CHAPTER 75

Siyeon, who had been working on the rooftop cabin all afternoon, got up from her seat as she saw the warm sunlight filling the room. 

She went outside and lay down on the wooden floor. When she lived alone, she used to go out to the yard and lie down on the wooden floor almost every day, but strangely, she didn’t think about the wooden floor at her house in Samseong-dong.

 “Ah, this feels nice.”

She smiled contentedly as she looked up at the clear sky. After a few moments, unable to bear the boredom, Siyeon suddenly got up and sat down.

She had been bored before and was still bored now, but something was subtly different. However, no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t figure out what had changed. 

She didn’t want to lie down for a lifetime. Why? Because it’s not fun. But it wasn’t fun before either. Her thoughts led her in circles, but she failed to find an answer. She shook her head and went back into the log cabin.

As she sat down, her phone on the table lit up, indicating a new message had arrived. 

[Siyeon, I have incredible news.]

Huh? 

Siyeon raised her eyebrow. It was from Manager Yang. If there was incredible news, she would have surely called her, so it was strange that she sent a text.

[Eunhye went to the factory to see the boss. The boss just took her outside.] 

She hadn’t even had a chance to reply to the first message, and yet she received another one from her. 

“……” 

She looked at her phone in silence, lost in thought, when she received a call from Manager Yang. Siyeon answered the call. 

“Yes, I saw the message.” 

[I just stepped outside for a moment, and guess what? Eunhye showed up at the factory, in tears. She said she didn’t know the address of their new place, so she came to the factory. The boss was so surprised and didn’t know what to do, but when the employees started murmuring, he took her outside. Since I couldn’t see them outside, it seems he took her home.]

“…….” 

She excitedly chattered on without a break. Siyeon gripped her phone in her left hand and repeatedly tapped the table with her right index finger. 

She felt flustered, heavy-hearted, and on the verge of tears. Even though Eunhye had come to find the parents who raised her, Siyeon couldn’t understand why she was feeling such complicated emotions, even though she had once hoped for this. 

[Can you believe she called the boss ‘dad’ while crying? Seriously, isn’t that too much? There are employees who don’t even know about you and Eunhye, and she’s calling the boss ‘dad’ in the factory? How awkward would that be? While the boss is in a difficult and delicate situation, a kid who didn’t even care shows up and shamelessly calls him ‘dad’.] 

Manager Yang continued to express her disbelief and frustration on the phone. Siyeon imagined what Eunhye must have looked like. She pictured how her father would have reacted to seeing her, and then how her mother would have been surprised to see Eunhye at home. 

[Oh, I’m so curious. What should we do? Should I tell Mansur to visit the boss’s house? Ah, I’m so curious. I’m dying of curiosity!]

“…It’s quite an unexpected turn of events.” 

[Exactly! What on earth is this? She wouldn’t have come here with pure intentions.]

Manager Yang was confident that there was a hidden agenda behind Eunhye’s visit. 

[Siyeon, are you busy…? No, even if you’re not busy, it’s a bit awkward for you to come here, right?]

“I’m too tired to go. I drank last night and passed out at home.” 

Even if she hadn’t been tired, she didn’t want to see Eunhye and her parents together for some reason.

[Yeah, okay. We had a lot going on yesterday. Anyway, if there’s any new news, I’ll let you know again. Okay?]

“Yes. Got it.” 

As the phone call ended, silence settled in. Siyeon went back outside and lay on the wooden floor, using her arm as a pillow. 

She could feel her heart beating rapidly. She remained lying down without moving until the sun completely set in the west. The only reason she rose from the bench was the alert from her phone indicating a new message. 

[Siyeon, it’s Mom. Are you very busy?] 

“…….”

Staring at the received message for a moment, Siyeon then sat up on the platform and called her. Her mom, who had sent the message, answered the call with a quiet voice after a while.

[Am I disturbing you, dear?] 

It was an overly cautious tone, as if she was worried about being overheard. 

“No, not at all. What’s going on?”

Siyeon asked in a deliberately cheerful tone. 

[Well, you see… sigh…]

As soon as she heard her mother’s sigh, Siyeon’s heart started pounding rapidly. She knew she was about to hear something she didn’t want to.

[… Eunhye is here.]  

“Oh. Is everything okay with Eunhye?”

[That’s… sigh]

Every time her mother hesitated to speak, Siyeon’s heart raced.

[It’s about Ijun’s brother, her ex-boyfriend. He woke up. He used to be in a long relationship with Eunhye, the eldest son of Baekya Food.]

“…Yes, I heard about it.”  

[It seems like he doesn’t remember Eunhye. It’s difficult to prove that they had a close relationship because she hasn’t met his family. Upon hearing that he woke up, she went to the hospital, but she was turned away at the door.] 

“…….” 

Unknowingly, Siyeon wiped away the tears under her chin with the back of her hand. 

