Chapter 124: The Path of Flowers

Second Aunt snorted.

“Bringing Taeseong Chemical as a dowry? Does that even make sense?”

“It’s not impossible.”

“How so? Since you can’t rely on your own family, you’re saying you’ll depend on your husband or your in-laws instead?”

Second Aunt clicked her tongue.

“Sister-in-law, don’t tell me you’re trying to ride on your child’s coattails again this time?”

“N-no, that’s not it.”

“Of course it is. You’ve probably already gone behind everyone’s backs and asked Father by using your young child as an excuse.”

“What? That’s a misunderstanding.”

“Then is it also a misunderstanding that you ruined Wookwang’s marriage proposal? Do you know how awkward things are between the two families because of you? How many businesses are involved, how many people are tied up in this?”

When Second Aunt looked down at her, Mother lowered her head deeply.

“I just wanted us to have dinner together as a family, that’s all…”

“You’re so lucky, Sister-in-law. Even with Sungjun gone, Father steps up to look after you. I don’t have anyone, so I came with my own father.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Once again, I gripped Mother’s trembling hand tightly.

“Mom, why are you bowing your head and apologizing when you’ve done nothing wrong? Lift your head.”

“Junghyuk…”

“What’s so terrible about having dinner with Grandpa? It’s not like it’s some grave crime.”

I squeezed Mother’s hand tightly.

“So what if she gets help from her husband or in-laws? I want my mom to walk a path of flowers thanks to me!”

“Junghyuk, that’s enough.”

“There’s no reason to look down on my mom like that. Taeseong Chemical, the company you say we lost because of us? We’ll just take it back, that’s all.”

I snorted as well.

“Just watch. Let’s see if my mom gets Taeseong Chemical back or not. We can talk again then.”

“I’m sorry, Sister.”

Mother bowed her back deeply.

“My child is still young and doesn’t know any better. I’ll make sure to scold him later.”

Mother shook her head slightly while holding my hand tight.

Seeing her troubled expression, I swallowed the words that had risen to my throat.

Instead, I looked up at Grandpa, silently demanding an answer with my eyes.

-Aren’t you going to rein in your second daughter-in-law?

Grandpa let out a sigh, looking extremely troubled.

“That’s enough, all of you. I’m tired.”

Suddenly, a question occurred to me.

I’d noticed it when we had rice cake soup together on New Year’s Day—why doesn’t Grandpa ever discipline his two daughters-in-law?

Is it because his love for them is just that deep?

Does he ensure they have a voice just as he looks after his children’s livelihoods?

“What’s so special about sharing a meal as a family that you all have to be at each other’s throats?”

Grandpa patted my shoulder gently.

“Junghyuk, go on in with your mother. I need to have a word with my in-law.”

“Go ahead, you should go in first. The kids say they’re hungry.”

The elderly gentleman raised his fedora and bowed politely.

“Don’t mind the sharp words. He’s not ill-tempered at heart. As you know, things have been noisy lately, so his nerves are frayed. Please understand.”

“Father.”

“My child is running everywhere these days to get Taeseong Chemical back. Why else would I have gotten involved myself?”

“Dad!”

“I know Taeseong Chemical is a company you’ve poured years of effort into. I understand it’s too precious to let slip away, and that if we don’t act now, we may lose it forever. That’s why I made up my mind.”

The elderly gentleman smiled bitterly.

“Family means helping and relying on each other when things get tough, doesn’t it? At the very least, when it comes to reclaiming Taeseong Chemical, I’ll gladly lend a hand.”

“No, please, in-law. As for Taeseong Chemical…”

Grandpa pursed his lips, visibly troubled.

He seemed unsure how much to say.

“Your words alone are enough, but really, you don’t have to worry about Taeseong Chemical. As Junghyuk said…”

Ding.

The restaurant door opened.

A model-like man with a tall frame, a sleek black long coat, and a gray scarf stepped inside.

“Dad!”

“Senpai?”

Father spotted us and broke into a wide smile.

“Junghyuk, Sujin.”

With long strides, Father quickly closed the distance between us.

“Father, in-law, my sister-in-law and the nephews are all here too, I see.”

Father scooped me up in a hug.

Startled, I threw my arms tightly around his neck.

His low, gentle laughter brushed my ear.

“Sorry I’m late. Did everyone enjoy the meal?”

“We’d just finished and were coming out. The second family hasn’t eaten yet.”

When Grandpa replied, Father took out his wallet.

“Kids, dinner’s on your uncle tonight. Order as much as you want, okay?”

“Yes!”

“Uncle—no, little uncle! Can we order soda too?”

“Mom keeps saying it’ll rot our bones and won’t let us have it.”

“Well, I can pay for it, but getting your mom’s permission? Even I can’t promise that.”

Father pulled out a wad of bills and pressed them into my cousin’s hand.

“Settle the bill with this, and use the rest as pocket money.”

“Nice!”

“Uncle, you’re the best!”

“I said, call me little uncle!”

My cousins punched the air in excitement.

“Why are you paying? Of course I should pay! Feeding my own grandkids!”

Grandpa opened his wallet too.

“I’ve got more money than you!”

“Father, let me have this one. I want to score some points with my sister-in-law.”

“What do you need points with the second family for?”

“I’d like her to look kindly on me in the future.”

“So you’re offering a bribe?”

“What bribe between family?”

“If you’re exchanging money for favors, it’s a bribe. A bribe’s a bribe.”

“Then let’s just call it a bribe.”

With one arm, Father held me, and with the other, he gently pulled Mother close, smiling.

“It’s just a meal for the nephews and my sister-in-law. Whether it’s a gift or a bribe, does it really matter?”

Father planted a kiss on my cheek with a loud smack.

“Junghyuk, did you enjoy your meal?”

