By Zephyria 
“Since you haven’t had any particular pregnancy symptoms, you aren’t experiencing morning sickness yet, right? You don’t feel nauseous or find the smell of food disgusting?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Morning sickness varies by individual; some pass through it with almost none, while others are so severe they vomit even after drinking water. This is also a time when you need to focus on nutritional supplementation, and it’s not good to starve yourself because you feel sick, so it’s better to eliminate hunger with simple foods.”
I was in a posture of listening intently, but in reality, more than half of the words were flowing out through the other ear. For me, the mere fact that I was pregnant was already a huge deal, so what to be careful of and how to handle it were matters for later.
After finishing the long explanation, the doctor looked at me and asked, “Understood?” I nodded with a half-dazed face.
I don’t know in what state of mind I left the consultation room. The only thoughts I had were that I should go home first, and that I really missed Kwon Yi-kang. Just those two.
“Young Master?”
“Oh, Mr. Lee.”
“Why that expression? Did they say it wasn’t?”
“No, …let’s just go home for now.”
I waved my hand weakly and left the hospital. Even as we got into the car and left the parking lot, Lee Kyung-jin kept glancing at me. He seemed concerned by my dazed expression.
“Young Master?”
“…They say I’m pregnant.”
“Congratulations.”
I didn’t say it to be congratulated. Lee Kyung-jin looked as surprised as I was, but he also looked more excited than I was.
“Will you be conveying the news to your home?”
“No, that can wait for a bit.”
First of all, I don’t really know what the current situation is, I haven’t told Kwon Yi-kang yet, and it doesn’t feel real that there’s actually a human brat inside my belly.
I wrapped my hand around my belly and rubbed it, but I still couldn’t gauge what was inside. Even after hearing the news, I still can’t believe it; how was Kwon Yi-kang so sure when my belly isn’t out and there are no symptoms?
Am I dull, or is Kwon Yi-kang sensitive? But no matter how sensitive he is, it’s not something that happened in his own body, so how did he know in advance about something that happened in my body without a sound? I even had the absurd thought that if cancer grew in my body, maybe Kwon Yi-kang would notice first, and then at least I’d know before it reached the terminal stage.
“In any case, it doesn’t feel real.”
“Children don’t always come when you’re prepared. I believe it’s a gift that is bewildering yet joyful for anyone.”
“I’m not sure about the joyful part.”
“Weren’t you waiting for a child?”
I wasn’t particularly waiting, but Kwon Yi-kang was waiting a bit. As I remained silent without giving any answer, Lee Kyung-jin’s expression underwent a strange change, as if he were thinking about something.
“Young Master? …Could it be that you’re thinking something else…”
“Thinking what?”
“Nothing.”
Lee Kyung-jin shook his head and denied it with a firm voice. No, I didn’t even ask anything, so why is he saying ‘nothing’? I let out a hollow laugh and flicked my fingers resting on my belly.
8 weeks.
8 weeks ago… was that when I had the little guy’s funeral, stayed submerged at home for about a week, and then ran away to Kwon Yi-kang’s apartment after hearing that a blind date had been arranged? Checking the calendar on my phone to estimate the date, it was exactly then.
「Let’s have a child quickly.」
「Since it’s the last time I’m coming inside you. My Soo-kyung should take that well and make a pretty baby. You can do it, right?」
「Just give birth and raise it. If you pour your spirit into that, you won’t even have the leisure to find reasons for why you live.」
Kwon Yi-kang’s words vaguely came to mind.
He definitely said that back then. I thought he just said it because of the mood; I never expected those words to become a seed and actually lead to pregnancy.
“This bastard… was really capable. How did he make me pregnant exactly according to plan?”
“Pardon?”
“No, it’s just that the time he brought up the child and the timing of the pregnancy are similar. He’s a truly amazing guy. It’s not like we only fucked then, but the fact that I got pregnant exactly then.”
What kind of sperm is that obedient? It was probably just a coincidental timing, but remembering Kwon Yi-kang, who was certain of the pregnancy afterward, I even suspected that he might have the ability to control pregnancy as he pleases.
