Sooyeon looked at Sihyun with surprise.

“He’s in the United States. How can I meet him when I don’t even know where he lives?”

“I’ll ask Mr. Leon for help. If it’s his ability, he can surely find your son. He will definitely listen to my request.”

Seeing Sooyeon desperately calling for her son after getting drunk last night, Sihyun felt her heart ache. So, she wanted to find and meet her son at all costs.

“No!”

Suddenly, Sooyeon shouted loudly, startling Sihyun.

“I couldn’t raise him with my own hands, and now, how can I suddenly appear as his mother? How much must he have grown up without a mother all this time…!”

As she thought about it again, sadness overwhelmed her, and Sooyeon bit her lips.

“He might want to see his mother by now.”

Even Taeha, a complete stranger, longed for the mother she lost. Sihyun thought that Sooyeon’s biological son would undoubtedly feel the same.

However, Sooyeon was unexpectedly firm.

“I still don’t want to. Don’t ever mention me to him. I can’t do it, even if I die. Got it?”

Since she clearly didn’t want it herself, there was nothing Sihyun could do.

“I got it, I won’t.”

“Promise? You really won’t say anything?”

“Yes.”

After several assurances, Sooyeon sighed.

“Anyway, I wonder if there’s seaweed soup at the hotel. You should eat seaweed soup on your birthday.”

“My birthday? It’s tomorrow?”

Sihyun blinked her eyes. Could it be that the date had already arrived? She thought again, but she was wrong.

Taeha’s birthday is next month, isn’t it?”

For a moment, Sooyeon looked bewildered.

“Oh, really? …Did I get it wrong?”

Sooyeon being separated from Taeha happened just a month after giving birth.

At that time, they had only said they would take him to the United States, but now that she thought about it, they must have left the baby somewhere after telling her.

According to Sihyun’s words, even the grandmother who raised Taeha said he was ‘a child picked up from somewhere.’

So, it was natural that Taeha didn’t know his real birthday. Considering that next month is supposed to be his birthday, maybe they just decided to make the day they picked him up as his birthday.

She recalled the stories Sihyun had told about Taeha’s early years.

She had picked up an abandoned child who couldn’t even eat properly and had raised him. At the time, she had heard it with pity, but now that she remembered, her heart broke.
“If you were just going to abandon him anywhere, why didn’t you let me raise him? Why did you have to take him away and make it a permanent separation? Are you afraid I would go to him, using the child as an excuse, demanding money? Asking you to marry me? Is that why?”

Although a resentful feeling surged within her, Sooyeon forcefully swallowed it.

It’s not Leon’s fault. He didn’t even know about Taeha’s existence. Didn’t he come right away and hug him, crying, as soon as he found out?

She recalled Leon’s words from the past, describing his parents as very stubborn people who didn’t listen, didn’t respect their children’s opinions.

In reality, he couldn’t endure it and had fled all the way to Korea, which suggested the situation was severe.

So, undoubtedly, what happened was the result of his parents’ actions, unknown even to their son.

“I didn’t know my child was suffering so much, and I thought he must be living well in the United States…!”

At that time, Sooyeon had no choice. However, for Taeha, she was just a mother who couldn’t protect him. No matter what excuses she made, that fact wouldn’t change.

Even though he was right in front of her, did she not recognize the person called ‘mom’?

At first glance, she thought Taeha resembled Leon a lot. However, she merely considered it a result of Taeha being biracial. She thought her lingering feelings for Leon, which she couldn’t cut off until now, were causing her to have mistaken delusions.

To Taeha, she only felt guilty.

So, even though Sooyeon knew the truth, she couldn’t bring herself to claim to be his real mother. She had no right.

She wasn’t even a mother who could be of any help. Fortunately, now they both lived comfortably and harmoniously, and that alone was something to be grateful for.

Anyway, knowing today was her son’s real birthday, she couldn’t just let it pass. At the very least, she wanted to make seaweed soup for him. Sooyeon stayed up all night, pondering, and in the early dawn, she got up, boiled seaweed soup, poured it into a thermos, and took a taxi.

“Please go to the Grand Hotel.”

Since she might shed tears again if she saw his face, she only planned to ask the front desk to deliver the soup for her.

Getting out of the taxi, Sooyeon was surprised by the grand scale of the hotel. It was a world of difference from the small hotel where she used to work as a cleaning lady.

‘I’m staying at such an expensive hotel.’

Her shabby appearance suddenly felt embarrassing. Holding the thermos tightly to her chest, Sooyeon, who occasionally walked with a faltering step, passed through the lobby and headed to the front desk.

“Um, is there a guest named Yoon Taeha by any chance?”

Before the hotel staff could respond, Taeha, who was coming down from the elevator, caught Sooyeon’s eye.

Thinking of just dropping off the items and leaving, seeing her son’s face made her unable to suppress her joy. She wanted to see him up close, hear his voice.

Planning to approach and maybe greet him, Sooyeon suddenly stopped in surprise.

Following Taeha from the elevator was a man who stood out.

“….!”

Even after a long time, she could recognize him at a glance.

My son’s father.

My first love, who I never forgot even for a moment.

Frozen in place, looking as if she couldn’t move, Sooyeon suddenly held her breath as Leon turned his head towards her.

“…….”

The moment their eyes met, Sooyeon felt like her breath was being held.