Hope for Salvation - Chapter 7

In the elevator of the apartment building, Jian, whose legs were trembling, found Jeong-hye as soon as she opened the front door.

“Mom! Am I a twin?”

“What? Where did that come from all of a sudden?”

“I mean, what if she suddenly died while I’m lying down……. Isn’t that why you didn’t tell me because you were afraid I’d be shocked?”

“Sweetie, you’ve watched too many dramas.”

Smiling as she prepared dinner upon receiving Jian’s call saying they were on their way home, Jeong-hye laughed as she sliced tofu to put into the soybean paste stew.

“I saw someone who looked just like me. You remember the documentary we watched together last time, right? They look like the identical twins in it. Is that possible?”

“Well, how similar were they?”

“Even the mole here is exactly the same. I still feel like I’ve seen a ghost.”

Jian leaned against the refrigerator, her body slumping. It felt like she had exhausted all her energy at Tae Kang-hyun’s house.

“I’m leaving a few strands of hair behind.”

“What?”

“We need a genetic test. To see if Seo-yoon shares our bloodline.”

“What difference does it make if she does?”

“I thought it would be nice to visit occasionally and say hello. I told you, Yoon found Ms. Seo Jian.”

“Ask the parents first. That seems more appropriate.”

Is it okay to ask something like this?

Seeing Jeong-hye continuing her cheerful slicing, I couldn’t bring myself to speak up.

“Mom, you know. Promise you won’t get upset, okay?”

“What is it?”

“Am I really your biological daughter?”

The rhythmic tapping of the knife on the cutting board stopped.

Jeong-hye, who had just pursed her lips, casually turned around and smiled.

“Why, did you think I find you under a cabbage leaf?”

“Did you?”

“No, I was in labor for over 12 hours. You must have liked being in my belly so much.”

“Me? No way.”

“Stop with the nonsense and come out after washing up. When Dad comes, we’ll eat together.”

“Okay.”

Yeah, it must just be a resemblance.

With a face now even more familiar, Jian changed into her pajamas and lay down on the bed, blinking her eyes.

Tae Kang-hyun, Tae Kang-hyun.

Despite only spending a few hours together, his name and face wouldn’t leave her mind.

Her thoughts spun around in circles, refusing to be organized.

Even while washing up, eating, and brushing her teeth. Even as she sat in front of her laptop for a moment.

Even as she turned off the lights and went to bed, the dark pupils of Tae Kang-hyun came to mind.

And for the first time in four years, she dreamt.

* * *

When you go out, don’t forget to contact us. If you’re meeting someone separately, leave their name and contact information in advance.

Kang-hyun, sitting down with Seo-yoon, laid out a few instructions before soon getting up.

Seo-yoon, left alone with his particularly strong scent, buried his gloomy face into the pillow.

The emptiness felt in the bedroom, with nothing but the bed, was so profound it was almost indescribable.

Do I even need to explain such pathetic feelings?

Lonely.

Even when we’re together now, I’m lonely.

He would never understand, even if I told him. That’s just the kind of person he is.

Life with only Tae Kang-hyun and no family or friends was so lonely.

Just waiting for him, waiting and waiting.

A lonely child with nothing but Tae Kang-hyun’s money, whose temporary refuge was now Tae Kang-hyun’s, had nothing else.

That was Han Seo-yoon.

“Oppa.”

Continuing his preparations without bothering to turn to face Seo-yoon, who was always watching him from the same place, Kang-hyun carried on with his departure.

As the intense competition for succession began and Kang-hyun became busier with engagement preparations and various events, these brief meetings were all they had for several months.

“Can’t we have a meal together before you go? I don’t want to eat alone…”

“When later?”

“Soon.”

As the indifferent voice devoid of affection or interest returned, Seo-yoon’s straightened eye corners drooped downward.

She knew, she knew he was different from others.

As the time left alone grew longer, the desire to understand him narrowed.

Around that time, she was becoming increasingly exhausted.

“I want to go on a trip or something.”

“Wait, I’ll make time.”

“I know you’re busy, I can go alone.”

“You can’t go alone, wait.”

There was a short sigh.

The words “How long do I have to wait?” choked her throat, but she forced herself to swallow them.

“And it’s vacation, but I was thinking of getting a part-time job. You cover my tuition and living expenses, but for pocket money, I…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Kang-hyun’s wallet opened.

He roughly grabbed a handful of bills and tossed them onto the coffee table as if flicking them.

The countless zeros stamped on the white check were too numerous to count.

Kang-hyun probably just thought he was giving her pocket money, but in this situation, receiving money made her feel like she had degraded into that kind of woman.

Her eyes grew warm as if tears were about to fall. Seo-yoon bit her lip and avoided Kang-hyun’s gaze.

“Is it inconvenient to use cards? If you need anything, it’s okay for me to buy it.”

Does the foolish Tae Kang-hyun even know?

His desire to possess everything, from wealth and fame to power and even me, his beloved.

Does he know that every seemingly meaningless word of his has become a sharp knife that has already pierced me dozens of times?

“I’ll make time by the end of this month.”

“Really? Can you promise?”

“Yeah.”

The countless broken promises have disappointed me hundreds of times.

I’ve lost the value of existence day by day to the point where I chose to part ways with Tae Kang-hyun, who was everything to me.

* * *

“Aaaah!”

Kang Hyun was staring into space when he heard a loud scream and jumped to his feet.

As he opened the bedroom door, he saw Jian, who had been sprawled on the floor in the hallway, now struggling to get up on her knees.

“Good, good morning, Mr. Managing Director. Please don’t worry about me. I’m not hurt at all!”

