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SERIES: An Impure Reunion
CHAPTER: An Impure Reunion Chapter 55
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55.
"I'm sad."
A tear fell from Seol-ah's eye.
The moment he saw the tear, Taejun's heart felt like it was being torn to shreds.
Taejun tried his best to suppress his emotions and wiped the child's tear away.
Once he wiped one away, more and more tears began to fall.
Seol-ah clutched Taejun's collar and let another tear fall.
"Mister, come with us."
Just as Jian finished checking their luggage, she witnessed the scene.
She didn't know the exact situation, but she could guess from the words "come with us" and the tears streaming from Seol-ah's eyes.
Jian hurried over and sat down, cupping the child's face.
"Seol-ah."
"Mom, why isn't Mister coming with us?"
Seol-ah said, holding Taejun's collar with one hand and Jian's hand with the other.
The child's refusal to let go of what she held in both hands put both Jian and Taejun in a difficult position.
"Mister has a lot of work to do here."
"Isn't Mister our family?"
When the word "family" came from Seol-ah's lips, Jian's heart felt like it plummeted to the floor.
It seemed the child had already accepted Taejun as her family.
"Aren't, aren't families supposed to live together?"
Jian hated herself for having to crush the child's heart like this.
"Heo Seol-ah. Stop being so stubborn."
At Jian's firm voice, Seol-ah, with a terrified expression, let go of Jian's hand and hid behind Taejun.
"But Mister is our... family..."
"..."
"..."
Seol-ah began to shed even more tears.
As the child began to cry, both Jian's and Taejun's hearts felt like they were being torn apart.
In the end, Jian picked Seol-ah up.
She took the child to the restroom.
Taking her into the farthest stall, she sat Seol-ah on the toilet and wiped her tears.
"Seol-ah."
Even at her mother's call, Seol-ah couldn't seem to stop crying.
Jian wiped Seol-ah's tears once more and said.
"If you cry and talk like that, how sad do you think that will make Mister, who can't come with us?"
"...A lot."
"Mister wants to go too."
Taejun would want to go, too.
I know all too well how much it must hurt him to have to send away such a lovely child like you.
I still vividly remember how I felt when I lost you for that short time.
That's why I know how much resolve it took for him to make the choice to let you go.
I was just so grateful to him for that.
"He wants to go, but he can't because he has too much work to do here."
"Hmph. Why can't he go where he wants to go?"
Will the day come when she understands that what seems simple from a child's perspective is not a simple matter for Jian and Taejun?
When that time comes, will you understand my heart?
Jian stroked Seol-ah's head and said.
"Let's not keep hurting Mister's feelings by crying and begging him to come with us."
Only then did Seol-ah nod and stop her tears.
"...Okay."
Jian took a handkerchief from her bag and wiped the child's face.
When her tears were all wiped away, the child smiled bashfully, as if she had never cried at all.
"I'll go say goodbye to Mister."
Jian could only stroke the head of Seol-ah, who was showing her resolve to say goodbye.
"Okay."
Seol-ah shot up, pushed open the restroom door, and went out first.
"Heo Seol-ah! We have to go together!"
Jian quickly chased after her.
And that's when it happened.
In a corner of the airport, a woman with a hat pulled down low and a mask on was sitting on a chair.
Despite being completely disguised, she was conscious of her surroundings and overreacted to every glance.
Just then, a man approached her.
"Miss, I've brought her."
"...You're not Mister."
The one holding the hand of the man—Seong-un, who had been Taejun's Director Ha—was none other than Seol-ah.
Seol-ah gave Seong-un a look that pleaded with him to take her to Mister.
But seeing that Seong-un was unlikely to listen, Seol-ah struggled with all her might to pull her hand away from his.
"Wh-who are you, lady?"
"Are you curious about me?"
Yuri grabbed the shoulders of the struggling Seol-ah and smiled.
"I'm someone who knows you very well, Seol-ah."
As Yuri carefully studied Seol-ah, she had to suppress the rage welling up inside her as much as possible.
The child's face bore too much of a resemblance to Jian.
'Ha Yuri, you are fired.'
