13-2

by Han Yong-un

Soon-young opened the letter almost without being able to breathe.

It was written in Dae-cheol's handwriting.

Just that made her heart warm.

At the beginning of the letter, there were words of apology.

He mentioned that he had been too busy to even send a letter.

Just reading that sentence made Soon-young feel relieved.

‘As expected…’

He hadn't forgotten her.

Dae-cheol had written in detail about the gold mine in the letter.

He said the application had been successfully completed.

And as a result of personally going down to the mine to investigate—

He said the condition of the vein was quite good.

The problem was what came next.

He mentioned that at least one hundred won more was needed to start serious excavation.

Dae-cheol said he was currently staying in Hamheung to raise that money.

But it seemed that finding the money was not as easy as he thought.

At the end of the letter, it was written like this.

〈I still do not know when I can visit again〉

The moment she read that sentence—

Soon-young's smile slowly faded from her face.

“Again… it's about money…”

She slowly folded the letter.

In fact, Soon-young had been asking customers about the gold mine whenever she had the chance.

What she learned was one thing.

Mining work was never something that ended easily.

It was common for it to take not just months but even years.

The moment she recalled that, Soon-young's heart suddenly became anxious.

‘Years…?’

That was too long.

Soon-young's desire to marry as soon as possible was not simply because she missed a man.

The bigger reason was—

She wanted to escape this life as soon as possible.

She no longer wanted to smile in front of customers.

She no longer wanted to be treated as a woman pouring drinks.

But if she just waited for Dae-cheol's situation to end—

She had no idea when that would be.

Soon-young put down the letter and thought for a long time.

‘Should I just send the one hundred won…’

She thought that too.

But soon she shook her head.

No.

What she needed now was not just money.

She needed to meet and talk directly.

About what to do next.

When they would get married.

When she could get out of this life.

All of that.

Soon-young let out a deep sigh without realizing it.

Then suddenly another reality came to mind.

Sook-ja.

Until now, she had vaguely thought—

That if she calculated the remaining time in terms of money, it would be over.

But that was only her thought.

She had no idea whether Sook-ja would accept that.

She might demand more money.

Or—

She might not let her go at all.

As that thought crossed her mind, Soon-young suddenly felt anxious.

In the end, without confirming Sook-ja's intentions first—

She couldn't decide on the wedding date, the time to meet Dae-cheol, or anything.

Soon-young slowly unfolded the letter again.

And she carefully traced her fingertips over Dae-cheol's name.

“Teacher…”

She murmured very softly.

“Is it really… possible for us to live together…”

In the room, only the sound of a quiet breeze filled the air instead of an answer.