Dragging her slippers, Jian stumbled in, and as the front part folded, she tripped and stumbled forward, but managed to laugh as she tapped her sore elbow.

As she drifted off to sleep, the last thing she remembered was Tae kang-hyun’s face in her dream.

The dream, which had been quite long, became blurry and faded as soon as she woke up, but one last sentence echoed clearly in her ears.

“How can I let you go?”

She thought it was because she couldn’t let go of her lover who died four years ago.

Even though she tried to shake off the recurring voice, her mind became hazy, and she ended up collapsing absurdly.

“Are you going to have a meal? Madam must have prepared something, so I’ll just warm it up for…”

Following Kang-hyun, who passed by briskly, Jian stuck close behind, only to find a dining table that looked almost identical to yesterday’s.

Once again sitting across from Kang-hyun, it felt like she had returned to yesterday, to that moment in time.

“I like seaweed soup too, Mom’s seaweed soup. Mom is really good at cooking.”

“The genetic test.”

“I’m not a twin. I’m my mom’s biological daughter, born after she endured more than 12 hours of labor.”

Jian awkwardly turned her head to the side.

Despite acting nonchalantly in front of her parents, she was as troubled as she had been when she woke up with amnesia, if not more so.

Despite vigorously denying that they were twins, doubts continued to gnaw at her heart.

Their faces were so similar that if she faced a hundred people, she would call them all twins.

Although there probably wasn’t a doppelganger like in the movies, she was afraid that if she confirmed they were twins, the carefully built four years would crumble and fall apart.

Even if they were really twins, she didn’t want to disrupt her current life for the sake of blood relatives she didn’t know existed.

“Is it too much to ask?”

“Are you sure your not twins?”

“It have to be, because there’s no other explanation.”

“If it’s true, then it means my parents adopted me.”

“Your biological parents could have just taken you and raised you.”

“No. They wouldn’t abandon one of us.”

“It seems like they’re good people.”

“Yes, they are. They take me to the hospital every day… Anyway, please love me a lot. Because I have no one else but you.”

Jian sighed deeply, thinking of her parents who were always worried about her.

If her mom was lying, there must be a reason.

She felt trapped, as if she had swallowed a dry, crusty loaf of bread all at once, thinking that agreeing to the genetic test would be betraying her parents.

“The reason Seo-yoon was brought from the orphanage was that my father brought her. For the purpose of treating me, who couldn’t function as a human. He isolated me so that I only knew, only saw, and only loved her. But he never really loved me.”

The spoon clattered against the bowl, making a dull sound.

It sounded like the voice she heard in her dream.

Dry yet painfully poignant.

“Seo-yoon has never used the titles ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad.'”

Kang-hyun muttered with his gaze lowered. He couldn’t bring himself to look directly at Jian.

“But…”

“Financial compensation should be sufficient. Don’t take it too harshly. It’s difficult for me to appeal to emotions like an ordinary person.”

I’ve done enough already!

Jian blinked her eyelids quickly to clear her blurred vision.

The thought that she had never used the common titles ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ was so touching that tears had already welled up in her eyes.

“But kneeling and begging might be possible.”

“What, what did you say?”

“If you keep refusing until the end, I might consider doing that.”

Did I really come to the wrong person?

Seeing Kang-hyun casually eating his meal after saying that, Jian felt a slight resentment towards her friend Seon-kyung.

If Jang Yeon-ju hadn’t seen me at the café, none of this would have happened.

She was so sensitive that she would even cry while watching dramas. If she were to kneel and beg, she wouldn’t have the heart to refuse.

What should I do, what should I do?

Tap, tap, Jian’s slender finger tapped on the Irish table.

Then, the pitch-black pupils, which had been firmly fixed downwards until then, moved in response to the familiar sound.

Tap, tap, tap, three more vibrations followed.

With that, Jian connected the dots to draw a star.

It was a habit that surfaced unconsciously when she was lost in thought.

As Jian’s fingertip finally drew the star, the area of her confused pupil expanded rapidly.

Kang-hyun, who had been stern-faced, suddenly stood up, overturning the table as if he were out of his mind.

Crash! Bang! The dishes that fell from his trembling hands scattered loudly on the floor.

“What are you doing?”

“What on earth are you doing! Are you okay?”

Surprised and frozen, Jian stepped on the broken pieces as she grabbed Kang-hyun, who was approaching her.

The nearby Sam Baek-an trembled urgently. The hidden face of pain revealed itself distinctly.

“What is this? You.”

“Suddenly, why are you… Come this way first, there are glass shards over there.”

“Do you know Seo-yoon?”

Shaking hands tremblingly grasped Jian’s shoulders and shook her.

At this moment, he seemed like he might really be going mad.

“What do I know!”

“Sir!”

Doseok-won, who quickly approached, pulled Kang-hyun, who had lost his senses, away from Jian.

“What the hell are you doing! Jian, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine, but I think Mr. Kang-hyun got hurt.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll apologize instead.”

Yeon-ju, who appeared next, comforted the startled Jian.

Jian pressed firmly around her pounding heart.

Even though she didn’t understand what she had done wrong, his pain was fully transmitted to her, making her throat ache as if she had lost someone she loved dearly.

Just a slight touch from someone made her feel like she was about to burst into tears.

“I lived my whole life with strangers until I died.”

At Seo-yoon’s request, she had tried to trace her family, but finding their biological relatives, abandoned in different orphanages, was not easy.

They had been so close to each other that they could meet by chance like this.

The things she couldn’t do for Seo-yoon poured down on her like a fierce rainstorm, drenching her entire body every day.