She, who had been staring blankly ahead, soon swept up her disheveled hair with her slender fingers. Earrings studded with small jewels jingled.
Kyungrok, covering her mouth with her hand, took two deep breaths to handle the shock. Though they shared only half their blood, Jungok sometimes said they were definitely siblings at times like this.
“Since when?”
“It’s been quite a while. But did you really rush all the way here before business hours to talk about this?”
“What?”
“I understand you’re somewhat shocked given the domestic social atmosphere. But this is ultimately my private life. I absolutely cannot let this slide.”
Kyungwoo, who had sorted out his shock before his opponent, put force into his eyes. He absolutely could not tolerate this kind of behavior of digging into someone’s background. The kind of respect he had held for Kyungrok was completely shattered.
“You’ve become quite sordid, Noona. Having someone tail your grown brother just because you don’t like him.”
At those words, this time Kyungrok’s eyes widened. Her tightly closed red lips trembled faintly.
“Say that to Dad.”
As Kyungwoo furrowed his brow, Kyungrok continued with a nervous laugh.
“And the one who had someone tailed wasn’t you, it was Seo Jaeha.”
“How does Father know Seo Jaeha?”
Kyungwoo couldn’t believe Kyungrok’s words.
“You think I was the one who cultivated Assemblyman Hwang, right? I was in charge of Assemblyman Hwang around the time you returned to Korea.”
It was accurate.
“Wasn’t it?”
“Assemblyman Hwang has been calling Dad ‘hyung-nim’ and ‘dongsaeng’ since his early days in politics. No matter how washed-up and sordid he’s become, that connection still remains. If you wanted to eliminate Assemblyman Hwang, you should have quietly cut him out politically. You shouldn’t have made it so loud in the newspapers by prosecuting a sitting assemblyman for sexual harassment.”
“So you’re saying you’ve been monitoring Seo Jaeha?”
Kyungwoo clenched his fist.
“If Director Oh hadn’t brought this to me first, saying he didn’t think it was right to show this directly to the chairman before reporting to Dad, you’d be dealing with Dad right now instead of me.”
His spine went ice cold. Kyungwoo wasn’t yet capable of dealing with Taeryoung Chairman Jung Taeho. He might immediately have his hands and feet bound and be kicked out after receiving a social death sentence equivalent to becoming half a cripple.
However, judging by Kyungrok’s attitude, she didn’t seem about to immediately take the photos to the chairman’s office. Like Director Oh who had contacted Kyungrok first, Kyungrok had come to find Kyungwoo, the person involved, with the photos first.
“What do you want from me?”
When he asked point-blank, Kyungrok shot him a cold glare.
“You’re thinking very lightly of this. Is this a joke to you?”
“It’s not a joke, which is why I’m telling you this. Believe it or not, I have no intention of shaking my relationship with Seo Jaeha right now.”
“What?”
“I know why you came to me directly, Noona. You want to quietly make this go away. But I can’t do that.”
“This is really.”
It was the first time he’d seen Kyungrok this angry. Without a trace of laughter, she clenched her fist just like Kyungwoo and glared at her brother as if to kill him.
“You. If Dad finds out about this, your life is over. You know that, right?”
“Isn’t that something you don’t want either, which is why you came to me? Because you need me.”
“Right. I need you. But what do you think the reason is?”
“Because you can’t lose an ally in the power struggle with Vice Chairman Jung Taesu?”
“Ha! Bullshit.”
It was the first curse word he’d heard through those beautiful lips. Kyungrok snorted and stood up, crossing her arms. Then she looked at Kyungwoo with contempt.
“Why would I regret losing a contrary brother who’s never properly kept pace with Dad and me? Taeryoung did better when you weren’t here. Don’t be mistaken.”
“Then what is it?”
Kyungwoo, who had no intention of losing to his aggressive sister, likewise stood up from his seat and looked down at Kyungrok with an arrogant posture, his hands stuffed in his pants pockets.
“Park Jungok.”
“What?”
“The reason I need you is because Park Jungok, my precious mother, wants you. Nothing more, nothing less.”
It was an unexpected answer. He knew that his sister and mother, who didn’t share a drop of blood, had a closer bond than he did with them as blood relatives, but he didn’t know they were close enough to speak so freely about it.
“What do you mean by that?”
“You use that to cruelly hurt Mom for life and you don’t know?”
“Hurt.”
At those words, this time Kyungwoo snorted.
“In a family that doesn’t really feel like family, if there’s someone who could be hurt… Well. I don’t think it would be Mother.”
“You’re the only one who’s pitiful your whole life, right? Right?”
Kyungrok’s voice as she pressed him was tinged with anger along with resentment, and deep pain.
“Why would you say that? Personally, I’ve never thought of myself as pitiful.”
“Really?”
“But judging objectively, if there must be a pitiful existence in the family, the possibility that it’s me isn’t small.”
At those words, Kyungrok burst into a laugh like a scoff.
“Right. That’s Jung Kyungwoo.”
Kyungrok, who let out a long sigh, raised her head and threw an icy cold gaze.
“You’re not the only victim of that incident. Maybe there’s a victim who’s still enduring blame and guilt instead of attention and sympathy even now.”
It was impossible not to know who the long explanation was referring to.
“She seems just as fine as I am.”
