[TOMORROW X TOGETHER Beomgyu] To the point of aching

Episode 14. Finally, step forward

At the same time, the lights in the sarangchae were still on.

Kim Yoohyeong sat alone, savoring his daughter's final words.

 

"...I won't live like Father."

 

A voice muttering low was steeped in long-held remorse.

Even on that day ten years ago, and tonight, he was 결국 pinned in the same place by the same fear.

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

The door opened softly, and his wife stepped in.

 

"...You're still here."

"...I couldn't sleep."

 

His wife sat quietly beside her husband.

 

"Yeoju said it, didn't she? That she wouldn't live like you."

 

Kim Yoohyeong let out a bitter smile at those words.

 

"...Even if I stepped forward, what would change now? Maybe it's already too late."

"There are times when you have to step forward even if nothing changes. If you keep silent like this, you'll never escape that burden for the rest of your life."

 

After a long silence, Kim Yoohyeong finally spoke again, heavily.

 

"Even knowing Choi Daegam was dying unjustly, I stayed silent out of fear. And that day, when I learned only from the jade pendant that the child I had thought dead was alive and staying in this house...... I chose fear again. Twice now, I abandoned that child because of my fear."

 

"...I think it's time to reveal the truth now. I won't lose to fear any longer."

 

His wife looked at her husband with startled eyes.

 

"So... you've finally made up your mind."

"We have to bring that child back. We'll plot this together. We must expose Jo Seunghak's crimes to the world and restore the Choi family's name. And more than anything...... I have to apologize in person. For my silence back then, and for driving them out this time, all of it."

 

Kim Yoohyeong's voice trembled.

His wife's eyes reddened.

 

"Even Choi Sihun Daegam, and that child...... those were lives lost because of me and Yeoju, whom you wanted to protect so badly. Thank you for deciding this, even now."

"There's nothing to thank me for. I'm only finally doing what I should have done long ago."

"...Bumgyu was a boy who once nearly became our son-in-law. With that connection and my name, at the very least they won't dismiss us as nonsense at the government office."

"Then go now. I'll go with you too."

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

Just then, with hurried footsteps, Danyi rushed in.

 

"My lord! The young lady...... she's not in her room!"

 

Kim Yoohyeong and his wife's faces both went white.

 

"...No way."

 

The color drained from his wife's face.

 

"I think she's gone to the government office. I heard her say as much in the daytime, that the transport was at dawn!"

 

Without hesitation, Kim Yoohyeong rose to his feet.

 

"...Prepare the horses. We go to the government office at once."

 

His wife quickly threw on her outer robe and followed after him.

 

"I'm going too. I can't let her go alone."

 

The two of them rode side by side through the pitch-dark night road. The sound of hoofbeats cut anxiously through the darkness.

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

Outside the government office, chaos had already broken out.

Yeoju, bound and on her knees, was being dragged out into the courtyard.

 

"Father!"

 

At Yeoju's cry, Kim Yoohyeong immediately ran inside.

 

"Let this girl go at once!"

 

The jailers leveled their spearheads and blocked the way, but Kim Yoohyeong didn't even blink and kept walking straight in.

 

"I am the former Vice Minister of Military Affairs, Kim Yoohyeong. Just whose orders are you acting on, you bastards?!"

 

At his thunderous shout, the jailers' spearheads wavered.

 

"That girl is my daughter, and the man locked up in there is the son of Choi Sihun Daegam, who was once betrothed to my daughter. Do you know who you're laying hands on right now, and can you really bear the price of that sin?!"

 

The jailers, cowed by his imposing air, only exchanged glances and couldn't bring themselves to move.

 

"Bring the prison warden here at once. I will settle this myself."

 

The warden already seemed overwhelmed by Kim Yoohyeong's seasoned bearing and unshakable presence.

 

"If it later comes to light that this matter was mishandled, the blame will rest entirely on the people here. You'd better remember clearly who I'm connected to."

 

After a long silence, the prison warden reluctantly lowered his head.

 

"...I'll release them. But please, let's pretend tonight never happened."

 

The prison door opened, and Bumgyu staggered out.

 

"...Young lady."

 

"...Sir."

 

Bumgyu looked at Kim Yoohyeong in shock.

Yeoju ran straight over and supported Bumgyu. Tears blurred her vision so badly she could hardly walk properly.

His wife came over and tightly wrapped her daughter's frozen hands in hers.

Kim Yoohyeong looked from one to the other, then spoke heavily.

 

"...Let's talk when we get home."

 

Bumgyu hesitated for a moment, then bowed deeply toward Kim Yoohyeong.

 

"...Thank you, sir."

"No need to thank me. You've had a very...... hard time all this while."

 

Dawn seemed to be breaking, the edge of the sky far away turning pale.

 

Under the night sky, the shadows of the four of them left the government office side by side.