“Yes.”

“Then why the frown? Not feeling well? Should I buy you some stomach medicine?”

“I’m not sick.”

“Are you running a fever?”

Father pressed his forehead to mine.

Then he rubbed our foreheads together softly, smiling warmly.

“Are you sleepy, maybe?”

At the same time, I felt my cousins’ eyes glued to me.

A mix of envy and surprise, tinged with a hint of disappointment and bitterness.

The youngest, Shinhyuk, lowered his gaze and muttered softly, “Must be nice, being Junghyuk.”

The eldest, Yehyuk, nudged his little brother’s side and whispered, “His name’s Junghyuk, not Jinhyuk.”

“I thought the in-law was a block of stone with no room for a needle to slip in, but it seems I’ve been wrong all along,” the elderly gentleman said, looking at the three of us, his gentle smile laced with a hint of irony.

“It’s good to see a close-knit family. Hohoho.”

Second Aunt stared at Father with a peculiar expression.

“Brother-in-law—no, aren’t you upset at all, Husband?”

“Upset? About what?”

Father glanced at us.

“Well, I am a bit upset that I had to be apart from Sujin and Junghyuk. All that lost time feels such a waste.”

He smiled wryly.

“If you’re talking about Taeseong Chemical, that was entirely my fault, so I’m just sorry.”

“Nonsense! Are you the head of Taeseong Group? I’m the one who decided to hand it over to Wookwang!”

Grandpa gave Mother and Father a gentle push.

“You must be tired. Go on and get some rest. I won’t be out long.”

“Yes, then we’ll go ahead.”

“We’ll be going. See you next time.”

After bowing politely and turning away, Father suddenly paused and looked at Mother.

“Wait a moment.”

He took off the gray scarf around his neck and wrapped it around Mother’s.

After bundling her up snugly against the cold, he took her hand and slipped it into his coat pocket.

“It’s cold out. You’ll catch a cold.”

Mother gave a small smile at his gentle words.

“And for Junghyuk…”

“Then I want Daddy’s scarf!”

I hugged Father tightly around the neck.

A wave of elegant, deep men’s cologne washed over me.

Over Father’s shoulder, through my blurred vision, I saw Second Aunt standing like a stone statue, watching us in silence.

Her expression was complicated.

Ding.

And so we left the restaurant.

The biting winter night wind nipped at the tip of my nose.

After being in the warmth, the sudden cold made me shiver unconsciously.

Apparently, Mother felt the same.

“See? I told you it was cold.”

“I never imagined it would be so chilly after being in the warm restaurant.”

“Let’s hurry. I’ll blast the heater for you.”

How many steps did we take toward the parking lot?

We ran into two people getting out of a luxury sedan.

“Shh.”

Second Uncle pressed a finger to his lips.

He was embracing a young woman with long, heavily made-up hair.

“I told you, let’s just go to the hotel restaurant. Are you sure anything tastes better than a Taeseong Hotel steak?”

Disheveled clothes, lipstick marks on his wrinkled shirt, the woman’s torn stockings.

From afar, the cheap scent of women’s perfume wafted on the wind, sickeningly strong.

Suddenly, a line from the Taeseong Group report flashed through my mind.



---

The inside of the car was warm, the heater blasting.

With a full belly and a warm back, I couldn’t help but doze off in the back seat.

“Senpai, how did you make it all the way here?”

“Secretary Kim must have called, but I was out on-site and got the message late.”

Father and Mother’s voices sounded like a lullaby.

“What happened? Suddenly you’re having dinner with Father.”

“I know. I’m not sure how it happened myself.”

Mother fidgeted with her hands as she spoke.

“Father apologized to me.”

“Hm?”

Mother quietly began to recount what had happened.

Her voice was sometimes interspersed with laughter, sounding like a song.

“It’s strange. I didn’t think I ever felt hurt, but listening to Father, I couldn’t help tearing up.”

“Really?”

“Father said he would visit my parents, apologize, and persuade them. About our marriage.”

“I should be the one to apologize. I’ll do the persuading, and get their blessing.”

Mother gripped his hands tightly, whispering.

“When I left home… That was the first time I ever talked back to my parents.”

“You did?”

“Yes. They said they couldn’t stand to see their daughter ruin her life like this and told me to get rid of the baby. I said I’d never give up our child, not even if it killed me.”

“…”

“They told me to bring you right away, but I couldn’t.”

Father let out a low sigh.

“You should have called me. I would have run to you barefoot.”

“I overheard when they gave me the envelope of money. They said you were engaged to the Wookwang Group’s daughter. If the marriage fell through, the business partnership would be broken off. They asked me to leave and not cause trouble for another family.”

“You should have told me. Face to face. Asked me yourself.”

“That’s why I secretly tried to see you.”

Her breath trembled, as did her voice.

“Every day… I waited all day between school and your house.”

“…I had no idea. Not at all.”

“I found out later. You’d gone into the army.”

“Ah, I enlisted suddenly to avoid the engagement ceremony. I left a letter—did you not get it?”

“A letter?”

“So you never got it.”

A short silence passed.

“I thought you were avoiding me on purpose. Then I got found out.”

Because of the morning sickness.

Mother added softly.

“They wanted to drag me to the hospital as soon as they found out an unwed girl was pregnant. I was so shocked I ran out in my tracksuit.”

Father kept one hand on the steering wheel and gripped Mother’s trembling hand tightly with the other.

“Even as Mother shouted, ‘Sujin, don’t go!’ from behind, and my younger sibling clung to Father’s pants and wailed, I hailed a taxi and ran, avoiding Father as he came running…”

Mother’s voice was tinged with tears.

“But I don’t regret it. I wanted to protect our child, even if I had to give up everything else.”