MHF 10

Chapter 10

The visitor was Sua’s mother.

She was one of the people who absolutely could not find out that Woojin was here. If her mother discovered his presence, this entire collaboration would fall apart.

In other words, this was an extremely urgent emergency.

“You should’ve called before coming, Mom. The house is a mess.”

It was probably the first time in her life that Sua had ever felt this nervous in front of her mother. Woojin had already retreated perfectly to the second floor, yet her heart was still pounding anxiously.

Her mother stepped through the front door without answering her and looked down at the floor.

Following her mother’s gaze, Sua felt her heart plummet.

There, lying in plain sight, were Woojin’s dress shoes.

Ah… I forgot about the shoes.

Sua had rarely had any reason to lie in her life, and it showed. She was terrible at this.

“Sua.”

Her mother called her by name, her voice somewhat lower than before.

What am I supposed to say?

Should she make up some excuse about coming here to collect her brother-in-law’s belongings?

Or should she just tell her the whole truth?

“What are these shoes?”

But before Sua could make a decision, her mother asked another question.

“Mom, these are…”

“You still haven’t cleared out Do’s things?”

Sua had thought she was about to be caught red-handed, but her mother’s reaction was completely unexpected.

Sua quietly released the breath that had been caught all the way up to her throat.

“You should sort through a dead person’s belongings as soon as possible.”

Only then did Sua realize something she had never really considered before.

If a woman who had lost her husband had a pair of men’s shoes in her home, people would naturally assume they belonged to her dead husband. Very few would think they belonged to her brother-in-law.

Especially not someone as perfectly conventional as Sua’s mother.

“I understand how you feel, but the living have to keep living.”

She could say with certainty that this was the biggest deviation from the norm she had committed in her entire life.

“They look like they were just worn.”

From her mother’s perspective, Sua had become an unreasonable person, and that realization left her feeling bitter and sorry.

“But why are you sweating so much? Are you sick?”

Then, seeing her daughter’s gaunt face, her mother immediately asked with concern.

Completely unaware of the enormous secret her daughter was hiding.

“I was a little sick.”

Sua answered quietly.

At least that part wasn’t a lie.

“When? How badly?”

Her mother gently caressed her daughter’s cheek.

“Why didn’t you call me?”

Sua had always thought of herself as a fairly independent and resilient person. After all, she had endured countless grueling training sessions without complaint.

But she was much softer than she had believed herself to be.

The proof was how quickly tears threatened to spill over at her mother’s touch.

“Have a seat. I’ll make you some coffee.”

Desperately swallowing back her tears, Sua guided her mother to the sofa before heading into the kitchen.

“Were you drinking coffee?”

Sua naturally took out two cups, then tilted her head at the unexpected question.

And then she remembered the coffee Woojin had left unfinished.

“…Yes. I just got up.”

There was no other way to explain the coffee that was still steaming gently.

Her mother believed Sua lived alone in this house.

“I told you not to drink coffee on an empty stomach.”

As she listened to her mother’s scolding, Sua discreetly put one of the cups back into the cabinet. Then she brewed exactly one cup of coffee and returned to the living room.

“Did you eat, Mom?”

“Of course. What time do you think it is?”

Kindly, her mother pushed Woojin’s coffee toward Sua.

Sua hesitated, struggling with herself, but when she saw her mother take a sip of her own coffee, she finally picked up the cup and forced herself to drink.

She had no idea exactly where Woojin’s lips had touched the cup.

But the thought that she might be indirectly kissing him made her face flush.

This impure little thought was something neither Woojin nor her mother could ever be allowed to discover.

“Are you still feeling sick? Your face is red.”

“Ah, no. It’s because the coffee’s too hot. But why did you really come today?”

Sua changed the subject as naturally as she could.

“Because I was worried about you, of course. Something terrible happened to you, and then I couldn’t even reach you.”

“I’m sorry. I was just… overwhelmed.”

“I don’t know what to say to comfort you, Sua. What could a mother possibly say to a daughter who experienced losing her husband far too young—a loss I’ve never even had to experience myself?”

Thinking over her mother’s words, Sua found the situation painfully ironic.

There was something especially cruel about a daughter having to suffer the loss of a spouse before her own parents.

“That’s why I came to say this. Come home with me.”

