The Ring's Promise
“A precious guest has come to our house.”
Cha Seong-mok’s smile had brightened at Dayeon’s answer, and he told Butler Song to prepare the meal.
“No, I’m not here to eat.”
“Never mind. My prospective granddaughter-in-law has come, how can I send her away without feeding her? She saved Teacher Hee-ok’s life.”
Despite Siheon’s refusal, Chairman Cha was adamant. At the look in his eyes urging haste, Butler Song withdrew.
Before long, the dining room table was overflowing with neatly arranged dishes.
Wagyu galbi-jjim, all the jeon (pancakes), abalone sauce, and mushroom hot pot, and even a seafood stew with a mountain of unfamiliar crustaceans piled on top. The large table was filled endlessly with precious foods.
After tasting each dish, Dayeon’s stomach was full, so she leaned back against the chair with a face that said she couldn’t eat anymore.
After the meal, they spent some time drinking tea on the terrace of the garden.
The garden bathed in the drowsy afternoon sun was peaceful and relaxed.
Whether they had something to say to each other, Chairman Cha and Siheon left for a while, and Dayeon was left alone with Jeong-hee, drinking the well-brewed chrysanthemum tea.
What should she say? Dayeon was at a loss, just sipping tea. Jeong-hee, watching Dayeon for a long time, took out something and held it out in front of her.
“I hope you’ll take this now, Dayeon-ssi.”
A small case placed on the table. Dayeon looked at it with a bewildered expression.
“What is this?”
“Open it.”
At Jeong-hee’s words, Dayeon carefully lifted the lid of the case. Inside was a silver-white ring with a small diamond on each of the six prongs.
“This is…”
“It’s my ring. My husband gave it to me before the wedding, and my mother said she passed it down to me.”
The eyes of the startled Dayeon widened greatly.
“You’re giving me such a precious item?”
“Now that Dayeon-ssi has become Siheon’s partner.”
Jeong-hee reached out and held Dayeon’s hand resting on her lap.
“She’s such a wounded child… I’m so glad that Siheon has such a pretty and kind girl by his side. Please take good care of Siheon from now on too.”
Dayeon forced a smile, but she wasn’t at ease inside.
The ring that had descended from her mother’s mother.
Moreover, it said she had many wounds. What kind of story was that? She wanted to ask, but her mouth wouldn’t open.
Watching Jeong-hee’s gentle smile, Dayeon hesitated, then clenched her fist holding the ring case.
“I will, Mother.”
At that answer, Jeong-hee’s smile became even brighter, relieved.
Looking at Jeong-hee’s face that trusted her deeply, Dayeon felt a prickling sensation in one corner of her heart.
***
In the returning car. Dayeon, who had been hesitating, finally opened her mouth.
“Will it be okay… right?”
Siheon’s head, which had been facing out the window, turned to Dayeon.
“What?”
“Just… everything.”
The grandfather who instructed to prepare plenty of precious food, and the mother who gave the inherited ring.
The two were clearly blessing their marriage sincerely.
With only the thought of wanting to be by the teacher’s side, she accepted Siheon’s proposal without thinking twice, but now that she was facing the two of them, a faint sense of guilt and burden about deceiving them clung to Dayeon.
With this mindset, could she continue to act as Siheon’s wife and lover for the future? Even though in reality it was a one-sided relationship where she was chasing Siheon alone?
“Can I do something like that?”
Because of her honest personality, Dayeon found it difficult even to tell a light lie. The fact that she had to act in front of many more people in the future felt burdensome.
“What if I make a mistake? What if I cause trouble for the teacher by accident?”
The anxiety on Dayeon’s face showed her unease about the sin of deceiving someone and possibly causing trouble for the teacher if things went wrong.
“No need to worry.”
Siheon glanced at Dayeon with a sidelong glance and lightly placed his hand on her head.
“Just stay by my side.”
From Siheon gently stroking her head, a good scent wafted. A soft, heavy scent unique to the teacher.
Just smelling that scent quietly, it felt strangely miraculous. With just such ordinary actions, all worries seemed to fly away.
Gathering courage, Dayeon said like a confession.
“I may be lacking, but I will do my best to help the teacher. You are the benefactor who saved me.”
“……”
Seeing Dayeon’s expression convinced that she was a good person, Siheon fell silent heavily.
Looking at her sleeping face, could he believe she could trust him so unwaveringly even knowing he had impure desires?
Even if she noticed that he was pretending to be gentle on the surface and acting infinitely kind, but was actually a man who might pounce on her at any moment if he strayed a little?
Somehow, his throat burned. Siheon, who had been staring out the window with a frustrated look at the difficult answer, pulled down his tie a little.
“I’m not the good person you think I am.”
“What?”
Dayeon looked at Siheon with a face asking what he meant.
“I thought I saved you, but in fact, I’m still using you.”
Siheon said in a calm voice.
“No need to treat me as a good person while calling me a benefactor.”
“No!”
Before the words finished, Dayeon cut off Siheon’s words.
“The teacher is a good person.”
With Dayeon’s exclamation without any hesitation, confusion appeared on Siheon’s face.
“Who in the world would care about the child of the person who helped them twenty years ago?”
Dayeon put strength into her voice.
“No matter who, thinking about a connection from a few years ago and appearing again to save them.”
“……”
“The person who appeared when I was most in trouble and helped me, and the one who has always been my greatest comfort, is the teacher.”
When Hee-ok died and Dayeon’s life fell into a bottomless pit, Dayeon’s despair had gone to the bottom.
At that time, the person who appeared in front of her like a lie was Siheon.
“A new teacher has come. Say hello, Dayeon.”
One day, Siheon suddenly appeared at the welfare center, and he stayed by Dayeon’s side, saying he was no longer alone.
To Dayeon, who had just endured the day without being able to do anything, he said that was enough.
“The harder it gets, the more you focus on what’s in front of you. Think calmly about what you want to do and what you need to do for it.”
Thanks to Siheon, Dayeon, who had lost direction and was wandering, could find the path she should go.
Her dream of becoming a doctor like her mother, which she had lost.
After Hee-ok disappeared, the empty spot was filled by none other than Siheon, who became a new compass.
“…So don’t cut yourself down by saying you’re not a benefactor or a good person.”
Dayeon’s expression was more resolute than ever.
“Then I, who have decided to side with the teacher for life, will be sad too.”
“For life?”
“Yes. For life.”
Dayeon smiled brightly and clenched her two fists as if making a promise.
“Hah.”
Siheon let out a short breath in disbelief.
A child who had lived only about twenty years had spoken words that weighed a lifetime. Without even realizing how heavy the words were.
However, that honest recklessness kept shaking Siheon’s heart. His heart that he had drawn lines on many times, saying it was an emotion he shouldn’t have harbored in the first place.
So, Jeong Dayeon’s words were wrong.
He was not the good person she thought he was. He was still tormented by the impulse to cross that line.
Somehow, his throat burned. Instead of pulling down the tie that was tickling his neck, Siheon ruffled Dayeon’s hair wildly.
The neatly arranged hair became disheveled in an instant and spread in all directions.
“A tiny thing like a peanut, why is it so dignified.”
“Aigoo, Teacher!”
“Tell that story when you’re bigger. You still have a long way to grow.”
Dayeon, holding her messy hair, looked at Siheon with an aggrieved face.
“I’m telling the truth!”
Looking at that, which was funny and cute, Siheon finally laughed out loud. Dayeon, who had been squinting, had no choice but to laugh at Siheon’s laughter.
The laughter in the car continued for a while. The car carrying the two drove silently across Seoul.