CHAPTER 10

In an instant, Ijun, who had been standing frozen like a statue, grabbed her shoulders and pulled himself away from her. He waited patiently in that state until she stopped crying.

When Siyeon finally lifted her eyes after her tears had stopped, she met Ijun’s gaze, who had been staring at her sternly.

“What’s wrong with you?”

He didn’t hide his displeasure.

“…What do you mean?”

Although Siyeon remembered that she had just hugged him, she decided to play ignorant.

“While you were talking about someone else, you hugged me. How am I supposed to interpret that?

Regrettably, it seemed that Ijun was aware of the situation. But, there was no suitable explanation she could offer. Strictly speaking, they were essentially the same person with only a time difference, but she couldn’t exactly tell Ijun that it was about him, his older self. So, Siyeon was left feeling awkward.

“Are you stressed because of the entrance exams…?”

“No, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Or are having delusions?”

“You’re quick to call me crazy, huh?”

She had tried to move past it, but it wasn’t easy. With a downcast expression, Siyeon gave up on any further excuses. Even if Ijun didn’t believe her, there was nothing she could do. Aside from him and Gwihyeon, she knew no other men, She couldn’t come up with an excuse involving someone else she didn’t know well.

“About that villa, Apartment 301, what’s your relationship with President Choi Won-dae over there?”

“Huh?”

Taken aback by Ijun’s serious tone, she widened her eyes in surprise.

“Listening to what that person said earlier. According to her, the only man in that house is CEO Choi Won-dae, who’s practically old enough to be your father. Why are you helping them without knowing anything about them?”

Siyeon remembered that Ijun had asked Eunhye about her family in front of the villa earlier. She had thought it might be because of a favorable impression towards Eunhye, but maybe it was an investigation.

“Surely, what you just did isn’t related to that old man, is it?”

Siyeon flinched for a moment. The look in his eyes as he stared at her was fierce. If she said yes, he seemed ready to strangle her right then and there.

On another note, calling her real father “old man” bothered Siyeon. As soon as she heard the word, it irritated her.

“Calling someone who’s essentially a father ‘old man,’ that’s too harsh.”

“My honorifics will change based on your answer. So, tell me, what’s the reason that Baekya had to give in and help their company? Exactly what kind of significant debt do you owe CEO Choi?”

“….”

“Should I go ask him directly?”

“It’s pointless to ask. He won’t know the reason anyway.”

Siyeon opened her mouth with a somewhat resigned expression.

“I’m not telling you the reason because I don’t want to. Just like you, there might be secrets you don’t want to share with others.”

“He didn’t do something bad to you, did he?”

“It’s not like that, there’s no such thing.”

She furrowed her brows as if his words were nonsense. It turned out Ijun’s excessive agitation was due to his wild imagination. He probably suspected that CEO Choi might have found some weakness in Siyeon that he could probably exploit.

“Well, if that’s not the case, then never mind.”

Hearing Siyeon’s response Ijun took a step back with a relieved expression.

“Did you really come all the way to Hannam-dong just to find that out?”

“Even if anyone were to hear it, it’s a suspicious request with a suspicious condition. After hearing that, you’re just going to let it slide?”

He gave her a pointed look of criticism.

“Gwihyeon oppa lets things go without asking anything.”

Gwihyeon informed Siyeon that her request had been resolved successfully, respecting her wishes by not prying on the reasons she didn’t want to disclose. But, Ijun couldn’t just let his suspicions go and came all the way to Hannam-dong. It was typical of Ijun, and honestly, she liked him for being that way.

“So, what are you trying to say?”

His tone became stern again. Compared to the relatively unchanging expression of Gwihyeon, Ijun’s face changed easily depending on his mood. So, by just looking at his face, one could quickly discern his emotions.

“I’m saying that even though you’re brothers, your personalities are different. By the way, Gwihyeon-oppa said he’s going to Paju. Are the whole family going to see him off?”

Siyeon changed the subject to shift the atmosphere.

Gwihyeon’s military enlistment was right around the corner. He had called Siyeon to let her know about his enlistment date and the location for his reporting. Siyeon wished him a safe and healthy service.

She felt like Gwihyeon wanted her to see him off, but she didn’t want to see off a man who would become someone else’s husband in the future.

“On that day, not just our family, but some of the elder relatives from the ancestral village might come too, I think?”

“They must be worried. After all, he’s the oldest descendant.”

“Fortunately, Hyung isn’t the only fourth-generation heir. Even though it wouldn’t have made much difference.”

Ijun’s household was so prestigious beyond measure. If Ijun hadn’t been born, Gwihyeon would have the only fourth-generation heir in their clan. Their grandfather was deeply grateful to their parents for not having a single fourth-generation heir only.

“You’re glad that you’re not the eldest son, right, Oppa?”

“Usually I am, but sometimes I’m not.”

The two of them chatted about various things as they walked toward a nearby subway station.

“Oh, by the way!”

Suddenly, Siyeon stopped in her tracks, clapped her palms together, and widened her eyes. Fumbling through her bag, she soon pulled out a single hair comb and handed it over to Ijun, her eyes sparkling brightly.

“This.”

Ijun glanced at the hair comb she was holding, then looked back at her.

“What’s this?”

