Unnie
Director Hwang's hand went for the strap of the ballet costume on Hwang Jiyoung's shoulder. She seized it in a rush, shoved the girl forward, and let go. Jiyoung lost her balance and fell between the two of them, staring up at Director Hwang as if she could not believe what she had just seen.
"Ah..."
Director Hwang did not spare the fallen girl so much as a glance. A mean little smile on her lips, she looked up at Lee Hyesun.
"...Take her. Put her to use."
"...Are you telling me to traffic in human beings?"
"You know perfectly well what I mean. She's Lee blood, so she's pretty in a way no child of mine has any business being, and she's quietly sharp besides. And don't you need a leash? My daughter, and Chairman Lee's daughter on top of it—there's still plenty of use left in that. The chairman never played it that way, but I got quite a lot of good out of it. You know this is my last card."
"The evidence of what you've already embezzled is leash enough to spare."
"Then perhaps you'll accept her as proof of my promise that I won't make another mistake. From now on, it truly will not happen again. This is the place I've given my whole life to, and everything I've built is here. Where else would I go? Please, spare me just this once. We were colleagues who suffered through that hardship together, weren't we?"
Jiyoung, collapsed on the floor, stared at Director Hwang in disbelief and whispered, "Mom..."
"We promised, didn't we? That we'd part someday. You've lived doing whatever you pleased on my money. And you have to answer for this too, after the mess you've made."
"...I thought it was a joke. Just a joke..."
"No. The joke's over. It's time you earned your keep. This is why I raised you so pretty. And it's a good opportunity for you, too. Listen well to Chairwoman Lee and learn. You can do it. You're quick, aren't you? You even followed Hyunji into the same department, and I thought, yes, that's my daughter. You know what I'm telling you. Hold on, and learn from her side. I'm saying all of this for your sake."
"...Mom..."
"Stay glued to me like this and there's still nothing for you to inherit. If the hospital goes under, every one of us is penniless. Better for your future to wait on Chairwoman Lee and scrape even a spoonful off her table."
"I don't... I don't need that..."
Director Hwang cut her off, eyes blazing, and whispered it like a growl. "I do. Help your mother one last time. My girl can do that, can't she?"
Under that stare and that whisper, despair broke across Jiyoung's face. Her eyes brimmed, her head dropped, and she began to sob. Director Hwang let out a sigh of relief, bowed her head to Lee Hyesun, and answered.
"And she'll do well enough as a toy for your daughter's Multimale boyfriend. I've checked her every year and kept her in excellent health. As you can see, she does as she's told. I can't vouch for how she'll serve at night, but I'll see that she's well prepared. She won't run. I've confirmed she has nothing hidden away, and all she knows how to do is dance."
"So that's what you were after? Trying to set her on equal footing with my daughter?"
"Absolutely not. If you wish, I'll have her sterilized before I send her."
"Mom!"
"You know how it is. A Multimale needs somewhere to unload the strain of women's demands. No one knows that better than we do."
"...I know it well."
"And another thing."
Director Hwang bowed lower still, and at the whisper that followed, Lee Hyesun let a pained sound slip from her.
"...Dowon and Valhalla alike would welcome them with open arms. Chairman Lee's bloodline is only now coming of age, you see. I hear everyone is waiting to see where they'll debut first. By the way—which side are you?"
"...Stay out of it. I'll handle it myself."
"F-forgive me. I overstepped."
"How dare you run your mouth about the banquets in front of an outsider. Do you really want this to be the end, Director Hwang?"
"I'm sorry. I'll be careful from now on."
Lee Hyesun watched Jiyoung weep, sunk in despair, her own face giving nothing away. At last she murmured, "Good. That's better. I wanted to give a gift anyway."
"...Shall I have the sterilization prepared?"
"No. That decision isn't mine to make."
She shook her head at Han Gyeo-wool's question, settled her handbag back under her arm, and turned to Director Hwang.
"Then I'll be taking Hwang Jiyoung with me, starting today. I'd prefer you didn't contact her from now on."
Director Hwang's face split in a smile as wide as a washtub, and Jiyoung began to cry even harder. No one so much as looked at her.
"Of course. As you wish. From now on I'll live as if she were never my daughter. So the funding for the infertility center..."
"Not 'as if.' She isn't your daughter anymore. I'm adopting her and moving her onto my family register, so understand it that way."
"...Yes. I have no daughter."
"The budget support will proceed as planned."
"Truly, thank you. I won't forget this kindness."
"Go. I'd rather we never have cause to quarrel again. There won't be a next time. Do you understand?"
"Don't concern yourself. From now on I'll serve you flat on my face."
"Would you disappear now? I don't want to see any more of you today."
"Yes. I remain in your care."
When Lee Hyesun gave her no answer, Director Hwang backed away a step at a time, then bolted down the corridor and vanished.
"...Mom... sob..."
Jiyoung watched her go through eyes full of despair, weeping. Lee Hyesun looked down at her and spoke, quiet.
"Get her changed first."
"Yes. Shall I take her to the hospital room?"
"Yes. I'm counting on you. Move the paperwork along, and set a meeting for tomorrow morning."
"Understood. Up you get."
Lee Hyesun watched, indifferent, as Han Gyeo-wool helped Hwang Jiyoung to her feet. Then she looked away and walked straight for the hospital room.
"Sob..."
"Chin up. You saw this coming, didn't you?" Han Gyeo-wool whispered, supporting the still-sobbing girl toward the elevator.
"Gyeo-wool unnie..."
