I Became a Mother (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 15
“Please postpone the breakfast meetings to after school hours for now. Also, replace the noon advisory committee meeting with an online session after school. I’ll take care of Yul until we find a new tutor.”
“Yes, understood, sir.”
The morning after a tsunami-level typhoon had swept through.
After giving instructions to Team Leader Nam, Ja Hyun was loudly complaining in the dining room as she came downstairs for breakfast.
“So what did I tell you? Ever since you started getting all cozy with that tutor, I knew something fishy was going on! I warned you to be careful, but you said you trusted them. Well, look where that got you. All you had to do was fire the tutor—why hit the kid? Over a measly 20 million won, really?”
“Right? Knowing you, Mom, you’d probably only admit fault after spending something like 20 billion instead of 20 million.”
Ugh. Unable to respond in front of the staff, Ja Hyun clenched her jaw, suppressing her anger as it briefly made her jaw twitch.
At least Kyo Hwan hadn’t revealed that the tutor had impersonated his mother at school—doing so was meant to prevent a second conflict between his mother and his father-in-law, Professor Kim Yong Hoon.
“Oh dear! Our young master’s come down!”
Ja Hyun turned toward Seung Yul, who was descending the stairs with his schoolbag, looking dejected, and smiled at him as gently as a spring breeze.
“If you’re in pain, just take a day off—why push yourself? How’s the spot where Dad hit you yesterday? You okay?”
“He complained so much I couldn’t even hit him properly.”
Kyo Hwan, spreading jam onto freshly baked bread with a knife, glanced at Seung Yul with a blunt, almost annoyed look, as if asking why he was just standing there.
“Hurry up and eat. Let’s go before we’re late.”
“Hello! Your father’s here again today?”
The homeroom teacher greeted Kyo Hwan cheerfully as he personally walked his child from the car all the way to the classroom.
“If anything comes up concerning Seung Yul from now on, please contact me directly.”
After ushering the child into the classroom, Kyo Hwan handed the teacher a business card with his secretary’s office number printed on it.
“Um… then, does that mean Seung Yul’s mother is…?”
“…”
Faced with Kyo Hwan, who had suddenly gone rigid like a plaster statue, the homeroom teacher accepted the card with an awkward smile.
“Ah, you must be busy. I understand.”
“Also, please don’t let anyone meet my child without my explicit permission.”
With twenty years of teaching experience, the homeroom teacher instantly sensed that this person standing before her was, in fact, the mother.
“Then I’ll leave it in your hands.”
As Kyo Hwan finished his polite bow and stepped outside, Team Leader Nam, who’d been waiting by the car, handed him a tablet containing the morning meeting materials.
“Sir.”
Having just exited the school gate, Team Leader Nam stopped the car at the crosswalk and called out to Kyo Hwan.
“What is it?”
Kyo Hwan, who’d been staring at the tablet while leaning against the armrest, lifted his eyes.
“Well…”
“…?”
Kyo Hwan, who’d cut himself off mid-sentence, turned his gaze out the window—and saw Hyo Jin standing at the school gate, craning her neck and looking around anxiously.
“She seems to be here to see Seung Yul. What should we do?”
“Leave her be.”
Having anticipated exactly this, Kyo Hwan had already warned the homeroom teacher earlier. Now, he returned his focus to the tablet, studying the financial statements of a company about to undergo a merger.
Whoosh. Spotting Kyo Hwan’s approaching car, Hyo Jin quickly turned her back and covered her face with her hands.
‘What’s Seung Yul’s father doing here at this time of day?’
Normally, he’d have left for his breakfast meetings before 7 a.m.
The silhouette in the car’s back seat, absorbed in a tablet, was unmistakably Kyo Hwan.
‘Was kicking me out not enough? Now he’s monitoring my every move at school too?’
She’d thought that if she came to the school, at least she’d get to see Seung Yul.
“Miss Bong!”
“Goodness, Roy!”
To Hyo Jin, it felt as if a halo of light had appeared around Roy, as though she’d just encountered a celestial being.
“What are you doing here?”
“I need a favor… Could you please give this to Seung Yul for me?”
“Why?”
