Chapter 19
Not long after the funeral, a family meal was arranged.
Thanks to Mother plausibly covering up the situation, Woo-kyung didn’t say anything to Yi-yeon, who returned after a week.
Yi-yeon’s hand, which was picking up cutlery for the meal, suddenly stopped.
“What about announcing the children’s marriage? How about doing it right after Yi-yeon finishes her internship?”
At the words brought up by Chairman Cha with a kindly face, a broad smile spread across the face of In-cheol, her stepfather.
“If that’s the Chairman’s wish, of course. We can hold the ceremony right after Yi-yeon finishes her internship.”
It had been In-cheol’s long-cherished wish.
With a solid backer like Jeongyul, he thought there would be no more shaking.
The thicker that ambition revealed itself, the more rapidly Yi-yeon’s complexion darkened.
“Our family is rather short on hands, so wouldn’t it be nice to see a grandchild soon on this occasion?”
At those words, Yi-yeon almost spat out the water in her mouth.
“Don’t you have any intention of letting us eat in peace?”
Woo-kyung, from the next seat, handed her a tissue and spoke quietly.
“Silly me. Yi-yeon, you try to understand.”
“No, it’s fine.”
Yi-yeon forced an awkward smile and wiped the corners of her mouth with the tissue.
“Oh, about that wedding. As I mentioned last time, I’d like to postpone it for a while.”
“Ah, look at me.”
As if finally remembering at Woo-kyung’s words, Chairman Cha chimed in.
“I forgot to mention this earlier, but about the kids. We were thinking it would be good for them to go abroad for a few years.”
Yi-yeon’s parents were surprised and couldn’t continue speaking.
“Abroad?”
Even Yi-yeon, hearing this for the first time, was so taken aback that she was left speechless.
“I couldn’t tell Yi-yeon in advance. Once the marriage becomes known, studying domestically won’t be easy, so I’d like them to go abroad until Yi-yeon takes the bar exam.”
Yi-yeon, who had no idea this was what he meant when he said he’d tell her later, was so startled she couldn’t control her expression.
Of course, she knew it was a decision Woo-kyung made out of concern for her.
But perhaps because it was a decision given so suddenly, she felt overwhelmed with frustration.
“Yi-yeon, what do you think?”
Chairman Cha asked cautiously.
“I…”
If anything, was it rather a relief?
To Yi-yeon, whose mind had been complicated since her father’s funeral, this felt like a good excuse to run away.
“Yi-yeon, let’s do that. Just go study for a few years and come back to settle down.”
Woo-kyung, who had reached his hand under the table and gently enveloped Yi-yeon’s hand, spoke affectionately.
“Yes, I understand.”
At Yi-yeon’s short reply, Woo-kyung smiled brightly.
“Then, please let us have our way.”
“Alright, do as you please.”
Chairman Cha clicked his tongue, saying he couldn’t break Woo-kyung’s stubbornness.
“I’ll just go to the restroom for a moment.”
To sort out her complicated thoughts, Yi-yeon got up from her seat.
Arriving at the restroom, Yi-yeon let out a deep sigh.
‘It’s for the best, right?’
Trying hard to steady her mind, she washed her hands, and as she was leaving, her slippery phone fell.
*Ding-ring.*
As she tried to turn off the camera that had turned on when it fell, Yi-yeon’s fingertips froze at the voice coming from the entrance.
“It was just an accidental accident, why bother? We were planning to keep it quiet anyway, but since he died like that, it’s actually for the best.”
Instantly, Yi-yeon’s entire body stiffened.
“So, what does the ShinYu Group say?”
“The person who caused the problem is dead, what can they do? The case is closed like this.”
“There won’t be any problems between you and ShinYu Group, right?”
“None. More importantly, you keep Yi-yeon in check. Make sure this doesn’t reach Chairman Cha’s ears.”
Yi-yeon barely suppressed a gasp that threatened to escape.
What is all this talk about?
“Then again, even if she knew, what could she do? Yi-yeon is in that family now. For the sake of face, they’d keep silent anyway.”
The word ‘accident’ sounded cruelly strange.
To cover a person’s death with a single word so effortlessly.
Only then did Yi-yeon understand.
Why her mother had remained silent throughout the funeral.
What if Woo-kyung finds out?
