From Now On, You Are the Mother
Lee Gyeong-eun held the basket of Kim Seong-ho’s clothes as far from her face as she could manage and walked toward the laundry room, speaking over her shoulder as she went.
“Go wash up. Not twice—three times. If that smell isn’t completely gone, I won’t let you near me, so scrub yourself clean. I’ll get the laundry started while you’re at it.”
She finished speaking and quickened her steps, as if the rising stench were already too much to bear.
Kim Seong-ho watched her with a quiet smile and headed for the bathroom.
After a long, thorough wash he came out, lifted an arm to check the scent, and walked into the kitchen.
“Even after washing, the smell doesn’t seem completely gone. I’ll sleep in the study for a while.”
Lee Gyeong-eun, who had been warming the meal the housekeeper had prepared, stepped close and pressed her nose against him.
“Sniff, sniff.”
She moved from spot to spot, checking him thoroughly, then said,
“No. This is fine.”
“It’ll still be uncomfortable for you. I’ll sleep in the study.”
“No.”
She shook her head, her voice firm.
“They say even when a couple fights they shouldn’t sleep apart. We haven’t even fought, so why would we?”
“Didn’t you just say a moment ago that if I still smelled you wouldn’t let me near you?”
“That was when you still smelled.”
She brought her nose to him once more, inhaled, then shook her head.
“You don’t smell. So sleep beside me.”
Kim Seong-ho smiled faintly at her words and sat down at the table.
Seeing that he no longer insisted, Lee Gyeong-eun turned away.
“Just a moment. It’s almost ready.”
She carefully lifted the bubbling stew and set it in front of him, then scooped rice and arranged the side dishes before sitting across from him, chin resting on her hand.
“You’re hungry, aren’t you? Eat.”
“What about you, Gyeong-eun?”
“I already ate, so don’t worry about me. Go on.”
“Then I’ll dig in.”
Kim Seong-ho first tasted the stew with his spoon. Then he took a large mouthful of rice and began eating the side dishes and stew with obvious relish.
Lee Gyeong-eun watched him with a warm, contented expression, chin still propped on her hand, and started a conversation.
“So where exactly did you go today that left your clothes in that state?”
“I went to the Doa Motors Gwangmyeong plant.”
“Doa Motors? You went there?”
She nodded slowly.
“I thought something felt off… now I understand why your clothes looked like that. People really hate you for this, don’t they?”
She looked at him with worried eyes. Even if it was company business, she had a fair idea of what it felt like to be despised by so many people.
“I’m fine.”
Kim Seong-ho set down his spoon, met her gaze, and smiled.
“Haven’t I told you before? This seems to be my calling.”
“Your calling?”
“Yes. I don’t mind when people hate me or despise me. In fact, the more they hate me, the more I feel I’m doing my job properly—it actually gives me more energy.”
Lee Gyeong-eun stared at him with open curiosity.
He smiled back at her.
“The more they hate me, the more it means I’m doing the work well.”
He picked up his spoon again and continued while eating.
“Isn’t my job the kind of work that gets you hated? If I were afraid of being hated, how could I do it? I’m fine, so you don’t have to worry.”
She gazed at him for a long moment, then murmured in admiration,
“Honestly, Seong-ho, the more I look at you the more amazing you seem.”
“What do you mean?”
“How mature you are for your age, and how your ability and experience are so far beyond ordinary people. I feel a little awkward saying this myself, but… I think I have a good eye for men.”
“No.”
He smiled at her wide-eyed look of surprise.
“I have a good eye for women.”
“Hahaha.”
Lee Gyeong-eun laughed happily at his reply and used her chopsticks to place a piece of side dish on his rice.
“Your rice will get cold. Eat.”
Kim Seong-ho resumed eating, and she watched him with warm eyes while busily piling more food onto his bowl.
When he was about halfway through the meal, a thought seemed to strike her and she spoke up.
