It was her son, Do Hyun. Just as when they named Seo Ha, they had given him a name by taking one letter from both her and her husband’s names.
With one of his black eyebrows furrowed on his white face, the child looked worriedly at Hyun Seo.
“Where are we?”
Do Hyun asked his mother with an unclear pronunciation, twitching his chubby cheeks.
“We are in Korea.”
Even though she had told him several times before they arrived, once in the new place, the child had an expression as if he knew nothing.
“Korea?”
Hyun Seo squatted down to match Do Hyun’s eye level and smiled brightly.
“This is where your mother lived from when she was a baby like you until she became an adult.”
“Mom did?”
“Yes, Mom did. Now we’re going to live here.”
“Do we have a house here?”
“Yes. We’re going to take a car to the house where you and I are going to live.”
“Just the two of us, Mom and Do Hyun?”
Hyun Seo found the worried look of the child looking at her so cute that she took him into her arms. She leaned in and whispered into Do Hyun’s ear.
“Yes, we’re going to live together, just the two of us. I told you on the airplane. Now, it’s just you and me.”
“What about Grandma and Uncle?”
“Lucas will come in a few days, and Grandma will come to see us later. Don’t worry, Do Hyun, we’ll be able to meet again.”
At his mother’s answer, the child finally nodded his head with a slightly relieved expression.
Hyun Seo stroked her son’s thin and soft hair once and then got up.
“Let’s go. Aren’t you eager to see what the new place looks like?”
“Yes.”
Smiling faintly, she took the child’s hand, pulled the carryon, and went out of the airport.
Then, when she saw the blue sky in front of her, a sigh unknowingly slipped from Hyun Seo’s lips.
Why is it that the sky she’s seeing now seems more welcoming, even though it should be the same sky as everywhere else?
Even though it had been quite a while, the deep blue color was familiar to her eyes, and the clouds were also lovely.
Despite leaving this land with wounds, she had always missed this place where her beloved Seo Ha and her parents were resting.
The land where her joys and sorrows were deeply gathered. She had finally returned to her homeland, a place of much regret and remorse.
“Mom, are you crying?”
“Huh?”
She couldn’t help but tears welled up in her eyes. Hyun Seo quickly wiped her tears and smiled at her son.
“I’m fine. Let’s go. To our home.”
She wanted to show Do Hyun this country as soon as possible. Now, only living happily with Do Hyun in this place remained.
She would not receive unfair treatment from anyone and would not endure it.
She was going to live showing only the confident and proud image of a mother to the son she loved.
Hyun Seo tightly held her son’s small, fernlike hand and took a step forward.
Songhwa Palace was calmly situated beneath the blue mountain ridge. The place, hardly noticeable even by its signboard, seemed wrapped in a veil.
The secretive and elegant Songhwa Palace was a comprehensive healing center that soothed the minds of its members.
In that place, where the subtle sound of the wind could occasionally be heard, traditional Korean houses with beautifully curved eaves, resembling the palaces of old Joseon, were densely clustered.
In the hidden underground parking lot, luxury cars were lined up.
The gate was firmly closed as if guarding a fortress. Through the occasionally opened door, affluent ladies would come and go with bright expressions.
From beyond the gate, the pleasant sound of footsteps on gravel was heard. In the sunlight, a large stone water basin gleamed brilliantly.
Next to the pond where golden carps were leaping, an old pine tree bent over, shading the water.
Since last year, a largescale renovation of the traditional Korean houses here gave birth to an incredibly elegant and beautiful center.
Inside, the stateoftheart modern facilities teeming with the latest machines harmoniously blended with traditional decorations and interiors. It surprisingly fit well together.
Inside Songhwa Palace, there were facilities for fullbody massages and skincare, a fitness center, and even consultation rooms for dermatologists and plastic surgeons.
Not only for appearance, but also for comprehensive health management, there were Oriental medicine clinics and psychological counseling centers.
Fivestar accommodation facilities were also available, and nearby, in the pavilion, there was a highend restaurant serving meals made with organic ingredients and a select shop that gathered luxury brands.
The center was operated on a membership basis, and there were four grades: Ma, Ran, Guk, and Juk.
Among them, the Ma grade was the one that provided the most luxurious service and was the highest in cost, a center where only a small number of members frequented.
A staff member dressed in the uniform of the Juk center was waking a person who was lying in bed, snoring.
“Madam, we’re finished.”
“Ah, I feel refreshed. Whenever I come here, I feel like I’m floating. My skin feels firmer, and my previously sluggish body feels invigorated. You’ve worked hard.”
These days, Ms. Ji Hwa Ja was living, waiting only for the days when she would come to Songhwa Palace.
Young Suk Han, the landlady of Jin Seong who always liked to boast and show off, was also envious of her lately. Asking where she got such fine complexion from and pestering her to take her along to the salon she was visiting, Ji Hwa Ja couldn’t help but enjoy the situation.
“You’ve worked hard. Please take care on your way home.”
At the employee’s courteous greeting, Ms. Ji Hwa Ja nodded with a satisfied face.
Feeling particularly satisfied that day, she, who had never given a tip before, unexpectedly pulled out a tenthousandwon bill from her wallet.
“You’ve worked hard. This is a tip, take it. Share it among the hardworking people.”
The Juk center operates with four courses. So, there were four staff members in charge. But she was suggesting they divide ten thousand won among the four.
The employees chuckled inwardly. It meant they should each take 2500 won.
“Thank you, madam. However, we are not allowed to accept tips by policy. We will gratefully accept your thoughtfulness only.”
At the employee’s polite refusal, Ms. Ji Hwa Ja had no choice but to put the ten thousand won back into her wallet and made a remark.
“I can’t even give a tip as I please. Anyway, there’s nothing easy here, starting from membership.”
“If there’s nothing uncomfortable, you can change your clothes in the dressing room and leave.”
The employee maintained her business smile until the end and responded courteously.
But suddenly, Ms. Ji Hwa Ja lowered her head towards the employee and asked in a quiet voice.
“But, can I… possibly meet the director now?”
“Then, please change your clothes and wait for a moment in the Juk Center lobby.”
“Okay.”
A moment later, Ji Hwa Ja, who came out of the changing room, obediently sat in the Juk Center lobby as instructed, and waited for the director.
As she waited pompously, someone approached her.
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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