'Ha Yuri, I will be revoking your medical license.'
Thanks to the trick Jian had pulled, Yuri had suffered a huge downfall in just a few days.
Not only was she fired from her job, but even her medical license, which she had barely obtained after studying for over 10 years, was revoked.
'Get out. You are no child of mine.'
Her father, furious that she had so greatly tarnished his reputation, had cast Yuri out.
Seeing her father act like that, Yuri looked to her mother.
It was with the hope that perhaps her mother would help her.
However, her mother's gaze was no different from her father's reaction.
'How pathetic.'
Yuri crumbled even more under her mother's dumbfounded gaze.
After that, Yuri's life was a disaster.
Reporter Park, whom she had paid to publish false articles about Jian and Taejun, even made money by writing an article about her own case.
Thanks to him attaching Yuri's face to the article, the fallout was huge.
She couldn't show her face anywhere.
Even today, she could only move around wearing a hat and a mask like this.
Seol-ah studied Yuri's face carefully and then said.
"But I don't know you, lady."
Yuri stared intently at Seol-ah's face.
The child who resembled Jian, the one who had pushed her into a pit of evil, didn't only resemble her.
The traces of Taejun visible in her face angered her even more.
Yuri forced the corners of her mouth up into a smile and stroked Seol-ah's face.
"I'm someone who knows Seol-ah so well that I want to make her happy."
"Me?"
"Yes."
"Why would you, lady?"
Looking at the impudent Seol-ah, who refused to back down, Yuri once again had to swallow her rising anger.
"Didn't your mother teach you not to talk back to adults?"
"She did."
At Yuri's angry voice, Seol-ah's own voice began to shrink.
Looking at the child with her head bowed low, Yuri suddenly grabbed her hand.
"Seol-ah. Do you want to go to a happy place with me?"
Seol-ah seemed to hesitate for a moment, then carefully asked a question.
"...What about Mom and Mister?"
"Your mom's not there."
Yuri said fiercely.
Sensing the change in her voice, Seol-ah flinched and shrank back.
Seeing the child shrink away, Yuri managed to put a smile back on her face and added.
"And Mister isn't there either."
What she had to do now was coax this child, one way or another.
In other words, there was nothing to be gained by wasting time like this.
So, this wasn't the time for foolishly upsetting the child; she had to soothe and placate her to get out of this place.
Yuri grabbed the child's hand.
"Let's go together, Seol-ah."
"Seol-ah knows when Seol-ah is happy."
Then, Seol-ah struggled to break free from Yuri's grasp and said.
"Seol-ah is happiest when she's with Mom and Mister."
Really, just as you'd expect from Heo Jian's daughter.
Every single thing she says grates on my nerves like this.
A frown settled between Yuri's eyebrows.
Realizing that her expression had turned frightening, fear began to creep onto Seol-ah's face.
Yuri bent her knees to meet the child's eyes and said.
"Your mother abandoned you."
"My mom... is gone?"
Hearing Yuri's words, Seol-ah's eyes began to tremble.
Watching the child become consumed by an anxiety she had never felt before, Yuri gave a leisurely smile.
"That's right. She abandoned you, so I'm going to take you to a happy place."
"...Why, why? Why would my mom..."
Holding the child, who had started to struggle even more than before, more tightly, Yuri said in a soft voice.
"Yes, do you know why your mother abandoned you?"
"...Why?"
"Because you are a very, very, bad child."
When Yuri said the words "bad child," the color drained from the child's face.
Watching the child's trembling lips, Yuri felt a thrill of pleasure.
"No, that's not true."
Even with her eyes welling up, on the verge of tears, Seol-ah spoke in a clear voice.
"Seol-ah is not a bad child."
"So you're saying you're a good child?"
"Yes. And my mom is looking for me."
Seeing Seol-ah so certain that she was being looked for, Yuri once again felt a surge of anger.
What on earth was she trusting in to be so confident?
The child's firm belief seemed to be pushing Yuri back into misery.
"No. You are a very bad child."
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. Unauthorized reproduction and distribution are prohibited. Violation of this may result in legal action.
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