IMFOBO | CH 9 | A Distant Relative

A Distant Relative

 

The doctor, who had returned to the hospital due to an emergency call, luckily had time for a consultation.

Eun-cho pressed her fingernails into her palm, her gaze fixed on the monitor, anxiety gnawing at her.

The doctor studied the MRI scan with a grave expression before speaking.

“Perhaps we should consider changing the chemotherapy drugs?”

“Change the drugs?”

“This medication isn’t producing a significant response. Even with further cycles, I doubt we’ll see much improvement.”

Chemotherapy was difficult even for young people.

It was remarkable that her elderly grandmother was enduring such harsh treatment.

The chemotherapy had weakened her so much that she had nearly collapsed several times, leading to her forced hospitalization.

Moreover, this was a recurrence for her grandmother, whose cancer had first appeared ten years prior.

This made them even more cautious.

“Then, what medication are you suggesting?”

“It’s a new drug, and because it’s not covered by insurance, it’s expensive. Our hospital doesn’t currently handle it, but… I believe it could be effective for Ms. Kang Soon-young.”

Ah…

Eun-cho bit her lip.

It was like climbing one mountain only to face another.

She desperately wanted to save her grandmother, yet now that an opportunity had arisen, she couldn’t immediately agree. She hated herself for that.

“Consider it, guardian. I hesitate to say this definitively, but I believe this drug is the best option given your grandmother’s current condition.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Eun-cho left the office with heavy steps.

As if being hounded by loan sharks demanding immediate repayment wasn’t enough, now there was an expensive, non-covered new drug.

There was no way she could afford it on her own.

She resented her aunt, who had cashed out her grandmother’s insurance and disappeared.

“…Perhaps I have no choice but to turn to my father.”

At sixteen, when her grandmother was first sick, she had gone to see her father, who had started a new family.

She knew he was doing well, but seeing it firsthand was painful even to her young self.

More than her father’s affluent lifestyle, she envied the child in that home who received the unconditional love she had never known.

“She’s a distant relative.”

Whether it was because he was mindful of his wife or ashamed of having a child out of wedlock, her father brazenly lied in front of her.

His own daughter was instantly transformed into a distant relative.

It was humiliating, devastating, and wretched.

Eun-cho still remembered the burning sensation around her eyes at that moment, even after so long.

It wasn’t as if she was simply going to that house with the single-minded determination to save her grandmother.

Back then, Eun-cho was young and naive.

She simply begged and pleaded to save her grandmother. She should have made demands, not appeals.

Her grandmother’s condition was deteriorating rapidly.

Every moment spent deliberating was a luxury she couldn’t afford.

With a determined glint in her eyes, Eun-cho made a phone call.

The monotonous ringing on the other end sent a strange chill through her heart.

“This is Lee Eun-cho. I’d like to see Director Lee Han-moo as soon as possible. Please schedule an appointment.”

Eun-cho was no longer a child.

She needed to suppress her emotions and be businesslike, even if it was with her biological father.

After calling his secretary to arrange a meeting, Eun-cho squeezed her eyes shut.

The wall against her back felt cold.

***

Seoul was as chaotic as ever.

The endless stream of cars was incomparable to the sleepy town of Cheongrim-ri, where farm equipment and motorcycles were the main modes of transportation.

Eun-cho gripped the steering wheel tightly, slowly navigating the congested road.

Still, Lee Han-moo wanted to keep his daughter hidden, as the meeting place was a private traditional Korean restaurant on the outskirts of Seoul.

Eun-cho’s small car looked out of place among the rows of foreign luxury vehicles, like a mismatched puzzle piece.

Guided by a staff member, Eun-cho entered a private room where Lee Han-moo was already waiting. He looked up at his daughter.

It had been exactly eleven years. Her father had aged in that time.

His thinning, graying hair, and deepening wrinkles were unfamiliar.

“Please prepare the meal immediately.”

“I don’t think a meal is necessary.”

Eun-cho said stiffly as she sat down.

The staff member hesitated, but at Han-moo’s nod, quickly left the room.

Eun-cho took a sip of the cooled hoji tea.

She didn’t want to reveal how parched her mouth was.

“I’m sure you’re busy, so I’ll get straight to the point.”

His steady gaze turned to her.

Perhaps it was a relief that she didn’t resemble her father in appearance.

The fact that there was nothing immediately recognizable to indicate they were related was a small comfort.

It was a pathetic attempt at self-consolation.

“Give me back the child support you owe me. Just 300 million won, without the interest.”

She didn’t mention her grandmother’s illness or the risk of losing their ancestral home in Cheongrim-ri.

Whether she said it or not, he was the kind of person who could find out anything he wanted if he was determined.

