Perfect Possession - Episode 34

“Someone came?”

Jaehoon had clearly heard it. But asking again was to organize his thoughts in that brief moment. He had expected Mi-ryung wouldn’t stay still.

However, he thought that Mi-ryung, who moved more intelligently than the hot-tempered Chairman Han, wouldn’t barge in so easily.

“The eldest Madam came to the residence today.”

“Alone?”

“No, sir.”

No sooner had Hyun-shik finished speaking than a knock was heard, and Sungjoon entered. His expression was unpleasant, filled with worry and displeasure.

“Vice President.”

Even during private conversations within the company, Sungjoon always called Jaehoon “Vice President.”

“Team Leader Han just called, ranting about Seo-yeon, no, I mean, Sister-in-law, and Tae-yul. What’s going on? She’s lost her mind. She said having a baby changed her and asked if I knew… Damn, it’s so unpleasant that I have that woman’s blood mixed in me.”

His half-sister, Jia, constantly harassed and ignored Sungjoon. Ever since Sungjoon caught Jaehoon’s eye and joined his line, she had been desperately trying to find even the smallest weakness.

“Someone else?”

“Well, according to Butler Park…”

Sung-joon spoke instead of Hyun-shik. He had barged in just as Hyun-shik was about to report.

“He said he didn’t even let the eldest Madam into the main house and met her in the annex. He told her he couldn’t let her meet Young Master Tae-yul and asked her to leave. Butler Park said he had never seen the eldest Madam so flustered in his 40 years and is worried about what might happen later.”

“Wow, it must be real. Team Leader Han said the same thing. She was yelling at me, saying she was only doing this one favor for me?”

After hearing everything Sung-joon had to say, Jaehoon smiled and stood up. Hyun-shik and Sung-joon were surprised to see him so calm and unfazed.

“I told her never to back down, and she told me not to worry, that she wouldn’t. What’s my schedule like today?”

“You have a meeting with Director Park this afternoon.”

“Tell him and ask for his understanding to reschedule. If he asks why, tell him I’m going to see my son.”

“Pardon?”

Hyun-shik, who rarely showed surprise, raised his voice at Jaehoon’s unexpected words.

“I apologize.”

He quickly apologized.

“Why are you so surprised?”

Jaehoon had already taken care of urgent matters in the morning. So, even if he postponed the meeting with Director Park, who trusted and supported him, it wasn’t a big deal.

Right now, it was right to go back to Seo-yeon and Tae-yul, who must be flustered by Mi-ryung’s visit.

“Of course, I’m surprised. I was surprised too. But well, I understand. If it were me, I wouldn’t even be able to come to the company and attend meetings like the Vice President. I’d probably be standing in front of the gate with something in hand.”

At Sung-joon’s words, Jaehoon laughed out loud and put on his jacket.

“I’ll go alone. Chief Jung, contact me if anything urgent comes up. Sung-joon, take care of anything that needs to be done in my place.”

“What could I possibly do in the Vice President’s place? But don’t worry and go quickly.”

Sung-joon pointed to the door with both hands, speaking playfully. As Jaehoon patted both of their shoulders and left the room, Sung-joon whispered in a low voice.

“Chief Jung, I definitely need to get married.”

“Don’t lower your voice when you say that, Chief Han. It’s creepy.”

The two friends spoke jokingly, but they felt touched seeing Jaehoon looking so happy.

“Oop-cha!”

Seo-yeon pretended to lift the ball high and gently tossed it in front of Tae-yul. Seeing the ball coming, Tae-yul reacted, but only after the ball fell at his feet did he lower his bottom and reach out his arms. His adorable appearance made Seo-yeon laugh, losing track of time.

“Tae-yul, when Mommy lifts the ball like this, stretch your arms out right away.”

Seo-yeon picked up the ball from the ground, lifted it with one hand, and simultaneously stretched out her other arm, pretending to hit the ball. Tae-yul, his dark eyes shining, stared intently and tilted his head.

Seo-yeon repeated the same action several times until Tae-yul understood. The fourth time she lifted the ball, Tae-yul nodded quickly and stomped his feet.

Then, he pointed forward with his finger and pushed Seo-yeon.

“Are you telling me to go and throw it quickly?”

Tae-yul nodded vigorously, pursing his lips. Looking closely, he seemed impatient, stomping his feet and wiggling his bottom. You could tell how happy he was just by looking at his expression.

Seo-yeon quickly stepped back and took a deep breath.

“Okay, Mommy’s throwing it. Oop-cha!”

Seo-yeon shouted loudly and slowly threw the ball. The ball landed in Tae-yul’s hand, which stretched out in an instant, and bounced up about halfway.

Clapping and cheering, Seo-yeon held her breath and stopped.

“Eung.”

