The New Seoul Park Jelly Massacre E-Book

Yeeun Cho

• Herausgeber: Honford Star
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 280

Beschreibung

At New Seoul Park, Korea's greatest theme park, an enigmatic man tempts visitors with a mysterious jelly candy that promises an unbreakable bond. As the sun beats down on a muggy summer afternoon, a child separated from her disinterested parents, a single mother striving to create a memorable day on a shoestring budget, and a couple on the brink of splitting up, all end up tasting this ominous candy. Little do they know that a sinister force lurks beneath the innocent facade. The sweet and innocent soon turns grotesque as the jelly becomes the catalyst for a sticky, sweet massacre. Masterfully translated by Yewon Jung, The New Seoul Park Jelly Massacre weaves a chilling tale of deceptive sweetness and the body horror of slowly melting into your loved ones.

Leseprobe

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The New Seoul Park Jelly Massacre

CHO YEEUN

Translated by Yewon Jung

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Contents

Title Page1. The Missing Child2. The Survivor3. The Mascot Cat4. Our First Day Together5. Two Hundred Meters to the Hamster Wheel6. The Sabbath7. Friends without Names8. New Seoul Park9. The Missing ChildCopyright 4

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The Missing Child

Yuji stared at the top of the ride as it soared up into the sky. The sound of people screaming came from nearby, then far away, then nearby again. The Drop Tower standing before her was supposed to be the scariest ride in New Seoul Park. The donut-shaped structure spiraled slowly up to the top, before dropping to the bottom in an instant. The people on the ride enjoyed the excitement, relying on nothing but a safety bar for their lives. Yuji wondered what the suspense felt like. People said the terror gave you a big thrill.

It was something Yuji wasn’t able to experience for herself. Crestfallen, she hung her head. She had told everyone in her class about her big plans, never imagining that she wouldn’t be able to go on the ride because she wasn’t tall enough, falling short by one centimeter. Well, too bad, she thought. Yuji decided to go on another ride she had in mind and looked around for her parents.

Her parents were standing face to face under a wisteria tree far away. It seemed they were arguing again, waving their hands in the air and yelling. They didn’t get on very well. They were 6always saying mean things to each other and quarreling and throwing stuff around over what seemed like little things to Yuji. On rare quiet days, they didn’t say a word to each other.

Yuji pursed her lips. Here they were at a fun and exciting theme park, and her parents were busy fighting again. Only one person in the world could pacify this problematic couple.

“Mom! Dad! I want to go on a different ride,” Yuji shouted in a cheerful voice. The couple, who had been seething with rage, finally relaxed and smiled at Yuji.

With a proud smile on her face, Yuji said, “I wonder how you guys will ever get on without me. Who’s the parent here, huh?”

Yuji shook her head, imitating the way grown-ups spoke. Her mom stopped glaring at her dad and came up to her and took her hand. Yuji thrust her other hand at her dad. Sighing, her dad also took her hand.

The theme park in mid-August felt like a steamer packed with dumplings. The spacious park was crammed full of people. Beads of sweat rolled down from Yuji’s round forehead. Yuji’s parents were sweating as well. Both of the hands Yuji was holding were damp with sweat. It seemed her dad wanted to pull his hand away, but Yuji pretended not to notice. She didn’t like the dampness either, but she was afraid that her mom and dad would scatter away and disappear the moment she let go of their hands. Yuji tightened her grip on her dad’s hand. The three of them were together, her mom in one hand, her dad in the other. Yuji had a picture of the perfect family in her mind.

Yuji’s gaze fell on something: Dream Teddy handing out balloons in front of the carousel in the main square of the park. 7Dream Teddy, along with Dream Kitty, was the mascot of New Seoul Park; Dream Teddy, the guardian of New Seoul Park and the everlasting friend of children. Yuji began to hum Teddy’s theme song, which she had heard too many times on television.