“Oh, right, Seong-ho. I think we need to go to Pyeongchang-dong this Sunday.”
He looked up from his food.
“Have we ever skipped a Sunday?”
“Still, this time we really have to go. That’s why I’m telling you in advance. Even if something special comes up, we absolutely have to go to Pyeongchang-dong this Sunday.”
He regarded her curiously.
“Is something going on?”
At his question she looked a little awkward.
“My new sister-in-law is coming.”
“New sister-in-law?”
“Yes. Chang-jong’s wife. She says she’s arrived in Korea. So she’ll be coming to Pyeongchang-dong this Sunday.”
A complicated feeling settled over Lee Gyeong-eun. She could already guess why the woman had returned and what would unfold in Pyeongchang-dong.
But while she felt troubled, a smile spread across Kim Seong-ho’s face. The typhoon he had summoned was growing stronger, and the sight of it filled him with quiet satisfaction.
He lowered his head to hide the spreading smile and steadily finished the rest of his meal with spoon and chopsticks.
“Why does everyone have to mobilize just because some big shot showed up?”
“You…”
Chu Suk-ja shot Lee Jeong-eun a sharp look at the grumbling remark, but she did not scold her. She found Lee Jeong-eun’s deliberate complaining unpleasant, yet part of her shared the same feeling.
“It’s only natural for a daughter-in-law to come pay her respects to her mother-in-law, so why all this fuss? And if she came, she should have come straight to the main house first to greet everyone and then joined the Sunday meal to greet the siblings. Who handles everything she put off all at once like this?”
Lee Jeong-eun kept venting her dissatisfaction, yet no one rebuked her. Everyone present seemed to share the same thoughts; they simply listened in silence.
When her words ended and a brief silence fell, Cha Yeong-su tried to change the atmosphere by speaking to Kim Seong-ho.
“You’ve never met her, have you?”
“No. I didn’t even see her at the wedding.”
“Right. Of course.”
Cha Yeong-su thought of how she had not attended Lee Gyeong-eun’s wedding either and glanced sideways at Lee Tak-hyeon. He could not fathom what the chairman was thinking, allowing the third daughter-in-law to do as she pleased.
“By the way, about Doa Motors. What are you planning to do with that? The reaction’s been pretty bad…”
The mention of Doa Motors drew everyone’s attention. Those who had been looking elsewhere all turned their eyes toward Kim Seong-ho.
He sensed the different motives behind each gaze and answered in a calm voice.
“We’re currently conducting a thorough acquisition feasibility study.”
“Feasibility study?”
The term struck Cha Yeong-su as odd; he tilted his head and asked,
“And if the study concludes that acquisition isn’t feasible? What then?”
“If it isn’t feasible, of course we shouldn’t acquire it. We would abandon the deal.”
“What? Abandon it?”
Lee Mun-jong stared at Kim Seong-ho in surprise, then immediately shifted his gaze to Lee Tak-hyeon, wanting to confirm whether the chairman already knew.
He was not the only one. All of Lee Mun-jong’s siblings looked at their father with the same intent, their senses sharpened for his reaction. Depending on how Lee Tak-hyeon responded, Kim Seong-ho’s authority over the Doa Motors acquisition would be decided.
Lee Tak-hyeon, who had been gazing out the window while waiting for his daughter-in-law, felt his children’s stares and turned. He gave them the answer they were waiting for.
“I have officially appointed Seong-ho as president. And he will attend the government-hosted meetings in my place.”
“Kim is going to stand in for Father… no, for the Chairman?”
“Not Elder Brother, but Kim is taking your place?”
“How can Kim stand in for Father?”
Lee Gyeong-eun’s siblings erupted in protest. Their eyes blazed as they tried to grasp exactly what it meant for Kim Seong-ho to represent Lee Tak-hyeon.
“Madam, the third daughter-in-law has arrived.”
“Father. Mother. We’re here.”
