140 — Mother and Daughter III

Eun Ha's POV:

"......."

There was a very pregnant pause. A pause long enough to plant, grow and pick a fruit of the pauses.

"Bring someone over...? Uhh, like for a meal? Or like... a party?"

"Anytime."

The older woman offered. Eun Ha decided not to give Mia a direction for now.

Mia's mind took off immediately and started running on the available tracks. "Hmmmm... I guess the last time would've been like... a couple of days ago, maybe? A week even. Joo-ri came to visit... you even let her in."

"I'm not talking about Joo-ri, dear." Eun Ha pursed her lips.

Mia frowned, arms crossed. "Then who?"

"I'm talking about the... male variety." She avoided saying 'boyfriend', like you would have if you were asking a normal teenager about her love life. She much preferred the wording that would, hopefully, coax out an answer instead of shutting her down.

But what Mia gave her was a frown so deep it could've split her forehead in half.

"What...?"

Eun Ha repeated the question, softer this time. "When was the last time you brought a boy over?"

"Mom..." Mia started, her tone a clear warning. "What are you getting at with this? I've already told you, I'm not seeing anyone." She gestured vaguely with her hand. "There's no one to bring home. I've been focusing on my studies and my life. The university keeps me busy."

Eun Ha's eyes remained fixed on Mia's face. Yes, Mia had already told her of how bland her love life supposedly was, what with everything else going on. But it just seemed odd that someone like Mia, with her personality and looks, wouldn't have at least a string of suitors lining up outside the door.

Nevermind her personality—her looks alone should be more than enough to attract the opposite sex. Or the same sex, for that matter.

But there were no signs of that. No secret dates. No giggly phone calls to a boy (other than the one she'd already heard about). No late nights out with friends that she didn't already know of.

Which made Eun Ha think.

And thinking, as she had recently learned, could be a dangerous thing for her.

But that damn call lingered in her mind, rotting and festering, until the worms of doubt started to crawl out of her ears.

The things Mia said...

'Ask her. You need to know if what they could be living out is exactly what you've wanted from us, what you've been denying yourself.' Jae-il's insidious voice licked the inside of her ears. She shivered. 'You're a hypocrite, mom. A hypocrite and a liar. You get all hot and bothered thinking about me, and then you have the nerve to judge your own daughter?'

'That's not what I'm doing...' Eun Ha thought back, squeezing her eyes shut. 'I'm just... concerned.'

'Are you sure that's all it is?' The shadow Jae-il in her mind chuckled. 'Or are you just jealous that she might be getting what you want?'

The sound that escaped Eun Ha's lips was somewhere between a gasp and a sob.

She should stop.

Right here.

Right now.

Before she said something she'd regret. Something that could make her daughter hate her. Or worse, something that could make her daughter realize what was really going on inside her head.

But she couldn't.

She had to know.

Even if the voice in her head was right. Even if she was just a jealous, hypocritical old woman.

She had to know if this hell was hers alone to bear.

"It's just..." Eun Ha started, her throat so dry she could barely speak. "I mean..."

"......"

Mia's frown continued to deepen, and Eun Ha could see how tense her daughter's shoulders had become. "Mom, seriously. What's with the twenty questions? I told you. There's no one. I'm not dating anyone. And I've never brought anyone here besides Joo-ri. And that's it."

"Yes, I know... but the things I've heard in that phone call of yours, they were... rather..." Eun Ha trailed off, searching for the right word. "Intimate. For it to be with a friend."

Mia's lips pressed into a thin line, then she let out a short, harsh laugh. "Shouldn't you have better things to do than eavesdropping on my phone calls? A little privacy is something a grown woman like me should be entitled to, don't you think?"

"You're right. I'm sorry." Eun Ha said, her voice small. "I didn't mean to. It just happened. But I can't help worrying about you, Mia. You're my daughter. I just want to make sure you're not getting into something... complicated."

"Complicated...?" Mia repeated, slowly.

