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Chapter 91
CW: Mentions of self-harm (but nothing in the present) for this chapter and the next
Strange silence flowed between us.
I had thought she’d get angry or retort sarcastically, but she looked at me in silence, bowed her head obliquely, and broke eye contact first.
As soon as she turned away, the servant standing behind her immediately placed his ear next to her mouth, listening to her words.
Even though the two were right in front of me, I couldn’t hear her instructions. I don’t know what courage bubbled up from within me, but, instead of getting nervous, I carefully paid attention to their actions.
But it seems like her instructions were irrelevant to our earlier conversation; the servant did not even glance at me, leaving the greenhouse as soon as his mistress’s mouth stopped moving. After delivering her instructions, she smiled, alternating between looking at Seo Dawon and me. “I thought you’ve finally been placed on a leash… I guess your talent for seducing people still lingers after death.”
“I’m flattered, Chairwoman Shin,” Seo Dawon responded.
The conversation that followed was hard to follow.
Seo Dawon did not sit still, this time, and replied with a showy smile, calling her Chairman Shin and buttering up to her.
It felt as if he was flattering her, but his talent to provoke showed as he injected his mocking words with amusement.
Koo Hui-seo’s mother, Chairwoman Shin, seemed to have derived the same conclusions as I had; a smile crossed her expressionless face for a brief moment.
“Thank you for returning Hui-seo to his rightful place,” she said with a soft smile.
After she finished speaking, five servants entered the greenhouse with plates covered with cloches. The conversation continued naturally during dinner.
“For a while, talking about brotherhood or whatever…I was so worried that he would continue to speak soft-heartedly and be unable to return to his senses.” Chairwoman Shin spoke, slowly, with a purposeful frown. However, I couldn’t focus on her words; I had to focus on schooling my shocked expression at the way she ate.
Chairwoman Shin seemed to like Korean cuisine, tidily prepared wild vegetables and beef ribs were placed in front of her. 1 Marinated soy sauce crabs filled to the brim with eggs were cut into bite-sized pieces and placed at her right. 2
However, behind Chairwoman Shin, an old servant wiped his hands thoroughly in a bowl filled with water, stepped forward, hand-squeezed the marinated crab, and fed it to Chairwoman Shin. And, naturally, she ate the crab that was placed near her mouth.
I thought that the scene before me was bizarre, but I turned my gaze away silently and pretended to concentrate on my share of food on the plate.
Do rich people usually eat like that….without lifting a single finger? It was so weird to see an adult eating with the help of others, like an infant…
I looked around, trying to puzzle out some unnoticed reasons for such behavior; at a second look, I noticed that there was no knife or other ‘sharp’ utensils in front of her. There were only blunt forks and spoons.
I looked at Seo Dawon and checked his expression, but Seo Dawon was simply listening to Chairwoman Shin with a bland smile.
As expected, there was no trace of awkwardness in his expression. So, to match the mood, I began to cut the meat on my plate and placed it in my mouth.
It was really sweet and soft…I thought I’d get indigestion if I ate more than I could enjoy, so I managed to swallow one bite and then rummaged through the plate in front of me. Some bizarre atmosphere overwhelmed hunger.
“Koo Kyungman was always impudent.” On the other hand, Seo Dawon was on a different level from me, who was simply trying to adapt to the mood.
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He responded to the Chairwoman’s remarks from time to time and listened to her with great interest. Even though he didn’t touch the food, he exuded the impression that he was enjoying the dinner.
Chairwoman Shin also seemed to be pleased with Seo Dawon’s attitude; the conversation constantly flowed between them without stopping.
“Just impudence? He was a pig who did not know the kindness that was used to raise him. I should have killed him the moment he stepped foot in my house,” she said.
However, despite such friendly atmosphere, Chairwoman Shin’s hatred was occasionally revealed. Already assured of her own victory, it was clear to see what kind of situation Koo Kyungman would be mired in for the rest of his life.
