Bad Relationship 119

$119

A heavy tension suddenly pressed down on his shoulders.

Honestly, he hadn’t always been thinking about his mother during all this time. No, to be truthful, it would be more accurate to say he had lived barely thinking about her at all. When he was young, he would occasionally remember her, but at some point, his lingering attachment to her naturally severed. Perhaps he had resigned himself the moment he thought his existence might be a hindrance to her. His existence would have been too complicated and burdensome for her to handle. So he thought it would be enough if they were both happy from a distance. That’s why he hadn’t even thought of her in recent years. Honestly, his memories were becoming hazy now. He couldn’t remember not just her face, but also her voice, her actions, and her way of speaking. That much time had passed. If he had lived nineteen years without any news of her, she was now a stranger. Nevertheless, his attempt to meet her wasn’t to fill a void, but to resolve questions and obligations. And now was exactly that moment.

With his fists clenched tight under the heavy tension, he stared at the door as his heart began racing again. Simultaneously, countless questions burrowed into his mind. What emotions would he feel when he met her? No, before that, would he be able to recognize her at first sight? And would she recognize him? If she did recognize him, what expression would she make? Would she be happy? Would she feel uncomfortable?

The moment he faced head-on the fear he had tried so hard to avoid, the door began to open. And a woman with a completely unfamiliar face stepped inside. In that moment, the world seemed to stop.

* * *

“Well then, we’re expecting more new products to arrive next week, so please stop by again.”

“Yes. I’ll discuss it with my nephew and contact you.”

The two people who responded to the woman’s polite greeting with silent bows as she escorted them to the store entrance quietly headed toward the parking lot in the darkness. Then they naturally got into the car and each fastened their seatbelts. Right after that, the man started the engine and Junghyun took out his phone to send a message to Juwon.

[Just came out.]

As he sent the message in the car slowly exiting the parking lot, the ring tone immediately sounded. That sound made him think, “As expected.” This person is really impatient too.

“Yeah.”

– Already came out?

The moment he answered the phone, the voice rang out so loudly that Junghyun wondered if he had accidentally pressed speakerphone, making him pull his ear away from the phone with a grimace as he replied.

“What, were you going to stare at it all day? Um, excuse me, could you please drop me off in front of that hotel?”

Just then, seeing a hotel nearby, he asked the driving man to stop, and the man slowly pulled the car to the right.

– What? You’re going to stay at a hotel?

“Yeah?”

– Go home… no, wait. You’d be in big trouble if you went home right now…

“Why?”

Even though he had no intention of going anyway, when he asked why he’d be in big trouble if he went to that house, hyung clicked his tongue hard.

– Do you really not know why you’re asking? Your father is making a fuss saying he won’t let you off easy.

“If he won’t let me off, what’s he going to do?”

He was scoffing, asking if he was going to kill him or something, when the car stopped. It was right in front of the hotel. After checking the hotel entrance through the window, Junghyun immediately unfastened his seatbelt, grabbed his bag from the back seat, and greeted the man.

“Thank you for today.”

The man responded with a nod. After bowing once more to the man’s blunt but polite attitude, he closed the car door and stepped onto the sidewalk. And the moment he took a step, he heard a long sigh from beyond the receiver.

– I helped you too, but honestly, you were completely wrong this time. No matter how urgent it was, how could you handle a divorce like this? There’s etiquette even in partings. At the very least, you should have explained properly before getting divorced, shouldn’t you?

“I had some circumstances.”

– So what circumstances?

“I’ll tell you when we meet. So you can’t come out right now?”

– Why can’t I go out? I can go out if I want to.

“It’s very rare for hyung to go out at this hour, wouldn’t Father ask where you’re going?”

When he chided him, asking what he would say about where he was going, someone who never comes out of the house except when going to the hospital, an answer came right back.

-…Come to think of it, you’re right… Damn.

“Just see me tomorrow during the day. It’s night and the weather’s chilly, so don’t come out unnecessarily and catch a cold. Anyway, it’s hard to get tickets to America. How much are people traveling that there are no empty seats for a whole month?”

When he honestly worried that there might not be tickets even after a month, hyung immediately changed the subject as if he had said something right.

– But are you really going? They said the other side signed the divorce agreement, right? Then there’s no need to go far away.

Hyung was right. There was no need for him to go far away because of the divorce. So if divorce was simply the purpose, that is.

“There are circumstances for that too.”

– Again? What kind of guy who lives life so carelessly has so many circumstances?

“It’s not something to talk about over the phone. I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

Morning would be too much, so should they have lunch together after all? He was about to enter the hotel with his bag when the conversation cut off. He stopped walking at the sudden silence.

“Why?”

When he asked why the conversation suddenly stopped, after a moment he heard quiet muttering.

