Side Story 13

Ra-yoon, who seemed very cheerful, was quiet at the dining table. She didn’t speak until someone else started the conversation. She simply ate quietly, with her eyes cast down.

“Where are you thinking of for your newlywed home? I think it would be nice if it’s not too far from here.”

Grandfather broke the quietness of the table with a calm voice, asking Gwihyeon.

“I’m fine with anywhere…”

“We also want to live in Seoul like Ijun. Gangnam wouldn’t be too far from Suwon, so it seems like a suitable location.”

Before Gwihyeon could finish, Ra-yoon abruptly interjected into the conversation. Gwihyeon, visibly embarrassed, glanced at her warningly before slowly moving her lips. 

“I won’t be moving out.”

In fact, it didn’t matter to him where they lived, but Gwihyeon was annoyed that she cut him off, so he opposed her opinion. 

“My family and friends are all in Seoul. I don’t want to suddenly live alone in Suwon with no connections.”

However, Ra-yoon didn’t back down. Though her voice was quiet, it carried a strong determination. Watching the struggle between the two, Grandfather narrowed his eyes and suggested a compromise to mediate between them.

“I have a house in Gangnam that I sometimes go to.”

“That won’t work.”

This time, Ijun interjected into the conversation. Seeing Ijun’s determined eyes, the grandfather furrowed his brows strongly.

“How dare you oppose me on how to use my own house?”

“What do you intend to do with it?”

“If Gwihyeon’s family lives there, I will occasionally come and go.”

“Then do as you please.”

As Ijun quickly backed down, the grandfather gave him a suspicious look.

“You said it was absolutely not possible just now?”

“We’ll just move out. We don’t want to argue about this anymore.”

“What?”

He widened his eyes. 

“Just use our house, Grandfather. My brother can live downstairs, and you and our parents can live upstairs.” 

“Then where will Si-moon live?” 

“Si-moon is my son. It’s natural for him to live with us.” 

“You’re saying you’ll take Si-moon and go somewhere!”

The grandfather jumped up and raised his voice. To anyone watching, it looked as if Ijun was planning to kidnap Si-moon. 

“It’s for Si-moon’s sake, we should move to a quieter place. He’ll start walking soon, and it’d be better if he could freely run around on solid ground.”

“…reckless bastard.”

“And Siyeon’s house is her workplace. Even if she doesn’t like it, she can’t refuse family visits. But we don’t plan to let just anyone come and go to our house. From now on, anyone visiting our house must get permission from both Siyeon and me beforehand, and this condition will be valid for the rest of our lives.” 

The grandfather looked displeased but couldn’t say anything more to Ijun. It was for Si-moon, and he couldn’t argue about disturbing Siyeon’s work. 

“Ijun is right. I would also feel uncomfortable if my privacy wasn’t guaranteed.”

All eyes turned to Ra-yoon as she spoke. To ensure her own privacy, she quickly agreed with Ijun’s opinion. She understood that Ijun’s emphasized words were directed at her, but cleverly, Ra-yoon used Ijun’s warning to her advantage. She had no reason to be pleased with the idea of Siyeon’s family freely coming and going to the Seoul house.

“If you want to guarantee your privacy, you should find a house far away from ours.”

“Thank you for the advice. I’ll keep it in mind when deciding where to live.”

When Ra-yoon smiled, Ijun glanced at her for a moment.

“I will discuss this matter further with Ra-yoon.” 

Taking advantage of a lull in the conversation, Gwihyeon spoke up, his gaze fixed on Ra-yoon with a cold stare, a silent warning for her to remain silent.

“My opinion won’t change, but we’ll still discuss it with each other.” 

With her smiling words, silence fell over the table Gwihyeon’s parents and grandfather couldn’t hide their embarrassed expressions as they looked at Ra-yoon, who would be their next daughter-in-law. Gwihyeon, on the other hand, was barely containing his anger. The atmosphere became so tense that the air around them felt icy.

“Booooo.” 

At that moment, Si-moon, sitting on a child-sized chair next to Ijun, blew raspberries. The tense atmosphere instantly dissipated as the adults all laughed and looked at him with delight.

“Give Si-moon a little more, please.”

Seeing the bowl of beef porridge emptied, Ijun called the helper. When she brought a new bowl to the table, Ijun brought it to him.

“I’ll feed him.” 

Faster than Siyeon, Ijun scooped a bit of porridge and blew on it before feeding it to Si-moon. Watching Si-moon open his mouth wide like a baby bird, Ijun smiled warmly as he fed him, while Siyeon, her parents, and the grandfather watched in awe.

“Eat a lot and grow up healthy to be a good big brother to your brother…” 

Before Ijun could finish his sentence, Siyeon reached out and pinched his thigh hard. Despite her strict warning not to mention it today, he was trying to reveal Siyeon’s pregnancy by hinting rather than directly talking about it.

