DTL Ch 12 part 1

PR by neji

The day after he left, the doorbell on her wall blinked. She drowsily got up and made her way to the intercom system. The face looking into the camera was completely unexpected. Surprised, she brushed the wrinkles out of her clothing and tried to tidy up as quickly as possible before she opened the door.

“It’s been a while, YeonJung-ssi. How have you been?”

As beautiful as always, the woman gave YeonJung a pretty smile. She was actress Ryu HwaYeon. Her manager was standing next to her, holding a bundle of bags.

“I’ll take care of the rest, so just leave them here and go downstairs. Leave the car keys with me before you go. I’ll drive back when I’m done here.”

Having made an unexpected call, Ryu HwaYeon gave YeonJung a hug as soon as the front door closed. The seductive fragrance of her rose perfume wafted into her nostrils.

It had been two years since they’d last met. After ending her relationship with SeonJae, YeonJung tried to throw anything that had to do with him out of her life. And among them was his biological mother, Ryu HwaYeon.

“What has kept you so busy that you haven’t been showing up to the volunteer meetings? You haven’t taken any of my calls either. I thought about visiting your workspace, but it was completely desolate and was put up for rent. I was very sad, YeonJung-ssi.”

YeonJung took out some of the cookies that Hyejin had brought back as a souvenir from a trip abroad as well as a tea set that was usually kept in the cupboard.

Trickle. The scent of Earl Grey tea permeated the small apartment. HwaYeon, who was sitting across from her, reached out and grasped YeonJung’s hand.

“I shocked you by showing up unannounced, right? I’m sorry. My son called me, and I couldn’t help but come over. You’re sick, so why are you all alone like this?”

With a face that looked just like his, HwaYeon looked straight into her eyes as she continued. There was no way HwaYeon didn’t know about the series of events that had happened to her. Because of the scandal with her, SeonJae’s engagement with Samil had been broken. He had paid the price by being let go from the hotel. YeonJung couldn’t help but feel guilty towards HwaYeon.

“I’m sah-rry. Foh not contacting you.”

YeonJung stuttered as she signed it with her hands. HwaYeon was a longtime donor to charities for the deaf, so she knew how to communicate in sign language. They had also met during their time as volunteers.

“It’s okay. Lots of things have happened.”

She took out the porridge she had brought and pulled out a plastic spoon before holding it up to her. She used the term ‘things that have happened’ to neatly label all the chaotic events that had passed. Her personality was still the same as ever.

Although HwaYeon was much older, she was still an innocent person. She would smile brightly with a large, brimmed hat on her head as people took various photos of her, causing many people to curse at her to her face. However, only a few saw the way she would shed tears as she tightly embraced a child covered in flies.

‘Actresses always have to be beautiful, you see. If pretty people volunteer, it’ll benefit the cause ten-fold.’

YeonJung liked the flashy, although a bit stubborn, woman. Although her image was far from that of a child-rearing mother, the newly debuted actress had given birth to her son in the dark, away from people’s eyes. When YeonJung first found out that she was the mother of Min SeonJae, she was actually quite shocked.

A chaebol’s hidden woman. An illegitimate child. YeonJung was completely caught off guard. To think that something like this was still a thing in the modern world… And because of this fact, she recalled the rare times he had shown her his despair. Just as how one’s eyes were drawn to a miniscule crack on the smooth, otherwise perfect, surface of porcelain, she became interested in him.

“Do you hate my SeonJae very much?”

Not knowing how to answer, YeonJung’s spoon froze as she scooped up some abalone porridge. At first, she thought he was a strange, rude person. Whenever he blatantly showed his desire for her body, she thought he had quite unique tastes. However, as their meetings continued on, she was able to peel back the rough exterior of the man to see that he was actually very weak and stunted inside. And she had a strange urge to stay by his side.

“SeonJae got drunk once and spoke to me. He told me that YeonJung hated him so much. That he didn’t treat you right from the start. That the only thing he gave you was scars.”

YeonJung laughed awkwardly. Scars. The most difficult thing for her to endure was the look of despair on his face. The hurt he had received because of her.

That day, if she had truthfully confessed everything to him as he exploded in jealousy over her and Wuju, what would have been different? I am growing more and more attracted to you. You entered my peaceful life and turned it completely upside-down. I don’t want to be kept as a hidden woman. Would she have been brave enough to muster up the courage to tell him her deepest secrets?

‘I’m the one who left SeonJae-ssi in the end.’

As YeonJung signed with her hands, HwaYeon burst into laughter.

“I know. I know that you kicked my son to the curb. I heard that you left the door without looking back once. You flew away like a bird flapping its wings.”

She stretched out her hands as she imitated a bird. YeonJung blushed.

