CH 123

“You said that I would suffer.”

If we switched, I would be fine, but seven-year-old Haeseo’s soul could be swallowed by the mansion and become tainted. A pure child’s soul was easier to succumb to darkness. He hadn’t been in existence for a long time, so his human heart would easily be bruised and change to the heart of a ghost.

However, the Child, who died at eight, had also changed. The Child wanted what Haeseo had—a kind mother, a loving environment, and a happy home. Haeseo Nam was young as was the Child.

“So, I suggested that it would be fine to switch for a year,” he explained.

The Child lured Haeseo, but Haeseo proposed the exchange.

The Child thought it would be okay if it was just for a year. A year was extremely short for a ghost.

‘Just for a short while, a really short time, I would experience something sweet and tender.’

I wanted just a little. I didn’t want too much. Just once—I was satisfied with once.

…I wanted to be loved for a year.

The Child eventually took Haeseo’s hand.

I had no idea how to look Haeseo in the eyes. We switched lives for just a year. In exchange, I let Haeseo be able to sing well. Haeseo was very happy about it, and after a year, he told me that he would sing for his mother.

“You would be Haeseo, and I would remain here as a restless spirit,” he said.

That was the plan.

The problem emerged from someone other than us. Being consumed by Haeseo’s memories wasn’t the issue.

It was Mom.

“Who are you?” My mother disliked me.

“My mom somehow knew that you weren’t her child,” he said.

After the accident, his mother changed. She looked at me and asked who I was. She said I was so kind and so angelic before my accident. She said I was so adorable. She firmly believed that her child was already dead and something strange was in her child’s body.

I thought those were my mother’s delusions. That was what I believed, but surprisingly, she was correct. My mother didn’t go insane. She truly loved her child, so much so that she even figured out that I wasn’t her child after the accident.

So…

Haeseo muttered, “My mom kept abusing and hating you. I felt sorry about it. Still, I decided to wait. But my mom’s abuse got worse even though you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“…”

Although the promised year passed, Haeseo didn’t appear before me. I couldn’t dream about the mansion once. He intentionally terminated our agreement. Haeseo’s soul morphed just like that. He became an evil spirit in my stead and appeared to those who died. He promised to extend their lives and then took their bodies.

“That’s why I became my mom and decided to take care of you.”

He became a different person after coming back from near death. He truly became the main character of those types of stories.

“My mom hanged herself at the nursing home. She berated herself for abusing a child. Of course, the nursing home staff found my mother and resuscitated her—or so they thought.”

“…”

“I poured all the love that I knew that way… But this time, you rejected me.”

“Haeseo, Haeseo,” she cried as she kissed my forehead and cheeks. Those were the moments that I felt like she would burn my skin. She didn’t know what to do with herself as she wept before me.

“No, no, no. I just wanted you to be happy.” She was so flustered when I said I was scared.

“I just…” Then, she stood and walked toward the kitchen. She pulled out the knife in the cabinet under the sink. She smiled brightly before she died and asked, “Then, if I remove myself, will you be happy?”

The thought process that resulted in those words… I now understood them. Haeseo shrugged. His eyes were still completely black with no whites. “I wanted to see you happy no matter what it took, so I stayed nearby.”

I couldn’t say anything. My hands merely trembled uncontrollably. Oh, just what in the world did we end up causing? What had I done? Haeseo simply gazed at me with kind eyes. “That’s how it started, you and I.”

His bright grin was just like that of Yeonseon.

“Who are you, really? My loved one, please tell me your name,” Haeseo asked again.

“…You, do you realize that you killed your own mother?” I questioned him when I saw that he was left only with the desire to learn my name and his obsession with me. Haeseo’s eyes grew narrow. He wasn’t astonished—he just couldn’t figure out why I was asking such a thing. He had made a similar face to when he said that he could have called me dad if Goyeon were still alive.

It was a face that could only be made when normal human emotions were completely warped and distorted.