Side Story 14

In the late afternoon, Siyeon, who had gone up to the rooftop, lay on the bench with Ijun’s forearm as a pillow. Ijun, who had offered one of his arms to Siyeon, was hugging her from behind, with his other hand gently placed on her lower abdomen.

“…I feel strange.”

Since hearing the news that the grandmother from Ichon-dong had passed away early in the morning, Siyeon had been feeling down. She had always resented the grandmother, but her passing didn’t bring any relief. Instead, an inexplicable sadness washed over her.

“You can’t seek forgiveness for sins through death. It’s not something you should concern yourself with.”

After discussions among the family members, it was decided that only Ijun’s father would attend the funeral. Considering the strained relationship between the two families, which had once been close but had ended up worse off than strangers, it was concluded that this level of farewell was appropriate for the deceased.

“Do you think Grandma had any regrets?”

“She probably did. She made many people unhappy due to her own selfish desires.”

Ijun’s grandfather had visited the grandmother on her deathbed in Ichon-dong. 

She had told the grandfather that she regretted not letting Siyeon and Eunhye’s lives remain as they were. Her regret stemmed from the belief that if Siyeon had remained in Ichon-dong, she could have continued to maintain her wealth and status. She had remained self-centered until the end.

After visiting Hannam-dong, Ijun’s grandfather returned with a bitter look on his face and relayed her words to Ijun, but Ijun didn’t pass them on to Siyeon. It would only have troubled her more to hear them.

“I’ve been racking my brain all day, but I don’t have a single happy memory with Grandma. Whenever I think of her, the only image that comes to mind is her glaring at me angrily. I didn’t do anything wrong, so I don’t understand why she hated me so much.”

“Actually, Grandfather visited Hannam-dong just a little while ago. He heard that the Ichon-dong grandmother was nearing the end, and he wanted to see her one last time before she passed.”

At Ijun’s words, Siyeon turned to lie on her other side, facing him.

“Really?”

She looked up at Ijun, waiting for him to continue. He gently touched her forehead with his finger and spoke.

“Grandpa said she regrets something. I don’t know what exactly, though.”

Ijun only relayed part of what his grandfather had said. It could have sounded like the grandmother had regretted her wrongdoings if heard out of context. A fleeting sadness passed through Siyeon’s eyes as she heard Ijun’s words.

“…Grandma never really changed until the end.”

“Why do you think that?”

“If she did, Grandfather or you would’ve told me already.”

“…”

Ijun pulled Siyeon closer and gently patted her back. The two of them lay there for a long while.

* * *

Gwihyeon’s wedding was fast approaching. Siyeon, who had been struggling with mild morning sickness, invited Eunkyung to her home on one of her cafe rest days.

Since Si-moon was born, Siyeon’s range of activities had become more limited, so Eunkyung’s home often became the meeting place. Siyeon had installed a high-performance espresso machine in the rooftop log cabin for her friends.

“Is the morning sickness any better?” 

Eunkyung asked as she pulled her own coffee and placed it on the table in front of her. Instead of coffee, there was cool sparkling water in front of Siyeon. With Si-moon downstairs, it was a rather leisurely afternoon.

“Mom comes to visit two or three times a week. It seems like she plans for Si-moon to grow up eating his grandmother’s food, too.”

“Your brother-in-law is getting married soon, right?”

“Yeah. But they’re not going to make a formal announcement.”

“Why? They made a big fuss about it when you announced yours.”

Eunkyung, instead of drinking her coffee, asked with a puzzled expression.

“They want to quietly hold the wedding with only close relatives. They don’t want the public attention back on Gwihyeon again.”

“Is it because of the Kim Eunhye incident? Like if she finds out her ex is getting married, they think she will not just sit back and watch? Looking at how she’s been trailing after Yoonsoo, she seems to have completely forgotten about Gwihyeon though.”

“Is Eunhye still coming to see Yoonsoo? Mansur must not like that.”

At Siyeon’s surprised question, Eunkyung snorted.

“Park Yoonsoo probably still has feelings for Eunhye, so that’s why he keeps entertaining her. He’s just pretending to dislike her because it’s embarrassing for us to see. Eunhye, she’s quite good-looking, you know.”

“It’s probably because they’ve known each other since they were very young. Moreover, Eunhye hasn’t directly done anything wrong to Yoonsoo-oppa. Also, our fathers and Yoonsoo’s fathers are close.”

“So you’re okay with them dating?”

“Eunkyung, I’m pregnant. Could you please lower your voice?”

When Eunkyung raised her voice indignantly, Siyeon pointed to her belly and spoke solemnly. Eunkyung then pouted her lower lip with a dissatisfied expression.

“Still, even if that’s the case, he shouldn’t be with Eunhye, considering what she did to you. Manager Park shouldn’t be like that. I heard Director Yang told Yoonsoo to choose between Eunhye and us, and said he’s old enough to stop acting childishly.”

Her tone had lowered, but it was still curt.  

