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# Chapter 51: The Jeju Flight
The messages from Haneul kept coming.
“Hey, why aren’t you checking? What are you even doing?”
“You’re off at the convenience store today, right?”
“This is seriously bothering me. You’ve been weird lately.”
“Answer me, you crazy bastard.”
Seyah picked up her phone, then put it down. Her finger froze before touching the screen. What could she say? That Kang Riou was leaving the company? That she had to go to Jeju? That everything was ending? How could she explain any of this to Haneul when she didn’t understand it herself?
3:12 PM.
Seyah got out of bed. Her movements were mechanical, as if someone else was controlling her limbs. She opened the wardrobe. There wasn’t much. Three convenience store uniforms, two pairs of black jeans, a few gray t-shirts, and one black dress she’d worn on stage at the live club. That was everything.
Three days’ worth.
Seyah couldn’t figure out what Kang Riou meant by “three days’ worth.” Three days of clothes? Three days of money? Or everything needed to survive three days in a place called Jeju?
She pulled out a small suitcase. It was too worn for travel, but she thought it was better than nothing. She started packing clothes. Mechanically. Without thinking.
Her phone rang. A call. From Haneul.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you texting back?”
Seyah didn’t answer. She just kept packing clothes. Once, twice, three times. Haneul’s calls rang three times. Then they stopped.
A few seconds later, a message came through.
“Seriously. What’s going on? Pick up.”
Seyah texted back: “I’m busy right now. I’ll call you later.”
After sending it, Seyah realized she’d lied. She wasn’t busy. She just couldn’t speak. She didn’t know how to answer if Haneul asked.
4:30 PM.
Seyah went to the dry cleaner and picked up a school uniform. Her high school uniform. Her younger brother Dohyun’s uniform. The reason was simple. She needed to tell her mother she was going to Jeju. Because of school. She was going to say “it’s a school trip.” It was a lie. But an easier lie.
Yet as she touched Dohyun’s uniform, Seyah suddenly felt the weight of reality pressing down. Dohyun. Mother. The convenience store job. The 2.5 million won her mother had spent on medicine with that contract money. Everything pressed down on Seyah’s shoulders.
She didn’t put the uniform in the suitcase. Instead, she laid it on the bed. Stared at it. It seemed to symbolize her responsibility.
5:15 PM.
Her phone rang. This time it was her mother. Her mother in Jeju. Seyah answered.
“Mom.”
“Yeah. Did you eat?”
“Yeah.”
“Liar. You always lie. Eat something, then call me back.”
Seyah didn’t respond. Her mother continued.
“Dohyun told me you’ve been working a lot lately? Are you okay? Take care of yourself.”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Another lie. Seyah realized how many lies she’d told. To her mother, to Dohyun, to Haneul. And most of all, to herself.
“Come down to Jeju sometime. It’s been a while. It’s already been six years since you came here.”
“Yeah. I will soon.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Really.”
This time it wasn’t a lie. But whether that truth would reassure her mother or make her worry even more, Seyah couldn’t know.
After the call ended, Seyah sat in front of the suitcase again. Her fingers were trembling. Was this because of Kang Riou too? Like his shaking hands, were hers shaking now? But Seyah’s hands weren’t trembling because of the piano. They were trembling from fear.
6:40 PM.
Seyah texted the convenience store manager. Subject: “Something urgent came up and I won’t be able to come in for about a week starting tomorrow.”
The reply came five minutes later. “Understood. Please take care of yourself.”
That was all. Seyah had worked at that convenience store for eight months. Every night from 11 PM to 8 AM. Sometimes longer with extra shifts. But no one there knew her real name. She was just “the convenience store girl.” And now she was disappearing from that place. Quietly enough that no one would even notice.
7:20 PM.
Haneul called again.
“Hey. What are you doing?”
“What should I say?”
For the first time, Seyah told the truth.
“What?”
“…Something weird happened.”
There was silence. A long one. Then Haneul asked.
“Kang Riou?”
Seyah didn’t answer. But the silence was answer enough.
“Shit. I told you. That guy’s dangerous.”
“It’s not dangerous.”
“Then what is it?”
Seyah looked at her hands. They were still trembling.
“It’s complicated.”
“What’s complicated about it? Explain.”
“…I can’t right now. I’ll tell you later.”
“Later? When?”
