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Between Earth and Elsewhere

21

Chapter 21

Yeomyung felt like a guilty student being summoned to the principal’s office.

 

There was no reason for him to be submissive to Seorin. He had rehearsed his defenses countless times in his head, ready to counter anything she might say. Yet standing here now, he wondered if he could actually voice them. How could he justify himself to someone who visited a sandwich shop just to see a girl who looked like her dead sister?

 

How had everything spiraled like this? His grandmother, Arin, Seorin… He had only wanted to destroy himself quietly, to fall apart in solitude. But nothing ever went according to plan. Just when he thought things couldn’t get worse, they did.

 

The crunch of Seorin’s high heels on sandy ground grew closer as they walked toward each other.

 

“How have you been?” she asked.

 

“Same as always. Just working.”

 

Seorin nodded. “You’re doing well, then.”

 

Her words carried a different meaning to his ears: My sister is dead, and I haunt this place daily. But you’re living your life just fine, aren’t you?

 

“Yeah…” he managed.

 

“Do you see the sandwich shop worker often?”

 

“Every day at lunch.”

 

“And seeing her… does it bother you? Does she remind you of my sister?”

 

“…I do think of her.”

 

“Does it trouble you? Or do you feel nothing at all?”

 

“No, it doesn’t bother me.”

 

Seorin’s gaze flickered behind him momentarily—perhaps expecting Daeun—before returning to his face.

 

“Why did you say that back then?” she asked. “Couldn’t you have found another way to make her leave?”

 

“I couldn’t think of anything else.”

 

Seorin blinked. “You should’ve just hit her,” she said flatly.

 

Yeomyung had no response.

 

“Do you regret it?”

 

“I don’t know,” he said.

 

“Would you say the same thing again, if you could go back?”

 

“…I don’t know.”

 

He could have given Seorin the comfort she wanted to hear. But empty words of consolation now would only paint him as that ambiguous character—someone who did wrong but wasn’t really that bad. If he had done something wrong, then he was simply a bad person. Perhaps it was better for Seorin to see him that way. Not that he was playing the villain for her benefit—no one does things for others like that. Anyone who claims otherwise is lying.

 

Seorin’s gaze drifted behind him again, lingering longer this time. Then her eyes locked with his as she stepped forward and grabbed his arm.

 

“I didn’t say all this to make you feel guilty or apologize. You know that, right? You don’t have to. It was an accident.”

 

She released his arm and stepped back.

 

“It’s just… when we run into each other, could we talk like this? There aren’t many people I can talk to about my sister. Even with my parents, I can’t really…”

 

Yeomyung remained motionless. Even if she had no one else to talk to, choosing him seemed like a desperate measure.

 

“I’ll get going.”

 

Seorin trudged away from the playground, her feet dragging through the sand.

 

***

 

Seorin watched from behind a building column as Yeomyung handed something to Arin in the distance. They seemed deep in conversation until Yeomyung turned to leave. Arin called after him, her expression desperate. Seorin could guess what she was saying. Yeomyung replied briefly before walking away, leaving Arin looking uneasy.

 

As soon as he disappeared around the corner, Seorin emerged from her hiding spot, pretending she had just arrived. Arin’s face brightened at the sight of her.

 

“Let’s go inside,” Arin said.

 

Once inside her house, Arin spoke. “I saw you with Yeomyung at the playground earlier, on my way home.”

 

“Yeah, we talked a bit.”

 

“What about?”

 

“Just the usual greetings, asking how things were.”

 

“Ah, I see. You get along well with the alien.”

 

“Of course.” Seorin’s expression turned serious. “Oh, did you hear about this?”

 

“What is it?”

 

“Yeomyung said there are only two seats on the spaceship. Since one has to be for him, only one other person can go to space.”

 

Arin’s eyes flickered with uncertainty. “Really…?”

 

“Yeah. What should we do? You wouldn’t leave me behind, would you? You’re not going alone, right?”

 

“Of course not! I’d never leave you.”

 

“Really? Then I guess I won’t ask to be taken to space for now.”

 

“Yeah…” Arin mumbled, her face growing serious. “We need to find a way for both of us to go first.”

 

Guilt gnawed at Seorin for deceiving Arin, but she had no choice. She had a mission to accomplish, and personal feelings couldn’t get in the way. She had to steel herself.

 

“It’s okay,” Arin said, her smile brightening. “There’s always a way if you look for it. I’ll take care of it.”

 

Seorin smiled back.

 

For now, Arin wouldn’t say anything to Yeomyung. They had bought some time, but it was only temporary. There was no predicting when Arin might tell him again, when she might lose control. Before that happened, Seorin needed a solid plan. And there was only one solution: breaking away from their parents.