“You really don’t know anything.”
Her red lips twisted.
“Well, you conveniently lost your memory too. It’s no wonder, since you were separated from the house like an arctic desert where blood dries day by day, and from the family’s gaze that was dry and stinging enough to burn your skin.”
“Is that my fault?”
“I didn’t say it was your fault.”
Before he knew it, the excitement had disappeared from Kyungrok and coldness had taken its place.
“Mom did her best for you. If you can’t feel it, stuff it in your head and memorize it.”
“I don’t know what best she did when she didn’t even come see me in person until I returned to Korea. Ah, as for the enormous medical expenses, living expenses, and educational expenses, I acknowledge and appreciate her contribution. Because of that, I endure the disgust and play along with this uncomfortable family game…”
Slap!
Kyungwoo’s head turned. Even though it was a slender wrist, perhaps because it was a surprise attack, the impact was greater than expected.
He reflexively touched his burning cheek, then lowered his hand. Kyungwoo was the one who got hit, but the person whose eyes were trembling in pain was his opponent.
“Stop acting spoiled. You ignorant hoodlum bastard.”
“Physical violence seems a bit excessive.”
“Disgusting family game? That family that became rags and rotted away after you disappeared, I pulled it together to get here. That Park Jungok you so despise, that person rotting from the inside like a living corpse, I picked her up.”
Sparks flew from her terrifying eyes.
“I don’t care if you don’t think of us as family. It doesn’t matter to me whether you consider her your mother or not. But I can’t forgive you for looking down on the family I’ve protected and hurting my mother.”
While saying this, Kyungrok picked up the bag that had fallen on the floor.
“This matter won’t pass easily. No, even if it could, I won’t let it.”
“If you touch me, will that Park Jungok you love so much just stay still?”
Kyungrok, who had just turned around, threw a blade-like glance from the corner of her eye.
“A remark worse than an animal, you know you said it carelessly, right?”
“I got slapped for no reason, so I should at least give that much in return.”
“Such deep consideration, I should thank you.”
Kyungrok walked click-clack toward the firmly closed entrance.
“I won’t touch you. I don’t use such one-dimensional methods with little impact. For whose benefit?”
Kyungrok, holding the door handle, turned back to look at Kyungwoo one last time.
“I won’t tell Dad. That’s a big concession. No matter how much of a hoodlum you are, as your older sister, I can’t just let you die at Dad’s hands, right?”
Though it was clearly a metaphor, it sounded like a murder threat.
Bang.
Click-clack. Click-clack. Click-clack.
Just as when she had appeared, Kyungrok walked away without stopping even once.
“Executive Director?”
The secretary appeared from outside, looked inside, and hardened his expression.
“No need to come in. I’ll handle it myself, so don’t disturb me for a while.”
“Understood.”
The secretary quietly closed the door. Kyungwoo slowly sat down and stared at the scattered photos on the desk.
“You’re the only one who’s pitiful, right?”
“Mom did her best.”
The words Kyungrok left behind became echoes that confused his mind. His cheek began to burn more and more. He pressed his palm, which had cooled to the point of numbness, against it to cool the heat.
“Ignorant hoodlum bastard.”
It was too emotional to dismiss as words thrown deliberately to attack. As if there was something hidden. But Kyungwoo erased that thought.
“What does it matter?”
More urgent than that was the warning Kyungrok had left. She said she wouldn’t touch him. If they clashed directly, his mother couldn’t not know about it.
She would definitely start from somewhere other than the dining table awkwardly arranged like doll play. Without even thinking, Kyungrok’s target was one.
Seo Jaeha.
Kyungwoo took out his cell phone and pressed a familiar name in his recent call list.
When the signal went through, the other party answered immediately.
—I’m busy, why do you keep calling? We talked during your commute too.
Hearing the man’s voice, forcibly suppressing his welcoming tone and pretending to be cold, made the area around his heart tingle.
At the same time, something like a hot lump surged up. He missed the timing to answer while swallowing it down.
Not wanting to be caught in the childish situation of choking up from fighting with his sister, he held the cell phone away a bit and cleared his throat again.
—Why aren’t you saying anything? Hello?
“Um… I have something urgent to say… Seo.”
—…Is something wrong?
“Something annoying came up.”
—What is it that your voice sounds like that?
He suddenly wondered what kind of expression the other person had while saying this.
“What about my voice?”
Silent response. Did the call suddenly disconnect?
“Seo Jaeha?”
—…You sound like you’re crying.
“What?”
—I said you sound like you’re crying.
For a moment, the lump he thought he’d swallowed surged up again. To firmly suppress it, Kyungwoo leaned his head back while holding the cell phone to his ear.
Creak.
The leather chair supported his weakly slumping body. He glared at the translucent beige blinds, then closed his eyes.
With his other hand, he firmly pressed his glabella and the bridge of his nose, blocking the moisture rising in his eyes and nasal passages.
“What kind of bullshit is that? Why would I be crying?”
—Should I come there now?
He was slightly taken aback by the sudden suggestion. Why were there so many people trying to barge in today?
“What about work? Don’t just throw out random words. You modern-day public servant.”
Kyungwoo, who deflected with a deliberately joking tone, hoped his voice didn’t sound too pathetic to the other person.