“What a miraculous cock.”
“Young Master!”
As I marveled anew while scratching my cheek, Lee Kyung-jin called out to me in disgust.
“Now that you have a child, shouldn’t you also pay attention to prenatal education?”
“What prenatal education?”
“You should use kind and pretty words. Cursing or slang is not good for the child’s education.”
“What education. What would the thing in my belly even understand.”
“The child hears everything. That’s why people do prenatal education throughout the early stages of pregnancy.”
Lee Kyung-jin is saying this because he didn’t see the ultrasound. It was a peanut where you couldn’t even tell if ears had formed or not; what is it hearing and what education? Even if it could hear, it wouldn’t know the meaning of what I’m babbling.
“They say children commune with their parents from the time they are in the womb. They don’t just receive nutrients, but share emotions, so if the mother is happy, the child is happy, and if the mother is sad, the child is sad. The child is born healthy only if the mother is happy, joyful, and healthy…”
“It’s similar to a parasite.”
Just as a parasite grows plump and fat if the host is healthy. Having heard my mutter, Lee Kyung-jin called me firmly, “Young Master!”
“I told you the child hears!”
“It doesn’t even have ears! What is it hearing?”
“It hears everything. It would be good to go to the hospital with your partner later and get some education. For the sake of the child!”
Because of Lee Kyung-jin, who was nagging as if he were the father, I pouted and turned my gaze to my phone, pretending to look at it.
Did they say the pregnancy period is ten months? At 8 weeks, it’s only the second month, yet he’s already nagging me to do prenatal education. And the fact that it’s my chauffeur. Shouldn’t I be the number one priority for Lee Kyung-jin, no matter what anyone says? How can he nag me because of a peanut-like child over me?
Suddenly, I missed Kwon Yi-kang.
“Is there anything you want to eat?”
“Not really.”
“If there’s something you want to eat, please let me know. I’ll buy it for you immediately.”
Is he reflecting on the nagging? Why did he suddenly become kind again? As I looked at him with wary eyes, Lee Kyung-jin hid his smile with an awkward face.
“They say when you’re pregnant, you suddenly crave certain things. I heard people wake up in the middle of the night to look for them, so please don’t hesitate to contact me even if it’s dawn.”
“The doctor said that if morning sickness starts, I should eat a little bit for my health even if I don’t want to eat?”
“Come to think of it, there is morning sickness. I heard sudden cravings also happen… I wonder why that is?”
The person who said it would know, how would I know? It’s not like an answer will come out just by asking me. Lee Kyung-jin, who had shallow knowledge about pregnancy, looked confused, and I became confused along with him.
“I should study a bit.”
Why are you studying? The ones who actually need to study are me or Kwon Yi-kang. It was absurd, but it sounded like Lee Kyung-jin was worrying about me that much, so a laugh escaped me.
As I chatted amiably with Lee Kyung-jin, the car approached the apartment.
The moment we turned to enter the complex, a car coming from behind overtook us and blocked the front. Subsequently, the next car pulled up beside us, and the following car blocked the rear. In an instant, we were in a state where we could neither move forward nor backward.
“Huh?”
“Young Master, please stay still.”
I looked around, not knowing what was happening, and Lee Kyung-jin reached out to reassure me despite his stiff expression.
Men came out of the cars blocking all sides and surrounded our car. They shook the door handles as if trying to open them, and upon confirming they were locked, they began to bang threateningly on the windows.
“Stay still. Just stay still.”
In broad daylight, in the middle of the road, blocking the entrance to the apartment—what are they doing?
Because it was absurd that such an uncommon event was happening in reality, I stared blankly at the threatening faces of the men beyond the window.
“Let’s talk for a moment.”
Thump, thump. After banging on the window with their fists, they pressed their faces close to the glass as if peering inside.
“Hey, get out of the car. I’m telling you, we just need to talk to the Young Master inside for a bit.”
