104.
#Paternity Test
Turning to the next page, there was a table comparing the alleles of Test Subjects A and B. Dawoon’s eyes stopped at the bottom of the table.
Probability of Paternity (%): 99.999944…
He mumbled the words in his mouth and swallowed hard. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. What on earth…? It felt like his brain had stopped working. He couldn’t think of anything. He didn’t want to think about what the paper in his hand meant.
Slowly raising his eyes, he saw Choi Seon-gyeom sitting with a deeply furrowed brow. He couldn’t guess why Choi had done this, or what his intention was in showing this to him.
Above all, how could Choi Seon-gyeom’s and his own genes match? He didn’t know what to say or what expression to make.
Looking at the frozen Dawoon, Choi Seon-gyeom took a deep breath and bowed his head again.
“I’m truly sorry for having the genetic test done without permission.”
Even as he heard Choi’s apology, Dawoon couldn’t think of anything. He didn’t understand why Choi had done a genetic test between himself and Dawoon in the first place.
“When we met last time, I took some of your hair. I used that for the genetic test.”
It was already written in the genetic test report that his hair had been used.
“Why did you do this…?”
Perhaps because he was so shocked, the words didn’t come out well. He couldn’t even blink as he stared at Choi Seon-gyeom. Choi, meeting Dawoon’s gaze, closed his eyes tightly and bit his lip. His chest heaved as he took a deep breath, and only then did he open his eyes again and stare at Dawoon.
“I was your mother’s lover 24 years ago, that is, Kim Min-seo.”
Dawoon’s eyes shook at the unimaginable words.
His mother’s lover? Author Choi Seon-gyeom? That fact was surprising, but it still didn’t explain why he had a genetic test done with Dawoon.
“Did you investigate me?”
His tone unintentionally became sharp. He had never mentioned his mother to Choi Seon-gyeom. There had been many people investigating him until now. He knew that from his grandfather to Hayun, they were monitoring him almost like surveillance. Sometimes even his aunt, Jeong Seo-in, would probe into Dawoon’s background to confront Hayun.
But it meant something different for an outsider, not from Haedo Group, to investigate him. It could affect Haedo Group’s affairs, not just end with surveillance.
Perhaps because Dawoon asked seriously, Choi Seon-gyeom looked flustered and waved both hands.
“There was no need for investigation. At the charity event, your brother introduced you as Jeong Hayun, the vice chairman of Haedo Group, remember?”
That was true. Information that couldn’t be obtained with just his name was different when Jeong Hayun was added. Anyone could easily find out who Jeong Hayun was and who his parents were.
“When I first learned that your mother was Kim Min-seo, I just thought, ‘Oh, I see,’ but when I heard your birthday was in May…”
Choi Seon-gyeom trailed off and frowned. Only then did Dawoon feel his mouth going dry. The birthday being an issue meant that around the time he was conceived, Choi Seon-gyeom was still his mother’s lover.
Even so, it’s impossible. Surely my father said I was his child.
If he wasn’t, there’s no way his grandfather would have accepted his mother. Even if he had accepted his mother, there’s no way he would have put Dawoon into Haedo Group as a child, into Jeong Seo-hoo’s family register.
From birth, his father had been by his side. Although when he was very young, Hayun’s mother was still alive and his own mother was just a mistress, even in photos from when he was a newborn, and in his hundredth-day or first birthday photos, his father was there.
So no matter how much his relatives doubted his birth, Dawoon himself had never doubted it. He couldn’t deny the fact that he was a child born out of an affair while there was a legal wife, but he had never, not even for a moment, doubted that he was his father’s biological child.
Despite his relatives’ doubts, the reason his grandfather couldn’t openly drive him away must have been because they had done a genetic test. When his father remarried his mother and put him in the family register, his grandfather wasn’t the type to just let it slide.
Not only that. When his parents passed away in an accident and relatives flocked to say that he should now be driven out, Hayun had presented them with a paternal lineage test. It was a test result with Hayun’s and his names on it. His grandfather had confirmed it again then, which was why, although reluctantly, he had told the relatives to back off as Hayun requested.
How could all of that be explained? How should he understand this test result Choi Seon-gyeom presented when there was already a genetic test done by his father and Hayun?