“That’s what SeonJae told me. A woman knows the heart of another woman. I know that you must have had a hard time. And the reason why you didn’t leave him sooner was probably because of some quality that he isn’t aware of. Am I right?”

Unable to deny it, YeonJung merely fidgeted with her fingers.

“I want to ask you one more time, not as SeonJae’s mother, but as a woman. Do you still really hate SeonJae?”

She hesitated for a long time before she finally moved her hands.

‘…I’ve never truly hated him.’

“Then… did you love him?”

HwaYeon asked back with a sincere expression. YeonJung swallowed.

“…I’m… no’ sure.”

It was a truth she had barely managed to blurt out. Was it love? The thing that the two of them had shared. Could it be called love?

“Then I don’t think it’s such a bad idea to explore it and find out what it is, YeonJung-ssi.”

HwaYeon laughed with satisfaction as she continued.

“My SeonJae says he loves you so much he could die. He said you’re so pretty and charming from head to toe. He said that even if you were buried in a field of flowers, you’d stick out to him, and that he wouldn’t be able to take his eyes off of you. Don’t kids these days speak in such cheesy terms? But as a woman, the fact that a man thinks about another woman to such an extent… I want that for myself. And as that man’s mother, I’m a bit jealous, too. Can you believe it?”

‘…Did that man really say something like that?’

YeonJung felt her face grow warm. Was her fever coming back? She touched her flushed cheeks with her hands. HwaYeon’s painted lips slightly tilted up as she laughed.

“I wouldn’t lie about something like this. In vino veritas, as they say. SeonJae confessed this during the first and last time he ever got completely drunk in front of me. It was a few months after he was dumped by you, YeonJung-ssi. During that time, he was barely human.”

Not knowing what to say in response, YeonJung merely apologized.

“No, no. I didn’t tell you this to get an apology from you. Actually, I was very thankful for you, YeonJung-ssi. This is a secret, but on the day SeonJae broke his engagement and left his father, he came to me. I collapsed on my bathroom floor and held the toilet as I cried myself hoarse. Because I was so happy. Isn’t that so silly?”

When those words left HwaYeon’s mouth, YeonJung’s eyes narrowed. Did she just say that SeonJae broke his own engagement?

“…What?”

From what she had heard, the people at Samil were the ones who broke the engagement. HwaYeon shook her head as she explained. It didn’t seem like she was lying.

“Actually, I felt so relieved. As a mother who gave birth to SeonJae, I didn’t want him to turn out like his father. No matter how much money the other side may have, how are arranged marriages still a thing in this day and age? If there is no love in the marriage, then all the men will end up roaming outside. And the victim of this behavior was my son. How could he live the same life that produced his situation? It doesn’t make any sense, does it? Anyways, thanks to you, YeonJung-ssi, SeonJae was able to return to his senses and gave up on the marriage. Even when his father threatened to take away the hotel, he ultimately told him that he didn’t need it and left with his own two feet, as if he wanted the whole world to know. He walked away from the group. My SeonJae… I know he’s my son, but isn’t he so cool?”

HwaYeon’s childish personality was still the same. She uncapped a bottle of juice and slid it over to YeonJung. YeonJung imagined the mother and son together. Their faces were so alike, but their personalities were completely different.

“Ah, jeez. This makes me look like such a weird ahjumma. My SeonJae isn’t a mama’s boy at all. You know what he’s like, don’t you, YeonJung-ssi? I came here today as your friend, so don’t misunderstand, okay? Alright? I only wanted to take care of your meal and leave, but seeing you for the first time in a while made me want to babble on and on. Ah, if SeonJae finds out, he might scold me for saying such useless things.”

Seeing her fuss seemed cute in YeonJung’s eyes. She wiped her mouth with a napkin as she laughed.

“YeonJung-ssi, I really like you a lot. You have a quality that can really calm someone down. A pleasant energy. That’s why I understand SeonJae. He’s giving everything he has to catch you. He’s making up any excuse to stay by your side.”

How should she respond? YeonJung fidgeted with the juice bottle.

“I think SeonJae’s very lucky. He’s able to throw everything away and cling to his love. I’ve only experienced something like that in dramas. That’s why I want to cheer my son on. It’s pretty cool. It makes one’s heart race.”

YeonJung saw a few small wrinkles near her eyes. She took very good care of herself, but she wasn’t able to completely hide the evidence of the years. Even so, it seemed so natural on her. As expected, she was meant to be an actress. With a face that looked so much like her son’s, she grinned at YeonJung.

“But it’s not that I don’t understand where you’re coming from, YeonJung-ssi. Wasn’t my son such a jerk in the past? Look at the way he treated his own mother. Hoho, that’s why if you decide to give him a hard time for a little while longer, I don’t mind… Omo, omo, would you look at that? Speak of the devil and he shall appear.”