"...It's just what I told you. That Director Hwang would use your blood right down to the very last. I kept telling you to tuck a nest egg away for a reason."
"I believed her. I believed Mom... This is too much... She's my mom... Not some stranger... She's my mom..."
"...I know. Director Hwang really went too far."
Han Gyeo-wool sighed as Jiyoung broke into bitter tears all over again. She pressed the elevator button, clicked her tongue, and slowly went on.
"All the more reason to pull yourself together. You were always so steady."
"...Sniff..."
"I actually think this turned out well."
"...How? How is this turning out well? How can you say that...?"
"Well. No matter how I look at it, it seems like it did."
"...Unnie..."
"Looked at another way, isn't this what you've been dreaming of?"
"...Sniff. What?"
Han Gyeo-wool met the girl's questioning look, tucked her sunglasses into her jacket, and answered.
"Wasn't your dream to have a life of your own—not to be a canary in a cage who couldn't even talk back to Director Hwang, just because you were Chairman Lee's daughter?"
"...And how is this any different? Do you think I spent my whole school life not seeing Hyunji?"
The tears might never have happened. Jiyoung's eyes had gone sharp, and Han Gyeo-wool smiled softly and lowered her voice.
"Fair. You wouldn't know how she's changed lately."
"...She's changed?"
"She was always a little bit cute, honestly. Lately, even more. No—forget that. Anyway, I could talk all day and you'd just dig in and not listen, same as always."
"Unnie..."
"Right. From now on, I really am your unnie."
"Ah..."
"And Hyunji isn't the younger one anymore, is she. Hyunji's birthday comes first, doesn't it? She's January, and you're February?"
"...Yes. By a month."
"So it's Hyunji unnie now? Our Jiyoung has two unnies."
"...Ah..."
At that gentle smile, Jiyoung stared blankly back at her, her face a mess of tear tracks.
"You've got a big family now. Isn't that right, our Jiyoung."
"Unnie... sob..."
"And don't be so frightened. You have no idea how good Chairwoman Lee is, most of the time."
"I almost wet myself. More than once... My knees are still shaking..."
"And, well. He's a good man."
"Chairwoman Lee...?"
"No. Shinwoo."
"...Ah..."
Only then did the sniffling ease a little. Han Gyeo-wool smiled softly and stroked Jiyoung's hair.
"So you've already talked."
"...Yes. Just for a moment, while I was showing him around today... I—I think he's a good person..."
"Yeah. I feel the same. I've seen plenty, too. Have you taken an interest?"
"...Yes. I haven't been able to tell Hyunji yet. There wasn't time..."
"Then isn't this actually for the better?"
"...Ah..."
"You'll be able to stay close from now on."
"B-but... but a toy is..."
"Well. I wonder if that part isn't up to you."
"...Up to me...?"
"Yes. From everything I've seen, I don't think he's that sort of man. So do you want to go back? Going back won't glue a broken jar together. Are you going to go back and live the way Director Hwang wants?"
"Ah..."
"Take whatever man she picks out for you, have his baby, and hand that baby right back to Director Hwang. Is that the life you want?"
"No. I won't. My child—my baby—I will never do that. I'd rather die."
Light was already coming back into Hwang Jiyoung's eyes. Han Gyeo-wool kept stroking her hair with the hand that had been comforting her, and whispered.
"Then I can count on you from here on, can't I?"
"...My head is still such a mess..."
"Even so, you understand the situation. Our Jiyoung is smart."
"...Yes."
"First let's get you cleaned up, and you can wear my clothes for now. All right?"
"...Yes..."
Jiyoung nodded through a sniffle. Han Gyeo-wool looked at her warmly and helped her out of the elevator.
"Oh my. Did I interrupt a pleasant moment?"
"N-no... Mom..."
Only after the knock sounded in the hospital room were we finally able to part our lips. Hyunji clung to my mouth as if the knock meant nothing at all, and when I gently peeled her away she gasped, hauling in breath. We had been savoring each other's lips as if even the time it took to breathe were a waste. I was no exception, of course, but Hyunji's face had flushed scarlet, nothing leaving her but fevered breaths, the skin around her mouth a mess of saliva. She hurriedly wiped her lips on the blanket. It was so cute that I laughed and roughly wiped my own with the back of my hand.
"Mom... I'm sorry..."
By then Lee Hyesun had come to sit on the edge of the bed across from me. She sighed with her arms folded, and Hyunji apologized, watching her face.
"Yes. You ought to be sorry. How exactly have you been looking after your body?"
"...Sniff."
"I let you go because you said you could manage on your own. And this is the disaster we get in barely three years? Didn't you know that once you hit the second week of sleeping together, you have to take a pregnancy test every single day?"
"...I-I was busy... I did buy them..."
"And I told you and told you to at least take your supplements properly..."
"Hnn... I'm really sad too..."
The pout threaded through Hyunji's voice told me she had climbed out of the grief. The effort had been worth it. The pallor was gone from her face as well. She only seemed a little lower on energy than usual, and I couldn't feel any discomfort or pain in her.
"...Does it hurt?"
"...No... Just a bit of a dull ache, like when I'm on my period..."
"...All right."
Lee Hyesun quietly took Hyunji's hand, and their eyes met, warm. I watched that tangle of gazes with a full heart. The bond between mother and daughter was good to see. A little enviable, too. Well, the timing was a bit early, but it seemed better to say it now. I had no wish to hide any of it. And if Hyunji refused, then I was sorry for Hyesun, but this was as far as it went.