Chapter 10
There wasn’t a single wrinkle around her eyes. Her face, with its vibrant complexion, looked to be in her late 30s or early 40s at most.
“You look better in person than in photos.”
Kang Ye-ryeong looked over Eunsol’s face. Her gaze was so blatant that he could feel her eyes scanning him.
“Thank you……”
Eunsol fidgeted with his clasped hands. His voice trembled naturally. The time their eyes met was brief, but it was enough to realize that her face resembled Hyun-oh’s quite a bit.
Especially, her light-colored eyes were strikingly similar, as if they were carved from the same mold. Eyes of the same color as Hyun-oh’s were looking at Eunsol as if he were a strange animal caged within them.
Eunsol even breathed unnaturally. He could only muster the courage to meet her eyes when they first greeted each other.
Watching his large eyes evade her gaze and roll around, a loud laugh burst from Kang Ye-ryeong’s mouth.
“……”
Eunsol could only stand blankly until she stopped laughing. The more he scratched beside his thumb, the more strength he put into it.
“It’s been a while since I’ve laughed so genuinely. Hey, you’re really cute.”
“Thank you……”
Unlike before, Eunsol’s tone rose at the end. He was puzzled. Calling him cute when he was acting foolishly.
He wondered if she was expressing something with hidden intentions, but her smile reached his eyes as he gathered courage to look up.
“Are you going to keep standing by the door?”
“Huh… I’m sorry……”
Eunsol quickly pressed his back against the wall. The corridor from the entrance to the living room was spacious enough for two adult men to walk side by side with their shoulders touching.
However, Eunsol did his best to make his body as flat as possible for Kang Ye-ryeong to pass comfortably. The way he sucked in his stomach and held his breath made the corridor echo with laughter that was hard to believe came from such a small figure.
Eunsol didn’t know what to do and just waited obediently for her to stop laughing.
“I’m glad I came to meet you. I never dreamed my son would have a partner like you.”
The hand that wiped away the tears gathered in her eyes trembled. It was the result of laughing for a long time. Kang Ye-ryeong readily extended her hand towards Eunsol.
After looking at the hand extended in front of him for a moment, Eunsol widened his eyes and grasped the small hand with both of his.
Kang Ye-ryeong’s stature was even smaller than Eunsol. Her hands were the same. But her imposing aura made him unconsciously think of her as someone larger than himself.
“Hoo, your skin is smooth. Even modern medicine can’t achieve this.”
Eunsol’s earlobes turned bright red. It wasn’t easy to pull his hand away when the person touching it was Hyun-oh’s mother.
“Your nails aren’t well-groomed.”
“Ah……”
His nails were short. However, it was evident that Eunsol had trimmed them himself clumsily. The faintly raised cuticles around his nails were also noticeable.
This time, Eunsol withdrew his hand and pulled his arm back. Comparing her hand with his, the differences were stark.
She said his skin was smooth, but her hand was flawlessly clear. He felt ashamed.
If he had known a guest was coming, he would have made sure to tidy himself up somehow. The thought of showing his unprepared self to someone he should have presented himself well to made his head spin.
“Don’t be so nervous. You’re really scared, aren’t you?”
Kang Ye-ryeong smiled softly at Eunsol. She wasn’t on particularly affectionate terms with her son, but she was curious since he had chosen his partner.
She had even deliberately called to provoke him a bit. To see how he would react.
“But didn’t Hyun-oh call you? I clearly announced that I was coming to see you.”
Eunsol lowered his eyes as if he had committed a great wrong. Following his earlier action, his thumb’s skin turned red from scratching.
There were no notifications on his phone. He had heard through Kim Myungjun that Hyun-oh was on a business trip.
It felt like he was confirming his position in Hyun-oh’s life again. Even though he was standing firmly on the ground, it felt like the ground beneath his feet was giving way.
“He’s not the type to contact you warmly.”
Kang Ye-ryeong clicked her tongue as if she had expected this. She wondered if her son, who seemed to have ice instead of a heart, was in love.
But it seemed Hyun-oh didn’t marry Eunsol because he liked him. He must have been pressured to get married from various places but found it troublesome to find someone.
Eunsol was the partner chosen by his late husband. It was even ambiguous to call him a partner. He had the proper background but no power, and he was an Omega with outstanding looks, chosen after much deliberation.
He was a child chosen as a plaything by an old man whose days were numbered. He and his former wife were already legally divorced.
In many ways, Eunsol was a suitable type for someone like Hyun-oh to have as a spouse. Since he seemed gentle and not fierce, he must have thought he would do well.
