CHAPTER 13

“Why are you laughing?”

At that moment, the voice of her grandmother came from across Siyeon. When she looked up, she saw that her grandmother was staring at her intently.

“I feel the same way as you, Grandma. We’re doing it to uphold an ancestral promise, but to others, it might seem like we’re clinging to Baekya Foods. Even if it’s to preserve the pride of being Baekya’s descendants, I will never join Baekya Foods. Using such methods just to impress Gwihyeon oppa seems too petty.”

“…That’s true, but…”

Her grandma agreed with Siyeon’s words, but her expression showed uneasiness. Seeing that, Siyeon became curious about what method she would use later to get Eunhye on Gwihyeon’s good side. At the very least, she wouldn’t be able to blatantly push her way into his office in front of the CEO.

“But Grandma, you do want me to marry Gwihyeon-oppa, right?”

“…Isn’t the merging of the two families’ bloodlines part of our longstanding promise between both households?”

“Then how about getting engaged to Gwihyeon-oppa first?”

“Who gets engaged in this day and age?”

Upon Siyeon’s words, her grandma was taken aback and flustered.

“That’s true, too. Well then, I guess I’ll have to wait until I reach the appropriate age, as you said, Grandma.”

Siyeon smiled, her eyes narrowing. While her grandmother’s countdown was for the day when Eunhye turned 24, Siyeon’s countdown was for the day she became of legal age. Siyeon was only waiting for the day when she could make all the decisions about herself without her parents’ consent.

“Oh, by the way, Mom. Have you ever been to a temple, cathedral, or churches?”

Siyeon suddenly turned her head towards her mother as if an idea had struck her and asked.

“Huh? Of course, I’ve been to places like that before… Why are you asking?”

“Well, my friends were talking about how parents of high school seniors visit places like temples to pray for their child’s success in the college entrance exams. They light candles and all that. Eun-kyeong’s mom goes to pray every morning, too.”

In reality, this was a throwaway statement, in hopes of getting some small piece of information from her grandmother. Fortunately, her grandma provided her with the answer she was looking for.

“Yeah, I’ve heard about that kind of story too. I was actually thinking about going somewhere when the college entrance exams get closer. Oh, speaking of which, Mom, you occasionally visit a temple, right? How is that place?”

Her question made her grandmother’s expression immediately harden.

“Why do you ask about the temple I go to?”

“You’ve made many offerings there and have been involved for a long time. You know the monks well, so I thought it might be nice to go there if possible.”

“Well… I’m not sure.”

“Mom, there’s also that head monk whom you greet every time there’s a change of seasons.”

As soon as she heard her mother’s words, Siyeon had to make an effort to calm her inner turmoil. She strongly felt that the head monk she mentioned was the one who had changed her and Eunhye’s destinies.

Siyeon wanted to meet the monk who changed her fate. Although it was her grandmother’s doing to switch her with another child after listening to the monk’s advice and raising someone else’s child, Siyeon had questions to ask the monk who ultimately changed her own destiny.

“I heard that places you’ve believed in for a long time tend to have better effects. I want to go too. I feel like my heart will be at ease if I visit there…”

She deliberately trailed off her sentence, letting her voice fade and wearing a dejected expression.

“Sure, let’s go. If it can bring even a little more peace to your heart, as your parents, we can do more than that for you. Let’s go together, light candles, pray and offer incense. I’ll hang the best incense at the most prominent place for you.”

“Thank you, Dad.”

“Mom, why don’t you join us for a family outing and take a breather?”

“…I guess I could.”

Her father’s words were met with a displeased face from her grandmother, but she didn’t add any further remarks. A quick glance revealed that her grandmother also wanted to go to that place.

A week later, on the weekend, the four of them went to a large temple on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province. The temple had a deep and long history, and sure enough, it was large in scale and was bustling with people.

Upon arriving at the temple, Siyeon’s parents wrote messages wishing for Siyeon’s success in her exams. Meanwhile, her grandma briefly exchanged greetings with the monks with covered faces, and performed some rituals in the main temple hall, but she didn’t particularly meet the head monk separately.

‘When will I get to meet the head monk?’

Siyeon, who had been observing her grandmother’s behavior all along, began to feel a bit impatient. Just at that moment, when she was starting to grow a little restless, her grandma pulled out a piece of paper from her bag and handed it to her father.

“Son, drop me off here, then you go ahead to Seoul. It’s not too far from here, so it shouldn’t take you long.”

“What are you going to do here, Mom?”

“You don’t need to know, Son.”

After handing a piece of paper with an address to her son, she quickly made her way to the car.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Siyeon secretly memorized the address written on the paper her father held, then quickly typed it into her phone. Next to the destination address, it said “Jeongseon Monk,” she guessed her grandma probably used the regional name to refer to the head monk like that.

“Grandma, are you visiting a temple again?”

