50.
#The Reason for Annoyance
“I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?”
“I feel like I made you say unnecessary things.”
Dawoon smiled bitterly at her honest apology. There was no real reason for her to apologize.
“You shared your story too, senior.”
She had opened up first. That’s why it was easier for him to speak than he expected.
Choi Yu-na, who had been staring silently at Dawoon’s response, nodded with a faint smile.
“But I did it because I was afraid you might misunderstand.”
“Whatever the reason.”
Whether it was to make excuses or not, talking about the weakness of one’s birth wasn’t easy. Especially if you thought the other person had everything, it was even harder to reveal vulnerabilities.
“I don’t really care. I go when I’m called, but I live thinking we’re practically strangers. But you’re not like that.”
He flinched at her last words. For Dawoon, Hayun, Haram, and his grandfather couldn’t be strangers. Whether others acknowledged it or not, they were fully blood-related family, and because they were family, they were more precious than anyone else.
“It’s tiring to meet relatives, but my brother…”
Hayun had never once criticized Dawoon’s birth. The one who had the most right to criticize had never once denied Dawoon. That’s why he could endure all the gossip about him from his grandfather, aunt, and relatives.
“My brother cared for me even more than our parents did.”
Choi Yu-na smiled faintly at Dawoon’s answer.
“I’m the same. My father dotes on me quite a bit because I’m his daughter.”
Dawoon thought she was probably right when she said she received plenty of love even though she was an illegitimate child. If she hadn’t been raised with love, she couldn’t have smiled so brightly and innocently.
“Let’s go eat. My treat!”
Choi Yu-na pointed to the department store’s restaurant floor. Saying that helping her choose a gift was reason enough to buy him a meal, she pulled on Dawoon’s arm.
***
Hayun, returning from a meeting, opened his phone to check Dawoon’s location and raised one eyebrow. He had been worried that Dawoon might have called Ui-hyeon to go drinking like last time, given what happened the night before, but surprisingly, Dawoon was at a department store.
He pressed the intercom on his desk to call Director Park in.
“Please contact Royal Department Store and find out why Dawoon is there.”
Director Park tilted his head at the sudden request. It seemed strange to him too that Dawoon was at a department store.
“I’ll look into it right away and let you know.”
After Director Park left, Hayun put down his phone and drummed his fingers on the desk. He had a bad feeling about this. It was strange in itself that someone whose usual routine was limited to university and home had gone somewhere else outside his normal pattern. The department store wasn’t a suitable place even if it was an excuse to avoid him.
He picked up his phone again and pressed speed dial number 1. Dawoon’s number appeared, and the call connection tone rang for a while, but there was no answer. He was about to try calling again but decided against it and called the housekeeper instead.
“Has there been any contact from Dawoon?”
Even though he asked if there had been any contact rather than if he had returned home, the housekeeper wasn’t surprised.
[About an hour ago, Young Master Haram called looking for Young Master Dawoon to have dinner together. He said he would be late because he had to stop by the department store with a friend.]
He already knew that Dawoon was at the department store.
“Did he say which friend?”
He didn’t have much expectation as he asked. Given Dawoon’s personality, he wouldn’t have given such details. If there was any possibility, it would be Lee Ui-hyeon.
[He only said it was a senior from the broadcasting club.]
He had given more details than expected. However, that answer immediately hardened Hayun’s expression. The only person that came to mind at the mention of a broadcasting club senior was Choi Yu-na.
Jeong Dawoon went to the department store with Choi Yu-na? There’s no way Dawoon would have suggested it himself, so obviously, Choi Yu-na must have made up some excuse and asked him to go together.
Whatever the reason, Jeong Dawoon had agreed to her request.
His mood plummeted instantly. They might not have gone alone. It could be related to broadcasting club work. He considered various possibilities, but none of them were particularly convincing.
Hayun’s gaze turned to the drawer where he kept Choi Yu-na’s investigation report. Apart from being the illegitimate child of Congressman Choi Min-guk’s second son, there was no flaw. There were no minor quarrels among friends or bad rumors. Although she was an illegitimate child, she was quite loved because she was a daughter, as Congressman Choi Min-guk’s second son’s legal wife only had sons. She had excellent grades and good conduct, so Congressman Choi Min-guk occasionally called for her when he felt inclined.