Lee Chang-jong and his wife—Lee Tak-hyeon’s daughter-in-law, Jang Eun-ah—entered the room.
Lee Mun-jong and the others could no longer press Lee Tak-hyeon for clarification and turned around. The purpose of today’s gathering was not Kim Seong-ho, but Jang Eun-ah, who had returned to Korea and to Pyeongchang-dong after several years.
Jang Eun-ah walked slowly toward the assembled members of the Ilhyeon family. Standing, she swept her eyes over the seated people and let out a short, derisive laugh.
“So you’re all still alive and well, I see?”
“You—”
Lee Jeong-eun raised a finger, ready to snap at her. But Cha Yeong-su, who had been watching his wife carefully, caught her hand and spoke first, smiling at Jang Eun-ah.
“Sister-in-law. It’s been a long time.”
“Who…?”
Jang Eun-ah frowned at the man who had addressed her. After a long moment she recognized Cha Yeong-su and nodded.
“Ah~ Minister Cha’s son. I remember now.”
“Well… I am Minister Cha’s son, but wouldn’t ‘brother-in-law’ be the more appropriate title between us?”
“As if I have an in-laws’ house anywhere…”
Jang Eun-ah’s words dripped with mockery. Yet no one present rebuked her. The father standing behind her made it impossible for anyone to say a word against the attitude she displayed in Pyeongchang-dong.
“Well. You must have had a hard time flying over. How does Korea feel after so long? Does it seem much changed?”
Though no one spoke, everyone wore uncomfortable expressions at Jang Eun-ah’s manner. Only Lee Tak-hyeon maintained his composure, his face as impassive as ever, and he was the first to address her casually.
Jang Eun-ah, who had been looking at Cha Yeong-su and the venomous-faced Lee Jeong-eun, turned her head toward the man who had spoken. A sneer curled her lips as she answered Lee Tak-hyeon’s question.
“It has changed a lot since I left. But I wonder whether it’s because Korea changed… or because Ilhyeon itself has changed.”
“Ilhyeon has changed? In what way?”
Lee Tak-hyeon looked up at her from his seat with an intrigued gaze.
Jang Eun-ah surveyed Lee Mun-jong, his brothers, the daughters-in-law, and the sons-in-law before answering.
“You all eagerly accepted a bastard whose origins you don’t even know. Without even knowing whether the child is really of this family’s bloodline.”
Lee Chang-jong, standing beside her and clearly displeased, turned his head.
“Honey, aren’t you going a little too far?”
“Who’s your honey?”
Jang Eun-ah’s voice rose to a piercing shout at Lee Chang-jong’s words.
“I don’t care where you sowed your seed or when you suddenly show up with a kid claiming it’s yours. But what? You want me to raise it?”
Lee Chang-jong turned his face away, avoiding her eyes. Jang Eun-ah snorted at the sight and looked back at Lee Tak-hyeon.
“Chairman. I heard you told me to raise the child. Is that true?”
Lee Tak-hyeon simply watched her in silence.
When no answer came from his lips, Jang Eun-ah shouted at the others present.
“Why should I raise it? There’s the Madam here, and other daughters-in-law—why me?”
Her voice was so sharp it seemed it might tear. No one in the room could speak. But the man who had already made his decision was not among them.
“It’s your child, so you should raise it.”
Lee Tak-hyeon spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world, then looked at the seething Jang Eun-ah.
“That child is a child of the Ilhyeon family. So isn’t it only natural that you, the mother, should raise him?”
“Why am I that child’s mother? You said the mother was sent to America. Bring that mother back and have her raise him.”
“From now on, you are the mother.”
“Chairman!”
“If you don’t want to raise the child, then give everything up and leave this family. Will you do that?”
Lee Tak-hyeon looked her straight in the eye as he asked. Jang Eun-ah bit her lip until it bled.
And Kim Seong-ho sat watching the entire scene with quiet amusement.