TLR 15

Chapter 15 …

“What? Hey! Our quota is completely full! And if I do that, what does that make me to Hyemi…? Actually, you know what? Fine. Done.”

Jinshin quickly changed his tune the second he caught the look in Junhyuk’s eyes.

A memory from their study-abroad days in the US flashed through his mind—specifically, watching Junhyuk beat two guys into absolute pulp right next to him.

“By the end of this week.”

“Make it this month. There are three weeks left anyway, so just give me two more weeks.”

“By this week.”

“Hey, I’m trying to untangle a mess your sister caused! You’ve got to give me a little time. It’s not like this is a mom-and-pop shop—I can’t just do whatever I want.”

“By this month. As a full-time employee.”

“Fine, alright. Full-time.”

The elevator doors, which had been resting on the first floor the entire time, finally slid open.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, Executive Director.”

Even though he’d gotten exactly what he came for, Junhyuk’s face looked darker than when he’d first set foot inside HJ Corporation.

On Saturday morning, Seol received a text from the café owner. He was asking for her understanding since they’d be taking every other Monday off starting next week.

Since the owner had casually mentioned setting up a regular day off before, it didn’t come as a total shock.

Taking advantage of a moment when Donghee was actually sober, Seol struck up a conversation.

“Mom, I should be home around 3:00 PM next Monday. Want to hit up the jjimjilbang together?”

“A Korean bathhouse?”

“Yeah. It’s been a while.”

“Sure, why not.”

“Awesome.” Seol nodded with a smile.

“Alright, I’m off to work then!”

“Okay, have a good day.”

Munching on macadamia chocolates while watching TV, Donghee even gave her a little wave goodbye.

Seol beamed and waved back. She had already lied and told her mother that the chocolates were a gift from the café owner.

Even though it was a gorgeous Saturday, she was as busy as ever. After working at the bakery until 2:00 PM, Seol grabbed a quick bite at a convenience store.

From there, she ran through two back-to-back group tutoring sessions before finally making it home late that evening.

“Hurry up and eat.”

“Huh? Were you waiting for me?”

The tiny house was filled with the rich aroma of soybean paste stew. Seol’s face lit up as she walked over to the dining table.

A bowl of steaming white rice sat front and center, flanked by mouthwatering side dishes like rolled omelets and stir-fried fish cakes.

“Go wash your hands first.”

“Okay!”

Grinning from ear to ear, Seol caught her reflection in the bathroom mirror. This was day three. How amazing would it be if Donghee just stopped drinking for good?

Seol tried her best not to act overly thrilled as she ate dinner.

After finishing her meal, she kept trying to chat with Donghee until her mother, who was watching TV, finally snapped at her to give it a rest so she could listen to the music.

After a rare, peaceful weekend, Monday finally rolled around. At 3:00 PM, Seol hummed a little tune as she punched in the front door code.

“Mom, I’m home!” Seol called out loudly, kicking off her sneakers.

An eerie, chilling feeling instantly washed over her. The faint stench of alcohol hung in the air, but Donghee was nowhere in sight.

She rushed inside and threw open the bedroom door. A few empty soju bottles were rolling around on the floor, and Donghee was sitting there, nodding off.

“Sigh…”

The canvas bag slipped right out of Seol’s hand and hit the floor.

She had even double-checked with Donghee this morning before leaving the house: ‘Mom, you didn’t forget we’re going to the jjimjilbang, right?’

“You promised…”

Her lips trembled violently. It felt as if a hot, heavy lump was wedged deep in her throat, choking her.

She desperately wanted to spit out this agonizing feeling. Clenching her fists tightly, Seol screamed.

“You promised me!”

Donghee shook her head with a delayed reaction, startled, before slowly turning her head toward her.

“You promised you’d go to the bathhouse with me! Why did you drink again?!”

“Whuuut?”

“You couldn’t hold off for just that little bit?! Why are you like this?! Why do you drink so damn much?!”

“What are you blabbering about? When did I drink?!” Donghee slurred heavily, talking back.

“Right now! You drank right now!”

“I-I was bored, so I had a little… I mean… Ah, the bathhouse! We can just go now, can’t we?!”

“How are we supposed to go when you’re this drunk?!”

“Then we can just go next time! What’s the big deal that you have to wake up a sleeping person?!”

There was no reasoning with her at all. Seol stared at Donghee, completely lost for words.

Taking Seol’s silence as a sign that she’d won the argument, Donghee raised her voice even higher.

“My heart! My heart was breaking, so I had a little drink! Is that any reason to treat your own mother like a trapped rat?!”

“…”

“I gave birth to you! I raised you! You—you of all people shouldn’t treat me like this!”

“…”

“Your father told me to get rid of you because you were another girl, but I begged him on my knees not to!”

“…”

“I did that! After everything I did for you, you… you…”

She was clearly about to launch into her usual rant about how she’d sold her bag to secure this house.

Seol bent down, picked up her bag, turned around, and headed for the front door.

“Not you! Anyone but you!”

The hysterical, shrieking voice sounded slightly different from usual. Seol froze in her tracks, waiting for what came next.

