Chapter 153

In an instant, Tom didn’t know what happened. He blinked while lying on the ground.

He felt the burning pain from his arms and legs that were swept on the ground and instinctively, tears welled up in his eyes.

‘I shouldn’t cry.’

His father always disliked it when Tom cried. Every time he showed tears, his father sharply scolded him that boys shouldn’t cry, and Tom always had to swallow his tears.

This time, too, he held back his tears with a sniffle and staggered to his feet.

“Ah, what bad luck.”

A sharp voice pierced the back of Tom’s head. At the same time, he heard something falling on the ground and then the sound of a carriage rolling along with the sound of a horse.

It was an insignificant sound, but Tom felt a chilly sensation as if the hair all over his body stood on end.

Growing up always looking out for others’ reactions, Tom was quick to notice things. This time too, he instinctively knew that something was going wrong.

He had to turn around, he had to tell his father to hurry, but his body wouldn’t move as if it had turned to stone.

Then, he started to hear murmuring sounds around him.

“What in the world!”

“Quickly, call the doctor, quickly!”

“My god, how could this happen…”

Hearing the voices mixed with sighs and regret, Tom shivered. He didn’t have the courage to turn around, so he just dropped his head down.

Then he suddenly stepped back in shock.

‘Blood?’

Something was pooling on the ground, and it was red blood flowing into the crevices of the stone floor. It was the same red color as his own eyes, which he always saw when he looked in the mirror.

He tried to avoid the blood that soaked the soles of his shoes by moving his feet, but wherever he went, he couldn’t avoid it. Each time he stepped on the floor, the splattered blood droplets soaked his feet.

While he could do nothing and was panting heavily, someone shook his shoulders.

“Hey, hey! What will you do if you just stand there!”

“Ah, ah….”

Only then did he turn around with an awkward movement. His father and stepmother, who were just laughing and talking a while ago, were now lying on the cold stone floor.

Their worn-out clothes were soaked in crimson blood.

Tom’s legs wobbled, and he plopped down on the floor, then crawled on his knees to his father. He was terrified at the sight of his father, who wasn’t moving at all.

He didn’t remember his mother, who passed away shortly after he was born. That’s why, even though he was closest to death, he didn’t know the fear that death brings. He couldn’t relate, no matter how much people around him talked about death.

But at this moment, he could feel that fear to the bone.

Tom tried to stop the bleeding wound that was gushing blood with his trembling hands. But it was no use. The red blood seeped out between his white fingers like water from a leaking dam.

There were so many wounds that it seemed impossible to stop them all by himself.

With a face smeared in tears, Tom looked around.

“Ah…”

He had a lot to say, but no proper words came out. The only sound that came from Tom’s mouth was a sound similar to a beast’s howl.

“Ah…”

Someone, anyone, please help.

“Father…”

Anyone is fine, please save my father. Please, I beg you.

Surely, his father wasn’t a gentle man. But whenever someone pointed at Tom’s eyes and sent jeers, his father would rush to him and pour out curses at them.

Even though he occasionally couldn’t handle alcohol and vented his frustrations, ironically, his father was the only fence that protected him in this world.

You don’t have to buy me any gifts. So please, please just open your eyes.

“Father.”

Don’t leave me alone. I’m scared.

Drip, drip, drip. His earnest tears kept falling on his father’s face. But the nagging about boys not crying didn’t come.

That tore Tom’s heart into pieces. He hated his father’s scary nagging, but he wished he could hear it now.

“Keep this.”

At that time, an old woman handed something to Tom. Three gold coins smeared with red blood. Even without an explanation, he knew what it meant.

Tom sobbed more sadly as he looked at the gold coin lying on his wrinkled hand, then turned his head.

“I don’t want it.”

Accepting that would feel like acknowledging that his father and his stepmother are truly dead.

“Put it in.”

The old woman grabbed Tom’s hand and forcibly gave him the gold coin.

“You have to have at least this to hold your parents’ funeral.”

Hearing those words, Tom couldn’t throw the gold coin away even if he wanted to. He squeezed the gold coin until his pale hands turned even paler.

Three gold coins, which a tenant farmer in a small village would normally struggle to hold.

Should he call it expensive, or should he complain that they gave him only this?

The value of his parents’ lives…

Tears of sorrow continued to pour down onto the back of his hand, where the blue veins were visible.

* * *

The next day, the funeral held with the help of the neighbors was humble. In the small village where Tom lived, there was no shrine, so they couldn’t summon a priest to hold the funeral.

With the help of the village men, they buried their parents in the communal graveyard. In front of the coffin, they set up a rough gravestone, barely inscribed with their parents’ names and dates.

