YDCFGD 16

Chapter 16

“Saeyi, how about you and Dad have a little talk?”

So it finally came.

During a rare break, Dad knocked on my door. With a careful tone, he asked if I could spare him some time, watching my expression as he spoke.

I really have to tell him now.

I’d been meaning to tell him about Grandpa asking me to return to Jaedamjae, but I’d been running all over the place and hadn’t gotten the chance yet.

When I opened the door, Dad stood there with a worried look on his face. I followed him and sat down on the sofa.

Ever since I returned to the past, just looking at Dad made tears well up in my eyes. I couldn’t help remembering the moment when the cargo truck, sent by my uncle, crashed into the car Dad and I were riding in.

“My baby!”

They say that in moments like that, people instinctively try to protect themselves—but Dad had only been focused on calling my name and shielding me.

Because he pulled me into his arms and took the impact meant for me, the last image I had of him was a body completely broken and battered.

If I hadn’t said he had to take responsibility for me, Dad could’ve lived a good life.

When I lost Mom and tried to leave the Ju family, Dad took responsibility for me until the very end. No matter how much humiliation he suffered at my uncle’s hands, he was always on my side.

If he’d cut ties with the Ju family for my sake, he wouldn’t have died like that.

“There’s something Dad wanted to ask you.”
“……”
“Our princess… no one’s been bothering you lately, right?”

With serious eyes, Dad worried about me again.

“It’s vacation, but you’re never home… I wondered if maybe puberty hit and you don’t want to stay at home anymore.”
“That’s not it…”

The moment I opened my mouth, Dad fell silent. He always gave me priority.

I explained everything from the beginning—except for the part about dying and returning to the past. I told him I wanted to become an actress, so I’d gone to see Grandpa.

That I’d received his permission, and even an offer to enter Jaedamjae.

“I see… our Saeyi wants to act…”

Dad’s eyes reddened. His face twisted painfully.

Thinking back, even in my past life, Dad had worn that same expression on the day I confessed how much I loved acting.

Back then, I didn’t understand what that look meant—but now I did.

He’s remembering someone he misses.

Last time, Grandpa had worn the same expression too—like they were longing for the very same person.

“Where did you get the script? I want to see it too. I want to see my daughter act.”
“I found it at Dongwoogwan. Ah—there was Mom’s name on the box…”

Dad’s eyes widened instantly. His lips trembled, unable to close, and a broken, choking sound slowly escaped his mouth.

He bowed his head deeply. Soon, tears streamed down his cheeks, dripping heavily onto his knees.

“Jeongwol…”
“……”
“If Jeongwol could’ve seen Saeyi acting… how happy she would’ve been…”

Then Dad told me something I’d never heard before.

Mom had wanted to act too. He’d first met her in a university theater club.

She’d been the star of the troupe.

…But she’d given up acting because of Grandpa’s opposition.

Only then did I understand Grandpa’s tender reaction. Why he’d said the women of the Ju family were all the same. Why Dad was sobbing like this.

That must also be why Grandma’s scripts were stored in a box with Mom’s name on it.

“Saeyi… you really take after your mother…”

Dad murmured through a tight throat, gently stroking my hair.

Awkwardly, I leaned into him and hugged him. When I rested my head on his shoulder, I could hear his heart pounding.

Forcing myself not to cry, I tightened my eyes—and a family photo came into view. A picture taken before Mom died, with Dad and Mom holding me together when I was little.

Mom was just like me.

I learned about the childhood dream of a mother I’d thought I’d never know. I would be walking the path she’d wanted to take.

“…You’re not scared, right? You’ll be okay?”

He asked because he knew how clearly I’d avoided getting involved with the Ju family.

His question echoed deep in my chest. Instead of answering, I nodded again and again, my head still resting on his shoulder.

I’ll be okay.

Even if I’m not, I have to be. I’ve already died once—this time, I’ll charge forward prepared to kill my uncle if I have to.

That’s the only way Dad and I can live.

So, Dad.

