Living With a Witch

"Whoa-ho-ho!"

Cheon Woo-jae, who had been nervously watching the room's reaction, offered an awkward round of applause, but the rest of the family only leveled doubtful looks at Cheon Eun-jung.

"I hate to say this, but what possible defect could the youngest son of Moonseong Group have?"

If it's something you hate to say, then don't say it at all! Cheon Eun-jung glared daggers at Cheon Ji-yong, the chairman of Ohsong Group — and, incidentally, her own father.

"You're serious about this?"

Of the whole lot of them, it was her mother, Jang Hae-young, whose face betrayed the most interest.

"Of course I'm serious. Have you spent your whole life getting fooled, Mom? You can't even trust your own daughter?"

Listening to Eun-jung's acid-dipped reply, Cheon Mi-jin folded her arms and tilted her head at an angle.

"There were all those rumors about how handsome the youngest son of Moonseong Group was."

"Right, he is good-looking."

"Then why...?"

Why, in other words, would that gorgeous, flawless young master of Moonseong Group ever come after her? The unspoken meaning landed instantly, and Cheon Eun-jung bristled.

"Oh, for God's sake — what's wrong with me, exactly?"

"......"

At that, every single one of them turned on her with a look that said know thyself.

This is why I'm starving for affection! Sighing at her own status as the ugly duckling pecked to the edges of the nest, Cheon Eun-jung said, sulking.

"That impressive youngest son of Moonseong Group was the one who approached me first — about dating, with marriage in mind, I might add."

"Sounds like he's got some seriously unusual taste."

At Cheon Woo-jae's muttered remark, Cheon Eun-jung wheeled on him. He flinched, shoulders jerking, and clammed up with a strained, "Ha-ha."

"Well then, see how it goes. If we can become in-laws with Moonseong Group, it'll be a tremendous boon for our company as well."

Only now did Cheon Ji-yong chime in with his characteristic businessman's arithmetic. Judging by his face, spreadsheets of future gains through Moonseong Group were already unfolding behind his eyes.

"I guess I finally don't regret the miyeokguk I ate after giving birth to you."

So the miyeokguk up till now was a waste? Cheon Eun-jung shot her mother Jang Hae-young a gaze cold enough to curdle milk, then said, magnanimously milking the moment.

"We're still getting to know each other, so don't get ahead of yourselves. You never know how these things will turn out."

"Yes, yes, of course. But you really should do something with your hair. And when you go on dates, what exactly are you planning to wear?"

Cheon Eun-jung swallowed a laugh and answered.

"Well, if I don't want to embarrass Moonseong Group, I suppose I'd better go on a little shopping trip."

Thanks to Moon Kang-hyun, Mrs. Jang Hae-young's wallet was about to swing wide open. Imagine that — the day Moon Kang-hyun would do her an actual favor.

It took real life to teach you that fortune flips on a dime, Cheon Eun-jung thought, cheering inwardly.

***

Saturday arrived — the day she was to stay at Cheongjukje with Kang-hyun. Lee-jin packed a small bag and stepped out with it, addressing her mother, Go Myung-sook.

"I told you before, right? I took on a project and I'm going to be busy."

"Oh — oh, yes, that's right."

Go Myung-sook answered haltingly, tripped up by the awkwardness between mother and daughter that time had done nothing to heal.

"There's so much work to do, I'll probably be staying out overnight on weekends for a while."

"I — I see."

Lee-jin was the one holding up the household's finances now. So Go Myung-sook couldn't say a word to the daughter who was staying out for work's sake.

"Don't just scrape by on whatever's around because I'm not here. Take care of yourself properly, okay?"

"I will. You eat well too."

"I will. I'm off, then."

Lee-jin went out through the front door. Go Myung-sook stood rooted to the spot like someone who had forgotten how to move, and only belatedly came back to herself.

Should I go wash dishes at some restaurant or other? She heaved a long sigh, then picked up a rag and headed for Lee-hwan's room.

Her son's room had been preserved, pickled in its state from the day of the accident. The clothes he'd tossed aside rushing off to work, the water glass he'd been drinking from — everything was exactly as he'd left it.

Go Myung-sook dusted things off, wiped them down with the rag, and set each item back precisely where it had been.

The reason the room's appearance never changed no matter how much she cleaned was precisely this kind of effort.

Then her gaze fell on Lee-hwan's suit hanging on the wall — the suit she'd bought him when he landed the job at the law firm, just before he started.

Whose son is that handsome, I wonder!

The image of Lee-hwan preening before the mirror rose vividly before her eyes. Her throat seized, and the rims of Go Myung-sook's eyes flushed red.

