Separation Anxiety

5.

#Their Castle

Jeong Seo-hoo was buried in the Jeong family’s ancestral burial ground. However, Kim Min-seo was not allowed to enter. Jeong Tae-seong said he would never allow Kim Min-seo’s grave to be in the family burial ground as long as he lived. He had never liked his daughter-in-law to begin with. Even though Jeong Seo-hoo was remarrying, Jeong Tae-seong had stubbornly refused to accept a woman of unknown background with a child as his daughter-in-law. Now that Kim Min-seo was dead, there was no way he would acknowledge her as family.

Moreover, Jeong Tae-seong had also been briefed about the dashcam footage from the day of the accident. To him, Kim Min-seo was nothing more than an evil woman who had dragged his son to the afterlife.

In the end, Kim Min-seo’s funeral was held with cremation. Even Hayun couldn’t change his grandfather’s stubborn mind on this matter. Besides Jeong Tae-seong, no one else in the Jeong family took Kim Min-seo’s side.

After all the relatives gathered to bury Jeong Seo-hoo’s body in the ancestral burial ground, only Hayun, Dawoon, and Haram moved to a separate location to witness their mother’s body being cremated.

Throughout the cremation, Dawoon cried silently, not making a single sob. He felt he didn’t deserve to cry out loud.

“I’m sorry,” Hayun apologized for not being able to bury their mother in the family burial ground, but Dawoon shook his head. He understood the family dynamics well. Even when she was alive, their mother had always tried hard to gain their cold grandfather’s approval. However, this accident had made their grandfather close his heart even more.

Their grandfather was cold to Dawoon and Haram as well, simply because they were their mother’s children. He couldn’t accept that although half of their blood was from their father, the other half was from their mother. From a young age, they couldn’t even breathe deeply in front of their grandfather.

Still, Dawoon had it better than Haram. When Dawoon was young and their grandfather was cold, their father would step in and take his side. It was their father who comforted the crying Dawoon, saying that Dawoon would become a great person because he took after both his dad and mom.

But now, Haram had neither a father nor a mother to comfort him like that. What if their grandfather treated Haram coldly, just as he had treated Dawoon?

I’ll protect you. I definitely will…

Dawoon hugged the sleeping Haram tightly in his arms. Haram only had Dawoon and Hayun now. So, throughout their mother’s cremation, Dawoon kept promising himself that no matter what, he would never let go of Haram’s hand.

***

When they returned home, the relatives who had attended their father’s funeral were still there, not having left yet. Jeong Tae-seong was sitting in the living room, waiting for his grandchildren to return.

“We’re back,” Hayun greeted on behalf of Dawoon and Haram. Dawoon also bowed slightly while holding Haram. Their grandfather’s gaze briefly swept over Hayun, Dawoon, and Haram in order. Unlike the composed Hayun, Dawoon felt uncomfortable even under that gaze.

A person who dislikes me. It was deeply ingrained in his bones.

“Put Haram to bed in his room and sit down,” Jeong Tae-seong instructed. A housekeeper approached to take Haram from Dawoon. Even though he was told to sit, Dawoon found it hard to move. As he stood there, biting his lip, Hayun grabbed Dawoon’s arm and pulled him to sit next to him.

Jeong Tae-seong sat in the main seat of the living room sofa, while Jeong Seo-in and her husband, their aunt and uncle, sat opposite Hayun and Dawoon.

“Hayun, you’ll start coming to the company from next week,” Jeong Tae-seong said.

“Father!” Jeong Seo-in exclaimed, startled.

“He’s still a student!”

“So?” Jeong Tae-seong turned to his daughter, as if asking what the problem was.

“With only one semester left until graduation, there are many who start internships early. Hayun will also start as an intern. There’s no problem at all.”

Although he hadn’t gone through the formal intern selection process, it was already somewhat known that he was the heir to the Haedo Group. If anything, it was more surprising that he was starting from an internship.

“Don’t be unnecessarily greedy. Just do your job well,” Jeong Tae-seong warned Jeong Seo-in. Jeong Seo-in was also the president of a Haedo Group subsidiary. She had been hoping that with her brother’s death, she might be able to enter the main company and take on the role of vice chairman.

“Are you discriminating against me because I’m a daughter? In this day and age…”

“It’s not a matter of gender. It’s a question of whether you have the capacity for it.”

Jeong Seo-in’s face hardened at her father’s cold words.

“Then what about Hayun? Are you saying he has that capacity? That he’s better than me?”

“We’ll see in time.”

It wasn’t a definitive answer. But it did suggest the possibility that Jeong Hayun might be worth it. Jeong Seo-in immediately understood her father’s meaning. Sensing that arguing further wouldn’t change her stubborn father’s mind, Jeong Seo-in let out an exasperated sigh.

