Entering, Leon suddenly staggered due to the strong wind and Taeha rushed to support him. Wasn’t he perfectly fine just thirty minutes ago?

“Why are you like this, Father? Are you okay?”

“…Your mother.”

Leon muttered like someone whose mind had slipped away.

“Yes?”

“I saw your mother. She was right in front of me, but like a fool, I couldn’t…!”

Rambling without order, he finally stopped when he saw his son’s worried face.

“Just wait a moment.”

He gritted his teeth and said, “I’ll definitely find her and make you meet her.”

Back at home, Sooyeon turned on the light in her small room. As she took off the uncomfortable heels and shoes, her tension released, and she sighed.

The place Sooyeon lived in was a small house attached to the shop. It was nothing more than a small room of about five pyeong, but for Sooyeon, who had lived in motels and women’s quarters, it was a place that felt more than enough.

However, just now, it felt pitifully shabby compared to the luxury hotel. Unable to endure it, Sooyeon turned off the light.

It wasn’t just about staying at a hotel; Si-hyun had hinted in the salon that Leon was the owner of that hotel.

During their love affair, he had nothing but youth as a poor painter. He sometimes went without food for days because he had no money. Although his parents were very stubborn, he never mentioned what kind of family he came from.

So, while dating him, Sooyeon was completely oblivious and carefree.

After giving birth to Taeha later, the people sent by his parents were unwelcomed, he said. It was only then that Sooyeon realized.

Ah, I met someone I shouldn’t have met.

At twenty, she was ignorant, so she didn’t know she could fall into love recklessly. But now she was thirty-five. It was an age when she should know. Different things are different, and what’s not, is not, she had to learn that now.

At twenty, she committed mistakes in ignorance, and now she was paying for it for a lifetime. If it were just her, she might not have known, but now she had to bear the consequences with an innocent child.
Then I must have learned something there.

Sooyeon couldn’t believe the self who almost repeated the same mistake.

The excuse she gave herself to meet Leon was like that. Anyway, he was Taeha’s real father, and I was the real mother. So, without any other emotions, she thought they could meet once and talk comfortably.

But deep down, she knew it wasn’t like that. If she only wanted to talk comfortably, had no other expectations, why did she decide to meet him only after finding out he was still alone?

“If he’s alone, so what? Did he suddenly decide to start dating now?”

Sooyeon bit her lip. Thinking of the man who recognized her but didn’t even approach to say hello, she wished he would disappear from the world.

The affectionate and poor painter who used to draw her favorite roses because he couldn’t afford to buy them is no longer in this world. Now, Leon is a person from a completely different world.

The woman he loves is undoubtedly someone belonging to his world.

Her small room and the hotel where he stays seemed to represent the disparity between the two.

Twenty-five years have passed. Even if people change, it was time for several changes.

Only the foolish herself had stayed there all along.

With the same heart as back then.

Now, even when crying alone, she had developed a habit of crying quietly. Turning the blanket over her head, Sooyeon cried a little.

Leon didn’t sleep all night. His chest felt like it was about to burst, making it impossible for him to sleep. He clearly saw her in front of him, and if he couldn’t find her again, he felt like he would really die.

The only reason he didn’t rush out to find her himself was because of Taeha. His son had been watching him with worried eyes all the time, staying by his side even while sleeping. Of course, it was natural for him to worry when someone said they saw a dead person.

As soon as Taeha went to work in the morning, he called in his secretary.

“What happened? Did you find the taxi?”

“Yes, sir. We identified where she got off.”

The secretaries had been searching through the CCTV footage installed in the hotel all night to find the taxi she had taken. They said they sweated a lot persuading the taxi driver, who refused to leak customer information.

However, all they found out was where she got off. It would have been easy if there was at least a card payment record, but unfortunately, she paid the fare in cash.

Leon headed straight to the place the taxi driver mentioned. The place where she got off was a quiet residential area slightly away from the downtown office district.

He had only one photo brought by his secretary.

Leon wandered around the neighborhood all day, accosting everyone he met and shoving the photo in their faces, asking if they had seen this woman.

“Have you seen this woman by any chance?”

Most thought he was a strange person and avoided him without even looking at the photo. Some who looked at the photo shrugged, saying they didn’t know.

In early July, the sunlight in Seoul was scorching. Despite roaming the whole town on an empty stomach all day, the sun had already set without any results.

The body that stayed up all night, white as if it had been up all night, felt like it would collapse at any moment due to disappointment and fatigue. Leon forcibly pulled himself together.

“I should make flyers tomorrow and distribute them.”

If he puts a substantial reward, tips will come in. They will surely come.

Thinking like that while walking, he smelled curry from somewhere. The small shop with a yellow sign saying ‘Mom’s Hand Curry’ caught his eye. When he entered, a long-forgotten hunger surged in all at once.

As soon as he stepped inside, he was engulfed in a feeling that was difficult to describe in words.

Walls made of bright-colored wood.

A window with white curtains hanging.

Small potted plants lined up on the windowsill.

And a woman wiping tables, wearing an apron.
“Welcome.”

The woman, who greeted warmly, sighed when she saw Leon’s face.