SERIES: An Impure Reunion
CHAPTER: An Impure Reunion Chapter 34
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34.
“That’s why I have no choice but to be this desperate.”
“……”
“Isn’t that right, Jian?”
Taejun pressed his lips to Jian’s cheek, then left the kitchen.
What remained after he left was the breakfast he had prepared himself.
Faintly hearing the sound of the front door opening and closing, Jian buried her face in her hands.
Her emotions were a seesaw.
At his every word, her feelings swung from one extreme to the other.
Yesterday, she had felt so uncomfortable, so sorry for not being able to answer his loneliness.
But now, a sense of unease washed over her, so strong that she couldn’t even spare a thought for his loneliness.
“Mommy!”
Just as Jian’s thoughts were about to spiral, Seol-ah’s voice pierced her ears.
“Did you sleep well?”
She saw the child enter the kitchen and give a deep bow.
While Seol-ah’s gaze was still on the floor, Jian quickly composed her expression by rubbing her face with her hands and greeted the child.
“Seol-ah, you’re here?”
The child’s eyes widened as she looked at the dining table, then began to sparkle.
“Wow! Is this for breakfast today?”
“Hm? Oh, yes. Seol-ah, have a seat.”
Jian stood up from her chair and helped the child into her own.
As soon as she sat down, the child began to jump up and down with joy.
She especially squealed with delight upon seeing the rolled omelet.
“Rolled omelet!”
Picking up the rolled omelet with her fork first, the child smiled brightly and put it in her mouth.
“Wow, Mommy, this is the one with seaweed in it! It’s my favorite!”
The child’s eyes sparkled as she mumbled with the omelet still in her mouth.
Jian gently stroked the head of Seol-ah, who was eating well as if the food suited her taste, and then sat down across from her.
“Seol-ah. Can Mommy ask you something?”
“Yep!”
The child popped another piece of rolled omelet into her mouth and nodded.
A look of caution was evident on Jian’s face as she parted her lips.
“Yesterday, why did you follow the Mister?”
“I thought the Mister came to get me because you were busy!”
In contrast to Jian’s cautious question, Seol-ah’s answer seemed nonchalant.
A sudden fear gripped Jian.
The reason for her fear was that there was no guarantee this wouldn’t happen again.
“Mommy’s busy? But Mommy hasn’t even been working since we came to Korea.”
“Um, am I not supposed to go with the Mister?”
When Seol-ah answered with a question, Jian blinked with a somewhat flustered expression.
“Why? Why am I not supposed to go with the Mister?”
Jian silently placed a side dish on the child’s spoon and said.
“I’m not saying you shouldn’t listen to the Mister. From now on, if the Mister is ever going to pick you up, Mommy will tell you in the morning beforehand. You can go with him then. Got it?”
“Yes, Mommy!”
Seol-ah answered brightly and took a large spoonful of rice.
As she was eating, the child suddenly put her spoon down on the table, her eyes sparkling.
“Mommy, Mommy! Something really nice happened to me yesterday!”
Her mother had been so out of it she didn’t even know how yesterday had passed, but seeing Seol-ah say she had a good time, a small laugh escaped Jian.
Quietly setting her chopsticks down on the table, Jian met the child’s gaze.
“What nice thing?”
“The Teacher thought the Mister was my dad!”
The moment she heard those words from Seol-ah’s mouth, Jian’s eyes wavered slightly.
She had reacted the moment she heard the word ‘dad’.
Jian forced herself to compose her expression.
“Why was that a nice thing?”
“Because I like the Mister!”
Seeing Seol-ah honestly express her feelings, Jian’s heart ached once more.
It was because she felt uneasy, wondering if she had robbed the child of her freedom, seeing her instinctively recognize her own father and so honestly say she liked him.
Jian once again placed a side dish on the child’s rice and told her to hurry up and eat.
Seol-ah didn’t eat, but added another word.
“I wish he was my real dad……”
That short phrase from the child struck Jian right in the heart.
Real dad.
Jian found it incredibly difficult to manage her expression.
In the end, she told the child to keep eating and went into the bathroom.
As soon as she turned on the faucet, tears began to fall, drop by drop.
Where did my resolve go, the one I made before coming here, to steel my heart and protect Seol-ah no matter what?
It seemed the only thing that came out was tears.
Muffled by the sound of the running water, Jian’s tears continued to fall.
A few hours later, Jian arrived with Seol-ah at the LY Department Store that Taejun had mentioned.
Just before entering the lobby, a sudden thought made her feel displeased.
‘Oh, right, Jiyeon is getting married soon, isn't she? To the second son of Seongwoo Electronics, was it? You should ask our Jiyeon about her skills in bed, don't you think? Right here, Heo Jian would know best, wouldn't she?’
It was because she remembered that the owner of that unpleasant voice was the lady of this place.
“Mommy, what’s wrong?”
