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Chapter: 4
After Date
“Hmm… cough….”
From early morning, his throat had been itchy, as if spring had truly arrived.
Kang Yoon had suffered from pollen allergies since childhood.
It wasn’t severe, but every spring he would inevitably be plagued by sneezing and a runny nose.
Inside his house, it was fine since it was always kept clean and air purifiers constantly ran, but the moment he stepped out the front door, the garden full of vibrant blooming flowers inevitably triggered his sneezing.
“Are you all right, sir?”
The driver, Mr. Choi—who had been driving Kang Yoon for five years—glanced at him through the rearview mirror.
“I’m not all right. I think this spring’s going to be worse.”
Kang Yoon casually sprayed a nasal mist into his nose, his eyes slightly bloodshot.
After arriving at the company and heading straight to the CEO’s office from the lobby, he took a sip of the warm tea prepared exactly at his usual time.
“Sir, the response regarding your request has arrived.”
“Leave it there and go.”
The neatly dressed female secretary placed the document envelope on the desk and bowed respectfully before leaving.
‘Will there be any results this time?’
Kang Yoon set down his half-finished tea and carefully opened the sealed envelope.
Following the letter opener, the envelope slid open neatly, revealing several documents and photos.
We have investigated your request to the best of our ability. First, there were four people born on January 1, 1990 at Daehan Hospital’s obstetrics and gynecology department—two boys and two girls. The parents of the two male children are as follows:
- Father: Kim Jung-hoon / Mother: Park Young-hye
- Mother: Ahn Ji-hye
Since you requested information on individuals listed only with a mother’s name, here are the findings:
- Ahn Ji-hye was recorded as being hospitalized for four days before discharge.
- Her last known address was a semi-basement unit in a multi-family house in Daeun-dong, Narae District, Seoul. The area has since been redeveloped into an apartment complex.
- Aside from standard inquiries, no special findings were uncovered, but a few residents who remembered her said she was believed to have had “spiritual abilities.”
We were able to obtain photos of the house before redevelopment.
We also included a photo of a woman presumed to be Ahn Ji-hye, though it is not confirmed.
If you extend the contract and duration, we will do our best to gather more data.
— Detective Gong Jin-hwan
Kang Yoon scanned the report and then checked the two enclosed photos.
The two-story brick multi-family house looked so old it seemed like it could collapse at any moment.
A woman named Ahn Ji-hye had lived in the semi-basement of such a cramped and deteriorated building.
In the photo presumed to be her, a young woman wearing jeans, a white T-shirt, and sneakers smiled shyly.
‘Does she… look like me?’
The image quality was poor, but the woman had large eyes and a cute face.
She looked somewhat like him, yet also not quite—an ambiguous resemblance.
Kang Yoon placed the documents and photos back into the envelope and stored it in his desk drawer.
“It doesn’t seem like Grandfather will ever speak….”
Kang Yoon respected his grandfather, Han Tae-soo, but at the same time, he suspected him.
“I don’t even know how I could ever drive Kang Yoon that guy away. I’m the sinner… yes, a sinner. I wonder if I can ever be forgiven for twisting the bonds of fate even in hell.”
Three years ago, on the memorial day of his father, Han Woo-jin.
In front of the neatly arranged ancestral table, Jin Hyun-sook wore a traditional hanbok.
Kang Yoon and Kang Moon wore black suits and carried out the ritual properly.
The first duty of the ceremony always belonged to Kang Moon, while Kang Yoon simply bowed at the end.
He had never once thought the ritual was unfair or burdensome.
After cleaning up and everyone had gone to sleep, Kang Yoon came out to drink water late at night. The water purifier on the second floor kitchen wasn’t working, so he had no choice but to go downstairs.
As he crossed the dark first-floor hallway and reached the kitchen area, he saw his grandfather sitting alone at the table, muttering while sipping alcohol.
‘What is he saying? Why my name? And what does he mean by twisting fate?’
