TWELVE 72

“Persuade Seoin to return to Cheongcheon. And then break up.”

It was the attitude of someone recommending something perfectly reasonable. Coming out like this, being uncomfortable or scared was secondary; it was preposterous and offensive.

“I…”

If she had at least pretended to respect me, I wouldn’t have felt this way.

“Why should I do that?”

“Gi Seoin is my child. We made an investment. Can you even fathom the amount of effort that went into him, Mr. Seungkyung?”

With every single word, I could tell what she thought of Gi Seoin.

“That boy would become a master just by being at Cheongcheon. But what would he become at Pyeongwoo, which has no connections or anything? He’d just be a slave doing work for the benefit of others. Do you understand what I’m talking about?”

“…”

Cheongcheon was the place Gi Seoin belonged to until he declared he would cut ties with his parents; it is a law firm founded by his grandfather, where his father is currently the representative attorney.

Conversely, Pyeongwoo, where he is currently affiliated, originally had no connection to Gi Seoin as far as I knew. However, since he had joined after receiving a recruitment offer in recognition of his abilities, I had no doubt he would receive the treatment he deserved.

“Just by staying quietly at Cheongcheon, the top of the best law firm in Korea would be his seat, and then there’s the amount of wealth he would inherit…”

Was it a short-sighted thought?

“It’s like you’re taking a child who could grow into a tiger and raising him as a cat just because you think he’s cute, Mr. Seungkyung.”

“…Master, tiger. Things like that. Don’t they only have meaning if the person themselves wants them?”

“There are fools who don’t know a good thing is good until they experience it firsthand. Actually, there aren’t just some; there are many. It’s upsetting, but our Seoin is one of them.”

Gi Seoin’s mother took out a new cigarette and placed it between her fingers.

“So, as a parent, I’m going to let him know that a good thing is good. But you’re blocking that, Mr. Seungkyung.”

Having lit it, she sucked on the cigarette filter and looked me straight in the eye, wanting an answer. Of course, it would be ‘the answer she wants.’

“Persuade Seoin to return to Cheongcheon and break up.”

“I understand what you’re saying.”

I took a deep breath and moved my lips again.

“Seoin, he doesn’t listen to me. Even if I tell him to go back to Cheongcheon, he won’t go if he doesn’t want to. So it’s no use doing this to me.”

“Sigh…”

Scattering smoke like a sigh, she spoke with one corner of her mouth crumpled.

“This isn’t even funny, really.”

“…”

“Mr. Seungkyung.”

She threw the cigarette into the teacup just like before. The eyes that obsessively dug into me looked more fatigued than before.

“I’ll make a promise on the condition that you persuade Seoin to break up and remain silent about everything regarding our Cheongcheon from now on, including him. An apartment in the metropolitan area—the 30-pyeong range isn’t bad, right? It’ll be easy to bring a new partner to live with later. And 300 million in cash. I’d say this is very generous.”

“There seems to be a misunderstanding…”

“Is it not enough?”

Having asked me back as I questioned her in disbelief, she now completely withdrew her smile.

“That shouldn’t be the case. I know you can sufficiently pay off the debts under your name, Mr. Seungkyung.”

“Did you do a background check on me?”

“Did you think I wouldn’t have?”

My insides were boiling. Even so, since she was Gi Seoin’s family, I tried to endure it over and over.

“Mother.”

However, I felt that if I endured it even at this point, it would be disrespectful not only to myself but also to Gi Seoin.

“If you’re so worried about Seoin’s future, persuade him yourself.”

The woman’s smooth brow crumpled.

“You’re doing this because you’re worried about Seoin.”

Did she think I wouldn’t know? The fact that Gi Seoin would be guaranteed a better future if he stayed at Cheongcheon.

However, even though I knew, I didn’t want to force Gi Seoin to go there. I am selfish. So I want him to stay by my side. At the same time, because he is now more precious than myself, if he would be happier somewhere else instead of by my side, I could willingly let him go.

“So tell Seoin yourself. That he’s too good for this, and to come back.”

What I want is not an amount of money or an apartment sufficient to pay off debts. I want Gi Seoin to receive the recognition and affection that suits him, wherever he is.

“Give Seoin what he wants, not me.”

If those people could promise that, I could let Gi Seoin go because their embrace would be better than my side.

When I finished speaking, she turned her gaze away from me and seemed to think for a moment, then let out a short laugh as if something were funny. Then she looked back at me soon after. With an expressionless face flowing with coldness.

“I’ve heard your advice well. How interesting.”

She stood up. I also stood up from my seat.

Scanning me with narrowed eyes, the woman gestured toward the table.

“I enjoyed the tea.”

She hadn’t even touched a single sip of the tea and had even used it as an ashtray.

I didn’t feel like I was dealing with a fellow human being at all. Let alone a conversation, I didn’t even have the energy left to see her out. I just stood still in the kitchen and watched the woman’s receding back.

