The Secret of Yeonhee
"Alright, the beautiful reunion ends there. It's time to get ready for school, Yeonji."
"O-oh, Mom? Okay!!"
Yeonji, who had been spending her time rubbing her face against my chest while we were still embracing, turned bright red the moment her mother appeared and caught us. She quickly scurried off to her room, clearly embarrassed.
"Hehe... to think you were holding me just a moment ago, and now you're holding Yeonji... You really are a devil, Master.♥"
"Ugh! ...More importantly, what should I be doing now?"
I cleared my throat to deflect her playful remark. I needed to ask about what kind of life I was expected to lead while living in this mansion.
"For now, breakfast will be served shortly, so you can head to the dining room I showed you yesterday."
"Yes, I understand."
Since it was a massive mansion, every room had its own specific purpose, and there was a dedicated dining room for meals.
'It’s going to take quite a while to get used to all this...'
Having lived in a cramped studio apartment where everything was in one room, this grand mansion felt incredibly awkward. Still, since this was where I would eventually live with Yeonji after we got married, I had to get used to it.
'Suddenly not working... I managed to find a place to stay... and I have a girlfriend I’ve promised to marry... Haven't I achieved all the goals I set for myself?'
I had enough money that I didn't necessarily need to work, the house I had only ever dreamed of, and the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with... Even if things felt a little skewed, I had essentially achieved everything I had aimed for.
'Of course, the mother-in-law was unexpected... or rather, a situation I hadn't even considered.'
Training my mother-in-law to be my slave was never part of my life plan, but somehow, it had become the most important thing I was doing.
'I’ve even gotten used to hearing my mother-in-law call me Master...'
When we were alone, she naturally called me Master. It had been awkward until just yesterday, but since we had already shared our bodies and done almost everything there was to do for the first time, the awkwardness had faded significantly.
Grrr...
"Let's head to the dining room for now."
My mind was still a mess, but after the incredibly intense sex we’d had since yesterday, I was starving, so I headed straight for the dining room.
"Good morning, Juhyun."
"Good morning, Yeonhee."
Everyone in the family except for me was already gathered in the dining room. It was just the four of us—my mother-in-law, Yeonji, and Yeonhee—but the dining table was massive.
I sat in the seat next to Yeonji, the most comforting spot, and found the breakfast Yeonhee had prepared waiting for me. We ate together, sharing simple conversation to break the awkward silence.
'Come to think of it, Yeonhee hasn't said a single word...'
Most of the conversation consisted of my mother-in-law asking questions and Yeonji and me responding. I had tried asking Yeonhee a few things, but she only gave short, clipped answers and wouldn't engage in any real dialogue.
"Then, if you'll excuse me, I'll be going first."
Yeonhee, who finished her meal first, bowed and stood up. My mother-in-law let out a small sigh.
"It’s not usually like this... I suppose she’s still a bit uncomfortable with you, Juhyun."
"Ah... I see..."
"But Juhyun is such a good person... I don't know why Unnie doesn't like him..."
My mother-in-law explained that Yeonhee was acting colder than usual because she didn't like me. Yeonji pouted slightly, clearly upset that Yeonhee disliked me.
'Now that I think about it, I haven't heard her story yet.'
My mother-in-law and her daughter Yeonji were family, but Yeonhee was a secretary, not a daughter. It was hard to understand why she was sitting there as if she were family, but it felt like too private a matter to ask about.
"Phew... well, we've finished our meal, so let's all get up."
The atmosphere at the table had dampened due to Yeonhee's cold demeanor, but I decided to put it out of my mind for now, thinking we would eventually get closer. Yeonji and Yeonhee left for university, leaving only me and my mother-in-law behind. Not long after, the staff responsible for cleaning and maintaining the mansion arrived. They gave us a brief greeting and began their work.
"They come every two days to manage the house. They don't come on weekends, and they handle most of the work on their own, so you don't need to talk to them unless you have something specific to ask."
"Yes, Mother-in-law."
There were nearly fifty people, like housekeepers, silently going about their tasks, from cleaning to laundry.
"Most of the furniture you need will be placed in your room today, so that won't be a problem. As for personal items, let's go to the department store together today."
"Yes, thank you, Mother-in-law..."
I had rarely been to a department store except when I was on dates with Yeonji. Everything there seemed expensive, and for someone like me with a light wallet, it was a difficult place to visit.
'She said she’d buy everything, but... I feel so guilty.'
