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“Young-woo. Shouldn't you apologize? I told you she's my person.”
Seok-hyun's gaze looked like a warning. A warning that he would tell their brother if Young-woo was only capable of this much.
As the voice of her eldest brother echoed in his ears—scolding him for being an embarrassment to the family and telling him that was why he was so pathetic—Song Young-woo grit his teeth and apologized. His exaggeratedly smiling face was twisted to the limit.
“Haha, I went a bit too far, didn't I? I'm sorry, Hee-jin.”
His expression wasn't one of apology at all, but reading the embarrassment and discomfort on his face, Hee-jin nodded and said it was fine. Whether he was afraid of Go Seok-hyun or something else, she had said everything she wanted to say, and above all, he wasn't someone she wanted to be close to.
Song Young-woo was a person accustomed to ignoring and mocking others. He even possessed a malicious side that enjoyed the reactions. How did Go Seok-hyun end up knowing a guy like this? She began to doubt his choice of friends.
As the atmosphere became rapidly awkward, Song Young-woo left early. Since Hee-jin had no desire to eat more, she also wanted to go home, but Seok-hyun showed no sign of getting up.
“You're good at reading people.”
Hee-jin stared at Seok-hyun, wondering what he was trying to say.
“The way Song Young-woo is so consumed by jealousy is an expression of his inferiority complex toward his superior brother. The President of the entertainment company he's currently working for is also my brother.”
It sounded like a warning not to judge him based on Song Young-woo, but Hee-jin snorted.
“Birds of a feather.”
Disappointment was etched on Hee-jin's face as she drew a firm line. Seok-hyun instinctively knew that the disappointment wasn't directed at Song Young-woo.
“Whether it's someone who ignores desperation, or someone who exploits it.”
“Exploits...?”
Seok-hyun fell into a heavy silence, chewing over the last words Hee-jin spoke as she turned her head away as if she didn't want to look at him. He was used to cynicism or a rebellious attitude, but disappointment was entirely unexpected.
Because disappointment is an emotion felt only when expectations are betrayed.
At what point did she come to think that he was exploiting her desperation? Seok-hyun retraced the scenes in his memory. Reaching out when she was at her most desperate. That had been done within a thorough calculation.
Did that calculation appear to Hee-jin as an intention to take advantage of her desperation? He had simply presented the optimal path for Yoo Hee-jin to reach her desired goal.
It was only natural to use the necessary means for success. If Hee-jin's desperation was necessary for her to move forward, he could use it as much as needed. However, for some reason, those words didn't come out confidently.
Seok-hyun recalled Hee-jin's image, struggling to maintain her self-esteem even in the midst of despair. Even though it was a simple problem that could be solved by relying on him, she insisted on pushing his hand away and floundered alone in pain. He had never properly measured that anxiety and pain. He had simply wanted to rescue Hee-jin as quickly as possible.
If the hand he extended appeared to Hee-jin in a different light, it occurred to him that the goal Hee-jin wished to achieve might not simply be 'full recovery.' The thought that there was something he had failed to read, and that it might be more important to Hee-jin than the recovery of her hand, left Seok-hyun unable to speak easily, which was unlike him.
That night, Seok-hyun sat by the bedside and lightly massaged Hee-jin's hand to help her fall asleep easily. Since today was a monumental day of receiving good results, they decided to take a break from rehabilitation.
Hee-jin felt that he had become quiet since they were at the restaurant, but she didn't particularly want to start a conversation. The existence of Song Young-woo, whom she met today, felt as if it represented Go Seok-hyun's true nature, so she was also in a bad mood.
Hee-jin believed that Go Seok-hyun had avoided introducing Song Young-woo because he didn't want to show his dirty side. In fact, Song Young-woo had clearly shown how ugly their personalities were. Was it so shocking to hear that they were birds of a feather after he spoke up to try and fix the situation?
“Can't you sleep?”
As she stared at him, Seok-hyun smiled faintly. His tone was the same as usual, but it lacked strength. It didn't suit him, and it was even irritating.
“What kind of trick is this now?”
When she told him to knock it off, Seok-hyun's expression became more complex. He parted his lips for a moment as if choosing his words, but then said something useless.
“If you can't sleep, do you want some warm tea?”
Feeling irritable, Hee-jin shook off his hand and turned over. Her curled-up posture was very defensive. Seok-hyun gazed at her blankly and then carefully tidied the hair covering her face.