"Yes. Complicated." Eun Ha insisted, biting her bottom lip. Now, how would Dr. Han breach this topic without making it worse? Probably she would've done so in a calm, professional, non-accusatory manner. And that's what Eun Ha would try to do. She would try.

"The person on the phone..." Eun Ha paused, her breath hitching in her throat. "Who was it, Mia? Really?"

She watched her daughter's face, looking for any sign of deception. Any twitch of an eye, any quiver of a lip.

Mia's face remained a perfect mask of indifference. But Eun Ha saw it.

She saw the flicker of panic in her daughter's eyes before she managed to hide it.

"Just a friend, mom. I already told you." Mia said, her tone a little too casual. "A guy from the university. We have a project together, and we were just... messing around. You know how it is."

"No." Eun Ha shook her head. "I don't think I do."

Mia's jaw tightened. "Well, that's your problem, not mine. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to study." The girl moved to get up from the couch, but Eun Ha reached out and grabbed her wrist.

Her grip was surprisingly strong.

"Mia. Please. We're gonna finish this conversation."

Mia stared at her mother's hand on her wrist, then at her mother's face. There was an uncharacteristic severity and a desperate plea that Mia found almost unsettling.

It was the first time she had seen Eun Ha so… on edge and forceful about something. Her mother's eyes were not cold, but certainly far from being warm; she was not used to it.

"Let go of me." Mia gritted her teeth, tugging a little to wrench herself free. To no avail.

"Not until you tell me the truth."

"The truth about what?!" Mia's patience was wearing thin. "That I'm not some innocent little girl anymore? That I have a life outside of this house? That I talk to guys on the phone? Wake up, mom! It's the 21st century! People do that!"

Eun Ha's grip tightened. Mia's eyes widened. "Was it... your brother?" There, she said it. Was it the truth?

'You know it is… deep down, you know it is.' Jae-il's laugh boomed in her head. Eun Ha's hands clenched into fists.

Mia froze.

Her breath caught in her throat. Her bottom lip trembled.

Her whole body went rigid.

And then silence, the kind that follows a storm.

Mia stared at her mother. Her eyes were wide, and then they narrowed. Fear.

Eun Ha's heart beat fast against her ribs. The door in her mind opened, letting red light through the seams. Her son's shadow was behind it, a smirk on his beautiful face.

'It can't be that… it can't be that… please, don't react like this… don't let it be what I think it is…'

Mia didn't answer.

"Was it..." Eun Ha repeated, her voice shaking so badly she could barely form the words. "Jae-il?"

The world seemed to tilt on its axis.

Mia's breath hitched, and for a split second, unguarded panic flashed across her face—quick as a lightning strike but impossible to miss.

Eun Ha's pulse raced as she realized she'd seen what she'd seen.

That flash of panicked realization had betrayed the truth that, for better or for worse, now laid bare and bleeding at her feet.

"What...?" Mia croaked, finally pulling away, but her movements were slow now. Almost as though Mia didn't have the energy to try and maintain the act. "J-Jae-il? No! Mom... why would you even think that?!"

Eun Ha reminded herself that she shouldn't sound accusing; she had no right, honestly.

So she loosened her grip on Mia's wrist, and the latter made no attempt to escape.

"Well, as I've said... I've heard concerning things. Some details. I didn't manage to catch your whole conversation, Mia." Eun Ha released a deep, heavy sigh.

"M-me... and him...? Talking...?" The girl stumbled over her own words as her tongue got tied. "How can you—"

"I don't have any tangible proof, and I pray this is all a misunderstanding." Eun Ha continued, her voice turning oddly serene as if the world around her had come apart and crumbled and she stood within the very eye of the storm. "But I've seen how close you are to Jae-il. I've seen how you look at him. And what I've heard on the phone... and how you're acting right now. Only now did I start connecting the dots. So I need to know. Are you and your brother... involved?"

'And what if we are, mom?' Jae-il's phantom voice echoed in her mind. 'What if we are, and you're the only one left out?'

Eun Ha closed her eyes.