The Homecoming
“When did you get back? Did you look for Hye-won?”
No Seon-sim, just returned from going out, asked Han Jin-sang.
“You leave this house looking like a pigsty and go wandering off somewhere?”
“I filed a missing person report. Is this mess my fault? Why are you taking it out on me?”
Seon-sim’s temper flared at Jin-sang’s pointless rage, and her voice rose to match his.
“A missing person report?”
“Of course we have to find the girl. Are we just supposed to sit on our hands?”
They needed to find a body, at least. Only then could they collect the death benefit.
In truth, she had gone to see her younger brother, the agent handling the policy taken out in Hye-won’s name. Anxiety gnawed at her—Kim Jae-mun could show up any day demanding the wedding money back. They had nothing left, not even enough to starve on, when the insurance policy under Hye-won’s name suddenly came to mind.
Seon-sim had taken out the policy, but Hye-won had been the one paying the premiums.
The death benefit was set to go to the parents, so her brother had told her to file a missing person report right away.
“So what did the police say? Can they find her?”
A spark of interest flickered in Jin-sang’s alcohol-dulled eyes.
“If even Managing Director Kim can’t find her, how are the cops supposed to dig her up overnight? They said to wait.”
“Until when?”
“How should I know?”
“You damn woman, glaring at me like that? Disrespecting the head of this household? No wonder that brat of a daughter treats me like dirt—she learned it from you!”
“A head of household has to act like one first.”
“That’s enough, both of you!”
Baek Mo-wol’s sharp command cut through their rising shouts and silenced them at once.
“Just wait till that little bitch walks through the door. I’ll break both her legs.”
Jin-sang ground his teeth, clutched the plastic bag holding his bottle of liquor, and stormed into his room.
“Thank you for everything, Teacher. And you as well, Secretary.”
Ready to leave the hotel, Han Hye-won bowed politely to Jeong Do-heon and Han-su.
A full week had already passed since she had begun staying there.
Scars of various sizes still marked her body, but most of the wounds had closed, and her strength had nearly returned.
“You still haven’t changed your mind about going home?”
“No.”
Do-heon asked again, yet Hye-won’s answer remained the same.
Once she had regained consciousness, Do-heon had gone back and forth to the company and even handled work at her side, but from Hye-won’s perspective it was nothing short of an enormous imposition.
A man who belonged at the office was stuck here instead; nothing could possibly be running smoothly. Han-su, too, seemed completely frazzled shuttling between the company and the hotel.
The discomfort of it all left her with only one thought: she had to leave this place as soon as possible.
Unwilling to burden them any longer, Hye-won had insisted on going home.
Han-su, however, clearly thought otherwise.
“Why on earth would you go home? Kim Jae-mun and your own father are both desperate to find you! Why not just stay somewhere Director Jeong arranges for you and prepare to return to school? It’s not as if he’s a complete stranger—he was your teacher once. What’s the harm in accepting a little help? If it really bothers you that much, you can pay him back after you graduate!”
Do-heon had offered his help, yet Hye-won refused so stubbornly that Han-su felt ready to lose his mind. She ought to be running as far away as possible, yet here she was insisting on walking straight back into that house. He simply could not understand her.
“I’ve already imposed on Teacher more than enough. And I can’t spend the rest of my life running.”
“So you’re going to settle things once and for all?”
Do-heon, who had been listening quietly, asked.
“Yes. I think I need to put an end to it, just once.”
She, too, was terrified of returning home, but she had no other choice.
Even if she accepted Do-heon’s help and went back to school, they already knew where she studied; they would come looking for her without fail.
If she wanted any chance of attending classes in peace, she first had to go home.
Whether they killed her or let her live, she needed to speak her mind clearly and walk out again.
“You’re not wrong about that. Not wrong…”
But will it really end the way you think? Do you honestly believe those filthy habits of theirs will simply disappear?
Do-heon was a hundred percent certain things would not go as Hye-won hoped, yet she looked utterly resolute.
“I’ll be going now.”
“All right. Call if you need anything.”
Do-heon handed her a business card with casual indifference.
“Yes, Teacher.”
She accepted the card, though it seemed unlikely she would ever use it.
She was the sort who felt she might as well die rather than inconvenience anyone. That was precisely why she was digging in her heels about going home even now.
“Take care.”
Hye-won slipped the card into her pocket, bowed once more with perfect courtesy, and left the room.
“Are you really just going to let her walk out like that?”
Han-su was nearly frantic watching Do-heon stare silently at the empty doorway. He had never imagined the man would actually let her go. He had been certain Do-heon would somehow persuade her to stay somewhere safe long enough to finish school.
“I’m nothing but Jeong Se-hun’s doormat. Who am I to help anyone? It would be overstepping, wouldn’t it?”