Buying a few pieces of furniture might feel to her like spending 500 won on a gacha machine on the street, but for someone like me who still didn't understand the perspective of the wealthy, it was a source of significant guilt.
"We'll go to the department store at lunch... until then, I'll tell you about Yeonhee."
"Yes, Mother-in-law."
At her words that she would finally tell me about Yeonhee, I felt a bit of tension as I headed to the living room.
"Yeonhee... she isn't my daughter, but she is like one to me."
"I see... I thought that might be the case, given how you treat her similarly to Yeonji."
She wasn't her daughter, but she was treated as one. I had expected there to be some complicated circumstances.
"When my late husband and I were dating and promised to marry, there was a lot of opposition from those around us."
"Because you were marrying the heir to the Choi Han Group?"
"Yes... They opposed it, saying he was just 'playing with me before throwing me away' and that he 'didn't love me sincerely.' It was understandable, I suppose, since I grew up in an ordinary household at the time."
It was a drama-like story: a rich man falling in love with an ordinary woman and promising to marry her. Of course, there was the unique situation of our master-slave relationship involved, but to those who didn't know, it must have looked like a scene from a soap opera. The difference was that dramas are dramas, and reality is reality. A real rich man sincerely loving an ordinary woman and promising marriage? At the time, people probably thought he was just seducing a naive girl and would discard her later.
"Of course, my husband and I were both sincere, so we kept seeing each other despite the opposition... and in the end, my husband..."
"Ah..."
My husband died in an unfortunate accident. My mother-in-law became the tragic heroine of a moment, but she worked hard for the sake of Yeonji, who was in her womb at the time, and eventually inherited over half of the Choi Han Group's shares, allowing her to live as she did now.
"When everyone around us was against it, there was one close older sister who believed in me... She told me we would live well... that she knew we were truly in love..."
She was the only person who believed in her when family, relatives, and most friends were against it.
"That sister had a daughter... and that is Yeonhee."
"Yeonhee? ...Then, what happened to that sister..."
"She died... from an illness."
"...I see..."
The death of the only person who believed in her, and the young Yeonhee left all alone.
"At that time, I adopted young Yeonhee and raised her. When they were little, she and Yeonji, who was born not knowing anything, were very close, but when she was in middle school, she found out she wasn't my biological daughter."
"Is that when your relationship became like this?"
"Sigh... Yes... She is still listed as my daughter on the family register, but Yeonhee herself was greatly shocked by the fact that she wasn't my biological child. She started keeping her distance little by little, and eventually, she wanted to become my secretary..."
The shocking secret of her birth, discovered at a young age, had created a distance between her, my mother-in-law, and Yeonji. In the end, she chose to remain in that position as a secretary rather than as a family member.
"Sigh... If she weren't good at her job, I would have told her to quit... but she's so capable that I can't bring myself to say it..."
My mother-in-law wished she could just be a daughter like Yeonji, but since Yeonhee didn't want that, she respected her wishes and maintained their current relationship.
"And about a year ago, after she found out that Yeonji had a boyfriend... that is, that she was dating you, Juhyun, she seemed a bit displeased."
"Ugh... that hurts a little."
Honestly, it was true that my status was far below what would be expected for someone dating or marrying Yeonji. If Yeonji was in a position higher than anyone else as the daughter of the hidden owner of one of the world's top companies, I was living at the very bottom, an orphan with no house or car, living in a studio apartment. Since we had met and promised to marry, it was understandable that from Yeonhee's perspective, it would be displeasing to see someone like her sister with a man who had come from nowhere.
"Because of this, I've been arguing with Yeonhee for the past year, and we've been drifting further apart... It's a real headache."
"I... see."
I hadn't done anything wrong, but since I was the cause of a small crack in my mother-in-law's family, I felt an inexplicable sense of guilt.
"Still, we had been getting along like before recently... but when Yeonhee heard that you would be living here, she was extremely opposed to it..."
"......."
It had started with family secrets and a sad story, but as it went on, it felt like the story was turning into one where I was the bad guy, and I began to feel uncomfortable.
'I didn't do anything wrong... but I'm the one who did something wrong...'
I hadn't done anything, but a family was falling apart because of me. I felt both wronged and apologetic, and I was quite flustered.
"So, even if Yeonhee treats you coldly, if you approach her a little more... she will understand someday... all of your good qualities, Juhyun."
"Yes... I will try."