Although he couldn’t fully acknowledge her, she was a granddaughter too valuable to discard because she was more exceptional than the children of the main family. To Congressman Choi Min-guk, Choi Yu-na was exactly that kind of existence. It seemed like he was gauging what value she might have.
Why did it feel unsettling despite receiving reports that there were no problems? Would it have been less irritating if she had been a child of the main family?
He chuckled as he thought that far. Even if Choi Yu-na had been Congressman Choi Min-guk’s acknowledged granddaughter, it would have been just as annoying. The problem wasn’t Choi Yu-na herself, but that she was hovering around Dawoon.
“Have the car ready. I’m going to Royal Department Store.”
He instructed Director Park through the intercom, and he replied that he understood. It no longer mattered what Dawoon was doing at the department store. Now that he knew where he was, he just had to go find him.
***
It was almost 8 o’clock by the time they finished dinner. Dawoon parted ways with Choi Yu-na in front of the department store. She said she would take the subway home, but Dawoon planned to take a taxi.
“I didn’t know your brother was so young. He must be really cute.”
Even during dinner with her, Haram had called several times.
‘Big brother, when are you coming?’
He repeated the same question almost every 10 minutes, making Choi Yu-na, who was watching, burst into laughter. When told that he had just turned seven, she understood why he was calling for Dawoon like he was having a sleep tantrum.
“I really love kids. Next time we have a chance, bring your brother along.”
Choi Yu-na said before they parted, but Dawoon just thought it was a polite gesture. Above all, he didn’t think there would be an occasion to meet separately with her and Haram.
Choi Yu-na watched until Dawoon got into a taxi and then headed towards the subway station. Her father had offered to buy her a car several times, but she refused. The reason was simple. It was tiring to drive a car in Seoul. It was obvious that during commute times, which overlapped with her school hours, the roads would be congested, and she didn’t want to waste energy driving. Instead, she asked for a place to live near the school, and her father immediately got her a high-end officetel one station away from the university.
It wasn’t a lie when she told Dawoon that she had lived with her mother. She had indeed lived with her mother until high school. After being accepted to university, she became independent, and her mother moved down to Busan where her family was.
After she was left alone in Seoul, her father tried to do everything for her. He said that until then, he had been wary that her mother might be asking for money on the pretext of raising her. Even Grandfather, Congressman Choi Min-guk’s wariness, lessened considerably after she separated from her mother.
While not fully acknowledging Choi Yu-na, who had his son’s blood, he quickly registered her in the family registry and paid monthly living expenses regularly, fearing that her mother might cause problems by exaggerating the fact that she had given birth to her. As she grew up and proved to be more exceptional than expected, he even subtly suggested that it was because she had inherited their family’s blood. He started meddling in all sorts of ways, but still, she always had to remain a step away, an outsider.
‘No matter how great you are, do you think you can go around saying you’re grandfather’s granddaughter?’
Her half-brothers often looked down on her. Despite having nothing better about them than the fact that they were born in the main family, they acted superior in every way. Her teeth gritted every time she encountered them, but she never showed it outwardly. Because of this, her father and grandfather only thought of her as gentle and obedient.
Bzzzz. Feeling the vibration in her bag, she took out her phone to check the caller. Grandfather. Those four letters made her face turn cold.
“Yes, Grandfather.”
After pressing the answer button and responding, she heard a long breath.
[How have you been doing?]
It was quite a comprehensive question. Choi Yu-na held back a cynical laugh that was about to escape.
“I’m doing well. I’ve also become quite close with the second son of the Haedo Group.”
As she gave the answer her grandfather wanted to hear, she heard a satisfied “hmm” sound.
“Please arrange a meeting where I can see the adults together sometime soon. Naturally, of course.”
After she spoke in a voice tinged with laughter, there was a moment of silence, but soon came an agreement. That seemed to be all he wanted to know, as the call ended without any further words. She thought that he really wasn’t curious about his granddaughter’s well-being at all.
As she was about to put her phone back in her bag and start walking, she heard a short honk. The sound seemed to come from right next to her, so she turned around to see a black car slowly moving to match her walking pace. It seemed to be following her, so she stopped and turned her body completely towards it.
The car also stopped, and the rear window rolled down, revealing the face of a man she knew well.
“Ms. Choi Yu-na.”
A voice, lower and cooler than she expected, called her name.
