OMS 100

Park Dong-sik woke up with a drowsy face after sleeping in past 10 o’clock. As days went by, his body felt heavier, and his joints ached as if he’d been beaten. Still in a daze, he looked beside him to find only a pillow where Kim Jun-han should have been.

“Even slept through him leaving for work…”

At Park Dong-sik’s request, Kim Jun-han had sent people to Jeju Island. He said he’d let him know as soon as they found anything, but several days had passed without news. Previously, he would never have believed a shaman’s words enough to send people somewhere.

[“If there’s a way, I’m asking if you want to live as Park Dong-sik.”]

He still hadn’t found an answer to that question. If they met Lee Hee-soo and he wanted his body back, should he return it? But then again, maybe he ran away because he didn’t want to live as Lee Hee-soo.

Stop thinking about it. Whatever the case, it would be faster to meet and ask directly.

Park Dong-sik shook his head to clear his thoughts. Then he stretched his arms upward and walked outside. Kim Yoonn-ah was waiting in the living room.

“Hi, good morning!”

“Mr. Hee-soo, the elder madam—”

Park Dong-sik cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

“What about Madam Song? Is she sick in bed because her husband’s gone?”

“No, no, that’s not it—”

“Should I introduce her to a boyfriend? What do you think? Someone about ten years younger than that old man would be good, right? If Madam Song gets love from a young lover, that prickly personality of hers—oh my!”

Park Dong-sik stepped backward as soon as he saw Madam Song emerging from the kitchen with a stern look on her face. Looking at Kim Yoon-ah, she seemed on the verge of tears. No wonder she kept rolling her eyes toward the kitchen….

“Sorry, this prickly mother-in-law came so early in the morning.”

“Haha, you should have said you were here…I almost cried from joy seeing you first thing in the morning.”

Smiling cheerfully while checking her complexion, he noticed her face had grown terribly thin, whether because of her husband or Kim Tae-han.

“We should buy our mother some meat. Yoon-ah, make a reservation at that meat restaurant we went to before. Let’s go there for lunch. It was delicious.”

Madam Song sighed and sat on the sofa.

“Never mind. Do you think I’m in the mood to eat meat face-to-face with you?”

Park Dong-sik sat across from her and asked Kim Yoon-ah to bring them some tea.

“Forget the tea, and Ms. Kim, could you give us some privacy? The two of us need to talk.”

Kim Yoon-ah exchanged an anxious look with Park Dong-sik before reluctantly leaving. Once they were alone, a chilly silence fell. Park Dong-sik forced out a smile and laughed awkwardly. Madam Song pulled out some documents from her bag and threw them on the table.

“What’s this?”

“Have you forgotten? Our contract. You agreed to take the money and leave after having the baby.”

“Ah…”

“Don’t change your mind just because Jun-han’s been coming around. A promise is a promise.”

Oh right. With all the recent incidents, he’d completely forgotten about the contract with Madam Song. As he silently stared at the contract, Madam Song tested the waters.

“You’re not…thinking of breaking our promise, are you?”

“You know, Mother…Even house contracts get canceled these days—”

Madam Song slammed her hand on the table.

“Absolutely not!”

“You scared me! Did you forget that I’m  pregnant?!”

“As if you’d be startled by this? You shameless, infuriating thing. Making a promise with me and then trying to flip it like turning the palm of your hand over? Are you some sort of con artist?”

“Of course, I want to keep it. But I’m too scared of Kim Jun-han to do it.”

“Oh my, look at this! Why are you using Jun-han as an excuse?”

“Didn’t you know? When I ran away, he came to the villa with a gun. I thought I was going to faint that day. I still have nightmares about it.”

Madam Song’s eyes opened wide at the mention of a gun. “What?”

“If I run away this time, I’ll really die. And when I die, you won’t take responsibility, will you?”

“Jun-han…he’s not the type to do such violent things…”

Park Dong-sik shook his head.

“Mother, you really don’t know your eldest son.”

At those words, Madam Song thought deeply for a moment before her expression turned resolute.

“Still, no.”

“Why?”

“Jun-han knows you slept with Tae-han. He might be tolerating it now, but it’ll cause problems later. That topic will come up every time you fight, and it’ll affect the children too. How can you expect me to just let that happen?”

“What are you saying? The three of us even had fun together once.”

Madam Song’s jaw dropped to the floor, and Park Dong-sik grinned.

“Just once, exactly once. Not many times.”

Madam Song grabbed her neck and squeezed her eyes shut. “Oh, Father.” 

Park Dong-sik got up with a worried expression and went to Madam Song’s side. Are you okay? Should I massage your neck? We can’t have our mother collapse like this.

As he started massaging her shoulders, Madam Song swung to hit his hand.

“Don’t touch me!”

After he quickly dodged, Madam Song trembled before taking a deep breath.

“Let me ask you one thing. What if that baby is Tae-han’s? Would Jun-han still accept it?”

In truth, she couldn’t determine who the father was based on pregnancy dreams alone. As Madam Song said, if both children were Kim Tae-han’s, would Kim Jun-han accept them? Since the doctor said brothers have similar pheromones, it was entirely possible.