“D-doormat? How can you say something so harsh? Even if your mouth is crooked, your words should be straight—where in the world is there a doormat better than the feet it wipes? If anything, Director Jeong Se-hun is your doormat!”
Whether from a sudden loss of fear or sheer excess of loyalty, Han-su’s mouth ran completely unchecked.
“Honestly, is there a single person at the company who doesn’t know how well you do your job? That high-end restaurant business Director Jeong Se-hun brought over from Europe—he ran it straight into the ground, and you turned it around completely with the convenience-store ready meals you planned. ‘Turned it around’ doesn’t even cover it—operating profit jumped more than fifty percent year-over-year and set a new record!”
Han-su foamed at the mouth as he pressed on.
“You’re the one who made the news report that said, ‘Consumers avoiding expensive dining out amid the recession and soaring prices have flocked to affordable ready meals, sending sales of alcohol and side dishes soaring as well’! And you call yourself a doormat?”
He recited, without pausing for breath, the exact wording of the newspaper article he had clipped and saved as a keepsake.
“And you’re far more popular, too—you know that, right? There’s a saying among the women at our company: the day you see Director Jeong Do-heon is the day you buy a lottery ticket! Even as a fellow man, it’s irritating how good-looking you are! Looks, ability—there isn’t a single area where you fall short. So from now on, don’t you dare bring up that doormat nonsense again. As the person who works under you, it just drains the life out of me!”
Han-su, whose entire being was packed with respect for Do-heon, would rather die than accept the idea that his superior was anyone’s doormat. It was not simply because the man was his boss; it was because Do-heon truly was that outstanding.
Even as Han-su’s praise crossed into outright worship, Do-heon rose with an expression of complete indifference, as though the words had gone in one ear and out the other, and picked up his jacket.
“Ah! That wasn’t the important part. Back to the point—Director, are you really going to let Han Hye-won just leave?”
Having spent so much energy spitting blood over the doormat remark that he had momentarily forgotten Hye-won’s existence, Han-su hurried after him and asked urgently.
“What if her family beats her again? What if she ends up covered in blood again? You have to help her at least finish school! Direc~tor!”
Han-su pleaded and coaxed, but Do-heon simply kept walking, eyes fixed straight ahead.
“Hoo…”
Standing before the front door, Hye-won drew in a deep breath.
Will you be all right?
I’ll be fine. They’re my family. They wouldn’t actually kill me… would they?
In front of Do-heon she had pretended to be calm, but now that she was about to step inside, the trembling would not stop.
She forced the tension flooding her body to loosen and slowly opened the door.
The moment the familiar sight of Jin-sang’s sneakers came into view, her heart plummeted.
She had been beaten since childhood; by now she ought to have grown numb to it. And yet the mere sight of his belongings still filled her with terror.
She took another deep breath to shake off the dread that surged up, and was just stepping up into the living room when—
“Mom, the rolled omelet—”
Han Hye-ra, walking toward the kitchen as she finished the sentence, locked eyes with her.
“Uh, Mom. H-Han Hye-won’s here!”
“What? Who’s here?”
Hye-ra shrieked as though she had seen a ghost, and Jin-sang, who had been drinking in his room, came charging out.
“You little bitch! Walking in here with your head held high like you’ve got nothing to be ashamed of! You’re dead today—dead by my hand. Han Hye-ra, lock the front door. Don’t let this bitch escape.”
“Got it, Dad.”
Before Jin-sang had even finished speaking, Hye-ra ran barefoot out the door, locked the outer gate as well, and came back inside.
Jin-sang rolled up his sleeves and, without a word of warning, seized Hye-won by the hair and slapped her across the face.
Crack.
Hye-won crumpled weakly to the floor. Jin-sang’s eyes had already rolled back with rage; he panted heavily, unable to contain himself.
“Running away on your wedding day? Huh? You did it on purpose to make me look like a fool, didn’t you? On purpose, so I’d be the one left holding the bag! Get up!”
He hauled her up by the collar and slapped her again.
Crack.
Both cheeks swelled red almost instantly, yet Hye-won clenched her teeth, determined not to cry.
“You vicious little bitch. Still looking like you don’t even know what you did wrong?”
Jin-sang hated the expression on Hye-won’s face—not a single tear falling.
It felt as though she were saying, Beat me all you want; see if I break, and the thought alone soured his mood further.
“What exactly did I do that was so wrong?”
“You smeared shit all over my face and made me look like a complete idiot in front of Managing Director Kim, and you still don’t know what you did wrong? Then I’ll just have to beat it into you until you do.”
“Kill me or spare me—do whatever you want. Even if I die, I have no intention of marrying that man.”