“This is impossible. There must be some mistake. Maybe there was an error…”
Dawoon muttered, shaking his head. Although his mind was in chaos, he tried to judge rationally. Perhaps Choi Seon-gyeom was deceiving him. Although he had believed he wasn’t that kind of person, you can’t know a person just by their appearance. Choi Yu-na had been like that too. He had lowered his guard, thinking she was a good person with similar wounds, only to reveal different ambitions. He couldn’t be fooled like that again.
With that mindset, his agitation subsided a bit.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but carelessly forging documents can be punishable.”
Faced with Dawoon’s suddenly calm attitude after his momentary confusion, Choi Seon-gyeom took a deep breath.
“I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s not forged.”
“It’s not just hard to believe, I don’t believe it. My father confirmed it when I was born, and my brother confirmed it again after my parents passed away in an accident.”
When Dawoon pointed out that Choi Seon-gyeom wasn’t the only one who had done a genetic test, his face contorted.
“That can’t be…”
Choi Seon-gyeom muttered with a frown. He didn’t seem to be lying either. There was nothing for him to gain by lying about Dawoon being his child. That’s why it was even more incomprehensible.
“If you think you’ll get some scraps from Haedo Group through me, you’re wrong. If I’m really not my father’s child, my grandfather and the people at Haedo Group would erase everything related to me without a moment’s hesitation.”
It was bitter even as he said it. Even though they shared blood, they had never been kind to Dawoon until now. So if he was a stranger, they would welcome it with open arms and be even more merciless.
“No, that’s not it!”
Choi Seon-gyeom denied it without hesitation. While thinking it was fortunate, Dawoon still couldn’t fully trust him.
“If I wanted support from Haedo Group or something financial, I wouldn’t have needed to do this test. Your vice chairman already came to me a few days ago with a sponsorship offer.”
Vice chairman? Brother Hayun? Unable to understand why Hayun had visited Choi Seon-gyeom, Dawoon tilted his head, but then his eyebrows furrowed as he wondered if it was because of him.
“He told me not to meet with you. That was the condition.”
At these words, Dawoon’s heart felt heavy. He should have expected it when Hayun had excessively guarded against Choi Seon-gyeom at the charity event. He had let his guard down because he thought he had nothing to worry about regarding Choi Seon-gyeom.
“You didn’t know? He not only came to me but also went to Choi Yu-na separately before to warn her.”
At Choi Seon-gyeom’s question, Dawoon swallowed a groan in his throat. So that’s why. After quitting the broadcasting club, he hadn’t run into Choi Yu-na at all during his college life. He had thought it was just because he had told her not to get involved with him anymore. Come to think of it, Choi Yu-na, who had approached him even by deceiving him, wouldn’t have backed off so easily just because she was rejected. It was because Jeong Hayun had moved, because he had “warned” her about something that she could no longer hover around him.
Dawoon couldn’t even sigh at what Hayun had done. He could have easily predicted it, or maybe he had known and let it happen. As proof, he was on edge about Hayun possibly doing something to Ui-hyeon. Perhaps that’s why Hayun hadn’t done anything to Ui-hyeon.
Hayun knew well. What Dawoon would do if he touched Ui-hyeon.
Jeong Hayun was a terrifyingly sensitive and sharp person. And he knew Dawoon better than anyone. He didn’t rashly touch the people Dawoon truly cared about and didn’t do things Dawoon really hated.
He clearly knew the line of people Dawoon wouldn’t care much about if they were cut off. And Choi Seon-gyeom was judged to be someone who could be cut off.
But why? Choi Seon-gyeom was different from Choi Yu-na. Dawoon wasn’t close enough to him for Hayun to have to step in and act, and they hadn’t met many times. Moreover, he was about to leave Korea.
He tried to separate someone from him who could have been ignored. Why…?
Dawoon’s gaze dropped to the genetic test report in his hand. Could it be…? A terrifying assumption sent chills down his spine.
It can’t be.
He shook his head to deny his own thoughts, but once sprouted, the doubt instantly swelled to invade his consciousness.
What if, just what if, the paternal lineage test Hayun had presented to his grandfather was fabricated?
Just the hypothesis made his heart sink.
