“I’m a second-year high school student, eighteen years old.”

Yoon Eun Seo, who had been at a loss for words for a while, finally took Kwon Seung Joo into the house. Seeing the large apple tree standing tall in the middle of the yard, he looked shocked.

“What is that tree? Who planted it there? When?”

Eun Seo pulled him by the arm to sit on the wooden porch and sat down herself. Even as she did so, he kept asking questions.

“What’s going on? Who are you and why do you have the keys to our house?”

Instead of answering, Eun Seo stared intently at his face.

“……”

There was not a hint of playfulness on his face. Not that he was the type to joke around in the first place.

Far from joking, he looked very anxious and impatient. It was an expression that the usual Kwon Seung Joo would never make even if lightning struck his head.

They weren’t close enough for her to know how many different expressions he had, but one thing was certain.

This person was serious right now.

So this was like what she had only seen in dramas…

Eun Seo took a deep breath and asked,

“What year is it now?”

“It’s 2007, of course.”

The back of her head throbbed. That was a full 15 years ago from now.

“Why are you suddenly asking that?”

Perhaps sensing that something was strange, Kwon Seung Joo’s face became increasingly anxious.

“How far back do you remember… No, what were you doing before coming here today?”

Eun Seo asked, and he answered haltingly,

“I was waiting for the bus to go to academy, but I don’t remember anything after that. When I opened my eyes, I was in the hospital, and some unknown lady said my mom had come… I think I fainted again from surprise, and when I regained consciousness, no one was around. Judging from the pain, I think I was in an accident, but I didn’t seem to be badly hurt… There were clothes next to me, so I just changed into them and came home. I lost my wallet and phone, so I walked.”

Only then did Eun Seo realize why the clothes Seung Joo was wearing were unusually small. He must have picked up and put on the clothes that had been brought to the hospital room for him to change into while the secretary was by his side.

“Mr. CEO.”

Eun Seo gulped and said,

“It’s 2022 now. And you’re thirty-three years old this year. You’re the CEO of Daewon Construction.”

“What?”

He opened his eyes wide and stared at Eun Seo. It was evident that he was thinking, ‘What nonsense is this?’ Of course, it was natural for anyone not to believe it if told that 15 years had passed overnight.

How could she make him believe this? After pondering for a moment, Eun Seo quickly took out her smartphone, searched for news articles, and held it out in front of him.

“What is this?”

“It’s an internet article from 2 years ago when you became CEO.”

“No, I mean this.”

When he pointed at the phone with his finger, Eun Seo belatedly understood the question.

“Ah, it’s a smartphone. You can think of it as a cell phone and computer combined.”

Only then did he hesitantly look at the screen.

Right below the article title, the man’s face froze upon seeing his own photo. No wonder, since what he remembered was his eighteen-year-old face.

The man, who had been staring intently at the article, suddenly looked around and said suspiciously,

“You’re joking, right? Right? How did you make this composite?”

Eun Seo wanted to believe it was a joke. Claiming to be eighteen years old with that appearance and build. If she hadn’t known Kwon Seung Joo’s original personality, she would have thought he was the one joking.

“It’s not a joke. It really is 2022 now.”

Eun Seo quickly brought over a few newspapers from the pile stacked in the corner of the porch. Although she had stopped now, she had a long-standing connection of delivering old newspapers for free from a nearby distribution center.

Perhaps printed text on a newspaper was more credible than an unknown machine. The man’s eyes finally filled with shock upon seeing the dates printed boldly on the newspapers.

“…!”

“I have been a tenant living in this house for 15 years and am also an employee at your company.”

Kwon Seung Joo was at a loss for words for a long time. His handsome face looked completely bewildered.

After a while, he muttered disconnectedly like a person who had lost his mind,

“I thought it was strange… The houses in the neighborhood suddenly disappeared, and large buildings appeared… Even the color of the gate changed…”

Kwon Seung Joo stopped speaking after that. It was as if his soul had left his body.

How confusing must it be for 15 years to pass overnight? Unable to think of any comforting words, Eun Seo quietly waited by his side for him to calm down.

After a long time, he suddenly asked urgently,

“Then what about my mother?”

“Pardon?”

“My mother and I were living together in this house, but she left and has been missing for a year. It was a big news story, the disappearance of a chaebol’s wife… Do you know if they found my mother?”

Eun Seo closed her eyes. She wished she didn’t know the outcome.

Unable to say it herself, Eun Seo once again relied on the internet. Pulling up an old news article on the screen and handing it over, the man’s hand trembled as he took the phone.

After a moment, crystal-like tears welled up in the man’s sharp eyes.

“Mom…”

The phone fell from his hand with a thud.

