As True as a Dream

Eun-sil’s eyes lit up like torches as she spoke.

“Can’t I talk with my own mouth?” 

Hae-Joo glared again before removing her hand from Eun-Sil’s mouth.

 “Then lower your voice!” “Woooooo!” 

As if she understood, Hae-Joo let go.

 

Eun-sil rubbed her pinched lips and glared at Hae-Joo.

 

Fortunately, Eun-sil took the advice and lowered her voice to a whisper.

 “How long are we going to live like dogs under these bastards? I’m going to join the army, or at least the army’s column, and fight for independence…!” “Patriotism is good. Dying for your country is definitely worth it.” 

Hae-Joo cut off Eun-sil’s words and said bitterly.

 “But if you join a rebel group, what about your siblings and your mother’s medicine?” 

Eun-sil pursed her lips, unable to answer her breathless question.

 “Eun-sil, you know what I mean.” 

Eun-sil was 17 years old and had two siblings, a mother who was constantly ill and a younger brother who was less than eight years old.

 

Her father had been beaten to death in the street by a Japanese policeman for arguing with him.

 

The entire family’s livelihood rested on Eun-sil’s young and thin shoulders.

 “But…” “If you leave, your whole family will die. Do you want to kill them?” 

Eun-sil’s eyes widened at her uncharacteristically cold tone.

 

Hae-Joo sighed inwardly.

 

Who would want to live under such inhuman beasts who cower like dogs and pigs?

 

But the reality was not so simple.

 

The reality of having only one life and not being able to let go of the ideal weighed heavily on her mind.

 “Eun-sil, for people like us, we just have to do our job, make money and be happy. Don’t think about anything else. 

Hae-Joo’s tyrannical tone made Eun-sil rub her hand roughly over the corners of her eyes.

 “And you?” “Huh?” Hae-Joo raised an eyebrow. “You don’t have a family to take care of, you’ve learned a lot, you’re wild, you know how to do things… You can make it. You can go anywhere, Manchuria or Shanghai.” 

There was a hint of disapproval in Eun-sil’s tone.

 “I told you, my life is worth a thousand gold pieces, ten thousand gold pieces. I want to live long and thin.” “Cowardly. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” “Isn’t it a sin to die because you want to live better?” 

Hae-Joo smiled shamelessly and tightened her grip on the blanket.

 

If someone’s life can bring freedom to this country, shouldn’t we have it already?

 

It’s been 22 years since Japan stole our sovereignty.

 

It is impossible to count how many Korean lives are buried under that huge mountain.

 

Among them are the lives of her biological parents.

 

She smelled blood from the day she was born.

 

On the day of her birth her father was taken to prison in a pasty state.

 

She and her mother were then hunted by the Japanese and lived on the run.

 

Her mother, like her father, was a person who had to spend her life in patriotic service.

 

So she learned to hold her breath and not make a sound before she learned to smile and speak.

 

If someone knocked at the door late at night, she had to be ready to die.

 

Until the moment her mother died miserably on the road fulfilling this holy cause.

 

She was only seven years old.

 

She knew after burying her with her own fern-like hands.

 

In these dizzying times, a man’s life is worth no more than grass.

 

Conscience doesn’t feed them.

 

It’s important to live.

 

So what if you’re a little embarrassed?

 

If you live well, that’s enough.

 

If you’re a little embarrassed, that’s okay, as long as you’re living well.

 

It’s important to live, so if you’re a little embarrassed, live and let live.

 “Yes. I can’t force you, it’s your life.” 

Breaking the awkward silence, Eun-sil mumbled to herself and changed the subject.

 “You know, it doesn’t make sense when you look at the people living in the slums. They don’t have food to eat or water to wash, but it’s important to live. They’ll do anything to survive. I heard a family starved to death in the shantytown a few days ago.” “Again?”

Hae-Joo frowned.

 

She’d lived in a shantytown for a while after arriving in Gyeongseong.

 

She hadn’t been able to afford an apartment right away, so she’d moved into an empty shack that someone had abandoned.

 

It was only for two months, but it was hardly an inhabited place.

 

She slept on a tarp with a hole in the floor, with only straw over her head to protect her from the rain.

 

The latrines were shared by dozens of families, and there was only one well, so fetching water was a laborious task.

