OMS 87

Park Dong-sik left home early in the morning, heading somewhere. Kim Jun-han, who had said he’d be late last night, hadn’t come home, only calling in the morning to check-in. With no word from Kim Tae-han either, he wondered if they’d met and fought, but that wasn’t the important thing today.

Park Dong-sik looked at the two-story house with a garden and called to Kim Yoon-ah sitting in the driver’s seat.

“Is this the right place?”

“Yes, it is.”

“How fancy. Living in a place like this, yet coming to me—”

Park Dong-sik stopped mid-sentence. They had whined about having no money and even resorted to blackmail with videos, so he’d expected a run-down house, but here was a villa in the heart of Seoul! In Gangnam, no less!

“I’ll go in too.”

“There’s no need for that. Wait here.”

“Your brothers are here from abroad right now. While Lee Seon-jae might not be much of a threat, the eldest, Lee Hoon-jae, has quite violent tendencies. I should go with you just in case.”

“The eldest is named Hoon-jae?”

“Yes…why?”

“Even his name suits him. Like smoked pork belly, that bastard.”

“…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll just say hello and be right back.”

Park Dong-sik reassured Kim Yoon-ah and went to press the doorbell. Someone checked his face through the intercom before opening the door. As he crossed the lawn, a small dog came running out.

The white dog looked like a ball of cotton, and he almost waved happily thinking it was Whitey. But seeing it yap and bark, it clearly wasn’t Whitey. That one would roll its eyes and glare but never bark.

“Happy! Happy!”

Lee Hee-soo’s mother came out and picked up the dog. The dog continued barking aggressively while he scolded it.

“What’s wrong with you? That’s your brother. Don’t you recognize him?”

Park Dong-sik thought to himself, The dog’s smarter than people. At least it knows I’m not Hee-soo. Though his mother was smiling, he looked somehow uneasy, unlike his previous confidence.

“What brings you here? Did you come with Manager Kim?”

“Just visiting.”

“Why?”

“You’re my mother, aren’t you? Is it so strange for me to come to see your face?”

“Well, that’s true…”

His smile trembled at the corners. Well well, why don’t you just openly show that you know I’m the culprit? When he urged him with his eyes, he reluctantly opened the door. Inside, the luxurious interior caught his attention.

On the wall leading up the stairs hung a family photo, which included Lee Hee-soo in a school uniform. Unlike his half-siblings, he had a deeply intimidated look, appearing depressed and sensitive even while smiling.

While he stared at the photo, the mother put the dog in the bedroom and hurried back.

“Being inside, does anything come back to you?”

“No. But you kept pestering people about having no money, so I thought you were about to end up on the streets, but I guess not?”

Lee Hee-soo’s mother looked uneasy.

“You know we’re barely holding onto this one house after clearing everything else.”

“Never mind that, just feed me.”

The mother appeared to be quite flustered.

“The housekeeper’s off today. I’m not sure if there’s anything to eat.”

Having a housekeeper meant that they were still far from starving to death. While he was getting something from the kitchen, Park Dong-sik went upstairs. Hearing the noise, Lee Hee-soo’s mother rushed after him from the kitchen.

“Where are you going?”

“Upstairs. Wondering if being up there might bring back memories.”

“Your eldest brother is sleeping. Stay downstairs and don’t wake him.”

“I’ll just be a moment.”

Though the mother tried to stop him, Park Dong-sik ignored him and climbed the stairs. Looking around the second floor, he opened the first door to find a neatly organized room. Though empty, he could guess whose it was. Sure enough, there was a large photo of Lee Seon-jae on the wall.

“This punk. What is he? Some sort of celebrity?”

He searched the drawers and bed but found nothing particular. So he went to the next room, but before opening the closed door, he was greeted by loud snoring. Inside, the eldest, Lee Hoon-jae, was sprawled out sleeping on the bed.

What time does he think it is? Such a lazy bastard.

Muffling his footsteps, he went to the bedside. He picked up the charging phone and turned on the screen, but it was locked. Damn it. Of all things, not fingerprint but iris recognition.

Wondering if his eyes would work, he rolled his eyes around trying different angles when a cold voice cut in.

“What are you doing?”

Looking to the side, Lee Hoon-jae had already gotten up. Park Dong-sik responded brazenly.

“Came to wake you up, but you’re already awake?”

“What the fuck are you doing in my room, you bitch?”

“Let’s watch the language. I’m pregnant.”

“Getting pregnant with a kid whose father you’re not even sure of, how shameless.”

Lee Hoon-jae got up from the bed with a menacing expression on his face. As noticed before, his build was quite substantial. Park Dong-sik forced a smile while holding the phone.

“Don’t say that, it’ll hurt Whitey and Blackey’s feelings. They have a father too, you know.”

“Stop talking shit and hand over the phone.”

“Why? Something important on here?”

