Chapter: 20
How Many Times Do You Urinate?
The phone rang.
[Mrs. Oh Jinhee]
It was Hyunseo’s mother. Publicly, she was Taeyeon’s mother-in-law. But in truth, she was simply the mother of Taeyeon’s employer—someone who could never truly be considered family. Even calling her “Mother” was difficult for Taeyeon. It would have been much easier to call her “Madam,” but in order to fulfill her role properly, she had to call her “Mother.”
Living day after day while pretending to play a false role—Taeyeon was realizing more and more just how exhausting that was.
As time passed, she felt it even more clearly.
“This… the fatigue from this is no joke. Be careful with the daughter-in-law role, and if you get hurt, file for compensation. I really need to steel myself…”
Muttering to herself, Taeyeon steadied her breathing once before answering the call.
“Mother.”
—Why did you take so long to answer the phone?
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
—Do you have anything else to say besides sorry? You’re not some AI programmed to apologize. If you keep saying sorry like that, it makes me sound like a terrible mother-in-law.
“I’m sor—… No, I will correct it.”
—I should just stop talking. Anyway, have you been eating the boiled pig’s trotters properly these days?
Even though three months had already passed, Taeyeon was still eating broth made from pig’s trotters. By now, even the smell made her feel like she might vomit. Yet she kept eating it for the sake of milk that wasn’t even coming out.
If she quietly left it untouched, Icheon-daek would always say something.
“Oh dear. Even if you don’t feel like it, please eat some, young madam. Our young master Yoonwoo should at least be fed breast milk. The elder madam keeps asking about it—whether you’re eating the pig’s trotters well.”
After she lied that milk was coming out when it actually wasn’t, it had been decided that Yoonwoo was being breast-fed.
Whenever she “fed” Yoonwoo, she took him somewhere out of Icheon-daek’s sight and let him latch on. In truth, sometimes the feeling of him sucking at her empty breast made her cry. She felt sorry for the baby.
Yoonwoo had a strong sucking force. Whenever he was hungry, they said she should let him latch first. When she did, he sucked so hard it felt like the nipple might fall off.
The sensation was impossible to describe.
With his black eyes fixed on Taeyeon, Yoonwoo sucked desperately at the breast that gave no milk. When nothing came out, he would burst into tears.
Only then would Icheon-daek take him into her arms and say,
“Oh dear, our young master is crying because his mother’s milk isn’t coming out well. Come here.”
Then she would give him a bottle.
When that happened, he drank eagerly, and the milk in the bottle visibly decreased at a rapid pace.
Watching the baby like that made Taeyeon feel guilty, as though she were deceiving even him. But at the same time, the fact that this household had been boiling pig’s trotters for her to eat for over three months was also unbelievable.
—Why aren’t you answering? We’re trying so hard to boil good pig’s trotters for you to eat. Don’t you like them?
“No, Mother. I’m eating them diligently.”
—Right. What else can you do anyway? At least feed Yoonwoo well and raise him properly in our family. And don’t sleep with the baby.
“I’m not.”
—Good. Don’t neglect Hyunseo while claiming you’re busy taking care of the baby first. Do you know how busy Hyunseo is? He has so much work to do. Leading an entire group isn’t easy. What’s the point of being vice president of Miwoo FNC? Construction, hotels—Hyunseo oversees everything. You know that, right?
“Yes. I know.”
—Then can’t you drop that employee attitude already? When I talk to you, it doesn’t feel like I’m speaking to my daughter-in-law. It feels like I’m talking to a subordinate employee. No matter that you work at Miwoo FNC—are you still just an assistant manager?
But if she said anything more than that, the response would immediately be that she didn’t know her place.
“I will correct it.”
—Honestly. Is this a workplace or what? Do you talk to Hyunseo that stiffly too? What does he even see in someone like you that he had a child with you?
From this point on, she simply had to listen.
Once Oh Jinhee started pouring out her complaints, the resentment inside her seemed to rise, and her words grew harsher.
—Whenever I look at you, my insides burn with anger. How did the position of mistress of the Miwoo Group end up going to you? Do you know how carefully I raised Hyunseo? Do you know how many marriage proposals came in for him? Honestly, if we had picked any one of them at random, they would’ve been better than you.
At times like this, Taeyeon had learned that she should just endure it until Oh Jinhee felt satisfied venting her anger, then change the subject at the right moment.
But even if she closed her heart, the words that reached her ears were not easy to endure.
Oh Jinhee had worked as a model in her youth. She had appeared in a Miwoo Group photoshoot, and that became the opportunity for her to become Chairman Choi Pilseung’s mistress for several years.
Then she gave birth to Choi Hyunseo and revealed her existence within the Miwoo Group.
But becoming the official wife was impossible at the time. Chairman Choi Pilseung already had a family.
However, an opportunity came to Oh Jinhee.
Chairman Choi Pilseung’s first wife died of uterine cancer.
Although she claimed she had not wished for the first wife’s death, after that Oh Jinhee became Chairman Choi Pilseung’s legitimate spouse.