 

It was the only way to keep them from meddling with Arin and Seorin. Either they had to vanish, or they needed leverage strong enough to keep their parents at bay. Just as Arin had protected Seorin when they were younger, now it was Seorin’s turn.

 

For years, she had been preparing to leave Korea with Arin. Simply running away would have been easy, but their parents’ reach was too vast—they would find them anywhere. So Seorin had been gathering evidence of their corruption and tax evasion. She just needed a little more time. Arin had to hold on just a bit longer.

 

Since this was her only option, Seorin tried not to look back. But sometimes fear gripped her like a nightmare. Was she being too reckless? What if she failed? Her parents wouldn’t hesitate to lock them both in a mental hospital—they were capable of anything. They could imprison their daughters anywhere, hide them, kill them, or keep them alive at will.

 

These thoughts made her wonder if she should surrender, live quietly without defying them, keep her head down as she always had. At least then she wouldn’t end up worse off than now. Even if something happened to Arin, Seorin could survive that way.

 

She had tried living like that, truly. But somehow, she always failed at the crucial moment. That was her fatal flaw—what her parents called soft, weak, pathetic.

 

This path was all Seorin had left. She had to see it through, no matter what. She couldn’t allow herself to think about failure.

 

***

 

“I have to go… when the moon rises… I have to go to space…” Arin muttered.

 

How had she been so naive? She’d simply assumed the spaceship would have room for everyone. But if the astronaut came to Earth with minimal fuel, of course the ship would be small.

 

“Idiot. Idiot. Idiot…”

 

She struck her head with her palm.

 

Though she’d spoken confidently to Seorin, Arin was just as lost. She’d said what she thought she needed to say. Seorin was still young, and Arin was all she had. She had to find a solution.

 

Maybe seeing the spaceship would help. Perhaps it would be larger than expected, and they could add another seat. Or they could attach a single-passenger craft to Yeomyung’s. Maybe if she just asked Yeomyung directly, the solution would be simpler than she imagined.

 

At first, that seemed like the answer—just ask Yeomyung.

 

But then a darker thought crept in.

 

What if we can’t all go? What if only one could…

 

Wouldn’t the alien prefer Seorin over her?

 

When she’d seen Yeomyung outside the shop earlier, her heart had soared. She thought the alien had finally come for her. That’s why she had given him the key.

 

But he hadn’t been waiting for Arin.

 

He had been waiting for Seorin.

 

Looking back, when Arin had told Yeomyung to go to her place, he’d refused—because he needed to meet Seorin, not her.

 

Yeomyung and Seorin seemed close. At the playground, Seorin had held Yeomyung’s arm as they talked.

 

In that moment, Arin had felt relieved. Seorin was already qualified for space travel. Her closeness with the alien meant there’d be no problems. Arin just needed to do her part.

 

But if there was only one seat… if only one of them could go…

 

The scene kept playing in her mind: Yeomyung taking Seorin, leaving Arin behind. Yeomyung ignoring her desperate cries, her pleas to come along… Seorin looking back at her with helpless eyes…

 

Something crawled beneath her skin, gnawing at her veins, moving through her chest cavity. This thing sometimes stole her breath, made her hands and feet shrivel as if her blood had stopped flowing.

 

Wasn’t it true? She’d only just become qualified for space travel. But Seorin—she’d been qualified all along. Until recently, Arin probably seemed no different from Yeomyung’s grandmother: sick, dependent. True, she’d been doing something far more important than earning money. She had been figuring out how to get to space. But how could an alien who’d just landed understand that?

 

She couldn’t ask Yeomyung about fitting three people on the ship. She had to figure this out alone.

 

It was almost 3 a.m.

 

Sleep felt impossible until she found a solution.

 

What if she told the alien Seorin wanted to stay on Earth? That she’d adjusted too well to life here to leave? It wasn’t entirely false. Outwardly, Seorin lived like any other minion, going to work without issue. Even the reptilians were completely fooled. Maybe she could keep living that way.

 

But Arin was already being hunted by the minions. They tried to kidnap her constantly, breaking into her home, terrorizing her at every chance. She would die if she couldn’t leave Earth. Wouldn’t it make more sense for her to go instead of Seorin?

 

No… No… Nonsense. They had to take Seorin too. Together or not at all. They couldn’t be separated. If they had to die on Earth, they’d die together. They were one from the beginning. Apart, they’d perish…

 

Seorin must feel the same. She wouldn’t go to space alone.

 

…Or would she?

 

Why hadn’t she mentioned meeting the alien today? If Arin hadn’t seen them at the playground, she would never have known. But no—Seorin had told her about the single seat. She wouldn’t have shared that if she planned to go alone.

 

But what if she changed her mind? What if fear got to her, too? The fear of missing her chance at going to space? She must know she was more qualified than Arin. If that happened… if Seorin decided to go alone… What then?

 

Of course, Seorin wasn’t like that.

 

Was she?

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