“Dear child. Are you all right?”

Pan-seok Kim asked Gyeong-eun in a worried voice from inside the car.

“Father. You needn’t worry.”

“See there—what did I tell you? I said dress a bit neatly, didn’t I? You swore you were fine and came dressed like you were off to a market fair, and now what a disgrace at the in-law family’s company.”

At Myeong-ja Jang’s chiding, Pan-seok hung his head low.

“You’re right. I suppose I came dressed too much like I was off to call on the neighbors.”

Ordinarily, Pan-seok would have shouted back, so what of it. But today was different. The fact that he’d been shamed at his daughter-in-law’s workplace kept Pan-seok from raising his head.

“Father. It’s all right. It isn’t your fault—it’s our department store’s fault.”

Gyeong-eun defended Pan-seok energetically, insisting he’d done nothing wrong.

“I kept impressing on the staff not to judge a person by their outward appearance alone. And since they failed to keep that, it’s our fault.”

“That’s so. Judging a person by their looks alone… isn’t a good thing.”

At Gyeong-eun’s defense, Pan-seok, his mood a little lifted, raised his head. Looking at him, Gyeong-eun smiled and said,

“You did nothing wrong, Father. So take heart.”

“Right. Still, child, I’m sorry to you. It’s your company, and I, your father-in-law, went and made such a spectacle…”

“Oh, really, it’s fine. So don’t give it another thought.”

Having said it was all right several times over, Gyeong-eun quietly turned the subject elsewhere.

“More to the point, I don’t know why my father has invited the two of you today.”

At the mention of Tak-hyeon, Pan-seok and Myeong-ja set aside the talk of the department store.

“Dear child. Don’t you know either why the in-law invited us to his home?”

“No. I haven’t heard anything myself.”

Tak-hyeon hadn’t invited the in-laws home even at the wedding. In fact, he’d never once invited any in-law to the house. He’d spoken with the father of his first son-in-law, Yeong-su Cha—when the man held a place in politics—exactly once. But that had been the Ilhyeon Group chairman summoning a three-term assemblyman for a talk, not a meeting as in-laws; after they’d become in-laws, he’d never invited him home. And now that same Tak-hyeon had invited Seong-ho’s parents to Pyeongchang-dong.

Thinking it strange, Gyeong-eun said to Pan-seok and Myeong-ja,

“There won’t be anything special. Seong-ho said he’d have come along if not for company work, and that he’s sorry he couldn’t.”

“Right. For a man, the work out in the world comes first. I’m fine.”

Saying he was fine, Pan-seok looked out the car window as the car steadily slowed.

“Look over there.”

Pan-seok jabbed Myeong-ja in the side with startled eyes and pointed out the window. In front of a palace-like house lined with high walls, people stood in a row, waiting.

Myeong-ja too went wide-eyed at what she saw beyond the window.

“Child. What’s that?”

“I don’t know… what is that…?”

Gyeong-eun was just as startled. As even she couldn’t take her eyes off a sight she was seeing for the first time, the car stopped.

“Father. Mother. Let’s step out first. I’ll check what’s going on.”

“Right. Let’s do that.”

Just as Pan-seok said all right, his eyes still fixed out the window, the car door opened.

“Welcome.”

House Steward Ung-hyeon Lee opened the car door, bowed slightly, and took Pan-seok’s and Myeong-ja’s hands, helping them out of the car. As Gyeong-eun too got out, the staff standing before the house bowed in unison to Pan-seok and Myeong-ja.

“Welcome.”

At the staff’s greeting, Pan-seok and Myeong-ja bowed back with awkward faces and turned to Gyeong-eun. Gyeong-eun looked around at the staff, then asked Ung-hyeon,

“Mister. What’s all this?”

“The Chairman told us to receive the elders. Young miss, please go in. The Chairman and the madam are waiting.”

“Ah… all right.”

When Gyeong-eun answered, Ung-hyeon told Pan-seok and Myeong-ja to follow him and turned to lead the way. When Gyeong-eun came to Myeong-ja’s side, linked arms with her, and followed after Ung-hyeon, Pan-seok too, receiving the staff’s greetings last of all, headed into the house.

“Goodness, child. Just how many pyeong is your house? From outside I couldn’t tell, but once you come inside, it’s a whole different world.”

Myeong-ja gazed with startled eyes at the garden spread within the walls and couldn’t close her open mouth.

“Come now, is this my house? It’s my father’s house.”

Myeong-ja patted the hand of the arm-linked Gyeong-eun and turned to Pan-seok, who followed behind. Examining the garden, Pan-seok felt her gaze and met her eyes in midair. When he’d been told his son was marrying into a chaebol, Pan-seok had blustered that he mustn’t be cowed. He’d even bolstered the boy’s courage, telling him he was the son of a family that was somebody in Nonsan, so it was nothing to speak of. But it was only after coming to Pyeongchang-dong that Pan-seok realized how empty all his words had been.

