SATURDAY 73

“Why…?”

“What do you mean ‘why’? Don’t you realize what happened to you as a child?”

“…Child abuse.”

To be honest, I hadn’t really known that either. Mr. Taeseon made me realize it bit by bit while we were together for those two years. So, in my head, I have a rough idea. I know what kind of life I endured.

However, it feels like a callus in my mind that just won’t peel off. Guilt, the lingering attachment of wanting to be close again, the worry that maybe I’m the one who is wrong….

Even the thought that I want to mindlessly believe the words of the Shaman and the Professor.

If I were to do that, it would mean that Mr. Taeseon and my uncle, who are demanding I sever ties with them, are in the wrong. Those two are not wrong. That is something I can know with absolute certainty.

Then, I just need to cut them off. That is what I think in my head. How wonderful would it be if everything in this world could be cut as easily as slicing through a radish with a knife. It isn’t easy to put into practice something that has already been concluded in the mind.

“It’s the same with that ‘daesu-gut’ or whatever. How can someone’s illness be transferred to another person? Isn’t that all a scam too?”

“Ah….”

At Mr. Taeseon’s sudden remark, I scratched my eyebrow.

“The thing is, it actually does get transferred.”

I purposely didn’t mention the details of the daesu-gut. It was a bit more gruesome than the exorcism ritual, and I was afraid that if Mr. Taeseon knew, he might go find the Shaman right this second and do something to her.

“It actually gets transferred?”

“Yes…. After the ritual, Inha gets completely better as if he were never sick, and I become ill.”

“….”

Mr. Taeseon stared at me with a stunned face again. Taking over Inha’s illnesses was so familiar to me that I had spoken of it too casually without thinking. When we were young, Inha suffered from many minor ailments, and those illnesses came directly to me.

Perhaps that is why even now, my body is very weak.

“Still, I haven’t done it much for a while. By the time we were reaching adulthood, Inha’s physical condition improved a lot, and he exercised a lot, so he was healthier.”

“That’s not the point. The point is that it happened even once. For heaven’s sake, does it even make sense to transfer an older son’s illness to a younger son?”

“The same thing my uncle said….”

At that, Mr. Taeseon frowned for a moment and then pressed his fingers against the space between his eyebrows to smooth out the creases. Transferring an older son’s illness to a younger son. This was something my uncle had said too. However, my uncle had said it directly to my parents.

Back then, my parents’ reaction was….

‘Who is the younger son!’

That was it.

Even for me, I think I was a bit hurt by that. My uncle immediately covered my ears and went into a rage, saying that my hyung and sister-in-law weren’t even parents. There is one misconception adults have about children: they think if they cover the ears, the child won’t hear. In fact, everything is heard.

So, I had to hear every word—monster, ghost, an evil spirit born after devouring my own son—but I pretended to my uncle that I hadn’t heard a thing. It was a relief that my uncle was so busy huffing and holding me that he couldn’t properly check my state.

“So, when you performed that daesu-gut thing, you really got sick?”

“Yes. If Inha had pneumonia, I got pneumonia; if it was bronchitis or a cold, I got a cold too…. There were times when my digestive system wasn’t good either.”

“Inyoung, you were weak too. I’ve heard that twins often fall ill together, so what if it was just something like that?”

“Still, it was too identical….”

“Ha.”

I flinched at his sigh and tugged on the hem of Mr. Taeseon’s clothes. Mr. Taeseon glanced at his pulled hem, looked at my face, and stroked my cheek as if by automatic reflex.

“Please don’t be so angry.”

“I’m not angry at you.”

“Even so.”

“My Inyoung.”

Mr. Taeseon lightly kissed the opposite cheek he was cupping. In his eyes, seen from up close, there was a sense of sorrow.

I had spoken of it as if it were nothing, but when pneumonia stacked on top of pneumonia, it was truly difficult. Even breathing was no small feat, and I nearly crossed the threshold of death.

“Still, after I got severely ill once, they didn’t push to transfer illnesses excessively.”

“That’s… ha, no. It’s nothing, Inyoung. Just act like you didn’t hear that.”

However, I could tell what Mr. Taeseon was about to say. In the minds of the Shaman and the Professor, if I were to die, their plans up to that point would vanish like bubbles. That was why they tried to keep me alive.