Yuji liked Dream Teddy. Some kids in her class called Teddy a mutt, saying he was a mixture of several different characters from overseas, but Yuji didn’t care. She felt happy when she saw Teddy’s plastic eyes, sparkling so brightly that they almost made him look idiotic, and his bulging belly. Yuji felt that Teddy would nod his head eagerly at her, no matter what she said to him.

“Do you want a balloon?” her mom asked quickly. Yuji nodded in reply.

“Well, then, go and get one. Go and say, a balloon, please!” her mom said, her hand slipping out of Yuji’s as if it had just been waiting for the chance.

Yuji looked at her mom. The corners of her mouth turning up in a smile, her mom gave Yuji a gentle push. Yuji’s dad was fanning himself with the hand he had already pulled away. Yuji stared at her own hands, suddenly empty. She wanted to grab onto something, anything. She kept clenching and unclenching her fists, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of emptiness. Finally, she went up to Dream Teddy. As she reached out a hand toward the balloons, a group of kids came out of nowhere and shoved past her.

The kids, who seemed to be on a group trip, cut in line like a swarm of bees and snatched away the balloons. When Yuji’s turn came at last, there wasn’t a single balloon left. Dream Teddy shrugged, waving his hands, as if to say there was nothing he could do. Yuji turned around with a prim look on her face. 8

She couldn’t let herself get upset over something like this. Whining about not getting a balloon was a childish thing to do. Yuji was very mature for her age—a grown-up, in fact, who could calm her parents who fought like little kids. Yuji straightened her back and turned in the direction of her parents. They had seized the opportunity to get themselves into another quarrel. Music—more like noise, actually—rang throughout the park, but she could still somehow clearly hear the sound of her parents fighting.

“A theme park, in this heat—it’s insane! Did we really have to come, just because she wanted to? Can’t I get some rest on the weekend, at least?”

“Well, what could we do? She wanted to come. Do you ever pay any attention to what she wants?”

“It wasn’t because I wanted to come,” Yuji mumbled in a small voice, coming to a stop.

About a week ago, Yuji had been watching television when a commercial came on, promoting New Seoul Park’s summer special late-night package. Her mom, sitting on the floor folding laundry, suddenly said to herself, “It’s been ages since I’ve been someplace like that.”

Her mom never went anywhere but work; her life seemed stifling even to Yuji. After some thought, she had asked her dad secretly when her mom wasn’t home, “Have you ever been to a theme park?”

“Of course, when I was young. Good old days,” her dad had replied, his eyes sparkling for a moment. Had he enjoyed it that much? So why didn’t he just go again? It wasn’t like theme parks 9had an age restriction. Yuji thought that she should help out her mom and dad. When they were both home and the television commercial came on again, she had said in a chirpy voice, “I wish I could go to a theme park. Most of the kids in my class have been to one.”

That was how they’d ended up coming to New Seoul Park. She did say that she wanted to come, but not because she really wanted to; she had brought it up because she thought her parents wanted to come. She had no idea that her dad had come so grudgingly. His words hurt her feelings and annoyed her. She’d had a different picture in mind. She thought that her parents would be happier if they, like so many other families, spent time together going on childish but cute rides and eating sweets.

With her parents quarreling in front of her, Yuji turned away. She hated them for always fighting and for being oblivious to all the efforts their daughter was making. When she raised her head, she noticed a sign saying, 200 meters to the hamster wheel. The quarrel grew more and more heated. Yuji heaved a deep sigh that was too grave for a child. Then she followed the arrow to the path leading to the Hamster Wheel.

The Hamster Wheel was the second most famous ride in New Seoul Park, the first being the Drop Tower. The Hamster Wheel wasn’t a scary ride in itself, but it had become famous as a “ride of terror” because of its violent spinning—as if it had a screw missing—and the rumors about accidents, groundless as they were. Getting on the wheel would be something to brag about to her classmates. Plus it didn’t have a height restriction. Following the sparsely placed arrows, Yuji made her way deeper into the park. 10

The Hamster Wheel was in a remote corner of the park. Unlike the main square, which was packed with crowds, this part of the park was strangely empty. After walking for a good while, Yuji saw a colorful cone-shaped roof in the distance. Still no sign of people, though. Puzzled, Yuji went up to the ride.

