Chapter 35
“How on earth am I supposed to handle this…?”
Bora had spent several days agonizing over it, clutching her head in frustration.
Just thinking about this enormous secret of birth, this sealed family secret, made a throbbing headache surge through her. The guilt of hiding the truth made her unable to properly talk to Kang Yoon, and she even avoided Jin Hyun-sook inside the house.
“Ha… I can’t keep going on like this forever. Grandfather told me to keep it to myself, but… this isn’t something that can just stay buried, is it?”
No matter how much she tugged at her hair with both hands and tried to think it through, this was not something that could remain a secret.
“And Kang Yoon is feeling so frustrated… He’s lived his whole life unfairly. The sooner this is resolved, the better. Yes. This is why I came into this family in the first place, isn’t it?”
Bora wavered between waiting until Grandfather’s health improved so they could speak together, or telling Kang Yoon first. At last, as if she had made up her mind, she sprang to her feet.
Then she stood in front of Jin Hyun-sook’s room—the very room she had carefully avoided for days—and took a deep breath.
Knock, knock.
“Auntie, it’s Bora. May I come in for a moment?”
After Secretary Kwak had left, Jin Hyun-sook had been staring blankly out the window for a long time. At Bora’s voice, she startled and quickly straightened her posture.
“Yes. Come in.”
Entering the room, Bora noticed the two teacups on the table and asked,
“Were you talking with Brother-in-law?”
“Huh? Oh… yes. Just a moment ago. Why, do you have something to say as well?”
“Yes. But it’s something very important…”
“Important? To me? What could it be…?”
Jin Hyun-sook tilted her head in surprise and rose from her seat.
“If it’s important, let’s talk over a drink. I was just about to have another cup of tea.”
“Shall I make it?”
“No, I’ll do it.”
“Then let’s go together. I’ll have coffee.”
From a distance, they might have looked like a warm and affectionate mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Jin Hyun-sook looked kindly at Bora, who followed closely beside her.
“Oh, right. Are you taking that tonic regularly? Even though Kang Yoon isn’t here, you still need to take it consistently. It’s good for your womb.”
“Huh? Didn’t you put that away, Auntie?”
“What? What do you mean?”
“No… After you gave it to me last week, I left it in the living room, but it disappeared without a trace. It wasn’t in the fridge either. I asked the housekeeper, but she said she hadn’t seen it. I thought maybe you took it away since I hated drinking it so much…”
“No. I didn’t touch it. That’s strange… Well, we can look for it later.”
As Jin Hyun-sook poured bright red brewed black tea into a cup, Bora filled her own cup with coffee from the pot.
“I’m curious what you want to say to me. What is it?”
Jin Hyun-sook’s expression was as calm as ever as she looked at Bora, who had even locked the door before coming in.
Bora hesitated for a long time before finally speaking.
“When I came into this house… I really wanted to be a good daughter-in-law to you.”
“You already are. I can’t even imagine how you could do any better. Why, did you do something wrong to me? Why are you suddenly saying that and making me anxious?”
“It’s not something I did… Ha… How should I say this? Auntie—no… Mother. I’m so nervous.”
“Bora, what on earth is it? Don’t tell me Kang Moon did something to you again?”
Jin Hyun-sook frowned and asked in a slightly raised voice.
If that were the case, she looked ready to beat Kang Moon herself this time.
“No, it’s not that… Mother, please look at me. Please. Hold my hands.”
Jin Hyun-sook stared at the two hands Bora extended, then slowly took them.
For some reason, the warmth of Bora’s hands made her feel like she might burst into tears.
“Bora, what is this? What on earth—”
“Mother. You’ll be shocked. Very shocked… Ha…”
“My heart is pounding right now, so just say it already. What is it? Why are you making such a fuss?”
Normally elegant and composed, Jin Hyun-sook rarely showed emotional agitation. But holding Bora’s trembling hands, she had a strong premonition that something enormous was about to happen. Her whole body began to shake.
“Mother… Please check this.”
Jin Hyun-sook accepted the document envelope Bora handed her. After taking several deep breaths, she finally opened it.
“A genetic test report? What is this— Huh? Huh? What is this? Th-this… what happened, Bora?”
Her dark eyes gleamed with shock as she dropped the papers in disbelief.
“K-Kang Moon isn’t my biological child? Does that make any sense? No, more than that… Kang Yoon is my biological son? Bora, what on earth… what on earth…”
Jin Hyun-sook trembled so violently she could barely form words.
Bora stepped closer and gently embraced her shaking body.
“Mother… Kang Yoon is your son. And Brother-in-law… he is the son of the late Ahn Ji-hye.”
“No, that can’t be. That can’t be possible. How could that—”
“We tested using your toothbrush, Kang Yoon’s, and Brother-in-law’s. Grandfather also said… that thirty-six years ago, he committed an unavoidable sin against the natural order.”
“Father…? Father… switched Kang Moon and Kang Yoon?”
“Yes. It’s a long story… Mother, Mother!”
Overwhelmed by shock, Jin Hyun-sook fainted on the spot. Bora’s face turned pale as she caught her collapsing body.
“Mother, are you coming to your senses? Please?”
At the cold touch against her forehead, Jin Hyun-sook opened her eyes abruptly. Seeing Bora’s worried face holding a wet cloth, she closed them again.
“Bora… Is this a dream? Is it?”
“No, Mother. It’s not a dream… It’s just a very tragic family story. I’ve only seen things like this in dramas. I never thought something like this could really happen…”
“I… I raised Kang Yoon… that talented, remarkable child… I suppressed him so he wouldn’t outshine Kang Moon, so he wouldn’t surpass him… I… with my own hands… my own child… Ha…”
Tears of regret and grief streamed down her face without stopping.
Seeing her cry like that made Bora’s chest ache, and tears burst from her eyes as well. If she felt this heartbroken, how devastated would Kang Yoon be when he learned the truth?
“Mother. Kang Yoon doesn’t know yet. I thought I should tell you first.”
“Yes. Yes… You did well. Let’s think about what we should do.”
Jin Hyun-sook tightly grasped Bora’s hand resting on her forehead.
“You have no idea how much I regretted it. When the marriage proposal from your family came, I should have sent Kang Moon instead… Yes. Then you wouldn’t have married like this. I know, but still, I regretted it so much. I thought every day how wonderful it would be if you were truly my daughter-in-law.”
“Mother… Whether you’re my aunt or my real mother, I think of you the same way. After all, you embraced and raised Kang Yoon. That alone makes me grateful to you.”
“I didn’t embrace Kang Yoon… by choice. I had no choice. My husband was dead. If I hadn’t taken that child in, I would have had no grounds to stay in this house. I didn’t do it out of kindness. I did it to survive. If I wanted to raise Kang Moon myself, there was no other way.”
“You must have… suffered a lot too, Mother.”
At Bora’s question, Jin Hyun-sook bit her lip to endure it, but once her tears began, they would not stop.
She had hated and discriminated against her own biological child, while raising the son of the woman she had cursed as an adulteress as if he were her own life. The past felt unbearably bitter.
If she could go back… could she recognize Kang Yoon and protect him?
Her tears of regret and self-reproach flowed endlessly.
Just then—
Knock, knock.
A cautious knock sounded from outside the door.
“Madam, it’s Secretary Kwak.”
