Chapter 45

The mood was as heavy as if cold water had been poured over them. Seol-rin hesitantly spoke up.  

“Um… Can we go together? We could eat something delicious and celebrate.”  

“…”  

“Your mother is very sick.”  

“…”  

“She said she’s going to the U.S. for surgery. She doesn’t know when she’ll return to Korea.”  

“Jin Seol-rin.”  

Tae-oh cut her off coldly, looking down at her. The warmth that had filled the office just moments ago had vanished entirely. Seeing him exude such icy energy after so long made her heart ache.  

“It’s none of your business.”  

“I know it’s meddling. But still…”  

At first, she had found Mi-ryeong’s sudden request uncomfortable. But she had decided to help for one reason—because of something Mi-ryeong had said.  

“Professor, your mother wants to prepare a birthday meal for you, for the first and last time.”  

“Ha…”  

“I don’t know the details of your story, but… I understand how hard it is to forgive someone. I can’t forgive the kindergarten director who abused me as a child, and I never will.”  

“Seol-rin.”  

“But she’s your mother. She’s not a stranger.”  

Cautiously, Seol-rin reached out and took Tae-oh’s large hand in hers. Then, she spoke softly, as if comforting a child.  

“Couldn’t you at least give her the chance to ask for your forgiveness?”  

Tae-oh said nothing. Seol-rin simply looked up at him with a pleading expression.  

“Seol-rin, why are you going this far?”  

“What…?”  

“This is my problem, my issue. Why do you look so desperate?”  

It was a question that made her pause. But it didn’t take long for her to find the answer. She thought she understood why Mi-ryeong had come to her with such a bold request.  

“Because I love you, Professor.”  

Seol-rin’s sincerity stemmed from the fact that she loved him just as much as he loved her.  

***

After dropping Seol-rin off at home, Tae-oh returned to the university. The light in Ma Tae-oh’s research lab, Room 404, remained on as always. Tossing a detached glance at the mountain of journals and clippings on his desk, Tae-oh finally removed his glasses.  

“Ha…”  

Letting out a sigh, he rubbed his face wearily. Too much had happened in one day. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that woman would approach Seol-rin. He should have been more vigilant when she came looking for him at school, but it was already too late.  

Was she trying to finally play the role of a parent after all these years? Or was she trying to ease the guilt of abandoning her son? 

Whatever the reason, Tae-oh found Mi-ryeong’s behavior deeply unpleasant. It was as if a large stone had been thrown into the calm waters of his life, creating ripples everywhere.  

The thin silver frames of his glasses glinted under the desk lamp. Before Seol-rin had broken them in two, he had worn thicker horn-rimmed glasses.  

‘Professor, why do you wear glasses when your eyesight is fine?’  

He remembered Seol-rin asking him that once. Why indeed? When had he started wearing glasses? A small furrow appeared on his brow as he pondered.  

He had worn glasses as if they were part of his body since he was very young. To be precise… Tae-oh had started hiding his face behind them after his mother, Mi-ryeong, had left him.  

It was natural for children to resemble their parents, but Tae-oh bore an uncanny resemblance to his mother. After his birth, Tae-oh’s father and mother grew increasingly distant, eventually spiraling into a relationship filled with irreparable hatred for each other.  

Naturally, young Tae-oh, caught between the two, did not receive proper care and was raised by a live-in housekeeper. Back then, Jinwon Group was not as stable a company as it was now. His father was always too busy with work to care for his only son, while his mother, suffering from depression, rarely left her room.  

During the critical period when attachment should have formed, Tae-oh failed to establish meaningful relationships with anyone. At first, he cried and screamed, but neither of his parents paid him any attention. Over time, as a child, he learned to resign himself to neglect and grew up mastering the art of detachment.  

Time passed, and on the day Tae-oh became a middle school student, he faced yet another lonely birthday. By then, he had become accustomed to spending birthdays alone, but an inexplicable wave of childish defiance surged within him. What was supposed to be the happiest day for others was, for him, the loneliest. It was another moment that left a deep scar on his young heart.  

‘If this is how it’s going to be, why did you even have me? You should’ve just killed me before I was born!’  

Young Tae-oh shouted at Mi-ryeong’s door. To his surprise, the door, which he thought would never open, slowly creaked ajar. The child’s eyes, filled with rage, glared at his mother. Mi-ryeong, pale as a ghost, looked down at her son. That haunting image of her was Tae-oh’s last memory of her. Shortly after, she left the house for good.  

