Chapter 391: Walking in Place
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 391: Walking in Place
Choi Jin-ah finished her call with Oh Yun-ji.
She looked at the bodyguards approaching her and spoke.
"I’m going in on my own, so don't come any closer."
She hated the idea of being escorted into her own home as if she were being dragged away, and she feared that being surrounded by them would make her shrink back into her old, timid self.
Naturally, the bodyguards couldn't afford to be forceful.
Choi Jin-ah walked past them with firm steps and entered the house.
The interior was a stark contrast to the traditional Hanok exterior—clean, modern, and filled with the latest architecture. This structural deformity, in many ways, reflected the psychological state of the master of the house.
“....”
The servants were waiting.
Following their guidance, Choi Jin-ah headed toward the room where her father, Chairman Choi Gil-seop, was waiting.
It was the liquor cellar of the connoisseur Chairman Choi.
He was currently admiring a beautiful display of various rare spirits. Her mother was there as well, standing as far away from him as possible.
Jin-ah hadn't expected both of them to be present.
Their relationship was so poor they lived separately, a fact so well-known it wasn't even worth hiding.
"I'm back," Jin-ah said calmly. Her mother approached her with a worried expression.
"Jin-ah, are you alright? Where have you been all this time?"
Instead of answering her mother, Jin-ah looked at her father.
He had known exactly where she was but hadn't told her mother.
"A friend's house."
"...A friend's house?"
"Yes, a friend's house."
Perhaps she thought it was a bit sudden. Or perhaps it was because it was the first time she had ever heard the word "friend" come out of Jin-ah's mouth.
While her mother hesitated for a moment, Chairman Choi Gil-seop spoke up immediately.
"Is your wandering finally over?"
"Wandering?"
"Yes, wandering. I’ve already looked into everything. I know that you aren't particularly important to that fellow, and that the display you put on for me back then was just a performance."
Right after returning from Hawaii, she had met Chairman Choi Gil-seop with Kim Woo-jin.
Choi Gil-seop had wanted Kim Woo-jin as a son-in-law, but Kim Woo-jin had played the role of a degenerate to nullify the marriage talk. However, Jin-ah had burst back in and declared she would marry Kim Woo-jin anyway.
At the time, she had just wanted to resist Choi Gil-seop without thinking of the consequences, so she had made a reckless outburst. That choice was what had led her to this moment.
"Hoo, I’ve done a lot of thinking myself."
Chairman Choi Gil-seop slowly turned to face Jin-ah with his hands behind his back.
"When you said you would marry him, I was more flustered than I expected. I suppose that shows how much I cherish you."
“....”
"I apologize for treating you as if I were putting you on the market."
How should she describe this?
"From now on, you choose. Stay with whoever you want."
A sense of dissonance washed over her.
"There are people who have been contacted separately. Their reputations are good, and their families are outstanding."
If she had to put it into words... yes, the metaphor of water seemed appropriate.
"I won't interfere with you at all. As for the company, I plan to leave it to a professional manager after I retire so you don't have to worry about it."
I mean, doesn't water look the same on the surface?
"The violin? Do it if you want. Classical music is a sophisticated hobby. I even thought it was quite stylish that you reached a world-class level just as a hobby."
Whether it's seawater or water in a tank. Either way, they are both transparent.
"As long as we protect the company shares, there won't be any major issues. So don't worry needlessly and live however you want."
Unless you're a fish living inside it, you wouldn't notice the difference.
Chairman Choi Gil-seop was smiling.
Jin-ah caught her breath at the suggestion that this should be enough. The world she had seen outside had given her many experiences. Beyond simply being free, she had glimpsed the responsibilities and even the fragments of madness that came with it.
It was salty.
The freedom was so stimulating it made her tongue sting.
“....”
Before she knew it, that salty taste had vanished from the tip of her tongue. To be precise, it happened the moment she stepped back into this place.
"Is a tank as wide as the ocean still just an ocean?"
"Jin-ah, don't start with the nonsense."
Chairman Choi Gil-seop wanted to hear what she thought of his proposal, but Jin-ah shook her head with a sigh.
"A tank is a tank. It can never be the ocean."
"Jin-ah."
She took a breath. Surprisingly, she was speaking clearly and deliberately, as if she had been waiting for this very moment.
"You made it sound like I have a choice, but in the end, I can only choose from the people you picked."
“....”
"You told me to play the violin, but you drew a line by calling it a 'hobby.'"
“....”
"You act like you're not burdening me with management, but you won't let go of the shares until the very end."
"Don't act like a child. You're old enough to know that, in the end, these are all the best paths for you."
The hand-picked husband candidates. Management that was more stable and provided an overwhelming income compared to being a violinist. Chairman Choi Gil-seop had, in his own way, created an environment where she could make the "best" choices.
"Why is my happiness not considered even a little bit in that outcome?"
"I'm making these concessions because I'm considering your happiness the most—!"
"You didn't say a word to me! These are concessions made within the standards you set for yourself!"
"What?"
"It's my life, so why are you the one making concessions? Why do I have to live only inside the tank you built?"
As if she were his property.
Silence fell. No one in the room expected Jin-ah to talk back like this—not even Jin-ah herself.
