Perfect Possession - Episode 79

 

“No wanna.”

 

Tae-yul hugged his puppy doll and turned away.

 

“It got dirty when we played in the garden last time. Puppy needs a bath too.”

 

“Spinny-spin make hurt.”

 

Seo-yeon was trying to coax Tae-yul to wash the dirty puppy. Once, she had said she would bathe the puppy, took it away, and put it in the washing machine, which Tae-yul saw and cried bitterly. He cried and cried, saying, “Puppy hurt,” and everyone had a hard time holding back their laughter.

 

“Hey, Tae-yul, look here. Puppy’s face is dirty.”

 

“Wipe-wipe do.”

 

“You saw how wet it gets when you wash your face. Mom will wash puppy by hand so it doesn’t hurt.”

 

Tae-yul, who had been sitting with his lips pouted, turned his head halfway and looked at Seo-yeon.

 

“By hand?”

 

“Yes. I won’t put it in the spinny-spin, and Mom will wash it by hand. But if you want to sleep with it tonight, it has to go in the dryer. Otherwise, it’ll take all day to dry.”

 

At Seo-yeon’s words that she would dry it, Tae-yul thought for a moment and pointed to the phone.

 

“Call Daddy.”

 

“Why are you asking about this when Daddy’s working?”

 

“Tae-yul wanna talk to Daddy.”

 

Seeing Tae-yul, who was just like his father in his stubbornness, Seo-yeon had no choice but to call Jaehoon.

 

“Okay. But you have to talk about puppy only, and keep it short.”

 

“Tae-yul know that.”

 

Only then did he feel better, sitting on Seo-yeon’s lap and watching Seo-yeon pick up the phone.

 

 

Jaehoon’s throat was hoarse, and he felt a cough coming on, so he asked Hyun-shik for hot water. He hadn’t been feeling well since yesterday. He hadn’t caught a cold since he was a student, but his shoulders felt heavy, and he even felt muscle pain.

 

“Here’s lemon tea.”

 

He had asked for hot water, but Hyun-shik, quick on the uptake, brought tea that was good for the throat.

 

“Should we go see Professor Kim?”

 

“It seems like a light cold. I’ll be fine if I take some medicine.”

 

“You’ve been overdoing it lately. You haven’t had a break with the new Uljin factory and the Dubai construction.”

 

“It’s okay. I’ll just take a cold pill.”

 

“Understood. I’ll get you some cold medicine.”

 

Jaehoon felt a pang of guilt when his phone rang. He was talking about cold medicine, and then Seo-yeon called, making him wonder if she knew. Not wanting to worry her, Jaehoon cleared his throat and answered the phone. He smiled at the voice coming through the phone.

 

-Daddy, it’s Tae-yul. Puppy go in spinny-spin?

 

“Is it puppy’s bath day?”

 

-Mommy say dirty. But puppy go in spinny-spin make hurt.

 

“But puppy should be clean.”

 

-Oh… that right.

 

He could hear hesitant breathing, as if he hadn’t thought that far.

 

-Okay. Then Tae-yul talk to puppy good.

 

“Good thinking, son.”

 

-Thank you. Oh, Mommy say take it.

 

-Hello.

 

Soon, Seo-yeon’s voice was heard. Jaehoon spoke, paying more attention to his voice.

 

“Were you having a hard time?”

 

-He didn’t want to because he said puppy would hurt, so I’ve been coaxing him for thirty minutes. But suddenly, he says he’s going to ask you. When I see things like this, I think the two of you get along really well.

 

“Are you jealous?”

 

-A little. I get jealous sometimes because you’re such a close father and son.

 

Jaehoon chuckled softly.

 

“I’ll go home early.”

 

-Tae-yul will be happy. But your voice sounds a little hoarse. Are you sick?

 

Jaehoon couldn’t open his mouth right away. He had tried to speak as carefully as possible, but he couldn’t fool Seo-yeon. Suddenly, he missed Seo-yeon like crazy. He felt sick, so he missed her embrace even more.

 

“A little.”

 

Jaehoon didn’t want to lie, so he told the truth. He didn’t want Seo-yeon to worry, but he wanted to lean on her, so the words came out on their own.

 

-Where does it hurt?

 

“I think it’s a cold.”

 

-Colds are bad these days. Meet Jae-moon and come straight home. Otherwise, I’ll go to the company.

 

‘Damn it, why am I so weak?’

 

Jaehoon felt relieved at Seo-yeon’s firm words, and his throat stiffened.

 

“If you tell me to come, I have to go. But be sure to put a mask on Tae-yul, because he might catch it. And you too.”

 

-Don’t worry about me. I got a flu shot.

 

Jaehoon smiled silently and hung up the phone.

 

“What did she say?”

 

“She told me to meet Jae-moon and come home.”

 

No sooner had he finished speaking than Jaehoon began to cough. Jaehoon raised his hand to stop Hyun-shik as he approached.

 

“You might catch it too.”

