CHAPTER 64

“No?”

“I’m tired. I have work to do, and it’s a big deal.”

Siyeon turned her words around, gripping a pen in her hand and resumed signing, which she had momentarily stopped.

“I’m thinking of visiting Professor Kim soon.”

“Why?”

“You only raise your head at times like this.”

Seeing Siyeon raise her head abruptly, Ijun frowned as if he didn’t like it.

“Why do you want to meet Ichondong-father?

“I have a reasonable suspicion whether Professor Kim was genuinely unaware of this fact.”

“According to my father, my great-grandfather visited their house with my grandfather a few times. So I thought the grandmother in Hannam-dong might have known.”

“Luckily, you’re Choi Siyeon. Somehow, the name Kim Siyeon doesn’t suit you.”

Hearing his words, Siyeon remembered the words he had said to her in the past and chuckled. Even back then, he had told her that the name Kim Siyeon didn’t suit her.

“Why are you laughing?”

“You once said the exact same thing to me before.”

“I said that?”

“Yes. You even said I had no sense of humor and that I was unlucky.”

“I feel like I’ve heard this somewhere before.”

Ijun furrowed his brow, trying to recall the memory.

“…Someone used to tell me that I’m hopeless and unlucky.”

“Who the hell said that kind of stuff to you?”

“Even though they say that, in reality, they’ve been really good to me. They’ve always been there for me when times were tough.”

“Who were you in a relationship with?”

And then it came to mind. It was the day he first met Siyeon in Hannamdong.

“No one. I wasn’t dating anyone, and we weren’t even anything more than acquaintances. So, why was that person so kind to me?”

“Why wouldn’t they? Obviously, they liked you.”

At that time, Siyeon held Ijun and cried while telling him this.The memory of crying while holding her and getting angry at someone else’s story also came to mind. When asked why she cried back then, she never provided an answer.

“Was that about me?”

Ijun finally understood her words and actions that he had sometimes found incomprehensible.

“What do you mean?”

“The person who was good to you.”

“Oh, right. It was about you, Ijun.”

“Why did you cry when talking about that?”

Before speaking, Siyeon hesitated a little and then began.

“…You came to my mother’s funeral. I was sitting alone at the funeral home since there were no familiar faces, and suddenly, you appeared in front of me. You told me that you heard about my loss from the U.S. and immediately took a flight. At that time, you  asked me if I wanted to go to the U.S. with you, but I declined because I felt sorry for the trouble.”

“So I suggested going to the United States back then.”

Ijun fixed his gaze on Siyeon and tilted his head slightly.

“It wasn’t until after my twenty-fifth birthday that I found out about the change between me and Eunhye… When I found out, my real father was already in the hospital, and my mother was in a severe state of depression. My father passed away without seeing me properly, and my mother… soon followed my father. I knew nothing about the two of them, so I was unsure whom to inform about their passing.”

“Professor Kim and his wife weren’t there, they were busy with Eunhye and you handled the funeral alone.”

His face hardened.

“The Ichondong parents  knew I wasn’t their biological daughter when I was eighteen. As soon as they found out, they brought Eunhye home and raised her with me. Then we lived apart without contact for a long time, so it must have seemed like someone else’s story.”

Siyeon continued calmly. She thought she would never be able to tell this story to anyone in her lifetime, but here she was, confiding in Ijun.

“So, you and Eunhye grew up together in Ichondong?”

“Yes. When Yeongjin’s business collapsed, our house suddenly fell apart. Worried about Eunhye’s worsening situation, grandmother came out and bringing her granddaughter with her. She told Ichondong parents that their situation was difficult, and that they would take good care of Eunhye as well. Until I was twenty-five, I thought Eunhye was a distant relative, but she already knew when she came to the house in Ichondong.”

Siyeon continued to speak in a low voice. She felt fortunate that, even though the present Ijun was different from the kind Ijun of the past, she was able to unburden her long-held feelings in this way.

“Immediately after Eunhye graduated from college, she entered Baekya’s head office as a secretary. From that time on, she secretly dated Gwihyeon. As soon as our family relationship was settled, Gwihyeon told his family about Eunhye, and they got married right away.”

“……”

She spoke calmly and unchanged, but Ijun’s face grew increasingly cold as he listened.

“When my mother passed away, it was spring, and I was twenty-seven. That year, on my birthday, you asked my father in Ichondong for my contact information… . But we never met, and I left the world back then. Every time I thought about whether you might have been sad after my death, it hurt my heart. That’s why when I met you by chance in Hannamdong, that memory came to mind and I cried.”

“…Even though we weren’t particularly close, why?”

