As True as a Dream

“This is… I don’t know, I don’t know, it’s just that this kid… I mean…” “Did you already have a child and you just went to pick him up when you said you were going back home?” 

Hae-Joo, who had been stiff the whole time, looked at him in disbelief.

 “No…! Not at all, this child is…”

Lowering her voice, Hae-Joo gritted her teeth and denied his question.

 

Of course, this can’t be Yeon Hae-Joo’s child. It doesn’t look like her at all.

 

It’s just that Hae-Joo’s nervousness needs to be relieved, so he’s deliberately provoking her.

 “Oh no, then relax and act natural.”

Yi Ho added, meeting Hae Joo’s disrespectful stare.

 “I’m not guilty of anything. This… this child… is probably the nicest thing I’ve done in a long time.” 

Hae-Joo stared at the child with a complex face.

 

The child buried his face in her neck and squeezed his heavy eyelids shut, obviously tired of all the tension and fear.

 “You can sleep. It’s okay, it’ll all be over when you wake up.”

Hae-Joo whispered softly in his ear and patted him lightly on the shoulder.

“Do you know how to be a good boy?” 

Yi Ho looked at her with new eyes and Hae-Joo’s face flushed as she soothed the child.

 

The corners of his mouth turned up and he looked to the back of the train.

 “Is this the child the Japanese soldiers are looking for?” “It’s her mother, to be exact.” “Then you forgot something, didn’t you?” “What?” 

Yi Ho stood up from his seat, pulled out a blanket from the luggage compartment, and handed it to Hae-Joo.

 “Just wrap him in this since I don’t have a change of clothes, and he threw up so much you need to throw out all his clothes.” 

Hae-Joo was taken aback by his hasty words, but she quickly took the blanket.

 

It was as if he realized the consequences of his actions after the fact.

 “I can’t put him in these clothes, he might catch a cold, so at least he should have a blanket.”

Speaking quickly, as if the other passengers in the first class cabin could hear her, Hae-Joo covered the child with her body and undressed him.

 

She shoved the clothes out of sight into the back of the baggage compartment.

 

Yi Ho thought that this woman was being very strange today.

 

If she had been as sharp as she had been before, she would have thought to change the child’s clothes immediately.

 

The Japanese might remember and recognise the child’s clothes.

 

But somehow he was too stiff and nervous, not to mention unruffled.

 “He’s so quiet, isn’t he?” 

Suddenly Yi Ho’s eyes fell on the child, who had obediently undressed and was wrapped in a blanket.

 

The child was still as quiet as a mouse, not even making a sound.

 “He knows not to make a sound in a situation like this.” 

Yi Ho turned to Hae-Joo, who was mumbling to herself.

 “You can’t cry, you can’t fuss, you know that if you stay still like this, mummy will come and get you.” 

Her expression as she spoke was melancholy and gripping.

 

Hae-Joo’s eyes clouded over as she looked at the child, as if remembering something.

 

At that moment, the door opened and the Japanese soldiers, who had finished their inspection of the compartment, appeared behind them.

 

Four of them appeared.

 

Hae-Joo quickly pulled up the blanket to cover the child’s face.

 

Yi Ho turned to the approaching Japanese soldiers.

 “[Did you see a woman in a brown skirt carrying a child of about three or four years old?]” “[I didn’t see her.]” 

Yi Ho lifted his chin slightly and replied calmly.

 “[Is this child yours?]” 

Yi Ho smiled softly as he saw the child lying motionless on Hae-Joo’s shoulder.

 “[Yes, this is my wife.]” “[You mean the three of you are a family?]” “[Yes. Is there a problem?]” 

Yi Ho replied lazily, letting them examine him and Hae-Joo.

 “[Why is the child so wrapped up?]” “[The child threw up in a bucket all over his clothes, and we wrapped him in a blanket because we were afraid he would catch a cold while it was still cold.]” 

Yi Ho replied, and the Japanese soldiers turned to face each other.

 

As if to prove her point, Hae-Joo pulled the blanket open slightly to reveal the child’s bare legs.

 

Then, like a mother afraid to let the wind in, she pulled the blanket tighter around him.

 

The Japanese soldier, who had watched her for a moment, soon moved to the next seat.

 

Hae-Joo’s head was bowed low, looking only at the child.

 

She looked as if she wanted to disappear right then and there, if she could.

 

He wondered how much time had passed.