“That’s something I’ll have to think about when the time comes…”

“You’re not saying you’ll live with Tae-han. Has your heart grown cold?”

Park Dong-sik’s lips quivered. Rather than saying his feelings for Kim Tae-han had cooled, it would be more accurate to say his feelings for Kim Jun-han had grown. Currently, his emotions toward Kim Tae-han were complex—he disliked him yet felt sorry for him, resented him yet pitied him.

“Does Tae-han’s behavior have anything to do with you?”

“Is he still not eating?”

At the mention of her son, Madam Song’s eyes welled up with tears, uncharacteristically.

“That damn kid. He must be determined to die, won’t open his mouth. Living on vitamins can only last so long. Having lost my husband, and now my child too…”

She trailed off, pressing her hand to her forehead and lowering her head. Instead of consoling Madam Song, Dongsik quietly stayed by her side. When he felt movement in his belly, he quickly grabbed Madam Song’s hand.

“Mother, give me your hand.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

When she placed her hand on the belly, her eyes widened as she felt movement. A faint smile crossed her face, which had been heavy with depression earlier.

“Such strong kicks…Maybe they’ll become a soccer player…”

When their eyes met, she became serious and withdrew her hand. She was someone whose true feelings showed remarkably clearly. Yet strangely, he couldn’t dislike her and found himself growing fond of her.

***

“Shall I go with you?”

“No. Stay here. I’ll just deliver this and come back.”

“Call me if anything happens.”

Park Dong-sik nodded and closed the car door. Entering the hospital, the distinct smell of disinfectant was strong. When he arrived at Kim Tae-han’s hospital room, there was an employee standing guard at the door. Recognizing Park Dong-sik, the guard greeted him, and Park Dong-sik handed him a drink, thanking him for his hard work before going inside.

Kim Tae-han lay there with multiple IV bags hanging from his arm, his face even more gaunt than before. 

“Is the knife wound okay?” 

He started to lift the clothes to check but stopped and called out to Kim Tae-han instead.

“Are you sleeping?”

His eyelids fluttered at the sound of the voice. Half-asleep, he suddenly sat bolt upright in bed. Park Dong-sik quickly backed away, nearly bumping faces with the other man. Kim Tae-han looked as if he’d just seen a ghost.

“You…how are you here…”

“I’m here because you’re acting like a child, staging a hunger strike.”

“Are you really Hee-soo…?”

“Do I look like a ghost to you?”

He put down the lunchbox he brought, adjusted the bed height, and unfolded the table. Kim Tae-han still looked bewildered. After placing the porridge on the table, he forcefully put a spoon in Kim Tae-han’s hand.

When he refused to take it, Park Dong-sik hit him on the head with the spoon, causing Kim Tae-han to cry out “Ack!” and grab his head.

“Eat while I’m asking nicely.”

“Hee-soo…I think my head’s split open…”

“No. Human heads aren’t that fragile. So eat. Before I hit you again.”

Finally getting him to take the spoon, Kim Tae-han looked up. His eyes were red, and Park Dong-sik knew it wasn’t from the pain, but he pretended not to notice and pushed the porridge container toward him.

Kim Tae-han held the spoon but lowered his head. When he remained silent for a while, Park Dong-sik asked first.

“Kim Tae-han. Are you truly sorry to Hee-soo?”

“Yes…”

“Then eat well and wait. I’ll ask Hee-soo whether to forgive you or not.”

Kim Tae-han raised his head with a confused expression on his face. 

“What do you mean?”

“Remember? After you fell into the sea, I told you I’m not Hee-soo.”

“Yes…”

“That’s the truth. That’s why your mother even brought in a shaman to perform a ritual, and Kim Jun-han knows everything. You’ve been barking up the wrong tree this whole time. Understand?”

He clearly didn’t believe it at all.

“Hey. Are you listening? I’m not Hee-soo!”

“Okay. You’re an old ghost…Happy?”

This kid. I’m not that old, you know? This was expected. Unless Kim Tae-han saw Park Dong-sik’s soul pop out with his own eyes, he would never believe it. Park Dong-sik sighed and poured a full cup of water.

“We’ll finish that conversation later, just eat all of this without leaving anything behind. It’s the most expensive porridge. It has lots of abalone in it.”

“Okay…”

His hand trembled slightly as he took a bite. His lips were cracked and scabbed, and the dark circles under his eyes made him look unmistakably ill. Now he understood why Madam Song worried about losing her son too.

As he watched him eat and turned to leave, Kim Tae-han urgently grabbed hold of his clothes. The way he desperately clutched at the clothes reminded Park Dong-sik of a child afraid of losing their mother. His gaze moved from the hand to Kim Tae-han’s face.

“You’re not leaving?”

“Well…”

“I need to call Kim Jun-han. I came here without telling him.”

“Why do you need to call brother…”

Do you need permission even to make a phone call? That was clearly what Kim Tae-han wanted to say. But perhaps because of his guilt, he finally closed his mouth and let go of the clothes. Park Dong-sik pretended not to notice and left the room, and even after calling Kim Jun-han, he sat in the chair outside the hospital room for a long time before going back in.