CHAPTER 57

“See? You don’t even believe it..”

Siyeon scooped up a mouthful of rice and mumbled. No matter how many times she told the truth, it was useless. In the end, Ijun would look at her with that expression.

“Why did you die? Was it an accident?”

He reached out his arm to lean on the chair next to him and asked.

“Because life was too difficult. I prayed to the moon the next day, asking it to not  wake me up, and my wish came true.”

“What was so difficult?”

“Mr. Ijun finds me amusing like this. It’s interesting to see how long you’ll keep believing my ‘nonsense’.”

 Siyeon smiled at the serious Ijun and picked up a side dish with her chopsticks.

 “What was I like in that world? Did I suffer at your hands even then?”

“At that time, you and I didn’t have much contact. As soon as you graduated from high school, you went to the United States. We didn’t date or have a conversation.”

“And you must have married Gwihyeon.”

“Gwihyeon married Eunhye. The last time I saw you was… at my mother’s funeral home.”

She already messed up eating properly. Just thinking about that time made her chest feel tight. Siyeon raised her cup to drink water and calmed her mind.

“My father, who had failed in his business and couldn’t meet both his adopted daughter and me, his biological daughter. He passed away after a long illness. My mother, who struggled with depression, left a note saying sorry to me and followed my father’s passing. When I found out that I had returned back to ten years ago, the first thing I did was ask Gwihyeon for help to ensure that my father’s company wouldn’t go bankrupt. I knew that a few months later, Yeongjin’s trading partners would go bankrupt, causing a chain of bankruptcies.”

“….”

“I thought Gwihyeon had spoken with Grandfather, but later he told me that it was actually you who had asked for the favor.”

Ijun just stared at her with clear eyes, without blinking.

“You asked me how I knew about things that even my parents didn’t know. It’s because I’ve already experienced that time once. However, this time, a lot has changed from the past, so I can’t say I lived the same life. I haven’t lived past the age of twenty-seven, so I don’t know.”

“…It’s ridiculous.”

He twisted his lips. The look in his eyes as he looked at her was fierce.

“I pretended to listen to see how far you’d go with your story, but it’s all nonsense. You’re writing a novel very well.”

Siyeon clicked her tongue internally. She knew it would be like this. She knew that Ijun would react like this, yet she kept talking in great detail.

“Why listen to stories you won’t believe until the end? It’s just unnecessarily painful.”

“Who would believe such absurd stories?”

“Right. You wouldn’t.”

Siyeon got up from her seat. Ijun, who seemed like he might comment on her leaving the food, surprisingly remained silent. Her gaze was downcast.

“I’ll go up first.”

“….”

Ignoring the silent Ijun, Siyeon, who had been watching him for a while, finally left the dining table with a resigned expression.

* * *

The melody that flowed from the phone pierced the silence of the room. The room was still dimly lit.

“Why are you doing…. this to me?”

Siyeon covered herself with the blanket up to her head, but eventually couldn’t stand the loud noise and got up from her seat to turn off the phone alarm.

It was 6:30 AM. She had never woken up at this time before. It was truly an early morning awakening.

“I went to bed at 3 o’clock….”

Shoulders slouched in a fit of frustration, she grumbled to herself before finally, after a while, sighing and getting up from the bed. If this lifestyle continued, she might eventually find herself saying, “Cancel living like others,” with her own mouth.

After a quick wash, when she went downstairs, Ijun was already sitting at the dining table. He had his arms crossed and only picked up his spoon when Siyeon took her seat. She never knew he was so particular about breakfast.

“I’m planning to go to Suwon after breakfast today.”

“Oh. Originally, today was the day we were supposed to come up from Namhae.”

Siyeon replied dryly. If they had gone on their honeymoon, it would be about time for them to be preparing to return home. Resignation and acceptance—armed with these two, there was no longer anything to hurt her heart.

“You already know I didn’t go there.”

“Should I go to Suwon with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know if you’re planning to go alone or if you want me to accompany you.”

“We’ll leave at 11 o’clock. Get ready.”

 “Okay.”

The tension that had been taut seemed to have softened a bit. The atmosphere was more relaxed than yesterday.

“Just a heads up, but don’t casually bring up the story of Kim Dong-han in front of Grandfather.”

“I wasn’t planning to, but… why shouldn’t I?”

“Without solid evidence, it will only cause unnecessary commotion, and regardless of who the author of ‘Baekya’ really is, the fact remains that Mr. Kim Dong-han shared a friendship with great grandfather.”

Siyeon felt uneasy. At times like this, it really hit her that Ijun and Gwihyeon were brothers.

“That’s right. A resistance poet, an elite literati, would be fitting for the descendant of a patriot family, not a lousy commoner. Even if my great-grandfather was the original author, I don’t think your great-grandfather would have had a friendship with mine.”

Siyeon knew too. Regardless of who wrote the touching letters and poems, in the end, the two shared a friendship as comrades.

Even if she found out that her great-grandfather wrote “Baekya,” she thought it was too unlikely that Ijun’s great-grandfather and a poor young laborer with little education, shared a deep friendship. But thinking that way made her feel bitter. 

Oh, Choi Deokja, my noble great-grandfather.

