CHAPTER 63

“What did I do to you to deserve this?”

“Like a dog, I came when you called and left when you told me to, and even ended up in a forced marriage that I never even thought of, and you didn’t do anything to me?”

He said with a fierce expression. He seemed to be holding a volcano in his chest. HHis tightly clenched fists seemed to be barely suppressing emotions that were on the verge of exploding.

“You accused me of not trusting your words, but you’ve never really trusted me even once. You’ve been dragging around my brother’s name and never consulted me, your boyfriend, about anything. You made decisions on your own and informed me as you pleased! And now you blame me? You’re saying let’s live like a married couple until the end of the year just because you might die soon? So, if you die, we’re done? 

Ijun’s sharp gaze shone brightly.

“After messing up my life like this, you cowardly plan to run away alone?”

His angry gaze shook with uncontrollable rage. His expression seemed to say that if permitted, he would strangle her immediately.

Yet, just hearing his angry voice was enough to make Siyeon’s breath rise to the edge. Her heart throbbed heavily as if she had been running at full speed and suddenly stopped. It felt like every cell in her body was contracting under his  imposing presence.

“I… I didn’t know it would turn out like this. At first, I just wanted my parents to live happily and for your brother to live a long and healthy life. But then, I kept thinking about how you treated me well before… I kept thinking about the time you asked me to go to the United States. I wanted to go with you. I wanted to be with you.”

She continued to speak laboriously, gasping for breath as if confessing her sins. Her head spun and her vision blurred.

“I wanted to go with you if you asked this time… but everything changed when you decided to stay in Korea.  Everything became different from the past. I just… I just wanted to be a little less unhappy this time.”

Tears quivered at the tip of her chin. She never turned away from Ijun’s overflowing affection. But she never thought that the second chance at life would become so complicated due to her careless thoughts and actions.

“You should have clearly told me. If the first time was difficult, then at least the next time, and if that was tough too, you should have spoken up when I appeared in front of you!”

When he shouted, Siyeon’s ears rang sharply. Her head spun and her mind was in complete disarray. The cold gaze of Gwihyeon, the mocking face of Eunhye, and the cold gaze of Ijun all rushed at her all at once.

“What am I talking about? Ah, yes, the truth. Truth is, Gwihyeon, who is lying unconscious now, actually tormented me for five years. The truth is that Gwiheyon was afraid of being deprived of the real granddaughter of the Baekya, that it will be taken by his younger brother, so he hid Eunhye and met her in secret.”

Siyeon’s voice rose sharply. Her eyes were red and swollen, and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, unable to be held back by her emotions.

‘Why is everyone doing this to me! Why me!’

Siyeon wanted to scream and collapse.

“Gwihyeon threatened me, saying that if I don’t break up with you, he would ruin Yeongjin. He threatened me, saying that if I spoke to my real parents, and if Eunhye died, it would be my responsibility. I didn’t want my parents to die. If my parents die again in vain, there will be no point in me coming back to life. I know that if I just shut up, everyone will be fine, so what on earth should I have done, Mr. Ijun!”

“Still, you should have said something to me! Then I would have solved it, no matter what it took, I would have solved it!”

Ijun slammed his fist on the table and stood up. The two, now overwhelmed with emotions, glared at each other, breathing heavily.

“…Even if I had said something, Eunhye and I would have lived the same way. Waiting to turn twenty-five. The life I had to live in silence for seven years to change places wouldn’t have changed. And that would have been even more miserable.”

“…”

“Our parents wouldn’t have been informed because it couldn’t have been done right away. Of course, I watched it with a nervous heart, from Grandfather and to your parents,  to see what would happen.. Are you telling me that I had to endure more time even after seven years…?”

“…”

Ijun was silent. He just looked straight into her eyes. In the silence between them, only the crackling sound of firewood burning in the fireplace echoed through the air.

Siyeon, with a tightly locked voice, struggled to open her mouth again. She didn’t want to go this far in her story, but she couldn’t bear it anymore.

“…In the past, Gwihyeon died. He was married to Eunhye and lived well… but he left the world in a traffic accident. At that time… I felt like the accident happened because I hated the two of them. I wanted Gwihyeon to live well this time. So even though I knew he was making unreasonable demands, I couldn’t refuse. I thought I would only stay quiet until Eunhye turned twenty-five and got married. But this time…the accident happened before their marriage.”

Hot tears flowed incessantly down her cheeks.

“I wanted to somehow prevent you from marrying Eunhye at all costs. Because I wanted to prove that the words of the monk who said that the real descendant of Baekya had returned were wrong.”

Ijun sighed heavily, slumping into the chair. After wiping his face with dry hands, he stared at her with a weary expression. His tired voice followed.