The fist-banging on the window was rough, and the action of swinging a metal rod—where they got it from, I don’t know—in the air was overtly threatening. They hadn’t broken the window yet, but it carried the threat that they would break it by force if necessary.
The car was blocked in the front, back, and sides, so it couldn’t move, and Lee Kyung-jin alone couldn’t handle more than ten men. Knowing this, Lee Kyung-jin couldn’t easily open the door or take other actions and was just monitoring the situation.
“Young Master. It would be best to contact that person.”
Lee Kyung-jin chose Kwon Yi-kang over contacting the house. In truth, that was the wiser choice. I don’t know if Lee Kyung-jin is aware, but there was a high probability that my own family was behind the men trying to abduct someone by force in broad daylight.
I was calmly searching for Kwon Yi-kang’s contact information on my phone when another car pulled up behind us, and two or three men jumped out. Seeing them stand in opposition to the men surrounding my car, it seemed they weren’t part of the same group. I wondered what kind of action movie scene this was in the middle of the day.
Thinking I needed to observe the situation, I held my breath and stared outside, and among the newly arrived men, I spotted a familiar face.
“Driver Lee, isn’t that Driver Choi?”
As I tapped Lee Kyung-jin’s shoulder and pointed out the window, Lee Kyung-jin let out a surprised, “Huh?” It seemed I hadn’t misidentified him.
Why was Choi Jae-kyung there? I thought I heard he had been fired after the second son’s funeral. I couldn’t understand why Choi Jae-kyung was appearing at this particular moment.
A tense psychological war was unfolding as if they were about to fight at any second, but they were outnumbered, and I wondered if there was any need for an unnecessary war of attrition. I lowered the window by a sliver, and a man clinging to the car pressed his eye in.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Let’s talk.”
“Sure, talk.”
“Why don’t you get out?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Now, look. I’m requesting a conversation peacefully, but if you refuse, does that mean you prefer things to get rough? You think you’ll be safe in there?”
The tip of a bent crowbar tapped repeatedly against the glass. Since it wasn’t bulletproof glass, the fact that it didn’t break meant he was controlling his strength.
“I don’t think this is the place to talk. Who sent you?”
“You’re quick to grasp the situation.”
“Was it my father?”
I wanted to confirm if my father or my grandfather had sent them, but the person who came out of the man’s mouth was someone I hadn’t expected in this moment.
“Not your father, but the other side.”
“Kwon Yi-kang’s father?”
“Now that you know, let’s get out. I don’t want to hurt a precious young master from another house either.”
If it wasn’t my family, I felt much more at ease. It bothered me that they had sent a bunch of men as if they’d mobilized gangsters, but if it was Kwon Yi-kang’s father, I had considered meeting him once, and I trusted that Kwon Yi-kang would be able to find me easily regardless of what happened.
“Did he tell you to bring me?”
“Yes. Since you’re so reasonable, I have nothing more to say. Let’s make this easy.”
“And if I make it difficult, what? You’re going to take someone down with a tool?”
“How did you know we specialize in that sort of thing?”
They certainly looked like they specialized in it. Their way of speaking was too unrestrained for them to be bodyguards or aides. They say the Chairman is a former gang boss; he must still have many close younger associates.
“Put the tool down and promise there will be no punching. Then I’ll obediently get out and follow you.”
At my words, the man’s eyes, visible through the gap in the window, curved into circles. The man snapped his fingers, and the threateningly raised tools were lowered toward the ground.
“As long as the young master follows quietly, why would we need to make a scene? Hurry up and come out.”
Frowning at the swaggering tone, I gave a small nod. As I prepared to exit, I whispered in a low voice to Lee Kyung-jin.
“Tell Kwon Yi-kang I’m eight weeks pregnant.”
“What?”
“If you say that, he’ll handle it.”
If he doesn’t want to see the baby drop, he’ll run until the soles of his feet sweat.
I wondered if Lee Kyung-jin had Kwon Yi-kang’s contact information. After thinking for a moment, I recalled Kwon Yi-kang handing his business card to Lee Kyung-jin while heading to the ancestral mountain during his mother’s funeral a few days ago.
