C 116
"......"
Upon my call, Dad, unlike usual, looked at me with raised eyebrows.
Suddenly, I realized that I wasn't Eirin. Dad couldn't recognize me.
In the white and modern world of the hospital room, Dad in uniform looked very strange.
"Is this a dream, isn't it?"
I thought it was a dream.
"Or is this even a dream?"
What happened? I remained expressionless with my wrists held by my grandmother.
"W-who the hell are y-you?"
The grandmother jumped and opened her mouth. Dad looked at the grandmother.
As if evaluating an inanimate object, he looked at my family who were around and then looked at me again.
His steady gaze seemed to be searching for something.
"I must have looked like a madwoman."
This was the first time he had seen me, and I called him Dad. Even thinking about it, I felt a little embarrassed.
I didn't even think about how I looked. Feeling pathetic, I reached up and rubbed my cheek a couple of times before lowering my head.
"It seems like he got caught up in this because of me, but I can't just leave him."
It was clear that this had happened again because I wanted to see Dad.
Just like when Lucillion suddenly appeared out of nowhere before.
"Grandma, didn't that person just appear out of nowhere...?"
Cha Yido said. Then, his younger brother, Cha Hyun, who was beside him, nodded.
"Suddenly from the ceiling... Are you shooting a movie or something?"
"Shooting or whatever, if you find the wrong room, get out of here!"
Dad's eyebrows arched at the grandmother's comments. Dad opened his mouth as I lowered my head.
"Eirin."
My shoulders trembled at the familiar voice.
I kept my mouth shut and slowly raised my head.
To be honest, I didn't resemble Eirin at all.
Fifteen years older than Eirin and not as pretty as Eirin. I wasn't charming; I wasn't a dragon, and I didn't have much power.
I was a simple human being with nothing special.
So even if Dad wasn't pleased, there was nothing I could do about it.
Even if he didn't know me, there was no reason for me to resent him.
But just a little...
Yes, maybe I felt a little sad.
"Daughter."
"......"
As soon as I finished thinking that way, my father called me as if he had been waiting.
My face contracted at his call. He called me. Should I respond? I hesitated if I could really call him Dad like this.
"Are you all right?"
"He must be a lunatic."
My father, who was still behind me, frowned at Dad.
I couldn't help but laugh at my father's appearance when he came out and stood in front of me.
"Dad..."
I pushed my father aside, released my grandmother's hand, and approached him.
"Cha Miso, come here!"
My father raised his voice at my sudden action.
Everyone in the family stood still as if they didn't understand the situation.
"Does this have something to do with the past life story you talked about?"
"... Yes."
"Past life, what the hell...?"
It was when my father grabbed my shoulder and tried to pull me forcibly.
Dad reached out and gripped his wrist tightly. My father's face contracted in pain.
Crack-
A groan flowed through my father's teeth with the sound of bones breaking.
"Son!!"
The grandmother ran over and looked at my father's hand, then pressed the nurse call button with a pale expression on her face.
Dad slowly let go of his hand.
"This, this lunatic! I'll sue you! How dare you? Do you know who my son is?"
The grandmother stammered, apparently angry. I thought maybe she was afraid of my father.
"If you endure a little more, he'll die soon."
Dad responded calmly with a rather unexpected expression.
"This crazy bastard with an otaku-like appearance!"
Cha Yido clenched his fists and rushed at my father.
Dad sighed briefly and lightly pushed Cha Yido to the ground with one arm.
"Ah! Damn!"
"Yido!"
Mother rushed to Cha Yido and quickly knelt down to check on his condition.
The grandmother was busy moving her feet. Giggles escaped me as I watched them shout and wondered why the guards weren't coming.
Dad, who had thrown Cha Yido to the ground as if it were ridiculous, lightly crushed his hand.
"Ouch, my boy!"
The grandmother distorted her face and didn't know what to do.
"Bitch! Instigator bitch! Where the hell did you go to bring this Western foreign bastard here to kill your father and your brothers?"
"......"
"You're like an ungrateful child who can't even recognize her parents!"
"Hey, old lady."
Dad walked in front of the grandmother, slightly leaned forward, and curved his lips.
