CHAPTER 5

On that day that Ijun threw a fish to her.

Before heading home, Lee Joon called her to a corner of the yard. He hid his body behind a house pillar, only revealing his face and repeatedly glancing at her. Even though she deliberately avoided his gaze, she still ended up meeting his eyes.

“Come here.”

As soon as their eyes met, he made a beckoning gesture to get her to come over. The reason Siyeon couldn’t refuse his call was that if she declined, he might once again catch a fish and throw it at her.

“Why?”

Glancing back to make sure her father was still in sight, she cautiously approached him and asked in a small voice, keeping one foot back so she could run away at any moment.

“I’m giving you this. Take it.”

He handed her a wooden, crescent-shaped object of unknown purpose to her.

The very old-looking object didn’t seem like something she would like. It seemed like he was trying to make amends by giving her something that she probably wouldn’t need.

“It’s okay…”

“Take it.”

When she hesitantly tried to refuse, he widened his eyes and pouted.

Siyeon reluctantly extended her hand, and he handed it to her as if he had been waiting for it. The flat object had small, delicate white flowers drawn on the curved part.

Even to young eyes, it was clear that the item wasn’t his. Siyeon looked at her palm for a few seconds and asked with a worried expression.

“Is this… yours, oppa?”

Although she asked like that, Siyeon was inwardly certain that he had stolen the item from someone.

“Yeah, it’s from our house.”

Ijun replied cunningly. Siyeon didn’t want to accept his gift, but she was afraid that refusing might make him angry. If that happened, who knew if this time he would throw something like a snake or a bug instead of a fish?

“Thank you.”

Siyeon received his gift with an awkward expression and placed it in a small bag she had been carrying. Only after Ijun confirmed that his gift had been placed inside the bag did he show a satisfied smile.

She quickly learned the true purpose of the mysterious object by asking her mother. It turned out to be a hair comb passed down through generations in the Jeong clan, a headgear meant for the bride in the Jeong family, which came up when discussing the marriage of Gwihyeon’s generation.

As she later found out, the item, that Ijun had stolen and had given to Siyeon, was actually meant for Gwihyeon, the descendant of the Jeong family, that had been kept by his mother.

Siyeon knew that the item she received was the hair comb, but by the time she understood its significance, it was already in a state where she couldn’t return it.

‘…And Gwihyeon oppa married Eunhye.’

Siyeon gazed out the window with a resigned expression.

No matter how much she pretended to ignore it, her reality hadn’t changed. And she had to admit the fact that she hadn’t had a long nightmare but had returned to ten years ago.

Her fingertips grew cold, and a cold sweat trickled down her back. Finding it hard to breathe, Siyeon rolled down the car window.

“You’ll catch a cold, Siyeon.”

Her mother’s worried voice came immediately.

“…Mom.”

“Yeah?”

“That piece of land that Grandpa Suwon gave me when I was young. How much is it worth now?”

“Well, you know, the land prices have gone up a lot over the years, so it must be quite expensive now. But why suddenly ask about that land?”

“Just… I heard that if you own a lot of expensive land, you have to pay a lot of taxes.”

Siyeon kept her gaze fixed outside the window and spoke absentmindedly.

“Even though the property tax might be high, the value will keep rising in the future. There’s no need to sell it.”

“…I don’t want to sell it either.”

“Huh?”

“You said it’s going to keep rising, then I want to keep it.”

“Sure, it’s yours, so do as you wish. But hearing you say this, are you developing a greed for money now?”

“Yes. I wish I had a lot of money.”

Her unexpected response made her parents burst into laughter as they looked at each other.

However, Siyeon didn’t feel like laughing at all. She knew that her Hannam-dong father’s business would fail in a few months, and he would collapse from the shock.

‘What should I do?’

As she pondered with a heavy heart, she recalled her past life. She didn’t want to head towards unhappiness as strongly as she did in her previous life, at least not in this lifetime.

On that day in the past, Siyeon’s parents had a conversation with Gwihyeon’s grandfather about Siyeon’s graduation, entrance to university, and marriage plans.

Marriage was mentioned casually, but since Gwihyeon was already an adult, it was no longer a subject that could easily be brushed aside anymore. Moreover, considering that descendants in their lineage married early, Gwihyeon had to start thinking seriously about a spouse from now on. Of course, his partner had already been decided to be Siyeon.

Siyeon recalled the image of Ijun leaning against a pillar on the wide veranda that day, with his arms crossed and head slightly tilted. He had approached her as if waiting for her to be left alone and asked her abruptly.

“Do you like my brother? Do you want to marry him?”

He seemed to be vaguely aware of the conversations that went on among the adults.

“Why are you asking me that?”

In response to Siyeon’s perplexed answer, Ijun twisted his lips incredulously and chuckled, as if he found her response unbelievable.

“Do you know what it means to be a daughter-in-law in our family? If you marry my hyung, you’ll live in Jongtaek like a woman from the Joseon era. You’ll spend your life polishing brassware until you grow old and die. Have you seen how many brassware pieces there are on the brassware stand in our backyard? Is that still okay with you?”

