Lady Spring

Saeun’s phone rang suddenly when she was about to place the pot of stew on the stove. She frowned and looked at it to see who it was. As soon as she saw the name, her heart fell.

Bad news always arrived when you weren’t expecting them. Well, actually, she has been expecting this. She knew it was only a matter of time. She just has been trying to forget about it.

Saeun stared at her phone ringing for a while before finally picking it up. Her hand shook as she answered it.

“Hello?”

Her mother’s tired voice answered  back.

“Saeun? Where are you? Are you at work?”

“No, I’m outside. How have you been?”

“Out where? Your brother told me you aren’t home. He said you haven’t been home for a couple of days now. Where are you staying right now?”

Biting her lower lip, Saeun sighed and replied, 

“I’ve been going on several business trips recently, so that’s why I haven’t been home.”

“Oh, I see. When Junghoo told me he couldn’t find you, I got worried. After all, you are an unmarried woman, so you shouldn’t be going out so much like that…”

Her mother wasn’t scolding her nor did she sound truly worried. She just sounded… tired. Saeun rubbed her throbbing head.

“You’re doing okay, right Mom? I’m really busy right now, so I will call you later.”

“Wait, the thing is… Junghoo has something to discuss with you, so you need to call him. He really needs to talk to you.”

Call him and do what? She knew exactly what that bastard was going to say. Clenching her fist, Saeun took a shaky breath and replied, 

“I don’t want to call him. You know what he wants from me. It’s always the same.”

“But still, he’s your brother… And he told me he has a really good business idea. He only needs a little bit of money. He said maybe just 10k Won 1. Don’t you have that much to spare?”

“Do you think I’m Junghoo’s bank or something?”

Saeun could feel her anger starting to boil over. Every time her parents called, the topic of money never failed to be brought up. And it was always the same message. 

Give your brother all of your money.

Family was a burden to her. A horrible and heavy burden.

“But you’re the only one who’s working in this family. We already gave our own savings to him.”

“If you ever gave me any money, I wouldn’t say this. But you know very well that I got nothing from you. You spent ALL of your money on Junghoo, who just wasted everything away. And now, you want me to give him more of MY money too? When we both know he’s just going to blow it? Are you serious, Mom? He has used you so many times already, yet you still haven’t learned your lesson? You even sold your old home and moved into that tiny apartment to fund whatever stupid business idea he had. Yet you still want to give him even more money?”

Glancing at Jaejun’s room, which was closed, Saeun whispered angrily. There was a momentary silence until she heard her mother sigh.

“But what can we do? He’s our only son after all. And he’s the one who’s going to carry our family name. Once he finds something he wants to do and gets settled, he will be fine. He needs to succeed for our family to succeed. You know that. So please just get him some money.” 2

“And where will I get the money? I put everything into my house as a deposit. I don’t have any money left. I’ve got nothing!”

“Junghoo asked me to give him your work address, so he can go see you.”

Saeun’s heart fell again.  Biting her lower lip in frustration, she inhaled deeply and asked, 

“And did you tell him?”

“No, not yet… I mean… If he goes there, I know he’ll… And this is a private family business.”

They both knew Junghoo would make a huge scene. Something similar had happened more than once before. The first time he did it, Saeun got so scared that she ended up giving him some money. The second time he did it, she refused him. In the end, he made such a scene that she had to quit. After that incident, she had to change her jobs twice more. Every time she had to quit, she ended up getting worse and worse jobs, and finally, she now worked as a lowly office assistant in a crummy office. She lost her career all because of her brother.

Dammit.

“Anyway, please Saeun, call him. He told me you wouldn’t even answer his calls.”

“Fine.”

“Okay, take care.”

“Okay.”

After hanging up, Saeun sat down on the dining table and covered her face with both of her hands. She was so frustrated that it felt like her heart was going to burst.  Why did her life have to suck so much? She has been living in a fantasy land lately that she has completely forgotten about her reality. And now… She was back to her old life, so what was she supposed to do?

Saeun knew she couldn’t stay here forever. She couldn’t hide behind Wooyoung’s back for the rest of her life. On top of everything, there was something she needed to figure out. It never crossed her mind until recently, and it was how Wooyoung hasn’t been using any condoms since she moved into this apartment. 

This pattern began when they slept together for the first time in this apartment. At the time, Saeun assumed it was because he was drunk and overly excited. But then all the other times after that…

And why did she not refuse him? Did she secretly want to get pregnant with Wooyoung’s child? So that he would marry her? 

“Am I finally going crazy?”