Perfect Possession - Episode 62

Tae-yul seemed thrilled to have Hyun-shik and Sung-joon joining his usual meals with Mom and Dad. He was so excited that he didn’t know if the rice was going in his nose or his mouth.

 

When he ate with Seo-yeon, Tae-yul would act a little spoiled, enjoying the attention from his mom. But with so many people around, he seemed to want to look like Jaehoon.

 

Every time he grabbed his spoon and ate, he would say, “Tae-yul eat!” showing off his powerful eating.

 

“Tae-yul is a man!”

 

When Sung-joon chimed in and mimicked Tae-yul’s eating, he got even more excited, bringing a huge amount of rice to his mouth, half of which ended up in his mouth and the other half on the table. Then, he frowned and looked at Seo-yeon.

 

He was worried about the spilled food. When Seo-yeon tried to move, Jaehoon jumped up, cleaned Tae-yul’s table, and sat back down.

 

Laughter never ceased throughout the meal. Seo-yeon quietly watched Jaehoon, smiling and responding to Sung-joon’s words.

 

Even as she watched him greatly enjoy Sung-joon’s comment that Tae-yul seemed to resemble his older brother more than Seo-yeon, her heart wasn’t light.

 

She could feel Jaehoon’s heavy heart hidden beneath his laughter. Seo-yeon wished she could bear even half of that burden.

 

But this time, he had to carry it alone and step forward. The only fortunate thing was that Jaehoon had many people around him to support him.

 

“So, Sister-in-law, it was when I was in middle school. The school held a big awards ceremony for the students who won prizes at the science competition that day. It was a pretty big competition, so the press coverage was intense. Of course, I won the grand prize. Haha. There were two others besides me, but as you can see, I was the black sheep, so no one was coming.”

 

“No one?”

 

Seo-yeon felt sorry for Sung-joon, who had to be alone even after receiving such a big award.

 

“Wouldn’t someone from Do-young come?”

 

“Ah… no.”

 

Seo-yeon gently shook her head, thinking of Mi-ryung and Jia’s mother, who was the second mistress.

 

“Right? But he came. Apparently, the award was from an international competition, and the article was published in the United States. Jaehoon saw it and skipped school to come see me. When he walked into the school auditorium, wow, I just burst into tears. I was sobbing. Everyone thought I was crying because I won the grand prize, but that wasn’t it.”

 

As if the emotions of that time were revived, Sung-joon’s eyes welled up. Tae-yul’s eyes were also sparkling as he looked at Sung-joon, as if he knew they were talking about Jaehoon.

 

“Really?”

 

Seo-yeon was hearing the story for the first time, so she stared at Jaehoon with wide eyes. He frowned slightly and mouthed, “It’s nothing.”

 

“The star of that awards ceremony wasn’t me, it was Jaehoon. My grandfather was so famous for his love for his grandchildren that Jaehoon was already exposed to the media. Thanks to the future heir of Do-young coming to see his cousin, my treatment at school changed completely. That’s when I decided. I would live and die for Jaehoon.”

 

“Oh my, our Jaehoon must feel burdened.”

 

Although it was touching enough to make her nose tingle, Seo-yeon joked and took Jaehoon’s hand.

 

“You’ll have to take responsibility for your brother-in-law’s life.”

 

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

 

Sung-joon immediately agreed with Seo-yeon’s words.

 

“Jaehoon will probably take care of everything.”

 

“Why would I?”

 

Jaehoon said, looking at Seo-yeon.

 

“It’s your life motto.”

 

“That’s right. It’s my life motto. Hyun-shik too, right? Isn’t it?”

 

Sung-joon looked at Hyun-shik, who had been listening quietly, and asked.

 

“Does Chief Secretary Jung have a story too?”

 

Seo-yeon knew that Hyun-shik looked after Jaehoon more than anyone else.

 

“Ah, I… I’m a huge fan of biographies, and the Vice Chairman has all the strengths of the protagonists in the biographies I’ve read, so… I swore to live and die for the Vice Chairman.”

 

Suddenly, silence fell in the room. Sung-joon couldn’t react immediately to the fact that it was all because of his personal taste, not because of any particular event.

 

That’s when it happened. Suddenly, Tae-yul clapped his hands and laughed loudly.

 

“Good. Daddy? Good? Tae-yul good.”

 

Then, he pointed at Sung-joon and Hyun-shik and said,

 

“Together. Together? Food, eat.”

 

Tae-yul smiled brightly as he put rice in his mouth.

 

“See? Our son is telling you to stop saying embarrassing things and eat.”

 

Jaehoon shrugged and continued eating, as if he was embarrassed that the topic of conversation was him. Sung-joon muttered, “Biographies are a bit much,” and finished his meal.

 

“Chief Secretary Jung, I’m touched. I should read a biography every day from today. Tell me later which historical figure you think he resembles and in what ways.”

 

“Seo-yeon.”

 

Jaehoon looked at Seo-yeon, dumbfounded.

 

“Yes. I will organize it and upload it as a file.”

 

“Chief Secretary Jung.”

 

Jaehoon’s earlobes turned red as he watched Hyun-shik take it seriously.

 

“Please eat.”

 

“Min Seo-yeon, you.”