“Keep mouthing off? Want me to make you remember the old days?”

“I’ve been curious—what old days? Did you beat me up or something?”

Lee Hoon-jae smirked.

“You really did lose your memory. Forgot how you whimpered underneath me too?”

Park Dong-sik’s face contorted violently. A look of sadistic pleasure spread across Lee Hoon-jae’s bulky face.

“They say pregnancy makes it tighter down there. Shall we check today?”

The moment he threateningly grabbed Park Dong-sik’s wrist—“You pig, how dare you grab me?”—Park Dong-sik drove his knee up into Lee Hoon-jae’s groin. With a grunt, as the man doubled over, Park Dong-sik then struck the back of his neck hard with his fist still holding the phone.

Bang! Lee Hoon-jae collapsed unconscious, and Park Dong-sik tilted his head to one side, arms crossed.

“See, this is how you’re supposed to pass out.”

Is  Kim Jun-han’s neck made of steel or what? After wondering this, he clicked his tongue and rolled Lee Hoon-jae over. Looking at him lying there like a corpse, his words kept spinning in Park Dong-sik’s head. Just then, Lee Hee-soo’s face reflected in the mirror opposite. Beyond the striking beauty, he now noticed other things.

Park Dong-sik lamented to himself, looking at that now-familiar face, “Oh Heesoo, you fool. Why did you live like that? Hm?”

Anger rising, he kicked Lee Hoon-jae repeatedly before forcibly opening his eyelids to unlock the phone. Once unlocked, it contained all sorts of things. Finding Bitcoin and stock apps, he cursed.

“This bastard blows everything on crypto?”

But no matter how much he searched, there was nothing else. Checking the nearby drawer for another phone yielded nothing either. Did I make a mistake? Park Dong-sik tilted his head back in thought for a while before running his tongue across his front teeth.

“If it’s not there, I’ll just make it happen.”

Park Dong-sik transferred Lee Hee-soo’s video that he’d received to Lee Hoon-jae’s phone, then sent it to someone else. Then he turned off the power and threw Lee Hoon-jae’s phone into the toilet.

Humming as he came downstairs, the family photo on the first floor caught his eye. Looking at Lee Hee-soo’s depressed face, Park Dong-sik took it down and smashed it against the railing. Bang, bang! At the loud noise, Lee Hee-soo’s mother rushed out in shock.

“Hee-soo! What are you doing?”

Park Dong-sik threw the frame to the floor and brushed past him.

The mother followed, roughly grabbing his arm.

“Why are you acting like this?!”

Looking at him shouting, Park Dong-sik spoke. “Did you send me threatening videos?”

Lee Hee-soo’s mother flinched before staring straight at him.

“Videos? What videos? Speak clearly.”

“Then do you know Park Chun-bae?”

At the unexpected name, all color drained from his face. Seeing him gaping like he’d seen a ghost, Park Dong-sik laughed.

“Ah, you recognize that right away.”

“W-What are you talking about? Who’s Park Chun-bae?”

“At least don’t stutter.”

“I said I don’t know. Why are you being like this? Are you more sensitive because of the pregnancy?”

Keep playing dumb. More digging will reveal it. The relationship between you and Park Chun-bae. As Park Dong-sik was putting on his shoes to leave, he suddenly remembered Madam Song’s words:

[You know your mother was an actor in his youth? But there was an uproar when he suddenly retired overnight. Rumors spread that he’d settled down with a beta, then years later he suddenly appeared as a congressman’s mistress.]

Park Dong-sik’s face slowly twisted. Turning around with a sense of dread, he found Lee Hee-soo’s mother glaring daggers at him with vicious eyes. Finding it unbelievable himself, Park Dong-sik deeply furrowed his brow.

“That can’t be…”

“What can’t be?”

When there was no response, Lee Hee-soo’s mother stepped forward and grabbed his arm.

“Hee-soo. Mother will beg you. I don’t want anything else. Just support me like before. Okay? You know too. What can I do at this age? But I can’t live without doing what everyone else does.”

Then he stroked his face with an affectionate expression.

“Where did my sweet, obedient Hee-soo go? You used to do everything mother asked. Please, Hee-soo.”

“You.”

“Yes?”

“You had another child besides Hee-soo, didn’t you?”

This time he froze completely. He wanted to ask directly if he’d had a child with Park Chun-bae, but the words wouldn’t come out, as if his throat was blocked by stones. Their gazes crossed, and finally, he cursed and kicked open the front door.

Even as he walked across the lawn, the mother didn’t come out.

This only made things more confusing.

[A pretty man lived next door, and one day his belly was swollen. Then they heard a baby crying. After that, they never saw the man’s face again.]

Park Dong-sik laughed dejectedly and shook his head.

“Fuck, it can’t be. That’s impossible.”

There’s no way that kind of person could be my birth mother…