“…But he was right. The real great-granddaughter of Baekya is not Kim Eunhye, it’s you.”

“…Really… Did you find definite evidence?”

“Yes. And, I had suspected it would be that way even before finding the proof.”

“How…?”

“…Because he’s your great-grandfather.”

Tears burst out uncontrollably. Siyeon buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

She wanted to tell the world that the real writer was Choi Deok-gu, her great-grandfather, a man who was poor but wealthy in spirit and who created delicate and beautiful objects with rough hands.

If even only one person understood the injustice towards her great-grandfather, it would have felt like a breath of fresh air. But when she heard Ijun’s words, the suppressed sorrow within her burst out all at once.

“Stop crying and look at this.”

After letting her cry for a while, Ijun took a mother-of-pearl box from the wooden chest and pushed it towards Siyeon. Siyeon, wiping her tears away with her palm, looked at it with tear-stained eyes.

“It looks exactly like what I have.”

Siyeon opened the lid of the mother-of-pearl box and looked inside. The lid inside the box was laid flat at a 90-degree angle, with a mirror attached, and underneath, there was a soft yellow silk with a comb placed on it.

“Have you ever seen the back of the mirror?”

“The back of the mirror…?”

Up until then, the tears that had been falling suddenly stopped. Siyeon looked at Ijun with wide red eyes. Ijun, who took the mother-of-pearl box, tapped the four corners of the mirror on the lid and carefully removed the mirror with both hands.

“Was it meant to be separated?”

“You have to handle it carefully. Look at the back.”

Siyeon flipped over the mirror that Ijun handed her, which was only the size of her hand. On the back of the rectangular mirror, there was a fairly thick wooden board attached.

“This is…?”

Surprised, Siyeon opened her eyes wide. She couldn’t believe it, so she blinked several times. Carved on the wooden board were the lines of a poem from “Baekya,” and at the bottom, the name of the poet Choi Deok-gu and the exact date were engraved.

“I wait for you in Baekya.”

Siyeon slowly read the clear inscription. The tears that covered her vision made the letters appear distorted and blurry.

“According to the appraisers, the poet probably waited for the woman he loved in a late-night buckwheat field to propose. They said that the ‘Baekya’ in this poem refers to a specific place, a buckwheat field, and the white flowers drawn on the umbrella handle represent that field. They called him an uncommonly romantic poet in his era. They’ve already confirmed that there’s been no forgery or alteration to this item. When they consider this item as belonging to the poet who wrote Baekya, they say its historical value is considerable.”

“How… did they discover this?”

Siyeon couldn’t contain her excitement. She felt like going to them, kneeling down, and expressing her gratitude.

“They found it during an X-ray examination. There was quite a commotion after discovering this.”

“They must have been really surprised too.”

“Even more so when it was revealed that Kim Donghan was a thief.”

“Should I… tell Grandfather?”

“You should. And my parents too.”

Saying that, Ijun let out a short sigh. As if his mind wasn’t already dizzy, adding another worry on top of that wouldn’t make him feel any better. It was clear that this would become a very heavy and heart-wrenching story that would shake the foundation of Baekya Foods.

“Thank you. Since you found the most solid evidence, I’ll think about how to announce it.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Since the artifacts were discovered by experts, they will report to the academic community and make an official statement. They will have to take an active role because they can gain prestige and receive sponsorship. This will be necessary for a press conference and interviews, so just lend it to them for a while as the great-granddaughter of poet Choi Deok-gu.”

“You won’t tell anyone that there’s another identical set, will you?”

“No, it’s probably safer not to.”

Siyeon cautiously placed the mirror back into the mother-of-pearl box. Aligning it with the spot where the mirror had been, she tapped the four corners, and it smoothly fit in, looking as if it were part of the flat surface.

“Can I tell my father about this…?”

“You should tell him. He’ll be quite surprised.”

“I’m sure my late great-grandfather in heaven will be delighted. He went through a lot of emotional struggles before he passed away, so it’s fortunate that the truth is revealed now.”

Saying so, she pressed her swollen eyelids with both hands. Perhaps due to the intense emotional consumption, a deep sense of fatigue swept over her.

“But, by the way…”

As she closed her eyes for a moment, Ijun’s voice reached her.

“Is the drumstick I had in mind really different?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I asked if it has nothing to do with the reason I’m thinking about.”

“How would I know what you’re thinking?”

She continued to speak while still pressing her eyelids with her palms.

“When I heard the alias ‘Drumstick,’ only one thing came to my mind. The chicken place we went to.”

“…”

Silenced, Siyeon’s face turned visibly red, and she couldn’t take her hands off her eyes.