Chapter 102
- I'm Nothing Without You
2022.04.20.
Seung-gyu, sitting across a small table from Do-bin, dictated a short sentence.
"I like my younger sibling, try writing it."
"Younger... sib... ling... I..."
Do-bin wrote down his dad's words in his notebook with a booming voice.
However, Do-bin's voice, which had started strong, gradually faded. After waiting for several minutes, Seung-gyu checked the writing, and it was anticlimactic, just like Do-bin's voice. Seung-gyu quietly sighed at the words "I like my younger sibwing."
"It's not 'sibwing,' it's 'sibling.'"
At Seung-gyu's feedback, Do-bin removed one vowel, completing the word "sibing." Seung-gyu's voice grew louder.
"It's 'ling' as in 'ling'! 'Ling' with a 'hieut' consonant at the end!"
Yena writes 'ling' so well, she writes sixteen-letter sentences all by herself, so why can't my son even write six letters properly?
Do-bin, unable to read his father's desires, was simply frustrated by the sudden dictation lesson.
"Dad. I don't want to do this."
"Let's do a little more. It'll all be blood and flesh for you."
Do-bin stared at Seung-gyu in astonishment at Seung-gyu's persuasion.
"How can writing be blood?"
"No, it'll be helpful to you. Just one more. 'I wish the sea were land,' try writing that."
"What's land?"
"Ground. We call ground land."
"So, 'I wish the sea were ground'?"
"Yes. Hurry up and write it. 'I wish the sea were land.'"
"I don't think it would be good if the sea were land, why should I write that?"
"It's dictation time!"
"Ah, so dictation time is for writing about the sea!"
"Ugh, yes. Hurry up and write."
Do-bin, nodding at the strange logic, picked up his pencil again. With an expression more serious than a renowned calligrapher, he wrote the ten-letter sentence, stitch by stitch, taking ten minutes. But the result was "I wish the sea were landish."
"I just taught you! 'Ling'! 'Ling' with a 'hieut' consonant at the end!"
Do-bin corrected the writing following Seung-gyu's nagging. But it wasn't corrected in one go.
"You have to fix this too. It's not 'landish,' it's 'would be.' 'Would' with a double 'siot' consonant at the end. You know what a double 'siot' is, right?"
"Dad, we have a double 'siot,' but why isn't there a double 'nieun'?"
"Why isn't there? Because King Sejong didn't make one."
"Then you make one. I'll call you Your Majesty."
"Stop playing with words and hurry up and write."
"Dad, I really don't want to do this."
With the last sentence of the dictation in sight, the son collapsed. Sighing, he turned his head to see the second child, Do-yoon, wiping his cherry-stained hands on the blanket after spitting out the pit.
"Park Do-yoon!"
Seung-gyu quickly picked up Do-yoon. Already, the white blanket was stained red like autumn foliage.
Kids make trouble. If they don't make trouble, they're not kids.
Seung-gyu bitterly lamented. What to do about this? It was a new blanket that our Jin-seo had just put on today.
Do-yoon, realizing that his dad was upset, said cautiously.
"Dad, I'm sorry."
He couldn't get angry at young Do-yoon. Seung-gyu quickly resigned himself and coaxed Do-yoon.
"That's not something you should say sorry to Dad about."
"That's right. You shouldn't say sorry to Dad, you should say it to the blanket."
Do-bin chimed in, pretending to know. Seung-gyu could only laugh.
Seung-gyu stood the two children up and began to lecture them.
"Park Do-bin, Park Do-yoon, listen carefully. There are times when you can say 'I'm sorry' and times when you have to say 'I did wrong.' Is getting fruit juice on the blanket a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Do-yoon did it? I didn't do it."
"Anyway, I'm just asking. Is it okay to get fruit juice on the blanket or not?"
"But. The teacher said that Shin Saimdang used fruit juice to paint pictures."
"That's Shin Saimdang!"
Seung-gyu's voice rose again at Do-bin's quick-wittedness and audacity. Jin-seo, who had finished talking on the phone with Do-yoon's teacher and returned to the master bedroom, chuckled at the sight of Seung-gyu.
"If you have such a hard time watching the kids for a little while, what are you going to do in the future?"
"Mommy, save meee."
Do-bin, who was having a hard time with dictation, ran to Jin-seo. Seung-gyu watched the scene with a weary face before heading to the kitchen.
