Tae Eun left the house early in the morning. Ji Eun glared at her leaving with a spiteful expression, but she couldn’t say a word. It was because Director Park, sent by Woo Jin, was openly watching next to her.

After getting in the car, Director Park carefully opened his mouth while checking her expression through the rearview mirror.

“By any chance, have you seen it?”

“What?”

“We released a press release this morning.”

“Ah……”

Only then did Tae Eun let out a small exclamation and search for internet news on her cell phone. However, it was impossible to read any emotions from her face as she looked at the news on her phone.

“Although it’s an article about the marriage, Director Seo has completely blocked any information about Ms. Min Tae Eun. So we didn’t upload any photos either.”

That was true. Not only the photos, but even her real name was not mentioned.

Just a beautiful and talented Ms. Min, an art major – this was the full extent of the description about her.

For Tae Eun, who had always lived quietly like a dead mouse, the sudden attention from the world could only be burdensome. She also didn’t know how to react to such attention. However, since she was marrying such a famous person, she had somewhat prepared herself, but unexpectedly, Woo Jin had carefully paid attention to even these aspects.

Thanks to that, her world could remain peaceful.

“Thank you. For taking care of even things like this. It was already burdensome enough.”

At her answer, Director Park smiled brightly. Only then did it seem understandable why Woo Jin had been so careful with her.

Until now, to speak of Seo Woo Jin, he was a person who never hesitated when it came to meeting women. It was partly because women lined up for him even if he just stayed still, due to his glamorous background and looks. Therefore, it was no exaggeration to say that for Seo Woo Jin, women were a business relationship outside of business, giving and taking moderately.

He sent a lot of gifts to women too. Because he thought of it as a kind of compensation. A type of give and take. However, even while sending expensive gifts, Woo Jin was almost indifferent to what they were. Director Park took care of everything.

Such Woo Jin agonized several times just to send a single flower, not to mention preparing himself to get slapped.

It was the first time. The sight of Woo Jin hesitating and thinking twice about a woman. But now, seeing the woman up close, Woo Jin’s heart was understandable.

She was a woman of a different dimension from the women Woo Jin had met until now, who were only glamorous in appearance. Her calm demeanor was like that, and her unperturbed expression was like that. Despite her delicate body, she gave the impression that she would remain serene alone even if a typhoon raged by her side, letting them know she was an incredibly strong woman.

Moreover, while having an atmosphere that uniquely captured attention, she was also a woman whom one would be cautious to even look at. That contradictory atmosphere made the peak of the woman’s charm.

As if an ascetic atmosphere that one dared not encroach upon.

“Director Park, where are we going now?”

“Ah, it’s the interior design office run by President Bang. He’s a famous person in this industry. The annex of the Jang family’s main house where Director Seo is staying now was also directly designed by him, so he will be of great help.”

“Yes. I understand.”

“And once you’re done with business at the interior design office, I plan to move straight to the nursing home where your grandmother is. The managing director seems too busy with factory relocation issues to make time.”

“Yes. I understand. Thank you.”

The woman who finished answering turns her gaze out the window.

Director Park thought that the woman’s series of actions, pinning her long hair blowing in the wind behind her ears, was like a picture.

In a word, she was an artistic woman from head to toe that couldn’t be expressed in words.

Only now did Director Park smile automatically, thinking that Woo Jin had finally met his match.

* * *

Tae Eun spent a long time talking with the middle-aged man called President Bang at the interior design office she visited since morning about their newlywed home.

Although major construction was impossible since they had to move in two months later, small and minor parts could be changed as she wished. And President Bang showered her with praise, saying her eye for things was remarkable, and showed enthusiasm, saying he would recommend furniture in the style she wanted via email.

After handing over her email address and leaving the office, Tae Eun’s next destination was the long-awaited nursing home for her grandmother.

It was her grandmother’s face she was seeing after a few days, but it felt like a long time because she had gone through such a big event during those few days.

Entering the hospital room, she sees her grandmother in a daze. In fact, she should have come yesterday, but since it was impossible, Tae Eun had to give the caregiver a special bonus and ask for two more days.

Today was the last day at this hospital. The caregiver seemed to have already finished packing her grandmother’s belongings to leave.

“Thank you so much for everything. This is for taking such good care of our grandmother.”

“Oh my, what is this. Your grandmother was truly the easiest patient I’ve ever met. Except for occasionally mistaking people and being forgetful, she’s so healthy. I sometimes wonder if it’s really dementia.”

Saying that, the caregiver held the grandmother’s hand, said her final goodbyes, and left the room. In the meantime, Director Park, who finished the discharge procedures, came in and moved her grandmother’s luggage to the car. Tae Eun didn’t forget to express her gratitude to the hospital staff as well while supporting her grandmother to leave.

After getting in the car, her grandmother, looking at the unfamiliar world outside the window she hadn’t seen in a long time, asks.

“Young lady, where am I going?”

Today, Tae Eun is a ‘young lady’. Recently, the number of times she remembered her as Tae Eun was gradually decreasing. While that fact was sad, on the other hand, Tae Eun was grateful that her grandmother was by her side even in this way.

“Grandmother, we’re going to a better home.”

Her grandmother knew the nursing home as her home, so Tae Eun explained it that way. Then her grandmother turned her gaze back out the window and muttered.

“What about our Tae Eun? Will our Tae Eun be there?”

“Yes, grandmother. If we go there, Tae Eun will come.”

As if she understood, her grandmother, showing a girl-like sparkling smile in her wrinkled eyes, nodded her head. But during the ride to the new nursing home, her grandmother repeated the same question several times.

