was no recipe to skip the whole process and shove you into the finish line.

Dae Ho, on the other hand, had proved that miracles were possible.

And Su Ah couldn’t help but pay a little more attention to this enigmatic little brother of hers. Mia was behaving oddly. And so was their mother. The sudden change in dynamics was not exactly covert — if that was what they were hoping for. Both of them had a bad habit of staring at Dae Ho, with the latter being blissfully oblivious to the attention heaped onto him.

Mia and Eun Ha had changed, and Dae Ho was at the core of it.

That was not really enough for Su Ah to take an active interest in whatever was going on. However, when one night, at a very specific time, two silhouettes made their way down the living room with an interval of five minutes between one another, Su Ah, against her better judgment, decided to be a little nosey.

She felt stupid — it was so unbecoming of her that she had half a mind to turn around and scuttle back to her room. In fact, she would have done that if she hadn’t caught the shocked voice of her mother.

“W-W-What? Mia?”

Su Ah pursed her lips inward and tip-toed down the stairs. She only wanted to have a better hearing of their conversation. If she jutted herself out too much, they’d see her, so she skulked in the shadows, treading a couple of steps down.

A shushing hiss sounded out. “Shh! Don’t be too loud!” That was definitely Mia’s voice. Unlike Eun Ha, however, she didn’t seem to be ‘shocked’ by whatever was going on. Interesting.

“We should get this over with before anyone wakes up and decides to have a late-night stroll to the kitchen.” Dae Ho said, trying to be quiet, but his voice still reached her ears.

‘He’s talking about me…’ Su Ah noticed, her left eye twitching.

Silence.

For a solid minute, no one talked. Su Ah wondered if it was because she was too far for the sound to make it to her, but when she dared to peek through the threshold that led to the living room, she saw them sitting on the couch.

Well, Mia and Eun Ha were sitting. Dae Ho was pacing back and forth in a linear path. Most importantly, an awkward silence hung over them. Then Dae Ho stopped, abruptly. “I guess that there’s no easy way to explain it. An apology wouldn’t cut it. I could go down on one knee and promise to take responsibility. With a shiny ring and a serenade perhaps. But promises are empty. Actions are what must be taken.”

Su Ah frowned, her mind elaborating his words, picking them apart, and building hypotheses. None of them led to an appropriate conclusion, let alone one she was particularly enthused with.

‘Something must have happened between them.’ And if the mention of a ring and a serenade were anything to go by, it was a whole pandora's box just waiting to be opened. ‘But why is he saying this to mom and unnie?!’

“Dae… Ho…” Eun Ha croaked out, a little flustered. She kept glancing at Mia, who sat there with one knee hanging over the other, her arms crossed. “Mia… is she the one…” She trailed off, and Su Ah was frustrated at the lack of that last missing puzzle.

Her frustration, however, didn’t last long.

“Yes…” Dae Ho said in an aggravated but determined tone. “She’s the one I’ve been sleeping with.”

A gasp hitched in Su Ah’s throat. ‘W-What?! No way!’

How could Mia do that? Wasn’t she supposed to be the fucking oldest sister? The most responsible one? What spurred her into getting into that sort of illicit relations—

“I wanted to come clean to you, Auntie. Before we took our intimacy to the next level. Mia is already—”

Su Ah’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. ‘Mom’s in it too?!’ It felt like a slap to the face, except that it lacked the characteristic sting of one. It was sudden, and completely out of her wildest imagination.

She could have understood Mia. While she would have been scandalized by it, she could have ‘understood’. It was well within the realms of possibility.

But Eun Ha? The woman who dedicated her whole life to the family?

“—aware of everything.” Dae Ho continued, chewing over his next words. “I’ve talked to her about it. She wasn’t happy. But what’s done is done. I’m willing to shoulder the fallout should either of you wish to bring all of this to light. Otherwise… I hope we can civilly come up with an appropriate course of action.”

“Course of action, he says.” Mia sassed, huffing a breath. “You’re the one who made this mess, and you want us to fix it for you?”

“...”

Dae Ho winced, no doubt realizing the harsh truth in her words. “I admit it’s partly my mistake.” He said with a strong emphasis on ‘partly’. He gave the both of them a pointed look. “But I’ll remind you that you were the ones to cling all over me first. I never promised either of you anything. In fact, I made it abundantly clear what my intentions were right from the get-go. I’m not going to shy away from my share of fault in this mess, but neither should you, Mia Noona.”

