So when Ganghyuk wasn’t in the hospital room, he kept trying to hide under the blankets. Even though he knew it was ridiculous behavior, doing so was the only way to relieve some tension from his stiffened shoulders.
As such, the possibility of Ian liking someone new in the future, especially an alpha, had to be considered nearly zero.
He knew she was asking out of concern for him, but as the atmosphere became strange, Ian felt slightly resentful of Soyeon.
Ganghyuk seemed lost in thought at Soyeon’s question. Looking at his downcast eyelashes, Ian nervously bit his lower lip.
In Ian’s mind, the more insecure person in their relationship was himself. He was penniless with nothing but debt and a gambling-addicted father, but Ganghyuk was not only a director of a respectable company but also had a lot of money. The number of subordinates following him was by no means small either.
Moreover, he was a dominant alpha, tall, with a great body, and incredibly handsome. Among the celebrities on TV, Ian had never seen anyone more attractive than Ganghyuk.
On top of that, Ian was the one who liked him first. He was the one who realized his feelings first and confessed in a hurry.
The person who felt uncomfortable about the age difference was Ganghyuk, not Ian. Ian was too young, so at first, Ganghyuk didn’t want to accept his feelings.
As past times came to mind, Ian grew increasingly anxious. It wouldn’t happen, but what if Ganghyuk heard Soyeon’s words and changed his mind and said they should break up—his eyes went dark.
“That could happen. But I intend to do well so he won’t feel that way.”
A low voice cut through the endlessly negative thoughts in one stroke. Ganghyuk interlaced his fingers with Ian’s. It didn’t hurt, but he could feel a strong will as if nothing in the world could break it.
Ian’s expression, which had been on the verge of tears, gradually relaxed. He tried to control his twitching lips by rolling them inward, but it was no use. His eyes were already crinkling pleasantly, showing how much he liked it.
“So please watch over us from now on. How the two of us get along. And if I do anything wrong to Ian, please tell me without hesitation. To Ian, you two are like family.”
Not only was the previous statement moving, but the words that followed completely broke down the hearts of not just Ian, but Okjeong and Soyeon as well.
“I can see why Ian likes you so much. Ah, I suddenly miss my lover. Please take good care of our Ian. And I trust you’ll keep what you just said.”
“Yes.”
“…Thank you.”
Okjeong thanked Ganghyuk with reddened eyes. While holding today’s 49th-day memorial, she had thought a lot about Yeon Cheolho, and worries about Ian had welled up.
From what she had observed, she knew Ganghyuk wasn’t a bad person, but she was convinced that Ian’s sudden hospitalization this time wasn’t unrelated to him.
Since the child was already exposed to danger, she thought it might be better for him to stay under Ganghyuk’s shadow, but then she also thought that he was still young and it didn’t seem right for him to live seeing only Ganghyuk. So even knowing Soyeon’s questions were somewhat rude, she had let it be.
But Ganghyuk gave an even more satisfying answer than expected. If he didn’t truly cherish and care for Ian, he wouldn’t have answered such questions but would have stormed out of the room.
People in high positions, looked up to by many, tended to have strong pride.
She also liked the expression “like family.” She had inwardly regarded Ian as a grandson, but hearing that the person Ian liked saw it that way too made her resolve to truly trust and watch over them firm.
“Don’t ask questions like this anymore. Understood, noona?”
Ian, stuck close to Ganghyuk’s side, spoke to Soyeon in a serious voice. His eyes were full of strength too, his eyebrows drawn together in a rather grave expression.
“Of course. I’m a person with manners. I wouldn’t have asked such questions if it weren’t someone you’re dating, Ian.”
“…I know.”
At Soyeon’s words, spoken as if somewhat hurt while narrowing her eyes, Ian made an awkward expression. He thought it was truly fortunate. That adults like Okjeong and Soyeon were by his side.