In what seemed like a twisted response, Tae-oh’s father remarried almost immediately, claiming he couldn’t raise a child alone. Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, Tae-oh’s stepmother was not inherently a bad person. She wasn’t cruel or malicious like the stereotypical stepmothers in movies or dramas. Her gaze toward Tae-oh was simply indifferent. It was within that indifference that Tae-oh grew up and became an adult.  

However, the trauma of his childhood persisted into adulthood. Every time Tae-oh looked in the mirror, he was reminded of the mother who abandoned him. That was why he started wearing glasses. Over time, taking off the glasses began to induce a strange psychological discomfort.  

“Maybe that’s why.”  

Perhaps that was why Seol-rin’s story about her fear of the dark, stemming from the abuse she suffered at the hands of the kindergarten director, had struck a chord with him. He found himself drawn to her, someone who bore similar scars. What began as simple concern and pity gradually transformed into love. That was how his feelings for Seol-rin began.  

***

“Oh my, dear! That’s such a relief. I’m so happy!”  

Mi-ryeong’s hearty laughter echoed through the phone. Tae-oh had agreed to visit her home with Seol-rin this weekend. Everything had happened so suddenly, but hearing Mi-ryeong’s delighted voice filled Seol-rin with a strange sense of satisfaction.  

“By the way, when are you free?”  

“Me? Why do you ask?”  

“Could you go grocery shopping with me?”  

“What?”  

Seol-rin’s voice involuntarily rose. From the beginning, Mi-ryeong had seemed anything but ordinary, and her actions were proving difficult to predict. Hardening her tone deliberately, Seol-rin asked again.  

“You’re not trying to make me do housework already, are you?”  

“Oh, don’t say something so hurtful… I just want to ask you about Tae-oh. I’m curious about how he’s been living.”  

“Hm…”  

“I won’t take up much of your time. Just one hour, okay? Please?”  

Mi-ryeong’s childlike pleading left Seol-rin feeling as if she were under a spell. She found herself agreeing and hung up the phone.  

***

On Saturday evening, Mi-ryeong and Seol-rin went grocery shopping together, chatting like a mother and daughter. Mi-ryeong, endlessly curious, asked about Tae-oh’s favorite foods, while Seol-rin recalled a few dishes he particularly enjoyed and suggested them for the menu.  

“So Tae-oh likes braised short ribs? Oh, that’s a tricky dish… If he’s my son, his taste must be very particular.”  

Watching Mi-ryeong prepare a birthday meal for her son with such excitement left Seol-rin feeling bittersweet. She couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to cause such a rift between the two.  

When the topic of Mi-ryeong came up, the image of Tae-oh’s face stiffening coldly came to mind. She worried that she might have hurt his feelings by meddling too much, but in the end, he agreed to follow Seol-rin’s wishes. However, he added one condition.

‘Ha… Fine. I’ll do as you say. But that day will be the last time. Meeting that woman again—there won’t be a second time for me.’

This message was not conveyed to Mi-ryeong. Seol-rin knew well that forgiveness was a matter for the person involved and not something others could easily interfere with. Her role ended here. She had done enough.

After finishing her shopping and leaving the mart, Mi-ryeong suddenly grabbed Seol-rin by the wrist.

“Hey, let’s go.”

“Sorry? Go where…?”

“To eat, of course. My treat!”

Mi-ryeong, seemingly excited, giggled like a young girl. When Seol-rin tried to shake her head awkwardly, Mi-ryeong added,

“It’s my wish. To have a meal with my son’s girlfriend, my future daughter-in-law.”

“Sorry? Daughter-in-law?!”

“Oh, isn’t that the case? Did you two agree to just date and not get married?”

“No, that’s not it, but…!”

“Then it’s settled. Let’s go, daughter-in-law.”

Before she realized it, Seol-rin found herself swept up in Mi-ryeong’s pace. The two entered a nearby restaurant specializing in pork blood sausage soup and sat facing each other.

Feeling burdened by Mi-ryeong’s intense gaze, Seol-rin awkwardly drank water in large gulps.

“So, do you two really have no thoughts about marriage?”

“We’ve only been dating for a short while. Besides, I don’t even have a proper job yet.”

“Oh my, what does that matter? As long as the two of you are happy, that’s all that counts!”

Marriage, out of the blue… 

Although she had come to truly love the professor, marriage felt like a distant topic. Above all, she couldn’t help but feel that her current position was far too lacking compared to his.