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# Chapter 188: What Mother Said
The fluorescent lights of the hospital corridor stabbed at Sea’s eyes. Like needles piercing her retinas. Do-hyun’s voice still rang through the phone. But Sea wasn’t listening anymore. Instead, she focused on the sound of her own footsteps. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. Rhythm. Tempo. As if searching for proof that she was still alive.
“Noona, Mom…”
Do-hyun spoke again.
“Yeah. I’m on my way now. I got out of the car and I’m heading to the hospital.”
Sea said it. A lie. She was still standing in an alley near Gangnam Station. Haeul followed behind her, like someone who didn’t know where to go either.
“Can you hurry? Mom keeps waking up and falling asleep again. And every time she wakes up, she says something. But it sounds strange. Like someone who just woke from a dream. Or like…”
Do-hyun stopped mid-sentence.
“Like what?”
Sea asked.
“Like she needs to tell you something, but she can’t remember what. And it’s really difficult for her.”
Do-hyun answered.
Sea’s hand trembled again. This time it was the hand holding the phone. The screen flickered. Battery: 8%.
“Sorry for not picking up earlier.”
Sea said.
“Why are you sorry? Just come. Mom is…”
Do-hyun stopped. The background sound changed. Something falling. An urgent sound, the kind that came from a hospital bed.
“Mom!”
Do-hyun shouted.
“Do-hyun? Do-hyun!”
Sea pressed the phone harder against her ear.
“Noona, Mom… she woke up. And…”
Do-hyun’s voice dropped. Almost to a whisper.
“And what?”
“She’s calling your name.”
Do-hyun said.
Sea didn’t move. Haeul touched her shoulder gently. Like waking someone who had fallen asleep.
“Let’s go. Now.”
Haeul said.
In the taxi, Sea still held the phone to her ear. But she wasn’t talking to Do-hyun anymore. He had gone back to Mom’s bedside. The microphone was still on, and Sea could hear the hospital sounds. The beep of monitors. Someone’s footsteps. And Mom’s voice. Faint but unmistakable.
“Sea…”
Mom said. Repeatedly. Like it was the only word she knew. Like she had to keep confirming her own daughter’s name.
“Sea…”
Sea looked out the taxi window. The road from Gangnam to Seocho. Light streaming past on the streets. Each light seemed to represent a household. Someone living their life behind each light. Their mothers weren’t calling out for anyone. Their siblings weren’t making desperate phone calls.
“How much longer?”
Haeul asked the taxi driver.
“Five minutes. Traffic’s good.”
The driver answered.
Sea lowered the phone. Battery: 6%. It would die soon. Then she wouldn’t hear Mom’s voice. Wouldn’t hear Do-hyun breathing. Only silence would remain.
“What did your mom say?”
Haeul asked.
“I don’t know. Just my name.”
Sea answered.
“What does that mean?”
Haeul asked.
Sea didn’t answer. Because she didn’t know either. Why Mom was repeating her name. Whether it was acknowledgment, confession, or pain. Nothing was clear.
The hospital corridor was filled with the silence of 11 PM. The fluorescent lights were still on, but their glow was no longer warm. No longer reassuring. Instead, they exposed everything. Every wrinkle, every flaw, every compromise. Sea stopped in front of Mom’s room. Through the door, she could see Do-hyun. He sat beside the bed, holding Mom’s hand. Like if he let go, she would disappear completely.
Sea opened the door.
“Noona!”
Do-hyun looked up. His eyes were swollen and red. His face was pale. Like he had already lost something too.
“I’m here.”
Sea said. And walked to the bed.
Mom’s eyes were closed. But she seemed to know Sea had come. Her fingers moved. The fingers that had been holding Do-hyun’s hand. Like she was searching for something.
“Mom.”
Sea said.
Mom’s eyes slowly opened. They were looking at Sea, but they weren’t focused. Like Sea was still far away. Or like she was a hallucination.
“Sea…”
Mom said again. This time it sounded like a question. There was doubt mixed in. Is it really you?
“Yes. It’s me, Mom.”
Sea said again.
Mom reached out her hand. Do-hyun didn’t pull away. Instead, her hand moved toward Sea’s. Sea took it. Mom’s hand was cold. Like something that hadn’t felt sunlight in a long time.
“Where… were you?”
Mom asked.
“I was here. I’ve been here.”
Sea answered.
“No. Before that. Further… further…”
Mom’s words trailed off. Like she couldn’t find the words. Like her memory had abandoned her.
Do-hyun looked at Sea. His eyes held a question. What do I tell her?
Sea squeezed Mom’s hand tighter.
“I’m here now. I’m here right now. I’m not going anywhere.”
Sea said. A lie. But it sounded like the only truth.
Mom’s face relaxed slightly. Like that promise calmed something in her.
“Kang Mi-jun…”
Mom said again.
Sea’s body went rigid. So did Do-hyun’s. Neither of them moved. Like they had stopped breathing.
“Kang Mi-jun keeps looking for us. For you. And…”
Mom stopped. She closed her eyes. Like she needed to prepare herself for what came next.