 

The Japanese soldier, who had been talking to some of the others in the compartment, looked at him and Hae-Joo again.

 

The small smile on Yi Ho’s lips widened.

 

Someone must have gotten wind of Hae-Joo’s sudden appearance in first class.

 

As expected, the Japanese soldiers returned to their seats.

 “[You guys, are you sure you’re husband and wife?]” 

Hae-Joo’s breathing became ragged as she lowered her head.

 

Yi Ho scratched his brow in confusion as he looked at the Japanese soldiers.

 “[Since we don’t have our marriage certificate with us, how can we prove it?]” 

Yi Ho asked, and they exchanged glances, then nodded mockingly.

 “[Whatever you do, I won’t question it legally, so prove it.]” 

It was as if they were waiting for a good look.

 

Yi Ho swallowed hard as he scanned their faces one by one.

 

If it’s not the marriage certificate, there’s only one way.

 

What they said was that they wouldn’t fight the wind, so they should show intimacy between a man and a woman.

 

He leaned over to Hae-Joo and opened his mouth to speak.

 “Honey, would you look over here?” 

He spoke softly and she turned her head towards him, away from the Japanese soldiers.

 

Her dark eyes stared back at him with a nervous determination he couldn’t quite understand.

 

‘What is it?’

 

Yi Ho swallowed his doubts and moved closer to Hae-Joo.

 

A quick kiss on the head would be enough.

 

Then something unexpected happened.

 

Hae-joo’s lips brushed lightly against his and then fell away.

 

Yi Ho was momentarily dazed.

 

Hae-joo blushed red and ducked her head.

 

The surprise was short-lived.

 “[…Should we do something more?]” 

Yi Ho quickly regained his color, turned to the Japanese soldier, and held out two train tickets.

 

His and Hae-Joo’s seats were marked on the tickets.

 

Only after checking the tickets did the Japanese let them go.

 

When they turned around, the Koreans bit their tongues and called them vulgar names, but ignored them.

 

Only after the Japanese had retreated to the back compartment did Yi Ho turn to Hae-Joo, who was whimpering and red-faced.

 “Hae-Joo.” “Was it your forehead and not your lips?”

Hae-Joo stuttered.

 “No.” “If not the forehead… Maybe you didn’t want to do it at all?” “What if?” “I apologize. I took advantage. No, not that.” “You took advantage?”

Yi Ho raised an eyebrow.

 “I misinterpreted your signal, sir, I apologize.” “Oh, did I send a signal? What signal did I send?” 

“You didn’t send a signal. I misread it. I’m sorry… my eyes have been droopy lately.”

 

Red ears and nape of neck from cowering like a turtle.

 

This was the face of a man who had clearly sinned.

 “But we’re all trying to live, so why don’t we just pretend that what happened earlier was just… an accident?” 

Hae-Joo asked cautiously when he didn’t say anything.

 

Yi Ho remembered the soft feel of her lips against his earlier.

 

It was something that had never happened to him in all his years of life.

 

Yi Ho’s mouth curled into a grim line.

 “An accident?” 

He smiled, but there was a hint of displeasure in his cold eyes.

 “Yes, it’s a kind of accident, and it’s a good thing for my sister and brother-in-law, because things have gone well for them…” “But I didn’t benefit from it.” “What?” 

Yi Ho stuck out his tongue and licked his lips slightly.

 “You said you benefited.” 

At his words, Hae-Joo lifted her face to look at him.

 

Her whole face was as red as saffron and she was hungry.

 “That was a slip of the tongue, … and the profit was not this profit, but this… that… that… Ah! The bag!” 

Hae-Joo, who had been rolling her eyes as if speechless, suddenly jumped to her feet.

 “Could you watch it for a moment? I have something important in my bag and I don’t want to lose it.” 

Hae-Joo mumbled something incoherent, released the child she was holding, handed it to him, and turned away.

 

Yi Ho frowned as she gave birth to the child inside her.

 “Honey.” 

Hae-Joo, who had just opened the compartment for the second class car, stopped at the sound of his cold voice.

 “Come back quickly. You don’t know what might happen.” “Yes, I will.” 

Hae-Joo replied without looking back and went straight to the second class compartment.

 

Yi Ho looked at the back of her head.

 

He wasn’t sure how else she had

“interpreted”

his words.

 

In truth, this is what he meant to say:

“If you run, you’ll die.”Visit my Ko-fi for discounted advance chapters!!