"I'm not the kind of person who stops just because the opponent is an older person."
Dad turned towards me.
"Daughter, is this the family that claims to be connected to you?"
"......"
My eyes widened at my father's words.
Family?
Could these people ever be my family?
"I hate to break it to you, daughter, but I can see the class difference."
I opened my eyes wide at my father's words and smiled faintly. My mother, who was watching the difference between my smiles, opened her eyes wide.
I shook my head slowly.
"No, I'm not family with these people."
Now that I think about it, we were never really a family.
"I just..."
"These people..."
"They are nothing."
They have no meaning or existence.
They are such people.
It doesn't matter if they exist or not.
"Dad, I..."
The moment I licked my lips.
Feeling like something was bursting inside, I coughed and lowered my head, spitting out blood clots.
"Oh...?"
"Eirin."
My body wavered and fell forward. Dad quickly reached out and hugged me tightly.
"Who are you to call my daughter yours and give her a strange name?"
Father jumped out of his seat. Though he was breaking out in a cold sweat, whether his wrist was broken or cracked.
"Your daughter?"
Dad laughed at my father.
"This girl is my daughter."
"What the hell are you talking about...?"
"Why are you forcibly clinging to a relationship that should have been cut off in the first place...?"
Dad frowned at his words. The hardened expression was the one I had always feared.
"What reason do I need to call my daughter my daughter?"
"Did you escape from a psychiatric hospital? Cha Miso is my daughter, not yours!"
At my father's words, I burst into laughter.
Even though I was vomiting blood, I didn't feel too scared, perhaps because my dad was by my side.
"Since when..."
I lifted my head and tightly clenched my bloodied palm. I felt like crying.
"Since when am I my father's daughter? If you're upset, you can hit me, shout at me, or ignore me."
"Cha Miso."
"When they eat good things, buy nice clothes and good food, they always give me hand-me-downs, cheap clothes, and leftovers."
The things that had been suppressed by resentment came out of my mouth one by one.
I had always been patient.
It was something I always swallowed.
I was young and not in a position to be independent, so I desperately tried to please in order to stay connected in some way.
Of course, parents and home weren't everything in the world to a child.
However, it was unfair to think that everything surrounding my world was rotten to an irrational degree.
They say those who receive love know it. I realized that now too.
"It's not a waste of money to spend it on them, who have everything they want every month, but you can't spend it on me. When I asked for some pocket money to buy myself a pair of sneakers to replace the worn-out ones, what did Mom say? She said she only knew how to waste money."
I hated seeing him say that he would be a parent now.
"You said you didn't like me because I'm your daughter."
Did I choose to be born?
No. My will didn't exist. The only thing that existed was the greed and will of my mother and father.
"So why did you give birth to me as a woman? It's my mother and father's fault for giving birth to me in this way."
I threw out the words I had buried in my heart for a long time, panting in my dad's arms.
"Grandma is a woman too, so why do you hate women so much? If you hate women so much, you can jump out the window yourself."
I held my breath and clenched my fists.
Then the grandmother immediately frowned and pointed at me.
"You, you, you piece of shit...!"
"If that's the case, you shouldn't have been born either, and I shouldn't have been born either!"
"Daughter, calm down."
Dad patted me with his large hand.
"There's no need to exchange words with those trivialities."
Dad's hand moved slightly and gripped the grandmother's neck. He lifted her slightly and walked towards the window.
"W-What is this? Let me go...!"
"Gr-Grandma! This bastard is really crazy!"
Dad looked at me and slightly bent the iron bars, then stuck the hand holding the grandmother's neck out of the window.
"Sometimes, people don't realize that others are sick unless they themselves are sick."
"Let go of me, let go... I'll sue you for attempted mu-murder!"
"Oh, how many times do you think I've killed people like you?"
Dad opened his hand.
"Aaaaagh!"
The grandmother fell outside.
"Dad..."
"Oh, she won't die. I didn't intend to kill her. At best, her bones will break, and she won't be able to walk for the rest of her life."
Dad, smiling with a severe expression, approached me with a normal expression.
"This crazy bastard...!"
Cha Yido shouted.
"Then let's go home now, daughter."
Dad hugged me and said while gently wiping the blood from my hand.
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