He made snide remarks about Siyeon’s potential marriage to Gwihyeon, to Siyeon who was just a mere sophomore in high school.

But, marriage was a distant matter for her. She was more concerned that if she married Gwihyeon, she would have to see Ijun for the rest of her life.

“…Gwihyeon hyung isn’t the only one in our family.”

“….”

When Ijun, who had been staring at her for a while, moved his lips slightly, Siyeon was so surprised that she blinked her eyes without finding the right words to respond. His unfamiliar gaze as he stared piercingly at her was unsettling.

Her heart was pounding, and she hadn’t even thought about the fish, but her arms suddenly broke out in goosebumps. Unable to bear the suffocating silence, Siyeon quickly turned away from Ijun and hurriedly moved away.

And then, the day from ten years ago repeated itself.

* * *

When they arrived at Gwihyeon’s ancestral home, Siyeon calmly got out of the car. Gwihyeon and his father were already in the yard, seemingly having heard their arriving car.

“Siyeon’s here.”

“Hello.”

Siyeon bowed her head to Gwihyeon’s father, Mr. Jeong, with a composed expression. After exchanging pleasantries, the adults moved towards the house first.

“Hello.”

Only Gwihyeon remained in the yard. Just a bit past his twenties, he smiled at her. Seeing his healthy appearance in person made her heart swell with emotion.

“…Gwihyeon oppa.”

“Welcome. Was it tiring to come?”

Upon hearing his gentle voice, tears began to flow down Siyeon’s cheeks. She tightly wrapped her arms around Gwihyeon’s waist and burst into tears. She was so thankful that he was alive.

Gwihyeon seemed taken aback for a moment, but he quickly calmed down and gently patted her back to comfort her.

“Was studying difficult for you, Siyeon?”

“Oppa, oppa, I…”

Siyeon opened her mouth with a choked voice, but she couldn’t say anything. She could only let her tears flow endlessly from the overwhelming emotions in her heart.

“Having a family reunion?”

“….”

A sarcastic voice reached their ears.

Separating from Gwihyeon’s embrace, Siyeon wiped her tears and gazed at the back of Gwihyeon. Ijun, taller than Gwihyeon, had his hands on his hips, looking at her disdainfully.

“Ijun, what kind of manner is that? Apologize to Siyeon right now.”

Turning around, Gwihyeon didn’t hide his irritation. But, Ijun merely stared at her without saying anything.

In the past, she might have ignored him or turned away, but this time, Siyeon just looked at Ijun calmly.

He wasn’t scary at all. In fact, she felt happy and relieved to see him. He was the only person who had reached out to her when she was drowning in despair in the past.

“Are you going to wait until I apologize?”

As she continued to gaze at him in silence, Ijun tilted his chin slightly and moved his lips.

“You’re not going to apologize anyway, are you?”

“Right. Are you trying to provoke me then?”

Siyeon smirked.

Consistently mischievous Ijun. He had this expression on his face when he was twenty, saying that the Jeong family didn’t only have Gwihyeon. To her eyes, which had lived through until the age of twenty-seven, his expression was quite transparent.

“I’m just happy to see you.”

“….”

At Siyeon’s words, Ijun furrowed his brow. He seemed to be contemplating the meaning of the words he just heard. It must have seemed strange to him, given how different it was from what he usually knew.

“Is that a new slang these days?”

When Siyeon just laughed, he gave her an even more suspicious look.

“I’m just really glad to see both of you.”

“….”

Her smile grew brighter.

Siyeon believed that there must be a clear reason why she had returned to when she was eighteen. The uncertain future ahead might be daunting, but at least Gwihyeon was alive, and she could tell Ijun that she was glad to see him. For now, that was enough to be grateful for.

Siyeon looked at the two of them and made a promise to herself that she wouldn’t live as wretchedly as she had in her past life.

* * *

Siyeon greeted Gwihyeon’s grandfather and came out before her parents did.

She already knew what would be discussed inside. Her parents would bring up her grandmother’s wishes and repeat that they couldn’t marry her off until she graduated from college and turned twenty-six. They would remain oblivious to her grandmother’s intention to wait until Eunhye turned twenty-five.

“….”

“Coming out early, huh?”

Siyeon, lost in thought, blinked when she saw Ijun leaning against the wide veranda pillar.

It was the same situation as before. If her memory was correct, after today, she wouldn’t be able to see Ijun for a long time. He would be going to the United States for a few months.

“There are things the adults need to discuss.”

After her response, Ijun maintained a moment of silence before speaking again.

“Do you like my brother? Do you want to marry him?”

And in that moment, a past that had long passed became her present once again.

“Why are you asking me that?”

He raised one eyebrow in response.

“Do you know what it means to be a daughter-in-law in our family? If you marry my hyung, you’ll live in Jongtaek like a woman from the Joseon era. You’ll spend your life polishing brassware until you grow old and die. Have you seen how many brassware pieces there are on the brassware stand in our backyard? Is that still okay with you?”

The same situation, the same expression as back then. Looking up at him with his brows furrowed, Siyeon felt like she might burst into laughter or maybe even tears. He, at this moment, probably couldn’t even imagine that she wouldn’t be able to marry Gwihyeon.