“Young master!”
“Don’t make a big deal out of nothing and just stay put.”
When I unlocked the door and flung it open without warning, the man who had been peering inside grabbed his nose and stepped back.
“Fuck!”
“Why is your nose shoved in there while I’m opening the door?”
What a strange person. I spoke in a disinterested voice and stepped out of the car. Lee Kyung-jin, who hurriedly followed me out, pushed the men aside and approached my side. Perhaps because I had said I would follow willingly, no one tried to stop Lee Kyung-jin.
“Young master. Do you know who they are, following them like this?”
“Chairman Hwang Seong wants to see me. He could have just contacted me and I would have gone on my own; I don’t know why he sent people like this.”
“Let’s go. We’ll escort you very safely.”
As the man with the reddened bridge of his nose gestured and spoke, the men beside him grabbed my arms on both sides as if they were arresting me.
“Driver Lee, don’t worry and go home. I’m sure they’ll give me a ride back.”
“Young master.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. They’re taking me in such an open place, what could they possibly do to me? Don’t worry.”
Seeing me being led away, Lee Kyung-jin approached with a frown and tried to pull the men off me, but the surrounding men grabbed Lee Kyung-jin and pushed him back toward the car.
“I don’t like using force like this. Why don’t you let go of my driver?”
“We’ll let him go once we depart. Don’t worry. As long as the young master follows well, no one gets hurt.”
No, I’m trying to cooperate with a kind heart, so why the hell won’t he listen?
I stopped abruptly and stared intently at the man who kept taunting me. With his reddened nose, he looked similar to someone drunk, but seeing as he was the only one engaging in conversation and directing the other men with gestures, he seemed to be the highest-ranking person here.
“Mister, do I look like a pushover for following you? I’m saying let’s just go amicably, so why is your attitude like that? Do you really want to take me there as a half-corpse? If a dogfight breaks out and my condition gets ragged, whose future will be more miserable? I don’t think it’ll be mine.”
No matter how much I thought about it, I really didn’t think it would be mine. Faced with my confident attitude, the man seemed to ponder for a moment, then waved his hand dismissively. The men pressing close to intimidate me remained, but the hands gripping my arms let go.
“I’m trusting you because the young master says he’ll follow obediently.”
“And what if I don’t? You talk as if you have some kind of choice, mister.”
I let out a hollow laugh, fully displaying my absurdity. As I changed direction and took a stride forward, the man pulled my arm firmly.
“Where are you going?”
“I saw a familiar face for the first time in a while, so I’m going to say hello before I go. Do I have to tell you that too?”
“The Chairman is waiting anxiously.”
“If he can’t even wait a few minutes when no appointment was made, wouldn’t it be better for him to just close the coffin lid and lie down? How does he even wait for the day he dies?”
The man burst into laughter at my sarcasm. I had expected him to get angry or even resort to violence in the worst-case scenario, so I tilted my head at the unexpected reaction.
“Ah, this young master is something else.”
What a lunatic. They say people curse even the King when they’re out of sight, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone so amused by the suggestion of closing a coffin lid.
After pushing through the men, I found Choi Jae-kyung. Choi Jae-kyung, who had been standing in a tense posture as if ready for a confrontation, stared blankly at me as I poked my head through the crowd of men.
“Driver Choi. What are you doing here?”
“Young master. Uh… well, this is…”
“Meeting you on the way seems like a huge coincidence. But I have a feeling it’s not a coincidence. Am I really that strange for having such a feeling?”
Faced with my confusing words, Choi Jae-kyung’s face became equally confused, and he managed to open his mouth.
“I… I got a job.”
To get a job so quickly in these difficult times, in this harsh employment crisis. He truly is capable. He wasn’t ordinary from the first time I saw him. Rolling under the smallest one for over ten years is impossible without significant ability.
“Congratulations. But why are you here?”
“I was hired as the young master’s bodyguard.”
“Whose bodyguard?”