Siyeon turned towards the back seat and asked with an innocent expression, pretending not to know anything.

“…Yes.”

“Is this temple bigger than the one we visited earlier?”

“…Does it matter whether it’s big or small?”

She turned her head towards the window, reluctantly answering without much enthusiasm. It was a clear indication that she didn’t want to engage in any further conversation. And Siyeon felt the same way.

After about 20 minutes of driving, they reached their destination. It was a small hermitage located in a quiet and secluded area.

Amid the serene silence, where sounds of the car door opening and footsteps were clearly audible, the door of the hermitage opened, and an elderly monk stepped out.

The monk greeted them with a warm smile, and the grandmother bowed politely as if meeting the most precious person in the world. The monk, looking as if he had been waiting for her grandma too, returned the gesture.

Siyeon rolled down the car window completely and kept her gaze fixed on the monk. The monk, who escorted her grandmother inside, must have felt Siyeon’s gaze as he turned around to look at her.

“…”

Siyeon stared at the monk without blinking, seemingly piercing him with her gaze. Just as the car started moving, they couldn’t hold eye contact for long, but Siyeon sensed a momentary surprise on the monk’s face.

The monk couldn’t take his eyes off the departing car. Seeing this, the tense grandmother calmly spoke up.

“Yes. The child in the car is the child my son and daughter-in-law are raising.”

“…”

“Don’t worry. My son and daughter-in-law are raising her with great care. In fact, today we just finished offering prayers for her success in the college entrance exams.”

Seeing the puzzled expression on the monk’s face, the grandmother hurriedly added.

‘This mere mortal is bearing the consequences for defying the will of the heavens. That child entered their household for a reason.’

“…Please go inside.”

The monk, who let out a deep sigh inwardly, turned his back and walked inside.

* * *

Summer vacation had begun. Except for the days when she went to the academy twice a week, Siyeon spent most of her time in a study cafe after having her breakfast.

Ijun’s first vacation came around that time. He had kept the fact of his vacation a complete secret, so Siyeon had no idea about it.

It was nearing noon. Siyeon was studying in the study cafe when her phone vibrated. She opened the screen to check the received message.

[Where are you? The study cafe you go to every day?]

It was from Ijun. Since his assignment in the spring, he had been sending Siyeon brief greetings every day, just to check in. Whenever she had a bit of free time, they would talk on the phone, but mostly, considering she was a student preparing for exams, he would just send her short messages.

Siyeon stood up and walked quietly outside with her phone. Even though she probably wouldn’t make a sound, she was mindful of the others studying while she moved.

[Yes. But isn’t it working hours now?]

Outside, Siyeon leaned against the corridor wall as she sent a text back. She had been so focused on the phone screen that her forehead slightly furrowed and her lips pressed together unconsciously.

[Break time.]

Can he use his phone during break time?

Siyeon tilted her head in puzzlement.

[Oppa, aren’t you taking a vacation? People who were deployed around the same time as you were talking about taking vacations.]

Sometimes, when Siyeon logged in to the online military girlfriend cafes, her attention was naturally drawn to posts from members who had boyfriends who were deployed around the same time as Ijun. There were quite a few who had taken their vacations already, but Ijun had never taken a vacation so far.

[Do you want to see me?]

“…”

Siyeon asked, rolling her lower lip inward. Whenever Ijun asked her this directly, she struggled to figure out how to respond. He treated her like a perfect girlfriend, but she couldn’t treat him the same way. It was a different matter from her feelings of liking him.

Perhaps that’s why Siyeon sometimes felt that Ijun wanted to confirm her feelings. Even now, he wanted to know how she felt.

The closest honest answer was, ‘I want to see you, but I’m not sure if it’s okay.’ But, she couldn’t reply like that, so at times like this, Siyeon often gave vague answers.

[I’d be glad to see you.]

Even if he thought she was being cowardly, there was nothing she could do about it.

“How glad would you be?”

His tone had a tinge of playfulness. Siyeon, with a faint smile on one corner of her lips, stopped her fingers before sending the reply.

With wide-open eyes, she suddenly turned her head in the direction of the sound. Dressed in military uniform, Ijun stood there, arms crossed in front of his chest, staring at her with a somewhat displeased expression.

“Oppa…?”

“Yeah. Private First Class Jeong Ijun.”

With a broad grin, Siyeon rushed over and stood in front of him. One corner of her sunburnt face had a slight upturn. She felt like she might burst into tears from how happy she was to see him.

“Can I hug you?”

Looking up at him, she asked. Ijun seemed surprised for a moment, but then he uncrossed his arms and opened them wide as if inviting her.

Siyeon quickly wrapped her arms around him, leaning her forehead against his chest. She could hear his heart beating rapidly beyond his firm, sturdy chest.

“You’re being so proactive about liking me.”

A voice came from above Siyeon’s forehead. She looked up at him, still resting her forehead on his chest, and burst into a wide smile.