 

“I’ve already had my flu shot. Don’t worry, even if I get it, it’ll be mild.”

 

“What? Then what about me?”

 

The meaning of the question was, “Why didn’t I get it?”

 

“That’s… I’m sorry. You were supposed to meet Professor Kim last week, but the chairman went on a business trip, so I couldn’t reschedule. I was next to Team Leader Han when he got his shot.”

 

Hyun-shik couldn’t continue, as if he felt guilty that the superior he served was too busy to miss the vaccination date, but he had gotten vaccinated by chance. Jaehoon, looking at him, felt even more sorry and patted him on the back.

 

“I’m glad you got it, at least. Damn it, it feels like the first time I’ve had a cold in a hundred million years at this age.”

 

“Isn’t it because you’re more at peace?”

 

Hyun-shik, touched by Jaehoon’s words that he was glad he had gotten it, handed him his jacket, his voice choked.

 

“What?”

 

“You have a haven where you can rest comfortably even when you’re sick.”

 

Jaehoon looked at Hyun-shik with his jacket on. Then he laughed as if throwing it away.

 

“You’re saying something cool. Have you been going on blind dates with Sung-joon and found a woman you want to meet?”

 

The two continued their conversation as they adjusted their schedules and left the company.

 

“My standards are too high, so it’s difficult. I think it’s because I have such an unrealistic, high-quality family by my side.”

 

Jaehoon looked back at Hyun-shik as he got into the car. He didn’t dislike it. He thought that their marriage was having a positive impact on the two of them.

 

“Your standards will only get higher and higher.”

 

His body was getting heavier and heavier, but Jaehoon felt good. He closed his eyes for a moment as the car headed to the hospital where Jae-moon worked.

 

 

“What this?”

 

“Mask.”

 

“Mask?”

 

Seo-yeon received a call that Jaehoon had left for home with Jae-moon and sat facing Tae-yul. She held out a spare children’s mask and explained to Tae-yul.

 

“Daddy has a cold. Tae-yul coughed when you had a cold last time, too.”

 

“Snot come out too.”

 

Tae-yul tapped his nose and said.

 

“That’s right. What did Uncle Jae-moon say then? He said that bad germs came to play for a while, and if you take medicine, they’ll go home, right?”

 

“Uh-huh. So, eat red thing and go home.”

 

“Our Tae-yul remembers everything. Those bad germs came to Daddy this time.”

 

“Hmph. No like.”

 

Tae-yul frowned, remembering the pain from that time.

 

“Mommy doesn’t like it either. But Uncle Jae-moon said he’ll fix it again this time, so it’s okay. The problem is that those were baby germs back then, so Mommy and Daddy didn’t have to wear masks, but this time, adult germs came.”

 

“Daddy adult so?”

 

“Yes. So, if you don’t want those adult germs to come to Tae-yul, you have to wear a mask.”

 

“Ah, now know.”

 

He said that, but he only nodded and didn’t readily show his face. Seo-yeon smiled inwardly as she watched Tae-yul backing away. She had a secret weapon.

 

“Oh, you don’t want to wear it. Then there’s nothing I can do. Mommy has a puppy mask, but I’ll just give it to another baby.”

 

Tae-yul, his eyes wide at the words “puppy mask,” ran to Seo-yeon in an instant.

 

“Tae-yul do.”

 

Seo-yeon couldn’t help but kiss Tae-yul on the cheek as he showed his face.

 

“Oh, whose son is so pretty? Let’s not do it now, let’s do it when Daddy comes.”

 

“Show.”

 

Seo-yeon showed him the children’s mask with a dog on it.

 

“Wow, Tae-yul’s. Wear this can see Daddy?”

 

“Of course. If you don’t wear this, you can’t see Daddy. Tae-yul doesn’t want that, does he?”

 

“Uh-uh. Tae-yul wuv Daddy.”

 

Seo-yeon rubbed her cheek against Tae-yul’s cheek and told him she loved him. She was very worried about Jaehoon and didn’t feel at ease. But she believed that he would be fine soon because Tae-yul was worried about his father.

 

A little later, Mrs. Kim told her that Jae-moon had arrived. Soon after, Jaehoon’s car followed into the garage.

 

Seo-yeon put a mask on Tae-yul and went down to the parking lot. He looked no different from usual, but Seo-yeon could see that his face had turned reddish in half a day, indicating that he had a fever.

 

She left Tae-yul with Mrs. Kim and approached Jaehoon. Jae-moon, who had gone to him first, was asking him questions.

 

“Do you have muscle pain too?”

 

“My shoulders are heavy.”

 

“Are you coughing too?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Jaehoon.”

 

Jaehoon smiled awkwardly and looked at Seo-yeon. Jae-moon greeted her briefly and said.

 

“I think I need to take a proper look inside.”

 

“I think so too. Your complexion isn’t good.”

 

“Me? I don’t know.”

 

Jaehoon touched his face and looked at Jae-moon instead of Seo-yeon.