Chapter 69
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 69
One week ago.
It was after he’d been out drinking with Hae-young. Stumbling and barely able to stand, Hae-young finally managed to pile into the back seat of the car.
It would have been nice if she had just sat there quietly, but instead, she clung to the door and glared at Eun-seong as if challenging him. He jerked his chin toward the open door, silently telling her to close it.
"Just go. Hurry up."
"Hey, Im Eun-seong. Your friend is this hammered, and you can't even say a nice goodbye?"
"A nice goodbye? In your dreams."
When Eun-seong tried to shut the door, Hae-young resisted with all her might. Eun-seong, who detested dealing with drunks, narrowed his eyes, prompting a whine from her.
Ugh. The sound made Eun-seong grimace even more.
"Say something nice to me! Go on! Do it!"
"Who are you? Do I even know you?"
"Friends are supposed to be nice to each other! Wish me well!"
Sigh…
Since Hae-young was digging her heels in, looking like she wouldn't leave until he offered a few kind words, Eun-seong let out a long sigh. He then plastered on a gentle, warm smile, the kind he used when greeting a fan he’d run into by chance.
"Get home safe. Sleep well, and make sure to have some hangover soup tomorrow—whoa!"
Without warning, Hae-young yanked Eun-seong forward by the back of his neck. Her grip was surprisingly strong; Eun-seong was forced to bend at the waist, grabbing the car door for support. Whether she was aiming for his neck or his hair, her fingers dug into the back of his head so tightly he felt like he was about to be scalped.
"Seriously, let go. Are you listening? I already warned you I don't go easy on anyone, woman or not. Let go of—"
"Watch out for CEO Min."
Watch out for CEO Min.
Hae-young whispered the words right into Eun-seong's ear. Her voice was incredibly quiet, as if she were conscious of the designated driver in the front seat and Eun-seong's manager, Dong-hwan, standing just beside him.
Loosening her grip, Hae-young let him go. When Eun-seong glared at her with a deep frown, she just giggled.
"That was my friendly parting gift. See ya, Silver Star."
Hae-young slammed the door shut. Eun-seong shoved his hands into his pockets as he watched the car speed away.
Watch out for CEO Min.
What did she mean by that?
From that day on, a shapeless suspicion began to cling to him. He couldn't shake the feeling that Jin Hae-young knew something she wasn't saying—something she was trying to hint at without speaking it aloud.
While he didn't trust CEO Min blindly, he couldn't deny that they were long-time partners who had worked together without any major issues. From the very beginning, CEO Min had bet everything on him, expanding the entire business around the success of the actor Im Eun-seong.
With his contract renewal approaching, he hadn't given it much thought. He had no desire to move to another agency, and he had no doubt that CEO Min would negotiate a higher market value for him, just as he always did.
Eun-seong spent a day or two lost in these thoughts.
.
.
Two days later, Eun-seong met with the filming director. There were more reshoots than expected, which had pushed back his schedule, and the director had personally sought him out to ask for his understanding.
"Once Han-byeol's reshoots are done, we'll just need one more round. Let's give it our all then."
"Understood."
Hearing Han-byeol's name made Eun-seong think of the boy. He asked the director, "I heard Han-byeol's birthday is coming up soon."
"Really? What's the big deal about a birthday? Well, I guess it is a big deal for a kid."
"Should we do something for him on set?"
"Like what? The kid's mom will take care of it, or his agency will. Why are you worrying about things like that?"
Eun-seong just chuckled at the director's gruff question. The director then turned to a staff member who had come with him.
"How old is Han-byeol again? Did they say he's in second grade?"
What an indifferent man, Eun-seong thought, shaking his head slightly.
At that moment, the staff member replied.
"Han-byeol is in second grade, but if you look at his birthdate, he's actually ten."
"Really? He's ten? My memory's hazy. I always get kids' ages mixed up."
Eun-seong's head snapped up. In that instant, goosebumps erupted all over his skin, and every nerve in his body stretched taut.
"How old… did you say he is?"
"Pardon? Ten."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I saw it when we were filling out the contract. I think they said he started school a year late."
Speechless, Eun-seong lowered his gaze. The director kept talking, but Eun-seong couldn't hear a single word.
Only then did the vague question he’d been holding onto finally take shape. He had been so fixated on Han-byeol being nine years old that he hadn't been able to see anything else.
A nine-year-old Go Han-byeol was one thing. A ten-year-old Go Han-byeol was something else entirely. If the child was indeed ten, then the timing of her pregnancy traced back to the year he won his first major award.
Realizing that this was the sticky, unpleasant suspicion that had been clinging to him like a leech, Eun-seong made a few excuses to have the staff member show him Han-byeol's contract.
When he finally confirmed with his own eyes that the child was ten, he showed no reaction. He merely stared at the document with a mechanical gaze, as if looking at meaningless text.
He did it so that those watching wouldn't notice a thing. So that they wouldn't even begin to imagine the turmoil inside him.
Though his heart felt like it was being torn apart and his mind reeled, he maintained a casual demeanor, his breathing perfectly even.
