Perfect Possession - Episode 5

Jae-hoon clutched his chest and turned away from Seo-yeon. He was furious with himself for not even recognizing her, feeling like he was going crazy.

“Jae-hoon…?”

Seo-yeon got up and approached him.

“The money… Mom probably gave it. You or I, or at least I, should have checked. If we had, our son…”

Jae-hoon gritted his teeth. He felt like all the blood in his body was seeping into the ground. He was suffocating. Yet, the fact that he had to breathe was unbearably painful.

Seo-yeon reached out to him.

“Jae-hoon…”

“You said you’d contact me after giving birth, but why couldn’t you before then?”

Jae-hoon asked in a heavy tone.

“I was sick. My uterus was weak, and I kept showing signs of a miscarriage, so at that time, I couldn’t think of anything other than protecting the baby.”

“Ha.”

He let out a hollow laugh and turned to look at Seo-yeon. Jae-hoon was in so much pain that his eyes were bloodshot.

“We’re both zero when it comes to being parents.”

“I should have been braver. What’s the use of saying this now? Let’s put aside the misunderstandings we had for later. Until we find the child.”

Jae-hoon slowly let out the breath he had been holding.

“I will find the child, no matter what. Even if I have to search every inch of this country. No, if he’s not here, I’ll search the entire world. But I still can’t understand you. When you found out you were pregnant, you should have come to me no matter what.”

There wasn’t a day that Seo-yeon didn’t regret. She regretted it so much that she wanted to kill herself more than anyone else, but the past wouldn’t come back.

“I’m sorry, Jae-hoon…”

“If you’re going to say that, don’t even open your mouth.”

Jae-hoon took a breath and continued.

“Don’t think about anything today and try to get some sleep, even if it’s just a little. Our misunderstanding being resolved won’t bring back the child who disappeared.”

He was right. The misunderstanding was resolved, but Seo-yeon’s heart didn’t feel lighter. Rather, as Jae-hoon said, it was even more painful that only the child was hurt because of selfish adults and foolish parents who only cared about their own desires.

“Are you still thinking of going back to the hotel?”

“No. If it’s okay, I’ll stay on the first floor.”

Seo-yeon answered obediently.

On the first floor were the servants’ rooms and the kitchen. Except for Ms. Kim and Butler Park, everyone else had been sent away, so there would be a room left.

“What are you worried about? That I’ll pounce on you as soon as the misunderstanding is resolved?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Jae-hoon felt like a madman for saying such a thing. He was going crazy because of his son, whose whereabouts were unknown, but separately from that, he wanted her.

Perhaps the words he just spoke were a warning to himself.

“Use the room at the far right. It’s practically a detached house. You know it better than I do.”

Jae-hoon closed his mouth after saying that. He stared at Seo-yeon for a long time, then left the living room as he was. Seo-yeon had resolved not to cry again until she found her child, but his departing figure looked so painful that tears welled up in her eyes.

As the wind brushed her face like a tickle, Seo-yeon’s eyes snapped open. At the same time, she heard the sound of a door closing. Mechanically, Seo-yeon turned her gaze toward the door. And blankly, she looked around the familiar room.

For a moment, a faint smile lingered on her lips. For a very brief moment, she thought she had just had a nightmare.

That she had spent the night with Jae-hoon as usual and was waking up in the morning. Seo-yeon had returned to the past, two years ago. But after seeing the dress she had never seen before hanging on the bed stool, she closed her eyes tightly.

The moment she saw the gray dress, she remembered everything that had happened yesterday.

Seo-yeon struggled to sit up. She thought the sensation of something tickling her face a moment ago was a dream. She hurriedly got out of bed.

She didn’t even remember when she had fallen asleep. It was the first time since the day she found out her son was alive that she had slept a long sleep instead of a nap.

Was it because the misunderstanding was resolved? Shamelessly, she hated herself for leaving everything to Jae-hoon and falling asleep so brazenly. Seo-yeon felt so sorry for her child that her heart shrank endlessly.

But there was no time to be lost in thought. Last night, Jae-hoon hadn’t eaten anything and hadn’t come out of his study until late at night.

She hoped he would eat something in the morning. Until they found their son, neither of them could afford to collapse.

Seo-yeon walked down the familiar hallway toward the kitchen. It seemed that everyone had been sent away without leaving a single person, as Ms. Kim was working alone in the kitchen.

“Did you wake up?”

“Where are the others?”

“I sent them on vacation. There’s a risk of it leaking to the main family. Butler Park is doing something the Vice Chairman ordered.”

