March 5, 2001
8:31 am
Donghwa was tidying up the room shared by Yubin, Woohyun, and Yesung—a task assigned by Jumin to keep them from drinking while attending to personal matters—when his phone rang. He answered to find his paternal cousin, Kim Dahee—the only family member besides his paternal uncle with whom he was in constant contact—speaking in a panic; she told him that his maternal cousin, Hyun Ayeon, was being forced into marriage because she had allegedly committed The sin of envy.
(Trigger Warning for suicide and pedophilia, skip to the end of trigger if you feel unconfortable)
Donghwa's maternal family had a twisted tradition: whenever the youngest children—most often boys, though it happened with girls quite frequently, too—committed one of the seven deadly sins, they were betrothed to wealthy individuals. Donghwa's own mother, the family representative, would then label the children "troublesome" to ensure their partners treated them abusively. Although Donghwa was lucky enough never to be betrothed to anyone, he knew the devastating impact of this practice; at just two years old, he witnessed his fourteen-year-old third cousin take his own life by throwing himself off the toilet after being promised to a fifty-one-year-old madam. At five, he saw an eleven-year-old female cousin do the same by eating cyanide-laced porridge the day after marrying a senator from Ulsan (the incident was hushed up, and before dying, she told him, "One day you'll understand why I did this"). At eight, he watched a sixteen-year-old female cousin marry a French presidential Pre-candidate—the last time he saw her before she vanished, never to return to Korea; according to those close to the politician, she eventually separated from him and now lives in isolation in Brazil.
"And when is she getting married?" Donghwa asked, already genuinely worried as Dahee continued to explain, "Today—and they want you there, Beomseok; your mother wants to talk to you!" Dahee warned... by then, Donghwa's mind was racing.
"I'm coming..." Donghwa hung up the phone, grabbed his coat, and walked toward the door, but before he could open it, Yubin tugged at his shoulder. "Can I come?" he asked. Donghwa was afraid to say no, so he took him by the hand, and the two of them walked to the car.
12:38 PM
Donghwa and Yubin had arrived at the church he attended. As they entered, Dahee and her father—a shaman and the younger brother of Donghwa's father, with whom the latter hadn't spoken in years—gestured toward the seating area. Everyone involved was visibly nervous, while the rest of the congregation seemed completely oblivious to what was unfolding. At the altar stood two people: a 71-year-old man who had recently lost his wife and didn't care whether his new bride was "troublesome" or not—he simply wanted someone who reminded him of his late wife—and the person Donghwa dreaded most in this world: Seo Hyunah, his mother.
Seo Hyunah was Donghwa's mother and one of Korea's most controversial pastors. Born in Busan on April 4, 1951, she moved to Ulsan with her entire family at the age of twenty to perform an exorcism on Kim Jaehun, whom the family believed was possessed by a demon. She ended up falling in love with his older brother, Kim Jaeseok; the two married, and Hyunah became a pastor and had two children. She was a deliberately divisive figure within the Christian community; her sermons were known for frequently violating human rights—with some ideas even compared to those of Adolf Hitler—and for openly advocating child marriage. At home, she was no different; she was a total religious fanatic—as was her entire family—and she imposed rules that neither Jaeseok, Eunseok, nor Donghwa deemed necessary (for instance, regarding television: it was either Christian programming or nothing at all). Once, when Jaeseok was caught watching a soccer match, Hyunah flew into a rage, going so far as to force Jaeseok, Eunseok, and Donghwa to fight off sleep while she preached about the evils of mainstream television.
Suddenly, the bride's processional music began to play, and Ayeon entered wearing a dress and a veil that covered her entire face; her head was partially shaved—cut to a number two—and adorned with flowers to symbolize that she had "been born again with Jesus in her heart." All Donghwa felt was a genuine urge to vomit.
Afraid of being reprimded, Donghwa, Yubin, and Dahee merely exchanged glances before turning back toward the altar; the ceremony felt like living torture. The elderly man and Ayeon exchanged their vows, and Hyunah declared them married; she then summoned Donghwa to the area behind the altar—he was breaking into a cold sweat, but had no choice but to obey.
(End of Trigger Warning)
3:34 PM
Donghwa and Hyunah entered a small room together and sat on two white iron chairs. "So, Beomseok..." Hyunah began, "I've heard your body is already full of sin..." She used that sweet tone of voice that made Donghwa's blood run cold, but for the first time, facing his mother, he summoned the courage to speak up.
"No—whatever it is, I'm not going."
"What...?" Hyunah's smile faded, but Donghwa stood firm in his decision. "I said NO! I'm not that twelve-year-old boy anymore—the one you used to manipulate, spank and tell was a sinner just for being born!" Donghwa shouted, loud enough for only the two of them to hear.
Hyunah scoffed. "I keep wondering, what happened to that child?" she asked, while Donghwa could only stare. "'That child' had a name—and she died the day you decided to assault her in front of everyone on national television when she was thirteen!" Donghwa retorted. That statement, for some reason, ignited Hyunah's fury. "I DID IT SO YOU WOULD LEARN TO RESPECT GOD!" She tried to slap Donghwa, but he dodged. "AND WHAT YOU ACTUALLY DID WAS MAKE ME THE VICTIM OF RELENTLESS BULLYING FOR THE LAST FOUR YEARS!"
"Donghwa, you're going way too fast!" Yubin shouted, holding on tight. "You'll thank me later!" Donghwa ignored the road signs and highway patrol; whenever a pedestrian appeared, he swerved into the oncoming lane before cutting back, and if there were children in the street, he honked loudly to make them move. This continued until they reached Seoul. "We're here..." Donghwa let Dahee and her father out of the car, then resumed driving calmly with Yubin.