Haraboji looked at Suho closely, noticing the way his jaw tightened, the careful effort behind every breath. Suho barely met his grandfather's eyes, as if looking for too long might undo the resolve he had stitched together with pain.
"I decided to choose…" His throat worked. "I decided to choose Hauen over everything."
The words fell into the room like shattered glass.
No one moved.
"Suho—" his mother gasped, instinctively stepping forward.
"Let me finish, omma," he said quietly, turning his head just enough to stop her, his voice calm but unyielding.
"I know this is hard to hear," he continued."I know you expected me to choose the legacy. I tried… all these years. I really did. I tried to be the good son, the grandson you wanted. I tried to obey. I tried to let go."
His fingers curled slowly at his sides.
"But I couldn't let go of Hauen," he said, breath steady. "Because I love her. More than anyone. More than anything in this world."
The words came heavier now, layered with everything he had endured.
"After everything I went through… the pain, the betrayal, the truths that shattered me…" He swallowed hard. "At this point in my life, Hauen is the only person I can trust."
His voice thickened, but he held on.
"She is where I find peace. She is where I find love. She is where I still feel alive."
He paused, gathering himself, as if steadying a cracked foundation.
"She is my life," he said softly. "My reason to hope. My reason to dream. Without her, I feel empty… like a body breathing without a heart."
His eyes glistened, but he did not look away.
"She keeps me alive," he said. "She gives me courage when I have none left. She gives me strength when I am standing at the edge… even when everything inside me is ready to give up."
The room remained frozen, every breath held, as Suho stood there bare and unguarded, having finally chosen not power, not legacy, but love.
"I know none of you like her," Suho continued, his voice steady but bruised beneath the calm. "You believe she is the reason my life fell apart. You believe she is the reason the Kim family's name was dragged through the mud."
He inhaled deeply, as if gathering what little air his heart had left.
"But without her," he said quietly, "my life has no meaning. Without her, everything feels hollow. Without her… I feel abandoned."
The room stayed silent as his words settled.
"I can't erase what I feel for her," he went on, honesty pouring through every syllable."I can't undo the way I love her. I may have moved on from Yerin. I may have forgotten that chapter, for whatever reason fate decided." He shook his head slowly."But I can never do that with Hauen. Never. Not in this life."
His eyes were resolute now. No hesitation. No doubt.
"So I am choosing Hauen over everything," he said again.
Then he stepped forward and held out the envelope.
"And this," he added softly, placing it in Haraboji's hands, "are the legal documents I prepared."
Haraboji looked at the envelope as Suho continued.
"In these papers, I am giving up all my rights to the Kim family's assets. The wealth. The properties. The companies. The shares. The legacy." A pause. "Everything connected to the name Kim."
His voice did not waver.
"I have listed everything I could think of. Every right, every claim. And I am willingly surrendering them all, with the condition that neither my wife nor I will ever claim anything related to the Kim family as long as we are alive."
He exhaled slowly.
"If there is anything I may have missed, I have left a few sections blank. You may add them later."
His gaze finally lifted to his grandfather.
"I am taking only what I earned with my own hard work all these years," he said firmly. "Along with my name. My education. And the love and care you gave me since the day I was born."
Haraboji glared at him. But Suho didn't flinch.
"And I've withdrawn all the cases related to my accident. Every complaint. Every investigation."A faint, tired smile touched his lips. "After I leave, nothing connected to my wife or me will trouble this family anymore."
Then he bowed to Haraboji deeply.
"Thank you, Haraboji… for everything," he said, his voice soft but sincere. "I cherish and respect everything you taught me. Please forgive me if I ever hurt you, knowingly or unknowingly."
Before he could speak further, his father stood up abruptly, anger shimmering.
"Stop speaking nonsense, Suho," his father growled, grief cracking through the authority in his voice. "You're not leaving us."
Suho paused. Slowly, he turned halfway.
"You think you can make some foolish decision driven by infatuation for that woman, and we'll simply let you walk away?" his father snapped.
Suho stood still. His fingers curled into his palm, knuckles whitening, the silence around him growing heavy.
"Divorce her," his father continued coldly. "And move on. Don't behave like a lovesick child."
Suho inhaled deeply.
Then he turned fully to face his father.
There was no anger in his eyes. No rebellion. Just hollowness. A quiet, frightening emptiness.
"Do you love Omma, Appa?" he asked, his tone calm, almost gentle, yet threaded with disbelief.
His father glared at him.
"Answer me, Appa," Suho said again. "Do you love your wife?"
"Don't compare that woman to your mother," his father growled.
Suho studied him. Really studied him. Then a low, bitter chuckle slipped past his lips.
"Why are you so offended, Appa?" he asked softly. "I didn't compare Hauen to anyone." His gaze shifted briefly to his mother, who stood frozen, eyes trembling. "She doesn't need comparison," Suho continued. "She is complete on her own."
He looked back at his father, voice still calm, almost casual. "But that wasn't even my question. The question was simple."
He waited.
No answer came.
Suho let out another quiet chuckle, this one heavier, tired.