Raising children is the hardest thing in the world. The kids only cause trouble and don't understand even when you try to reason with them, and now there's even a third one on the way.
Jin-seo approached Seung-gyu, who had gulped down cold water and let out a deep sigh.
"Was it really hard?"
"No. It's okay."
"You were sighing like you were going to make the floor cave in."
"No, no. The water was just too cold."
Seung-gyu made an excuse, but Jin-seo quickly read her husband's mind.
"Now you know why I like Yena so much, right? What are they going to do with Ji-heon's new house? Have you heard anything?"
"Well. Ji-heon's current house is already huge. I guess they'll just go there?"
"Jeong-o's mother said she's not comfortable with a place that's too fancy, though?"
"Oh, really? I didn't know."
Jin-seo revealed her desires to Seung-gyu, who seemed uninterested and answered dully.
"It would be so great if they moved near our neighborhood. It would be easy to go back and forth if they're close, and it would be so nice if Do-bin and Yena could go to elementary school together later. Don't you think?"
"Oh. I guess so?"
"Ask them a little. Which neighborhood they're going to get the new house in. And try to persuade them that our neighborhood is good. Okay?"
*
Ji-heon and Jaekwang, having learned that Youngmi had gone to see Jeong-o, headed straight to Jeong-o's house.
Jaekwang nagged Ji-heon throughout the drive.
"Hurry up a bit. Our Mr. Kim is going to start yawning in the back if we keep going this slow."
"I told you I'd go alone."
"I have to bring your mother back, don't I? Come on, step on it a little. I could drive better than that."
Ji-heon became even more anxious at Jaekwang's scolding. Still, thanks to his father's fussiness, they arrived faster than expected. And they found Jeong-o standing blankly in front of the house.
"Jeong-o."
Jaekwang also got out of the car after Ji-heon got out.
Jeong-o, who had been standing there vacantly, belatedly recognized Jaekwang and greeted him with a dazed expression.
"Hello. Chairman."
"Yes. Yes."
"What brings you here..."
"Yena sent a text. Saying your mother came here."
Ji-heon answered Jeong-o's question, trailing off at the end.
"Ah, she already left."
Jeong-o's expression, giving a clumsy answer, darkened even more. Not only Ji-heon but even Jaekwang. Everyone was chasing after her as if something terrible had happened, making her reflect on how reckless she had been.
She had completely crushed Ms. Jang Young-mi's pride...
Jeong-o became uncomfortable facing the two men.
"As I said before, my Ji-heon's mother is a little sensitive. If she said anything too hurtful..."
"No. It wasn't like that. I'm fine... I think I hurt her."
Jeong-o immediately denied it when Jaekwang tried to apologize first, not knowing what Jeong-o was feeling. Jaekwang's eyes widened slightly at Jeong-o's serious expression.
"I'm sorry. I think it would be best if you went to see her right away."
"Yes. I suppose I should."
Jaekwang, properly understanding Jeong-o's words, hurriedly got into the car that had followed them and left.
Jeong-o also said to Ji-heon.
"Oppa, you should go too."
"No. I should stay here. I told Yena I'd go at nine."
Jeong-o nodded slowly at Ji-heon's answer and turned around. Ji-heon asked Jeong-o, who was walking ahead up the stairs.
"Are you okay?"
"......"
"Don't take to heart whatever my mother said."
"Okay. I understand."
Jeong-o answered dryly and strode up the stairs, opening the front door.
"Daddy!"
Yena ran out of her room at the sound of the door opening. Ji-heon easily scooped Yena into his arms.
"Did Yena have a fun day today?"
"Yes!"
Guk-soon, who had been pacing around the house waiting for Jeong-o, also rushed to the entrance. Guk-soon looked back and forth between Ji-heon and Jeong-o and asked.
"Did you... meet your mother?"
"No. I couldn't meet her because she had already left."
Even as she listened to Ji-heon's answer, Guk-soon's gaze remained on Jeong-o. Guk-soon secretly sighed at her daughter's face, which seemed to have lost all its energy in the past hour. But she couldn't reveal that feeling to Ji-heon.
Ji-heon, for his part, became conscious of the atmosphere. While he was thinking about how to bring up this discourtesy and how to apologize, Yena, still in Ji-heon's arms, tapped her feet and urged him.
"Daddy, Yena needs to brush her teeth."
