granny

23// explanations

"so, the kangs wrote a letter directly to her uncle immediately, asking him to let her marry their son. as expected, he agreed right away. he didn't know her and naturally didn't want anything to do with her," mrs kim continued the story after dinner and having taken a short break.

her knowledge on the subject was invaluable and the group, including her daughter in law, had gathered around her again.

"that's how they got married, the same week of the fire. yujin was officially included into the kang family, to her joy or despair. and though the rumours started about the old kang being responsible for the fire, nothing was actually proven and his son was the happiest any one of the people in the village had ever seen him.

but soon enough, the problems started. they lived on for months and yujin was still not able to conceive. and though nobody could be sure which one of them had a problem, it was only natural back then that she would be the one to be blamed for it. so that's how it happened.

the mother in law was always complaining about yujin's fruitless womb, trying to further deteriorate her reputation of a pitiful orphan, taken in by the mercy of the good kang family.. yujin was close friends with my daughter in law back then, i think, right, daeyeon?," mrs kim turned to jungwoo's mother.

"yes, mother, she often talked with me at the market. she always said how she wanted to have a child, even if god doesn't want her to birth one," daeyeon replied, "she never dared complain about her life but she was always saying how desolate she was by the reality of their childless marriage.

she often told me how envious she was of me for being pregnant, and then for having my first daughter, and then expecting my second child. she would say, 'i wish to be you in my next life, daeyeon. that way i could have somebody to love more than the family that i lost and the stars that i count at night when the house gets silent.'

she described her new family as neither good, nor bad, she never discussed them in front of me, and i believe, anyone else. but she always talked about the stars to me and advised me to watch them someday after everybody fell asleep," daeyeon confessed and shot a fearful glance to her mother in law, then defended herself, "i never did it. i was busy..

'you don't understand how glum it is,' she would say to me, 'no children's gentle voices in our house, no joyous smiles and play time. it's just the grim emptiness of a deserted island.'

it was sad, really, because she was blamed for things that she couldn't control but i couldn't help but think that she was the only one who actually wanted a child so bad," daeyeon concluded and looked to her mother in law shortly, as if seeking her approval.

"yes. you are pretty correct," mrs kim nodded, "they never wanted her to have children unless she could bear them with her own body, and conceive them with the help of her husband.

i don't know how but by the time daeyeon had already had jungwoo, the kangs took a child. as you probably remember, you played with jungwoo and some other boys quite a lot in the early days and the old kangs seemed to be beginning to act more normal..

neither of them has ever looked happy in my presence but how they treated the first child was nothing compared to how they treated both of the children together. and although yujin was still not respected by them, she was better accepted with the child than without it, and her husband seemed happier the happier she would get.."

"yujin was so happy to have her son, really," daeyeon explained after mrs kim sighed tiredly and sunk into the fluffy cushion on the divan, "she was playing with you all day long, feeding you, taking you on long walks, acquainting you with other people's babies. every time you smiled, she smiled too."

"but then they took a second child too. at first all was well, not better than the usual, but not worse either, but when they grew up enough to talk and interact, it was clear that something was wrong with them," mrs kim started again. she seemed uncomfortable with letting her daughter in law tell the story.

"they would always search for each other in any group or gathering, hold hands and hug each other at all times, in a very different way than normal brothers. when the younger had a problem, the older would easily solve it, and when the older was in trouble, the younger would always talk him into doing what needed to be done.

it wasn't something that children that age would do and everybody could see that. the kangs found it to be especially sinful and punishable but young yujin didn't seem to be concerned about it at all. 'it's all good-tempered brotherly love' she would say but we all knew no brothers would do what her kids were doing."

jisung and minho's eyes met and the younger bit his lip while the older scratched his arm uncomfortably.

"it wasn't normal but those were the kids that she was given and some things you can't change," mrs kim deadpanned, "it wasn't their fault either. nobody made them like this, it was just how they were born.

but the old kangs couldn't accept that as it seemed. eventually, yujin stopped having talks with daeyeon and stayed in the house, with the children and the elders while her husband was at work. and all that until one day they left.

no warning was given for that, just the whole family packing up their stuff one day and going away for good. shortly after, we're told that the younger son died and that's what led the family to flee the area. the old kangs never told anyone where their kids were gone off to and no one dared ask either.

and they started getting more and more demented as time went by. they poisoned dogs, strangled cats in the village, chased people out of their house if they didn't share the same whacked religious beliefs and apparently they had even harassed their neighbours all around.

nowadays, only old mrs kwon lives nearby. she's very elderly and lives alone, poor woman, but maybe she can tell you more about them..," mrs kim suggested, obviously tired of the discourse.

the boys thanked her and bowed politely, though neither of them was aware of how to traditionally vow respect to elders.

"take them to mrs kwon's house tomorrow, huh, jungwoo. she'll like talking to someone too, poor woman," mrs kim instructed and made the boy promise, "go to bed now, sweethearts. you must be tired now."

the boys nodded and jungwoo signalled to them to follow him upstairs.