This time, don’t die unfairly at my uncle’s hands while trying to protect me. Live a long life, close your eyes peacefully someday, after you’ve watched me act to your heart’s content…

“…I’ll become an actress good enough to brag about to Mom when you meet her in heaven.”

So you can tell her how proud you are of your daughter.

That’s all I want.

At the home of Chairman Ryu of the Seohae Group.

Ryu Dogyeong stared at his phone screen with a grim expression.

[Regarding the Seohae Electronics Lunatic Series Advertisement Contract]

He read the document title over and over, then checked the name written beneath it.

Ju Saeyi.

Just when she’d vanished from his life, she was now barging back in again. Lately, all of Dogyeong’s attention had been focused on her.

She wants to be an actress.

He remembered the days when Ju Saeyi used to trail after him everywhere.

Right—she’d liked theater even back then. Though young, she’d been ambitious about roles, once declaring to him—who was only a year older—that she wanted to be a princess in a play.

“I don’t think a dummy like you can be a princess.”
“Hey! I’m telling Mom!”
“Go ahead.”
“Waaah!”

She’d burst into tears when teased, then wag her tail happily again the next moment—like a puppy.

The sight of her finally landing the princess role in a kindergarten play, holding armfuls of flowers from her parents, had always made him smile.

Hearing that she wanted to become an actress had surprised him. He’d thought she’d changed after coming back—but maybe she was still the same.

Even so, he didn’t think they could grow close again.

If Saeyi had considered him someone important, she wouldn’t have disappeared like that.

Just from the fact that she’d run away and left him alone in this rotten world of adults, he knew he meant nothing to her.

That confession—she probably didn’t mean any of it.

Ju Saeyi, who had promised to marry him and then vanished from his young life. Remembering the nights he’d spent awake, imagining her leaving hand in hand with her father, he couldn’t forgive her so easily.

This time, at least, he didn’t want to be shaken. Even if she hovered around him again, he wanted to ignore her completely.

“Wouldn’t it be better if Dogyeong contacted her directly about the ad contract?”
“Me?”
“Why, don’t you want to?”
“No, it’s not that, but…”

Still, he couldn’t defy his grandfather, Chairman Ryu. As an heir, duty always came before personal feelings.

And so he was given Saeyi’s contact information, told to send her the advertisement proposal.

“Why does this feel so suffocating…?”

Why did his chest feel so tight?

With an irritated expression, Dogyeong closed the document file and checked Saeyi’s contact.

[Dongwoo Ju Saeyi]

He stared endlessly at her CocoaTalk profile—no photo, no background image, not even a status message.

It felt like staring at a tightly shut window. Biting his lip, Dogyeong pressed the chat button.

[Hey]
[Ju Saeyi]
[It’s Ryu Dogyeong]

Even after sending the message, the “1” beside the chat bubble didn’t disappear. Everyone else read his messages instantly—but Saeyi was different.

Let’s see when you reply.

He stubbornly set the phone down to wait. Not long after, it vibrated. He checked quickly—then tossed the phone aside with a disappointed look.

[Oppa, I heard you came to Jaedamjae last time? You should’ve told meㅠ]
[When can we see each other again? Will it be after the semester starts?ㅠㅠ]

It was a message from Ju Suyeon—Saeyi’s cousin and the granddaughter of the Dongwoo Group chairman.

Even when he ignored her out of annoyance, she sent messages like this every time.

“Why won’t the message I’m waiting for come…”

To hell with it.

Picking up his phone again, Dogyeong sent the contract-related files to the chat room where the “1” still remained.

[It’s the advertisement contract I mentioned before. Please review it.]

Just as he finished typing and was about to stop caring—

Less than five seconds after he mentioned the ad contract, the “1” disappeared.

[Thank you for passing this along.]

A reply arrived shortly after—polite, distant.

Saeyi’s voice, speaking those words, automatically played in his head.

“Hah.”

A hollow laugh slipped out.

Seeing how easily Saeyi brushed him aside, Dogyeong felt a strange, competitive irritation rise within him.