I am back – Chapter 38

The expressions of the two people getting married looked really happy.

Yoori-nuna, walking with her arm linked in Park Hyun-seung’s, had a face that was pure happiness itself.

“……”

Nuna silently looked up at the two people.

Her eyes were sparkling.

I wonder if she hopes to walk in a place like that someday too?

If she imagined walking, who would she be envisioning beside her?

To be honest, I’ve had such daydreams. In my imagination, the person walking by my side was Nuna. Dressed in a pristine white dress, she walked slowly beside me, arms linked, looking dapper in a tuxedo.

I liked Nuna.

Since childhood, aside from family, she was the only woman around me, but I didn’t just like her for that reason. Over time, I slowly fell for her. I would get fluttered by her way of speaking and every little gesture, and my heart raced at the sound of her calling my name.

I don’t even know when it started. I just realized it at some point.

It wasn’t something I could easily dissect, like why I liked her or how I liked her. It was just because she was Nuna, because she was there beside me.

If you take Nuna out of my life, how much of it would be left? Could you even call that life?

The one who turned my childhood into shining memories was Nuna. If it weren’t for her, I’d only remember sitting crouched beside a garbage dumpster where the cold wind blew, waiting for Mom in a dark, damp basement.

Was I even a shining memory for Nuna during her childhood? Does she think of the memories we shared as joyful ones?

…….

At least I can’t say that the last memory was a shining one.

I’m just so sorry that I had to show her that kind of thing. I never wanted to hurt her.

I locked eyes with Yoori-nuna as she walked forward. She waved her hand this way. It was probably aimed at Nuna sitting next to me, not me.

Nuna smiled and waved back at Yoori-nuna.

With a happy expression, Yoori-nuna walked all the way to the end of the road.

Many people saw Nuna off into her future.

I sincerely wished for Yoori-nuna to be happy.

*

This was the first time I learned that the person receiving the wedding bouquet was predetermined.

I’ve been to a few weddings with Mom, but I never saw enough of the bouquet-catching part to know that.

It seems nowadays that even people who aren’t planning to get married still sometimes catch bouquets to wish happiness for the recipient.

Considering her age, you could say Yoori-nuna’s wedding is rather early. It might be that none of Yoori-nuna’s friends are getting married.

Though a cousin of Yoori-nuna stood beside her, it was Ah-yoon-an who took on the role of receiving the bouquet.

Dressed in a beige dress over a white blouse, Nuna initially wore a slightly nervous expression, but after catching the bouquet thrown by Yoori-nuna, she broke into a bright smile.

Click-click! Several photos were taken.

When I applauded at seeing the Nuna who caught the bouquet, she turned a bit red and looked slightly embarrassed.

……Someday, Nuna will also wear a white dress and hold a bouquet.

If that day ever comes, will I genuinely be able to applaud her?

“……”

I don’t know.

When the group photo was taken, I was able to be in the picture alongside Nuna, surrounded by ‘friends’.

I don’t know if I should call it coincidence, but I was happy. Every time Yoori-nuna looks at her wedding photos, I’ll be remembered too.

Many coincidences brought me here, but still, it felt good to be where I belonged.

……However, even while taking the last photos together, I never saw Mom.

I didn’t think for a second that she might not have been invited to the wedding.

Could something have happened to Mom? Did anything happen at all?

No, it can’t be.

If it were, surely the Goddess would have let me know.

Even in that final moment.

“……”

But I still felt uneasy.

What if something happened after I came here that I didn’t know about? Is it possible I didn’t notice anything happening to Mom because it was nighttime or because the bakery was closed?

“What are you thinking so deeply about?”

As I stepped down from the stage, Nuna asked, making me flinch.

“Ah, um, uh…”

But I couldn’t bring up the topic of Mom here. Right now, it felt like Mom and I were strangers.

“I’m—just a bit hungry…”

I clumsily made that excuse, but after spending a month with identified eating habits, Nuna wore a face that seemed to be holding back laughter.

