Love for love's sake [ENG TRANS]

Chapter 40

[Tae Myeongha's POV]

My grandmother only greeted me with words. Coming out the door to welcome me, asking if I had a good day, and stroking my back lovingly was a distant affection between us. In the past, I had felt it to be regrettable. Perhaps she considered me a nuisance and was only taking care of me out of obligation.

"You haven't slept." As I entered my grandmother's room, I saw her lying with her body turned toward the wardrobe. Despite clearly knowing I had just entered, she didn't look back.

"The sound of you coming in woke me up."

"It's because the door is too old. It creaks even if I open it carefully."

"I should just break down this dilapidated house and rebuild it."

"Why would you break it down? You have a bad back. The house is going to break, grandma."

The conversation continued in a trivial manner. I took out what was in the bag I had brought and placed it in front of my grandmother.

"Take it."

The prize sharpshooter Cha Yeowoon had won. Before my grandmother, who was reading the packaging, had a chance to say anything, I struck first.

"Grandma, I saw Mom today."

Although I only saw my grandmother's back, I could feel her stiffening.

"What did your Mom say?"

I thought she would be angry and scold me for going there, but she asked in a strangely calm manner.

"To be honest, I couldn't even greet her. It was a cafe. I just went in and came out."

"I see."

"Has Mom ever asked about me?"

My grandmother remained silent for a while. "I once asked her to come meet you..."

The whisper that broke through the silence was so small that it was almost like talking to oneself.

"Knowing how much you wanted to see her, I had asked her to show her face just once, especially now that her child had grown up a lot." As my grandmother muttered to herself, her shoulders slumped heavily.

I had misunderstood her until the age of 29. She hadn't hid my mother for her daughter's sake. She had done it for me. I desperately suppressed the trembling in my throat.

"Maybe because she's busy working." I pretended like nothing was wrong, but my grandmother must have noticed my current state.

She slowly sat back down and held my hand. Her dry and rough hands were smaller than I remembered. Even after seeing them again, holding her hands was a first.

"Myeongha. When people experience painful moments in life, sometimes they try to cover it up and avoid ever looking at it again. It's not your fault, and your Mom suffered a lot when you were born."

Right. I had expected that. My mother didn't want to meet me. I could understand the feeling of not wanting to look back at painful times and not wanting to remember them. I wanted to understand. I had to. If I didn't, I would be too sad. There were people I couldn't see now that I had returned to my 19, but there were also people I could embrace now.

"Grandma, live a long life." I quietly embraced my grandmother. Her body, which had shrunk with the passing years, was even smaller than when I was a child. My wish was for her to live as long as I was here. I didn't want to lose her.

***

[Tae Myeongha's POV]

[ Mission: Make Cha Yeowoon happy. ]