"Okay."
When Ji-heon tried to put Yena down, Yena clung to him even tighter.
"Yena, you can brush your teeth by yourself."
"No, I can't brush them by myself."
Jeong-o spoke sternly to Yena, but Yena brushed it off lightly. In the end, Ji-heon carried Yena to the bathroom.
After brushing the child's teeth, washing her face, hands, and feet, and reading her about three monster-filled fairy tales, the child's eyelids grew heavy.
Ji-heon patted her until she fell asleep, then gently laid Yena in her room, said goodbye to Guk-soon, and left the house. Jeong-o came down with him. Ji-heon was concerned about Jeong-o's back as she walked, which was as gloomy as when she had climbed the stairs.
"Jeong-o."
"What did your mother say to you, Oppa? About Yena."
Jeong-o asked Ji-heon, who had called out to her, first.
"...She said she would raise Yena."
"......"
"So I told her not to say things like that. I said I would pretend I didn't hear it."
As Ji-heon confessed honestly with his parched lips, Jeong-o's voice became even drier.
"I wasn't in a good mood with my mother earlier. It wasn't a fight, but I was unilaterally harsh. I had a lot of resentment too."
"......"
"Oppa, I will protect Yena. My top priority is Yena. That will never change."
There was no room for argument in her firm voice. Ji-heon simply stood there, meeting Jeong-o's solemn gaze.
"If I have to keep standing up to your mother, Oppa, I will. But you don't have to."
"......"
"I thought you should be by her side because you're the child's father, but I respect your choice anyway. You don't have to go down a difficult path out of a sense of duty. Even if we don't become a family, Yena will still call you Daddy."
Jeong-o's words made his heart race.
What on earth is she saying?
What am I supposed to do without you?
He wanted to deny her concerns, but his chest only felt hot and overwhelmed, and he couldn't get his voice out.
"I'll go now. Goodbye."
In the meantime, she turned around without emotion. He had to chase after her and grab her, but it was as if someone was holding him back from the other side with a leash, pulling him back. He struggled to move his body, resisting the invisible force.
It was impossible to move forward as if his feet were shackled. He felt like the world in front of him was closing in on him, becoming a dot.
Hadn't I shown you all of my heart?
Jeong-o, who had turned away, suddenly stopped walking.
She had spoken coldly to Ji-heon because she wanted him to make a rational decision as well. She had confidently told Youngmi that she was "her son's new family," but honestly, she couldn't be sure.
Today's meeting made Jeong-o realize that she couldn't get along with Youngmi. This fact didn't bother her, but it could be painful for Ji-heon.
He probably wanted Jeong-o to get along with Youngmi. Even if he was sure that his choice was right and distanced himself from his mother now, as time passed, he might resent Jeong-o for driving a wedge between mother and son.
That's why Jeong-o said that they didn't necessarily have to become a family. She wanted to let him know that there was an alternative that wouldn't shake everyone up.
But soon her heart grew heavy. For some reason, she was bothered by the fact that Ji-heon hadn't said a word in response. She thought he might be heartbroken, but he might also be shocked.
Jeong-o turned around and approached Ji-heon again.
He looked pathetic, standing there blankly with one hand covering his forehead, unable to even lift his head.
"What are you doing? You have to go home. Aren't you going?"
A car was seen flickering its lights at the end of the alley. It looked like it was coming this way, but it also looked like it was turning around and leaving in the opposite direction. Jeong-o thought she shouldn't let him stand in the middle of the alley, so she took back what she had said earlier.
"I'm sorry if I was too harsh. Let's talk about it again later. Go now."
She thought it would be better to calmly explain rather than speak coldly. But still, he didn't react.
Jeong-o approached him closely and placed her hand on his arm. She could feel a faint tremor in his body, like an animal thrown into a snowy field on a winter night.
"Hey. Jeong Ji-heon."
Slightly startled, Jeong-o tilted her head and looked at Ji-heon's face. His large hand was covering his face, so she couldn't see his expression.
Jeong-o raised both hands, cupped Ji-heon's cheeks tightly, and pulled him closer. Her fingertips touched a hot liquid. Only then did Jeong-o check his face.
The streetlight flickered precariously, illuminating his face. His dark, smudged eyes seemed to contain only black fear.
"Oppa."
A faint ray of light streamed down his cheek.
He seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.