“Did you just insult my ancestors?”

 Ijun raised his eyebrows dramatically at her response.

“When did I do that?”

“You said something about a lousy commoner.”

“You’re exaggerating too much.”

Even though she shrugged off his remark, her heart felt a pang of guilt. Other than that, it was a peaceful mealtime..

It turned out Siyeon was mistaken about having leisure time after breakfast before departure. After dressing in hanbok and finishing her makeup and hair, the departure time was approaching sooner than expected.

Siyeon wore a red skirt with a colored jeogori (basic upper garment of the hanbok) on top and a blue baeja (traditional Korean vest which is worn over the jeogori), while Ijun wore dark navy pants with a light purple vest. The makeup artist who had come to the house for the occasion did Siyeon’s hair and makeup to match her hanbok.

“You look much more beautiful in a hanbok than in a dress.”

The makeup artist exclaimed in admiration as she looked at Siyeon, but Ijun only looked at her completed attire with narrowed eyes and said nothing.

At 10 AM, the two of them sat in the back seat of the car and headed to Suwon. Ijun worked on his tablet PC while they were on the move, and Siyeon sent thank-you messages to friends who had come to the wedding one by one.

[Thank you for the gift. You truly are a generous friend.] 

She also sent a playful thank-you message to Yoonsoo. She made sure not to convey any of the complex emotions she felt when she saw him, emotions that were difficult to put into words.

[What gift?]

However, Yoonsoo played dumb. When Siyeon chuckled, Ijun glanced at her briefly. Siyeon sent another message to Yoonsoo.

[The art of playing dumb! It’s upgraded from what I used to use, and customer satisfaction is very high.]

[Jessica, you’re quite skillful at getting the gifts you want. Tell me what it is, my card has been itching lately.”] 

Siyeon narrowed her eyes. The Yoonsoo she knew wasn’t someone who would pretend not to know to this extent. On the contrary, he was more likely to show off and make a big deal out of it.

[A patio table for the rooftop. It even comes with a canopy attached.]

[I’ll place an order, so wait a bit. It won’t take long, just a few days.]

[[Are you really not going to tell me?]

[Jessica. Do you want to hear me say that I think you’re crazy?]

If it’s not you, oppa, then who sent that to me?

Siyeon was deeply confused. Ending the conversation with a remark that it was just a joke, she stared at her phone screen, lost in thought.

“Who was that?”

Ijun, who had been silent beside her, suddenly spoke up. Siyeon turned her head in his direction. He still had his gaze fixed on the tablet screen. 

“What about it?”

“The person you were exchanging messages with just now.”

“Oh. It’s Yoonsoo.”

“Did you share something interesting?”

“Just asking about something.”

“It looks like you two get along well.”

“Yes, we do.”

While Siyeon responded to Ijun, she was secretly pondering about the person who sent her the outdoor table. She was dying to know who it was. If it wasn’t Yoonsoo, it could have been Director Yang or Team Leader.

But how did they know our home address? Oh, Yoonsoo must have told them after visiting our house. But even if he gave them the address, could they have delivered it the next morning?

Her thoughts were in complete disarray.

Oh right!

Suddenly, a thought crossed Siyeon’s mind. She qquickly took a selfie with her phone. She adjusted the angle to capture a good shot of herself and also included a part of Ijun in the picture. Then she hurriedly sent a message with the photo. 

“What is it for?”

“I’m going to send it to my parents. I should have worn this when I went to see them. I didn’t think about it.”

“We can stop by on the way back.”

 “Really?”

 “After having lunch in Suwon, we can head over there. If you don’t want to, we can skip it.”

“I don’t mind.”

Siyeon answered promptly. There was no reason to refuse. However, Ijun’s kindness seemed unusual to her.

* * *

They arrived at Ijun’s family house in Suwon. The two of them got out of the car, opened the front gate, and walked inside.

Contrary to the expected quiet atmosphere, the house was surprisingly bustling with people. Upon entering the main building, they found several elderly people sitting in the main hall. They were Ijun’s relatives.

“The new groom has finally arrived!”

“What’s all this so early in the morning?”

Ijun wasn’t particularly polite even to his relatives. He was truly different from Gwihyeon, who always showed impeccable manners in front of his relatives.

Siyeon gathered her hands in front of her and politely greeted the elders before standing next to Ijun. Although she thought she was standing next to him, she could still see half of his back.

“We came early today because it’s the day the new groom comes.”

“We even dressed up nicely!”

“Did you have good dreams? Grandmother Samshin should work diligently!”

Saying so, the relatives burst into laughter. Siyeon had thought they seemed excessively energetic even though it’s still morning, and now she understood why – there was a rich spread of makgeolli and snacks on a large low table.

“Grandson’s relatives! In-law has arrived!”

One of them called out loudly towards the inner part of the house. It seemed that Grandfather was in the room.

Ijun took off his shoes and went up to the main hall. The steps were quite high, so Siyeon gathered the middle of her skirt with both hands and lifted it slightly.

As she was about to take off her embroidered flower shoes and step up, a hand suddenly came down in front of her. When she looked up, Ijun was standing in front of her, extending his hand toward her.