Da Jung exhaled a frustrated sigh. His nonsequitur wasn’t even surprising anymore.
After staring blankly at the distant sky for a while, the corners of his mouth slipped slightly.
“The Magpie that Repaid a Favor.”
Jung Hyuk, who was called home, as always, sat quietly at the wellset dining table and ate his meal.
He was familiar with it. The intimate setting with only Chairman Park, but the table filled with overly extravagant food.
The reason why these familiar things felt uncomfortable today was probably because of this child who was noisily chattering away.
“Grandma. The bulgogi is so delicious.”
At Hyun Ah’s words of admiration, Chairman Park nodded her head in satisfaction.
“It’s enough if it suits your taste. The lady of the house does have a good hand in cooking.”
Around noon, Chairman Park conveyed a message through his secretary’s office. It was about moving forward again with the engagement to Hyunah, which had been temporarily shelved due to the previous video incident.
When invited to join them for dinner with Hyunah, Jung Hyuk didn’t hesitate. The opportunity he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
“Once you’re married, have a child right away.”
Chairman Park spoke softly while continuing his elegant meal. At his words, a shy smile formed on Hyunah’s lips.
“Of course, Grandma. When I marry my brother, I’ll have a baby first.”
“Yes, you should. A man should have a robust succession for smooth external affairs.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Grandma.”
Hyunah used more polite and courteous language than usual. It seemed that Kang Seonyoung had thoroughly prepared her as it was a formal occasion to forgive her past mistakes and announce her engagement.
Listening to their conversation, Jung Hyuk casually ate his meal.
There were memories that came to his mind every time he sat at this table.
He was only four. He was four years old when he first came to this house.
After admitting his father to the hospital, Chairman Park returned home and prepared a meal for his hungry grandson.
The little boy didn’t know what to do, looking at the lavish feast laid out on the gigantic dining table.
Sitting alone at the table without his father felt incredibly strange and so big that it was even scary.
Seeing his grandson unable to eat comfortably in front of the splendid dishes, Chairman Park grumbled with dissatisfaction.
‘He is also finicky. It would be fortunate if he didn’t take after his lowly mother.’
Jung Hyuk still deeply remembered those words that he had heartlessly spat out at his grandson, whom he was meeting for the first time.
Before they parted at the hospital room, his father stroked Jung Hyuk’s head and said this.
‘Hyukah. Go with Grandma. You have to listen to what Grandma says.’
‘Uh… Dad is…?’
Although Jung Hyuk’s small hand tightly clutched the sleeve of his father’s patient robe, his father repeatedly insisted, prying his hand away.
‘Dad will follow as soon as he gets better. If you listen to what Grandma says during that time, he will come faster.’
Although he had a smile on his lips, his face was pale and diseaseridden, and it didn’t look like a smiling face.
Young Jung Hyuk watched his father’s eyes, which were dimming like a dying flame.
It seemed like a lie. It felt like he was trying to abandon me. Even my father, who was everything to me.
‘Hyukah. You should never disappoint Grandma as a way to repay her for raising you. Understand?’
Those were the last words his father left. He held on for another six months without consciousness. It seemed possible because he had money.
After his father’s death, Jung Hyuk couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was thoroughly left alone. And soon he realized it. He realized that he couldn’t be abandoned by his grandmother. It was an awakening closer to survival instinct than judgement.
Though he was very young, he seemed to know. That a fouryearold boy, left alone in a harsh world, needed the formidable protection of a grandmother to grow into a decent man.
‘You must listen to your grandmother well.’
Why the last will of a father, who had to leave his young son alone, was not words of love, not words of apology, but that, he also knew.
Even as his life was dissipating like smoke, the father desperately hoped and wished for the wellbeing of the son who would be left alone.
The truth he realized at a young age was the correct answer. His strict grandmother was scary and difficult, but he managed to learn how to survive on his own.
He never disappointed Chairman Park. He lived as he was told, to avoid hearing he resembled his vulgar mother.
He achieved excellent grades as he was told, and attended the university he was told to. He learned about the company work as he was told, and he even obediently accepted marriage to the predetermined woman as he was told.
The grandmother was satisfied, and he believed his role was just that.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
