Chapter 137: Separation Is the Mother of Creation (1)
After breaking up with Lee Hae-soo, Kim Si-woo still went to work—but the words simply wouldn’t come.
“Maybe I should take a break for a while?”
Sitting in his office, Kim Si-woo stared blankly at the monitor and muttered to himself.
He killed time watching YouTube, ate lunch, and left work earlier than usual…
He spent the entire day in a completely meaningless way.
“Sigh… I think I should just stay home and rest for a while.”
Arriving home with a heavy heart, Kim Si-woo made one decision and called Lee Yoo-jin.
—Yes, Writer-nim?
“Hey, Yoo-jin-ah. I’m not coming to the office for a while, so if there’s anything that needs my approval, just let me know.”
—Excuse me? Writer-nim, are you sick or something?
“No, I’m just… not feeling great.”
Lee Yoo-jin wanted to ask if something had happened between him and Lee Hae-soo, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
—Understood. Please rest well.
“Yeah, thanks.”
After ending the call with Lee Yoo-jin, Kim Si-woo lay down and stared blankly at the ceiling of his room.
One day passed. Then two. Before he knew it, a whole week had gone by.
Kim Si-woo’s appearance was the very definition of haggard.
His appetite had dropped so much that eating even one meal a day was considered lucky.
Most of his days were spent sleeping or just zoning out.
“Sigh… Everything’s such a hassle.”
The shock of the breakup was bigger than he’d expected—he just couldn’t seem to get better.
When Kim Si-woo woke up and went to the living room to get water, his mother—who was watching TV—saw him and immediately shouted.
“Go take a shower! My goodness… you’re filthy. You’re going to grow mold at this rate.”
“Okay.”
“And shave! You look like someone who just got dumped.”
“I did.”
“Huh?”
“I said I did. I broke up with my girlfriend.”
At Kim Si-woo’s blunt admission, his mother scratched her head awkwardly.
“Oh… really? When did you even start dating? Who was it? An actress?”
“No, a lawyer. We dated for a little over 100 days.”
“But why did you break up?”
“I don’t know. I guess dating me was too hard for her.”
“Ugh. That’s why you should’ve treated her better.”
“I’m going to shower.”
Leaving his nagging mother behind, Kim Si-woo showered and came back out.
It had already been a week since he locked himself in the house.
Siwoo Film and the movie projects were running perfectly fine without him, so Kim Si-woo had no intention of leaving the house.
Meanwhile, the news that Kim Si-woo hadn’t been coming to Siwoo Film spread quickly.
It eventually reached Hong Soo-yeon’s ears when she came to practice at the office, and through her, Shim Ji-young, Jung Se-yeon, and Kim Ji-hyun—who had dropped by to visit—also found out.
Each of them started investigating in their own ways from home whether Kim Si-woo had really broken up.
They stalked his and Lee Hae-soo’s SNS accounts, checked their messenger profiles, and even called people close to Kim Si-woo to ask.
Of course, the surest way would’ve been to ask the people involved directly—but they had to be careful not to upset either of them.
Naturally, Arimura Noa, who was in Japan, had no idea about any of this.
***
A month after Kim Si-woo began his self-imposed seclusion, Hong Soo-yeon could no longer hold back and became the first to visit his house.
It was possible because their homes were close, and because Kim Si-woo’s parents—who treated her like their own daughter—were there.
Ding-dong.
“Mother, it’s Soo-yeon.”
—Oh, just a moment.
After ringing the doorbell, she heard footsteps approaching from inside, and soon Kim Si-woo’s mother opened the door.
“Come in quickly, Soo-yeon-ah.”
“Thank you.”
Smiling at the warm welcome, Hong Soo-yeon stepped inside.
“Mother, this isn’t much, but I saw it on the way and thought of you, so I bought it.”
“Oh my! What’s this? Cosmetics? I’ll use them well. Thank you.”
“It’s nothing. By the way… is Si-woo oppa doing okay?”
“Ugh… don’t even get me started. He’s been locked in his room for a whole month now—he’s practically a shut-in.”
“What? Why?”
Pretending she knew nothing, Hong Soo-yeon listened as Kim Si-woo’s mother explained in detail about the breakup.