Catching her breath, Jin-ah asked herself: How did I suddenly become so bold?
Was it because of the preparations she had been making all this time? Had she really become bold without even realizing it?
‘No.’
Let’s be honest. She should at least be honest with herself.
Jin-ah hadn't prepared anything. She had just spent her time eating, playing, and having fun with her friends.
And she realized that was exactly why she could stand up to her father like this now.
A dolphin that has tasted the vastness of the ocean can no longer return to a tank.
Realizing that what she needed wasn't the courage to fight, but a reason and a goal for why she had to fight, Jin-ah took a deep breath, pointed a finger, and shouted.
"It's because you're like this in everything that you're living separately from Mom!"
"...What?"
It was a statement that completely crossed the line. A chilling atmosphere pierced the air, but Jin-ah did not back down.
Because she had learned by watching a certain man's back that even if you go this far, your life doesn't end.
"Because you treat our lives like your own disposable supplies, you have no one around you!"
“....”
"I don't even expect you two to get along! So stay out of my business! I'll make plenty of money and live just fine on my own anyway!"
“....”
"I'm going to get my own place now! I'm going to live out there! So please, just leave me alone! If you put people on me again, I'm reporting you to the police!"
She didn't even hesitate to mock him, saying that reporters would love it if a conglomerate chairman was reported for stalking his own daughter.
"Got it? Let's stop seeing each other and stressing out! Have a long life! And stop drinking so much! That's why your hair is falling out like that!"
“....”
"Pfft."
The sound of her mother's laughter broke the silence. Chairman Choi Gil-seop stared blankly at his daughter. No, his expression said he couldn't believe this was his daughter.
"Or just drink it all and become a total baldy!"
"J-Jin-ah?"
"I have someone I respect."
Grip.
Jin-ah clenched her fists. Funnily enough, the man who came to mind was completely wasted on alcohol. She never thought she would say something like this.
"I respect Lu Bu! Because he's a total renegade!"
"Hah?"
"Got it? I'm leaving! Don't follow me! Before I turn you into Dong Zhuo!"
Thud!
Jin-ah slammed the door and stepped outside, her face flushed bright red. She realized belatedly that the sound of heavy, excited breathing was her own.
"Hoo, hoooo."
Jin-ah reached the parking lot, shaking off the bodyguards with her gaze. As she finally caught her breath, the tension left her, and her strength began to fade.
However, the salty taste on her tongue brought an involuntary smile to her lips.
"Geez, Choi Jin-ah. That was freaking cool."
She muttered to herself, leaning against her Porsche and trying to keep her balance on her trembling legs.
"Jin-ah."
"Eek?!"
A voice came from behind her. It was her mother.
"M-Mother?"
Her mother patted Jin-ah on the shoulder.
"You've changed a lot since I last saw you."
"...I'm an adult now."
At Jin-ah's answer, her mother looked down and hesitated for a moment before speaking again.
"But that was too much. How could you speak to your father like that?"
"You laughed too, Mom."
“....”
"It's fine. I'm never living here again. You live your life, Mom, and Dad can live his."
"Jin-ah."
"So go. Go and settle things between the two of you yourselves."
At those words, her mother couldn't say anything and eventually turned away. When Jin-ah was suffering excessively under Choi Gil-seop, her mother had neglected her and stayed away.
Watching her mother's retreating back, Jin-ah bit her lip. Seeing it made a part of her heart ache with a sharp sting.
‘In the end, I can't be as cold as you.’
She gave a bitter, self-deprecating smile and added one last thing.
"I'll send you tickets for my next concert. If you have time, come watch with Dad."
“....”
"I won't let him interfere."
She was the one who would protect her own life.
"But I'll let you watch."
She wasn't cold-hearted enough to deny the memories and the time they spent raising her.
"To see how beautifully your daughter has blossomed."
"...Right. Thank you."
Was that a slight smile on her mother's face? Jin-ah was curious, but she decided not to care.
"Phew."
She had been terrified. But the taste of victory was truly sweet. The freedom she had seized felt like it was weighing down on her.
She felt anxious.
"What did he say to do when I'm anxious?"
Getting into the car, Jin-ah immediately pulled out her phone. Kim Woo-jin's words suddenly flashed through her mind.
'Look at your bank account.'
She checked the balance. Seeing the astronomical amount of money she had earned as a performer made her feel a bit more at ease.
"Hehe."
Actually, both when she asked him and now, it wasn't that she was anxious because of money. That realization made it feel a bit silly.
"I haven't changed since elementary school."
In the end, what she had done was just imitate Kim Woo-jin.
Just like in elementary school, when she would buy cup ramen even after finishing her school lunch. Just like how she bought card packs even though she didn't know how to play.
She had no money worries, but she checked her bank account anyway. In her fight with her father, she had poured out her heart using the very words he had used.
Back then, she had admired Kim Woo-jin and wanted to be like him. He was a man who perfectly fit the term 'first love.'
She closed her eyes for a moment.
A moment later, she bumped her forehead against the steering wheel and grumbled to herself.
"Ah, seriously..."
She really hadn't changed.
Not since elementary school.