Before long, only after hearing the front door open and the sound of the door lock relocking did the strength leave my legs, and I had to sit back down in the chair.

My head was throbbing. I should tell Gi Seoin about what just happened, but I didn’t have a clue how to convey it. I felt like telling him straight would be a wound to him.

I barely returned to the study room, but I couldn’t concentrate on studying at all. Since the headache continued, I took some medicine and ventilated the entire house.

The tea steeped with nicotine was poured down the toilet, and the soggy, unraveled cigarette butts were wrapped in several layers of plastic and shoved into the trash can. Even so, it felt like there was a smell, so I ended up taking the entire trash bag out.

Having returned home like that, I lay on the sofa and didn’t move an inch until Gi Seoin arrived.

‘Just by staying quietly at Cheongcheon, the top of the best law firm in Korea would be his seat, and then there’s the amount of wealth he would inherit…’

Sharp thoughts kept poking at my head.

‘But you’re blocking that, Mr. Seungkyung.’

I couldn’t firmly refute that it wasn’t so. I wouldn’t be able to do so even if I were thrown back into that situation.

I don’t think the reason Gi Seoin cut ties with his parents and left Cheongcheon was only because of me.

But the person beside him right now is me.

I keep doubting. Do I even have the right to be with him? Is this love, which makes all those conditions irrelevant, truly infinite?

What if Gi Seoin gets sick of me? If he ends up resenting me, that would be worse than love cooling down.

“Aaaah!”

To be swayed by a third party’s words and doubt Gi Seoin’s and my feelings—I hated myself for this. Because tears were about to come out despite that, I just screamed.

No, but wasn’t it natural to be anxious?

We… had done something similar to sex, but we hadn’t gone all the way yet, and in a relationship where we couldn’t even get married, we hadn’t even properly shared the words to ask each other out.

I might not know what will happen in the future, but I don’t doubt Gi Seoin’s affection for me right now. Looking at the gaze and actions with which he sees me, and looking back at the feelings I feel for him, I could be certain. That he feels the same way I do.

Even so, the reason Gi Seoin doesn’t ask me to date is likely because he doesn’t consider such a process important. Thinking about it, we just haven’t said the words to date, but we’ve confessed our hearts to each other and had this and that skinship, so it’s true that we are in a relationship.

…Are we not?

I think we are.

Are we not?

“Should I just… go for it?”

Does it matter who goes first? It’s also funny that I’m waiting for him to speak first.

No, it’s not that I’m waiting, and I’ll say it if I want to, but even so, it isn’t easy. I’m scared that by any remote chance, Gi Seoin might refuse.

From Gi Seoin’s perspective, now that he’s actually living with me, I might be worse than he thought. My face is swollen and ugly when I wake up, and since I don’t know much, we wouldn’t have been able to have in-depth conversations by his Kijun, and I can’t cook, and I don’t have a personality as clean as his, and I’m clumsy at kissing or other skinship…

Even in my own eyes, I wasn’t that great of a partner as a lover. Furthermore, how would it look to Gi Seoin, who tends to be picky about everything?

Ah, my confidence was at rock bottom. I couldn’t confess in this state.

“…”

I was lying face down with my forehead pressed into the sofa, then I raised my head. As soon as I heard the sound of the door lock, it felt like my heart was dropping.

Surely that woman hadn’t come again?

Surely a man with a bag of money wouldn’t visit like in a drama and say, ‘The Madam told me to deliver this’…

“Seungkyung.”

Fortunately, it wasn’t her this time.

I quickly got off the sofa and ran out into the hallway. Gi Seoin, seeing me, spread his arms. I dove into his embrace just like that.

He hugged me tightly and lifted me up so much that my feet left the floor. He swung me left and right like that, then gently lowered me to the floor.

“Why didn’t you answer the phone?”

“Huh?”

I rummaged through my pockets and realized.

“Ah, I left it on my desk on silent and forgot.”

“Did you study?”

“No…”

What if he misunderstands and thinks I’m already sick of studying?

“Why?”

Sure enough, Gi Seoin narrowed his brow.

“Are you not feeling well?”

What a relief. It was worry, not disappointment. Wait, no. I also hated causing him worry. Why am I like this…

“A bit, because of a headache…”

Actually, this wasn’t the time to be talking about such things. No matter how Gi Seoin took it, I had to convey the facts of what happened today as accurately as possible.

Still, I didn’t want to hold onto Gi Seoin, who had just finished work and couldn’t even change his clothes, to tell such a story, so I just waited for him to finish showering.

Gi Seoin, having washed up, approached while drying his wet hair with a towel. Following my hand patting the sofa, he came and sat in the seat next to me. For some reason, he seemed to be checking my mood. It was probably because I said I had a headache. I made up my mind to speak before causing him more worry.

“Seoin…”

“Seungkyung.”

However, he cut me off.

“Let’s move.”