“Because you were the only person who hadn’t changed for me. That’s how it was back then. The situation has changed now, but back then…”

“……”

Siyeon gathered the books she had signed and neatly arranged them together, pushing them forward. Somehow, her heart felt lighter.

“Back then, I was a fairy tale writer, but I wasn’t very successful. So this time, I tried a different field, and fortunately, it seems to be successful so far. It’s come to the point where I’m signing books for you.”

Ijun briefly lowered his gaze to the books before meeting her eyes again.

“…Back then, did you really want to break up with me?”

Back then. The day Ijun was discharged. A small café near the school. All their memories are still so vivid.

It was a day when the sun poured in through the café’s windows. Siyeon informed Ijun, who had just been discharged, about their separation.

“…I didn’t want to break up.”

“……”

She didn’t want to break up. In fact, that was what she wanted to say to him when they sat face to face that day. But it took seven years for her to be able to say what she wanted to say back then.

“But I don’t regret the decision I made that day.”

However, even if she could go back to that day, she would make the same decision. She didn’t want to break up, but at that time, it was like the best course of action.

“So, was our marriage just a rebellion against Kim Eunhye?”

“What do you want to hear from me, Mr. Ijun?”

“Words of regret. Words acknowledging that you’ve thought of me since then.”

“Why do you want to hear that answer?”

“Because that’s how I felt.”

Every time Ijun heard any news about Siyeon from his brother, Ijun’s heart would ache. Even so, he regretted many times that they shouldn’t have broken up, he should have held on.

“Even if that’s the case, it doesn’t matter now.”

“Why?”

“Because both you and I are different people from back then.”

She is not the Siyeon from 7 years ago, and Ijun is not the Ijun from back then. They have both caused each other too much pain to talk about beautiful old memories.

“Yeah. You must be different. You’re not as innocent as you were back then, and I’m not as foolish as I was back then.”

“What do you mean?”

In response to Ijun’s words, Siyeon, feeling upset, asked with a slightly sullen expression.

“You’ve become cunning enough to use marriage for revenge, and I’ve grown up too much to be swayed by your intentions.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear your blame and just listen to your boasting about becoming a strong adult.”

“Since you got the marriage you wanted, take full responsibility for this marriage. If you act irresponsibly, I have new information about your weakness for intimidation, and I intend to use it to my advantage.”

“Now I see that you’ve become a despicable adult, not a strong one.”

“You could say a flexible adult.”

Having said that, Ijun stood up with the books and the wooden box. As he was about to leave, he hesitated for a moment, as if there was something left to say, and looked intently at Siyeon.

“Why?”

“How much more do you have besides the manuscript that was available until yesterday?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“…Show me the rest. I’m getting impatient waiting until tomorrow. Or write more before you upload it. What’s taking so long for a piece that should have been done in two days?”

“What did you say?”

With a puzzled expression, Siyeon guarded her laptop screen with both hands, suddenly realizing that she had been working up on it until that point.

“We’re family, so you should be able to do that much for me.”

“Don’t say ridiculous things. You can pay to see it when it’s uploaded to the platform.”

“I found evidence that they couldn’t find for over 100 years. I even resolved your ancestors’ unjust grievances, and all I get is a preview? Do you have any idea how significant this is? Because of me, the history textbook revision work is now underway.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Heavy Reader.”

Ijun, with narrowed eyes and a firm refusal from Siyeon, turned his head away with a displeased expression.

After confirming that he had turned away and disappeared down the stairs, Siyeon removed her hand from the screen and got back to work.

After dinner, Ijun went to the master bedroom, and Siyeon went upstairs to the second-floor room. The housekeepers had only prepared the meal and left early, so even though it was early evening, only Ijun and Siyeon were in the house. Siyeon felt much lighter at heart at the thought that she didn’t have to get up early tomorrow.

“Oh, right! The package.”

Seated in front of her laptop, Siyeon, thinking about Ijun, suddenly remembered that he had sent her a package. She forgot to ask him how he knew that she liked it, and why he didn’t say anything to her even though he had ordered it for her.

She was very curious, but it wasn’t a good time to ask separately. He might use it as an excuse to ask for the preview manuscript.

“I can ask him while we’re having dinner tomorrow evening.”

Siyeon muttered to herself and opened the file she was working on. It was not until 3 a.m. that she got up from her chair, rubbing her tired wrists, and collapsed onto the bed, falling asleep.

The lights in her room went out, and shortly after, the door creaked open very carefully. The intruder, who stood still and listened to her even breathing, took Siyeon’s laptop, closed the door quietly, and left.