Since then, she had relentlessly gathered company shares under her own name and fought fiercely to place her son, Choi Hyunseo, at the highest position.
For someone like Oh Jinhee, an ordinary assistant manager—especially a poor employee who couldn’t even be called middle class—could never be satisfactory as a daughter-in-law.
For a long time, Taeyeon quietly listened to the personal attacks and contempt pouring from the phone.
But malicious words were like that. Even if you understood everything and decided to let it go in one ear and out the other, even if it was part of the job, your heart still got hurt.
The conversation only ended after Oh Jinhee had insulted Taeyeon’s parents, cursed her sick mother, and even said that Min Taeyeon—who had come into the house after giving birth—was hardly a human being.
Only after more than twenty minutes of this did Oh Jinhee finally get to the point.
—I’m on my way to your house right now. I had some medicine prepared. A doctor I recently found is supposedly very good at prescribing medicine that increases milk production.
“What? You’re coming now?”
—I think I’ll arrive in about fifteen minutes.
“Yes. Understood, Mother.”
Taeyeon looked at herself in the mirror.
These days she had no energy in the mornings. After spending the entire night in Hyunseo’s arms, she would spend the morning dozing off or barely able to get out of bed.
Even now she had been lying around in casual loungewear, so her hair and face were a mess.
Taeyeon quickly washed her face, neatly tied up her hair, changed into a dress, and went downstairs.
There she saw Icheon-daek pacing around with Yoonwoo on her back.
“Auntie, Mother says she’s coming.”
“Oh dear, the elder madam is coming? Is there anything she might like to eat?”
After opening the refrigerator and checking inside, she sighed.
“Oh my. Still, that’s a relief. She likes fruit punch. We have some ingredients for it.”
“Yoonwoo seems to have fallen asleep.”
“Oh no, he’s just pretending. If I put him down thinking he’s asleep, he opens his eyes wide and wants to be carried again. He really likes being carried on someone’s back, the little rustic fellow. Our young master must take after the men of the Choi family. They all liked being carried like that.”
“Ah… is that so?”
“He was born looking exactly like his father so he can receive his mother’s love. He doesn’t resemble you at all, young madam.”
It felt awkward.
The phrase “a guilty conscience pricks one’s own foot” fit perfectly.
The words he doesn’t resemble you at all cut like a sharp blade.
“I’ll carry Yoonwoo.”
“Oh, he’ll really fall asleep in a little while.”
When Taeyeon mentioned that Oh Jinhee would arrive within fifteen minutes, Icheon-daek said to the woman who had come to help with cooking,
“Make some fruit punch. Use the omija tea we prepared.”
“Yes.”
After placing the sleeping Yoonwoo on the bed, the doorbell rang.
Oh Jinhee arrived wearing a blue dress and carrying a tote bag. At a glance, it was obviously something extremely expensive.
“Where’s our Yoonwoo?”
“He’s asleep.”
“Really? I should wash my hands and go see him.”
Oh Jinhee washed her hands carefully and went into Yoonwoo’s room.
Seeing Yoonwoo sleeping face down and breathing softly, she smiled while stroking his hair.
Truly, the more she looked at him, the more he resembled Hyunseo.
“The baby’s sturdy. Even though his mother’s milk is pathetic.”
“Still, these days there’s a decent amount.”
“Really? Let me see. Try squeezing it with your hand. I want to see how much comes out.”
“Excuse me?”
She wasn’t a dairy cow, yet sometimes Oh Jinhee said things like this—rude and humiliating.
Taeyeon stayed silent for a moment.
“Well? What are you doing?”
“It probably won’t come out right now. Yoonwoo just drank earlier. He drank it all.”
Does lying become easier the more you do it?
Still, her heart felt uneasy. But she couldn’t show it. This was her job.
Hearing that Yoonwoo had finished it all, Oh Jinhee seemed pleased.
“Really? That’s my child. The blood of the Choi family doesn’t lie. Look at that tall nose bridge. And the herbal medicine Kim’s driver brought in—take it three times a day, morning, noon, and night.”
“I’m already eating pig’s trotters diligently.”
“Do you think pig’s trotters alone are enough? You should at least breastfeed him until his first birthday. I fed Hyunseo until after his first birthday. That’s why he grew up so well. Don’t you know babies need plenty of breast milk early on to build strong immunity and good health? If our Yoonwoo isn’t healthy, it’ll all be your responsibility. Well, considering your mother’s health, we’ll have to run lots of medical tests on Yoonwoo while he grows up. Your maternal family isn’t very healthy, after all. Bad kidneys and all. Do you have kidney problems too?”
“I’m fine.”
But Oh Jinhee snorted and then asked Icheon-daek about Taeyeon.
“How many times a day does she urinate?”
Caught off guard by the question, Icheon-daek hesitated before answering.
“Huh? Oh my, I’m not really sure about that.”
“Then keep track of it. Check whether she’s urinating too often.”
No matter that this was technically a workplace—there were still some things that were impossible to endure.