The waiting area for the ride was locked up in chains. Above the chains hung a sign that said under repair.

“So annoying,” Yuji said, as she hunkered down and leaned against the fence. Why had she come all the way here? She should have realized that there was a reason for no one being here. The thought of making her way back without getting anything out of her long walk was discouraging. But there was nothing else to be done. Yuji got back on her feet. The small backpack she was carrying felt awfully heavy. All she could do in the end, though, was shoot the innocent Hamster Wheel a fierce look before heading back toward the main square.

Sweat poured down her forehead and back. The heat was so intense that she felt like she would melt. She hadn’t realized how hot this summer really was, as her school and after-school academy were always cold with air conditioning. The heat also made her quite irritable.

She hadn’t been able to go on any of the rides she had looked forward to, and her parents were just busy fighting. Yuji felt sad, as it seemed that they didn’t even want to hold hands with her. But as always, she had to be understanding, as she was the mature one. I’ll just suggest that we go have some smoothies at a café, she thought. As she walked, she heard an unfamiliar voice call out from a corner.

“Hi,” said the voice. 11

Yuji turned her head. A man in an old uniform had come out of nowhere and was beckoning at her. Yuji tilted her head. There hadn’t been anyone there, she was sure of that. Yuji turned around to face him, and the man, slowly shaking a packet of jelly in his other hand, said, “Want some jelly?”

Only then did she notice a mobile stall laden with countless packets of jelly. Yuji’s mouth watered. She had, in fact, been craving something sweet for a while. Lunch had been a children’s meal—unappetizing and small—at the park cafeteria. She had seen other people with churros or cotton candy, but she hadn’t asked her mom to buy her anything; pestering your parents for sweets was a childish thing to do.

Yuji replied from a distance, “I don’t spend money on sweets.”

The man smiled and said, “You don’t have to spend money on them. They’re free samples because this jelly just came out. Want to try some?”

Yuji felt tempted. Mom and Dad are probably still fighting, she thought. Wouldn’t it be all right to take some, since they’re free? Yuji went up to the man. He was wearing a yellow-green hat, part of the uniform, low on his head. Yuji couldn’t see his face very well for some reason, even though she was looking right up at him. It was as if his face was smeared with mud. As Yuji approached him, he handed her a packet of jelly and whispered, “You don’t want to be apart from your parents, do you?”

Yuji opened her eyes wide and asked, “How did you know?”

“Because I can see them fighting from here,” he said.

Yuji whirled around. No matter how much she craned her neck to try and see her parents, the main square was out of her view. The man seemed kind of weird. Or maybe he had seen her 12parents fighting when he was around the main square. Still, it was strange that he would make a point of telling her that.

Thinking she should hurry back, Yuji took the packet of jelly. The man’s fingertips felt cold, like the skin of her friend’s pet turtle. The strange sensation made her shake off his hand instinctively. Unperturbed, he grinned and said, “If you share the jelly with your parents, they will never split up.”

Yuji crumpled up the packet in her hand. Feeling uneasy, she turned around and bolted. She felt as though she had dipped her feet in a dark, sticky puddle. The man’s laugh followed her like an echo.

Only when she had come back out to the main square did she realize that the air around the man had been unnaturally cool. Standing under the scorching sun now, with no shade anywhere, she began to sweat once again. Having lost her appetite, she put the packet of jelly in her backpack.

She wanted something cool to drink. She looked around for her parents. The two had until a little while ago been quarreling under the wisteria tree but were now nowhere to be seen. Yuji looked up at the clock tower. It had taken only ten minutes for her to make her way to the Hamster Wheel and back. Ten minutes wasn’t enough time for them to go far away without her. Yuji hovered around the square. Dream Teddy was still dancing to the music like a ballerina in a music box, and the carousel was still moving at its tedious, constant pace. The sign saying hamster wheel was still in place, and so was the enormous clock tower. Only her parents were gone. They had disappeared.

