48. What is Family?

8 AM.

A time when typical office workers were just hurrying to get to work, the Strategic Planning Headquarters of Taeseong Electronics already had all its employees seated at their desks, rushing to prepare for the morning’s tasks.

A secretary, who had answered a call, rose from her seat and quickly walked with brisk steps towards the CEO’s office.

Knock, knock.

“...we have to discuss about the project.”

Upon knocking and opening the door, Soohyun’s voice talking on the phone could be heard from inside. As the secretary quietly entered after opening the door, Soohyun, holding the phone, gestured for her to wait a moment.

“Okay. We’ll come to that later. Thanks.”

Soohyun soon finished the call and gestured with his chin towards the waiting secretary.

“CEO, all the executives from NKG have arrived.”

“Alright. I’ll go now.”

Meetings were scheduled one after another in the morning, and international calls came in between them. Even lunch was a meeting with an outside company.

It was 6 PM, with the sun beginning to set, when Soohyun finally returned to his office.

He tossed his phone and a pile of documents onto his desk, loosened his tie, and stood in front of the large glass window.

As always, the city scenery, which held no particular interest for him, spread out beneath his feet.

It was the same view he always saw, but the red sunset painting the sky caught his eye unusually.

A red sun, like a persimmon of deep red, fell, leaving a red tail on the glass walls of the nearby colorless buildings. Seeing the last trace of the sun fading away, he suddenly realized that the season had truly changed.

The red light wetting the blue sky reminded him of Haein’s flushed cheeks.

Soohyun took a deep breath, expanding his chest greatly. Then, he exhaled again very slowly and deeply.

He felt as if he could smell Haein’s scent from somewhere.

Just as the mottled gray city, devoid of any color, embraced the sun and took on a reddish hue, Haein, who had embraced him, brought color to his otherwise entirely black life.

Soohyun closed his eyes, watching the scenery being dyed by the darkness.

‘......Hmm, Sunbae.’

He thought he could hear Haein’s small whisper in his ear. If he raised his hand, he felt like he could touch her small body that had been in his arms.

“Haa...”

Soohyun sighed deeply once more and slowly opened his closed eyes. The sun had already disappeared, and the city had become night.

‘That thought... hasn’t changed, has it?’

Mulling over Haein’s words to him, Soohyun slumped into his chair.

Child, wife, family.

These were things he had never once considered in his life.

‘......Still, it’s a life......’

The sight of Haein’s hesitant and watchful face made his brow furrow involuntarily.

‘A child.’

Soohyun connected and repeated the three words: child, family, Yoon Haein.

If Haein were to have a child, what kind of child would it be?

He suddenly became curious. The thought of it being his child was terribly unpleasant, but conversely, the thought of it being Yoon Haein’s child aroused a little curiosity.

Soohyun briefly imagined the image of a plump and cute baby with her soft, fair skin, and he chuckled to himself, finding it amusing.

Something he would never have imagined in the past.

When he thought of Haein, the various sensual sensations he felt when holding her sent shivers down his spine. However, after such stimulating imaginings, what remained at the end was a feeling of warmth.

Was it because she carried the image of spring?

The warmth that Haein evoked was actually similar to Soohyun’s last memory of his family.

The time when his brother and mother were alive.

That is, the time when ‘home’ existed for Soohyun. The tenderness and sense of stability that had long disappeared from his surroundings were present in Haein.

He had vaguely felt it, but he realized it for sure on the day he went to school with Haein.

That Haein was a being who brought forth the things he had buried within himself.

On that day, when he was instantly drawn back to the twenty-four-year-old Jung Soohyun who had first seen Haein, the forgotten emotions revived, and his heart became very tender. It was unfamiliar. It was awkward.

And that strange feeling didn’t go away for a while.

As if spring had come into his heart, he often found himself suddenly lost in thought, unable to concentrate on work. Just like a twenty-year-old experiencing spring fever. It was a truly strange feeling.

‘Have I gone back to my twenties? I must be crazy.’

Those days when the whole world brightened up when she smiled.

The moment he imagined Haein’s smiling face, Soohyun felt a pang in his heart, and he took a deep breath in and out again.

‘You fool.’

Soohyun shook his head, thinking of Haein. Even though he had treated her so badly and deliberately said hurtful things, she always waited for him in the same place and smiled at him anytime.

“Haa...”

His sigh didn’t stop.

He tried to calm his heart by stubbornly asserting that Haein wasn’t smiling because she liked him.

‘It’s because she has nowhere else to run. This is her best option.’

Yes, why else would Yoon Haein be by my side? She has nowhere to run.

He insisted and insisted again, twisting his thoughts in a negative direction. It was bitter. Still, he told himself that it was the truth, that it was right.