Her son hated venomous people to the point of disgust.
At first, she thought Hyun-oh was crazy for choosing Eunsol, whom her husband had wanted, as his partner. But after meeting Eunsol in person, she immediately understood why her son had made that choice.
Even if her son didn’t admit it, their tastes were quite similar in some aspects.
“Let’s go somewhere together.”
“…Yes?”
“You’ll be alone at home anyway. Why bother staying bored and lonely?”
He was a type that disarmed naturally. She didn’t intend to act as a mother-in-law to Eunsol. With little maternal affection for Hyun-oh, it was unlikely she would feel affectionate towards his spouse.
He was a source of amusement. Anyway, he was a child married to Hyun-oh, and his appearance wasn’t bad to take around.
Kang Ye-ryeong was also picky about appearances when choosing lovers. She wanted to receive envious gazes from others when walking together, not the opposite.
In that sense, Eunsol was a pass. She was sure that taking him along to social gatherings in the future would feel different from taking a lover.
Dressing him up nicely and taking him along would surely feel different from taking a lover.
“Since we’re out, it would be good to buy some clothes. The clothes Kim Manager chose must be all boring and typical styles. They’re probably all neat.”
Kang Ye-ryeong slowly looked over the clothes Eunsol was currently wearing. They weren’t unsuitable for Eunsol, but the style was excessively modest.
Before Eunsol could resist, his wrist was grabbed by Kang Ye-ryeong’s hand, and he was taken out.
Her stature was smaller than Eunsol, but her strength was formidable. By the time they reached the car door, he had come to his senses and put strength into his feet.
But the resolute hand that pushed him into the car made his legs give way helplessly.
“Where shall I take you?”
“Royal Beauty Salon.”
“Yes.”
Kang Ye-ryeong, who had gotten into the seat next to where Eunsol was sitting, told the driver the destination.
“Relax. It’ll take some time.”
Kang Ye-ryeong patted the back of Eunsol’s hand, which was stiff with tension. She soon opened her phone and found her lover’s number.
“What are you doing, honey?”
―I was thinking about you.
“Don’t be coy. I’ll be a bit late today.”
―Didn’t you say you were just going to see his face and come back?
“I was planning to, but I’m going to get some esthetic treatments together.”
―Should I come there too?
“Hmm. Do you want to?”
The rest of the conversation didn’t reach Eunsol’s ears. He felt like an outsider. He missed Hyun-oh. The social gathering he had attended not long ago was also unfamiliar, but at that time, Hyun-oh was by his side. He had even taken Eunsol’s side.
Then he remembered what Kang Ye-ryeong had said. Did Hyun-oh not call him?
Fortunately, he had his phone in hand, and it was still in Eunsol’s hand now. He turned on the screen, hoping, but there were no messages. The conversation window only showed the message he had sent.
Eunsol’s eyes sank sadly.
* * *
“Welcome, Madam.”
“It’s been a while, Manager. I haven’t seen you in a long time. You’re here today?”
“Since Madam is visiting, I should personally take care of you.”
“Isn’t it too long since you’ve shown your face for that?”
Lee Ji-min’s pointed remark made her lips tremble. As she said, there had been days when she had personally dealt with Kang Ye-ryeong and then handed her over to her subordinates.
At that time, she had sided with the first son, thinking that Kang Ye-ryeong’s son would be pushed aside by the eldest son.
But according to recent news, the second son was firmly establishing his position.
On the surface, it was just a luxurious salon, but the people who came and went inside were not ordinary. It was a space where information from the political and financial worlds, which was not easily obtainable, flowed secretly.
It was that difficult to maintain one’s position if they were on bad terms with the next powerholder. Even if the relationship with the son wasn’t close, the background of being the birth mother was hard to ignore.
“Enough with the formalities. Prepare a full course. My lover will be here soon, so do a couple’s treatment for me, and a single treatment for this child.”
“Understood.”
Lee Ji-min, who had a premonition that one massage room would be in a mess today, managed to smile. She signaled to an employee waiting nearby.
“I will personally attend to Madam. Please come this way.”
“Okay. Let’s meet here again after the massage, kid.”
“…Yes.”
Eunsol bowed his head slightly towards Kang Ye-ryeong. In truth, he wanted to leave this place now, but Eunsol couldn’t defy her words. She was Hyun-oh’s mother, after all.
Following the employee Lee Ji-min had assigned to him, he moved his steps into the changing room. When he came out after changing into the comfortable clothes she had given him.
“I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
