CHAPTER 31

“Did CEO Choi create the current Yeongjin?”

“No, it was my grandfather. He believed that you should treat the factory workers well, so he personally built the factory. After my dad graduated from college, he worked alongside my grandfather.”

“Are you not interested in the company’s work?”

“I don’t like working in the factory. Even now, if there’s suddenly a shortage of labor, my dad goes to the factory to work alongside the employees, and I find that unpleasant. I prefer doing something more elegant and nicer.”

Eunhye vigorously shook her head, clearly indicating her dislike.

“What about reading books or writing? How do you feel about that?”

“I don’t particularly like or dislike reading books. As for writing, I haven’t done it except for the reading log in high school.”

“Do you happen to know a poem called ‘Baek Ya’? It’s written by the famous poet Kim Dong-han.”

“I do.”

“You do?”

“Yes, but is it weird that I know it?”

Gwihyeon raised his eyebrows in surprise, and Eunhye wore a slightly annoyed expression.

“No, it’s not weird. I’ll apologize if I made you uncomfortable.”

“It’s one of the representative poems from the Japanese colonial era. “

“I knew that.”

His voice softened, and Eunhye couldn’t maintain her bristly expression for long.

“I know it very well. It’s because my dad…”

“CEO Choi, why?”

Eunhye was about to speak, but Gwihyeon gave her a sidelong glance.

“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just something I’ve seen a lot in the SAT preparation books my dad got me.”

“What did you see? Since it’s the same name as Baekya Foods, it’ll be easier to remember from now on.”

“Is that poem really so important that I need to remember it?”

“We’ll talk about it in detail later when you become a real part of the Baekya family.”

Eunhye was so surprised that she instinctively covered her open mouth with her hands. She lowered her head as if she didn’t know what to do, her face blushing as if she had just received a marriage proposal.

Gwihyeon’s gaze in the left-side mirror looked bewildered.

***

Walking from the subway station to her home, she quickly worked up a sweat on her back. Siyeon went straight to the fan as soon as she entered her apartment.

“Oh, it’s so hot.”

She fanned herself back and forth, trying to generate some breeze, but the heat was relentless. The indoor air was stifling, so even the fan’s breeze didn’t provide much relief.

Siyeon approached the open living room window and then took a lukewarm shower in the bathroom.

Afterward, she turned on her laptop and fetched cold water from the fridge for her to drink. She adjusted the fan so it faced her and sat down. Only then did the sticky heat that had clung to her body begin to dissipate.

She first logged into the famous web novel publishing site. She had uploaded the first chapter of her novel, “Dragon’s Wings,” there yesterday, and for the past day, she had been constantly checking the site, albeit somewhat exaggeratedly.

Although it had been pushed to the back pages within a few hours of being uploaded, the number of views steadily increased.

Her first fantasy novel, ‘Dragon’s Wings,’ had a total of thirty-two comments so far. On her walk home, she had read and reread the comments and memorized the usernames and their contents.

Siyeon searched for the file with the title ‘2nd Chapter in her document folder, opened it, and reviewed the content once more before uploading it.

“All done.”

After confirming that the file had been uploaded successfully, she boiled water in her electric kettle, filtered it into a cup, and poured herself a cup of coffee. Taking a sip of the coffee, Siyeon placed the cup beside her and began to continue writing the next part of the manuscript.

‘Dragon’s Wings’ was the first part, and the title she had in mind for the second part was ‘Dragon’s Heart’.

As she typed away on her keyboard, black text appeared on the blank white document.

While she was deeply engrossed in writing, her phone rang. Startled, Siyeon looked at the screen and saw the name ‘Jeong Ijun’ displayed. She picked up the phone, trying to ensure her voice didn’t waver, and answered the call.

“Hello?”

[I can already tell you’re becoming lax because there’s not much time left until my discharge. At first, you used to pick up the phone quickly, but now your enthusiasm is dwindling.]

“Hasn’t it already passed your bedtime?”

[I still have some time. Have you arrived home?]

“What time is it now? I got home a little while ago.”

Siyeon replied calmly.

[Make some time to take care of your boyfriend occasionally. Do you know how bored I am? If you knew, you’d want to entertain me.]

Lately, Ijun, who was a sergeant in his final year of service, often complained to her that he had too much free time.

“So, you read a lot of books, right?”

Siyeon replied dryly.

[I read extensively, without restricting myself to any particular genre.]

“I’ll still have a busy life after your discharge. I don’t have much time until next semester.”

[Once I’m discharged, I’ll get a place and a driver’s license right away. That way, I can be your chauffeur.]

“I’m doing just fine without you. I’m keeping myself busy day by day.”

“Is there something bothering you today?”

Ijun’s voice became more soothing. He sensed an unusual atmosphere in Siyeon’s voice.

“Nothing’s bothering me. When did you say you’d be on your last-year leave?”

[This will be the third time I’m telling you, but try to remember. I’m getting busy, and if you forget again, I won’t be happy.]