“Tch. Whatever.” She looked away, a blush of embarrassment tinting her cheeks.

‘So not only he’s fucking around with mom and unnie, but they are the ones who seduced him? What. The. Actual. Fuck.’ Su Ah felt a migraine incoming. Perhaps it was for the best if she hadn’t scooped for information and remained ignorant of this love triangle. ‘But mom, why did you do it?’

As if to mirror her inner thoughts, Mia stared at her mother, who was awkwardly twiddling her fingers. “Mom…” She started, making Eun Ha flinch. “I don’t want to judge you, but what about dad? What did he do to deserve… this?” There was no real bite in her tone, but the inquiry came out a little more forceful than she probably intended.

Dae Ho eased himself down on the far end of the couch. There was a complicated look on his face.

“I…” Eun Ha bit her bottom lip, no doubt warring with herself over that question. She had her hands tucked on her lap, clenched into fists. “Mia… your father… he… doesn’t love me anymore. He hasn’t in a long time…”

‘What?!’ Su Ah nearly lost her footing.

“What!?” Mia leaned forward, eyes splaying wide open. “W-What do you mean?”

“Yeong Gu… has been cheating on me for a while. A few years, even.” Eun Ha struggled to swallow the bitter lump in her throat. She had come to terms with it, but being reminded of it wasn’t a source of pleasant feelings. Even more so when she had to open that can of worms to her daughter. “At some point, he preferred the company of prostitutes over me. D-Did I really become that ugly?”

Tears welled up in her eyes, but Dae Ho was quick to reach out and place a comforting hand over hers. He shook his head, a soft smile on his face. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it just so happens that Uncle Yeong Gu is blind in both of them.”

That tore a smile out of her.

Su Ah, who was still hidden, had a hand wrapped around her mouth. ‘I can’t believe this…’

Logically, it was not that far-fetched that her father would do something like this. Not because she didn’t believe him to be a decent man, which she just found out he was not. But he was quite a successful man, and his constant absence from home might have pushed whatever libido he had left into seeking out a temporary thrill.

‘But prostitutes… really?’

Emotionally, it was quite a devastating blow. Her family was shrouded in lies and… and ‘this’. Whatever was going on between Dae Ho, Mia, and Eun Ha.

Mia slumped back in her seat, blinking, mouth opening yet failing to deliver a proper sentence. “B-But… he… you… w-why…” When her higher mental functions were finally restored, she pressed on in a voice louder than intended. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you tell us?”

Su Ah was also curious, though she had an inkling about why she chose to remain silent, not that her less intelligent sister could ever realize that in her current emotional state.

“Because it’d tear you apart.” Eun Ha said, softly, almost in a whisper. “I know because it devastated me. I’m sorry for withholding the truth, Mia. You and Su Ah deserve all the best in the world, and I didn’t want you to hate your father. For all his mistakes, he’s always been there for you. He might not see me as he once did, but the way he sees you has never changed.”

“...”

Mia hauled out a deep breath. Once the rush of emotional overdrive tapered off, she deflated, barely having enough strength to stare into her mother’s eyes. “I can’t believe this…”

‘Me and you both, Unnie.’ Su Ah sat down against the wall, feeling emotionally drained. Ironic, considering she was an unwanted spectator to all of this, but in no way was she an outsider. In fact, it involved her as much as it did Mia or Dae Ho. Especially Dae Ho. ‘But it makes sense now…’

“How did you find out?” Mia asked weakly, sighing.

“He wasn’t the only one who partook in such activities.” Eun Ha said with a secretive smile. “The rumors simply reached me.”

Su Ah stared at the ceiling, lost in thoughts.

The picture-perfect view of her family cracked a little.

Then she stared at De Ho, sitting next to her mother. He wasn’t invasive with his touch, but he stayed close enough to provide more warmth if so she wanted.

Su Ah could see it in her mother’s eyes. It was such a strong emotion that it shone brighter than the tears pooling up at their corners.

‘She loves him…’ A quick look in Mia’s direction confirmed the same. ‘And so does Unnie…’