“Not you! My Jiwan! My Iju! My babies! My poor babies!”

Seol lowered her eyes and kept walking. She slipped on her sneakers and grabbed the doorknob.

“Why… why was it you…? Why did you have to survive…?”

Mercifully, the rest of the sentence was swallowed by Donghee’s sobbing. Seol slammed the door shut behind her so hard it nearly shattered.

At that very same moment, Junhyuk was staring at Hyemi, who was sitting across from him. Today, her waist-length, bone-straight hair was dyed a shocking neon pink.

“Hyemi.”

“What?”

“I have a desperate favor to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“When I call you to the office, come with black hair. I saw you with a short black cut before, and it suited you well.”

“Ugh, what a boomer.” Hyemi shrugged her shoulders and grumbled.

Junhyuk rubbed the furrow between his brows with his fingers to smooth it out.

How wonderful would it have been if this eyesore of a person had been a younger brother instead? If that were the case, he would’ve broken his nose two or three times by now to beat some common sense and manners into him.

“I checked, and if you take a few credits during the summer session, you can graduate this fall.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“Go study abroad once summer is over.”

“What? No way!”

“You were going to go anyway. Just leave two seasons early. I’ll handle all the arrangements.”

Hyemi glared at him, her eyes wide with rage.

Whether she did or didn’t didn’t matter to him. Junhyuk carried on.

“Go study hard over there. Travel during breaks, blow through money, and have a good time.”

“Are you kicking me out right now?!”

“Why would I kick you out?”

“Ha! This is so ridiculous I’m speechles. Is this because of Han Seol?”

Junhyuk simply stared at Hyemi without saying a word.

“Shin oppa told me everything, okay?! He said you threw a huge fit and forced him to rehire Han Seol!”

“Ah, so you call him ‘Shin oppa.’ You two have cute nicknames for each other? So what does that bastard call you?”

“What does that have to do with anything?! Since when did you ever care about me?!”

“Moon Hyemi.”

As Junhyuk’s voice dropped an octave, Hyemi subtly shifted her gaze away.

“What I just said wasn’t a suggestion or a request.”

“…”

“Stay out of trouble and keep a low profile while you’re still in Korea. After you come back from studying abroad, get married or go manage a cultural foundation or an art gallery using your degree.”

“…Who gave you the right to decide everything for me?!”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Let’s be real here—we’re both Mun Pilyong’s kids, so why do I have to settle for some measly cultural foundation?! Just because I went to art school? Then I can just study business abroad instead!”

“Ah, so after that, you can try to take me on for control of the company.” Junhyuk crossed his legs as he spoke. “Is that where this is going?”

“It’s not necessarily that… It’s just that the way you talk makes me feel hurt…”

“Behave yourself while I’m still being nice to you. For as decent of a person as I am, I don’t have much patience.”

A capable, only son—Mun Pilyong had no other choice. He had started the management succession process long before his sudden death, and by now, it was completely finalized.

Because of this, her maternal uncle—who had been planning to use Hyemi and her uncle as pawns to make a move—had no choice but to tuck his tail between his legs.

A heavy silence descended. Junhyuk stared silently at Hyemi, whose lips were trembling with rage.

“Why did you really come to that café back then?”

“…”

“Shin oppa said you raised absolute hell before leaving. Why on earth are you taking Han Seol’s side?!”

“…”

“This is seriously so wrong! Do you have any idea how my mother died?!”

“…”

“Say something!”

Junhyuk’s brow furrowed at her sharp shriek.

“You’re just like him—exactly the same. Proving you’re Mun Pilyong’s bloodline by going totally blind every time you see a woman.”

“Stop.”

“Stop? Stop what?! Who’s the one that needs to stop right now?!”

“When you start throwing a fit like that, it feels like your mother is possessing you. So stop. I’m at my absolute limit.”

“My mother?! How could you say something like that?! My mom raised you for years!”

“From when I was seven until I was fourteen. She didn’t even make it a full seven years.”

“So now you’re saying you won’t even treat her like a mother?!”

“She’d have to be alive for that. How am I supposed to respect someone who isn’t around?”

“Wow…” Hyemi shook her head in sheer disbelief.

“Ah, my bad. I lied. Even if your mother were alive, I wouldn’t treat her like one.”

“You’re terrible. Seriously.”

“It seems you’re really interested in personal revenge, but if we’re talking about payback, I still have quite a bit to settle with your mother myself.”

“What?”

“Were you too young to remember? When I was twelve, I fell sick and was bedridden for months before finally getting admitted to the hospital. Do you know what the diagnosis was?”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?!”

“Ever heard of arsenic poisoning? It was a total shitshow back then. All the household staff were interrogated by the police, and a few were even indicted.”

Hyemi’s face drained of color.

Junhyuk let out a soft laugh and continued smoothly.

“Looking back, they just went after innocent people.”

“…”

“I was stuck in the hospital for four months back then. Even now, one of my kidneys isn’t in good shape. Ah, you probably didn’t know I wear a hearing aid in this ear, did you? My hearing was ruined.”

Junhyuk reached for his left ear, pulled out the tiny hearing aid tucked inside, and tossed it onto the table.