CHAPTER 38

When Siyeon returned home, she didn’t even change her clothes and immediately turned on her laptop. She had temporarily halted her ongoing series due to the family situation after her biological father collapsed.

She had planned to take a break this week, but the accident involving Gwihyeon had caused her to miss the deadline. Her state of mind was so unstable that she couldn’t bring herself to write.

On the way back home, while loading some belonging into Yoonsoo’s car, Siyeon received a call from her manager asking her to check her email. The manager was crying, explaining that inquiries and complaints from readers were flooding in through the ongoing platforms and publishing houses without any specific deadlines.

While she was on the phone with her manager, Yoonsoo was looking at Siyeon with a curious expression. As soon as her call ended, he suddenly asked.

“Weren’t you unemployed?”

“I told you I’m not.”

“What exactly do you do?”

“I work on the computer.”

While Yoonsoo was carrying boxes from the car into Siyeon’s house, she turned on her laptop and checked her email. There were several unread emails.

As she opened the emails related to her work one by one to check their contents, Siyeon frowned. She was about to close the window but then noticed one unread email. She furrowed her brow and clicked on it.

The email’s subject was ‘Dear Drumstick Writer.’ Drumstick was Siyeon’s pen name.

The message from a presumed reader was straightforward. They simply asked her to start the serialization as soon as possible, provided it didn’t harm the author’s well-being. They added that, as a devoted reader who had read all of her works from her first serialization to the present, they had every right to make such a request.

“…What… the?”

Siyeon’s face contorted in disbelief. The sender, who claimed to be a heavy reader, was commanding her to start the serialization immediately with a rather authoritative tone.

“How did they even get my email address?”

The publishing house had been very meticulous about keeping her personal information private from the beginning. Nothing about her was disclosed, not her name, gender, or age.

When Siyeon’s work was adapted into a popular game, many players wanted to know the true identity of Drumstick, the original creator. The publishing house received numerous interview requests, but Siyeon never agreed to any of them.

She didn’t even have a personal social media presence, so she was naturally taken aback by the heavy reader who had managed to find her email address.

Siyeon immediately called her contact at the publishing house to inform them about the email she had received. They were even more astonished than she was.Top of Form

“How did they find my email address?”

[Aside from the boss, only I know your contact information and email address. It’s quite a feat for someone to figure it out. You know the boss wouldn’t do something like this, right?]

“Well, that’s true, but…”

[Since nothing has happened yet, let’s observe for now. Sending an email alone doesn’t warrant legal action. I’ll ask the boss again about this.]

“Okay, I’ll wait and see for now.”

Siyeon felt uneasy, but she had no sharp solution. She wasn’t actually being threatened, and there wasn’t much she could do. She felt apprehensive, but with so many other things to worry about, she didn’t want to dwell on it for too long.

“Oh, come on, give me a break.”

He gasped.

Startled, Siyeon turned her head to look over. Yoonsoo had suddenly collapsed onto the adjacent chair, panting heavily and sweating profusely.

“Even if you were unemployed, I must get some meat from you today, no matter what!”

He said with a determined tone.

“I already told Manager Yang and the Team Leader to come. I bought a lot of meat. I’ll grill Hanwoo for you.”

“Hanwoo?”

“Yep, it’s a Hanwoo two-plus.”

Yoonsoo laughed heartily when he heard Siyeon’s response. She found it amusing that he could find the humor in the mention of Hanwoo two-plus.

“You’re only living for today? You’re going to eat meat today and drop-dead tomorrow?”

“Why would I die after eating meat?”

“Alright, how much did you spend?”

He asked, pulling out his wallet from his back pocket.

“Why are you asking that?”

“I’m a big-shot company employee from a wealthy family, I can’t just mooch Hanwoo two-plus off a part-time worker.”

“Just eat today. Don’t scold me later for splurging on Hanwoo beef. I’m really grateful for today.”

“Why are you the one being thankful when you’re not the one moving?”

“Thankful as a landlord?”

“It’s not even your own place, yet you’re collecting rent.”

Yoonsoo put his wallet back and stretched one arm over the table, resting his head on it. His eyelids were almost closing, probably from being so tired. After driving back and forth to Seoul and lifting luggage several times, he had every reason to be exhausted.

“Take a nap on the couch. I’ll wake you up when Manager Yang and the team leader arrives.”

“…Ah, I’m really going to die.”

He muttered in a drowsy voice.

“Don’t fall asleep in here, I have food to prepare.”

“…Aren’t you… lonely?”

It might have been a sleep-induced mumble or not. In the end, Siyeon decided to ignore his words. As she got up from her seat, she heard his voice beside her.

“…If you’re bored, I could keep you company.”