In the garden, where there wasn’t even a breeze, not even the sound of insects could be heard. But Seo-yeon clearly heard the sound of straining. It was as if he was imitating Seo-yeon’s shout.

It was a sound that came out after she threw the ball a beat late, but it was definitely coming from Tae-yul’s mouth. She knew in her head that she had to act so Tae-yul wouldn’t be surprised, but her heart couldn’t do that.

Seo-yeon approached Tae-yul, knelt down, and gently hugged him.

“Good job, my son. You did so well. You know, should Mommy and I try ‘oop-cha’ again?”

Seo-yeon didn’t want to put pressure on him, but she couldn’t help it. She wanted to hear again if the sound she heard was really from Tae-yul.

“Oop-cha!”

Seo-yeon clenched her fist and said loudly. But her voice trembled, and it was hard to tell if it was a shout or a sob.

With a heart about to burst, she watched Tae-yul. Slowly, Tae-yul clenched his fist, awkwardly lowered his bottom, straightened his body, and opened his mouth round.

“Eung.”

“Ah… Ah, thank you. Thank you so much. Good job.”

Seo-yeon hugged Tae-yul and cried. She couldn’t hold back the tears that flowed. She didn’t want to show Tae-yul her crying, so she picked him up and spun around.

“Mommy is so, so happy to hear Tae-yul’s voice.”

Not quite “Mommy” or “Daddy,” just a sound of straining mixed with a short exclamation, but to Seo-yeon, it felt like she had heard all of Tae-yul’s words.

“I wish Daddy would come quickly. Should we play ball like this when our Daddy comes? He’d be happy if Tae-yul said ‘eung’.”

Tae-yul wiped Seo-yeon’s tears and nodded. She didn’t know what he was thinking, but he seemed to dislike Seo-yeon crying. On his forehead, which resembled Jaehoon’s, there was a cute little wrinkle like his dad’s. She laughed loudly at the sight.

“Tears come out even when you’re too happy. But I won’t cry anymore.”

Seo-yeon quickly turned around at the sound of footsteps behind her. Mrs. Kim was wiping her hands on her apron and approaching quickly.

“Mrs. Kim, our Tae-yul spoke.”

“Spoke, spoke?”

Her voice trembled slightly, startled.

“Well, not exactly spoke. I said ‘oop-cha,’ and he made a sound like ‘eung’.”

“That’s wonderful. Young Master, you did well. I guess he knew and came home early.”

“Is Jaehoon coming?”

“Yes. He’s almost here.”

Seo-yeon knew that the reason Jaehoon was coming early was because of Mi-ryung’s visit. She had been thinking that might happen.

If he had heard that Mi-ryung came, he would have called. But since there was no contact, she had been hoping that he might come home early.

“Tae-yul, Daddy’s coming. Should we wait outside?”

“I’ll join you.”

“Thank you. Oh, and tell the staff to come now.”

“They’ll all be coming from next week anyway.”

Seo-yeon held Tae-yul and went out the gate. This area, where large mansions were gathered, was home to famous entrepreneurs and celebrities, so the fences were all high for privacy.

But it didn’t feel stuffy because there was distance between the mansions. Right now, Jaehoon’s mansion was also quite far from the house next door, where a famous composer lived.

Most of the mansions were built on hills, so you had to look down to see the cars coming.

“Tae-yul, you can’t go outside alone. If you fall here, it’ll be a big ouch.”

Seo-yeon stomped her feet on the ground and explained earnestly. Tae-yul frowned, as if he understood. Just then, the front of the car Jaehoon was in began to appear.

“Daddy’s car.”

Seo-yeon grabbed Tae-yul’s arm and waved her hand enthusiastically.

“Daddy, come quickly. I said ‘oop-cha’ today.”

Seo-yeon said playfully, pointing to the approaching car.

“Wait. It looks like someone’s in front of the house.”

Jaehoon stared without blinking at the figure visible outside the car.

They had just reached the top of the hill, so Hyun-shik hadn’t seen anyone standing there. Hearing Jaehoon’s words, he looked into the distance and saw that someone was indeed standing in front of the house.

“That’s Seo-yeon, right? She’s holding Tae-yul, isn’t she? Hyun-shik, stop the car.”

Seeing her standing in front of the gate, Jaehoon’s heart raced.

“The car will be faster.”

“Ah… that’s right. I was in a hurry. I hope she didn’t come out because she was shocked by my mother.”

“She looks too happy for that. Young Master is waving his hand.”

“I see.”

He replied lightly, but Jaehoon’s heart wasn’t as light as his voice. He knew that Seo-yeon was someone who would smile even when things were hard.

“I hope her heart isn’t hurt.”

Jaehoon sincerely hoped that Seo-yeon’s heart wasn’t hurt because of Mi-ryung. He smiled involuntarily at the sight of her holding his son.

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