"Park Miran." Her mother takes in the air. "I still can't remember any woman with that name."
"But I remember coming home one day and hearing that we have a child." Her father frowns. "You weren't pregnant before that day."
The memories of that day are vague. They can't remember Park Miran or Saya but all the lies are broken. Chang Seol isn't their biological daughter.
"I remember a girl." Her mother knits her brows. "The maid told me that… I can't remember who she was but she looked a lot like our Seol."
Her father stares hard at the DNA test report. The test results are negative. Though his memories are clear now, he can't seem to believe this. "How long has Chang Seol known this?"
"I don't know." Her mother croaks. "Do you think that she hates us?"
Standing on the other side of the wall, Chang Seol frowns. Why would she hate them? She's grateful that she was raised by them.
"Why ?" Her father closes his mouth, realizing the things that he did to his daughter.
"She must have sent this to break the relationship with us." Her mother covers her face and sobs. "She didn't want to marry No Shi Won but we always forced her to follow the path that we decided for her. Maybe that's why she wrote this letter to us instead of coming here."
Her father drops the test report. "We should go to Z City now."
"Z City?" Her mother raises her head to look up at him.
"Whether we are related by blood or not, we raised for twenty years." Her father shouts in anger, "How could she live in a wayward way? If she has something to say, she should say it on my face. I won't allow her to break off the relationship with us. So… what if she's not human? What if you didn't give birth to her? She's our Chang Seol."
How could they… Chang Seol purses her lips, holding back her tears. She has expected them to hate her for living with them like this.
"She's our daughter." Her mother utters quickly, "We will go to her and smack her head. Why would she let a piece of paper tell her whether we are her parents or not? It's okay if she lied. Who doesn't make mistakes? We, as her parents, have also made mistakes. If we had succeeded as her parents, she would have never lied to us."
Chang Seol puts her hand on her mouth and weeps. That's right. They have raised her for twenty years. They wanted her to get married for her benefits. They didn't want her to sing and attract attention for her benefits. They have been protecting her for twenty years and they did their best every day as her parents. Then, who could say that they aren't her parents?
She hears them pack her things in a hurry. She knows that they are doing this in vain. The last train is gone and they can take the morning train only.
There's still another Chang Seol in another part of this country. She can't meet her parents yet.
Chang Seol returns to Z City. She waits in the railway station the next day. It's true that being a cockatrice doesn't take any effort. Being human needs constant efforts. But humans are making efforts to accept her. Then, why can't she make some efforts for them?
***
The night that she's been waiting for twenty years is finally here.
The other Chang Seol is here.
The time on the clock freezes and people on the platform start fading out.
Then, the train arrives.
She hides behind a pillar and watches herself get on the train.
Who would get on a train like that? Of course, she would.
Then again, if she hadn't gone back to 200X, she was likely to die.
It's fine. No harm is done. She's still Chang Seol.
Only after the train is gone, she comes out of her hiding place and goes to the spot where the other Chang Seol was standing a moment ago.
Strangely, there's no one on the platform. The time on the clock hasn't started moving. The air has a dull cold and eerie vibe.
It's been long established that everything is strange. She has no energy to announce it again.
When she's about to turn around and walk away, she hears a piercing scream.
Chang Seol opens her mouth wide when she sees a giant bird coming from the direction the train came.
The bird has an ultramarine blue chicken head with thick and ferocious glossy beaks, four long limbs, and two long navy blue wings with bluish scales all over the torso and feet. Its tail is twice the size of her tail.
The cockatrice slows as it reaches the platform. Its electric blue eyes focus on her. It doesn't chase after the train. Instead, it climbs on the platform and stands before her, studying her.
Chang Seol gapes at the cockatrice. Its head is bowed toward her, sniffing her while having a puzzled look in its eyes.
It's too quiet. So quiet that the sound of her heartbeat is loud and clear to her. Chang Seol looks at the clock when she hears the sound of its gears moving.
Her eyes become wide and round. She yells at the cockatrice, "Become human now!"
"As your command."
The voice is deep and breathy. It reverberates through the platform. Chang Seol shudders, tensing her shoulders. Colossal blue streams whirl around the cockatrice, completely covering it, twisting around it, contracting the huge bird into a tall and lean man with dark blue hair and piercing electric blue eyes.
The clock strikes eleven. People reappear on the platform. Chang Seol stares at the man. His rich caramel skin doesn't have a single freckle. The man isn't naked as she has expected him to be.
He's dressed in a simple ultramarine blue robe that is attracting people's gazes. The man has a sharp jawline, a tall nose, long arms, broad shoulders, and he should be around Mister's height.
He's watching her quietly, not moving an inch.
Who could this man be?