"Uughh……."

Han Jiyun let a groan out at the throbbing in her head and opened her eyes.

Through the slits of them she saw a ceiling she knew.

"How much did I drink?"

She looked at the clock. Two in the afternoon.

Properly drunk, and by the look of it she had gone down more or less unconscious.

Her son had come without warning and been made to see what he should never have seen.

To turn the mood as much as anything, the two of them had soju with hot, spicy sundaeguk.

Her son being with her, she drank with her mind at rest for the first time in a long while, and that played its part in how far it went.

Half a bottle of soju is what she can ordinarily take.

Yesterday she emptied more than one.

Last night there was no possible way not to drink.

Kang Deuksu had been pawing at her the moment a gap opened.

Lately it had got worse in degree and she had been carrying a great deal of strain over it.

And then her dependable son had thrown Kang Deuksu out of the shop, and handsomely.

"The shop…… I'll have to look for one."

After a scene like that she cannot stay in the present premises any longer.

In any case the term on that flower shop is nearly up.

Take a lower deposit somewhere and the cost of moving is covered easily enough.

Click.

Han Jiyun finished getting ready to go out and came through the front door.

The cool sea spread itself out in front of her.

Through the corridor window Sokcho beach lay open below.

Even the throbbing inside her head went cool.

A small floor area in an aging block, and it is the one nest she has.

Two rooms, a living room, and one bathroom.

The oldest building anywhere near, and the sea view alone is the best there is.

"Dad, Mom. Hello again today."

Her parents sleep in the blue water that runs up against Sokcho beach.

The two of them died in a…