“Your bodyguard, young master. I accompanied you from a distance because I heard you’d be uncomfortable if I were visible.”
“Who hired you?”
“Director Kwon hired me.”
It felt novel to finally discover the identity of my bodyguard, whom I hadn’t even known existed. I was glad to meet someone I thought I’d never see again, but I was also amazed that I hadn’t noticed him all this time.
“Director Kwon? Kwon Yi-kang?”
“Yes.”
“It doesn’t seem like our ties are continuing… I wonder when Kwon Yi-kang set his sights on Driver Choi. How strange.”
“For now, it would be best for you to get out of here. Don’t worry. I’ve sent word, so if you hold out a bit longer, more personnel will be deployed.”
In the meantime, Choi Jae-kyung would probably be beaten like a dog on a hot summer day. I waved my hand, as the outcome was clear even without seeing it.
“Forget it. I know who’s calling me, and I think I know what they’re going to say. I’ll just go quietly. Kwon Yi-kang will find his way here.”
“Young master!”
“Don’t waste your energy on useless things. This isn’t a movie with eighteen-to-one odds, and we’re not in our youth; if you damage your body as you get older, it doesn’t heal easily and you’ll suffer.”
“Do you think sending people to drag you away like this is a gesture of good intent?”
“Even so, they won’t just start beating me out of nowhere. And I won’t be beaten. The rich will untangle the knotted thread. I’m just a side character, anyway.”
I was the one who untangled the matters involving my family. I was the one who barked more, and I was the one who protected him. If Kwon Yi-kang was insulted, I stepped forward more, got angry, barked like a dog, and bared my teeth.
Now it’s Kwon Yi-kang’s turn. He has to resolve things with his own father if he wants to get married or have a child. If he can’t even do that, he shouldn’t have started this complicated problem in the first place.
“I’m really okay. This is our marriage issue, so we have to solve it. Does hiding solve anything? Kwon Yi-kang will handle it well, so Driver Choi, don’t worry and stay put. Driver Lee is right there too; since you’ve met after a long time, why don’t you have a cup of coffee?”
I patted Choi Jae-kyung’s shoulder and turned around. I heard him calling me from behind, but I didn’t look back and walked diligently.
It was better to leave the scene quickly. If I lingered, Choi Jae-kyung might use force in an attempt to protect me, and then a situation where fists actually fly might occur.
If that’s their job, I have nothing to say, but there’s no guarantee a blind fist wouldn’t fly toward me. I hadn’t even faced Kwon Yi-kang to tell him I was pregnant; I didn’t want to create a situation where I’d have to tell him the baby had dropped first.
If I can go quietly, it’s best to let it pass quietly. There are times to chatter and be okay, and times to stay still and adapt. Having rolled around the back alleys for over ten years, this level of intuition is basic.
“Let’s depart quickly.”
As I spoke while climbing into the car the man pointed to, the wary group filled the empty seats and quickly pulled the car out. Leaving behind the stunned Lee Kyung-jin and Choi Jae-kyung’s group, the car zoomed onto the road and accelerated.
I thought we were heading to the magnificent hanok house I had visited to pay my respects, but surprisingly, we didn’t leave Seoul.
With so many houses and apartments in Korea, it’s no wonder house prices don’t drop but instead keep rising.
Since the rich own dozens of houses, it’s natural that there aren’t enough houses left for others. Moreover, they raise the prices again and again with the intention of selling high, so the prices don’t match and people can’t buy. As house prices rise, jeonse rises and monthly rents rise. In the end, only those without houses suffer.
At one time, I had such a dream. A dream where wealth, beauty, and family background didn’t matter, and I just married a woman who liked me and lived happily in a two-bedroom house, even if it wasn’t spacious, having children. It ended as a dream with no possibility of realization.
Far from buying a house, I ate and slept in a gang warehouse, not even a monthly rental, but after dying, a result similar to—no, more magnificent than my dream was before my eyes.
