Chapter 5: Okay, as you say, ma'am

As I started limping towards the nursing room, supported by Kim Soo-jin, I thought of my half-brother and half-sister.

This is the confusing part of the story. Everyone told me that father hates me because his dear wife died giving birth to me. He thinks that I killed her. But then why did father marry another woman and have kids with her?

If he loved my mom so much that he is willing to not recognize his own son's existence, the child who has been birthed by their love, as she died because of me, then why did he marry another woman?

I have heard that not even one month had passed since my mother's death and he married another woman.

While I wondered if he really loved my mother, this was not the first time I pondered this question. As we arrived at the nursing room, I lay down on the bed, and the doctor started to examine the wound on my leg that was bleeding. This wound must have occurred when Kim Tae-hyun, my half-brother, knocked me against the dustbin.

When the doctor started to examine my wound and apply medicine, she abruptly asked a question.

"How did you get hurt?"

As I heard this question, Kim Soo-jin and the doctor both stared at me for an answer. I was pretty sure that Kim Tae-hyun would never ask his lackeys to hit me on the exposed part of my body, but...

This was the question I didn't want to answer the most, especially not in front of Kim Soo-jin.

"I fell down."

When I gave the same answer as earlier, Kim Soo-jin didn't have any reaction, but the doctor, hearing my response, gave me a peculiar glance.

The doctor's gaze was freaking me out. Inside, I thought she was going to spill the beans and expose my lie. I was screaming internally, begging this doctor not to say anything. I don't know if my prayers were heard or if the doctor saw sincerity in my eyes, but she didn't speak anything.

---

Inside Kim Eun-seo's car, two people could be heard speaking to each other. They were none other than Kim Joon-ho's half-brother and sister.

"So why does Mother want to see me?" Kim Tae-hyun asked.

As Kim Eun-seo heard Kim Tae-hyun speak, she replied, "I don't know. Mother just told me to bring you home early and not to let you fool around, that's all."

When Kim Tae-hyun heard his sister's response, he snorted slightly, and the rest of the journey was quiet, with no one speaking.

As they arrived at the mansion and knocked on the door, Kim Eun-seo said, "Mother, I have brought brother as you requested."

After some time, the door opened, and a beautiful woman in her 30s could be seen standing. She exuded extravagance, perhaps too much. As she gestured with her hand to come inside, they both went in.

Sitting on the bed inside her room, it looked grandiose; expensive things were decorated around, and more expensive paintings hung on the walls. It looked more like a museum than a bedroom. With just a little look, anyone could tell that she loved painting.

A clear and gentle voice could be heard from the bed. It was none other than Kim Hye-jin and Kim Tae-hyun's mother.

"How was the day, my son?"

As Kim Tae-hyun heard his mother speak, he looked at her with caring and worried eyes and spoke, "Yes, it was good. How is your health, Mom?"

"Don't worry about Mother, my son. Mother has a long life ahead."

When Kim Tae-hyun heard this from his mother, both he and Kim Eun-seo had tears in their eyes. Kim Eun-seo was already shedding tears, drop by drop, but Kim Tae-hyun held them in, closing his eyes and looking down. He clenched his fists, mumbling to himself, reminding himself, "All this is happening because of Kim Joon-ho. I won't let you off that easily. You have to pay for everything your mother has done."

As they heard their mother speak once more, disappointment was evident in her voice, "Have I raised my kids so weak?"

When they heard her, they both stopped crying immediately, like flipping a switch.

"Mother, why have you called me here?"

A delighted expression formed on Kim Eun-seo and Kim Tae-hyun's mother's face when she saw her children's reactions. Proud and believing in them more deeply, she spoke expressionlessly, "Your father has decided to hold a competition for the successor. Whoever wins this competition will become the head of the family."

When the words fell, Kim Eun-seo and Kim Tae-hyun were confused, and a slight anger could be seen in Kim Tae-hyun's eyes.

Seeing the anger in Kim Tae-hyun's eyes, she spoke first, not giving her children a chance to respond, becoming a gentle mother once more. "Don't blame your father, my son. He did his best. This is the only way you have a chance to become the successor. If we had followed the usual succession rules, Kim Joon-ho would have become the successor because he is the first male born from your father's first wife. That's why if you have to blame someone, blame me, not him."

As the rage inside Kim Tae-hyun died down, he spoke in a gentle manner, "I am sorry, Mother. I will do my best to live up to your expectations."

When she heard her son speak, she was delighted. Looking towards her daughter, Kim Eun-seo also spoke smilingly, "I will also do my best to support brother and make him the successor."

"I want to see you become the successor of this family. Will you do that for me, my son?"