“Well… something’s come up, so I won’t be able to see Seung Yul for a while.”
“Can’t you ask someone else to do it?”
“Huh?”
Hyo Jin, who’d assumed Roy would readily agree, was momentarily speechless.
“Seung Yul said we’re not friends.”
Honestly, why did Baby have to go and say something like that?
“How about you use this chance to become friends? You know Seung Yul just transferred here—he doesn’t have any friends yet.”
Roy stared down at Hyo Jin, who was crouching with a bright, hopeful smile, her big eyes sparkling earnestly.
“He’ll really appreciate it if it comes from you. Please, do this for me.”
Hyo Jin held out a note, folded neatly as if presenting a formal petition with both hands.
“Well… okay, fine.”
Roy delicately pinched the note between her fingers, as if accepting a royal request.
“Choi Seung Yul!”
Seung Yul, slumped in his seat with his chin propped in his hand, his face pinched as if bearing the weight of the world’s sorrows, didn’t even turn around.
“Kim Roy. I’ve been in a really bad mood since yesterday.”
“…”
“Don’t waste your words just to hear something nasty—just walk past, okay?”
“Hmph! I didn’t come here because I wanted to talk to you anyway.”
“Then just stay quiet and leave.”
“Miss Bong asked me to come.”
“What?”
Miss Bong? Could it be… Teacher Bong?
Only then did his round head swivel around as if someone had just inserted fresh batteries.
“Where is she?”
“I ran into her out front. She wanted me to give you this…!”
Whoosh. Seung Yul, forgetting that class had already started, climbed onto his chair and peered out the window.
But strangely, he couldn’t see Hyo Jin anywhere near the school gate.
“Kim Roy… Are you sure it was really Miss Bong?”
“Seung Yul, class has started—you need to sit down.”
“It’s true! She asked me to give you this.”
After being scolded by the teacher, Seung Yul stepped down from the chair and unfolded the note Roy handed him.
‘Seung Yul, I’m truly sorry we parted without even saying goodbye properly yesterday.
I’ll meet you soon and explain everything.
Until then, eat well, stay healthy, and don’t get sick.
I promise I’ll come see you soon. ♥’
This handwriting really is hers!
After folding the note, Seung Yul turned and whispered into Roy’s ear.
“Roy… do you know Miss Bong’s phone number?”
“Yeah, but it’s saved under my mom’s contacts. Why?”
“Could you call your mom and ask her for a favor?”
“What kind of favor?”
Jeongeum International School.
“Baby!”
Hyo Jin, hiding beside the back-gate storage shed stacked with broken desks and chairs, waved enthusiastically at Seung Yul as he slipped out of the main building.
“Shh!”
Oh, right—we’re supposed to be meeting secretly!
“What happened yesterday? Did your dad scold you badly? Honestly, no matter how good your intentions were, you can’t just spend 20 million won like that!”
Hyo Jin hadn’t realized the envelope contained such a huge sum—she’d thought she was just delivering a simple note.
“Doesn’t the Bible say that if someone asks you to go one mile, go with them two miles, and if they ask for your coat, give them your shirt too?”
“Hah! Baby… you didn’t seriously say that to your dad, did you?”
He’d probably foam at the mouth if he ever found out his son might hand over the entire company just like that.
“Actually, Dad didn’t even ask.”
“…?”
“I told him honestly that I just wanted to do a good deed like Teacher taught me—and he said I was a terrible child and beat my calves until the cane broke. If Team Leader Nam hadn’t stopped him, I might’ve died.”
“What? Your dad hit you? Let me see.”
“See what? You’re a woman, and I’m a guy.”
Seung Yul rolled his eyes and tugged down the hem of Hyo Jin’s pants she’d rolled up.
“I’m sorry, Baby. It’s all my fault. If only I hadn’t come back to school…”
Hyo Jin’s face crumpled with sadness.
“Why are you apologizing? It was your dad who hit you!”
Worse still, his father wasn’t even sorry—he’d complained that Seung Yul’s whining had prevented him from giving a proper beating.
“Are you okay?”
“Me?”
“You got fired.”
“…You knew?”
