Your Eternal Lies - Chapter 71

Gray eyes…

 

I couldn’t figure out whether it was a cold or warm color, or what the meaning of those eyes was.

 

It felt a bit unfair.

 

He must have known the fact that I was shy in front of him by the redness in my face.

 

“Because you feel sorry for me?”

 

“It’s not because of that, it’s just… I’m sorry.”

 

I bit my lip and nodded.

 

Yeah, he might be sorry.

 

He grabbed me hard enough to bruise my wrist and interrogated me. I looked at my blistered hands and feet, then accepted the hand warmer, thinking that I deserved an apology.

 

And at that moment, I froze.

 

Hindley’s humming was heard in the distance. I could always hear Hindley’s voice from a great distance away. Like a puppy that starts to tremble at the mere sound of its keeper’s footfalls.

 

Hindley left after midnight that day, so I expected him to come home later. I turned white and threw away the hand warmer he held out. He looked at me with a puzzled expression.

 

‘Yes, you don’t know who my husband is.’

 

What would Hindley, who beat me over the mere whistling of some soldier, do if he saw me doing laundry with a handsome soldier like this?

 

What if he saw that I even had that soldier’s hand warmer? Just thinking about it was terrifying.

 

As soon as I saw Hindley’s figure over the bridge, I reflexively pushed him. Normally, this was something I couldn’t do on my own, but he was caught off guard and was standing on the slippery shore.

 

And with the sound of splashing water, he fell into the stream.

 

The icy water soaked his black, trimmed hair.

 

We met eyes once more.

 

Gray eyes were staring at me with a look of bewilderment. I grabbed the laundry tub and ran towards the shadowy bridge.

 

‘I’m sorry, but let me live!’

 

“What is thi-”

 

I frowned at him, pursed my lips, and placed a finger over my mouth.

 

It meant to shut up.

 

Fortunately, he didn’t scream or chase me, even though he was bewildered.

 

He just stared at me…

 

In the meantime, I hid under the bridge holding the laundry tub, and got out after Hindley had crossed the bridge.

 

When I came out again, the soldier was gone.

 

* * *

 

Several months later, I thought it was strange. At some point, I noticed that the gray-eyed soldier was following me all the time. It was too much to call it a coincidence. I saw him every time I left the house to draw water or do laundry. At first, I was wary of him seeking revenge for trying to ‘drown’ him in the creek, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

 

I thought he was a common, undisciplined, low-level soldier. He just had nothing to do. But Nina, who lived next door, had a different opinion. Nina whispered as she soaked her laundry in the creek.

 

“That person seems to like you.”

 

“Did you eat poison this morning? You are speaking a lot of nonsense.”

 

“He keeps looking at you. Not sure why. Why does he keep coming out at this hour and hanging around you? The soldier has no business here.”

 

“I guess he feels sorry for me. Before, he mistook me for a spy and almost shot me.”

 

“Doesn’t it take a long time to follow you around? And he is a man of high rank. He is young too! Look over there. The rank insignia attached to his clothes is different.”

 

“Why does that matter?”

 

“Rosen, why does it matter? It would be nice if the soldier who is interested in you had a high rank. Would you hold his hand and run away?”

 

“Be quiet. You want me to be beaten to death by Hindley?”

 

“It’s worth the risk.”

 

Nina smiled coyly and poked my side repeatedly. The more she did, the more anxious I became.

 

I hated soldiers, but I had to agree with Nina.

 

He was an annoyingly handsome soldier.

 

He was the perfect man to arouse Hindley’s suspicion.

 

“…What interest? I’m in debt to Hindley.”

 

I felt burdened by that gaze.

 

Just the fact that he was around made me anxious.

 

There was also a fear that Hindley would hit me again…

 

I hated that my face turned red when our eyes met.

 

That soldier also had a mirror, so he must know that he has a good face. He must be mistaken that I like him.

 

Thinking so made me angry.

 

‘He doesn’t even like me, it’s just his body reacting to what he wants.’

 

I had come out to the creek in the evening when Hindley was going to the bar, avoiding the man who seemed to be snooping around me.

 

The sun always set earlier than I expected in winter. By the creek, where the shadows were long, I tripped and overturned all the laundry.

 

It was a day when small misfortunes kept overlapping.

 

I wanted to cry, but I held it in.

 

I got hit by Hindley again yesterday, and my eyes were black and swollen, so if I shed tears here, I would be disappointed.

 

I was squatting down and picking up the scattered laundry when a pair of military boots appeared in front of my eyes.

 

I had no luck until the end.

 

To meet a soldier in this state. I gritted my teeth and looked up.

 

It was him.

 

The soldier, who gave me a hand warmer and kept hovering near me. The very soldier I was trying to avoid. With his big hands, he picked up the scattered laundry much faster than I could.

 

His eyes met mine. His straight eyebrows twisted as he looked into my eyes.

 

His voice was slightly raised when he asked me.

 

“Did you get hit?”

 

“…”

 

“Were you beaten by a soldier?”

 

I didn’t answer. It seemed that he wouldn’t believe me if I made the obvious excuse that I had bumped into something, and I didn’t want to tell him straight away that I had been hit by my husband.

 

I had already realized, painfully, that the soldiers here were on Hindley’s side, not mine.

 

Just because he was a little kinder than the others… I didn’t want to hang on with hope again.

 

It was so self-defeating.

 

I didn’t want to get hurt.

 

When I didn’t answer, he asked again, as if drawing his own conclusions.

 

“If you name him, I will dispose of him. A badge is worn on the right breast. Who did it?”

 

“…I can’t read.”

 

I sighed and turned away from him with the bucket of laundry he had picked up. But the soldier, as usual, did not let me go. Within a few steps, he caught up to my steps and started walking beside me.

 

“How old are you?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Age.”

 

“Why?”

 

“How old are you?”

 

“Seventeen years old.”

 

His tone seemed to be interrogating me, so I was a little nervous and confessed.

 

Did Hindley owe this guy money?

 

Why was he asking me how old I was?

 

The soldier looked a bit troubled.

 

He muttered and looked at me again.

 

“Where is your house?”

 

“Why?”

 

“I have work to do… I’ll give you a lift.”

 

He took the laundry tub I was holding, as if stealing it.

 

I wasn’t happy with that at all.

 

Hindley was in a state of nervousness these days. The sight of me standing with a handsome soldier might break three of my teeth.

 

“If you have business with Hindley, tell him directly. It’s no use talking to me. He doesn’t listen to me.”

 

“Who is Hindley?”

 

‘Hindley doesn’t have anything to do with you?’

 

I was glad to hear that. I answered without thinking.

 

“My husband.”

 

“Husband?”

 

“Yes, my husband.”

 

The clothes basket fell from the soldier’s hand.

 

His face hardened.

 

I didn’t know why he was doing this. I picked up the laundry tub he didn’t even carry till the end.

 

I was right. Soldiers were no help.

 

“You’re seventeen years old…”

 

“Yes. What about it?”

 

He seemed to be trying to open his mouth and say something, but he couldn’t even speak. He had the most bewildered expression I had ever seen.

 

“Do you have any more questions?”

 

“…”

 

“I’m busy, so why do you keep following me? If you have nothing to do, go away.”

 

I snapped at him and ran away with my head down.

 

My face was flushed red again.

 

I bit my lip. It was all because of that face.

 

I wanted to believe that. From a certain moment, whenever I came across him, my body kept going wild.

 

I didn’t like that either.

***