Affectionate Obsession - Chapter 53

“You’re here? I’m sorry for calling you out so suddenly.” As soon as Yeonhee entered the cafe near her home, she politely greeted Eunha, Junhyeok’s mother, whom she saw immediately.

“Greetings are fine, please sit down. Is coffee okay? If you have a favorite tea, we can get something else.” “Anything is fine.”

Feeling her heart grow heavier at Eunha’s excessive kindness, Yeonhee sat down.

Meanwhile, Eunha, who had ordered coffee, stared intently at Yeonhee. She felt as if her throat was being squeezed by that gaze. She had a premonition that, for whatever reason, Eunha hadn’t called her here for a good cause.

“Is something wrong? You look quite unwell.” Eunha asked with a voice full of concern. Her tone was so gentle that, for a moment, Junhyeok’s face appeared over Eunha’s.

It was natural for a mother and son to resemble each other in appearance and aura, but Yeonhee even had the frivolous thought that Junhyeok’s gentle demeanor, which she only saw when he was with her, might be inherited from his mother.

Yeonhee subtly lowered her head and took a deep breath, trying not to be noticed.

No matter how kind a mother-in-law might be, she was still a mother-in-law. Moreover, even though she was acting as Yoon Sera, she hadn’t done anything well as a daughter-in-law, so she felt burdened that an elder had to contact her first. If she were to be graded, she was already a zero-point daughter-in-law, and she couldn’t possibly show up with a sour face in front of her mother-in-law.

Yeonhee forced the corners of her lips upward. Then, adopting a voice full of utmost politeness, she said,

“No. I think I just look that way because I didn’t sleep well last night. More importantly, I should have contacted you first, I apologize for making you reach out to me.”

Yeonhee was overly formal. Although she had only met Eunha a few times, Eunha had always been prudent in everything she did, and she was a refined person who treated her daughter-in-law with such courtesy.

Yeonhee felt that Eunha, for any reason, would have spent a considerable amount of time agonizing before making such a sudden call.

As if to confirm her prediction was not wrong, Yeonhee saw Eunha’s pupils tremble slightly with complex emotions. It meant that what was about to follow would not be very positive.

She couldn’t act cheerfully like an immature child in front of her.

Yeonhee silently waited for Eunha to speak.

Eunha, who hesitated to open her mouth, finally let out a deep sigh after their ordered coffees arrived.

“I don’t know what to say or how to start.” As Eunha said this, she lowered her gaze. But it was only for a moment.

Soon, a voice filled with hesitation pierced Yeonhee’s ears.

“I know that the young lady is not Sera. I contacted you knowing that.”

Yeonhee’s eyes, which had been fixed on the corner of the table, violently shook at those words. She felt as if her heart was plummeting to the abyss.

“I heard your name is Yeonhee.”

Her mind, which had been preoccupied with how to explain her unfaithful attitude as a daughter-in-law, suddenly went blank.

Yeonhee slowly raised her head.

Eunha, who had been looking down, had now raised her head and was looking at her.

The moment their eyes met, Yeonhee felt an indescribable emotion engulf her entire body. Her hands, placed under the table, trembled, and her heart pounded as if it would burst. She felt like she had been stripped bare and abandoned in a crowded street.

Yeonhee instinctively lowered her head. Then, she reflexively blurted out the first words that came to her throat.

“I’m sorry. I’m truly, truly sorry. I’m so… so…”

“No. It’s not like that. I didn’t ask you to come here to hear that.”

Yeonhee pressed her trembling lips together firmly.

Overwhelmed by guilt, she couldn’t meet Eunha’s eyes, but she saw Eunha’s hands covering hers, which were resting on her lap.

A warmth, resembling Junhyeok’s, seeped into her hand. It felt as if it was gently caressing and comforting her stiff body.

“It’s not you, Yeonhee-ssi, who needs to apologize. It’s me. I’m sorry. Actually, I overheard a bit of your conversation with Chairman Choi at the charity auction last time. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but Chairman Choi’s voice was quite low. But when I thought about it, those words didn’t seem like something one would say to their granddaughter, Sera.”