“Mom! Dad!” Yuji shouted, going wherever her feet took her. Before she knew it, the Drop Tower was standing in front of her. 13People stared at her. It seemed they felt sorry for her. The day was still hot and her throat was parched. She just wanted to go home now. She wanted to go home and have some ice-cold water. She came to a sudden stop and stood there thinking. Her parents had probably gone off looking for her. If so, what would be the easiest way for them to find her? As she pondered, she caught sight of a sign that read lost children center.

The Lost Children Center was in the shape of a red mushroom. Red mushrooms are poisonous, Yuji thought, recalling what she had read in a book. She entered the mushroom house. An employee wearing bunny ears came up to her and asked some questions. Yuji answered as coherently as she could.

It was chaotic inside the booth. Kids younger than Yuji, and even some who looked older, were crying and screaming. So childish, Yuji thought. When she had answered all the questions, the employee smiled and said, “If you sit over there and wait with the others, your parents will come get you soon.”

She didn’t like being grouped together with the savage kids, but she didn’t let on. She nodded and sat down in an empty chair. Soon, soon, she repeated in her mind. Her parents, however, still hadn’t shown up after an hour. And there at the center, she met Jua.

*

Jua was a girl who cried a lot. She cried for a whole hour after coming into the Lost Children Center. Yuji, feeling awkward for sitting close by and not doing anything, pulled out some wet 14wipes from her backpack and handed them to her. Blinking her large eyes, Jua began to sob even more loudly. Then she mumbled in a garbled voice, “My mom must have abandoned me. I kept asking for an expensive toy, even though we don’t have any money.”

“Don’t cry. She’ll come for you.”

“No, she won’t. I hate her!” Jua cried, pulling the conch-shaped hairpin out of her hair and hurling it on the floor. The purple hairpin, bouncing off the floor, ended up under a chair. Jua looked at it with regret, though she had thrown it herself.

Jua picked up the pin, then flung it to the floor again; she kept on doing this over and over. She seemed quite confused. Without a word, Yuji dusted off Jua’s knees. Yuji’s mom also sometimes threw stuff around while crying.

Yuji sat there comforting Jua for a long time. She didn’t say anything particularly kind or warm—she just told Jua not to cry and handed her some tissues. Still, Jua must have found Yuji friendly and affectionate, as she was leaning comfortably on her shoulder now. Jua’s tears continued to pour like an ever-flowing fountain.

Yuji found it incredible that someone could cry with such great sorrow. She felt somewhat proud, though, that she—being mature—was taking care of a childish little girl. Children who were mature for their age always helped those in need of comfort. When her mom came for her, Yuji would tell her what happened. She’ll compliment me, she thought. She wondered how she could tell her about all the troubles she’d been through without sounding like a baby. 15

Time went by, and the kids who had been kicking up a fuss each left with his or her parents. Yuji grew anxious as the red mushroom house became increasingly quiet. Three hours had passed already. She flinched every time the door opened and checked to see who was there, only to find a stranger standing there each time. Jua seemed tired, too—she had stopped crying and just sat there blinking her round eyes.

An employee came cautiously up to Yuji and handed her a piece of paper. There were blanks to be filled in with information that included her name, age, school, and home address. Yuji filled in as many blanks as she could. All she could remember of her address was “P Apartments, Building Two.” She had her full address memorized, but for some reason she couldn’t recall it. It was frustrating. She felt as if something sticky was wrapped around her brain so that it couldn’t function properly. Was it because she was anxious?

Jua wrote down her mom’s name, but then began to sniffle again, saying she couldn’t remember her address. Several announcements went out, but Yuji’s parents did not show up.

Yuji whispered to Jua, “Let’s get out of here. We need to go look for them ourselves.”

Jua asked through a runny nose, “Do you think we can find them?”

“It’s better than just sitting here waiting around.”