 

Jaehoon frowned as Seo-yeon gave him a proud look and raised her thumb. At that moment, everyone in the dining room burst into laughter.

 

“Eat, Mom Seo-yeon. Dad… Dad-dy.”

 

Tae-yul, who said Seo-yeon’s name almost correctly, hesitated for a moment when it came to his father’s name and said, “Dad-dy.”

 

Seo-yeon felt sorry for Jaehoon, who was muttering, “Is it still too difficult?” so she said “Han Jaehoon” a few times, but the answer that came back was still “Dad-dy.”

 

Still, he knew that Han Jaehoon was his father, so Jaehoon looked forward to the day when Tae-yul would call his name.

 

As the pleasant mealtime was coming to an end, Tae-yul began to nod off, probably because he had played more excitedly than usual.

 

Before he fell into a deep sleep, Seo-yeon went to wash Tae-yul, and Jaehoon went to the annex with the two of them.

 

 

“He falls asleep quickly.”

 

“He played a lot today. He also took less of a nap than usual.”

 

Ms. Kim said, picking up Tae-yul’s clothes. She always washed Tae-yul’s clothes separately, even without Seo-yeon asking.

 

“Jaehoon is probably still in the annex, right? I thought he would come when Tae-yul fell asleep.”

 

“He was on his way over when he got a phone call from somewhere and went to the study in a hurry.”

 

“I see. Ms. Kim, thank you for your hard work today. Go and rest.”

 

“No, I’ll stay with the young master a little longer.”

 

Seo-yeon thanked Ms. Kim and left the room to find Jaehoon. As she headed to the study, she stopped when she saw light seeping out from the living room with the mini-bar, not the study.

 

Looking inside, Jaehoon was sitting on the sofa by the window. In his hand was not a wine glass, but a glass of whiskey.

 

‘Whiskey alone…’

 

Seo-yeon could feel that Jaehoon’s mind was complicated. Seo-yeon, who couldn’t do anything for him, approached with a bright expression.

 

“Um… are you here alone?”

 

Jaehoon let out a short laugh at Seo-yeon’s joke.

 

“This seat has an owner, you know?”

 

Jaehoon raised his eyebrows, agreeing with her joke.

 

“Oh, then I’ll sit next to you.”

 

Seo-yeon sat next to him, leaving enough space for Tae-yul to sit.

 

“The moon is so bright.”

 

“If you want to talk to me, you have to get permission from my owner.”

 

“Ah, you mean that beautiful person? I met her on the way here, and she readily said it was okay.”

 

“What? She gave permission so easily?”

 

Jaehoon put down his glass and frowned.

 

“What’s wrong? Why are you frowning when things were going so well?”

 

“What do you mean readily gave permission? She should have said absolutely not if someone wanted to sit here.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

Seo-yeon was so dumbfounded that she couldn’t even laugh.

 

“This guy, taking a joke as the truth. This won’t do.”

 

“What won’t do?”

 

She jumped up and gently sat on Jaehoon’s lap.

 

“What? Is this your game?”

 

Jaehoon grinned and hugged Seo-yeon’s waist.

 

“Jaehoon.”

 

“Why?”

 

‘Is it serious enough to get hit by Chairman Han?’

 

“The moon is so pretty.”

 

Seo-yeon whispered something different from what was in her heart.

 

“What, are we back to square one?”

 

“It’s really pretty.”

 

Seo-yeon looked at the almond-shaped moon, which wasn’t a full moon, and leaned her face on Jaehoon’s shoulder. It was warm and cozy.

 

“Seo-yeon.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“It’s going to get a little noisy.”

 

“It’s okay.”

 

“The main house won’t stay still.”

 

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of the Madam, so you just don’t get hit.”

 

Seo-yeon stroked Jaehoon’s cheek with her hand and teared up.

 

“Okay?”

 

“Of course, I know. Did it hurt?”

 

“I saw stars in front of my eyes. It was like there were fireworks going off somewhere.”

 

Seo-yeon glared at him.

 

“Are you kidding me right now?”

 

“It’s true. It’s true that it hurt, but my heart didn’t hurt. I also decided that I should never lay a hand on our Tae-yul later.”

 

She knew from his words that he wasn’t hurt by being hit by Chairman Han. But she still felt upset.

 

“I’m upset.”

 

“I told you it’s okay.”

 

Jaehoon hugged Seo-yeon warmly. For a moment, the two enjoyed the silence and looked at the night sky. She knew that Jaehoon had something he wanted to say.

 

Seo-yeon waited until he told her naturally. Soon, Jaehoon opened his mouth.

 

“Some of the shares that my grandfather gave me also belong to Tae-yul.”

 

He glanced at Seo-yeon and continued.

 

“I’m thinking of selling them to Woojin Group.”

 

Seo-yeon didn’t say anything.

 

“Of course, I’m thinking of taking them back later, but I wanted to ask you if it’s okay.”

 

“I trust and follow everything you do. Ah, of course, I’m not blindly following. I’ll say no if it’s not right, but you know more about business than I do.”

 

Seo-yeon also knew that Jaehoon wouldn’t give Do-young’s shares to just anyone.

 

“I will definitely take them back.”

 

“I know.”

 

Seo-yeon hugged Jaehoon tightly and silently supported him.