She had been holding onto YeonJung’s hand as she babbled on and on when she received a call from SeonJae. After taking the call, she reluctantly got up from her seat. They had talked for a little over an hour, but YeonJung felt as if her soul was sucked out of her. YeonJung even ended up promising to attend the construction of a wellness center for the deaf with HwaYeon at the end of the month.

After seeing her off, YeonJung poured herself some cold barley tea and sat down at the table.

‘He’s giving everything he has to catch you. He’s making up any excuse to stay by your side.’

That day on the second floor of the cafe, SeonJae had looked into her eyes as he told her.

‘I set up the company because it was work I could do together with you.’

How much of it was the truth?

YeonJung put both of her arms on the table and lowered her cheek onto the cool glass. Her heart felt warm and had been racing for a while now.

* * *

Thanks to the week of rest at home, YeonJung actually felt a lot better than before she had fallen sick. She had received the call that she could go and pick up her car at the shop. On her way home from the mechanic’s, she stopped by the flower market and browsed all the new flowers and made some orders. She wandered the different shops along the path. Two hours flashed by in an instant as she picked the flowers she’d send to an art exhibit. Possibly due to the fact that she hadn’t come in a while, YeonJung found a lot of materials and flowers that she hadn’t seen here before.

Vases, decorations, and other subsidiary materials… As expected, it was a lot better to see them firsthand than just going through the pictures. Whenever she walked through the crowded flower market, her mind was always filled with ideas, and all the complicated thoughts would sort themselves out.

After picking out some bowls for her bouquets, she began to draw the centerpieces for the wedding exhibition in her head. She’d make the foundation out of wire, and then she’d add eucalyptus or lotus pips, anything that could bring about a rich green to the background. YeonJung’s plan was to hang them down from the ceiling. She felt that the main star of the piece should be the elegant, purple clematis flower. What would be a good flower to use as fillers? As she planned it out in her head, the shop’s owner noticed her.

“It’s been a while.”

When the owner happily called out to her, YeonJung grinned and lowered her head in greeting. She always felt at peace whenever she met someone in the same field of work.

“We just got some trees that had been splintered after being struck by lightning. The shape must be quite strange because no one seems to be interested in purchasing it.”

YeonJung glanced at the area of the store the owner pointed to. It was quite large. It came all the way up to her chest. The dark branches sticking out in all directions gave it a dreary aura.

‘I better go with this.’

The thought popped into her head. What if she draped pastel hydrangeas along the branches like cherry blossoms? She thought it would create quite a powerful image.

YeonJung didn’t hesitate as she pointed to the tree and nodded. The shop owner laughed as if he was expecting it.

“I knew you’d like it. Then I’ll have it delivered to your workspace. I’ll be able to get it to you by tomorrow.”

After placing her order, YeonJung’s footsteps were light as she exited the flower market. It was now March, but the wind was still cold as it brushed against her cheek, causing her to shiver. With a bag full of flowers hung on her shoulder, YeonJung began to walk towards the parking lot. Someone was standing next to her car. It was SeonJae. When he saw her, he gave her a bright smile.

Ba-dump.

Why was she like this? Her heart suddenly began to race at the sight of his smile. She slightly lowered her head and hid her face. She began to walk towards her car.

“Ah, you’re wearing the scarf I got you.”

To avoid catching another cold, she grabbed the first scarf she could find and wound it around her face. She now realized that the scarf was the one he had gifted her when he had shown up at her apartment one night. Her cheeks flushed.

“It suits you.”

“Why ah-re yoo here?”

They had already discussed all the matters regarding the exhibition. After he had taken care of her when she was ill, she hadn’t seen him for a week. Maybe he had been incredibly busy because of work. Instead of visiting her himself, he’d send her multiple texts and emails.

As her self-control fluctuated, she had even slept with him. Now that they met again, she was incredibly embarrassed, but she also felt that this was for the better. His unexpected appearance caused her to tense up.

“I think we’ll do business here more often. If it’s a place you chose, I’m sure it’s not a bad idea.”

SeonJae shrugged.

‘He’s giving everything he has to catch you. He’s making up any excuse to stay by your side.’

HwaYeon’s words from a few days ago drifted into her head. YeonJung’s heart began to beat faster. She quickly took out her keys from her purse and placed her bags in the car before closing the door. She would have liked for him to move, but he remained standing in front of the driver-side door. 

“Wha’ are yoo doing?”

She asked him in an annoyed voice. SeonJae looked at her awkwardly.

“Can you give me a ride? The employees who came here with me all left first.”

YeonJung put her hand on the steering wheel and sighed.