“Is oppa… doing a little better?”
“I wish. He keeps skipping meals—I’m really worried.”
“He’s not eating properly?”
“Exactly.”
“J-Just a moment, please.”
Hearing that Kim Si-woo was skipping meals, Hong Soo-yeon suddenly shot up from her seat.
“Mother, I’ll be right back—I just need to step out for a moment.”
“Huh? Oh… okay.”
Kim Si-woo’s mother looked flustered as Hong Soo-yeon abruptly announced she was leaving the house.
Once outside, Hong Soo-yeon rushed straight to the nearby supermarket.
“Porridge… porridge…”
After hearing that Kim Si-woo wasn’t eating properly, she decided she would cook porridge for him herself.
“Ingredients…”
Standing in the mart, Hong Soo-yeon pondered what kind of porridge would be best.
“Beef? Abalone? Ah… I don’t know, I’ll just buy both. Beef abalone porridge should taste good too.”
In the end, she picked out premium Hanwoo beef, domestic abalone, and all the other necessary ingredients before hurrying back to Kim Si-woo’s house.
“Mother… haha, I’m back.”
“What’s all that in your hands?”
Kim Si-woo’s mother looked surprised at the plastic bags dangling from Hong Soo-yeon’s hands.
“Ah… I’m going to make porridge for oppa.”
“Porridge? Oh my…”
Kim Si-woo’s mother gazed at Hong Soo-yeon with warm, affectionate eyes as she realized the girl was planning to cook for her son.
“Um… may I borrow the kitchen?”
“Of course, of course. Use it as much as you like.”
“Thank you.”
“Should Auntie help you?”
“No, it’s okay. I want to do it myself.”
“Oh, alright. Hehe. Auntie was being nosy, wasn’t she?”
Kim Si-woo’s mother kept watching Hong Soo-yeon with a pleased, motherly smile while Hong Soo-yeon quickly got to work.
She started by washing and soaking the rice, then prepped all the ingredients.
“It’s… not as hard as I thought.”
Relieved that making porridge turned out simpler than expected, she finally let herself worry properly about Kim Si-woo.
‘Did he like her that much?’
Hong Soo-yeon had never seen Kim Si-woo suffer this badly before, and while she was worried, a twinge of jealousy also crept in.
And if it had been her dating him… she never would have hurt him like this.
All sorts of thoughts swirled in her mind, leaving her heart increasingly complicated.
“Sigh…”
As Hong Soo-yeon let out a quiet sigh, Kim Si-woo’s mother—who had been pretending to watch TV—immediately walked over.
“Is the cooking not going well? Want some help?”
“Ah… no, it’s fine.”
“Then why the sigh? Is something bothering you?”
“Just… I’m worried about oppa.”
“It’s okay. He takes after his dad—he’s got a strong body.”
“But the body and the heart are different. If the heart isn’t strong… what do you do…”
“Ah… that’s true. But you really don’t have to worry too much. He’s my son, so I might be biased, but… anyway, he’ll be fine.”
For some reason, Hong Soo-yeon felt strangely reassured by Kim Si-woo’s mother’s calm confidence.
Time passed, the rice had soaked perfectly, and she began cooking in earnest.
She added sesame oil to the soaked rice and stir-fried it, filling the house with a fragrant, nutty aroma.
Using the prepared ingredients, she made several varieties: abalone porridge, beef porridge, beef abalone porridge, and abalone innards porridge—dividing them into containers.
“Mother, please enjoy these with Father later.”
“Oh my, thank you so much… But are you going to take some to Si-woo yourself?”
“Um… is that okay?”
“What’s not okay about it? If Si-woo says anything, Auntie will scold him for you, so don’t worry.”
“Yes.”
Hong Soo-yeon carefully arranged the abalone porridge and some kimchi on a tray, then carried it to Kim Si-woo’s room and knocked on the door.
Knock knock.
“Oppa. Are you awake? It’s Soo-yeon… Can I come in?”
—Huh? Just a second…
Kim Si-woo must have been awake, because he answered right away.
—Yeah, come in.
At his reply, Hong Soo-yeon opened the door and stepped inside.