His legs didn't wobble. His eyes didn't burn red. His voice didn't tremble at the sudden, overwhelming possibility that the boy was his son.
He couldn't be certain until he met her and heard it from her own mouth. He had to hear it directly from Go Yeon-ju.
Eun-seong turned away, a perfect mask of indifference on his face.
* * *
A Breakup Blooms
[Yeon-ju, are you okay? Did you get home safe?]
Tossing and turning in bed, Yeon-ju picked up her phone. She stared at the message from Dr. Ju, then typed out a reply—she was fine, she’d gotten home safely, and she was so sorry about last night—before finally forcing herself out of bed.
"Sigh…"
She had cried so much that even after a full night's sleep, her eyes felt incredibly heavy and fatigued. Having tossed and turned all night, her body felt as heavy as waterlogged cotton, and a faint, feverish heat radiated from her skin.
Yeon-ju pressed a hand to her forehead and slowly forced her eyelids open.
"Am I catching a cold? It's chilly."
Yesterday, she had rushed out of Eun-seong's studio in a daze, her steps unsteady. She had waved her arms like a madwoman at the taxis speeding down the road before hurriedly climbing into a deluxe taxi that had happened to pull over.
Under normal circumstances, she would never have taken a deluxe taxi, but such things hadn't mattered. Even if it meant spending an absurd amount on the fare, she felt as though she would have given up her entire fortune just to escape that place.
Forcing down the tempest of emotions that filled her, she got out a few blocks from her house. Unable to bring herself to go inside, she had headed to the park out of habit, where she'd run into Dr. Ju.
The tears she had been holding back, which felt ready to burst at the slightest touch, finally spilled over. Why did it have to be on a day like that, of all days, and in front of the doctor? She had shown a side of herself she never wanted anyone to see.
"This is crazy. What do I do? I feel so bad…" The words slipped out as a self-reproachful mutter from her dry, chapped lips.
She had broken down so completely, babbling about her own failings without a shred of dignity, and in the end, had sobbed so hard she couldn't even speak.
Thinking of Dr. Ju, who had comforted her without asking a single question, Yeon-ju let out a soft sigh. Then, checking the time, she stood up. No matter how hellish her ordeal had been, she still had to make breakfast for her son and send him off to school.
She didn't even have the luxury of time to fully process her pain. Even if she wanted to lie in bed all day or run away somewhere far, a mother was someone who simply couldn't do that.
"My son is awake?"
When Yeon-ju opened the door to his room, Han-byeol, who was already up, met her gaze. Glad to see him awake without her having to wake him, Yeon-ju greeted him with a smile.
"Yaaawn." Han-byeol let out a long yawn, wrapping his arms around his mother's waist and whining playfully.
"Mom, you know what? I dreamed that we went to an amusement park."
"You did?"
"But I fell right off the ride. I woke up because I was so startled."
Yeon-ju smiled, her eyes still puffy, and gently stroked the child's back.
"That's because you're growing taller. They say you grow a little bit every time you get startled in a dream. It happened to Mom, too."
"Really? Did I grow taller then?"
"Let's see, shall we?"
Yeon-ju walked over to the giraffe height chart on the wall to measure Han-byeol. She burst into laughter at the sight of him subtly lifting his heels and stretching his neck as far as he could. Pretending not to notice, she measured his height and gave him a thumbs-up.
"Wow. You grew a little, Han-byeol."
"Really? Awesome! Yes!"
Excited, Han-byeol flung the door open and ran straight to his grandmother. Listening to the child's chatter and her mother's half-hearted responses, Yeon-ju tidied up his room, making the bed and laying out the clothes he would wear.
"Oh, right, Mom. Did you give the invitation to the mister?"
Han-byeol approached, his toothbrush already loaded with toothpaste. Ah. Yeon-ju turned to look at him.
"Well, you see, Han-byeol…"
"Did you give it to him? Did you meet the mister?"
"Uh, yeah… I met him. I did give it to him, but…"
As his mother's voice trailed off, Han-byeol's eyes widened. Seeing a glimpse of Eun-seong in that innocent face, Yeon-ju closed her eyes tightly before opening them again.
"It seems the actor is too busy around that time. He looked very apologetic about it."
"Oh… really? He told me he had time. That he could come. That he'd definitely come."
Han-byeol's voice dropped. Yeon-ju scrunched her nose, her expression full of apology.
"He's a very busy person, after all. Something must have suddenly come up in his schedule."
"Then I guess it can't be helped. Okay. I have to understand since he's busy with work."
"Right. So even if the actor can't make it, let's have a fun party just among ourselves. Okay?"
"Okay, Mom."
Han-byeol ran back to the bathroom. Yeon-ju slowly let her forced smile fade and hung her head.
Now that her world had been turned upside down, it was hard to distinguish reality from a dream.
When she was held in his arms, she had wondered if that was a dream. Yet this morning, with everything back in its proper place, nothing felt believable, making her wonder if this was the dream instead.
Whichever was the dream and whichever was reality, one truth remained unchanging.
"Yeon-ju, come set the table! The soup is ready!"
"Yes! Coming!"
He and I could never be.
I will forget.