"Whew. I mustn't cry."

Yes. It's time to stop crying. She clenched her teeth and swallowed down the sob that kept surging up. She was terrified that if she lost herself and crumbled, things with Lee-jin would break beyond all repair.

But no matter how she turned it over, she had no idea where to begin untying the knot of knots. Rubbing hard at her eyes, she fled Lee-hwan's room.

***

Lee-jin left the house a little earlier than the time Kang-hyun was supposed to pick her up. She felt she needed to steady her heart before she saw his face.

"Phew......"

She exhaled a long breath, trying to loosen the knot lodged in her chest. The longer time passed, the more frightened she became of going home.

Because the truth had sunk in that she would never again see the brother she'd loved most in the world — and yet nothing inside that house had changed, not one thing. Because she no longer knew how to comfort her mother, and it suffocated her how she spoke less and less, just to avoid colliding with her...... That was why, little by little, she'd grown afraid of walking through the front door.

She wasn't sure she'd done the right thing, snapping up Kang-hyun's offer — but either way, in her current situation she hadn't been able to afford to refuse it.

As she stood at the edge of the road gathering her breath, Kang-hyun's car pulled up.

"You got out early?"

"Yeah — parking here's a nightmare, remember?"

Sliding into the passenger seat and buckling up, Lee-jin turned and smiled at Kang-hyun. He had watched her for a long, long time, and he could see the shadow that smile carried.

But instead of probing, he chose cheerfulness.

"I went grocery shopping to cook you dinner. Take a look in the back."

Lee-jin turned around, and her eyes went wide. Fair enough — the back seat was piled high with things.

"What is this? What on earth are you making for dinner that it takes this many ingredients?"

"This is a lot?"

"Um, yes? How is that not a lot?"

Watching her eyes go round with astonishment, Kang-hyun snickered.

"In a little while, all of that is going to end up in our stomachs."

"That's possible?"

She frowned so hard her brows nearly met, and Kang-hyun found it adorable, breaking into a grin.

It had been worth all his merry rattling on. Just as he'd intended, the gloom had all but drained out of Lee-jin.

"Looking at all that food, Cheongjukje doesn't feel like a stately old hanok anymore. More like the gingerbread house in Hansel and Gretel."

Hearing that, Kang-hyun wisely did not mention that the back seat wasn't all of it — the trunk was packed to bursting too.

"Scared I'm fattening you up so I can eat you?"

At that, Lee-jin snorted as though she'd just heard the least funny joke of her life.

"That's what I mean. You're not a witch — how would you eat me, oppa?"

"Hmm. Wouldn't I?"

Kang-hyun lifted one eyebrow and left the question dangling. His head, crammed full of 101 Ways to Devour Seo Lee-jin, rattled noisily.

Before long, the car arrived at Cheongjukje. With so much luggage, the car didn't head for the underground garage but followed the drive along the rear of the estate and stopped before the back door.

"I'll carry the bags, so go in and rest."

"No way, we're doing it together."

The two of them hauled everything into the kitchen, where ingredients soon piled up across the wide expanse of the island table.

"Seeing it like this, it looks even worse."

Perhaps she couldn't summon the will to tackle it all, because Lee-jin just stared blankly at the mountain of groceries.

Kang-hyun could have had the staff fill the fridge in advance, but he hadn't — and now, watching a Lee-jin expression he almost never got to see, he laughed.

"Can I take a picture? That face of yours right now — I want to save it forever."

"Absolutely. Not."

Lee-jin shot him a baleful side-eye. Kang-hyun hammed it up, lamenting the loss, and busied himself putting everything away with brisk efficiency.

For the five years he'd refused to see Lee-hwan on his mother's orders, Kang-hyun had lived apart from the family. On paper it was independence; in practice, those years amounted to a near-total severance from his mother.

If he wasn't to see Lee-hwan at her command, then he wouldn't see her either.

In those five years, Kang-hyun had learned to handle everything on his own. Cooking included.

Watching him clear the groceries away without a hitch, Lee-jin gaped.

"What — how are you this good at everything?"

"Apparently you didn't know. I'm good at all of it. Always have been."

Anyone else saying those words would have been insufferable — but coming out of Moon Kang-hyun's mouth, they somehow carried a strange conviction.

"Where exactly did the virtue of humility go......"

At the gusty sigh she let out, Kang-hyun smirked.

"I was just stating facts. What, a man who's good at everything isn't appealing?"

"Well, it's not not appealing. Being good at everything means you're perfect, after all."

At that, Kang-hyun planted both hands on the island table, leaned sharply in, and met her eyes.

"Turns out I'm a first-rate husband candidate. So? Wanna marry me?"