“You saw how the aunt treated them. They’re like sworn enemies.”
“But still, you never know with family.”
“Nah, your aunt doesn’t care about that. She cut ties with her only son for 20 years. And they must have really angered her to make such a proposal. It’s all about revenge.”
In-pyo added,
“What if it’s not?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if aunt has plans to bring that girl into the fold?”
As the couple looked seriously concerned, Jung-mi dismissively waved her hand.
“Why are you all like this? If aunt wanted to make her an heir, she would’ve brought her straight away, not demand 20 years of her life. Plus, cutting ties with her parents, following all of aunt’s orders. That’s like a slavery contract.”
Jung-mi shook her head, dismissing the thought.
“Aunt doesn’t have any other intentions towards Jeong-yeol, right?”
“She’s irrelevant. Just a teacher thinking of history lessons, right?”
“That’s what mom said.”
That was In-pyo.
“Really?”
“Yes, I checked. She studied history and is about to get appointed as a history teacher. She’s just a naive 25-year-old. Easy to handle.”
“But she seemed strong-willed, didn’t she? You saw her stand up to aunt.”
Despite Sophia’s continued worry, Jung-mi said,
“That’s just a puppy not knowing to fear the tiger, because it’s never seen one. Plus, her father’s life was at stake. She grew up in Busan, so naïve and countrified. A real country bumpkin. I wonder why Jeong-hyeon raised her like that.”
Sophia looked uneasy, but Jung-mi appeared unconcerned.
Then, a knock at the door and a secretary entered.
“The chairman is asking for you outside.”
“Really, what’s he doing? Making us all tired.”
Though they all looked annoyed, they left the lounge at Ki-taek’s summons, leaving the room quiet again.
Just then, a figure rose up from behind the sofa near the window.
Sanha lay on a padding jumper, looking towards the door.
“…Jeong-yeol?”
No way.
But twenty-five and from Busan.
Sanha looked down at the back of his left hand.
“Could it be that magpie…?”
“Mom, stop crying. You’re going to collapse at this rate.”
Yeoreum consoled her, but Sejin couldn’t stop crying. She buried her face in her husband’s bedside and continued to weep.
“Ah, mom….”
“…Does this even make sense? How… how did this happen? What have I done….”
Soon, dad and mom will be leaving for the United States.
After hearing the news to prepare, Sejin’s sobs grew louder.
Yeoreum hugged her mother and whispered in her ear,
“Don’t cry. We got the chance to save dad. And contracts can always be changed.”
At those words, Sejin, who had been hiding her face, looked up at Yeoreum.
“…No.”
Sejin shook her head.
“Not her, not your grandmother. She’s not the kind of person to do that.”
That might have been true.
No matter how much she hated them, to cut ties with her only son for twenty years.
And to request such an absurd contract.
But in this situation, she couldn’t say that.
“Mom, don’t think about anything else. Just think about living happily with dad.”
“…Yeoreum.”
“I’ll hold on no matter what here. So you have to hold on too. No matter what. Understand?”
She cried even more loudly, but nodded her head.
Yeoreum honestly wanted to cry too.
But she gritted her teeth and held back.
If she cried here, how much more painful would it be for mom?
So she just held her tightly.
“I’ll be hugging mom like this, and dad will get jealous.”
Yeoreum smiled briefly, then got up and approached Jeong-hyeon’s face.
Just like she did with her mother, she carefully embraced him with open arms.
Yeoreum whispered quietly to him,
“Dad, you have to wake up. The Kim Sejin you love most in the world is crying. I won’t say it’s embarrassing to see you carrying mom around anymore, so please wake up. Okay?”
Yeoreum pressed her forehead against her dad’s without an answer.
Hot tears welled up from deep in her heart, but she bit back.
“I love you, dad. You know your daughter Yeoreum really loves you, right? So just sleep a little and wake up soon.”
Sejin started crying again.
Yeoreum rubbed her face against her dad’s and said goodbye.
Then, with a knock, the door opened.
Medical staff led by Chairman Kang Ju-hwa entered.
They bowed their heads slightly and then wheeled Jeong-hyeon’s bed out.
Outside in the lobby, an ambulance waited.
Jeong-hyeon’s bed was loaded, and Sejin sat beside it.
As Yeoreum tried to follow, Ju-hwa blocked her way.
“You can’t.”
“Just to say goodbye at the airport.”
“No. This is the end here.”
Sejin started crying again.
Yeoreum pleaded in desperation,
“If you go like this, I won’t see you for 20 years. Can’t you at least let me see mom and dad boarding the plane?”
“Remember the contract? It’s effective from today.”
Yeoreum glared at Ju-hwa standing in front of her, but only a cold smile played on her lips.
Helplessly, Yeoreum said to Sejin,
“Mom, be careful.”
“Yeoreum…”
“You can’t neglect your health taking care of dad. You have to eat well. Understand?”
As Sejin tried to get off the ambulance again, Ju-hwa signaled with her eyes.
The ambulance doors closed.
“Yeoreum!”
Mom’s cries rang out loud.
But the ambulance drove away.
“Chairman.”
Black sedans lined up one after another where the ambulance had departed.
Ju-hwa boarded one of the sedans without a word.
As the sedan carrying her drove off, Ki-taek and his family followed in the next car.
“Miss.”
The middle-aged man was Ahn Siljang, Ju-hwa’s secretary.
He approached Yeoreum, who stood looking after the direction where the ambulance had disappeared, and spoke gently.
“You should go now.”
“…Just five more minutes.”
Yeoreum turned to him and said.
“I have time to go to the restroom, right?”
“Yes.”
As he finished speaking, Yeoreum entered the lobby again.
But instead of heading to the restroom, she ran towards a different exit.
The place was filled with air ducts, creating a loud clanging noise.
Perhaps because of this, there were no people around, only thick shrubbery in the gardens.
Yeoreum dashed into that area and looked up at the sky, gasping for breath.
But soon, her cries broke through.
Sanha, who had hurriedly followed her, watched from a distance, leaning against a wall.
Amid the thudding sounds, her heart-wrenching sobs continued for some time.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
