OMS 110

As the car stopped in front of Lee Hee-soo’s mother’s house, Park Dong-sik unbuckled his seatbelt. When the security guard in the driver’s seat and Kim Yoon-ah also prepared to get out, he stopped them.

“I’ll go alone. You two wait here.”

Before he finished speaking, the guard and Kim Yoon-ah turned around.

“That’s not acceptable.”

“That’s right, Hee-soo-nim. We should come too.”

“I’m just going to deliver a message and come back, so don’t contact Kim Jun-han unnecessarily. Understood?”

Park Dong-sik smiled, patted Kim Yoon-ah’s shoulder, and got out of the car. Crossing the yard to the entrance, he checked the gun in his pocket. He had secretly brought it without letting Kim Yoon-ah know, she would faint if she knew about the gun, but he hoped he wouldn’t need to use it.

Opening the front door and entering, he found the mother, Lee Hoon-jae, and Lee Seon-jae sitting side by side in the living room. Their complexions had improved significantly, showing how much money they’d been spending. Especially Lee Hoon-jaee, who with his 2:8 parted hair, looked just like a sleazy pimp.

Unlike his sullen stepbrothers, the mother spread his arms welcomingly toward Park Dong-sik.

“Your belly’s gotten bigger. It looks like uur grandchildren are growing well!”

Talking about ‘our grandchildren,’ how ridiculous. He snorted derisively without responding, and he offered him a seat. A housekeeper brought out tea and fruit, but Park Dong-sik didn’t touch the refreshments and got straight to the point.

“Didn’t we agree to cut ties? If you took the money, you should keep your promise, sir.”

At the word ‘sir,’ his mother retorted indignantly.

“Did you really intend to cut ties with us?”

“See? I knew this would happen. They say people’s minds change between entering and leaving the outhouse, did your mind change after getting the money? Don’t you have even the slightest intention of keeping your promise?”

The mother continued regardless.

“I heard you’re pregnant with twins.”

“So what? Want to buy them clothes?”

“With twins…shouldn’t you give us more money?”

Park Dong-sik blanked for a moment before bursting into loud laughter. What was his first thought when he learned about the twins…? Instead of celebrating the fact that he was having twins, his mother was instead overjoyed that he could perhaps get double the money.

His expression, tearful from laughter, gradually turned cold.

“Fuck, this is why blood is scary. You’re not deviating even an inch from my expectations, huh?”

“Your language is getting—”

Park Dong-sik cut off his mother.

“Yes, they’re twins. But what’s that got to do with you? We’re strangers now.”

“You, you should give us consolation money!”

“Consolation money?”

“Having to live without seeing my grandchildren, and twins at that—shouldn’t you give us consolation money?”

Now this was some kind of a novel kind of bullshit.

Park Dong-sik licked his upper teeth and glared daggers at his mother sharply.

“Look here, Yoo Hyeon-oh. Thirty years ago, when you abandoned your twins, did you give them any consolation money? Huh? Did you even buy them a single set of clothes?”

The mother’s face turned as pale as a sheet of paper. Lee Hoon-jae and Lee Seon-jae beside him looked puzzled, and Park Dong-sik continued relentlessly.

“You abandoned one right after birth, and left the other in front of a church after a week. Didn’t you feel any guilt abandoning those little lives? Let me ask you straight. If they appeared before you now, what would you do for them?”

“You…where did you hear such preposterous things? Who told you that?!”

“We could have ended this properly, but why are you making me say such things?!”

“You, really!”

The mother stood up abruptly, his legs and hands trembling. Park Dong-sik crossed his arms and stared at him intently.

“Those twins you gave birth to, aren’t you curious how they lived?”

“…”

“One died freezing on the street after becoming disabled from a leg injury, and one died from drowning.”

The mother’s eyes widened, and Park Dong-sik sneered.

“How about that? Sad? Feeling guilty?”

“Hee…Hee-soo…you…you…!”

“Well, how could someone like you feel any guilt? Should I expose to the world how you abandoned the children you had with a beta and how they lived? You might be a forgotten actor now, but who knows? If this story breaks, the whole nation might learn your name.”

“Stop!”

His mother screamed, turning pale, and Park Dong-sik smiled slyly.

“Why? Does just thinking about it make your heart clench?”

Then Lee Hoon-jae, who had been quiet, snapped.

“Hey. Stop talking nonsense and give us more money. Honestly, 20 billion per person is a bit stingy. That wealth will all go to your kids anyway, so why not be generous with us too? Right?”

Park Dong-sik stared blankly at Lee Hoon-jae spouting nonsense.

“Stay out of this, you pig. Your head’s all slicked up, and your gut’s gotten even fatter. Instead of being greedy for others’ money, go exercise. Unless you want to die of lifestyle diseases before you’re even forty.”