Although not a woman, I have a perfect guy who likes me, an apartment with more than two rooms, and contrary to expectations, I’m pregnant and have a child soon to be born. Well, this is wonderful. Could I feel the phrases “dream big” and “dreams come true” more clearly than this?
Waking myself from the brief reverie, I looked at the mansion before me. Unlike the hanok on the outskirts of Gyeonggi-do, it was a complete Western-style building.
“It’s so much better when you follow quietly. Shall we go in?”
Because I had been lost in thought, I had kept my mouth shut the whole way, and the man, who had also been quiet, spoke as he got out of the car.
Guided by the man, I entered the house and scanned the surroundings indifferently. I saw people guarding the main gate, intervals of the garden, and the perimeter of the building.
Is this the level of security for a group chairman? Or is it because of his background as a former gang boss? I couldn’t tell if it was for show or if there was something they were wary of.
“The Chairman is in a bad mood, so don’t talk too much and just get through it with ‘yes, yes.’ I’m giving you this advice specifically because I take a liking to you, young master.”
“When is the Chairman ever in a good mood? Last time I saw him, he looked like he was about to pass out from high blood pressure.”
“That’s just how he is. Our Hyung—I mean, the Chairman—still has a fiery temper even as he ages.”
“It’s a relief Kwon Yi-kang doesn’t take after him. Their faces are somewhat similar, but if he’d inherited that personality, ugh.”
As I sighed, saying we shouldn’t even talk about it, the man walking beside me let out a chuckle.
“Chairman, I have brought the guest.”
On the living room sofa sat Kwon Yi-kang’s father, whom I had seen once, maintaining a heavy presence. He had called for someone, yet he didn’t acknowledge me upon arrival. Rather than waiting for him to tell me to sit, I chose to just sit.
The man who brought me stood at a distance to keep watch. I didn’t know if he could hear the conversation, but it was enough distance to see what was happening.
Honestly, in this situation, I’m the one in danger, not Kwon Yi-kang’s father. It’s not like I’d bring a knife and stab him, or knock out his teeth with my bare fists. Even if all that happened in reality, wouldn’t I be the one suffering?
“I’m not fond of coffee, so please just give me a glass of water. Lukewarm.”
Since the atmosphere didn’t seem like they’d offer tea, I spoke first, and the father flicked his hand. Before long, a glass of water was placed before me.
In this atmosphere, it’s likely that Kwon Yi-kang’s father has clearly realized the relationship between me and hosan. Although we avoided facing each other at the funeral, it wasn’t something I tried hard to hide, so it was a relationship that could be discovered with a little digging. Dig into hosan and I come out; dig into me and hosan comes out.
“Do you know why I called you.”
A heavy question dropped through the narrow gap of his lips.
“I can’t be sure until you tell me.”
“That you are the youngest son of hosan.”
“Now the only bloodline left. I was planning to come and pay my respects soon, but you found out first.”
“Break up. Stop seeing Yi-kang.”
Well, as expected, the story isn’t much different from my predictions. No, it was a story with not a single bit of difference. I knew he would come out like this.
“Seeing as there are no other words, may I assume you’ve heard the stories about that family?”
“It’s been a while since I found out. When I took Kwon Yi-kang to introduce him, my house was in an uproar. Kwon Yi-kang told me then.”
“And yet you stay together knowing that? You intend to marry even after hearing all that!”
“The bad relationship is a matter for the adults, and the tangled affairs are the adults’ problem. If you want to talk about killing or saving, that’s an adult matter, so I have no intention of interfering. But forcing that upon the children is unacceptable. Kwon Yi-kang is a victim, and I am someone unrelated.”
If I knew the words exchanged would be exactly the same, I would have just arranged a formal meeting between the families from the start and let it all explode at once. Then I wouldn’t have had to hear things I’d already heard and say things I’d already said.
The adults’ repertoire is so similar that I wonder if there’s some kind of manual for it.
“Since this is what I told my parents in great detail, I’ll just say it simply. We are getting married. It would be nice if you permitted it, Father, but it’s okay even if you don’t.”
