Side Story 9

The house Grandfather found, which was suitable for staying nearby, was directly below Ijun’s house. It was not meant for him to use as a second house to commute back and forth from Suwon—it was a complete move.

When they returned home from the postnatal care center with Si-moon, Ijun doubted his eyes when he saw Grandfather welcoming them at the entrance. Ijun, shocked and slightly amused, let out a disbelieving laugh, which his grandfather ignored as he cast an enchanted look at Si-moon.

“Our Si-moon is finally home!”

“Grandfather, when did you arrive?”

Siyeon asked as she carefully handed Si-moon over to Grandfather, who was standing with his arms open wide. Ijun was annoyed by his grandfather’s fussing, but Siyeon felt differently. Despite being someone else’s granddaughter when she was young, he had been very kind to her, and now with Si-moon being his great-grandson, she knew he would be even more adored.

“I came up a little while ago. You must have had a hard time at the hospital, right? I’ll be playing with Si-moon, so you guys go in and rest.”

“Mom and Dad, where are they? Why didn’t you come together?”

“They’re downstairs organizing things. Oh my, my dear great-grandson. Are you feeling good?”

Holding Si-moon in one arm, Grandfather happily played peekaboo with him.

“Did you move here permanently?”

“I thought Si-moon might be tired if you guys came all the way to Suwon. That’s why we’ve come. There’s no other reason. We even hired someone to work in the downstairs apartment, so you don’t need to worry about anything.”

“So, you really did move here.”

“Oh, our young master looks tired, doesn’t he? Look at that yawn! How can he be so handsome?”

Pretending not to hear Ijun’s words, Grandfather cradled Si-moon and moved to the living room. After watching him for a few seconds, Ijun turned to Siyeon.

“Should we move too?”

“Then wouldn’t grandfather end up with a third house?”

“Wouldn’t it be too uncomfortable for us in this situation?” 

“To be honest, I was a bit uneasy about leaving it all to the babysitter, but it would be nice if Grandfather could help out. It would also be reassuring for him to be here while we work. I’m actually worried that he might not stay here longer because he likes the Suwon house so much.”

“We should probably set some rules.”

 After brushing his lower lip with his tongue, Ijun strode into the living room.

Ijun eventually reached an amicable compromise with his grandfather.  Grandfather could come upstairs only after breakfast and must refrain from visiting after dinner.

Grandfather had to notify if he was coming up and must not disturb Siyeon’s work on the second floor, which was the most important condition. Although the grandfather complained that these conditions were petty and annoying, he carefully reconfirmed the terms Ijun had laid out. 

Contrary to Ijun’s concern that Grandfather would disturb their daily life, Siyeon was happy to see him more often. Unless there was something special, they had lunch together, and when her mother-in-law came, they went downstairs together to have a meal.

Perhaps because Ijun looked too serious, or perhaps because he was developing more consideration, Siyeon, who had always liked the grandfather, was satisfied with the changed life to the point of thinking it would be nice to live together.

With Si-moon, Siyeon’s parents, who had become closer to their in-laws, visited their home often. Sometimes, both families would arrange to meet downstairs for a meal without her knowing. Si-moon’s birth greatly strengthened the relationship between both families. “A new chapter in our family’s connection begins now,” the grandfather had said, causing Siyeon’s father to tear up.

“Where’s Si-moon?”

“He’s downstairs.” 

Having left work early, Ijun nodded as if he had expected as much. It was increasingly unclear who was looking after the house in Suwon, as his parents spent more and more time in Seoul. Like yesterday and today, his father had returned home to the same villa as Ijun.

“There’s no head or host in the main family house anymore. I wonder if our jars at home are doing alright.”

“Mom and Dad are also downstairs. Mother-in-law said she would put Si-moon to sleep today, and that we should eat dinner ourselves.”

 “It’s not just today, it’s becoming a regular thing.”

“That’s right. Today, too.” 

Siyeon smiled as she loosened Ijun’s tie. Ijun was fed up, but Siyeon enjoyed the house bustling with people. In fact, sometimes she felt lonely staying all day in their large house. Except for the housekeepers who helped with chores, she was always alone until Ijun came home from work.

With Grandfather and the in-laws spending more time downstairs, she felt much more mentally stable, it brought much psychological comfort. The fact that the elders took turns taking care of Si-moon also greatly helped her work more steadily.

“To be honest, have you noticed that we have more time alone together these days when you come home from work, Ijun?”

“Why do you think we’re spending more and more time alone together?”

“Well, Si-moon sleeps through the night, and he’s so obedient to the adults.”

“Think about it. Why do you think it’s just the two of us again today? They didn’t even ask us to join them for dinner.”

At Ijun’s meaningful words, Siyeon raised an eyebrow and tilted her head slightly. 