“Yeah, it’s about that time to be hungry.”

The wedding started in the morning. Right now it was around one o’clock, on the cusp of lunchtime, so my excuse could reasonably hold up.

“The restaurant is upstairs—”

“Auntie!”

Nuna’s sentence was abruptly cut off by someone’s shout.

The one who shouted was Yoori-nuna.

With a hearty call, Yoori-nuna rushed over, still gripping the hem of her dress, and tightly hugged someone who was just entering the venue.

“Ah!”

The middle-aged woman, suddenly pulled into a hug, gasped in surprise.

“Sorry, I’m a bit late, right?”

She asked, her voice dripping with sincerity.

“No, it’s okay! I know you’re busy. I’m just grateful that you made it.”

“Our Yoori is such a sweetheart.”

The two exchanged pleasantries while smiling and then stepped back a bit after the hug. The woman, casting an affectionate glance at Yoori-nuna, said with a beaming smile.

“You’re really beautiful. I wish I could have come when you were up there…”

To the woman saying that wistfully,

“I’ll send you a video.”

Yoori-nuna replied with a cheerful smile.

A little later, Park Hyun-seung stood beside them as well.

“Hello.”

“Oh my, Hyun-seung!”

The middle-aged woman looked up at Park Hyun-seung as she spoke.

“You’ve grown so strong.”

“Of course, I am the eldest now.”

“What are you saying?”

Yoori-nuna playfully poked Hyun-seung in the side.

“Ah…”

Watching that scene, I remained frozen in place, unable to move a single step.

Only after the wedding did that person manage to enter the hall.

That slightly frail middle-aged woman, dressed in navy formal wear, was…

“Mom!”

Nuna exclaimed happily, rushing forward.

Yeah, that was right. She had always called Mom like that.

Mom treated Nuna almost like a daughter, so much so that it wouldn’t be strange to say Mom was closer to her than Nuna’s biological parents, whom she argued with daily.

Mom was over there.

Her face lit up at the sight of Nuna. For a moment, she looked a few years younger.

Mom hadn’t changed since I last remembered her. I thought five years might have changed her atmosphere a bit, but it was completely the same.

Thank goodness.

……Mom seemed to be doing well.

“Oh my, my girl, have you been well?”

Embracing Nuna tightly, who came running like Yoori-nuna, Mom said that. Mom’s hand gently patted Ah-yoon’s back.

Did Mom and Nuna draw closer after I died?

Though Mom always called Nuna Ah-yoon, she’d never referred to her so directly as daughter before. It seemed that Nuna’s biological parents lived upstairs.

Now that their living situation had changed, perhaps that was why.

“I missed you so much.”

When Nuna said that, a smile appeared on Mom’s lips as she looked down at Nuna’s shoulder.

The two embraced tightly for a while, and then Mom studied Nuna’s face closely before placing a hand on her cheek and saying,

“Why have you lost so much weight? Not eating well lately?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Seeing Mom’s worried face, Nuna smiled.

Whenever Mom would respond like that, she would raid the fridge when Nuna came over to our house and lay out a feast. Nuna always loved food made by Mom.

“Why have you lost weight again, Mom?”

Nuna said, touching Mom’s arm. Mom smiled awkwardly, and Yoori-nuna chuckled, “Wow, you two are just the same, just the same.”

It was a scene picturesque like a painting.

And I was the only one standing off at a distance.

I had mulled over countless times about what I should say to Mom. Hello, it’s nice to meet you… but I could never think of what to say next.

I just wanted to run over and embrace her.

I wanted to tell Mom that I loved her. That was something I’d never done, except for when I was very young, as I was too shy. I regretted not saying it after I died.

……

But such things were all beyond my reach now.

“Oh?”

Noticing me still frozen in place, Nuna turned her head.

Then she smiled at me and beckoned.

It was probably an invitation to come over.

After a brief moment of hesitation, I took my first step, following Nuna’s gesture.