Perfect Possession - Episode 3

Madam Kim stood there, holding a towel. Seo-yeon had once found Madam Kim intimidating, thinking of her as someone from Mi-ryung. But she was a Han of the Do-young Group, through and through.

So, in her eyes, Mi-ryung, the mistress of Do-young, and Seo-yeon were just equals with different surnames.

“I was told to bring you clothes. But it seems you’ve found them. You’re to put them on. The clothes you arrived in are being laundered.”

“Thank you.”

Seo-yeon, who was roughly covering herself with the towel, didn’t want to change in front of Madam Kim. But for some reason, Madam Kim didn’t leave. Her gaze lingered on Seo-yeon’s dripping wet hair.

Seo-yeon almost stepped back as Madam Kim approached. But when she started drying her wet hair with the towel, Seo-yeon said, flustered,

“I, I can do it.”

“I know why Secretary Min came back. The Vice Chairman told me. We will find our young master without anyone else’s help.”

Seo-yeon knew that the “anyone else” Madam Kim was referring to was Chairman Han and Mi-ryung. And why she was awkwardly drying her hair like this.

It was the greatest comfort Madam Kim, who had lost a child herself, could offer. Seo-yeon was overwhelmed with emotion and tears welled up.

“A mother must be strong. So, stop crying and help the Vice Chairman. That’s what you, Secretary Min, should do.”

Seo-yeon stopped crying at her words. She had thought about how a mother must be strong hundreds of times a day. How many times had she pulled herself together, thinking that if she faltered, her child would suffer even more?

She nodded, wiped away her tears, and quickly put on the clothes. It was a glossy, soft satin dress.

Jae-hoon, who always complimented her legs, always gave her dresses that came down to her ankles. The light gray dress also covered her ankles.

Seo-yeon turned away, seeing herself in the beautiful dress as if she were someone else. She wanted to turn back time, to figure out where things had gone wrong.

If she could go back to that time, she would beg Jae-hoon not to abandon her, clinging to him. Then their child wouldn’t have been abandoned in someone else’s hands like this.

Seo-yeon rubbed her wet face with the back of her hand and went outside.

“This must never leak out. Hyun-shik, mobilize all the trustworthy people you can and trace the phone number. If you find even the smallest clue, contact me first. I’ll go myself.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Jae-moon, you…”

Seo-yeon couldn’t wait for Jae-hoon to finish speaking and went inside. There were two more people in the room besides Hyun-shik and Jae-moon. One was Attorney Yoon, and the other was his cousin, Sung-joon.

In that short time, Jae-hoon had gathered all his trusted aides.

The three men bowed their heads simultaneously when they saw Seo-yeon. Jae-moon asked Jae-hoon with a worried expression.

“Should we examine her first?”

“Please do.”

Jae-hoon replied briefly to Jae-moon’s words.

“Welcome back.”

Jae-moon greeted Seo-yeon warmly as he approached.

“It’s been a while, Teacher.”

“You still call me Teacher. Please, sit down.”

“I’m fine. The chills have stopped now.”

Seo-yeon looked at Jae-hoon. She just wanted to listen to his instructions as they were.

“Examine her first. If Jae-moon says you’re okay, you can stay in this room.”

“Jae-hoon…”

“Seo-yeon!”

Jae-hoon didn’t want his emotions to waver until he found the child. He wanted to be more rational than ever, but when he saw Seo-yeon, anger, pity, and desire all rose up at once.

He felt like he was going crazy, but he was doing everything he could, thinking that he couldn’t fall apart. Right now, Seo-yeon herself was a fatal weakness to him.

Seo-yeon nodded almost imperceptibly. Realizing that she was making things difficult for him, she sat down silently.

“Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

“No.”

Jae-moon checked her temperature with a thermometer.

“It’s 37 degrees, but I don’t think you have a fever, Seo-yeon.”

Seo-yeon looked up at Jae-moon, who was quietly calling her name.

“Do you trust that guy?”

“…Yes.”

“We’ll find him. So, both of you, please eat something. That guy hasn’t eaten anything today either.”

Seo-yeon looked at Jae-hoon, who was still handsome. But he was a little thinner than he had been two years ago. She was so out of her mind with her own pain that she hadn’t considered Jae-hoon’s feelings at all.

She should have known better than anyone else in this room how he was feeling right now.

After hearing that the child she thought was dead was alive, Seo-yeon couldn’t forgive Sung-hee for taking the child away. She didn’t shed a single tear throughout the funeral.