Jua gave a loud sniffle and nodded her head. The two waited for their chance, and when the employee was momentarily distracted, they ducked and rushed out. Once outside, the humid heat once again enveloped them. Their skin, cooled from the air conditioning, heated up instantly. Jua kept sniffling. Yuji 16handed her the last of her wet wipes and asked, “Where did you last see your mom?”

“Near a bench around the square.”

“Let’s go and see. That’s where my parents were before they disappeared, too. I think they got so wrapped up in their argument that they forgot about me.”

“Forgot about you?”

“Yeah, they do that once in a while. My mom and dad are like little kids, so I have to take care of them.”

“I hope my mom just forgot, too. But there’s no way she did.”

“Yes, there is!” Yuji said, glaring at Jua. Jua’s words, about how there was no way her mom had forgotten about her, annoyed her. She’s the one who’s been abandoned, Yuji thought, sulking inside. Blinking back her tears, Jua said she was sorry. She looked like she had no idea what she should be sorry for.

“Come on, we need to hurry. It’ll be scary after the sun goes down,” Yuji said.

“Right,” Jua said in reply.

Together, Yuji and Jua looked all around the square. They even went to where the Hamster Wheel was—which Yuji didn’t want to do—but there was no one there either. Yuji felt exhausted. As she had left the Lost Children Center, she had thought that she would find her parents soon. Her face clouded over. Then suddenly, Jua asked her a question, as if she had an idea in mind.

“How did you get here?”

“Me? I came by car.”

“I came on a shuttle bus so it won’t work for me, but why don’t we go check the parking lot since you came by car?” Jua asked. 17She was blinking her eyes with such an innocent look on her face that Yuji felt a prick of annoyance and had to look away. She had actually already thought of the parking lot. But it was probably a waste of time—if the car wasn’t in the parking lot, that meant her parents had left without her. That was impossible. Putting aside her uneasy feelings, Yuji shook her head. Then after catching her breath she said, “We don’t need to go to the parking lot because they’re still in the park for sure.”

“But …”

“Once you leave, you can’t come back inside. Do you want me to leave you behind here?”

“No, but …”

Yuji pulled Jua by the wrist. Jua followed without resistance, like a paper doll. Again, they began looking everywhere in the park. Jua didn’t bring up the parking lot again.

It was almost evening already. The heat had lifted somewhat, but the girls were hungry. Yuji and Jua, tired and worn out, sat side by side on a bench. As they sat there and watched other people, they realized that everyone else in the park looked like they were having a good time. They thought it was unfair that only the two of them had to go through all these troubles. At that moment, Yuji spotted a face she recognized. It was the face of the man who had given her the jelly. He was handing out a packet of jelly to a couple in front of the carousel. His raspy voice made its way through the noise to Yuji’s ears.

“How long have you been together? You’ll never split up if you share this jelly,” he was saying.

The guy smiled without much of a reaction, but the girl broke 18into giggles. Yuji recalled the jelly the man had given her. So he just says that to everyone, she thought.

She hadn’t really put her hopes in the jelly, but she still felt disappointed somehow. She felt weak. She had gone around busily without eating anything since that skimpy lunch, and now her stomach was growling loudly. It seemed Jua wasn’t any better off. Yuji pulled out the crumpled packet of jelly from her backpack and tore it open. A sweet and sour smell rose to her nose.

“Here, have some of this,” she said to Jua.

“Is that jelly? I love jelly!” Jua said, reaching into the packet and taking a handful of jelly before Yuji had even had any. Grains of crystal clear sugar fell like snow from her hands. The jelly, light pink in color, looked like it would taste like strawberries. Jua was about to put a couple of pieces into her mouth but then stopped to smell them.

“They smell really funny,” she said.

“They do?” Yuji asked and reached into the packet herself. She grabbed a handful, and as she raised her head, she noticed a stranger. The woman, wearing a blue dress, was walking towards them with urgency.

The woman cried out, “Jua, is that you?”