“……”

“To be honest, when you first came to our house after getting married, I had a slight feeling that something was off. You definitely had Sera’s face, but the aura you exuded was subtly different. I tend to be sensitive to such things, but I dismissed it as my imagination. I thought you might be nervous as it was your first time visiting your in-laws after marriage. But after hearing Chairman Choi’s conversation that day, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was wrong, so I had someone look into it a bit. That’s how I found out.”

Yeonhee bit her lower lip and listened to Eunha’s story in silence. Regardless of how Eunha had discovered her identity, deceiving both families for money was undeniably her fault, and she had no right to speak.

Yet, Eunha’s words, offering an apology, felt incredibly warm.

Yeonhee lowered her head even further.

She was someone who didn’t deserve to hear an apology from Eunha. Not only had she deceived Eunha and married Junhyeok, but she was also using Junhyeok for her revenge. Therefore, it was she who should be apologizing.

Yeonhee pressed her lips together even harder.

Tears welled up in her eyes and began to fall. Even that felt shameless.

But she couldn’t let out a sob and make Eunha feel even heavier.

She did her best to hide her crying, but Eunha’s next words rendered her efforts futile, leaving Yeonhee stunned.

“And, what our Chairman did to you 10 years ago, ordering someone to do something they shouldn’t have. I’m truly sorry for that too. I only found out about that recently. That you, Yeonhee-ssi, were our Junhyeok’s first love.”

“……”

“Knowing that fact, and then learning how you ended up marrying Junhyeok. It felt like a twist of fate from the heavens.”

Yeonhee bit her lower lip tightly. She couldn’t stop the tears that kept flowing down her cheeks. Breathing itself felt difficult now. She had no idea how much Eunha knew, from where to where. She was desperately afraid of what the conclusion to all these stories would be, something she could only know by staying until the end.

“I know you didn’t approach our Junhyeok on purpose. You didn’t know either, did you? You only realized it was Junhyeok when you arrived at the wedding. Right?” Eunha asked, her voice tinged with a hint of anxiety, as if urging her to respond.

Yeonhee couldn’t answer anything. Whatever she said would sound like an excuse in this situation. She didn’t want to do that, not when everything was already revealed, just to alleviate her guilt even a little.

However, Eunha was exactly as Yeonhee had first perceived her. A person who wasn’t twisted at all.

Eunha shook her head as if apologizing for having seen Yeonhee that way for even a moment, and then her lips moved.

“If you were that kind of person, you wouldn’t have left Junhyeok 10 years ago. That’s why my heart feels even heavier. If one cherishes their own child, they should also cherish another’s, but it seems our Chairman, in pursuit of his own desires, didn’t consider your life at all.”

Eunha let out a sigh at the end of her words. This was the demeanor of a true adult. Someone who didn’t get caught up in conditions, but treated others simply as fellow human beings.

Eunha’s demeanor made Yeonhee’s heart ache even more sorrowfully.

“I sincerely apologize. I am truly sorry. I have nothing more to say than this, I am so sorry, Yeonhee-ssi.”

Yeonhee clamped her lips together in a straight line. Otherwise, she felt she wouldn’t be able to hold back her sobs. She wanted to say, No, it’s I who should be sorry. I don’t deserve such warm consideration. I’m so sorry for driving so many nails into Junhyeok’s heart. She wanted to say those words, but her mouth was so full of unshed tears that she couldn’t even open it.

Yeonhee’s head bowed lower and lower. Soon, Yeonhee’s forehead touched the back of Eunha’s hand, which was holding hers.

At that moment, Yeonhee’s shoulders, which she had been holding stiffly, began to heave violently. Simultaneously, Eunha’s grip on Yeonhee’s hand tightened.

Once the tears started, they didn’t subside easily. Despite this, Eunha waited without a word, allowing Yeonhee to regain some composure.

Then, after a long while, as Yeonhee’s violently shaking shoulders began to stabilize.

“Thinking about the pain you must have endured, asking for forgiveness like this is truly shameless. But. But, Yeonhee-ssi.”

Eunha’s lips, which had been hesitant all along, began to deliver the main point heavily.

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