Heo Woo Seung finished telling his side of the story, looking as if he had aged ten years.
Yeo Ri listened to his story without saying a word, her face stoic. However, a multitude of emotions and thoughts were building up inside her.
After listening to the story, she felt as if her whole life had been a lie. What was she supposed to do? Out of nowhere, the father of her brother's friend came up and told her that he was her father. That her family was fake. She felt as if she no longer had any connections to Hyuk and Gun, who, up until now, were her only family.
But then, now it all made sense. Hyuk's feelings for her was not as wrong as she had thought. They were not blood-related, so it was plausible for either of them to have felt something for each other.
It was entirely normal.
Their relationship was normal.
For that alone, she heaved a small sigh of relief. But, it still did not change the fact that she was not Hyuk and Gun's true little sister; that they were practically strangers.
She quickly rid herself of the terrible thoughts. How could they not be family? Both Hyuk and Gun had watched her grow up and even held a large part in her growth. There was no way that their familial bond would break just because they turned out to be unrelated by blood.
"So?" She found herself asking, "What are you going to do now? Register me as your daughter?" She laughed sardonically.
"I..." Heo Woo Seung looked away. "Not now, but perhaps in the future. Yeo Ri-ah, I promise you, when I retire, I will definitely bring you back."
"When you retire?" Yeo Ri couldn't stop herself from laughing. Heo Woo Seung, this person, why is he being so ridiculous? "And how long would that take? Ten years? Twenty?"
She laughed so hard that she started to cry. "Why are you doing this?! Why are you making me get my hopes up?!"
Heo Woo Seung hung his head down in shame. He knew he was being absurd. Yeo Ri was not a young child, and she was not stupid either. By the time he retired, she would probably be an adult who can take care of herself. She didn't need him. Not anymore.
"Please understand, Yeo Ri-ah. The campaign this time... I can't give it up. I've poured years of my life into this," he begged. He was planning to run for the provincial governor's seat in the upcoming elections, and he couldn't afford to create any scandals. He felt sorry to Yeo Ri, but he couldn't give up his work.
"Don't," she looked at him coldly. "I don't care. You are not my father, so do whatever you want, Uncle." She got up, ignoring the food that she had asked to bring back, and stormed out of the room.
He got up, intending to chase after her, but in the end, he backed down.
"Mr. Jang? If you see the girl I came here with, can you please take her home? I'm counting on you," he called his chauffeur, telling him to take the girl home in his stead. The least he could do was make sure the girl came back to his house safely.
"Of course, sir." The chauffeur agreed immediately. Soon, he ended the call, looking out for the girl's figure.
Heo Woo Seung sat in the private room alone. He sighed tiredly.
"Yeoreum-ssi, I'm sorry..." he whispered quietly as he looked at the picture of them. He flipped the picture, reading the words that had been written behind it all those years ago.
'May we become happy. -Han Yeoreum & Heo Woo Seung,' the captions read.
He thumbed the picture longingly.
"Where are you? Where have you gone?" He whispered sadly. "Why won't you come back..."
He closed his eyes, remembering the memory behind the photo.
One of his young patients had been an aspiring photographer, and having gotten his hands on an instant camera, the young boy had went around and took many pictures. The boy had taken a liking to Han Yeoreum, and asked her to be his model. Happily, she had agreed. He had witnessed it, and with slight jealousy, he had requested to be photographed as well. Of course, the boy, seeing nothing wrong, agreed easily. The boy had given Han Yeoreum a bouquet of flowers as a prop, and then, the picture was taken.
What fond memories, he thought.
Slowly, he got up, carrying the takeaway food. He'd send it home later, just in case Yeo Ri still wanted to eat them.
He received his credit card back from the waiter, who, upon noticing that the two guests were having a private discussion, tactfully waited outside until they finished.
Heo Woo Seung gave the waiter a small, knowing smile that concealed a warning. "Whatever you heard, forget it."
"Of course, sir," the waiter returned his nod understandingly. The restaurant had no shortage of valuable customers, and he was experienced in dealing with customer privacy. Just this small bit of gossip would not make him open his mouth.
Heo Woo Seung left the restaurant with a sombre mood. Instead of going straight home, he took a taxi to his office and called a delivery service to send the leftovers to his house.