DYMD 34

chapter 34

But Dohyun’s face showed no concern at all.

“She said she was going to take a bus tour of Seoul today. She told me not to wait up since she’d be back around 9 p.m. after finishing the night course.”

Yeonha asked with slightly widened eyes.

“By herself?”

“Maybe because she’s been backpacking abroad every vacation. She’s good at getting around alone.”

Yeonha murmured in admiration.

“Your little sister is pretty bold.”

“If you put it nicely, she’s bold. If you put it honestly, she’s a tomboy. She used to pull so many mischievous pranks when she was little that she got scolded all the time.”

Though his expression recalled troublesome memories, his tone carried affection.

Watching him, Yeonha felt a strange sensation. The way he treated his family was unfamiliar, yet enviable.

“You must be close with your sister.”

“My parents were busy working, so I practically raised her.”

Dohyun added that during his school years, he even went to parent–teacher meetings in their place.

Yeonha gazed quietly out the window before speaking softly.

“I envy you.”

Dohyun turned his head toward her.

“What do you envy?”

“I’m an only child. I used to envy friends who had siblings.”

The streetlights flashing past outside faintly lit Yeonha’s face.

Parents who treated her like a stranger. A childhood spent drawing a line between them.

A noisy, lively family had always been the object of her longing.

“At first, I didn’t like having a little sister. I kept my distance. But one day, she grabbed my hand with her tiny fingers and smiled so brightly… In that moment, the ice inside me just melted away.”

Dohyun smiled faintly, but there was a wistful trace in that smile.

Looking at his expression, Yeonha felt an unknown emotion settle in her chest.

Something like jealousy, something like emptiness.

Why didn’t she have someone like that?

After hesitating, she cautiously opened her mouth.

“I’m curious about something… May I ask?”

“What is it?”

The car rolled to a smooth stop at a red light.

Stealing a glance at his face, Yeonha carefully asked:

“You and your sister don’t really look alike… Are you from a remarried family?”

As if expecting the question, Dohyun calmly shook his head.

“No. We’re an adoptive family.”

Yeonha gasped. She had never once imagined that he had grown up in an adoptive family.

“Y-your parents made a very difficult decision.”

“Yes. That’s why I respect them most.”

The way he spoke so matter-of-factly about something that could have been difficult made him look different in Yeonha’s eyes.

“I think you’re amazing too. Taking such good care of your adopted sister can’t be easy.”

At that, Dohyun smiled faintly and gently corrected her.

“Not my sister—me.”

“…What?”

“I’m the one who was adopted.”

Yeonha’s pupils widened.

When he mentioned adoption, she naturally assumed it was his younger sister. People usually adopted babies, not older children.

Above all, with his looks, personality, and abilities—she had never once imagined he could be an “adopted child.”

“Were you shocked?”

“S-somewhat.”

Yeonha forced a smile. She was surprised, yes, but what weighed on her more was the fact that he chose to tell her this.

“Are you disappointed because I’m adopted?”

Though he said it with a light laugh, there was a fleeting shadow in his tone.

“No. Why would you think that?”

“Because most people were. We’d be close, but once they found out I was adopted, they’d stop talking to me.”

At his words, Yeonha’s throat tightened.

It was as though she could feel the emotions he must have endured.

“I was surprised, but I’m not disappointed.”

Just then the light changed. As the car rolled forward, Dohyun’s quiet voice flowed again.

“My adoptive parents couldn’t have children for ten years after getting married. After countless failed attempts, they adopted me. Then when I was six, miraculously, they conceived naturally. That’s Kayla.”

“…How did you feel back then?”

“Happy, but anxious. I was glad to have a sibling, but afraid I wouldn’t be needed anymore.”

“That must have been scary.”

“It really was. I couldn’t sleep properly for six months. Every day I was terrified I might be abandoned.”

Dohyun paused, gazing out the window. His face turned faint, as though reaching for memories long past.

“But one day, my mother hugged me tight and said, ‘No matter what anyone says, you’re my son. No one can ever replace you.’”

He let out a faint breath.

“I remember crying in her arms all night after hearing that.”

Though his tone was calm, Yeonha could only imagine how desperately he must have needed those words back then.

The thought of him, as a child, trembling in fear every day—it made her chest ache.

“You really met wonderful parents.”

At her quiet words, Dohyun nodded.

“I believe it was heaven’s blessing.”

He smiled faintly, but in that smile lay emotions too deep to fathom.

Growing up not in Korea, but in a foreign land, with parents of a different race.

It wasn’t hard to imagine how difficult his path had been.

“Then… the person you said you wanted to meet in Korea—was it your birth parents?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Did you… find them?”

“I did, but… they weren’t my birth parents.”

“Then who?”

“The person who raised me.”

“You mean… the one who raised you and the one who gave birth to you are different people?”

He nodded quietly and began telling the story of how he met Kim Sunja.

By then, the car had reached the officetel where they both lived. But even after stopping, neither of them moved to get out.

A silence stretched. Yeonha finally broke it, carefully.

“Then… your birth parents?”

His eyes drifted blankly into space. His mind had already returned to the day he met Kim Sunja.

“Dohyun, the truth is… we’re not your real parents.”

“What? What do you mean…?”

“You have other parents—your real ones. We just raised you for a while because of unavoidable circumstances.”

“You mean… I have a different mother and father who gave birth to me?”

“Yes.”

The thunderous revelation was followed by words even more shocking.

His birth mother, Nam Eunyoung, lived alone in the apartment next door to Kim Sunja.

Eunyoung, who had grown up in the same orphanage, treated Sunja like an older sister. To save for her university tuition, she worked tirelessly—days as a hotel maid, nights at a convenience store.

Then one day, Sunja noticed something different about her and cautiously asked:

“Are you… pregnant?”

At first Eunyoung denied it, but under Sunja’s persistent questioning, she finally admitted she was four months along.

“Whose baby is it?”

“You wouldn’t know even if I told you.”

“Of course I know. It’s that man who dropped you off in front of the house not long ago, isn’t it?”

Startled by Sunja’s sharp words, Eunyoung reluctantly nodded.

Not long before, Sunja had seen a sleek luxury car parked outside when she returned from grocery shopping.

It was strange to see such a high-end vehicle in their small neighborhood. From it, Eunyoung had stepped out.

She hadn’t seen the man’s face, but one thing was clear—he wasn’t an ordinary person.

“How did you meet him?”

“While working at the hotel…”

Their first meeting had been by chance.

While cleaning his room, Eunyoung found and returned his cherished tiepin. He offered to reward her, but she politely refused.

Instead, he suggested dinner.

Feeling it rude to keep refusing, she reluctantly accepted. But to her surprise, the conversation was enjoyable, and time passed quickly.

Perhaps he felt the same, because after that he kept in touch often, and their relationship deepened rapidly.

They eventually became lovers, but their happiness didn’t last.

Once their relationship was discovered at his home, the man’s mother came to Eunyoung and heaped insults on her. She told her to break up immediately, warning her that she was unfit to associate with their family.