Siyeon glanced down at his face. At that moment, Yoonsoo slowly raised his eyelids. His eyes met hers without a hint of a smile.

“I prefer playing alone.”

“Do you have any idea how much fun it can be to play together?”

“I’ve never found it enjoyable.”

When it was just the two of them, they were always nervous, anxious, sad, or scared. Come to think of it, they had never really laughed out loud together.

“Living like that and you’ll end up like Manager Yang.”

“Well, now that you’re awake, would you mind moving over there immediately?”

Siyeon chuckled and pointed to the living room sofa with her index finger.

* * *

There were several challenges leading up to Siyeon’s father entering her house. The biggest issue was his refusal to step inside.

Siyeon’s biological father didn’t even flinch while sitting in Yoonsoo’s car in front of her house, and ultimately, Siyeon had to go out and convince him to enter.

“…I know it might be uncomfortable, but… please stay here until you find a new place.”

As soon as he saw Siyeon’s face, he began to cry uncontrollably. He cried as if he was about to faint and breathe his last breath at any moment. Watching him, Siyeon had to use all her strength to hold back the tears welling up inside her.

“I have so much to say… There are many things to sort out. I know it must be very difficult for you… But please, find the strength for my sake, if for nothing else.”

Siyeon couldn’t call him the boss, nor could she call him father. She circled around her words, but he understood what she meant.

With a pained expression, he nodded and, with the support of his wife and Yoonsoo, he entered the house.

“Can I… help in any way?”

“Sure, can you?”

“I’m about the same age as your daughter, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Is it really okay?”

“Yes. Of course.”

Siyeon began to help her biological mother take items out of the boxes and organize them. Meanwhile, Yoonsoo stayed in the room, keeping her biological father company.

Yoonsoo had taken a day off today to help with the boss’s discharge from the hospital. He told Siyeon not to worry about him because it was for the boss, but Siyeon had the strange feeling that her debt to him was increasing bit by bit.

“The house is a bit small…”

“No, it’s cozy and nice. It’s great to have a yard in a house.”

“When spring comes, we can plant flowers and trees in the yard. We can even plant vegetables. Oh, and there’s a backyard too, although it’s a bit narrow. We can probably bury a few pots for making sauces like gochujang, soybean paste, and soy sauce.”

Siyeon diligently listed the advantages of her home to her biological mother.

“How does a young lady like you know about burying pots in the ground?”

“In the houses I know, there are dozens of pots.”

“It must take a lot of effort to manage all of those. You should never marry into such a house.”

She and her biological mother got along quite well. In her past life, she could hardly have a conversation with her biological mother, but now she could talk to her freely, and Siyeon found it wonderful.

“How did you meet the boss?”

“We grew up as childhood friends in the same neighborhood since we were little. Our grandparents were close friends too. Before we knew it, we set a wedding date, and I was walking down the aisle with him holding my hand.”

“So you didn’t even get a marriage proposal from the boss?”

Siyeon playfully raised an eyebrow, and her biological mother covered her mouth with her hand and laughed.

“I did. To young people these days, it might not seem fancy, though.”

“I can’t imagine the boss holding a bouquet of flowers.”

“I received something other than a bouquet.”

“Like a ring or a necklace?”

Upon Siyeon’s question, her biological mother smiled and turned around to rummage through a small box.

“What are you looking for?”

“I keep my valuables in here. I’m sure I put it somewhere in here… Ah, found it!”

With a contented expression, she pulled out a flat mother-of-pearl box from the box. t looked very old, but it was delicately crafted, adorned with elegant mother-of-pearl decorations.

“It’s a very exquisite mother-of-pearl box.”

“That’s right. It’s very exquisite, isn’t it? This is something Eunhye’s great-grandfather personally made.”

“Ah… it seems that he was very skilled with his hands.”

The words “great grandfather” echoed in Siyeon’s ears, but she pretended not to be affected and smiled casually. She couldn’t see Siyeon’s expression as she gently caressed the surface of the black mother-of-pearl box.

“Her dear great grandfather used this to propose to her great-grandmother, and it has been passed down through generations until I received it from the boss. If I had given birth to a son, it would have been for my daughter-in-law, but since there’s only Eunhye, I plan to pass it down when my grandson is born.”

She whispered with a happy expression. Siyeon felt a strong sense of foreboding in her words, but she couldn’t explain why.

“It’s a precious item with a lot of history.”

“It’s not the only one of its kind, but it’s a precious item with many stories behind it, indeed.”

A fleeting expression of sadness crossed her face as she spoke. When Siyeon sensed her confusion, she carefully lifted the lid of the closed mother-of-pearl box.

“This is it.”

Siyeon’s gaze turned towards the inside of the mother-of-pearl box. As her eyes fell upon the item inside, she froze stiff.