Mother-in-Law and Daughter-in-Law (2)
At the department store. The moment Yujin stepped inside, the entire atmosphere among the staff shifted. They smiled with maximum politeness, carefully reading the VIP’s every expression, and even I couldn’t help feeling the tension ripple through me.
“We don’t have time. Buy everything I mentioned earlier and bring it all.” At Yujin’s single command, the entourage that had been following us immediately scurried ahead.
Amid the bustling crowd, a middle-aged man and the woman trailing him came rushing toward us.
“Aigoo, Miss! You should have let us know you were coming, hahaha…” The woman who appeared to be a secretary offered a handkerchief. The man accepted it and dabbed the sweat from his forehead.
“Ah! It’s been so long since I last saw your face. You remember me, don’t you?” The man extended his hand to me. I searched my memory for a moment.
…The faint recollection of meeting him on Mother’s birthday came back to me.
“Yes, it has been a while.”
“We don’t have time to chat while greeting each other. We’ll handle our business and leave, so don’t concern yourselves and go back upstairs.”
Yujin’s tone was noticeably more polite than usual. Perhaps her determination to show a good side to Mom was influencing how she treated other elders as well.
“Ah… Aigoo, I understand. I won’t interfere.” The man seemed to sense the unusual atmosphere in Yujin’s voice and retreated hastily with his secretary, offering no further protest.
“Still… isn’t that man an executive…?” It weighed on me a little that we had immediately sent away someone who had come out to greet us so considerately.
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s go look at clothes for Mother quickly.”
Yet Yujin seemed to have no attention to spare on such matters. Dark circles sat heavily under her eyes—she had stayed up all night worrying about what to give Mom.
“…Yes, all right.”
Insisting that she had to judge the texture and color of the clothes herself, she took my hand and led me through every luxury brand boutique in the store.
“Something too expensive might feel burdensome when she first receives it… don’t you think? This much should be…”
I simply watched from behind as Yujin rummaged through the displays. Like middle-aged women tearing through discount racks, she dug through all those expensive-looking garments without restraint.
Yet she followed my advice to choose only one item that carried her sincere heart. She fidgeted anxiously, searching for the perfect gift.
The staff, of course, never stopped moving. They continuously brought over recommended pieces for Yujin to consider.
“Miss, how about this one? It’s quite popular among women in Mother’s age group…”
“That’s too flashy. She hasn’t worn luxury brands often, so bring something neat that doesn’t scream its price.”
“This is a new arrival this season…”
“The color is too dull. It looks like something an office worker would wear. Bring something else.”
To satisfy her exacting standards, many employees poured all their skill into suggesting items. Most were rejected outright.
To my eyes they all looked luxurious and beautiful, and I felt a pang of sympathy for the discarded clothes. Mom would have been happy with anything… Still, I had made Yujin select with utmost care. The joy of being accepted would surely be twice as sweet.
“This one…! This! Pack it quickly. Hurry!”
Yujin snatched up a single garment and called urgently for the staff. Several employees rushed over, carefully accepted the piece, and placed it inside a box.
I had assumed clothes were simply put in plastic bags, but they began wrapping it with great care inside a sturdy box emblazoned with the brand logo.
I walked over to Yujin, who was biting her nails while watching the packaging with visible anxiety.
“Yujin, don’t be so nervous. You chose it with such genuine care. She’ll definitely love it.”
“Right…? She will, won’t she…?” Yujin clutched both my hands tightly and murmured as though in prayer.
“It has to be… Happy love… Let it be happy…”
I let her feel the warmth of my hands for a moment so she could gather herself.
Seeing her tremble with anxiety like this, she was no different from any other ordinary, adorable young woman.
…If things continued this way, everything would be fine.
“Miss, here you are. We should hurry along now.”
The employee handed Yujin the elegantly wrapped box and the handbag containing it. Normally she would have tossed it to someone else and ordered them to carry it, but today she gripped the handbag with both hands, trembling as if terrified it might be stolen.
“Should I pick one more just in case…? What if she doesn’t like it…?”
I wrapped my arms around her from behind, holding her tightly as I slowly guided her away, her anxiety impossible to hide.
“No, that’s more than enough. She’ll definitely like it. I know my mom better than anyone. Trust my stories about living with her all these years more than whatever people dug up in their investigations.”
I gently kissed her cheek, which looked on the verge of tears, and offered more reassurance.
“The way you worked so hard to choose is incredibly beautiful. There’s no way she wouldn’t love something you bought with your whole heart.”
“…Yeah. Okay.”
Yujin burrowed into my chest as if trying to soothe her own heart.
It would be a far better relationship if she trusted and depended on me… With that thought, I opened my arms and held her gently.
The familiar elevator. Only Yujin, Suhong-ssi, and I rode it as it slowly ascended. I had told the others to come up later with the rest of the luggage. After all, our apartment elevator couldn’t hold that many people.
Ding!
The elevator stopped at the floor where my home was located. Along with a mechanical voice announcement, the doors opened, and all three of us stepped out.
“W-wait a second!” Yujin grabbed my sleeve, stopping me.
“Hug me one last time…”
…It was hard to believe this was the same woman who had once threatened to eliminate everyone around me. Her endlessly fragile, timid appearance made me feel almost sorry for her.
Actually, it was good. I could tell that “meeting Mom” had become an enormous event for Yujin. Things would surely go smoothly. I knew Mom’s personality better than anyone.