She’d expected him to use some excuse like “I’m not feeling well” or “personal reasons” to spare the child’s feelings. What a heartbreaker.
“Teacher… could you hold out your hand?”
“…?”
Seung Yul placed a prepared lollipop onto her palm, then let out a sigh so deep it seemed the ground might cave in.
“I’m sorry. This is all I can give you.”
“What’s with that gloomy old-man talk?”
“Do you have somewhere to stay? Adults say this industry’s so small that once you’re blacklisted from one household, it’s hard to find another job.”
“Hey! I told you not to worry! I’ve got this—I’m capable.”
He couldn’t let his teacher look pitiful in front of a kid.
“Do you have money?”
“Hey!”
Even if she were broke, as a teacher, she shouldn’t have to hear that from a child!
This was all thanks to Seung Yul’s father.
Not only had he fired her, but he’d even hit the child.
“Stay strong. After hard times come good days.”
“Huh… thanks. I’ll eat it.”
Feeling utterly dejected, Hyo Jin peeled off the wrapper and popped the candy into her mouth without another word.
“Sir, it’s almost time for school dismissal.”
‘Oh—has it gotten this late already?’
Glancing at the digital clock on the outdoor display, Kyo Hwan rose from his seat, tablet still in hand.
He’d only agreed to care for Yul until they found a new tutor, yet he was already scrambling and pressed for time on the very first day.
“How’s Yul’s eye doing?”
As Kyo Hwan stepped out of his office, he ran into Kang Jae Ik, the managing director and attorney, near the elevator.
“Han Na’s been worried. I’d love to go home and take care of him myself, but I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“Oh… right.”
Kyo Hwan, though fully aware it was just an act, found it too tiresome to correct him and simply listened in silence.
“By the way, you postponed this morning’s breakfast meeting and canceled yesterday afternoon’s schedule too. Is something going on with Yul?”
“No, it’s just… Yul returned from abroad not long ago. I want to look after him myself. As you know, we’ve been apart in Singapore all this time.”
Kyo Hwan, surprising even himself with how convincingly he played the part, successfully deflected Jae Ik’s concern.
“You really should get married soon—for Yul’s sake—and give him a mother. How long can you manage alone? Everyone knows raising kids takes both mother and father working together, and especially—a child truly needs a mother.”
Kyo Hwan had anticipated this exact nagging.
“Yes, I understand. It’s time for dismissal, so I’ll take my leave.”
Though he used his child as an excuse to escape, Jae Ik certainly knew he was only doing this to avoid marrying Han Na.
The school gate, long past dismissal time, stood empty like the sea after the tide had gone out.
“I’m heading out.”
Team Leader Nam stepped out of the car parked by the gate, while Kyo Hwan, reviewing materials for the afternoon’s online meeting inside, frowned at a dull thud against the window and turned his gaze.
A handbag lay on the ground beneath his window.
What’s this? I’ve seen this bag somewhere before.
Looking up, he spotted Hyo Jin climbing over the school wall, wearing her white sneakers.
What? Her again?
Having already crossed the line as a tutor, Hyo Jin was now literally scaling walls. Kyo Hwan stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut.
As Hyo Jin landed after her jump, she nearly fell backward in shock upon seeing a dark shadow looming before her.
Huh? Was there a lamppost here before?
It definitely hadn’t been there when she came in earlier.
Brushing the dust off her palms, she looked up—and instead of a lamppost, she found Kyo Hwan’s piercing eyes staring at her like sharp blades.
Damn it. They say you meet your worst enemy on a narrow bridge.
“Why do you keep following my son? I clearly warned you never to show your face again. Will you only stop if I get a court-issued restraining order?”
“Go ahead and sue me. I’ll report you for child abuse.”
“What?”
Though he narrowed his eyes and glared, Hyo Jin was no longer afraid—she’d already been fired anyway.
It’s not like he paid her salary.
“Why did you hit the child?”
As a practicing attorney, he certainly knew the civil code had been revised.
“You know even parents aren’t allowed to hit their kids anymore. So why did you do it?”
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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Took back his own words real fast, funny man. Wonder what her message is
He really is a bad father. Kinda sad how he just left his son alone.