 “But, Sis, what is this?” “Huh? What?” 

Hae-Joo turned to Eun-sil, who was remembering her hardest days.

 

Eun-sil reached out and pulled up Hae-Joo’s sleeve.

 “On your arm… Huh? It’s on your neck too? Did you eat something?” “Huh?” 

Hae-Joo’s breath caught in her throat as she looked down, wondering what she was talking about.

 

A red rash covered her arm.

 “What… what is that?” 

I remembered the rash on his skin last night.

 

I quickly checked his other arm, leg, and collarbone.

 

Hai-Joo’s pale face immediately turned white.

 

Am I going to die?

 

Like the Japanese police yesterday?

 

-Curse. They call it the Curse of Song Yue.

 

The seductive voice of the master of Song Yue Pavilion echoed in his head.

 

He jumped up from his seat and pushed Eun-sil’s back out of the room.

 

Then she slammed the door behind her and ran out into the main street.

 “Sister, where are you going? What’s wrong? Are you going to the hospital?”

Eun-sil called behind her, but she didn’t have time to answer.

 

Hae-Joo yelled inwardly.

 

She just packed our things, she didn’t even run away, what is this rash?

 

And how does the curse make sense?

 

Even if the curse is real, how could it happen so quickly?

 

‘I haven’t run away yet!’

 

***

 

With the rumors that had already swept the streets of Jingcheng, the Song Yue Pavilion was much quieter than usual today.

 

Hae-Joo darted into the hall, following the same trajectory as yesterday’s cat chase.

 

However, she soon realized that she couldn’t find the way and had to circle around the same place.

 

She scratched at the rash on her arm and pawed impatiently.

 

It wasn’t bleeding like it had been yesterday, but the thought of it soon becoming so made her eyes water.

 

She didn’t know what to do, but she resumed her busy leg movements.

 

Hae-Joo can’t just sit still and wait to die.

 

She didn’t know how much longer she had to fight.

 

Rubbing and scratching her arms, neck, and legs, Hae-Joo became excited when she reached the edge of the garden where the inn was located.

 

Along the wall, she found a path with a tunnel of branches that she recognized from yesterday.

 

She walked straight across the path and reached the end, where a large grassy yard opened up.

 “I found it…!” 

Hae-Joo looked excitedly at the Western-style building that stood tall, surrounded by ivy.

 

As she scanned the courtyard and the building, she saw the shadow of a person under a tree.

 

Hae-Joo ran straight to the tree.

 

There, just like yesterday, was the picturesque man, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes.

 “Owner!” 

Hae-Joo immediately knelt down at the man’s feet.

 “Please help me!” 

Hae-Joo’s mind was already on the verge of collapse.

 

The rash was getting bigger and bigger, itching and even stinging.

 

Panic set in as he realized that he might die soon.

 “Owner, please help me, I don’t want to die! If I die before I can pay back the money, won’t it be a loss for Song Yue? Please help me… Uhhhhhh!” 

The moment she opened her mouth, the fear she had been suppressing all this time overwhelmed her emotions.

 

She sobbed and clutched the grass on the ground.

 “Please help me, is this a curse…! Am I going to die like the police yesterday, please help me, there are so many things I haven’t done yet, I can’t die like this, it’s not fair, uhhhhhhhhh!” 

Hae-Joo’s head felt hot from the flood of emotions flowing like a burst dike.

 “What haven’t I done?” I haven’t bought a western lamp because there is one on Honmachi Street, and I haven’t bought an electric refrigerator, a fan… I haven’t bought a new bag at the department store. I haven’t even been out of Joseon… It’s unfair! Please help me!” “Outside of Joseon?” “Bulanseo, Italy, Miri Dog… My dream is to travel around the world. 

To travel the world. She hasn’t even realized her dream yet.

 

How can I die in such a ridiculous way?

 “Please help me!” “Oh, traveling around the world? Then you will leave one day?” “Yes, I will go, and I have to live to do it. Please save me, uh-uh-uh!” “But what about the debt you owe Song Yueg? When you say that you will definitely leave, do you mean that you don’t care about Song Yue’s debt?” “Ugh… What?” 

The sobbing and pleading at his feet stopped for a moment.

 

When she lifted her sobbing face, the man smiled at her ironically.

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