When Kang Yoon entered the kitchen, his grandfather stared at him with unfocused eyes for a long while.
After that night, he never heard such words or tones again, but Kang Yoon couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling.
So he decided to look for his biological mother—the woman who supposedly had an affair with his father and gave birth to him before dying.
However, his family had been meticulous.
Perhaps anticipating that Kang Yoon might try to find her when he grew up, all traces of her had been thoroughly erased.
After several failed attempts, he eventually gave up due to his busy schedule.
But recently, he heard rumors of a famous detective who would even dig up graves if paid enough.
Although the schedule was backed up for over a year, he paid more than five times the requested fee, not expecting much—but this result was more than satisfactory.
“For now, I’ll meet Yoon Bora today.”
No matter how much Kang Yoon probed, it didn’t seem like his grandfather would reveal any secrets.
But every problem had its expert.
The moment he saw Bora, he felt a strange sense of calm.
And he thought—this woman might be able to move his grandfather.
If she could move him, she might uncover long-hidden secrets and allow him to finally confirm his roots.
“…Well, she’s pretty too.”
On top of everything, she matched his taste perfectly. He had no reason to refuse her.
Kang Yoon glanced at his watch and reached for the pile of documents he needed to finish.
He intended to clear everything before meeting Bora.
“Hm… is this color too flashy?”
Since becoming the head of the Silver Town, Bora had always tried to maintain a clean and polished appearance.
Because of that, she had given up nail art—the long decorated nails with glitter and charms she once loved—and had kept short nude-tone nails for over three years.
She rarely wore makeup, and if she did, it was only very light shading.
But today was the day Kang Yoon had asked for an after-date.
It was her first ever blind date, and also her first after-date since a few college meetups long ago.
“If I want to make a trustworthy impression on an investor… being pretty is better, right?”
So for the first time in a while, she applied a bright coral lipstick instead of her usual pink-beige, but it felt so strange that she kept checking the mirror.
“It’s already time!”
Seeing the second hand of the wall clock point to 11:55, Bora quickly put on her heels properly and stood up.
She rushed down to the lobby by elevator, where employees greeted her upon recognizing her.
“Director, hello. Want to have lunch together?”
“Oh—no, I have plans. See you later.”
Smiling awkwardly, she hurried across the lobby and saw Kang Yoon’s large back already waiting.
‘Just from the back I can tell it’s him. But wow, he’s really huge…’
“Ah, hello. Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Bora checked the time on her phone discreetly.
“It’s fine.”
Yesterday she had seemed calm and elegant, but today she looked bright and lively. Kang Yoon slowly observed her.
“Shall we go eat then?”
“Yes.”
“By the way… were you wearing glasses before?”
She looked slightly different from yesterday—now wearing thin gold-rimmed glasses.
“No. I have a pollen allergy, so I wear them in spring to protect my eyes.”
“Oh, I see. I have a sunlight allergy. In summer my skin gets all bumpy….”
Bora’s face flushed as she overshared TMI.
‘What’s with the glasses? She looks insanely attractive.’
It was contradictory, but almost like an ascetic, disciplined man with overwhelming charm.
Her neat face combined with that well-built body made him look like a male lead from a romance comic he used to read.
As Bora muttered on, they walked past the Silver Town block toward a shabby alley filled with old restaurants.
“This is a real local hidden gem. It’s a bit rundown though… are you okay with it?”
The single-story building looked at least 30 years old, with peeling paint everywhere.
On the sliding aluminum-framed door, written in red paint, were the menu items: sundae soup, sundae, and ox tripe.
“From the outside, it really does look like a good restaurant.”
Kang Yoon casually stepped inside with his long legs.
Surprised by how unfazed he seemed, Bora quickly followed and sat down first.
“Auntie, two bowls of sundae soup please!”
In the cramped restaurant filled with middle-aged men reeking of sweat and cigarette smoke, Kang Yoon’s eyes sparkled as he watched Bora order loudly.
‘Yoon Bora… she’s kind of interesting.’