The world they live in is different.

Even the neighborhood mutts knew of the Ilhyeon Group, so Pan-seok had known the in-law family was grand. But knowing it and feeling it firsthand were as far apart as heaven and earth. Ahead of anything else, Pan-seok’s mind filled with worry over how much heartache Seong-ho must have suffered marrying into the Ilhyeon Group.

“You’ve arrived.”

While he worried, House Steward Ung-hyeon—having already passed the yard and come to stand before the house—held the door and invited Pan-seok and Myeong-ja in. The two thanked Ung-hyeon lightly and stepped into Tak-hyeon’s house, the holy ground of the Ilhyeon Group.

“Welcome.”

The moment they came in through the door, Tak-hyeon’s voice reached them. Pan-seok took off the hat he’d been wearing and bowed to Tak-hyeon.

“It’s been a long while. Have you been well in the meantime?”

“Thanks to your concern, in-law, I’ve been well. Please, come inside.”

At Tak-hyeon’s words, Pan-seok hurriedly removed his shoes and stepped in. And feeling embarrassed at the staff’s hands helping him off with his outer things, he took off his jacket and followed after Tak-hyeon. Suk-ja watched all this with displeased eyes.

“Mom. This is my mother-in-law.”

“In-law. It’s been a while. This is the first time since the wedding, isn’t it?”

Myeong-ja greeted her warmly, first.

“So it is.”

Even at Myeong-ja’s warm greeting, Suk-ja only jerked her head in a curt nod, wearing a sullen expression.

“I’m tired, so I’ll go to my room—you stay with the in-laws. There’s no need to see me off when you leave.”

“Mom.”

Gyeong-eun looked at Suk-ja with a mortified expression. At Suk-ja’s manner—showing her face just once and then retreating to her room even though the in-laws had come—she felt sorry toward her mother-in-law, Myeong-ja. But even at Gyeong-eun’s call, Suk-ja turned and swept off inside.

Unable to hold Suk-ja back, Gyeong-eun looked at Myeong-ja with an apologetic expression. Myeong-ja patted the hand Gyeong-eun had linked around her arm and smiled.

“It’s all right. The in-law must be very tired. While the men talk, shall we go somewhere and have a cup of coffee?”

“Then, Mother, would you like to see my room? Seong-ho’s things are still there, just as they were.”

“Yes. That would be lovely. Let’s go.”

Gyeong-eun sent a grateful look to Myeong-ja, who didn’t much fault Suk-ja’s rudeness. And unlike the two men heading to the living room, she took her mother-in-law’s hand firmly and headed upstairs.

Tak-hyeon and Pan-seok sat in the living room and chatted this way and that. They passed the time with Pan-seok doing most of the talking and Tak-hyeon listening. When the coffee in the cups was half gone, Do-beom approached the two. He bowed his head slightly to Pan-seok in greeting and said to Tak-hyeon in a low voice,

“It’s time.”

“Is it?”

Tak-hyeon nodded to signal he understood and said to Pan-seok,

“In-law. There’s an important matter today, so I’ll have to watch some television for a moment.”

“Yes. I’m quite all right.”

Pan-seok said he was fine and looked at Tak-hyeon with a curious gaze. Because it stirred his curiosity that Tak-hyeon would break off their talk to watch TV.

Tak-hyeon gave Pan-seok a light smile to convey his thanks and instructed Do-beom,

“Bring my wife and Gyeong-eun, and the lady in-law too.”

At Tak-hyeon’s instruction, Pan-seok was puzzled. It struck him as strange that, to merely watch television, he’d gather the whole scattered family.

Tak-hyeon watched Do-beom leave with the instruction, then turned on the TV with the remote in front of him.

—”I am now here at the International Hotel. Shortly, a press conference is being prepared for Ms. Eun-a Jang—wife of Ilhyeon Distribution Vice-President Chang-jong Lee and third daughter-in-law of Ilhyeon Group Chairman Tak-hyeon Lee. It is expected that the press conference will make an announcement concerning the recent news that Vice-Chairman Mun-jong Lee has an out-of-wedlock child.”

Pan-seok looked at Tak-hyeon with a startled face. Because he’d never once imagined that what Tak-hyeon insisted on watching—having invited the in-laws and seated them here—would be a press conference tied to the scandal now swirling around the Ilhyeon Group.

“Good grief. Having invited the in-laws over, and now watching a press conference that airs the family’s business—it’s nothing but embarrassing.”