Really, they’re getting bold just because I’m pregnant. Lee Hoon-jae jumped up, strode to the corner, and grabbed a golf club. Lee Hee-soo’s mother frantically tried to stop him. “Lee Hoon-jae, don’t!” Lee Hoon-jae, with crazed eyes, shoved him aside and pointed the club at Park Dong-sik.

“You crazy bitch! Keep talking if you want to die.”

These people just don’t know when to stop. Calmly, Park Dong-sik pulled out his gun and aimed it at Lee Hoon-jae. Seeing the gun, his mother screamed and fell backward, while Lee Hoon-jae’s expression froze as he stepped back.

Park Dong-sik pulled back the hammer and aimed it at Lee Hoon-jae’s head.

“Want to test what’s faster, you killing me, or me blowing your head off?”

“This…this must be a fake gun…”

“Think it’s fake? Want me to fire one shot? Where? Your dick? Or your head?”

As Park Dong-sik moved the gun up and down, Lee Hoon-jae, feeling terrified, could only glare without moving. Meanwhile, Lee Seon-jae kept his head down like a dead mouse.

“Still, Seon-jae, you’re the best of them. At least you know how to behave.”

Standing up, Park Dong-sik lowered the gun and looked at his mother. At this moment, he wasn’t Lee Hee-soo but purely Park Dong-sik.

“Mom. Nice meeting you.”

His mother’s expression changed subtly.

“Thank you. For being such a terrible person. For ensuring that I’ll never have to miss you or be sad about you.”

His mother’s face contorted, and Park Dong-sik walked out. Outside the entrance, looking up at the sky, it was hot with no wind, just humid weather. As he felt suffocated, he spotted Kim Yoon-ah watching him from the gate, and a bitter smile unconsciously escaped his lips.

***

“Wow, this is delicious.”

Park Dong-sik gave a thumbs up. When he came home and lay down listlessly, Kim Yoon-ah made him bibim noodles with young radish kimchi to boost his appetite. It was so good he seriously suggested she should open a noodle restaurant.

“Are you feeling better…?”

“That’s thanks to you. Thank you.”

“Please get some rest after eating. I’m worried, you should be focusing on prenatal care, but there’s so much stress from everyone…It seems like things were better at the villa…”

“It was peaceful there. Playing Go-Stop every day, oh, should we play Go-Stop? No, let’s call in the security guards and raise the stakes.”

“Please don’t. I’m scared the CEO might find out.”

“We can keep it from Kim Jun-han. What do you think?”

As he smiled, watching Kim Yoon-ah seriously consider it, a phone call came in.

[Hello. Hope you’ve been well? I’m calling about Kim Yoon-ah’s birth parents.]

Park Dong-sik glanced at Kim Yoon-ah while holding the phone to his ear and stood up. Moving away from the kitchen, he felt her gaze following him.

“Yes, go ahead.”

[I found out that Kim Yoon-ah was indeed secretly abandoned at an orphanage by her grandmother. It was a marriage the family opposed, and they told the parents she had died. Shortly after, the grandmother passed away, and the birth parents still don’t know their child is still alive.]

“I heard that much. Did you find out more about these parents? What kind of people are they?”

[They’re still living well as a couple. They never had other children. Instead, they take care of orphaned children. The father is a pastor and well-respected among his congregation. They do a lot of good work and are praised by everyone around them.]

Thank goodness. Really, thank goodness. Park Dong-sik sighed in relief, happy as if it were his own affair. After finishing the call with the private investigator, he returned to the table, but Kim Yoon-ah’s expression was concerning. Her eyes showed worry about what trouble he might cause next.

“Who were you talking to…? Was it your mother…?”

When he didn’t answer, her face grew more worried.

“Hee-soo-nim?”

“Hey…how would you feel about finding your birth parents?”

“What?”

“I told you before. That I’d help find your birth parents.”

“…”

“They’ve been found.”

Kim Yoon-ah blinked in confusion. Park Dong-sik slowly explained the situation. He said he’d actually found them earlier but wanted to learn more about them first. Even when told her birth parents were confirmed, Kim Yoon-ah remained relatively calm.

“Would they want to meet me…?”

“Your parents think you’re dead.”

“What do you mean…?”

As he explained how she came to be abandoned, Kim Yoon-ah’s expression began to change subtly. Though her eyes reddened, she never lost her smile.

“Do you want to meet them?”

“…”

“You wanted to find them, right?”

After long consideration, Kim Yoon-ah finally spoke.

“You said they don’t know I was abandoned…If my grandmother were my father’s mother…If I suddenly appear and they learn everything…Wouldn’t that hurt them more…?”

Even in this situation, you’re worried about others instead of yourself. You’re worried first about the father you’ve never even seen. I think I understand why your birth parents are called good people, even without meeting them.

Controlling his surge of emotion, Park Dong-sik smiled gently.

“When they see how wonderfully their child has grown up, I think their joy will be greater than any resentment.”