Without the two of them, Ian would probably have lived a much lonelier, harder, and more depressed life after Grandfather passed away. Meeting Ganghyuk was good fortune, but having proper adults by his side was also a blessing from heaven.
“Anyway, it’s fortunate. If I didn’t like the answer, I would have grabbed his pant leg and stopped it. You ended up with your first love. I’m so jealous, really.”
Soyeon’s strength and weakness was being excessively honest. As even the content of romance consultations they’d had in secret before getting together with Ganghyuk came tumbling out, Ian made a groaning sound and buried his face in Ganghyuk’s shoulder.
Ganghyuk chuckled and stroked the top of Ian’s head. Then he pressed his lips to Ian’s ear and whispered softly. In a small voice that Okjeong and Soyeon sitting across from them could barely hear.
“You’re my first love too.”
Surprised, Ian raised his head and their eyes immediately met. At the eyes filled with brilliant affection, Ian ended up bursting into tears.
The tear ducts he had held back throughout the 49th-day memorial were helpless against the unexpected confession. Ganghyuk wiped the thick teardrops streaming down his cheeks with a gentle touch.
“I made you cry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“……Please tell me again later.”
Ian said, tightly grasping Ganghyuk’s hand. He wanted to kiss him right now, but he couldn’t with Okjeong and Soyeon in front of them.
He wanted to feel once more the emotion that filled his heart at this moment. When he looked at him with earnest eyes, Ganghyuk smiled softly and lightly kissed Ian’s nose bridge.
“Okay.”
At the affectionate display sweet enough to give her goosebumps, Soyeon grabbed Okjeong’s arm with a sour expression. She leaned forward and whispered quietly.
“Now that I’m looking, there was no need to worry at all, right? Wow, I can’t believe that person can make such an expression. I guess you really can’t judge people just by their appearance.”
“It’s fortunate he found a good match.”
The two weren’t even married yet, and as Soyeon said, no one knew what would happen in the future, but Okjeong thought this was good enough as she watched Ian looking happy.
Rather than meeting someone similar in age who wasn’t mature, such a relaxed person suited Ian well. Once Hyoseong-dong was redeveloped and everyone scattered, she wouldn’t be able to look after Ian like before, so wouldn’t it be strange to interfere more?
‘Old Man Yeon, now you can really close your eyes in peace.’
Okjeong let out a small sigh and smiled faintly as she remembered her old friend. The long, long winter was finally coming to an end.
The clear sound of birds coming through the open window announced spring.
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“Executive Director, we’ve secured CCTV footage of Yeon Cheolho-nim’s hit-and-run driver. We couldn’t find footage near the accident, but we tracked the roads the car could have taken out of that alley and searched all the nearby CCTVs, and we found traces.”
After receiving Ganghyuk’s orders to find the hit-and-run driver, Jaehyun hired experts and investigated all the CCTV from convenience stores, gas stations, and bus stops on the escape route.
When he pieced together the footage like a puzzle, one old gray sedan with a dented front bumper was caught. Judging by the time stamped on the footage, it was definitely the bastard who hit Yeon Cheolho with his car and ran away.
While tracking the vehicle number, he found footage showing the hit-and-run driver’s face. He mobilized police connections and discovered the vehicle exiting a tollgate, and secured footage clearly showing the front of the vehicle from the CCTV at the tollgate entrance.
When he enlarged the footage, the face of a middle-aged man appeared. Ganghyuk’s face hardened frighteningly. Jaehyun also wore a troubled expression.
“I’ve met many bastards in my life, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen one this much of a son of a bitch.”
The culprit who appeared in the footage resembled Ian. It was Yeon Sangmin. Even though he was in the middle of running away after hitting his own father with his car, the bastard in the footage was grinning.
“It appears he planned the crime with an eye on the inheritance. He must have known that if Yeon Cheolho-nim died, he himself would become the first heir as the son. Just looking at how he came to Ian-nim right after the funeral to cause trouble and immediately put the restaurant building up for sale makes it clear he’s the culprit.”