So, in the end, he resolved to do as he wanted.

He bit his lip, thinking that he would never give in to Haein’s pleas and bring a child into the world.

The thought of having a son who resembled him was a terrible thing.

‘One bastard like me is enough in this world.’

His casually cast gaze reached the calendar on his desk. A red circle he had marked long ago caught his eye.

It was his mother’s death anniversary soon.

***

Haein, who had prepared dinner as usual, picked up her phone and snapped a picture.

[I made stew today. When are you coming home?]

She attached a photo and sent a message to Soohyun, and a reply came back quickly.

[Looks like it’ll be another hour.]

[Okay. Drive safe.]

[Yeah.]

It had definitely changed.

After visiting their alma mater together, perhaps things had changed a lot.

He spoke more softly than before, and he replied quickly to her messages. He no longer read and ignored them.

For Soohyun, who would take about another hour, she put the stew back on the stove and rearranged the table.

She planned to take it out again when Soohyun was about to arrive.

Haein, wandering around the house, went into Soohyun’s study. She remembered finding Soohyun’s childhood photo album a while ago.

There were two albums. She placed the rather thick album on the desk and opened it, and the first photo was of young Soohyun with his older brother.

“Oh my...”

Soohyun in the photo was smiling with such a mischievous and playful face that Haein brought her face close to the photo to examine it in detail.

Clearly, Soohyun was the shorter one, but he had a completely different expression.

Even though it was a childhood face.

The child in the photo was smiling brightly, like the happiest person in the world.

Rustle.

Turning the page of the album, she saw Kang Yeon-hee and Jung Taehoon in their younger days.

In the numerous photos, Taehoon was always looking at his wife. Yeon-hee was holding or holding hands with Soohyun or his brother, Leehyun.

Seeing that most of the photos were of Yeon-hee and the brothers, it seemed that Taehoon, her husband, was the one who took the pictures.

They were clearly photos filled with the affection of the person taking them.

Everyone in the photos was smiling brightly. They were full of natural, everyday moments, and many were blurry. They weren’t formal photos taken by a professional photographer.

Haein, who had been smiling softly while looking at the album, completely stiffened at the last page.

There was Soohyun’s middle school graduation photo.

Jung Soohyun, with much sharper eyes than now, was in it. It was a face so gaunt it was hard to look at.

He was extremely thin, with hollows under his cheekbones, and his gaze, as if staring straight ahead, was full of edge.

Chronologically, it must have been after his mother and brother had died one after the other.

The album ended there.

For a while, Haein couldn’t take her eyes off Soohyun’s middle school graduation photo. The child she had seen earlier was nowhere to be found, and the face that looked like a skull kept drawing her gaze.

‘What is family to Sunbae?’

She felt like she understood a little of Soohyun’s desire to cut off ties with his family.

To him, wasn’t family something he was entangled with, unable to sever the ties?

Haein felt so sad for the emotions that the adolescent Jung Soohyun must have experienced that she gently stroked his photo with her hand.

‘I hope Madam will become Director Jung’s home.’

Secretary Seok’s request came to mind, and a sigh escaped her lips involuntarily.

When she first accepted the marriage with Soohyun, her top priority was of course her own family. But the more she got to know Soohyun, the stronger the feeling of wanting to take his hand became.

However, she still doubted whether she had the ability to do so.

‘Everyone needs warmth... why does Sunbae keep saying he doesn’t need it?’

If Soohyun accepted her, and if he could protect her from Chairman Park, wouldn’t they actually be able to have the child and live well?

Futile thoughts flickered in her mind.

Haein thought that if she did get pregnant, she probably wouldn’t be able to erase the child. But she still hadn’t found a solution.

The only solution seemed to be persuading Soohyun, and just thinking about it made her feel suffocated. Soohyun’s attitude was so firm that she was afraid to bring it up rashly.

‘It hasn’t happened yet.’

Haein put the album back in its place and left the study.

Rrrrr.

Her phone vibrated, and she quickly unplugged it from the charger. It was a call from her mother.

“Mom, what’s wrong...”

-Haein-ah!

Her mother, who had called, didn’t even listen to Haein’s words and shouted almost screamingly.

-Come to the hospital quickly! Hurry!

“Why... why?”

-They say Jungin might die. Right now... Ah! No! Jungin-ah!

“Mom?”

A scream like a death knell was followed by noise, and the call was cut off.

Panicked, Haein’s hands trembled violently, and she frantically began searching for her wallet and bag.

Misfortune always came to her at such unexpected times.

Haein felt a familiar and ominous premonition, and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. It was the same feeling she had when Jungin first collapsed and was taken to the hospital.