“I keep forgetting because I’m so busy. Tell me again, and I’ll clear my schedule for that day.”

[I’ll send you a text to make it easier to remember. If you forget again, you can check the text.]

“Okay. Let’s talk again later.”

[Sure. Goodnight.]

After hanging up the phone, Siyeon buried her face in her hands and remained like that for a while. Contrary to her attitude throughout the call, her fingertips were trembling.

Siyeon had been preparing herself to break up with Ijun once he was discharged, but as the day approached, she inexplicably felt dizzy and her heart raced for no apparent reason.

Can I really go on living just fine without Ijun?

She had tried to convince herself that it was okay since they hadn’t shared deep emotions yet and that she couldn’t even fit into the category of casually meeting and parting. But it was futile. Just thinking about a life without Ijun made her feel like the ground was slipping from beneath her feet.

***

In the fall of Siyeon’s twentieth year, Ijun was discharged from the army. On his last leave, he had silently listened to Siyeon’s suggestion to sort out their relationship when he was discharged, and he had agreed to discuss it again after his discharge.

On the day of his discharge, he arrived at Siyeon’s school wearing his military uniform. They sat face to face in a small cafe near the school.

“It’s your discharge day, and you’re not with your family. Gwihyeon-oppa must have been looking forward to this day.”

It was an afternoon with not a single cloud in the sky, and the sun poured in through the window, filling the café with light. Siyeon avoided Ijun’s direct gaze and answered, looking into her coffee cup.

“You’ll regret it. So think about it again.”

“I’ve thought about it multiple times, but my conclusion remains the same. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, but I didn’t want to talk about it until you were discharged.”

“Do you expect me to believe that you like my older brother?”

Ijun didn’t believe Siyeon’s words.

“While you were in the army, I went on several dates with Gwihyeon-oppa. Our parents and your grandfather know about it too.”

“…So, during that time, you deceived me and dated my brother?”

“I didn’t intentionally try to deceive you. I didn’t have the right time to say…”

“Kim Siyeon.”

When he called her name in a dangerously low voice, her heart sank. Siyeon moistened her dry lips with coffee and slowly looked up to meet his gaze.

“Do you like my brother?”

“…”

“Do you like Gwihyeon?”

She had confessed her feelings to Ijun. She couldn’t keep those emotions hidden in her heart any longer, so she confessed to him unintentionally.

“I like Gwihyeon, the heir of Baekya Food.”

“….”

So, Siyeon couldn’t bring herself to lie and say that she liked someone other than Gwihyeon.

“You know better than me what Gwihyeon means for Baekya Food. He said he would become the head of the planning department right after graduation. He’ll probably climb up to the CEO position eventually.”

“…So, you want to become the wife of the Baekya Food CEO?”

A small smile crept up on Ijun’s lips. His cold gaze fixated on her. Seeing his reaction, Siyeon felt oddly relieved. Hatred was better than sadness.

“Your grandfather gave me a significant amount of stock to use as I pleased. He even asked me to take good care of Gwihyeon. My parents and grandmother invite Gwihyeon over to our house for meals every day. It’s as if we’ve already become one family. Would it make sense for me to say there’s no place for you here? There’s no room for you, and we can’t be anything more.”

“We haven’t even properly started yet. If I can offer you something bigger than that, would you come to me?”

Regardless of what he was thinking, Ijun was sincere now.

“I already have a secure and comfortable position waiting for me. Why should I do that?”

“Do you think you can marry my brother and look at my face like nothing happened between us?”

“What do you think we did? I’ve never done anything to feel guilty about Gwihyeon.”

Siyeon raised her head boldly, almost shamelessly.

“What do you mean nothing? Are you saying that we’re nothing if we don’t do anything in bed? What did you do with Gwihyeon-hyung that made you so sure of him.”

Ijun asked with a chilling tone. His eyes were wounded as he asked the question.

“I don’t want to talk about my personal life with you.”

She couldn’t spare a thought for how her words might sound to Ijun. Just continuing the conversation with him was suffocating enough.

The two of them never took their eyes off each other. Tension filled the air as their gazes exchanged.

“…I didn’t go to the United States because of you. I wanted to stay with you.”

Finally, Ijun broke the silence and spoke.

“You said it wasn’t just Gwihyeon-hyung at our house.”

When another chance came around, the choices she had made, her whims, and perhaps the hopes she had held in her heart brought her to this point. And unlike her previous life, she was facing her end with such turmoil.

“No matter how bored I was, I should have treated you gently. This is too big of a scale.”

“Don’t blame your choice on me…”

“Right. It’s my foolishness, isn’t it?”

“….”

She couldn’t quite remember what he said at the end. When his lips moved, only his reddened eyes were etched into her mind, and she couldn’t think of anything else.

Parting was more painful than she had imagined, and the aftermath clung stubbornly to her life, leaving a long tail.

After that, she never saw Ijun again.