Fortunately, conversation about Koo Kyungman soon ceased; perhaps she thought it unseemly dinner conversation.
However, the remnants of her unresolved anger began to be redirected towards her son. “Honestly, though that child is one that I birthed through my own pain; I can’t help but think that all he had suffered is through his own foolishness.”
“……”
“We’re not some ordinary family. There’s no use telling him that he’s only become a successor to the business as his father’s only legitimate son–none of that will penetrate his brain.”
“Hui-seo-ssi seems to be a bit romantic.” 3
“Right. His head is just a flower patch. A flower patch!”
The more I heard Chairwoman Shin’s outspoken displeasure, the more I felt sympathy for Koo Hui-seo.
Her parental behavior was not normal, and accused Koo Hui-seo of being stupid or self-serving for failing to follow along. This mindset will probably not change until the day she dies.
It was not because Koo Hui-seo was stupid that he blindly believed in his brother’s wicked heart. She made it so easy to manipulate Koo Hui-seo such that he was moved by the smallest hint of affection.
In the end, She, who clicked her tongue at her son and called him a fool, was the one who made him that way. The violence his father perpetuated probably contributed as well. All that combined and twisted together to create this result.
“Nothing’s to your taste?” Chairwoman Shin suddenly looked back towards me, interrupting her passionate conversation.
I nodded my head, tired and uncomfortable–ready to leave this place soon. “Yes, I’m sorry. May I be excused first?”
“Okay. I’ll send Seo Dawon up soon as well.”
Seo Dawon did not add anything to Chairwoman Shin’s words, but he observed my complexion. Jung Garam, who had not been hiding his disinterest in this conversation and instead had been lounging silently with chin in his palms, also looked at me as well.
Both of them looked as if their gazes were asking, ‘Do you want me to come with you?’ but I shook my head slightly. I just wanted to lie down alone.
Watching us, Chairwoman Shin gestured with her hand; a polite server, a rather big man, walked in front of me with his head bowed low. “I’ll show you to your room.”
I walked behind him, out of the bright greenhouse, and realized that the little I had eaten had given me indigestion. I barely made it back to the room and closed the door. When I entered the tidy room, devoid of the smells of food, my stomach calmed a little.
“……”
Of course, that relief didn’t mean much after seeing Koo Hui-seo sitting calmly on my bed. I almost shrieked when we made eye contact; my breath became short and my lips moved involuntarily, “……Have you eaten?”
“No. I can hardly eat anymore, now.”
I pretended to be calm.
Koo Hui-seo’s responding expression was calm as well, but I was incredibly concerned about his solitary presence in my room.
How should I say this–I had a creeping suspicion that he would threaten me menacingly with that peaceful manner of his.
Because of that, I couldn’t ask why he was here. I couldn’t even ask him to leave. Koo Hui-seo seemed to have perceived my dilemma when he saw me hesitating, as if nailed to the floor in front of the door.
He slowly got off the bed and walked towards me at a glacial pace, as if to convince me he posed no threat. “If I’ve surprised you, I’m sorry. I thought you’d be having a meal, so…This was my room in the past, so I just came in for a moment.”
“Oh……”
He pointed at the wide window by the bed. “I’d often sit on that windowsill and observe the scenery below.”
“……”
“When the curtains are drawn, you can hide your body well.”
I nodded, to show my understanding, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the wrist of his pointing hand. Because, white scars–slash marks–were clearly engraved there.
TL: NGL I’d feel utterly uncomfortable with seeing someone hand feed a rich lady right in front of me.
Also, for those that don’t see the announcements on the discord, I’m on vacation for the next 10 days, so my updates might be a bit sporadic. I’ll still update though
Footnotes
나물, which I translated as wild vegetables, are side dishes that are made from vegetables that were traditionally foraged from the mountains. Common ones are shepherd’s purses or stir-fried fernbrake bracken.
soy sauce marinated crabs. To those that might be confused, romantic, here, means something like idealistic and naive. It harkens back to Don Quixote and the era of searching for “romance.”