“In Jeju.”
Silence. Longer this time. When Haneul’s voice came back, it was in a different tone.
“You’re going to Jeju?”
“Yeah.”
“With Kang Riou?”
“Yeah.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow morning at 8:40.”
Silence again. This time it was very long. Seyah wondered if Haneul had given up on her. Wasn’t there a moment like this in Korean web novels? A friend goes silent, and when that silence ends, everything ends.
But Haneul’s voice came.
“Three days?”
“Yeah. Kang Riou told me to prepare for three days.”
“What do three days mean?”
“…I don’t know.”
Silence again. Then Haneul burst out laughing. A real laugh. Seyah hadn’t heard Haneul laugh like that in years. A genuine laugh. A defeated laugh.
“Seriously. Get it together. What does three days mean? What the hell are you doing?”
“I don’t know.”
“Right. You never know. That’s why I’m always looking out for you.”
Haneul’s voice softened. It changed from an angry tone to a worried one.
“What are you going to do in Jeju?”
“…I don’t know. Kang Riou said he’d tell me when we get there.”
“That doesn’t make sense. None of this makes sense. But you’re still going?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
This time Seyah went silent. Why was she going? That was a good question. She needed to know why she was going. Because Kang Riou told her to? No. He’d only suggested Jeju, not forced her. Because of her mother? Jeju was her hometown. But returning after six years wasn’t reason enough for this.
Seyah looked at her room. A six-pyeong semi-basement. A damp ceiling. A small cat house by the window. And her hands. Still trembling hands.
“…I don’t know. I just think I have to.”
Haneul sighed. A deep sigh.
“Fine. Go. But get your act together in Jeju. Don’t throw everything away just because you like Kang Riou. You’re alone. Remember that. You’re alone.”
“Yeah.”
“And contact me every day. At least send a photo or something.”
“Yeah.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Haneul said nothing more. She just hung up. Seyah held the phone for a while afterward.
8:15 PM.
Seyah texted Dohyun. “I’ll give you the money for mom’s hospital bills tomorrow morning on the way to school. I put it in your bag, so grab it. And tell mom I’m going on a school trip.”
Dohyun’s reply was quick. “What are you doing? The school trip isn’t until next year.”
Seyah replied: “Don’t worry about that. Just tell mom that.”
Dohyun texted again. “What? Seriously. What’s going on?”
Seyah didn’t reply anymore.
9:00 PM.
Kang Riou’s call came through. Exactly at 9 PM. Not a second off.
“Are you ready?”
His voice wasn’t cold. But it wasn’t warm either. It was just the tone of someone saying only what was necessary.
“Yeah.”
“Luggage?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll pick you up at 7:30 tomorrow morning. Eat before then. You won’t be able to eat on the plane.”
“Yeah.”
“And make sure you bring your phone. You might need it even on the plane.”
“Yeah.”
Kang Riou went silent. Then he asked.
“What about Haneul?”
Seyah was surprised. That Kang Riou knew about Haneul. Or rather, he did know. Before his declaration of leaving the company, it seemed like Kang Riou knew everything about Seyah.
“…I called her.”
“What did she say?”
“She told me not to go. For real.”
“Yeah. She’s right. You shouldn’t go. But are you going?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
Seyah had heard this question twice now. First from Haneul. Second from Kang Riou. And now, she could answer.
“…I want to know. What’s ending.”
Kang Riou went silent. For a long time. Then he said.
“See you tomorrow. In front of the goshiwon.”
The call ended.
9:45 PM.
Seyah was still sitting next to the suitcase. She couldn’t move. As if she’d become part of the suitcase. Or the suitcase had become part of her.
Through the window, she could see the semi-basement view. Only people’s legs. The legs of passing people. Where were they going? With Kang Riou in a car? With Haneul to the tattoo shop? Or to the convenience store? Like Seyah.
Seyah looked at her hands again. Still trembling. But this time it was different. As if her fingers were moving to grab someone. Or to be grabbed by someone.
10:00 PM.
Seyah lay in bed. She looked at the ceiling. A damp ceiling. And beyond that ceiling, the world above ground. The world with sunlight. An airplane going there. An airplane going to Jeju.
On the desk next to her bed was a small lighter. Seyah’s lighter. She sometimes flicked it on and off. Watched the flame. A small flame. She thought that flame was burning her.
