Chapter 88
88. We're Just a Bad Match
2023.07.27.
Han So-eun sat still, like a piece of furniture in the house.
The last document in the pouch was Chairman Kim Jae-pil's contact information.
- Let's talk at 8 PM.
The paper also included a handwritten message of warning, setting a time.
Kim Tae-joon's handwriting resembled his grandfather's.
Even in this situation, it was strangely fascinating that a part of the person I loved was connected to a part of someone else.
Come to think of it, Tae-joon had never talked about his parents.
Tae-joon didn't have parents, and she was in the same situation, so she hadn't asked anything, thinking they were avoiding each other's sore spots. She was so full of the present she was loving and the future she would love that the past didn't matter.
So that's how it was. That's how it was...
She had almost no memories from before the age of seven, and what little she had was like murky water, so she had never once suspected anything.
It took a long time to accept a past she had never thought about, as if a neglected machine was moving stiffly. It felt like the forced input of information had overloaded her brain.
So-eun couldn't move for a long time, clutching the contact information.
What should she do?
The pouch that Chairman Kim Jae-pil had given her had a clear intention. It was to tell So-eun about a past she didn't know and to separate Tae-joon and her.
Then should I stop now? Should I leave?
Amidst the vagueness, one thing became clear.
How much does he, Kim Tae-joon, know? Does he really know everything and still love me?
It didn't make sense to her.
'How can he like me knowing everything? That's impossible.'
How could he like the daughter of the man who killed his parents? Just like she had joined K Electronics Service without knowing anything, he must have come to like her without knowing anything either.
Reaching a possible guess, she felt sorry for Tae-joon, who had given her his heart without knowing anything, and she felt overwhelmed.
Nevertheless, a terribly cruel and selfish desire rose up like a Goblin Horn.
If he doesn't know anything, couldn't she beg Chairman Kim Jae-pil to let it be?
Because that man doesn't know anything, and if she stays still, he won't know anything until the end, so couldn't she ask to be with him a little longer? She doesn't even plan to marry him anyway.
They will break up someday, and wouldn't it be more ideal for their hearts to wither and break up without knowing anything about each other? Couldn't she persuade the chairman of that?
She has nothing, so she's a shameless person, so wouldn't it be possible if she stubbornly insisted? Chairman Kim Jae-pil wouldn't want his grandson to be hurt either.
'I'm going to be punished by heaven.'
She laughed in disbelief at her own thoughts. But that was the only way.
While she was only growing branches of thought, her phone rang.
It was already eight o'clock.
An unsaved number was displayed on the phone screen. It was the phone number that So-eun had been holding just a moment ago.
So-eun cleared her throat, which was choked with tears, and pressed the call button with the feeling of opening the gates of hell.
"Hello. This is Han So-eun."
[Did you check the documents carefully?]
The old man's voice coming from the receiver was firm and dignified. Would Kim Tae-joon have a voice like this when he gets older? But she couldn't picture Tae-joon's older self in her mind.
"Yes. I read them. But I have a question."
[Yes. Tell me.]
"Isn't it possible that Director Kim Tae-joon doesn't know about this?"
Jaepil responded with something else to So-eun's bold question.
[Shall we meet and talk?]
"...Would it be difficult to tell me over the phone?"
[It's not that, I'm actually upstairs from Han So-eun's house right now.]
"Pardon?"
[Come to 403. Let's come and talk comfortably.]
She felt breathless. It was a completely different development from what she had expected. Chairman Kim Jae-pil seemed to have already finished planning today.
He's right upstairs. Has he been watching her for a long time?
It was more terrifying than the fact that he was coming to her house directly. It was so absurd that she wanted to go and see him quickly.
So-eun wiped the tears from her eyes, clenched her fist, and left the front door.
Right. What do I have to be afraid of? I have nothing.
It's even better. The chairman has crossed the line, so I can cross it as much as I want. I'll threaten him to pretend he didn't see anything and stay still if he doesn't want Kim Tae-joon to be shocked.
...I'll beg him.
By the time she reached the fourth floor, her heart was already weakening again.
There was no one in front of the door of 403.
It doesn't fit at all. Would the chairman really be in a place like this?
Could there be a human trafficking gang selling people to shrimp boats?
With a vague feeling, she pressed the doorbell.
The front door opened before long.
And indeed, the group's chairman was standing before So-eun's eyes. Jaepil, who was alone, opened the door himself.