In fact, they always emphasized to my parents that they must never let me die on purpose or inflict massive harm upon me. To me, those words sounded like they were quite worried about me, but in truth, wasn’t it because if I disappeared, the path to obtaining the fortune would become distant?

I am realizing many things I had ignored without knowing. It isn’t necessarily a happy thing to find out, but if I had remained ignorant forever, I surely would have lived without ever knowing the fact that I was miserable.

“…By the way, Mr. Taeseon, are you sure it’s okay not to get a detailed checkup or something?”

“A detailed checkup? Why?”

“You could have been injured somewhere inside the car. You might have hit your head without knowing….”

At that, Mr. Taeseon chuckled.

“It’s fine, nothing like that happened. Just in case, I got the necessary tests done while you were sleeping.”

“While I was sleeping?”

Then again, three days had passed when I woke up. That would be more than enough time to receive a detailed checkup.

“Oh, then… what about the others who were with you? Chief Shin, the youngest secretary, and the bodyguards….”

“Now you’re even looking after my employees’ health. Our Inyoung is going to be busy.”

Well, isn’t that natural? If those people get hurt, Mr. Taeseon could get hurt too.

“Everyone is safe. We subdued the kidnappers easily.”

“You said they followed on motorcycles and fired guns.”

“That was a bit dangerous, but other than the broken glass, no one was injured by the gunfire. Well… it was a stroke of luck, really. No matter how bulletproof a vehicle is, it’s not invincible. The windshield actually broke, too.”

I nodded slowly. I can’t help but keep worrying about what happened in the Philippines. Isn’t it an event an ordinary person wouldn’t experience? Of course, Mr. Taeseon isn’t an ordinary person, but the ones who committed it weren’t people with conflicting interests against Mr. Taeseon, but the Shaman and the Professor.

“Anyway, don’t think about that matter anymore.”

“Pardon?”

When my eyes went wide, Mr. Taeseon playfully pulled on both of my cheeks. I winced slightly as it hurt a little. Mr. Taeseon said the expression was cute, let go, and then cupped my face to shower me with several kisses.

“That matter isn’t important anymore. The Chairman of Joy Food doesn’t know who was behind the incident, and he feels sorry that such a thing happened in his country. He will be visiting Korea soon.”

“To Korea?”

“Yes, we decided to talk about everything in Korea.”

“Then… do you not have to go to Manila anymore?”

Mr. Taeseon nodded. A sigh of relief escaped me automatically.

Just then, Mr. Taeseon’s phone rang. He didn’t leave but answered the call inside the hospital room.

“This is Lee Taeseon speaking.”

I could hear a small voice over the phone. Though the call volume was low, the hospital room was so quiet that it seemed audible. Still, it was difficult to properly make out who the other person was or what they were saying.

I just sat there blankly, blinking and waiting, while Mr. Taeseon stroked my hair as he talked. It was a gesture as if his hand was bored during the call, like someone doodling. I didn’t dislike it, so I stayed still.

“I see. I should say that’s a relief. …Yes, that’s right. Inyoung is awake now. But he only just woke up a moment ago, so taking him there is a bit….”

At those words, I whipped my head up. It was a short conversation, but I could immediately grasp who he was talking to and what it was about. The person on the other end is my uncle. And most likely, the news was that either my mother or father—perhaps both—had woken up.

Relatives were gathered in my parents’ hospital room. It was known that I had lost consciousness from the shock and was in a different room. Most of that was true. Except for the fact that it was a different hospital, not just a different room.

“They’re looking for Inha? Why don’t you tell them to look for him for the rest of their lives—that precious son whose very ashes they threw away themselves.”

“….”

“Mhm, it’s probably best to say he hasn’t regained consciousness yet. …Exactly. Right now his mind is hazy anyway… ahem, he hasn’t been conscious for long, so isn’t he dazed? Let’s just leave him be for a while.”

His mind is hazy… Mr. Taeseon caught my eye after saying that and cleared his throat. After hanging up, Mr. Taeseon looked at me.

“Are my mother and father… did they wake up?”

As soon as he put down the phone, I asked while grabbing his arm, and he laughed as if feeling a bit awkward.

“Yes, but their condition isn’t perfect yet. They’ve only just woken up.”

“A-are they looking for Inha?”

Mr. Taeseon nodded. Despite what happened at the house last time, it seems my parents are still looking for “Inha.”

When I reflexively cast my eyes downward, Mr. Taeseon pulled me into a sudden hug.