“What, Mom?”
Do-hyun asked. His voice was small but desperate.
Mom opened her eyes again. This time she wasn’t looking at Sea. She was looking at the ceiling. And she spoke slowly.
“Kang Mi-jun… sent Kang Ri-u to you.”
As those words fell, Sea realized she wasn’t breathing.
“Kang Ri-u is… a good person. He’ll protect you. But…”
Mom stopped again.
“But what?”
Sea asked. This time she was the one asking.
Mom looked back at Sea’s eyes. Now they were focused. Like that question had woken her.
“But… you can’t trust him. No matter what anyone says. Even if they tell you Kang Ri-u is good. You can’t…”
Mom breathed. Heavily.
“You can’t burn in the same fire as that man. You have to burn alone. With what’s left of the fire. That’s the only way to survive. That’s how… you can save someone.”
Mom said.
Sea’s hand trembled. She gripped Mom’s hand so tight her fingers went pale.
“What are you saying?”
Sea asked.
“You need to know… what your voice is. What kind of power it has. And who fears it. Kang Mi-jun, Kang Ri-u, and…”
Mom breathed again.
“And me.”
Mom said.
Silence filled the room. Only the beep of the monitor. And Do-hyun’s breathing. And Sea’s heartbeat. No—her heart seemed to have stopped.
“What does that mean?”
Do-hyun asked.
Mom looked at Do-hyun. And slowly reached up to touch his cheek.
“You’re… okay. You have less of Kang Mi-jun in you. You’re… you look more like me. And that’s… a blessing.”
Mom said to Do-hyun.
“Mom, I really don’t understand what you’re saying.”
Do-hyun said. His voice trembled.
Mom looked back at Sea.
“You need to know. Exactly.”
Mom said.
Sea didn’t move. She couldn’t move. Like if she moved now, everything would shatter.
“What Kang Mi-jun feared about you… wasn’t your voice. That was just a reason. The real reason was…”
Mom closed her eyes.
“What was it?”
Sea asked.
“Your very existence shakes Kang Mi-jun’s world. He knows it. And…”
Mom opened her eyes again.
“And Kang Ri-u knows it too. That boy wasn’t trying to protect you. He was trying to control you. So he wouldn’t be controlled himself.”
Mom said.
Sea’s hand slipped from Mom’s. Slowly. Gently. But decisively.
“Then… why did you send me to Kang Ri-u?”
Sea asked.
Mom didn’t answer. Instead, she closed her eyes again. Like answering that question would kill her.
“Mom?”
Do-hyun called out.
Mom didn’t move. Lying on the bed, like she was already dead.
Sea left the room. As she opened the door and stepped into the corridor, Mom’s words kept ringing in her mind. “You have to burn alone. With what’s left of the fire.” “Your very existence shakes Kang Mi-jun’s world.” “That boy wasn’t trying to protect you. He was trying to control you.”
The corridor wasn’t silent anymore. It was screaming. Screaming only Sea could hear.
Haeul sat on a bench in the corridor. She was holding her phone but not looking at the screen. Instead, she lifted and lowered her fingers. Like she was keeping time. Like she too had something to burn.
When Sea came out, Haeul looked up.
“What happened?”
Haeul asked.
“Mom said something.”
Sea answered.
“What?”
“That Kang Ri-u… wasn’t mine. That he was my father’s man.”
Sea said.
Haeul stood up.
“What?”
“Kang Ri-u wasn’t protecting me… he was trying to control me. To control my father through me.”
Sea said.
Haeul’s face went pale.
“What are you going to do now?”
Haeul asked.
Sea counted her fingers. Still five. Still trembling. But now she understood what the tremor was. It wasn’t fear. It was anger. And that anger was fire. Her own fire. What was left of the fire.
“I need to find Kang Ri-u.”
Sea said.
“Sea, not now. You…”
Haeul said.
“Now. Exactly now.”
Sea answered.
And she picked up her phone. Battery: 4%. The screen showed Kang Ri-u’s number. Unsaved. But Sea still remembered it. Like it was carved into her blood.
Sea dialed.
The phone rang. Once, twice, three times.
And someone picked up.
“Sea?”
It was Kang Ri-u’s voice. Surprised. And pleased. Like he had finally received someone he’d been waiting for.
Sea didn’t answer.
“Sea? Where are you? I…”
Kang Ri-u said.
“Let’s meet.”
Sea said.
Silence. A long silence.
“Really?”
Kang Ri-u asked.
“Yes. Let’s meet. Now.”
Sea answered.
“Where?”
“The river. Hangang Park. Now.”
Sea said.
And she hung up.
Battery: 3%. It would die soon. But Sea didn’t care anymore. Her fire was burning strong enough now. With what was left. With her own fire.
Haeul tried to grab her, but Sea was already walking. Through the hospital corridor, into the elevator, out of the hospital. Into the night of Seoul.
And to the river.
Like someone else was controlling her body.
Or like, for the first time, she was controlling her own.