Yuji froze and stared at the woman as she came toward them with bigger and bigger strides. Jua, oblivious to what was going on, was still examining the jelly and swinging her feet. The woman, now right in front of them, stood before Jua, whose head was bowed. Yuji took a look at the woman’s profile. She had red-rimmed eyes like Jua had after crying tons. The two looked almost ridiculously alike. Noticing the long shadow over 19her, Jua finally lifted her head. Her face wrinkled up like a boiled dumpling left out for too long. Face to face with the woman, she began bawling, even louder than she had at the Lost Children Center.

“Mom! I hate you!” she screamed.

The woman quickly took Jua into her arms. She kept saying that she was sorry as she stroked Jua’s disheveled hair over and over again. Yuji stared at them, the thought of jelly gone from her mind. She felt as if she was watching a scene from the soap opera that her grandmother watched religiously every weekend. She wasn’t sure how she should react, but she sure didn’t feel too happy for Jua. Yuji took a slow look around, but her parents were still nowhere to be seen.

Yuji got to her feet. The ground was scattered with pieces of jelly that had fallen from Jua’s hand. Yuji stared at her own hands, which had nothing to hold on to, and the stupid packet of jelly. In irritation she crumpled up the packet that still had jelly inside.

A faint crying sound pierced her ears. Yuji looked around. A cat jumped out from under the bench she had been sitting on and looked intently at her. The black and white of the cat’s coat seemed familiar somehow, then she realized that it was Dream Kitty, the mascot of New Seoul Park. Good luck was supposed to come to you all day if you ran into Dream Kitty at the park, but Yuji’s situation was far from lucky. Perhaps all the luck had gone to Jua, who had found her mom.

“Good luck, my foot!” Yuji muttered to herself.

The cat’s yellow eyes were gleaming brightly. Yuji was seething deep inside with a feeling she couldn’t describe. She picked up a piece of jelly from the ground and threw it at the cat. The cat, 20of course, didn’t eat the jelly. Yuji glared at the cat. She couldn’t let herself glare at Jua—she would feel too small and petty.

The cat came near Yuji’s feet. Yuji stomped her feet in irritation. Unruffled, the cat kept hovering around her. The tearful reunion of Jua and her mom was still under way. Yuji crammed the crumpled packet of jelly back into her backpack.

Jua’s mom took Jua and Yuji to a café nearby. It was the café where Yuji had had lunch with her parents. The interior was colorful and pretty, but the portions were too small compared to the price and the food didn’t even taste good. After ordering an ice cream and a smoothie, Jua’s mom came to the table and sat down. Sitting across from her, Yuji realized that her eyes and mouth looked exactly like Jua’s, which kind of spooked her. Her stomach churned as she watched the two, sitting face to face. Feelings she couldn’t control were running rampant inside her. Unable to bring herself to smile, Yuji just stared at a corner of the table.

“I’m going to the restroom, so you wait here,” Jua’s mom said.

“No, I’m coming with you,” Jua said. Having bawled her eyes out, she was now set on acting like a child.

As her mom got to her feet, Jua did the same and followed her to the bathroom. She was like a baby chick following its mother. Yuji sat there, picking at the ice cream in front of her with a plastic spoon.

The ice cream was strawberry-flavored, her favorite, but she couldn’t seem to taste anything. She felt cold and empty inside, maybe because of the air conditioner just across from her. Yuji hung her head and fiddled with the backpack on her knees. She 21opened the zipper and saw the shiny crumpled packet of jelly. She recalled what the man had said when he had given her the packet:

“They will never split up.”

But how? Was it magic jelly or something? But having seen the way he talked to the couple earlier, Yuji thought that he was probably just trying to market the jelly. She placed the crumpled packet on the table. The jelly looked like ordinary junk food. She opened the packet and reached inside. It was sticky, the sugar having melted from the heat. Yuji pulled out the first piece her fingers touched and took a glance around. No one in the café was paying any attention to her.

Yuji pulled Jua’s smoothie toward her and dropped the jelly into the cup. The smoothie, made from strawberries, was thick and close in color to the jelly. One piece of jelly would go without being noticed. It would sink to the bottom of the cup, and Jua would chew and swallow the jelly along with the pieces of fruit in the smoothie. If not, well, too bad.

