Chapter 36
Hyun-oh and Sua were out for a walk, and they came across a convenience store. Sua grabbed his hand and led him there. Both her warm hand and her heart wanted to cool off with some ice cream.
As they opened the door and stepped inside, a soft voice whispered in Sua’s ear.
“Dad.”
“…”
“Daddy.”
Her gaze involuntarily shifted at the urgent tone. A little girl, around eight years old, was standing in front of the ice cream freezer. She turned back, looking at her father while peering into the glass window of the freezer.
“Daddy, Daddy.”
Where her eyes landed, there was a weary-looking man. In his forties, he seemed like the little girl’s father. Ignoring her call, the father, who seemed annoyed, looked at his phone without even glancing in her direction.
“What?”
“Can I… get just one ice cream?”
“What?”
A question typical of a child. But the father’s response was sharp and pointed. His voice carried a heavy sense of irritation.
“No.”
Then his gaze shifted to the convenience store employee.
“A pack of forest-scented white menthol, please.”
“Sure.”
As the man paid for his cigarettes, the little girl continued standing in front of the ice cream freezer, still asking her father.
“Dad… just one, please? I won’t ask again.”
“Sigh.”
The man buying cigarettes narrowed his eyes. Only then did the girl lower her head, having been standing in front of the ice cream for a while.
How much did she want to have?
Although she wanted to buy an ice cream for the pitiful girl, Sua couldn’t intervene because she didn’t know the circumstances. It might have been rude, and she didn’t know if there was more to the story. Meanwhile, Hyun-oh went deeper into the store, looking for drinks.
“Sua, I’ll go get some drinks. What do you want?”
As Sua was still gazing in the direction of the girl, she whispered without taking her eyes off.
“I’ll have anything, something the same as Hyun-oh.”
“Okay.”
While Hyun-oh was gone, Sua continued to silently watch the girl.
The man who had paid for his cigarettes roughly grabbed the girl’s wrist and dragged her outside.
*Clang.*
The convenience store door shook as the woman went out. Without realizing it, Sua followed the two of them. She could perceive something uneasy about the man, though she could be considered an ordinary man. There was some atmosphere between the two that held Sua’s gaze.
There had never been a wrong intuition.
Sure enough.
The man grabbed the girl’s hand and shook it violently. The still delicate and small body of the girl was tossed around by her father’s rough touch. Although they were already out of earshot, judging by the way he moved quickly, it was easy to imagine the man shouting loudly.
Her heart raced.
Contrary to Sua’s surprise, the girl’s expression remained calm. Rather than fear of her father yelling at her, resignation was written all over her face. The sad, watery eyes of the girl settled down quietly.
“Sua.”
“Yes?”
As Sua was looking outside, Hyun-oh called her name again from behind.
“What are you looking at?”
“Oh, um… nothing. I was just worried because the girl… was getting scolded by her dad.”
“Is it serious?”
“Not really.”
It might be nothing significant.
But for some reason, Sua’s heart sank. A small ripple swelled so much that it brought back very old memories.
—
To Sua, her father was a terrifying figure.
Growing up under the patriarchal grandfather, her father became an even stricter authority figure than her grandfather. Especially to Sua, the first daughter and second child…
She was quiet and passive. Therefore, her father didn’t like Sua very much.
“[She’s always sulking and unpleasant to look at. Frustrating to deal with.]”
With an introverted personality and average academic performance, Sua didn’t have any special talents, which her father disliked.
The only thing her father appreciated was her marriage to Hyun-oh.
“You did unexpectedly well.”
Her father was delighted when their marriage, which had been interrupted once, was resumed.
He praised Sua for making up her mind about Hyun-oh before they even met. But even that praise seemed to stem from his belief that marrying into Han Group and helping Han Dong Group through PY Group would benefit her, rather than being genuinely happy about her marriage.
However, apart from that time, her father’s gaze toward her was always twisted. Seeing the child’s face reminded Sua of her father’s often scowling face.
“Sua.”
Hyun-oh interrupted Sua’s contemplation.
“Are you okay?”
“Oh, yes.”
“You seemed lost in thought.”
“Oh… It’s just… I suddenly thought of my dad, because of what happened to that kid.”
She suddenly thought of her father.
For the first time in a long while.
Before she could answer, Hyun-oh spoke first, as if it were obvious.
“Thinking about your father?”
How did he know? Sua blinked. It was a vague affirmation.
“My father… He was a bit strict. That’s why I suddenly remembered.”
Seeing Sua say that, Hyun-oh shrugged.
“Well…”
“…”
“Your father wasn’t just a bit strict, he was too much especially to you.”
“…Me?”
“Your father was too harsh on you, Sua. Since you were young.”
Sua widened her eyes at Hyun-oh’s words.
No one had ever described her father like that. Her quiet mother supported her father, and her brother Jiheon, who resembled their father, had a way of intimidating her. Jisoo didn’t understand well.
Everyone said Sua was too sensitive.
Her father’s harsh words were never severe enough to be called abuse. No, she had thought she was just sensitive.
How did Hyun-oh know that? Perhaps it was because of the incident where she refused to go somewhere else and got slapped. Maybe he could tell from the swollen cheek.
But Hyun-oh offered a different explanation that differed from Sua’s thoughts.
“I’ve had those thoughts occasionally for a while.”
“What thoughts?”
“The thought that you might break.”
Was he talking about when she was in high school?
Hyun-oh spoke quietly.
“When you were in high school, I happened to visit your house once. You may or may not remember seeing me.”
High school? What was he talking about? She didn’t remember clearly.
It seemed that he witnessed the scene of her father scolding her, just like what happened earlier. She didn’t expect him to see that. Even though he witnessed such a scene, she didn’t know he thought that way.
“That day, your father was scolding you so harshly. It was so fierce that it even made my heart pound as I passed by.”
“…?”
“But that day, you just stood there in front of your father, looking like you were going to break at any moment. It seemed like you would crumble into tears at any moment.”
“…”
“I thought even if it was my friend’s father, I would have jumped in to stop it. Probably if you had shed a single tear…”
She would have just felt embarrassed if she thought he had seen her being scolded by her father. But he saw that scene, and even thought such thoughts.
“If that had happened, I would have rushed in to take you out. But you… You didn’t cry, and just stood there quietly.”
“…”
“I suddenly remembered that scene. I had forgotten about it for a long time.”
Thud, thud, Hyun-oh and Sua walked side by side along the beautiful path by Gangneung’s coast.
The wind passed through them. Hyun-oh stopped walking and looked down at Sua.
“It feels like we have a strange relationship.”
“…”
“We seem to know each other well and yet not know each other at all.”
He reached out, and held her hand again.
“I’ve known you since you were young, but I didn’t even know your hands were this warm.”
“…”
“I didn’t even know you were this beautiful.”
His dazzling compliment left Sua speechless. She looked up at him.
Truly, the words of a loving couple.
“Now I think I understand a little, why we shouldn’t break up. Why we should not divorce… it eats away at me, Sua.”
“Hyun-oh.”
“Even just thinking about it drives me crazy.”
His voice made Sua’s resolve feel like it was crumbling.
