When we arrived, Aunty Jihyun was not joking when she said the property was big. The building I saw was a Hanok type of house stretched on one side of the road.
On the front, I could see the storefront attached to the main building. The store was also in a Hanok-style building. The combination of the wood pillars, the white walls, and the stone texture makes the storefront look inviting and cozy.
The roof was the highlight. The roofing edges (Giwa) look like waves in the ocean along with the roof tile on top and the wooden beams underneath it adding more to the characteristics of the building.
On the side, connected to the storefront, was the half wall covering the house's main building. On the side of the wall, there was also a Hanok-style gate. The gate was around 2 m in height. It was also covered with a roof along with a roof tile like the rest of the half wall.
Aunty parked her car right in front of the storefront building. We got out and took out some boxes filled with items we were bringing from my apartment. I followed Aunty who opened the lock on the gate and went through it.
When I walked in through the gate, I continued to notice how big the main property was.
Beyond the gate lay a big front yard. The grass covering the supposed lawn was overgrown but not like it had been neglected for years. I followed the stone pathway from the gate which ran through the entire lawn toward the front porch steps of the building.
As I stood below the steps in front of the front door, I commented, "It's a surprise that my dad didn't take ownership of this property from Mom."
"Yeah, he can't even if he tries. I believe your grandparents knew the true nature of that man, and so they made arrangements with their lawyers for this house to only be inherited by your mom's child which is you." Aunty Jihyun answered my mumbling as she put down her boxes and went back to the car to grab the rest of the boxes.
"It was inherited to me?" I said in disbelief.
I never met my grandparents before because they died when I was 5 years old. But even before that, we never visited them and they also couldn't see us. So it was a surprise to hear that.
Well, they might be quite desperate because of how blinded and isolated Mom was then.
"Yup, they left it for you. Your grandparents' lawyer was clever enough to not publish it and just keep a low profile about the situation. They must know how dangerous that man would be if he knew that your mom has money." Aunty Jihyun answered as she put down the new boxes she brought from the car.
That must be why they were afraid their only daughter was still naive and would give everything she owned for her love at that time.
Aunty Jihyun opened the front door and walked inside with the boxes.
Inside we were greeted by a spacious living room that was also connected to the kitchen on the left side. Beyond the living room, there was a large floor-to-ceiling window. It showed the back courtyard view. There was also a hallway attached to the living room that led to each wing.
I walked around the house after putting down the last boxes in the living room area.
The right-wing was connected to the master living quarters, including a bedroom and bathroom. Opposite the master bedroom, there was a sliding door window that could lead to the back courtyard.
On the left wing was connected to 2 spare bedrooms and a bathroom. At the end of the left-wing hallway, there was also a storage room.
All of the interiors of the rooms were in the style of modern hanok. All of the floor was wooden floor, and the rooms' structure was held up by many wooden pillars and beams.
The house exceeded my expectations, and I could hardly contain my excitement.
"Rin, which room will you take?" Aunty Jihyun asked as she was briefing the mover.
"I think I'm going to take the master bedroom, Aunty" I answered excitedly.
Then she asked the mover and some cleaning helper who came to help us move the entire items that I brought here and also clean the empty house so it could be liveable for her.
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Once everything was finished and the house was also cleaned enough it was already nighttime.
Sadly, Aunty Jihyun said she couldn't stay for too long. She needed to go back to the tower to finish up the scheduled climb for this month.
"Goodbye, Rin. Make sure you stay safe when I'm gone. I'll come once I truly finish with the tower for this month." Aunty Jihyun hugged me as I bid her off to the gate.
"Hmm, Aunty. I'll be waiting for your call." I hugged her back tightly.
"Hmm. Be safe Rin. If anything happens, make sure to use the artifact that I gave you. Okay?" She said it while looking at me closely in the eyes.
"Hmm, I will." I nodded trying to reassure her.
Then Aunty went to her car and drove past the quiet neighborhood.
I waved and watched until I couldn't see her car anymore.
Back in the house I already ordered some dinner for today. I prepared the clean utensils from the kitchen and sat on the dining chair that overlooked the back courtyard.
I opened the plastic bag that contained the food I ordered and placed it in front of me.
While eating I looked at Mom's picture that I put on the table to accompany me tonight.
"Sad that you couldn't be here Mom. I always wonder why you never mention anything about my grandparents or the life that you had here."
"But it's okay. Maybe I can find more traces of you here or ask Aunty if she knows more about it." Then I cleaned up the table after I was done eating.
That night, I lay down on the big and soft mattress in my new room. I closed my eyes happily, as I couldn't wait to start the new journey.