Eun Seo watched with a heavy heart as the large man covered his face and burst into audible sobs.

*

Pyeongchangdong, residence of Kwon Yong Chul, chairman of Daewon Group.

Taking the suit jacket from Chairman Kwon, who had returned from work, his wife Ji Yeon Hwa carefully said,

“Honey, shouldn’t you go visit Seung Joo at the hospital?”

Chairman Kwon replied gruffly,

“You already went, so why do I need to go? He’s not seriously hurt and has regained consciousness, you said.”

“Still, he seems to be quite shaken up. Why don’t you go and comfort him?”

Looking at Yeon Hwa, Chairman Kwon clicked his tongue.

“You’re always like this. You should be taking care of Seung Hyun, but you keep going on about ‘our Seung Joo, our Seung Joo.’ He hasn’t even called you mother all this time.”

Suddenly feeling resentful, Chairman Kwon gritted his teeth.

“What, ahjumma? That disrespectful brat!”

He had already received a report from the secretary who had accompanied his wife this afternoon. Apparently, the brat had thrown a fit in front of the doctors and nurses, saying, “Why is this ahjumma my mother?!”

As Chairman Kwon was about to explode in anger, Yeon Hwa dissuaded him.

“Please don’t be like that. He must have been longing for his late mother because he’s sick.”

“Who are you calling his mother? You’re the lady of the house now!”

Chairman Kwon’s eyes quickly filled with pity as he exploded in anger.

“You’re no longer a hidden mistress. You’re now the respected wife of Daewon Group, and Seung Hyun is my proud son. How long are you going to remain so timid?”

Tears welled up in Yeon Hwa’s eyes.

“Honey…”

“You silly thing. How old are you to still cry so easily like this?”

Even as he spoke gruffly, Chairman Kwon gently hugged his wife’s shoulders and comforted her.

“Sob…!”

Only then did Yeon Hwa burst into audible sobs. It was a sorrowful cry, as if she had been holding it in for so long.

No matter how saintly a woman she was, how could she not be heartbroken after being humiliated by her husband’s child from a previous marriage in front of everyone? Chairman Kwon’s heart also silently tore at the sound of his wife’s cries.

‘This gentle and kind-hearted person.’

The woman who had given birth to his child at the tender age of twenty.

The woman who had to live in hiding for decades, unable to hold her head high, for the sole crime of loving him.

It had been over 10 years since she officially became the first wife, but the world still pointed fingers at her, calling her a mistress.

The more that happened, the deeper Chairman Kwon’s affection grew.

Ji Yeon Hwa had come into the house and taken on the role of mother about a year after Seung Joo’s birth mother went missing. At that time, Seung Joo was in his second year of high school.

The foolishly kind-hearted woman doted on Seung Joo, her husband’s child from a previous marriage, far more than her own son. When he was preparing for college entrance exams, she even personally packed dinner boxes and took them to his study room.

Yet Seung Joo never even gave Yeon Hwa a second glance. He would often ignore her even when she spoke to him kindly.

[What kind of attitude is this?]

When Chairman Kwon tried to scold him, Yeon Hwa would desperately defend him.

[He’s still a child. His mother disappeared overnight, so how hard must it be for him?]

Seung Joo entered the company immediately after graduating from university and moved out at the same time. Even now, living apart, Yeon Hwa diligently sent side dishes and health tonics. Even though she knew they would end up in the trash without him even tasting them.

And he had blatantly embarrassed that stepmother in front of everyone. The eldest son, who was already disliked, became even more detestable.

“Sob, hic…!”

With each tear his wife shed, Chairman Kwon took a step further.

His heart was drifting away from his eldest son.

After a while, Chairman Kwon separated Yeon Hwa from his embrace and looked at her face, wiping away her tears.

“There, there, stop crying now. Your pretty face has become so ugly from crying, hmm? A passing clown might ask to be friends with you.”

At Chairman Kwon’s joke, Yeon Hwa let out a chuckle through her reddened eyes.

“Oh my, they say if you laugh while crying, something might pop out somewhere?”

“You, really!”

As Yeon Hwa clenched her fist and lightly hit his chest, Chairman Kwon pretended to die.

“Oh no, the clown is killing me!”

Chairman Kwon would be sixty next year, and Yeon Hwa was in her fifties. The two of them were bickering like newlyweds, forgetting their age, when there was a sudden knock on the door.

Before they could even answer, the door opened. Chairman Kwon frowned at the secretary who walked in with quick steps.

“Why are you so rude?”

“I apologize, Chairman. It’s just that…”

Upon hearing the secretary’s words, Chairman Kwon’s expression changed in an instant.

“What? Seung Joo has gone missing?”