"Of course."

As her gentle, motherly demeanor vanished, a cold voice could be heard, similar to Father's, saying,

"You have three years to prepare. After you graduate, this succession competition will officially be announced. Do not let me down. Do you understand?"

"Understood."

"You can go now."

---

In the nursing room, the doctor left after dressing Kim Joon-ho's wound.

Kim Soo-jin spoke first, with slight anger in her voice. "So why weren't you picking up my calls?"

As I heard her angry voice, I knew speaking was useless in this situation, so without saying anything, I showed her my broken phone.

Sighing, she spoke, "How clumsy you are to even break your phone while falling."

"How would anyone know when they are going to fall?"

"Yeah, yeah, it was the road's fault, not yours, that you fell down. We should blame the government for making such roads that people can fall down. Let's go on a strike. What do you say?"

Amused by her antics, I raised my hands and said, "Okay, fine, you win. It was my fault; I wasn't paying attention."

Not wanting to get scolded further, I changed the topic. "So, about yesterday, did you write the story?"

As if waiting for me to ask, she replied immediately and started taking out a book. "Yes, here it is."

As I opened the book and glanced at the title 'Murder Mystery,' I thought the title was ordinary. Then she started to speak.

"This story is about a man and a detective. The man lost his wife in a car accident and believes that she was murdered. The police at that time, wanting to close the case, ignored him, telling him it was an accident. But, believing in himself, he goes to a top-ranked detective who has solved many cases and has many years of experience under her belt. The rest you can read from the book. My story surrounds these two characters who are solving his wife's murder. That's all. How is it? What do you think?"

Hearing her story, it felt really good, so I gave my honest opinion. "I think it's really good and sounds interesting, but the title is bland."

"You think so too? It's the same for me. I hurriedly thought of the title because I didn't want to be late again. You know, I didn't get a wink of sleep last night."

"Same here. I too didn't get a wink of sleep last night while writing. Here is my story; take a look."

As I opened my bag, which was lying beside the bed, I took out a book and gave it to Kim Soo-jin to read. As she opened the book and glanced at the title 'A Short Film,' I started to speak.

"This is a story about two friends who had a project given by a professor to make a short film as punishment for coming late. They go to a renowned haunted house outside the city, as the theme for their film was horror. At the shooting location, after arriving and checking the house, they find bones in the basement hidden inconspicuously. The rest you can read later. What do you think?"

"Well, it's not bad, I think. But wait a minute, the starting part you've written is based on our situation."

Laughing awkwardly, I answered, "Yeah, while thinking about what to write, I had no idea, so I started with our situation. Let me know what you think after reading everything."

As I saw her embarrassingly replying, I thought she was cute. "Okay, but you see, I am really, really afraid of ghosts and horror stories, but still, I will read it."

Oh, I didn't consider that while writing. I should have known better. As I was scolding myself internally, I asked curiously, "How are you not afraid of murder?"

"Murder and ghosts are two different things. They are not the same."

As she sternly replied, I blanked out, thinking, "How are they different? They both have gory scenes, eerie corpses, and bloody messes. How are they different?" Anyway, I replied, not so surely, without processing, "Okay, as you say, ma'am."

After saying that, we blankly stared at each other for a few seconds. What the heck, what did I just say right now? As I was freaking out in my mind, wondering what she would think of me now, she started laughing. Amidst laughter, she said, "Haha, ma'am! Haha, you just called me ma'am. Are you daydreaming again?"

Embarrassment gripped me, and I hurriedly covered my face with the blankets, pretending to sleep.

"Haha, okay, fine. I won't laugh. You can get up now."

As she tried to pull the blankets off, I held them tight and didn't let go. She said she wouldn't laugh, yet she was laughing again. I scolded myself, "What's gotten into me? Why would I be this flustered around her?"

While I was not coming out from under the blankets, I spoke from within, "It's getting too late. You should go now. You'll be scolded if you're late any longer, and thank you for today."

"Yeah, it's getting late. I should leave now. Let's meet tomorrow. Don't be late after class, and call me if you're not coming."

As I heard her packing her things, after some time, footsteps could be heard leaving the room. I thought she had gone out, so I got out of the blankets. But when I looked at the door, she was right there, smirking and saying, "Bye-bye."

---

At that time, I didn't know that my half-brother Kim Tae-hyun was already preparing for the successor competition three years early. With the support of my father, stepmother, and half-sister, he was already considered the family successor by the other members. On the other hand, I learned this information much later, after my marriage to Kim Soo-jin, and it was too late by then.

They were already preparing to make Kim Tae-hyun the family successor from the start, and I had no choice but to participate in this losing battle.

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