After driving for over an hour, they arrived at the nursing home. As befitting its reputation as the nation’s top nursing home, even the surroundings were exceptional. Above all, the pretty park and walking trails created next to the parking lot were very much to her liking.

As the car arrived, sturdy nurses who had been contacted in advance were waiting with a wheelchair for her grandmother to ride. When the car door opened, the sturdy men supported her grandmother and put her in the wheelchair, and a middle-aged woman came out and covered her with a blanket.

Then she lifted her gaze to meet Tae Eun’s eyes, and the woman’s eyes sparkled with wisdom and experience.

“Hello. I’m Jang Kyung Hee, the nurse who will be in charge of your grandmother starting today.”

“Hello. I’m Min Tae Eun.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you. First, after showing you to your grandmother’s room, I’ll guide you to look around the rest of the facilities.”

Her calm and unwavering voice seemed to represent the woman’s long career. When Woo Jin said he had selected the best, it was certainly not a lie.

However, Tae Eun continued while looking around.

“I’m sorry, but since it’s been so long since our grandmother has been outside, I was wondering if we could take a little walk here before going to the room?”

“Ah, of course. This park is one of the spaces our clients love the most. Take as much time as you need. Do you need any assistance?”

“No. It’s alright.”

“Then, take your time looking around and when you come inside the building, call for me at the information desk.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Ah, and since the weather is chilly, I’ll give you one more blanket just in case. Elderly people tend to catch colds quickly as their immune systems are weaker than you think.”

“Yes.”

Tae Eun, who received one more blanket at Nurse Jang’s instruction, wrapped her grandmother more snugly so she wouldn’t be cold. Director Park, who was unloading luggage from the car, said he would take her grandmother’s belongings in first and went inside. Left alone in that space, Tae Eun slowly pushed her grandmother’s wheelchair and looked around.

“Grandmother, our grandmother’s new home… it’s really pretty. Right?”

“There are flowers over there. Flowers bloomed in this cold?”

In fact, that wasn’t a flower. It was a potted plant of unknown name shaped like a flower, but to her grandmother’s eyes, it seemed to be a picture blooming on this chilly day.

“Pretty……”

Memories keep regressing and forgetting the memories of the past, and grandmother is gradually becoming a girl. Tae Eun thought that sight was so pretty it brought tears to her eyes, so she stopped the wheelchair in front of it.

“Grandmother, do you find this pretty? I think our grandmother is prettier though.”

“Tsk tsk. What’s pretty about an old wrinkled grandma. But young lady, our granddaughter is really pretty. She looks just like her mother, but she’s even prettier than her mother. The prettiest in the world.”

“……”

“I miss our Tae Eun. What could our Tae Eun be doing now? I wonder if she ate.”

Seeing her grandmother, who always has teary eyes worrying about her granddaughter day and night, Tae Eun also felt a tingling in her nose. So she decided to confess so that her grandmother would stop worrying about her. Of course, she wasn’t sure if her grandmother would accurately understand what she was saying.

“Grandmother, Tae Eun… is getting married soon.”

“Huh? Our Tae Eun is? To whom?”

“To a very good man.”

“What does the fella do?”

The eyes worrying about her granddaughter become a little sharp. But they were eyes that didn’t feel out of place at all.

“A really great guy.”

“Doesn’t matter if he’s good-looking. It’s not like she’s going to eat his face. First, he has to be a good person. As a person.”

“He’s a good person.”

“What kind of person is he?”

At her grandmother’s question, Tae Eun thought of Woo Jin. From their first meeting when they bumped into each other in the dark to just yesterday, it vividly passes through her mind.

– Ms. Min Tae Eun must be a bodhisattva. Even I, an outsider, am so infuriated seeing this.

“A person who gets angry for me……”

“Sounds like a fella with a lot of anger inside. That kind of guy is no good. Bad-tempered.”

– So let’s… stop enduring it.

“And the first person… who told me I don’t have to endure anymore……”

Remembering the emotion she felt when she heard those words, she felt a hot feeling rising from within her. Raising her reddened eyes, she saw a familiar silhouette far away at that moment.

At first, she thought she was seeing things because she was thinking of him.

But with each step that narrowed the distance with his tall, imposing yet incomparably elegant gait, he became clearer and clearer in her reddened eyes.

He said he couldn’t come because he was busy.

“That cattle thief bastard. No way. Our Tae Eun is too good for him.”

As if on cue, the moment her grandmother called him a cattle thief, he closed all the distance.

Did he hear?

As Tae Eun looked up with half worry and half surprise, Woo Jin slowly came in front of her grandmother and didn’t hesitate to kneel down to meet her eye level.

It was the first time her grandmother and Woo Jin’s gazes met.

“Who… are you?”

But a grandmother with dementia is invincible with nothing to fear in the world. To the point that Woo Jin’s charisma had no effect at all.

“Grandmother, nice to meet you for the first time.”

“……”

“I am, that cattle thief you spoke of.”

You heard. Of course, he didn’t seem to mind being called a cattle thief at all, as his expression was gentle.

How nice would it be if grandmother stopped worrying about her after seeing Woo Jin. However, her grandmother turned her gaze away from Woo Jin, blurring the focus that had been clear until just before.

“You said our Tae Eun is coming, young lady. Our Tae Eun… when is she coming?”

“……”

“It’s been… a long time since I’ve seen our Tae Eun.”

Those eyes that had lost focus were filled with longing for her granddaughter.

Grandmother, I am Tae Eun.

She swallowed the hot emotions rising up to her throat as she shouted inwardly.

It was the saddest moment in the world. The moment of still missing the granddaughter she most wanted to see, even with her right in front of her eyes, unable to recognize her. What would her grandmother’s feelings be like, living in that unfulfillable longing? So today, Tae Eun’s heart crumbled again.