“Do not call me Father! There is no way you and I will ever be bound by such a title!”
He’s pettily nitpicking the title. It’s not as if I’m going to be hurt or intimidated by such things, but his repertoire is truly old-fashioned.
I’ve seen this kind of thing in dramas a lot. These days, trends are shifting; while some dramas still have the classic water-splashing scene, others show the character dodging the water and spitting it back out instead. A mere nitpick over a title is nothing compared to that.
“Yes, old man. Anyway, your permission isn’t particularly necessary. I was planning to come and pay my respects with Kwon Yi-kang soon anyway, but since you called for me first, I followed.”
“O-Old man?”
“You told me not to call you Father, but calling you ‘that side’ makes me look too rude. I’m not so lacking in manners that I’d go that far.”
No matter how poorly educated I might have been, I wasn’t that bad. Even if he wasn’t a friendly person, he was Kwon Yi-kang’s father, so I wanted to maintain a certain level of courtesy.
“You wretched brat. I knew it from the moment your mouth started flapping, but you’re as arrogant as ever, acting as if you own the sky. Do you think this is a place where you can recklessly wag your tongue!”
Thump, thump. Kwon Yi-kang’s father raised his voice, slamming the table violently.
“That damned hosan bloodline is horrific, and the fact that such a horrific bloodline is entangled with my child is even more horrific. And marriage? You dare spout such nonsense knowing who Yi-kang’s mother was!”
“It is a damned hosan bloodline. Kwon Yi-kang’s mother too.”
“You are not fit to speak her name. You will leave Yi-kang and live as a stranger from this moment on.”
“It’s not even a top secret, so why can’t I speak of it? I don’t understand why my aunt was kept locked away at home in silence when she hadn’t committed a crime, but surely you shouldn’t be doing the same, old man. Shouldn’t you be speaking out proudly? Why hide it? Why conceal it? When nothing wrong was done.”
Fine, my own family are people who absolutely loathe rumors, so I’ll give them a pass. I can’t understand it, but since they’ve lived that way forever, I’ll consider it a similar context.
But does Kwon Yi-kang’s father need to keep it quiet too? Now that his company has grown into a massive conglomerate, has he finally realized how scary rumors can be? Is that why he’s keeping his mouth shut just like the people in my family?
“What does a piece of trash like you know to be blabbing about? You reckless brat. Then again, I wonder if you learned anything at all in that household.”
“I wonder. I really couldn’t figure it out. What were you so afraid of? If you liked that person so much, you should have just brought her. Use force or whatever. You were a gangster, weren’t you? How much could my family have resisted if you had just pushed through with power? You could have just stormed in and taken her, so why couldn’t you?”
What was he so afraid of when he was a gangster? The gangsters I’ve seen lived their lives with sheer guts, as if there was nothing to fear. They lived recklessly, without looking back, as if their lives would end tomorrow.
What was this man, a supposed gang leader, so afraid of that he played it safe, kept quiet, and lived with the loss buried in his heart?
If it were me, I would have made such a scene until it was returned, just out of spite. I would have spread every rumor possible, drawn the world’s attention, and taken what was mine by force. If I had the power, I would have snatched it back through violence.
“We’ll be different. We won’t be dragged away, and we won’t be stolen. We won’t let others swing our lives around however they please.”
Whether it’s parents, bloodlines, or families. By what right does another person permit or oppose something I want?
“You are quite confident. You don’t seem to realize who you are standing before to act so insolently! With one word from me, you could vanish from this world today. Erasing someone like you is no trouble at all.”
“I’m sure it wouldn’t be. But why? Why are you trying to tear me away from Kwon Yi-kang? Because you hate the sight of my family? Because you don’t want to be entangled with this bloodline? Your son is head over heels for me; is your pride really more important than your son’s?”
Kwon Yi-kang said I was the only one. He’s a man who doesn’t know what to do with himself because he loves me so much. He says as long as he has me, he doesn’t need anything else. Why try to tear me away from a man like that? That isn’t doing what’s best for Kwon Yi-kang.