There, looking utterly worn out, Kim Si-woo was sitting at his desk typing on the keyboard.
And surprisingly, the room was cleaner than she had expected.
There wasn’t a speck of trash, and no unpleasant smell either.
“Huh?”
Hong Soo-yeon blinked in surprise at how different the room was from what she’d imagined. Kim Si-woo stopped typing and spoke first.
“Anyway, what brings you to my house?”
“Just… I was worried about you, oppa. I heard you weren’t coming to the office…”
“Ah, thanks for worrying. By the way, what’s that?”
“Ah! This is porridge. I made it for you.”
Kim Si-woo stood up from his chair and took the tray from her hands.
“Have you eaten?”
“Um… no, not yet.”
“Then let’s eat together.”
Kim Si-woo headed toward the kitchen. Hong Soo-yeon sat down across from where he’d been.
“What’s this? My son is actually eating at the table today?”
“She even made porridge for me… I should at least eat with her.”
“Oh my, so the food your mom makes, you eat in your room? Anyway, treat Soo-yeon well. She heard you weren’t feeling good and immediately went out to buy ingredients and cooked porridge herself.”
“Yeah~.”
Kim Si-woo half-listened to his mother’s nagging with one ear and let it go out the other.
“By the way, is this abalone?”
“Yes.”
Compared to the abalone porridge he’d bought at porridge shops before, the size and amount here were on a completely different level.
It almost felt like there was more abalone than rice in the bowl.
Kim Si-woo stared in amazement at the generous amount.
“There’s so much abalone?”
“Yes! Eating just plain porridge would be boring, right?”
“That’s true. Thanks—I’ll enjoy it.”
“It’s nothing.”
Hong Soo-yeon’s face flushed slightly at Kim Si-woo’s grateful words.
While eating the porridge, Hong Soo-yeon wanted to bring up something about Lee Hae-soo, but she held back—worried it might upset him. Instead, she just talked about her own recent life.
“I think you really should sleep more.”
Listening to her, Kim Si-woo once again marveled at how impressive she was.
“A person should at least get six hours of sleep a day…”
“I’ll try.”
After his gentle advice, a brief silence fell between them.
Then Kim Si-woo broke the quiet and spoke first.
“As you probably already know… I was dating Hae-soo and we broke up. I wasn’t resting because I was sick, so don’t worry too much.”
“Ah… okay.”
“It was a little hard at first, but I’m doing better now.”
“That’s a relief.”
Only after Kim Si-woo brought it up himself could Hong Soo-yeon finally relax and eat comfortably.
After they finished the meal, Kim Si-woo washed the dishes and brewed some black tea for Hong Soo-yeon.
Sitting at the table, he took a sip and asked about her drama filming schedule.
“When does the drama you’re shooting now wrap up?”
“Next month. Why?”
“I’m preparing my next project…”
“Really? Then the script you were working on earlier…”
“Yeah. It’s the one where I chose you as the female lead.”
The moment she heard she would finally star as the lead in one of Kim Si-woo’s films, Hong Soo-yeon’s heart pounded wildly.
At first, acting had started simply as a way to earn money and live up to Kim Si-woo’s expectations. But somewhere along the way, it had seeped deep into her heart.
Through acting, she could help kids who had gone through hardships like she had. She could give hope to people who were struggling.
And most of all—acting was becoming more and more fun.
The only thing that had weighed on her was that Kim Ji-hyun, Shim Ji-young, and Jung Se-yeon—actresses close to Kim Si-woo—had all taken the lead roles in his films, while she, with less experience and skill, had never gotten the chance.
And now, at last, that spot was hers.
“Is it really okay for me to do it? If it’s just because of that promise from before…”
Hong Soo-yeon was ready to refuse if he was only offering her the role out of obligation from their earlier agreement.
She was a proper actress now.
And she didn’t want to ruin a script that could become even greater because of her.
But Kim Si-woo’s reply was firm and clear.
“I’m not that stupid. If you weren’t good at acting, I wouldn’t have made that promise in the first place.”
“Ah… okay.”
Meanwhile, Kim Si-woo’s mother—who had been watching their conversation like it was the most gripping drama—held her breath in excitement.