“Not at all. Such things happen. Isn’t it so that the bigger the tree, the more greatly it sways in the wind? And aren’t there many who set out meaning to shake the tree? When they grab hold and shake it, how could it stand without moving so much as a hair?”

“Hahaha. Quite right. It’s a fact that there are many people and groups who set out to shake our Ilhyeon. I’d wondered how Head Kim’s judgment could be so good—it seems he learned it all from you, in-law. You have an exceptional eye.”

While Tak-hyeon spoke, laughing in good humor, the ever-discontented Suk-ja came out into the living room.

“Why did you call me?”

Not wanting to be in the same room as the in-laws she disliked, Suk-ja asked Tak-hyeon the reason he’d summoned her, wearing a face full of complaint.

Tak-hyeon, who’d been laughing a good while, gestured at the TV with his chin.

“Watch that.”

“What’s that suppose—”

—”In just five minutes now, Ms. Eun-a Jang’s press conference is set to open at the International Hotel. According to Ilhyeon Group internal sources, the child known to be Vice-Chairman Mun-jong Lee’s out-of-wedlock child is in fact Vice-President Chang-jong Lee’s son, and a DNA test can prove it…”

At the words from the TV, Suk-ja gave a start.

“What is that?”

“What else would it be? You know there’s a press conference today too.”

“I know, but…”

Suk-ja looked back and forth between Pan-seok and Gyeong-eun, sitting on the sofa and staring blankly at her, and Myeong-ja—who’d come down to the living room with Gyeong-eun and didn’t understand the situation—and knit her brow.

“Do we really have to watch this with other people right here?”

“Other people? The in-laws are plainly family, just the same.”

Tak-hyeon called Pan-seok and Myeong-ja family. At those words, Suk-ja and Gyeong-eun wore startled expressions. Because they hadn’t expected Tak-hyeon to use the word “family” for the in-laws—and Seong-ho’s parents, a far-inferior match at that. Even Gyeong-eun, who had hoped Pan-seok and Myeong-ja would be treated well, hadn’t gone so far as to hope for “family.” And so, at the sight of Tak-hyeon stepping forward himself to call them family, the two couldn’t help but be startled.

“Gyeong-eun, see the lady in-law seated. You sit too. It’s an embarrassing thing to show the in-laws, but at any rate it’s an important press conference for us.”

At his words, Gyeong-eun, arm still linked with Myeong-ja’s, went and sat beside Pan-seok. Left standing alone in the middle of the living room, Suk-ja shot a glare at Tak-hyeon, who was pointedly turning his head away, and took her seat.

“Mother, look over there. That’s Seong-ho.”

Gyeong-eun pointed at the TV. Seong-ho had been caught at one edge of the camera showing the press-conference room.

“Seong-ho couldn’t come because he’s busy preparing the press conference, which is why he had us bring you.”

Gyeong-eun explained to Myeong-ja why Seong-ho hadn’t come.

“What great thing is he up to, all this fuss?”

Perhaps not liking Gyeong-eun smiling in front of the in-laws, Suk-ja tossed out a sharp barb. At that, Tak-hyeon spoke a word to press Suk-ja down.

“A great thing indeed. Head Kim did the most important work in this whole affair.”

Displeased that Tak-hyeon wouldn’t take her side in front of the in-laws, Suk-ja turned to him and frowned.

“What most important thing did Head Kim do? You said the second persuaded Chairman Jang, so it’s the second who did the biggest thing.”

“It was Head Kim who designed that press conference.”

“But if the second hadn’t persuaded Chairman Jang in the end, it would all be for nothing. What great thing did Head Kim do…”

Suk-ja shot back, not about to lose. At the sight of Tak-hyeon and Suk-ja like this, Pan-seok and Myeong-ja felt uncomfortable, and Gyeong-eun felt embarrassed. As this uncomfortable moment stretched on, the press conference began.

—”We will now begin the announcement concerning Ilhyeon Group Vice-Chairman Mun-jong Lee’s out-of-wedlock child. Ms. Eun-a Jang, wife of Vice-President Chang-jong Lee, will make the announcement first and then take questions, so reporters, please wait a moment.”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As the press conference began, camera flashes poured onto Eun-a Jang without letup. After the barrage of flashes had gone on a good while, Eun-a Jang lifted a handkerchief, wiped her tears, and opened her mouth.

—”The out-of-wedlock child of Vice-Chairman Mun-jong Lee now being spoken of… is my child.”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The barrage of flashes poured onto Eun-a Jang again. Amid it, Eun-a Jang wept once more, and the broadcast cameras didn’t miss the sight.

And there at the venue, and at Pyeongchang-dong—arms folded, wearing the very same expression—Seong-ho and Tak-hyeon watched the now-uproarious reactions of the reporters.

(End of Chapter 142)