In the morning, when she had used a pregnancy test kit, she had seen two red lines, but she hadn’t received an accurate diagnosis from the hospital yet. To make matters worse, Siyeon’s mother had a dream and called her early in the morning, so Ijun’s excitement was at its peak. Still, despite emphasizing the importance of discretion, it was in vain.

“If you don’t want to be a baby brother, what about a sister?”

“Ijun.”

Siyeon, unable to bear it, awkwardly called out to Ijun with a smile. Ijun turned his head and, with a natural gesture, looked at Siyeon as if to say, “What?” 

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about Si-moon and eat properly.” 

“…” 

Seeing Ijun feed Si-moon, Siyeon resigned herself to watching. The adults, sensing that something was amiss, stared at Siyeon instead of eating. They were looking at her with hopeful eyes, expecting some kind of confession from her. 

“It seems like Siyeon is pregnant with her second child.” 

However, the words they wanted to hear came not from Siyeon, but from Ra-yoon. 

“Is that true? Does Si-moon have a sibling on the way?”

As if he had expected it, the grandfather stood up abruptly. 

“Ijun, say something. Did Siyeon really conceive your second child?” 

“Siyeon. Is what she said true?” 

Questions poured out at her. Siyeon could only resent Ijun for creating such a noisy situation.

“I think we’ll have to go to the hospital to know for sure…”

“My mother-in-law dreamed that a single crane flying in the sky landed in Siyeon’s arms.” 

“…” 

Siyeon gave up trying to explain more carefully. 

“It’s a dream interpretation! A dream! A crane, isn’t it quite absurd!” 

The grandfather chuckled, amused. Ijun’s parents also couldn’t hide their joy as they exchanged glances. It was like a festival, only without the dancing.

The only one who didn’t like this uproar was Gwihyeon. He calmly drank the water in his cup. Ra-yoon, looking surprised by Gwihyeon’s reaction, opened her eyes slightly wider and looked at him. 

“Let’s stay calm. We’ll have to move before the second child is born. Since Si-moon will be running around a lot next year, it would be good to have a place where he can walk on solid ground, as Ijun suggested. The yard should be very spacious, as he’ll also need to play soccer on the grass. Ijun, how about Pangyo? It’s quiet there, and it’s close to the headquarters, so it should be fine.” 

“Grandfather.” 

“Yes!” 

In high spirits, the grandfather nodded vigorously. He was in a mood to agree to anything. 

“We’ll take our leave first. Siyeon looks quite tired.”

“Yes, yes! You should rest quickly. If you had said something earlier, I wouldn’t have insisted you come today!”

“I was going to, but Siyeon said we should at least greet everyone. Since we’ve done that, I think it’s time to go.”

“Yes, go quickly. Let’s talk more carefully when I go to Seoul again.”

As soon as the grandfather finished speaking, Ijun stood up with Si-moon in his arms.

“Siyeon, let’s go.” 

Eager to go home and rest, Siyeon also got up from her seat. She had been feeling heavy and tired these past few days, but it was manageable. However, the moment she realized she was pregnant, the fatigue had increased rapidly.

“I’m sorry for the commotion. I’ll see you again next time.”  

Siyeon whispered to Ra-yoon before leaving. She only felt sorry for making a fuss with her own story on the day Ra-yoon greeted her prospective in-laws.

 “It’s okay. We’ll be seeing each other more often from now on, so no worries.”

With a smiling face, Ra-yoon waved her hand, indicating that everything was fine. Seeing this, Siyeon thought Ra-yoon seemed like a really nice person, and she couldn’t understand why Ijun had told her not to get too close to her.

On her way home, she asked Ijun again why he didn’t want them to be close.

“Why did you tell me not to get close to her?”

She couldn’t understand what he meant by saying that Ra-yoon had lived a life as full as Gwihyeon’s.

“You’ll find out soon.”

However, Ijun didn’t provide any further explanation, saying it was someone else’s privacy. While she found his attitude somewhat frustrating, she also didn’t want to make an effort to know Ra-yoon’s private life, especially if it was something unpleasant.

On Monday morning, after confirming with the hospital that she was pregnant with her second child, Siyeon informed the elders of both families of the pregnancy news, and Ijun immediately began looking for a detached house to move into. The elders of both families were delighted, and the grandfather began the second naming process for the soon-to-be-born great-grandchild.

After much debate with Ra-yoon, Gwihyeon agreed to live in Seoul until the baby was born. Seeing the atmosphere between Gwihyeon and Ra-yoon, the grandfather, who had wanted to keep Gwihyeon close to him as a grandson, changed his mind, deciding it would be better for his own peace of mind to live farther away.

Amidst Gwihyeon’s marriage, Siyeon’s pregnancy, and the moving preparations, news of the passing of the grandmother from Ichon-dong came on a Saturday morning.