“What about him?” Jeong Seo-in’s arrow turned towards Dawoon. Dawoon didn’t understand why he was being mentioned when he had nothing to do with company matters, but he shrank at the sharp tone.

“What do you mean?” Jeong Tae-seong asked, feigning ignorance.

Jeong Seo-in’s face twisted even more. “Are you just going to keep him in this house?”

Dawoon’s eyes widened. At the same time, Hayun’s expression turned cold. Hayun reached out and placed a hand on Dawoon’s thigh. Dawoon turned to look at him, but Hayun’s gaze remained fixed on Jeong Seo-in.

“I find it hard to understand what you’re saying,” Hayun replied.

Jeong Seo-in pulled up one corner of her mouth. “You should know what I mean. I don’t understand you either.”

Jeong Seo-in mocked. “You’ll have to share your brother’s assets with him. And that’s no small amount, is it?”

Assets. Dawoon swallowed hard. Throughout the funeral, relatives had been talking about various things, but he had never thought about inheritance or anything like that. The grief of losing his parents was so overwhelming that he hadn’t considered that this would become an immediate issue.

“It’s being handled according to the law, so Aunt doesn’t need to intervene,” Hayun said.

“Oh my, look at this? Treating me like a complete stranger? I’m saying this all for your sake…”

“Jeong Seo-in.” Jeong Tae-seong cut her off. Jeong Seo-in pouted but swallowed her remaining words at the sight of Jeong Tae-seong’s hardened face.

“Don’t mention Dawoon again.”

Jeong Seo-in let out a disbelieving sigh at Jeong Tae-seong’s unexpected words.

“Why are you suddenly acting like this too, Father?”

Jeong Seo-in couldn’t understand why Jeong Tae-seong, who had seemed ready to cast out Dawoon during the funeral, had suddenly changed his attitude. Instead of answering, Jeong Tae-seong put down an envelope. It was the paternal lineage test (Y-STR) result that Hayun had handed to him a few days ago.

Jeong Seo-in opened the envelope and checked its contents, then looked back and forth between Jeong Tae-seong and Dawoon with wide, disbelieving eyes.

“How is this possible? Unless someone tampered with it, how could he…”

“Are you suggesting someone tampered with it?” Hayun interjected. Implying, was it Jeong Tae-seong? Or himself? Among those who might have requested a DNA test, was there anyone who would take Dawoon’s side? Jeong Seo-in’s lips trembled, but she couldn’t refute.

The relatives listening from behind started murmuring, wondering what was going on. Even if they didn’t know what that document was right now, they would all find out through Jeong Seo-in’s mouth the moment they left this place.

“What about this house? It’s an unnecessarily large mansion for three children to live in, isn’t it?”

Having set aside the issue with Dawoon, Jeong Seo-in now found fault with the house. It had been an excessively large house even when they lived with their parents. But because their father was the vice chairman of the Haedo Group, no one had considered it excessive for them to live in this mansion.

Dawoon felt a surge of sadness, realizing that without their parents, even the house they lived in was becoming an issue.

“I don’t understand what you’re finding problematic,” Hayun calmly retorted again.

“The mansion was in Father’s name, and according to inheritance law, it’s now in my name. It seems it’s not us who should leave, but you, Aunt, and those standing behind, hoping to reap benefits that fall from the sky.”

Not only Jeong Seo-in but also the relatives listening were taken aback by this blunt criticism.

“This is my house. If you’re done with your business, please leave now.”

Hayun issued an order for everyone to leave, as if they were trespassing in the mansion without permission.

“If necessary, I can call the police for trespassing.”

Hayun was colder than ever. Jeong Seo-in’s face turned red at the realization that she was being kicked out.

“How dare such a young brat be so disrespectful…!”

She rose from her seat and swung her hand towards Hayun. Slap! A fairly loud sound echoed in the quiet living room.

“Now we can add assault charges as well,” Hayun replied in an unwavering voice, despite being slapped hard enough to leave a handprint on his cheek. His tone and expression were so cold that everyone was at a loss for words.

“Everyone, go home.”

Jeong Tae-seong, who had been watching until then, stood up. With that one word to go home, he had taken Hayun’s side.

“Hayun will handle it, so there’s no need for you to intervene. He’s an adult at twenty-three.”

It was also a warning not to meddle in family affairs anymore. Jeong Seo-in and the other relatives left the mansion with hardened expressions. Jeong Tae-seong quietly looked at Hayun and Dawoon before turning away. He didn’t even leave instructions on what to do.

“Hyung…” When everyone had left and only the two of them remained in the empty living room, Dawoon tried to check Hayun’s face. However, Hayun took Dawoon’s outstretched hand and put it down, smiling faintly. It’s okay. That unspoken word seemed to be heard, and understanding why Hayun was going this far made Dawoon’s heart ache even more.

But at that time, Dawoon didn’t know. He didn’t realize that from that day on, that mansion had become perfectly their castle, entrapping him.