[You know that you and Gwihyeon had promised to marry, and since he is Ijun’s brother… Eunhye is hoping that you and Ijun can help her a little. I know I shouldn’t be asking you for something like this,… but she cried for hours, and it’s breaking my heart…”]

“I don’t want to.”

She replied, wiping her teary eyes with the palm of her hand. Her voice, mixed with sobs, trembled. 

[Alright. Mom understands your feelings completely dear. I’m just… so worried because the kid is so pitiful… I’m afraid she might start having bad thoughts…]

“…Mom, do you… want me to… help Eunhye?” 

Siyeon asked while wiping her streaming tears. Her shoulders shook with sobs. 

Tell her no. Tell Eunhye I am more important than her. Tell her that not hurting me is more important, and then, refuse her request. 

At that moment, someone reached out from behind Siyeon and swiftly snatched her phone away. 

[Your dad said not to talk about it… but, honestly, if it’s not too much for you… ] 

“It’s too much. I’ll hang up.”

Startled, Siyeon turned around. Ijun spoke coldly into the phone and then threw it onto the table after pressing the end call button. As she blinked, tears fell heavily.

“I told you not to be lying here.” 

He asked angrily with a stern face. 

“…I wasn’t lying here because it’s boring… Eunhye came to see Mom and Dad.” 

“So what? If you lie there, do you think your parents will come looking for you, leaving her behind?” 

Ijun raised his voice. He was frighteningly angry, but strangely, it didn’t scare her at all.

“…They won’t come, I know that.”

It was only then that Siyeon realized the reason she used to lie on the wooden floor so often in the past. She was constantly waiting for someone’s affection there. She hoped someone would call out to her, look back at her. Wishing for words like “I love you” and comforting touches.

Ijun put down his briefcase and sat next to Siyeon. Then he embraced her tightly. A sigh-like voice poured into her ear. 

“…I was wrong.” 

“…….” 

As she blinked, tears once again streamed down her face. 

“When you asked me to marry you… I actually felt a sense of self-disgust and ran away. Seeing you, who had left me and gone, made my heart beat without any self-respect. It felt like my self-esteem had hit rock bottom.” 

Out of the blue, Ijun was making a confession to her. 

“Before getting married, I imagined coming home every day to see you in the kitchen, falling asleep beside me. Then I would get mad at myself for feeling excited. You said it was an arranged marriage, and I was the only one getting excited, which made me feel like an idiot.” 

“…No wonder… it felt like I’d been living in this house for too long.” 

The pounding of her heart gradually subsided.

“Gwihyeon-hyung, and Manager Park, everyone is like an older brother to you. It annoyed me that you called every man ‘oppa.'” 

“…….” 

“And… something very important. You saw the scar on my back, right?”

“Yeah. It seems very old, when did you get hurt?” 

Tears no longer flowed. After wiping the remaining tears on her cheek with his shirt, Siyeon rested her head on his shoulder. She felt drained, but her heart felt at ease. 

“When I was young. There was this girl who came to our house, and I fell for her at first sight, but she only followed my older brother around, ignoring me even when I greeted her.”

“…She probably acted that way because you said mean things while following her around.” 

“That’s why I snatched away the handkerchief she was carrying with her.” 

“Hey, I cried so much when it was taken from me back then.” 

Ijun chuckled at the sound of her cheeky voice. 

“But then, my older brother took it away from me again.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.” 

Siyeon raised her head and leaned back. Her slightly puffy eyes were still moist.

“So, what happened next?”

“It’s quite intriguing, isn’t it?” 

“Yes.” 

She nodded vigorously.

“I rebelled against my brother for the first time, saying that it was mine, but he said that everything belonging to Kim Siyeon belongs to him and refused to give it back.” 

“So, what happened next?” 

“Do you remember the big tree next to our house in Suwon?” 

“Oh…! I remember.” 

“I don’t know what my brother did or how, buSo, the boy’s story has a happy ending.”t the handkerchief was blown away by the wind and got caught on a tree branch.” 

Ijun laughed as he spoke, but Siyeon’s expression turned serious as she could easily anticipate the outcome of the story. 

“I clenched my fist and said that if I get the handkerchief, it would be mine, and my brother readily agreed.” 

“So, did you climb the tree?” 

“Of course. I had to climb up since it was supposed to be mine once I got it. Although I did manage to retrieve the handkerchief, I fell spectacularly to the ground.”

 “That’s not good, really.” 

Siyeon empathized deeply with Ijun and furrowed her brow. She couldn’t help but imagine how much pain young Ijun must have endured. The thought of a young Ijun getting seriously hurt made her heart ache. 

“But that brave boy grew up and eventually married the owner of the handkerchief. So, it’s a happy ending for the boy’s story.”

After finishing the story, Ijun gave Siyeon a short kiss on the lips and locked eyes with her.  

“Forgive me. I’m sorry for hurting you all this time.” 

“…….” 

He spoke in a calm tone, his eyes filled with sincerity as he looked at her. 

Instead of saying she forgave him, Siyeon gazed into his eyes for a long time. The story of the girl who had her handkerchief taken was just beginning.