"Mother. There's something I'd like to say to you."

"You have something to say to me?"

Suk-ja Chu, who had been looking out of the window with her brows drawn together, turned her head and asked, regarding Seong-ho Kim with a displeased eye.

"Frankly, I'm the sort who finds even being alone with you like this uncomfortable. I don't know what it is you mean to talk about, but if you have something to say, say it quickly."

She showed openly that if he had something to say she wanted it said quickly and done with, so that her time facing Seong-ho Kim might be over.

Seong-ho Kim took no offence at an attitude like this from Suk-ja Chu.

He had always known that this was simply the sort of person she was, and as he himself had no intention of talking with Suk-ja Chu for long, he let it pass with a smile.

"Mother. About my second brother's household. Do you mean to keep them here at Pyeongchang-dong?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Suk-ja Chu looked at Seong-ho Kim with a face that did not follow.

Seong-ho Kim glanced at the window and said,

"The sister-in-law will do nothing but go on weeping. And my second brother, whether she does or not, will be too busy with work to comfort her. Which means she will carry on like that with nobody but you to hold on to… will that be all right?"

"Of course it won't be all right. Does this look all right to you?"

Having thrown out the peevish words, Suk-ja Chu looked at the window.

"Ugh. It isn't as though her own parents' bier were going out — what is there to be so wretched about. Tsk."

Having spoken out her fill of complaint, Suk-ja Chu clicked her tongue and looked at the window.

Seong-ho Kim smiled faintly and offered the words that would shake Suk-ja Chu.

"Above all, the way people look at it is only going to get worse, and I say this out of concern that a crack might come into your…