Come to think of it, recently there have been many instances where Si-moon was taken downstairs to sleep. Moreover, despite all the adults being downstairs, they didn’t call Ijun and Siyeon to join them for dinner.

Until now, she had thought they were being considerate not to disrupt her and Ijun’s life, but now, given his words, she realized there was something suspicious.

“Do you know why the adults are like this?”

“It’s obvious. They want to see Si-moon with a sibling.” 

“That doesn’t make sense. It’s only been a hundred days since Si-moon was born, how can he have a sibling already?”

When she made a puzzled expression, Ijun chuckled.

“Grandfather just gave Si-moon stocks as a gift for his hundred days, you know.”

“Why would he do that?”

“He announced that he would gift stocks to all future great-grandchildren just like Si-moon. So, my brother got a bit excited. It pressured Gwihyeon to settle down. It seems like he’s rushing to get married, especially since he recently acquired a business.”

Gwihyeon, seeing that his grandfather’s decision would not change, gave up on returning to Baekya Foods and acquired a solid company. However, he was keenly keeping an eye on his shares in Baekya, making sure he could return anytime in the future. He was still young, and he believed that there would be opportunities later on, especially since his grandfather was old.

Moreover, he demanded from his grandfather that once he married, he should receive a separate stock gift equal to what Siyeon received, since he was not entering Baekya Foods. He had decided on a strategy to concede where necessary and secure what needed to be secured.

“Is he really rushing into marriage for that reason? Who is he marrying?”

“There are plenty of troublesome heirs in conglomerate families. As long as you give up on character, it’s not hard to find a spouse. I heard from my father that a pharmaceutical company’s family brought up a marriage proposal, and if our side agrees, they’d like to get them married right away.”

It wasn’t that marriage proposals hadn’t come in for Gwihyeon. Families with good house customs and character only turned him down, others didn’t consider Gwihyeon’s issues as problematic at all. Since he didn’t have children, they didn’t care at all. 

“Why are they rushing into marriage like that?”

“It seems that the family found out just a few years ago that we have a different mother. If the marriage goes through, they plan to prepare sufficiently to save face in public. My brother is thinking positively about it.” 

“What does she do? How old is she?”

Siyeon asked with wide eyes. Since marrying Gwihyeon would closely connect her too, she was naturally curious. 

“She doesn’t do anything special, and she’s the same age as you.”

“It seems like he’s really entering into an arranged marriage, a marriage of convenience…”

“Whether it’s a marriage of convenience or a love marriage, as long as they like each other, that’s enough.”

“But… will Eunhye just let this happen? She won’t cause trouble now that it’s all over, right?” 

Eunhye and Gwihyeon’s lawsuits against each other were settled with non-indictment and fines. She had heard from her parents that these days Eunhye had been contacting Yoonsoo quite frequently. There were even occasions when she went to the Yeongjin factory to find Yoonsoo and they went out for lunch together. It seems that Eunhye has given up on Gwihyeon and switched her focus to Yoonsoo, but given Eunhye’s nature of not bearing to see others do well, it’s uncertain what she might do.

“She won’t have the capacity for that. Ichon-dong Grandma is bedridden, and Professor Kim has quit his university job, so they don’t have the means or support to create more chaos. She knows very well what could happen next as her lawyer must have told her it wouldn’t end with just a fine this time.” 

“I’m worried because it seems like Yoonsoo has feelings for Eunkyung, and Eunhye keeps visiting him.”

“Eunkyung said that she has nothing to do with Park Yoonsoo and Yoonsoo also denied it.”

“But I told you, that might not be the truth.” 

In Siyeon’s view, Yoonsoo, who visits Eunkyung’s cafe every weekend, clearly has an interest in her. Of course, he said that his feelings for Eunkyung are not romantic but more like friendship, but the Yoonsoo Siyeon knows isn’t someone who can clearly distinguish those feelings.

“Anyway, Yoonsoo seems destined to be with either Eunhye or Eunkyung, right?”

“It can’t be Eunhye. Both Director Yang and the team leader are strongly against it.” 

“Why do you care so much about other people’s business? It’s something he needs to handle on his own.”

Ijun, having taken off his shirt, bit Siyeon’s earlobe sharply with a displeased expression, then released it. Siyeon gasped and covered her ear with her hand, so next he bit her hand.

When Siyeon tried to turn away and escape, Iljun wrapped his right arm around her waist from behind and pulled her back. As his chilly touch reached her, she shivered and soon surrendered, turning around. She was upset that Ijun didn’t want to talk about Yoonsoo.

“Let’s go inside together.”

He whispered softly in her ear as he hugged her tightly from behind. His firm chest pressed against her back.

“I haven’t showered yet.” 

“I’ll make you shower.”

Ijun lengthened his lips into a smile and kissed her deeply.