The jelly, though, rose to the surface, probably because it was too light. Just then, the restroom door opened and Jua came out. Yuji hastily stirred the smoothie with the straw to try and make the jelly sink. As she did, the jelly spread out like liquid and melted into the smoothie like magic.

What just happened? Yuji wondered, frozen with the straw in her hand.

Jua’s mom had also come back and asked her in a kind voice, “Would you like a smoothie, too?”

“No, thank you,” Yuji replied, quickly putting down the straw. Then she hurriedly stuffed the half-melted ice cream into her 22mouth. It didn’t taste like anything. Her heart was beating fast. Jua’s mom must have been thirsty because she sat and gulped down the smoothie Yuji had stirred up. Jua reached for the cup too, saying she wanted some as well. Jua ended up drinking more than half of the smoothie. Her heart thumping like crazy, Yuji watched them finish the drink without a word.

“Yuji, right? Do you remember your address?” Jua’s mom asked.

“It’s P Apartments, complex number two, number 405 …”

“Do you remember which block it is? When did you last see your parents?”

Jua’s mom tried to find Yuji’s address by searching for the location on her cell phone. Then as the sun began to set, she got to her feet and said, “Your parents could have gone to the Lost Children Center after you left. Let’s take one last look, then go to the police station.”

Yuji nodded her head. The theme park took on a mysterious color under the sunset. The people, probably waiting for the night parade, looked calmer than they had during the day. Dream Teddy, who had been dancing incessantly like a broken robot, was nowhere to be seen. Feeling anxious, Yuji kept her eyes fixed on Jua and her mom. There was no sign of even the slightest bit of change.

Jua didn’t want to be away from her mom’s side, not for an instant. Jua’s mom was being just as dramatic—she kept Jua at her side, caressing her face and taking her into her arms again and again. Yuji couldn’t understand. In her eyes, Jua was a baby, so immature compared to herself. All she knew how to do by herself was cry. She was childish and dumb. 23

So why was Jua’s mom looking at her with such infinite love in her eyes? Yuji had never seen her parents look at her that way. Not even once. Yuji clenched her fists in her pocket. She bit the inside of her mouth. It stung and she tasted blood, but she was able to keep the tears from welling up in her eyes.

 Even when the sun had almost set and hung behind the mountain peaks, no change came over Jua and her mom. The man had just been trying to promote jelly after all. Yuji heaved a long sigh. She hadn’t expected a dramatic change, but she couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed. At the same time, though, she felt a little relieved.

Yuji walked, following the long shadows ahead of her and looking at the patterned tiles on the ground. Jua and her mom had been walking ahead but came to a sudden stop. Yuji raised her head and looked at them. Jua, walking happily along just a moment ago, suddenly grasped her throat and fell to the ground.

“What’s wrong, Jua?” Jua’s mom asked in alarm.

Jua’s face was growing redder by the second. There was something wrong with her breathing, as if she had a fish bone stuck in her throat. Jua’s mom sat on the ground, thumping her on the back. Her hands shook uncontrollably as she pulled out her cell phone. Yuji swallowed hard. Her heart was pounding like a drum.

Blargh!

Jua threw up. A clear pink slime oozed out of her mouth as she lay on her side. Jua’s mom dropped her phone. She frantically started grabbing onto passersby and screaming for help. One by one, people came to a stop. Someone went to get a 24park employee. The employee, grasping the situation, promptly called 911.

Jua, sprawled out on the ground, reached her arms toward her mom. Her mom picked her up and carried her on her back. Then gently rocking her little girl, she mumbled quietly to comfort her.

“It’s all right, it’s all right.”

It seemed that she was trying to tell herself that as well. Jua appeared to have calmed down a bit and was no longer squirming around. Her back rose and fell in big heaving breaths as she clung to her mom’s back. Her flimsy short-sleeved top was drenched in sweat.