11:30 PM.
A message came on her phone. From Kang Minjun.
“Riou is looking for me. He didn’t show up at the company tonight. Do you know anything?”
Seyah didn’t reply. Kang Minjun was Kang Riou’s father. The chairman of JYA. The signer of the contract that had trapped Seyah.
Another message came from Kang Minjun.
“Read the contract again. Page 3, Section 7. You need to know what you signed.”
Seyah read that message. Page 3, Section 7. The copyright clause. The clause that said all songs Seyah wrote belonged to JYA. She already knew that.
11:45 PM.
Seyah got out of bed. She checked the suitcase again. Clothes, underwear, socks. Toothpaste, toothbrush. A small towel. And… what else did she need?
Seyah opened the desk drawer. Inside was a small notebook. A notebook with a black cover. Inside were songs Seyah had written. Twelve songs. Handwritten. Sheet music and lyrics. All hers.
Seyah put the notebook in the suitcase. Not in a pocket, but hidden under the clothes. As if it were the most important thing. And really, it was.
11:59 PM.
Seyah sat by the window. The semi-basement window. She watched the legs of people above ground. When midnight came, there would be fewer legs. But someone would still pass by. People passing through the night.
Seyah spread her fingers. Thin, delicate fingers. The fingers that wrote music. Those fingers were still trembling.
The flight to Jeju was tomorrow morning at 8:40 AM.
Seyah thought about it. What Kang Riou would show her. What he would say. And what “everything ends” meant.
But there were no answers. Only that Kang Riou would appear tomorrow at 7:30 AM. And everything after that was unknowable.
Seyah picked up the lighter. She flicked it on. A small flame appeared. A blue flame. A warm flame. She watched it.
And she understood. Why she was going to Jeju.
It wasn’t because Kang Riou told her to. It wasn’t because her mother was there. It wasn’t for Dohyun.
Seyah was going to Jeju. To know where her fire started. To check if that fire was really burning, or if it was already extinguished.
And most importantly, to know if she was really burning for nothing, or if she was burning for something.
Seyah turned off the lighter. The flame disappeared. But her fingers were still warm.
12:30 AM.
Seyah finally lay in bed. The suitcase was ready by the door. Waiting for 7:30 AM tomorrow morning.
And Seyah dreamed. Of the sea in Jeju. Of her mother surfacing with the sound of sumbi—the breathing of a haenyeo. And of herself singing along to that sound.
But that song was heard by no one. Only the wind could hear it.
Current Status
– Story Timeline: Beginning of Volume 3. Immediately after Kang Riou’s declaration of leaving JYA. The night Seyah prepares with a plane ticket to Jeju. Waiting for the 7:30 AM pickup.
– Character Current State:
* Seyah: Confused. She agreed to Kang Riou’s proposal but doesn’t fully understand its meaning. Her fingers are trembling. Her friendship with Haneul is shaking.
* Kang Riou: Before decisive action. Planning to quit the company. Attempting to shift his relationship with Seyah from “salvation” to something else.
* Kang Minjun: Looking for his son. Sending warning messages to Seyah. Still doesn’t fully grasp Seyah’s importance.
* Haneul: Oscillating between worry and resignation. Letting Seyah go while trying to ensure her safety.
* Dohyun: Starting to notice his sister’s lies.
– Foreshadowing:
1. Kang Minjun’s message—Reminder of Page 3, Section 7 copyright clause. This will be the core conflict of Volume 3.
2. Seyah’s notebook—Containing 12 songs in a black cover. She takes it to Jeju. This will trigger something there.
3. “Everything ends”—Kang Riou’s ambiguous words. End of the relationship? End of the contract? Or a new beginning?
4. Kang Riou’s trembling hands—Still not healed. Will something change in Jeju?
5. Seyah’s realization—She now knows why she’s going. “To check if I’m burning for nothing or something.” The central theme of Volume 3.
# The Truth of Fire
## Part 1: The Weight of Night
11:47 PM.
Seyah’s fingers were trembling.
The fingers pressing the lighter’s wheel. Quite badly, too. Like the hands of a patient burning with fever, an uncontrollable microscopic vibration spreading through her entire hand. Seyah looked down at her hands. In the dark room, her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, and the trembling of her fingers became clearer.
