Side Story 3. Fire Blossom

From the moment he opened his eyes to the dawn when he closed them, or even when he closed them, Kim Jong-seop, who focused all his attention on her and activated his radar detector, seemed to think of the child growing in her womb day by day as a hostage. The shackles he put on her. He wouldn’t do something like cutting his wrists again if he had a child.

Even without a child, she didn’t have the guts or the will to do such a thing.

There were still so many things she hadn’t tried. There were definitely days when she wanted to die, but the reason she was able to continue this life was because her obsession with life was just as strong.

Even if it was her fate not to live comfortably, as Yoon Hyung-woo said, she still dreamed of ordinary happiness like others. How many lives live knowing the definite answer, even though they haven’t found the answer yet?

She asked herself back. Everything was an unknown. Therefore, she wanted to live more.

Because she didn’t even know what path lay ahead of her yet, she didn’t want to think of it as a cesspool anymore. Even if it was a path given without any choice, she wanted to open a brighter future than heaven for her unborn blood. She wouldn’t let her child experience the same pain as her.

She would become a strong family for her small child, something she never had.

But she didn’t give him a definite answer that she would be by his side forever. The more she did that, the more Kim Jong-seop became obsessed with her. Not only periodic sex but also people related to Kim Jong-seop were planted in all areas of her life. He wasn’t the kind of man who wouldn’t do something just because she told him not to. As she gradually got used to all of that, the moment when the child would be born was also approaching.

Song-ah, who was quietly holding the tea, raised her head at the small noise coming from outside the door.

“Brother, this way.”

Si-baek appeared at the meal with Kwon-seok.

Jong-seop and Geon-ju, who were waiting for him, automatically raised their knees and greeted their big brother.

Song-ah, like a person with blank eyes, also raised her body. As the child grew, her body didn’t feel like her own, and so did her mood. She was heavy and somewhat lethargic, so she followed Jong-seop and bowed.

The woman she saw last time saw Song-ah and smiled.

Even if her judgment was blurred, she could tell who was friendly to her and who wasn’t.

Song-ah was convinced that the young woman, who was Cha Kwon-seok’s wife, liked her. A sense of homogeneity felt somewhere, or the joy of having someone to talk to. It wasn’t a condescending gaze that could be labeled as pity.

The woman, who introduced herself as Jung Cha-eon, didn’t seem to have given birth long ago. She seemed to have seen Jong-seop going to the hospital to visit his sister-in-law, who had given birth, but in fact, she was too busy to remember the details.

Come to think of it, the woman was pregnant at Jin-han’s funeral last time. Looking at her slender belly, she had given birth. Well, how much time had passed since then? While she was trapped in a foolish realization, warm after-meal tea was served.

When she reached out to the teapot for another cup of tea, the man sitting across from her took the handle instead. She raised her head for a moment. It was Choi Si-baek.

“Ah... thank you.”

Since that day when she did that in front of Kim Jong-seop and him, they had met each other’s faces from time to time, but this was the first time they had sat facing each other for so long. She felt uncomfortable for no reason, but since she couldn’t feel any emotion on that face, it was rather comfortable. It was nothing more than an insignificant thing to the people of this world. Only that was clearly felt, so even if she put on an iron plate and pretended it didn’t happen, it wouldn’t be ridiculed.

Even at her foolish nod of thanks, Choi Si-baek only filled her cup in silence.

It was more of a business than kindness. It was a businesslike courtesy felt from a man who often attended contract signings or important events. Now that she was officially a family member, it was a courtesy offered as a matter of etiquette. He was clearly being kind, but his expression was chillingly cold.

Kim Jong-seop’s glare became even more unpleasant.

“Hey, you bastard. Who are you pouring tea into? Drink your own.”

“It’s okay.”

“What do you mean it’s okay? Have you two already fallen in love? You were trying to fuck your sister-in-law, weren’t you? This is adultery, you bastard.”

“Adultery? Isn’t that your favorite thing? You’re in no position to say that.”

“You son of a...”

“Shut your mouth and drink your tea.”

“Oh, you’re going to act like that? You should be bowing your head, but you’re standing tall, you bastard. Where are you going to stick that stiff dick?”

Isn’t sister-in-law the right expression, not sister-in-law? For a moment, she had a foolish thought.

Even at Kim Jong-seop’s tantrums, Choi Si-baek held up his glass with a “fuck you” look. With a pregnant woman present, the men were holding tea they didn’t usually drink. It seemed that the reason they couldn’t go straight to drinking was because of her, which made her feel awkward. Kim Jong-seop, who didn’t like tea very much, had already downed his hot tea and cleared it away.

Song-ah decided to keep her mouth shut and just drink her tea. She just wanted things to go quietly.

As she sipped her tea, she met the eyes of Cha Kwon-seok.

He was a man who was always chilling and scary, whose thoughts were unreadable. Kim Jong-seop’s respected older brother.

If there was a battle to determine who had the most unusual life, she was confident she could win, but in the company of Kim Jong-seop, she felt like just another ordinary life. So, it was both good and strange. It felt like she wasn’t the only one who was special.

The meeting ended without any major problems, surprisingly.

She felt a lightness in her heart, like someone who had just climbed over a big mountain.

Song-ah, who came out of the Korean restaurant, walked with Jong-seop. He seemed to be struggling to match her pace, so she decided to walk a little faster. She was able to keep pace with him to some extent. She also knew that he had slowed down his pace considerably.

<Prominence> Fin.