Her mother gently took Sua’s hand.

“I can’t bear to leave you alone in this huge house.”

The warmth of her mother’s hand was almost painfully comforting.

“Your father is waiting for you, too.”

For a moment, Sua nearly nodded without hesitation.

The time she would spend beside her mother would surely be much warmer and more peaceful than this.

“I really want to, Mom. More than anything.”

But the thought of Woojin upstairs stopped her in her tracks.

There was a reason she had to remain in this house.

“But the day before he died, he made a promise to me. He said that no matter what happened, he would protect this house.”

She could not leave this place—not even for a single step—until she understood and accepted what had happened to Hajin.

“This may be hard to hear, but you and Do weren’t exactly married because you were deeply in love, were you? You simply sacrificed yourself to save our family.”

The confession that she had once believed the same thing, but had somehow come to love him at some point, caught in Sua’s throat.

“You’ve done enough, Sua. For Do, and for your in-laws.”

As though trying to escape her mother’s words, Sua turned her head.

Her gaze happened to land on the second-floor railing.

“Do’s death is tragic, but now you need to find a way to live your own life.”

Woojin stood silently at the second-floor railing, staring down at the mother and daughter.

There was no way to know how long he had been watching them.

“You’re still young enough to start over. Your dreams, your love… It isn’t too late.”

This time, Sua did not avert her eyes.

She stared straight up at Woojin.

Their gazes met in the air, growing layer upon layer, deep and dense.

Like thin layers of pastry.

And so subtle that no one would notice.

“Have you given up on your dreams and love?”

After her mother had left, Woojin came down from the second floor and asked her.

Sua, who was gathering the coffee cups they had shared, nodded toward him.

“I didn’t know you had such a bad habit of eavesdropping on other people’s conversations. And I never said I was giving up on either of them.”

“Then why didn’t you go with your mother?”

For some reason, Woojin’s voice had turned strangely cold.

“Because it won’t be too late to start over after the suspicions surrounding Mr. Hajin have been cleared up. And I also have a promise I made to Young Master Do.”

“You’re ready to start a new life whenever you want, without your brother.”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Sua asked in genuine surprise.

The truth was, she wasn’t sure whether it was actually possible for her to forget Hajin.

But she had concluded that, for her in-laws and her brother-in-law, this was the most appropriate answer she could give.

“Who would want to spend the rest of their life drowning in grief?”

“……”

“Everyone wants to overcome the past and move forward into the future.”

Apparently, hearing his sister-in-law say that she would someday move forward without her dead brother did not sit particularly well with Woojin.

His expression had hardened.

“As expected, you’re very wise, Sister-in-law.”

“You’re not angry because of my answer, are you?”

“Of course not.”

Despite the words, his tone was utterly flat.

What part of my answer upset him?

Surely he didn’t expect me to remain in the shadow of his dead brother for the rest of my life.

Sua wanted to ask him right then and there, but she desperately held herself back.

“Anyway, forget about that. Just before my brother died, I found out who held the deepest grudge against him.”

Woojin changed the subject without properly explaining himself.

Sua still felt uneasy, but she allowed the conversation to proceed in the direction he wanted.

“Who is it?”

“Our father.”

“…What?”

Crash!

The revelation was so shocking that Sua dropped the cup she had been holding.

The broken shards scattered in every direction with a deafening crash.

Just before one particularly sharp fragment could strike Sua in the face, Woojin opened his hand and blocked it.

His expression remained impassive as ever, but his eyebrow twitched in obvious displeasure.

“While my brother was alive, he was preparing to expose the corruption within our family. Once our father learned about it in advance, he must have become anxious. He has an abnormal obsession with wealth.”

“W-Wait a moment. You’re talking about my father-in-law, right?”

The possibility she had wanted to deny until the very end had come back to haunt her, and Sua fell into a state of panic.

“Yes. Unless I have some secret biological father, I only have one father.”

The revelation was clearly too much for her to process.

Without realizing it, Sua began to move.

For a moment, she forgot that the floor was littered with the shards of the cup she had just broken.

“Wait. I just need a moment to think…”

At that instant, Woojin abruptly grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him.

Sua was caught completely off guard and ended up in his arms.

“You’ll get hurt!”

For once, he raised his voice.

He’s too close again.