Mom would grow fond of Yujin, and Yujin would grow fond of Mom. Mom would be enchanted by the flood of first-time gifts and Yujin’s status. Yujin would be enchanted by the “motherly” love she had never experienced before.
Yujin was a dangerous person, but if events unfolded as I planned, she would simply become one ordinary woman. There was no chance of failure.
…Still, just in case, I hugged her with everything I had one final time.
“Don’t be nervous. Mom is a little angry right now, but that’s at me. She has no reason to be upset with you, does she?”
“It’s because of me that you couldn’t come home…”
“Let’s keep that a secret between the two of us. All right? I’ll go in first and talk to Mom for a bit, so count to thirty seconds and come right in.”
“Okay…”
After stroking Yujin’s hair, I stood in front of our apartment door. Beep, beep beep beep beep. I entered the new password I had changed after the incident with my sister.
Beep-beep!
The heavy iron door that was characteristic of these apartments swung open for the first time in a while.
“Mom, I’m home!”
I heard the sound of Mom running. I left the door slightly ajar and began taking off my shoes—
“You worthless boy!”
Slap! Slap!
“Ow, that hurts!”
Mom’s fierce beating began without warning. I couldn’t even finish removing my shoes and was left completely defenseless.
“Just! You! Go live somewhere else! Just!”
I couldn’t endure Mom’s powerful punishment as she shoved me and continued slapping with her open palm. I opened the door and fled outside. Mom chased after me barefoot, relentlessly continuing the beating in her determination to discipline me.
“To! Your own mother! Without a single word! Just! For months! Outside—”
Mom’s slapping gradually subsided. The hand gripping the back of my neck also lost its strength.
Yujin and Suhong-ssi stood in the narrow apartment hallway, quietly watching the physical exchange between Mom and me.
“….Ah… Haha, we have guests…?”
Conscious of other people’s eyes, Mom slowly withdrew her hands from me.
“H-hello! Mother!” Yujin bowed at a full ninety degrees—perhaps even deeper—in greeting.
“Hello.” Suhong-ssi also bowed with crisp, disciplined precision, offering the most respectful greeting possible.
Mom looked at the pair, clearly bewildered by the incomprehensible situation.
“Mom, let’s go inside and talk first…”
“Huh? Oh…”
I slowly helped her up and gently pushed her back into the apartment. My body still burned with pain, but I endured it and stepped inside as well.
“Both of you, come in. You can just kick your shoes off anywhere.”
When I invited them inside, Yujin entered the entryway first.
(Who is she? New girlfriend?) Mom whispered to me while watching the two of them.
(Yeah. Please be nice to her.)
Yujin took off her shoes with Suhong-ssi’s assistance. Perhaps because of his solid frame filling the space, the entryway seemed even narrower than usual today.
(Isn’t she from some rich family? And who’s that man? A bodyguard?)
(Something like that.)
“Ah, I’ll organize these…!” Yujin carefully aligned the shoes she had worn with my hastily discarded ones. Suhong-ssi’s dress shoes were already perfectly placed without any need for adjustment.
Looking at the neatly arranged shoes with a satisfied smile, Yujin approached Mom.
“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Lee Yujin, and I’m dating Jihyun.”
“Uh… Yes. But why did you come here so suddenly…?”
“Yes, first of all, this…” Yujin looked flustered, ran back to the handbag she had left by the shoe cabinet, and hurriedly picked it up again. The three of us simply watched her flustered behavior.
“Here…!” Yujin composed herself once more and presented the gift to Mom.
“No, you didn’t have to bring anything…” Mom’s eyes widened as she spoke.
She looked at Yujin’s face, then turned to look at me, then looked at Yujin again before speaking.
“No, this… Isn’t this incredibly expensive?”
“Ah… No! It’s not that expensive! I agonized over what to give you and chose it myself because I thought it would suit you well…”
Having delivered everything she had prepared to say, Yujin waited for Mom’s reaction with the tense expression of a student awaiting test scores. I watched Mom’s reaction from beside her as well.
“Aigoo, oh my goodness! Thank you so much~ What is this, really~ Come in and rest! Make yourself comfortable!”
…The reaction was quite dramatic. Yujin’s face lit up with a bright smile.
“Oh my, look at this luxurious box. That son of mine never once bought me even cheap earrings for my birthday, aigoo… Yet he brings such a pretty dress. Our daughter-in-law, sit comfortably! Sit on the sofa over there! I should at least peel some fruit.”
Mom poured out her words in great excitement. Yujin and I were pushed toward the sofa and made to sit down.
“Aigoo, and… Mr. Bodyguard, please sit and rest comfortably too! There isn’t much in the house, but I’ll bring out something, so please wait just a moment.”
Suhong-ssi was also pushed in our direction.
“Um… Mother!”
“Yes, yes. Do you need anything? Shall I get you something? Coffee?”
“No, that’s not it…”
Ding-dong! The doorbell rang.
“Who else is coming? What’s going on?”
Mom headed for the front door without even properly tying her apron strings. Knowing exactly who had rung the bell, I whispered into Yujin’s ear.
“If you don’t tell her about the other gifts right now, she might actually faint…”
“Ah…? Really?? Mother!!”
Yujin sprang up from her seat and hurried to Mom. Suhong-ssi followed them as well. After a brief exchange of voices, the sound of the door opening could be heard.
“Oh… Oh my! What is all this!!”
Mom’s sharp, intense voice carried all the way into the living room.