-…Your voice really does seem okay…

“Is there a reason it shouldn’t be?”

-…Did your mother recognize you?

He had been wondering when that question would come up. Remembering how Juwon had always said that a mother would recognize you no matter when she saw you, Junghyun answered as if he had been waiting for it.

“No way. The last time we saw each other was 19 years ago, and she’s someone who hasn’t entered Korea even once in 12 years. If she recognized me, that would be scarier.”

Junghyun, who had been walking quickly toward the hotel entrance, sat down on a nearby bench as the call continued. During this time, the receiver remained quiet. It felt like he was frustrated and hesitating, not knowing what to say for comfort.

“Living life, there are times when hyung drags out your words like this too. I know what you’re thinking, but there’s nothing to worry about. I’m really okay. I couldn’t recognize her either anyway.”

Honestly, he was surprised too. Far from recognizing her, he didn’t even feel a sense of familiarity. And there were no emotions like excitement, being moved, or overwhelming joy at seeing her. It was just the impression of “so that person is her.”

-…You couldn’t recognize her? Not at all?

“Yeah. I don’t remember her face, but honestly, I thought I’d recognize my mother at first sight when I saw her. You know how it is in dramas and movies. Recognizing someone not by appearance but by feeling. Your gaze would go to them even when passing by, and your heart would drop when your eyes met. But I felt nothing at all. And even now, I’m just fine. I’m so okay that it’s bewildering even to me.”

– Are you really okay?

“Yeah, I’m really okay. She looked healthy and happy, so that’s enough. I was worried because she hadn’t married and still had no family, but when I probed while pretending to look at a 70 million won sofa, she said she has someone she’s seeing and came back to Korea to marry that person. The person she meets every evening is her marriage partner. When I heard that, I felt relieved. Now I won’t have bad dreams.”

He had worried about what to do if she was alone, sick, or unhappy – then maybe he, being her son, would have to take care of her. But fortunately, she looked healthy and happy. And she said she was getting married soon. So now there’s no debt of the heart. Now it seems okay to completely let her go. It seemed like revealing who he was would actually make her unhappier, as he had worried. Thinking this way, there was nothing more to be confused or worried about.

– Are you serious?

“Yeah. When I was young, I was scared that if I went to find her, my mother would become unhappy, and when I got a bit older, I worried about what would happen if my mother got sick alone. Then I felt like I couldn’t just pretend not to know. But she’s healthy, so that’s enough. Now I feel relieved.”

– If you really think that way, then that’s good… So will you be in Korea for a while?

“Until I can get a ticket. Oh, come to think of it, it’s almost opening season for baseball.”

With his mind at ease, his first thought was whether they bought a catcher. Otherwise, Yongwoo would put the team owner’s name on it and make a voodoo doll. No, he might have already buried a talisman at the stadium. Come to think of it, I won’t be able to watch baseball this year. Just try winning the championship this year – he was having useless thoughts when hyung also seemed to have the same thought and laughed.

– Hey, thinking about it again, you’d better not go to America.

“Why all of a sudden?”

– If you go to America, I think you’ll just go around watching baseball.

He couldn’t help but laugh at the comment that he was worried because it was the season.

“Hearing that makes me really want to go, but I can’t.”

– Why?

“There are circumstances for that too, and I’ll tell you that tomorrow as well.”

– Ah, what the hell are those circumstances?

“I said I’ll tell you tomorrow. I’m going to go into the hotel now.”

– Hey! Are you making a movie? Making people curious and then ending it here, to be continued in the main feature?

“That’s how all teasers are made. Let’s have lunch tomorrow. I’ll call you in the morning.”

– Fine. Do whatever you want. Who’s going to stop someone who’s lived their whole life doing only what they wanted?

“Yeah. That’s right. This is all your karma too, hyung.”

– Shut it.

“I’m hanging up.”

Just as he finished the call with that final greeting, a message happened to arrive. It was from the detective agency.

[Detective Agency] You said it wasn’t necessary, so we didn’t send anyone to meet you. Who are you referring to?

At the reply that came after a long while, Junghyun frowned. If it wasn’t someone sent from there, he couldn’t understand how they knew his and his mother’s arrival time and were waiting there.

[Someone who said his name was Lee Seongjun. He made the store reservation and accompanied us.]

Lee Seongjun, or was it Lee Sejun? While recalling that it was some name with that kind of feeling and writing the message, he felt someone approaching from the front. At that presence, he slightly lifted his gaze and saw familiar shoes above his phone. Black shoes with unusually thin and sharp lines for men’s shoes, which he remembered. He suddenly felt like he knew who it was. And all of this situation was instantly understood. There was no longer any reason to ask the detective agency, so he put his phone in his pocket. Then he lifted his head and greeted him.

“You’re better at this than I thought.”