“It’s the one you gave me when you were little, don’t you remember? It’s a gift your grandfather gave to your grandmother when he proposed to her. It’s a significant heirloom that’s passed down to the main daughter-in-law of the Jeong family, but when it went missing, and I heard your grandmother was really upset about it. So, just take it and put it back in its original place without anyone knowing.”

“How do you know about that?”

“I happened to overhear Mom and your grandmother talking about it.”

In reality, Siyeon had learned about it when the adults talked about Gwihyeon’s marriage in her future life but she chose to gloss over the details.

“Just keep it. I gave it to you.”

Siyeon blinked. She had carried it around with a nervous heart, thinking she should return it when she met Ijun, but he flatly refused, making her efforts seem in vain.

“Well, I’ll keep it safe, so if you ever need it, just let me know.”

“Are you telling me to give something I gave to you to someone else?”

“…I’ll hold onto it for now.”

“Fine.”

Ijun nodded as if he understood, and after dropping Siyeon off in front of her house, he returned to his home in Suwon.

After that day, Siyeon occasionally thought back to that moment. The day when Ijun and Eunhye had met for the first time, Eunhye blushed while looking up at him, as Siyeon quietly watched the two of them.

Whenever she recalled that day, she felt as if she had glimpsed an unknown future. And each time she thought about it, she didn’t feel good.

***

Summer vacation had begun. As expected, nothing happened to Siyeon.

Her parents still loved her, and her real father’s business was thriving, steadily progressing like a sail catching winds. Since her real parents’ business in Hannam-dong was doing well, Eunhye hadn’t shown up in Ichon-dong.

Thanks to that, the secret of her birth wasn’t revealed, but Siyeon wasn’t even slightly happy about it. Her emotion was closer to indifference than happiness or sadness.

[ Let’s have lunch. ]

As she left her academy after class, Siyeon checked the text messages on her phone. It was from Ijun.

He was attending a specialized academy for college entrance exam preparation and had synchronized his schedule with Siyeon’s, who came to the area twice a week for classes. He would send her a text in advance, asking to eat together, and Ijun would always be waiting for her at the entrance of her academy. Siyeon had become accustomed to this routine with Ijun.

“What should we eat?”

“Should we fight heat with heat? How about some chicken soup?”

“Then I’ll go for the electric grilled chicken.”

Not far from their academy, there was a restaurant that served both electric grilled chicken and hot chicken soup. While Siyeon used to enjoy hot chicken soup, she had removed it from her list of preferred foods ever since she met her grandmother and Eunhye in Hannam-dong.

The two of them took their seats in the restaurant and waited for their food to arrive.

“If you come across difficult questions while studying, feel free to ask me. I’ll help you out.”

“I don’t think I need to ask for help from a student who’s retaking the college entrance exams.”

“If I had planned to attend a university in Korea, I would’ve gone last year. I even got accepted to schools that are much harder to get into than universities here in Korea.”

Ijun had received admission offers from all the Eastern U.S. universities he had applied to. His family, who had been happy that he decided to stay in Korea, were now disappointed when he received his acceptance letters, suggesting that he should just go to one of those university instead.

“So, why didn’t you go to those good universities? It’s a waste.”

Siyeon glanced at Ijun while wiping her hands with a napkin. She couldn’t quite understand why he decided to study in Korea while having such prestigious schools as his options. While she was glad that he was staying in Korea, she couldn’t help feeling sorry and regretful for the Ijun from their other life.

“If I get into a university next year, I’ll go to the military right away.”

“Wow, that’s quite the plan you’ve got there.”

“Can’t even give encouragement to someone who’s retaking the exam, and mocking instead tsk.”

As Ijun grumbled, their food arrived.

“Here you go, chicken leg.”

Siyeon tore the leg of the grilled chicken with a napkin and offered it to Ijun. Instead of picking it up with a spoon with his right hand, he just stared at her intently.

“Are you giving it to me?

“Hurry up and take it. It’s hot.”

“They say that offering a chicken leg is a sign of true love.”

Ijun smiled and accepted the chicken leg she offered him.

“I didn’t know that. Give me that back then.”

Siyeon demanded the chicken leg back with a serious expression, but by then, almost half of it had disappeared into Ijun’s mouth.

“Didn’t you give it to me because you don’t like it?”

“I actually like it, you know?”

As she raised the fork in her hand and pouted, Ijun just chuckled.

“Well then, eat up.”

Ijun pulled apart two big chicken legs from his chicken soup and placed them side by side on her plate. Seeing the plump, white legs dripping with grease, Siyeon couldn’t help but smile.

After finishing their meal, they stopped by a café and then walked down the street, each holding an iced coffee with a straw.

Unfortunately, there was no shade on the street in the scorching midday heat. Drops of sweat formed on Siyeon’s forehead due to the intense heat rising from the asphalt and the strong sunlight beating down from above.

“The person who invented air conditioning deserves a medal. Seriously, they should be honored.”

“Willis Carrier died a long time ago.”

“He must have been really hot. 

When Siyeon chuckled at Ijun’s pretentiousness and put the straw in her mouth, it happened. He raised the file folder he was holding in his left hand and created a makeshift roof over her head. Siyeon, who was momentarily surprised, stopped walking and looked up at him.

“Why?”

“…It’s nothing. Never mind.”

Seeing Ijun looking at her as if asking what was wrong, Siyeon cleared her throat and started walking straight again, pretending as if nothing happened. Despite not being affected by the heat anymore, she felt a strange sensation.