She only stayed at the funeral home on the day of the burial. She wanted to watch Sung-hee’s last journey, the woman who had severed her maternal love. She had poured out so much resentment.

And as if being punished, she couldn’t find any trace of the child, and she went mad with despair. She only thought about meeting Jae-hoon, not even considering the shock he would receive.

“He’ll find him. I’ll make him eat something.”

“Cheer up. I’ll help too.”

Jae-moon sincerely comforted her. He didn’t know the details of how Jae-hoon and Seo-yeon had broken up. All Jae-moon knew was that in the 20 years he had known Jae-hoon, he had never looked as happy as he did during the year he was with Seo-yeon.

Jae-moon sincerely hoped that the two of them would get back together.

“Jae-moon.”

Jae-hoon called out to Jae-moon. He must have been curious about Seo-yeon’s condition.

“She’s fine. She just seems tired from not sleeping and eating, like you. Please, get some food.”

“Yes, hyung, leave the next steps to us and get some rest. Seo-yeon, have something simple to eat with hyung.”

Although he was saddened by the situation, Sung-joon was genuinely happy that Seo-yeon had returned. His aunt, Mi-ryung, had said that Seo-yeon had taken the money and left, but Sung-joon didn’t believe it.

The Seo-yeon he knew would never do such a thing.

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Hyung.”

“You and Jae-moon thoroughly search all the hospitals and crematoriums across the country, without missing a single one.”

Jae-hoon struggled to utter the last words.

“Why the crematoriums? He’s alive.”

Seo-yeon jumped up and approached Jae-hoon.

“Jae-hoon… he’s alive. We just need to find the hospital.”

“I know.”

“Then why?”

“If she went as far as getting a phone number, it means your mother was watching where the child was. The sudden lack of contact also means something happened to the person who was taking care of the child. I’m telling them to search just in case.”

Jae-hoon had wondered for a moment if he was wrong. That’s why he couldn’t bring himself to say the word “crematorium.” But he was sure that couldn’t be the case.

If something had gone wrong, Sung-hee wouldn’t have been unaware. Of course, she would have given the phone number right before dying because he was alive.

“…I was surprised.”

“Sit down.”

Seo-yeon sat down and watched Jae-hoon give instructions to the others. He gave instructions without hesitation, like someone who had already organized his thoughts.

He decided to track down the disconnected phone number and Sung-hee’s acquaintances. And in preparation for a possible emergency, he contacted orphanages, childcare centers, and adoption centers across the country.

But listening to Jae-hoon’s words, Seo-yeon became so scared that she couldn’t breathe. The warmth that had returned in the hot bath quickly faded away. The thought of her son being someone else’s child tore at her heart.

Jae-hoon, who had given Sung-joon instructions in a low voice, turned to Seo-yeon and dismissed the others.

Seo-yeon stood up as Jae-hoon approached.

“We’ll find a clue soon.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you?”

Jae-hoon was angry, his face contorted in pain.

“You’re thanking me right now!”

Seo-yeon couldn’t say anything. But she didn’t understand all of his anger.

Seo-yeon didn’t even know she was pregnant. Her periods were irregular to begin with, and her belly didn’t show. Other than indigestion, she didn’t have any morning sickness.

It was when she was seeing Jae-hoon, but she never suspected anything. If she had known, many things would have been different.

When she was told that the child was dead, everything was already settled. What Seo-yeon regretted most was not confirming the child’s death.

At that time, it was hard to even breathe, to open her eyes and watch the day dawn.

Feeling her hatred for Jae-hoon turning into a mixture of love and hate day by day, she wanted to inflict her pain on him as well. But she couldn’t appear before him as he was making a clean start.

Because in one corner of her heart, she wanted him to be happy. But Jae-hoon was blaming himself for everything. Seo-yeon couldn’t understand why he was so angry.

Was it because she hid the fact that she was pregnant? Thinking this far, she couldn’t stay there any longer and decided to return to the hotel first.

“…Is my bag here?”

Only after speaking did Seo-yeon notice her bag on the living room sofa.

“I’ll be at the hotel.”

Seo-yeon turned around without waiting for Jae-hoon’s reply. But she couldn’t take even one step before she was staggering from a powerful force and was in Jae-hoon’s arms.

“Let me go.”

“Let you go? Do you even have a shred of conscience?”

“Conscience…? What do you mean? I appeared before you because he’s also your child. Is that something that bothers your conscience?”

“That’s not what I mean!”

“Don’t shout. Please find my child. If you find him, I can throw away not just my conscience, but even more.”

Jae-hoon’s eyes turned coldly frozen.

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