She didn’t want to be rejected and hurt like she had been as a child.

“Is that all you have to say?”

His expression was indifferent.

He felt no remorse for failing as a father.

Whatever he was truly thinking, he wouldn’t reveal it to her.

“I can’t just give you that kind of money.”

She never expected it would be easy to get money from her cold-hearted father.

Even as he bargained with his own child, he remained composed.

Eun-cho clenched her fist under the table.

Just like the last time, things hadn’t changed.

Perhaps it would be better to have a clear exchange.

Sensing that he wanted something in return, Eun-cho pretended not to notice and spoke.

“Is there something you want from me?”

“Go on arranged dates and get married.”

“… “

Three years ago, her half-sibling had died in an accident.

As a result, she was the only child left in her father’s family registry.

It was just like her father to immediately think of selling off his daughter.

He was someone who calculated opportunity costs better than anyone, so it was not surprising.

Following her grandmother, now even this man was urging her to marry.

Twenty-seven. It wasn’t particularly young, but it wasn’t as if she was so old that he was desperate to get rid of her.

Eun-cho frowned slightly, and he spoke again.

“A woman’s success in life comes from meeting a good husband and getting married. The men you’d meet through me would be better than some random guy you pick up on your own.”

“Is this the Joseon era?”

She was dumbfounded.

How could her father, who had done everything he could to avoid hearing that she was a parentless child and had become a respected doctor through hard work, be talking about being a good wife and mother?

He wasn’t malicious. He simply believed that it was the truth based on his own standards.

Eun-cho didn’t want to prolong the conversation, so she didn’t want to argue, but she couldn’t just let this go.

“Whatever young people think these days, you’ll understand when you get older, like me.”

“It’s strange to hear you pretending to care. It would have felt more genuine if you had simply admitted that there’s no such thing as free money in this world.”

A hypocrite.

He was so elegantly packaging the act of selling off his child.

“Just go on three arranged dates. Then I won’t mention it again.”

“I have the right to refuse, right?”

He nodded.

100 million won per date wasn’t a bad deal.

It was easier than any of the other dirty work she had been prepared to do.

After all, she could just show her face and refuse them all.

“Don’t go back on your word.”

Eun-cho abruptly stood up.

The food hadn’t even been served yet.

Han-moo watched her as she left, then turned his gaze to the empty table.

The paper-lined sliding door opened and closed.

Alone in the empty room, the middle-aged man stared blankly at the spot where his daughter had been sitting.

“She could have at least had a meal before leaving. She’s always been so impatient.”

His daughter, who resembled her mother with her delicate and graceful features, had somehow inherited the personality of a father who hadn’t raised her. It stung.

The child support payments had been sent regularly and generously to the aunt who was raising her.

It seemed that she had embezzled a significant amount of the money, but he had no right to question her.

He had abandoned his child to her maternal family and had never looked back. He couldn’t claim to have fulfilled his duty as a father simply by providing child support and college tuition.

“Excuse me.”

The closed door slid open. A man sitting in the next room made eye contact and smiled brightly.

It was a familiar face.

Unlike the empty table in this room, the table in the other room was covered with dishes.

“It’s too much for me to eat alone. Would you like to join me? It looks like you’ve been stood up.”

“…”

He must have been here before him.

Was this a coincidence? He felt uneasy, but he didn’t voice his concerns.

The way he crinkled his nose was just like when he was a child, but his appearance, now in his thirties, was quite imposing.

“Your daughter inherited your temper,” Tae-san said.

You’re just like your grandfather.

Han-moo swallowed the words and sat across from Tae-san.

As soon as he sat down, he picked up a celadon teapot filled with clear sake and made eye contact.

“I unintentionally overheard your conversation, and I was about to make a similar proposal to you, sir.”

“What…?”

“An arranged marriage.”

A sense of foreboding made him pause as he was about to bring the glass to his lips.

The inscrutable man slowly picked up a piece of grilled croaker and dipped it in sauce.

“I’d like to choose the three men your daughter will be set up with.”

Why would you do that?

Who are you to choose my daughter’s dates?

He wanted to shout, but the other man was a member of Baekun’s royal family.

Ryu Tae-san, who was the spitting image of the former chairman.

“I don’t know why you’re interested in my daughter.”

“She’s cute, and she doesn’t seem like she’d be easily intimidated.”

“She’s like a sore spot to me. She’s not someone you can just play around with…”

Tae-san chewed his food without making a sound.

His smooth Adam’s apple moved in a relaxed manner.

He slowly swallowed a sip of sake.

“What do you take me for? I’m not trying to play around with her.”

“…”

“I’m trying to marry her.”

The Ryu Tae-san that Lee Han-moo knew was someone who never made empty promises.