“Hm? It’s nothing.”
Jian forced a calm expression and started walking again.
That woman, Hayeon, whom Jian had doused with water in the past, had been thoroughly humiliated in front of so many people, yet she still picked fights with Jian at every opportunity.
Jian’s way of dealing with her was to not engage, but she couldn’t help her emotions crumbling whenever she heard her cross the line.
But she couldn’t douse her with water like she had back then.
After that incident, her father-in-law, Daesik, had berated her, saying it was obvious she was poorly raised by her grandmother without parents.
She could endure being blamed for her own actions, but seeing him bring up her grandmother, Jian had clenched her fists and started to watch her behavior.
‘Of all places, why here.’
The thought of what she would do if she had an unwanted encounter today flashed through Jian’s mind.
Jian was in the middle of shaking her head, trying to banish the unwelcome thought.
“Heo Jian?”
Just before she entered the lobby, someone called her name.
When Jian turned her head, a faint smile appeared on her lips at the sight of a familiar face.
“Seungjin.”
“It is you, Heo Jian?”
The man gave a bright smile and tapped Jian’s shoulder.
The person Jian greeted so warmly was none other than her high school classmate, Seungjin.
Back in high school, Seungjin and Jian had been rivals, competing for first and second place in the liberal arts track for the entire school.
“Wow, it’s amazing to see you like this, Jian.”
“I know, this is the first time since my grandmother’s funeral, right? It’s been almost six years.”
After Jian’s grandmother passed away, her contact with Seungjin had also been cut off after the funeral.
Seungjin had been one of the people who carried her grandmother’s coffin that day, and she should have thanked him, but their contact was lost before she even had the chance.
This chance encounter with Seungjin brought back memories of her high school days.
From skipping evening self-study sessions with Kangji to go have fun, to those moments when they were happy just doing nothing—those moments filled Jian’s mind.
There was a huge difference between then and now.
Her grandmother, who had been so healthy back then, was no longer by Jian’s side, and unlike those days when she worked hard with the sole goal of getting into college without a single worry, she was now faced with days where she had to deal with worries of a completely different nature.
In particular, the biggest difference was that unlike back then, when she had only dreamed of a pure and hopeful future, she could no longer see such a hopeful future now.
“Whoa. Is this Heo Jian’s daughter?”
Seungjin, having spotted Seol-ah, bent his knees to meet the child’s eyes.
Startled, the child quickly hid behind Jian’s leg.
“Sorry, Seol-ah is shy with strangers.”
“Is that so? Seol-ah. Mister is your mom’s friend. How about we say hello?”
Seungjin spoke in a gentle voice and held out his hand to Seol-ah.
Seol-ah, who had been peeking at Seungjin from behind her mother, seemed to hesitate for a moment.
She tugged on Jian’s clothes and met her mother’s eyes.
“It’s okay, Seol-ah.”
Only after Jian said it was okay did Seol-ah cautiously take Seungjin’s hand.
Seungjin shook their clasped hands up and down and showed a good-natured smile.
As soon as the greeting was over, Seol-ah quickly hid behind Jian’s leg again.
With an awkward smile, Seungjin stood up and asked Jian.
“She’s very shy, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, she tends to be. Anyway, Seungjin, have you been well? Anything new?”
“Me? What’s there to be new? It’s just the same old daily grind, like running on a hamster wheel.”
Jian looked at Seungjin, who spoke of a tedious daily life, with a slightly envious gaze.
Did he know?
Did he know that the tedious and repetitive daily life he was enjoying could be a dream for someone else?
Jian smiled a little bitterly.
Seeing her bitter smile, Seungjin asked cautiously.
“It looks like you’ve been through some things. Are you okay?”
It seemed Seungjin had seen the news articles.
Jian answered by prettily lifting the corners of her mouth into a smile instead of replying.
The reason was that she didn’t want to burden a friend she hadn’t seen in a long time.
Seungjin gently patted Jian’s shoulder.
“Hang in there, Heo Jian.”
Those simple words, “Hang in there,” wrapped pleasantly around her ears.
Thanks to them, Jian was able to put a little sincerity into her smile.
“Thanks, Seungjin.”
It was the moment Seungjin’s hand, which had briefly touched her, left Jian’s shoulder.
Suddenly, a familiar car seemed to catch her eye.
As she mulled over the license plate number, Jian’s expression hardened noticeably.
“What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
“S-Seungjin, I have to go first.”
“Huh? Heo Jian!”
In her memory, that car’s license plate was definitely Taejun’s.
Author: Donggeurami (Son Yoon-seo)
Publisher: Toonplus
Email: [email protected]
ISBN: 9791157738274
© Donggeurami (Son Yoon-seo), 2022
※ This e-book is published by <Toonplus> under contract with the copyright holder, and unauthorized reproduction and distribution are prohibited. Violation of this may result in legal liability.
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