“In time, the less important one will naturally be sorted out. Yoonsoo will also know that the closer he gets to Eunhye, the more distant he’ll become from us.”

“Anyway, he’s such a flighty and indecisive person. Why does he keep coming around if he’s seeing someone we dislike? Spending weekends hanging out in our café as if nothing’s wrong.”

“Maybe Yoonsoo is really fond of you?”

“He probably does. Yoonsoo originally liked you, Director Yang, and the team leader. There are a lot of women he likes besides us.”

It seemed that Mansur hadn’t gained any trust as a man from Eunkyung.

“He’s a funny guy. When I said the expensive wallet he gave me as a birthday gift was too much, he said it wasn’t expensive for him and that I shouldn’t feel burdened since I wasn’t the first woman he’d given an expensive gift to.” 

“Cough! Cough!”

Siyeon, who was absentmindedly drinking sparkling water while listening to Eunkyung’s complaints, suddenly started coughing. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Cough, I’m really okay now.” 

Even though she hadn’t done anything wrong, she felt guilty for some reason. Siyeon decided that she wouldn’t tell Eunkyung that she was the woman to whom Yoonsoo had given a wallet in the past, even if it meant taking it to her grave. 

“I’m fine, so let’s talk about something else. I heard you signed up for a matchmaking company. Tell me about it.”

“It wasn’t me who joined, it was my mom. She originally wanted to join the most famous one here, but they rejected me after assessing my qualifications, saying I didn’t meet the standards. I got slapped on the back by my mom for the first time in ten years. And then she told me to go to college, can you believe that? At thirty, is that even reasonable? And going to college just to get a higher rating from a matchmaking company?”

Thinking about it, her eyes widened in amazement.

“She says a college diploma is more important than being a café owner with stable revenue? Honestly, these days, anyone can go to college if they set their mind to it.”

“Just having a diploma won’t do. She wants a degree from a well-known university that impresses people. My mom didn’t consider my qualifications at all and just wanted to find a good son-in-law for her own sake. Now she’s just bluntly faced with the reality that I’m ‘unranked.'”

“Sounds like a caste system over there…”

“Yeah. So, I told my mom, ‘I didn’t go to college, so why do you want a son-in-law who graduated from college?’ and our relationship just got worse and worse.”

Eunkyung was joking and mixing in light-hearted remarks, but Siyeon didn’t find it enjoyable. She also wished Eunkyung could meet a man with better conditions. Siyeon understood Eunkyung’s mother’s feelings well, but there was still something left in her heart.

“Do you know you’re partly responsible for your Mom getting all worked up about this?”

“Why me?”

“Why? Because your daughter is best friends with the wife of Baekya Foods’ vice president. Of course, your Mom doesn’t expect you to aim that high without conscience. She just hopes you marry someone who graduated from a decent university and works at a company that people recognize. Your Mom thought that was a modest wish, but even that turned out to be difficult, so she got upset.”

Eunkyung was loyal and had a good personality, so why couldn’t those things be scored? Siyeon couldn’t help feeling disappointed, knowing that in a matchmaking company, people are judged based only on objective criteria.

“I hope you meet a good man, too. At least, he should have as much financial stability as you. And since you like writing, it would be great if he could emotionally connect with you… and it would be even better if he were affectionate…”

“Siyeon, men like that are already someone else’s lovers or husbands.”

“But you’re still single and available.”

“Even though you’re a friend, you’re still biased. I appreciate the sentiment, but I think I’m not really cut out for a love marriage.”

“Hmm.” 

Siyeon propped her chin on one hand and looked at Eunkyung thoughtfully.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Do you think Park Yoonsoo knows that you joined a matchmaking company?”

“How would Yoonsoo know? And even if he did find out, he’d probably tease me for paying to join such a place.”

Eunkyung’s expression darkened for a moment. Siyeon, who was silently observing her, suddenly spoke up. 

“Then, can I tell him?”

“No need. I don’t want to be made fun of by that guy. How embarrassing would it be if he found out I’m an ‘unranked’ candidate? He’d be so thrilled, wouldn’t he?”

“I wasn’t talking about that. I meant telling him about your mother trying to set you up on blind dates.”

 “…Why bring that up? What does Park Yoonsoo have to do with me?”

She tried to stop Siyeon, but she wasn’t too forceful about it.

“I don’t think you two should just stay in this state forever. We’re already in our thirties, as you said.”

“… I know Park Yoonsoo is interested in me. But the fact that he hasn’t confessed means he doesn’t see me as a marriage prospect. He’s from a prestigious university, and his father is the CEO of a company. I overheard from Director Yang-unnie that his sisters-in-law are also from good families or in professional jobs. No matter how I think about it, I don’t have any advantage over Kim Eunhye.”

Eunkyung’s voice had grown somber. Seeing Eunkyung, who doesn’t think she’s enough compared to Eunhye even though she likes Yoonsoo, made Siyeon feel heavy-hearted.