“Don't touch me and get out.”
Hee-jin shook her head briefly to avoid his touch. She couldn't see him because her eyes were closed, but she felt his hand move away. That wasn't all. She thought Seok-hyun was standing up, and soon the door opened.
“…….”
*Click.* At the sound of the door closing, Hee-jin's eyes snapped open. She couldn't believe Go Seok-hyun had left so obediently. Normally, he was a person who would stubbornly tidy her hair even if she said she hated it, or in worse cases, push to sleep with her.
The sudden change was puzzling, but Hee-jin buried her head in the pillow again. It had been a long day. She was too exhausted to think deeply.
✾ ✾ ✾
“You brat. Pick up the phone already...!”
Hee-jin's mother, Kang So-young, was losing her composure. She couldn't even guess how the situation had spiraled to this point.
It began with the simple realization that there was no contact from Hee-jin. The last thing she'd heard was that Hee-jin was going to Korea. She hadn't been worried because Hee-jin was a child who reported her return home without being asked, but this time was different. Several months had already passed, and there hadn't been a single call.
Feeling hurt, wondering if her daughter didn't even care for her mother anymore, she called, but Hee-jin didn't answer. In that moment, a chilling anxiety washed over her. A feeling that something had happened.
As she couldn't reach her via phone, message, or even social media, the anxiety intensified. She looked for people who might be in contact with Hee-jin, only to realize she didn't even know a single one of her daughter's friends' contact numbers. Eventually, she had no choice but to call the orchestra.
Even then, she hoped that Hee-jin was simply avoiding her. It weighed on her mind belatedly that she hadn't asked what business took her to Korea. She was reflecting on how she had acted indifferently, assuming her daughter would handle things well, when a bolt from the blue arrived.
“I'm sorry, but Ms. Yoo Hee-jin is currently on an indefinite medical leave. I heard she injured her hand and is recovering.”
The moment she heard those words, she felt a terrible pain in her own healthy hand. As if her own hand had been injured. Hee-jin was a violinist whose hands were her life. The fact that she was injured enough to take an indefinite medical leave left her momentarily speechless. Moreover, the shock that she had been completely unaware of this fact was overwhelming.
The anxiety grew uncontrollably, but the reality that there was no way to find Hee-jin only increased her helplessness. Not knowing whether Hee-jin was in Korea or the US, she let out a hollow laugh, wondering if she even deserved to be called a mother.
Half-crazed, she called the orchestra again and begged them to tell her where Hee-jin was. As soon as she heard they had seen a medical certificate from a Korean hospital, her ex-husband came to mind.
He was an ex-husband she thought she would never have a reason to contact for the rest of her life. But since there was no one else to ask about Hee-jin's news, she had no choice. Her heart pounded as she restored the contact information from the social media she had blocked as soon as Hee-jin became an adult and made the call.
Perhaps because it was early morning, or perhaps because he was avoiding her call, he didn't answer. Biting her nails in nervousness, she screamed the moment the call connected.
“Where is Hee-jin!”
The other end of the line was silent, as if he hadn't expected her to bark at him so abruptly. The voice that finally came out was laced with astonishment.
- You... don't tell me you didn't know about Hee-jin's... situation?
Feeling as if it were a condemnation of how she could not have known, she reacted convulsively and blamed him instead.
“If you knew, you should have told me! Does it make sense that I, her mother, didn't know until now!”
- I thought Hee-jin would have contacted you....
The words spoken in a slightly intimidated voice sounded strange. It sounded as if she hadn't contacted him either. Snapping back to her senses as if cold water had been poured over her head, she demanded an explanation.
- She avoided my calls even before she got injured.... When she was in the hospital, she even refused visits, and she still won't meet me.
It was absurd. There had been no sign of this when Hee-jin went to Korea. She felt frustrated, not knowing what had happened or what change in heart had led her to avoid her parents.
She was a daughter who had never caused her parents any grief. In her childhood, she was a pure girl who knew nothing but the violin, and as an adult, she was a reliable daughter who took good care of herself. That had always been a great comfort. Although her marriage to Yoo Seong-hwan had met the worst possible end, thanks to having a daughter with a strong sense of independence, she had no burden in starting a new life.
But that independence had now returned as a poison. The fact that she didn't even know the state of her only daughter weighed heavily upon her.
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