What is this? Cold? No. The room temperature was comfortable. The air conditioner was running, and despite wearing only a light long-sleeved shirt, she could feel warmth. So what was this trembling?
Seyah clenched her fists. She interlaced her fingers and pressed hard. But the trembling didn’t stop. If anything, it got worse. As if her hands weren’t her own, as if they were moving with independent will.
“Calm down. Calm down.”
Seyah muttered to herself. Her voice was low and shaky. She knew that what needed calming wasn’t her hands, but her heart, but she couldn’t directly control her heart. So she decided to start with her hands. If her hands stopped trembling, maybe her heart would calm down too. There was hope in that.
The room was dark. Seyah hadn’t turned on the lights. She didn’t need bright light. In fact, she preferred the darkness. In darkness, she could think. Or rather, in darkness, she could avoid thinking. Under bright lights, everything became too clear. But in darkness, that clarity wasn’t necessary.
11:52 PM.
Seyah’s fingers were still trembling. But now it didn’t matter. There was a more important problem. There was a greater trembling. It wasn’t from her hands, but from her chest.
Seyah was sitting on her bed. Next to the bed sat a black suitcase. She’d already packed everything. Three sets of clothes, light outerwear, and most importantly—a black notebook. That notebook contained everything about Seyah. Twelve songs. Twelve stories. Twelve cries.
The notebook was at the very bottom of the suitcase, hidden among the clothes. So no one could accidentally find it. Not Kang Riou, not her mother, not Dohyun. No one was allowed to know about it.
Seyah stared at the suitcase. A black suitcase. Like a box containing her heart. Black, heavy, and unknowable from the outside.
“Why are you going?”
Seyah asked herself. This was the most basic question she’d thrown at herself over the past few hours.
Because Kang Riou told her to? No. Kang Riou had only suggested it. “Seyah, try going to Jeju. Meet your mother. And come back.”
It was just a suggestion. Not a command. Not coercion. But within that suggestion, there was something. Some intention that Seyah couldn’t sense, but definitely existed.
And Seyah followed that intention. Without asking why.
Because of her mother? Seyah shook her head. She didn’t want to see her mother. Her mother was in Jeju, and Seyah was in Seoul. That distance was comfortable. Phone calls were enough. No, there were barely any calls. Her mother was busy, and Seyah was busy too. Being mutually busy was a good excuse. A reason not to contact each other.
For Dohyun? Seyah let out a bitter laugh. Small and lonely. Dohyun didn’t care what she did. What Dohyun needed wasn’t a sister, but a father. And Dohyun would soon know that their father was about to leave.
Then why?
Seyah raised her fingers again. Still trembling. But now she understood the reason for the trembling. It wasn’t fear. It wasn’t anxiety.
It was thirst.
A thirst to know what she was. A thirst to find out where her fire started, whether it was really burning, or if it was already extinguished.
“The lighter…”
Seyah fumbled for the desk beside her bed. She opened a drawer. Glasses, coins, a scrap of tissue, and—a lighter. The lighter Kang Riou had given her. She couldn’t remember when. But it had been in her drawer for a long time.
## Part 2: The Meaning of Fire
Exactly midnight.
Seyah picked up the lighter. Her fingers were still trembling, but now that didn’t matter. If anything, that trembling helped her press the lighter’s wheel more precisely.
Click, click, click.
Fire erupted from the lighter.
A blue flame. Or more precisely, a mix of blue and yellow. The flame was small, but strong. Like a living creature, it flickered to announce its existence.
Seyah stared at that flame.
To Seyah’s eyes, the fire wasn’t just fire. It was a symbol. No, it was a mirror. A mirror reflecting her heart. Did she burn toward something the way that flame burned? Did she waver at someone’s words the way that flame wavered in the wind?
Seyah breathed deeply. Toward the lighter’s flame.
In that moment, something unfolded.
Like clouds parting, like a blind person suddenly regaining sight, something became clear in Seyah’s mind.
“Ah.”
The sound that came from Seyah’s mouth was almost a moan.
She knew why she was going to Jeju.
It wasn’t because Kang Riou told her to. He had only suggested it. And Seyah followed. But not because of his command.
It wasn’t because her mother was there. Not because she wanted to see her mother, not to avoid her. Her mother was just a reason for Jeju. Just a means to get there.