‘A worker death case covered up by in-laws of Jeongyul Law Firm.’
That alone was enough to make headlines.
Everything would crumble, and the fallout would undoubtedly fall squarely on Woo-kyung.
With trembling hands, Yi-yeon picked up her phone.
On the phone screen, the red recording indicator was still blinking.
With a determined face, Yi-yeon went out into the hallway. As Yi-yeon emerged from the restroom at an unexpected time, the gazes of the two people simultaneously stopped.
“Yi-yeon, you, how long have you been there?”
Her mother, furrowing her neat brow, immediately shouted.
“From the beginning.”
In-cheol’s expression hardened, and he let out a hollow laugh.
“If anything, it’s a relief. If Yi-yeon heard, we just need to make sure she keeps quiet.”
“What on earth is going on? Was it really an accident?”
“Yes, it was an accident. Don’t tell me you think I intentionally killed your father?”
Even as she heard her mother defending In-cheol, something suspicious settled in her heart.
“Whether it was an accident or not, honestly disclose the incident and apologize.”
“What? If this comes to light now, do you think your in-laws will just sit still?”
“Is that the problem now?”
Yi-yeon laughed hollowly. But her mother, looking at her, sharply raised her voice.
“If you just stay quiet, that’s all that’s needed. Don’t noisily make a big deal out of nothing.”
Would it really be like that?
Yi-yeon’s heart gradually hardened.
She didn’t want to drag Woo-kyung into this mess.
Perhaps divorce wasn’t an escape, but a shield.
It might be the last choice to protect him.
At the words Yi-yeon spoke next, her mother’s face finally turned horrified.
“I… I’m going to get a divorce.”
“What?”
Her mother’s voice almost came out as a scream.
“If you don’t want to make this a bigger issue, please settle it as me wanting the divorce.”
“What? Divorce?”
“Otherwise, I’ll reveal what I heard here.”
“How do you think you can reveal it!”
Yi-yeon lifted the phone with the saved video and slowly shook it.
“It’s all recorded here.”
Looking at her mother’s pale face, Yi-yeon said firmly.
“I won’t speak about this matter again. In return, erase my name from this family too.”
Yi-yeon believed that the choice that day was the end.
But soon, she would learn that it wasn’t the end, but the beginning.
***
The divorce papers with both their names were filed in court not long after that.
Unlike the slowly seeped-in feelings, the resolution was all too easy.
Yi-yeon immediately left the house she had shared with Woo-kyung.
‘Are you really serious about getting a divorce?’
Woo-kyung asked repeatedly, as if he couldn’t believe it.
‘Be honest. Are you really hiding nothing from me?’
‘Nothing. It was a marriage without love anyway. As I told you then, please grant the divorce.’
To him, who tried everything to hold her back, Yi-yeon only returned cold words.
Moreover, when she checked her bankbook, she saw the alimony Woo-kyung had transferred.
The amount was unimaginably large.
It was a number she had never seen before.
With that money, she could have lived comfortably for years.
But Yi-yeon didn’t use that money.
The amount written on the first page of the bankbook remained exactly the same.
She never withdrew a single won.
She never thought a life so meticulously organized could end so meaninglessly.
“Hey, I’m going crazy not being able to drink at a time like this.”
By the time the glass Yi-yeon gulped down was half empty, Yoo-jin laughed while holding her stomach with her hand.
“Well, who told you to get pregnant?”
Yoo-jin pouted her lips and shook her glass filled with cola.
“I don’t know either! I told him it was dangerous so many times.”
Yi-yeon, who had even quit her internship, hastily took a leave of absence. And not long after, Yoo-jin also took a leave of absence.
The reason was, absurdly, pregnancy.
Yoo-jin, who got pregnant by her boyfriend of three years, boldly gave up her studies.
“But it’s a good thing, so what can I do! He’s so good, damn him!”
As if she still liked him even after all that, laughter never left her nicely folded eyes.
“Once you give birth, we’ll drink freely then.”
“Right, we must drink then.”
As Yoo-jin gulped down her cola with a bright smile, her head turned towards the entrance.
Then, someone appeared from the door side.
Yoo-jin swallowed the cola in her mouth and spoke urgently.
“Hey, isn’t that the Teaching Assistant?”
When she made eye contact with the TA, who was pushing up his crooked glasses, he grinned and approached.