The modest funeral ended with a few village neighbors, who had been close to his parents during their lifetime, sadly praying for the two’s repose.

Tom sat blankly blinking in front of his parents’ tombstone even after the villagers had gone home. The bright summer sun poured overhead, and tears kept trickling out because of the dazzling light.

Tom rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. Then he paused and touched his own eyes.

‘Are my eyes really cursed?’

His red eyes, different from others. Sometimes when he met strangers, he heard things like he was cursed or he was a demon.

When he heard such things and felt depressed, his father got angry, saying, ‘If you’re a demon, then I, your father, am also a demon.’ Then he would go out and come back after a while, swaggering with a flushed face.

His mother, whom he had never seen, his father and stepmother, who had been his only shield, all died trying to save him. By this point, Tom hated his eyes more than anything else in the world.

People said it seemed like he was born this way due to the hatred of the goddess. Otherwise, there was no way this misfortune would keep happening to him.

“Tom.”

Tom, who was about to scratch his eyes with the tip of his finger, was startled and raised his head at the sudden strength snatching his hand. He saw the surprised face of Aunt Marie from next door.

Aunt Marie was a long-time friend of his birth mother. Fortunately, she had a daughter around the time Tom was born, so she also breastfed Tom who lost his mother.

Only then did Tom realize that Aunt Marie and her husband, Uncle Ron, were the only ones left in the communal cemetery where everyone had already left.

“It’s not your fault.”

She whispered as if she were reading his mind.

“It’s not your fault. The bad ones are the people who drove that carriage. So don’t think like that.”

Aunt Marie hugged Tom’s small body tightly. Tom didn’t know what to do, so he rolled his eyes and fiddled with his hands in her arms.

“Let’s go home now.”

“I’ll stay a little longer.”

“You haven’t eaten anything all day. You must be hungry. Let’s go home today and come back tomorrow. Okay?”

Tom couldn’t refuse Aunt Marie’s soft voice. He got up from his seat and started walking slowly down the path as she led.

Still feeling regret, he looked back at the cemetery over his shoulder with every step. Among the old, faded gravestones, two clean ones stood out.

It felt as if his heart would tear apart at the sight of the two gravestones standing side by side in the sunlight. Tom hastened his pace, clutching the hand of Aunt Marie, who was holding his own.

* * *

“Aren’t you scared to be alone? Do you want to come to my house?”

Returning home, Aunt Marie came to find Tom again. Tom shook his head weakly.

“I want to stay here.”

“The rainy season is about to start. Can you stay here alone? Don’t be stubborn. Come with me.”

“I want to stay in our house.”

Our house. The weight of those words was immense.

Aunt Maris didn’t insist further. She left, telling him to come if he changed his mind. Tom placed the bread and stew she had brought in the kitchen and lay down heavily in the living room.

“This is the living room, not your bedroom. Who lays down in the living room? If you want to sleep, go to your room.”

The familiar nagging voice of his father didn’t echo. Despite already knowing, the silence became a needle, piercing deep into his heart. Tom curled up, tucking his stretched arms and legs.

“Father…”

Tears flowed again, even though he thought he had cried himself dry. Despite his resolve not to cry, Tom sobbed uncontrollably.

* * *

He didn’t know how time passed. Tom lay in the living room all day, like a man glued to the floor.

Once a day, when he was really hungry and his stomach hurt, he barely got up and nibbled on the bread that Aunt Marie had brought, just enough to stave off the hunger.

The bread that Aunt Marie had brought was hard and chewy, but it tasted good, yet strangely it felt like chewing on a rock.

Aunt Marie came to check on Tom morning and evening.

Every time she came, she brought bread and food, and she sighed deeply each time she saw the leftover food. Tom’s face looked pitifully pale, as he hadn’t eaten properly in a few days.

“Why didn’t you eat?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You must be hungry. Get up. I’ve just made some soup, and it’s still warm. Eat it while it’s warm.”

Tom stubbornly shook his head. Aunt Marie picked him up from the floor, where he lay blinking, and sat him at the table.

Sitting across from him, she tried to spoon-feed him the soup, but Tom kept his mouth shut tightly and refused to eat.

After several unsuccessful attempts, she finally gave up with a tsk.

“What a stubborn little one. If anything goes wrong with you, what are we going to do?”

Tom let her words go in one ear and out the other, staring blankly at the kitchen window. Then he suddenly jumped up from his seat. The field that his parents cherished was overgrown with useless weeds.

The more weeds there were, the smaller and frailer the harvest would be. His father always emphasized that a field full of weeds was a sign of a lazy farmer.

Like his father used to do, Tom crouched down in the field and started pulling out weeds with both hands.

Bad weeds, bad weeds, bad weeds! The crops can’t grow with you around!