Chapter – 51
Ju-hyang had received an offer from her parents.
They said they would cover the living expenses for her and the two children, as well as the cost of studying abroad—on the condition that she never see Tae-jung again.
After much deliberation, Ju-hyang eventually confessed that she had accepted the offer.
“For the children, and for me, this is the right decision. The kids should at least grow up in a good environment, don’t you think?”
Tae-jung could no longer hold on to her.
He was still far too inadequate to support two children.
In the end, Ju-hyang left with both of them.
After she was gone, Tae-jung threw himself into filmmaking like a madman.
He believed that if his movies succeeded, he would be able to bring her back someday.
But by the time Chungmuro finally recognized his talent, Ju-hyang was already no longer in this world.
“It’s already been ten years since she died.”
They said it was cancer.
Her parents had told him, grinding their teeth, that she had already been diagnosed before leaving for the United States.
When Tae-jung resentfully asked why she hadn’t told him, they said Ju-hyang had wanted to hide it from him above all others.
She was afraid she would become a burden to him… so she hid it until the very end.
Although Tae-jung fell into despair, he went to visit Ju-hyang’s parents once more, hoping at least to get his two children back.
“Do you still not understand why Ju-hyang had to leave you?” her father said.
“She hid such a serious illness and went all the way to the United States for treatment because she thought she wouldn’t even receive proper care if she stayed beside you!”
“…I have nothing to say regarding Ju-hyang,” Tae-jung replied.
“But now I at least have the ability to support the children. Please, return them to me.”
“The two children are already growing up in the United States, receiving the best education possible. And most importantly, both of them believe that we are their parents.”
“……!”
“Think about it carefully. Would it be better for them to live as the illegitimate children of unmarried celebrities, or to live quietly under our support as they do now? Which life would truly be better for them?”
“……”
“Don’t just think about yourself. Think about what kind of life would truly be better for those children.”
At those words, Tae-jung had no choice but to swallow his tears of blood and nod.
At the time, he believed it was the right decision.
Twice a year, he would occasionally hear news that the two children were growing up well.
Suppressing his longing, he endured it again and again.
He waited only for the day when Do-ha became an adult—
planning to find them then, tell them the truth, and give them everything he had built.
“Hello… Father.”
“!”
After more than ten years had passed, his first child—his daughter Seo-ha—came to see him.
“…So that’s what happened. Father, you were deceived by Grandfather too.”
“I… was deceived?”
“Yes.”
With a hollow laugh, Seo-ha revealed the truth.
It was true that they had grown up in the United States.
But that was only until Do-ha turned seven.
“Mom was alive… at least until then.”
“!”
Even when Tae-jung was told by Ju-hyang’s parents that she had died, she had actually still been alive.
A few years later, struggling to raise two children alone in a foreign country, Ju-hyang eventually returned to Korea.
And she had planned to find Tae-jung, who was now successful.
But—
Her parents, who absolutely refused to let her meet Tae-jung again, lied to her.
They told her:
“Tae-jung came looking for you, but he’s getting married now. He said you should never come looking for him again.”
Of course, Ju-hyang didn’t believe them.
But when she went to Tae-jung’s house—
she saw something.
She saw him smiling happily with another woman.
“…I was smiling with another woman? That can’t be. I never—”
Tae-jung stopped speaking.
Suddenly, a memory flashed across his mind.
He had spent his entire life longing for Ju-hyang and had never gotten close to another woman.
But there had been one time.
“I know you’ll never look at me, sunbae. But… I’ve liked you for a long time. So… could you just hug me once? Then I think I can finally give up on you.”
A junior actress had suddenly confessed to him.
Moved by sympathy, he had hugged her briefly.
It was truly the worst possible timing.
It seemed that Ju-hyang had witnessed that very moment.
How cruel fate was to Tae-jung.
“After that… Mom changed a lot.”
According to Seo-ha, Ju-hyang had become like a flower slowly withering away.
She never said anything aloud, but Seo-ha could tell that her mother was suffering deeply.
“…Still, she somehow endured. At least until then.”
“That means…”
“But when Do-ha became fourteen and started dreaming of becoming an actor… I think something inside Mom finally broke.”
Seo-ha said she had never seen her mother so furious.
To Ju-hyang, the profession of an entertainer had become nothing more than a disgusting reminder of Tae-jung.
She screamed at Do-ha:
“So you’re following your father’s path too! In the end, you’re just like him—!”
And she pushed him away.
At that moment, Seo-ha realized that her mother had become deeply exhausted and mentally broken.
“But Do-ha couldn’t give up his dream. And then our grandparents died in an accident… At that time, there wasn’t a single adult who could think clearly.”
After that, whenever Ju-hyang saw Do-ha, she would scream at him to give up his dream.
But Do-ha couldn’t abandon the first dream he had ever had.
So Seo-ha made a decision.
She fled to the United States with her mother.
She practically left Do-ha in the care of the agency that had cast him, believing it was the best choice for everyone.
In America, Seo-ha took care of her mother, who was sick both physically and mentally.
“…To be honest, I resented Do-ha a little. What was so important about a dream? I gave up mine to take care of Mom… so I thought maybe he should give up too, just once. That’s why I never contacted him, even from America.”
Tae-jung couldn’t say a word.
Seo-ha had only been eighteen or nineteen at the time.
For someone that young, those feelings were completely understandable.
“…But now I understand. Do-ha didn’t do anything wrong. The adults were the ones who made all the mistakes. We were just the ones who got sacrificed.”
Seo-ha spoke calmly.
Only then did Tae-jung fully understand everything that had happened.
But—
Even after learning the truth, he realized he couldn’t change anything.
It was too late to undo this tragedy.
“…I can’t say everything was your fault, Father. But at the same time, I don’t want to think of someone who had no power to stop this as my family either. Take care. And… just like before, I think it’s better if we continue living as strangers.”
At Seo-ha’s words, Tae-jung simply lowered his head.
She was right.
…And Do-ha would probably feel the same way if he learned the truth.
This was all his fault.
If only he had investigated more carefully.
If only he had doubted Ju-hyang’s parents even once.
Perhaps things wouldn’t have turned out this way.
“……”
Tae-jung let out a short sigh.
It was only natural that Do-ha hated him.
To a son who had watched his mother suffer his entire life, a father who lived comfortably in Korea as a “master director” was nothing more than a coward who had abandoned his family.
“…Do-ha must hate me so much because he takes after you.”
Director Yeon gently brushed his fingertips across Ju-hyang’s face in the photograph.
A man who had lost the right to stand before his family after failing to protect them.
Now that man had grown old—
to the point that even his own granddaughter refused to meet him.
Letting out a long, weary sigh, Tae-jung placed the photograph back deep inside the drawer.
Perhaps…
The reason his granddaughter appeared again was a chance for him to atone for the sins he had committed against his family.