It wasn’t for Dohyun either. Dohyun didn’t need her anymore. And there was nothing Seyah could do for Dohyun anyway. Seyah herself was already drowning.
“I am…”
Seyah murmured.
“I’m going for myself.”
The moment those words left her mouth, Seyah’s chest sank. Like a heavy stone falling. But it wasn’t the weight of sadness.
It was the opposite.
It was liberation.
Seyah brought the hand holding the lighter closer. Until the flame almost touched her fingers. Warmth spread. It didn’t hurt. It was warm. Like someone was holding her hand.
“I want to know why I’m going to Jeju.”
Seyah continued muttering. As if confirming it to herself, as if swearing to a god.
“To know where my fire started.”
Seyah examined the lighter’s flame more closely. At the very bottom of the flame was blue. Above it were yellow, orange, red. Like a rainbow.
“Is this fire really burning?”
Seyah asked.
“Or is it already extinguished?”
That was the most important question. Seyah wanted to know if her fire was real, or if it was just an illusion she wanted to believe. Whether that fire was truly warm, or whether she was mistaking it for warmth.
And most importantly.
“Am I really burning for nothing?”
Seyah closed her eyes. Feeling the warmth of the lighter.
What if her fire was burning for nothing? What if she was burning because someone had tricked her, because someone’s words had swayed her?
“It can’t be like that.”
Seyah muttered. But there was no certainty. Her voice wavered.
That’s why she had to go to Jeju.
When she met her mother there, when that moment came, she felt like an answer might appear. When she saw her mother’s face, heard her mother’s voice, maybe then she could understand what her fire was burning for.
Because maybe it was because of her mother.
## Part 3: The Moment of Realization
12:13 AM.
Seyah turned off the lighter.
Click, it made a light sound. And the fire disappeared. Blue flame, yellow flame, orange flame, red flame. All colors of fire vanished in an instant.
But her fingers were still warm.
Seyah raised her fingers. In the dark room, her fingers seemed to glow. The heat left by the lighter’s flame remained on her fingers, and it made it seem as if her fingers were producing their own light.
“This is my fire.”
Seyah murmured.
“What remains is also my fire.”
The warmth left on her fingers. It was caused by the lighter’s flame, but now it was hers. Even now, after turning off the lighter, that warmth hadn’t disappeared. It would slowly fade, but at this moment, it was still warm.
“This is exactly…”
Seyah looked at her fingers.
“…the answer I was looking for.”
That was why Seyah had to go to Jeju. For what remained. For the heat that didn’t disappear. To confirm it really existed, that it was really warm.
Seyah lay in bed.
The suitcase still stood beside her bed. A black suitcase. Inside were clothes and a notebook. And when night passed, morning would come, and when morning came, a pickup vehicle would arrive. 7:30 AM. When that time came, everything would begin.
But it was still night now.
Seyah closed her eyes. Feeling the heat in her fingers. Slowly, feeling that heat fade away.
## Part 4: The Boundary of Dreams
Past 12:30 AM.
Seyah drifted into sleep. On the boundary between consciousness and unconsciousness, between wakefulness and dreams.
And Seyah dreamed.
The sea of Jeju.
It was blue. The same blue as the sky. No, a deeper blue. Like the color of calm, like the color that soothes sadness.
On that sea was her mother.
Seyah’s mother. Seyah couldn’t see her mother’s face clearly. As if light was blocking it. But she knew it was her mother. By her voice.
“Sumbi, sumbi.”
Her mother was releasing her breath on the water. Sumbi. The breathing sound of Jeju’s haenyeo—women divers. That sound was like a song. Like calling for something. Like searching for someone.
And Seyah sang along to that sound.
The sound coming from Seyah’s throat started as sumbi too. But gradually it changed. Gradually it became music. Gradually it became one of the twelve songs in her notebook.
Seyah sang. On the sea of Jeju. She sang along with her mother.
But that song was heard by no one.
In the dream, Seyah realized something. Ah, this is a dream. But even knowing it was a dream, she continued to sing. Because the song was real. The voice was real. The call was real, even if it was only heard by the wind.
The dream continued. Seyah sang. Her mother breathed the sumbi sound. The sea was blue. The sky was blue. Everything was blue, and everything was burning with that blue fire.
And when the dream ended, when Seyah woke up again, the morning would come.
The morning when she would finally know.
Why her fire burned.
And what it was burning for.