At the mention of the main family, Seo-yeon’s shoulders instinctively flinched. She hadn’t told Jae-hoon, but while she was seeing him, people from the Do-young family had taken turns visiting and quietly insulting her, telling her to leave Jae-hoon.

Mi-ryung, who never stepped forward, used her nephews and nieces like her own limbs. Mi-ryung only came to the forefront once, on the day Sung-hee returned with a large sum of money. Even that was to meet Sung-hee, not Seo-yeon.

“I’ll help you.”

Seo-yeon rolled up her sleeves and went to Ms. Kim’s side.

“No, it’s all done.”

Ms. Kim, who had refused, looked at Seo-yeon and checked the time.

“Then, would you tell the Vice Chairman that breakfast is ready?”

“Me?”

Seo-yeon had been wondering why Jae-hoon, who woke up early, hadn’t shown himself yet. But she was still uncomfortable with going to get him herself.

“If it’s not Secretary Min, it won’t do. Please tell him to eat. After Secretary Min left like that, the Vice Chairman barely ate one meal a day.”

Seo-yeon was quite surprised by her words. She wondered why he hadn’t been eating properly since she left. Come to think of it, Jae-moon and Sung-joon had also been worried about his meals and had strangely asked her to take care of him.

“Ms. Kim…”

“Is breakfast ready?”

Seo-yeon quickly stopped speaking and turned around at the sound of Jae-hoon’s voice behind her. When their eyes met, he gestured for her to come outside.

“Come out and eat.”

As Jae-hoon opened the door connected to the dining room as if they were going to eat together, Seo-yeon picked up the bowl of soup that Ms. Kim had prepared and left the cooking area.

“Give it to me.”

Seo-yeon shook her head as Jae-hoon held out his hand.

“It’s okay. Go in and sit down.”

But Jae-hoon took the tray and went into the dining room first, placing the bowl of soup on the table. Soon after, Ms. Kim and Butler Park came out with the food.

Seo-yeon sat across from Jae-hoon when the table was all set. Jae-hoon, who was about to pick up his spoon, finally raised his eyes and looked at Seo-yeon.

“I won’t starve myself anymore. So, don’t you starve yourself either.”

“If you eat, I’ll eat too. And…”

Seo-yeon wanted to return the money her mother had received.

“Tell me.”

Jae-hoon quietly urged Seo-yeon, who was just staring at him. She shifted her gaze to the spoon in his hand.

If she brought it up now, Jae-hoon would stop eating and leave the room. Seo-yeon decided to wait for the right time to say it again.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Remember all of your mother’s acquaintances, especially the ones she’s known since a long time ago. It must be one of those people. She’s a calculating person, so she wouldn’t entrust the successor of Do-young Group to just anyone.”

“Yes, I’ll look into it.”

Jae-hoon scooped up the soup and brought it to his mouth, quietly starting his meal. He thought that Seo-yeon wouldn’t eat first if he didn’t eat. As expected, he heard the quiet sound of a spoon moving.

“I went to my mother’s hometown, but there were no acquaintances left. However, I heard that there was a school senior who she occasionally kept in touch with, so I searched around, but I couldn’t find her.”

“School?”

“Hanmi Girls’ High School. I went to the school, but they said she dropped out before becoming a senior.”

“Contact information?”

“I couldn’t find it.”

“I’ll find her. Do you know her name?”

“Moon Haeja.”

He had already sent people to Hanmi Girls’ High School. Not only the high school but also the schools that Sung-hee had graduated from were already under investigation. He was going to dig up every connection, even the ones that were just fleeting.

“In some ways, it’s a good thing that your mother ended up like that. Otherwise, I might have done something to her.”

Seo-yeon couldn’t blame Jae-hoon for saying that it was fortunate that she was dead. Who could forgive Sung-hee for lying about her child being dead and entrusting her to someone else?

If she were alive, Jae-hoon would never let her out into the world again.

“Mom… I can’t forgive her either.”

Although she was the mother who gave birth to her, Seo-yeon had never felt Sung-hee’s love affectionately. Her mother, who pressured her to break up with Jae-hoon and insisted that she take the money and break up since they were not meant to be, was harder to bear than Mi-ryung, who gave her silent pressure to break up.

“…Going.”

Jae-hoon looked at Seo-yeon when he didn’t hear any sound. She had stopped her spoon and was not moving. Jae-hoon liked to call her name rather than using titles like Secretary Min or you, but he couldn’t bring himself to call Seo-yeon easily.

He lightly tapped the table so as not to startle her. Only then did Seo-yeon’s brown eyes turn to Jae-hoon.

“After breakfast, I’m going to Changwon too.”

“What did you find out?”

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