She had come up here gritting her teeth, saying she would say this and that, but her mind felt blank.
Even in the midst of all this, she seemed to know one thing for sure. Chairman Kim Jae-pil was serious about this.
"...Hello. Chairman."
Was it the instinct of the subordinate? So-eun bowed politely without realizing it.
"Welcome. Sit down."
With a very benevolent smile, Jaepil led her inside.
In the empty room with no furniture, there was only a table and two chairs. As if the room had been decorated for today.
So-eun sat in the chair that Jaepil offered. Jaepil also took a seat opposite So-eun.
With Jaepil in front of her, it felt unreal, like watching TV. Especially since they were sitting across from each other with a table in the middle, in the apartment upstairs.
"First of all, I only rented this house for today, so don't have any strange misunderstandings."
It's already strange enough even without that.
She wanted to interrupt every word, but So-eun quietly gathered her strength for the future.
"First, to talk about what you were curious about, Tae-joon knows everything."
Jaepil went straight to the point without any extra words.
So-eun also mustered her courage.
"...Isn't it possible that the chairman is mistaken? How could he be with me knowing that fact?"
"That's the kind of kid Tae-joon is."
"..."
"Tae-joon is that kind of kid."
Jaepil cut off So-eun's voice and put his answer first.
"That kid accepted the position of head of the service center to meet Han So-eun."
It's not working.
This person won't listen to anything.
The table in front of her was a thick glass wall. Kim Jae-pil didn't come to So-eun to communicate. He had already made a decision and came to give her instructions. He was a thorough person who had learned that a bodyguard was protecting So-eun and rented the room above So-eun's to call her in a way that Tae-joon would never find out. A person with armor all over his body, with not even a needle able to penetrate.
"I have no intention of benefiting from our grandson. Arranged marriages are out of the question, I just want him to meet an ordinary girl from an ordinary family and live well together. No, they don't even have to be ordinary. It's okay if they live without much and can't make a lot of money. We can do everything for them. I just want them to be happy and healthy."
"..."
"But, the only person in the world he shouldn't meet is Han So-eun."
You can't. You're the only one who can't.
Those simple words came out of the chairman's mouth in a roundabout way. With a benevolent smile at the end of those words.
"I understand that you didn't know. Tae-joon is a really well-raised kid. He must have done a good job. But now it's different. Right?"
Now that you know everything, you have no choice but to step down. You have to let our Tae-joon go. The words, which revealed his intention, were harsh in every syllable.
The instructions of someone who had already finished all the planning continued.
"There's a deposit in America under Han So-eun's name. First, go to America and receive that money, and then live your life doing whatever you want to do. Don't get hurt here for no reason."
"No, no, no."
So-eun put strength into her voice for the first time.
"I won't take the money and I won't leave."
She was cornered and spoke quickly.
"I don't think I'll be in a relationship with Director Kim Tae-joon for a long time either. As time passes and our feelings fade, we'll naturally break up. Then the chairman won't have to hear the resentment that he forcibly separated his grandson from the woman he was meeting..."
While her sincere appeal, which she hadn't properly prepared, continued incoherently, two photos were placed on the table. One was a photo of the golf cart accident, and the other was a photo of Yang Hee-wook's father, Yang Gyu-chil, moving around the golf course.
"Do you know this person, Yang Gyu-chil?"
Jaepil's voice was eerie, as if he were asking about someone who had already passed away.
"Yang Gyu-chil lost his life because of Tae-joon's scheme."
It was different from what So-eun knew.
Tae-joon had clearly said that he had nothing to do with Yang Gyu-chil's death.
Another document was placed in front of So-eun, who had a look of disbelief.
"After meeting Han So-eun, Tae-joon invested in the golf club that Yang Gyu-chil frequented. So he checked the condition of the club's facilities and Yang Gyu-chil's reservation schedule, and deliberately had him drive a cart with poor performance."
The details of Tae-joon's investment in the golf club, the details of his thorough check of the club's facilities, and the records of the poorly performing cart being assigned to match Yang Gyu-chil's round time... The papers that were placed on the table along with the gentle explanation left her speechless.
"I'm not sure if he just wanted to scare him with an injury or if he planned to kill him from the beginning. But this is certain."
The record that Kim Tae-joon had crossed a point of no return.
"Tae-joon, who has a grudge because of Han So-eun, is falling apart."
Jaepil's face was also distorted, as if he were spitting out bitter water.
"We're just a bad match."
