“<I apologize for any inconvenience.>”
A handsome man with golden hair and golden eyes extended his hand.
“Hello. I’m Alejandro Lee. My Korean name is Lee Jeonghun.”
He continued in quite fluent Korean, then brushed his hair back as if embarrassed.
“<Surprising, isn’t it? With this face, but I’m half Korean, half Spanish. Haram is a quarter.>”
“Dad.”
“Hm?”
At that moment, Lee Haram narrowed his eyes and said,
“‘Get away from Gunho hyung.'”
It was fluent Spanish, the first time I’d heard it from Lee Haram.
My Spanish was only at a basic conversational level, but the content wasn’t difficult, so I could understand the nuance.
“‘Why?'”
“‘Because hyung doesn’t like it.'”
As Lee Haram said, even while I was shaking Alejandro’s hand, my body had pulled back slightly to avoid the pheromones.
To a third party, wouldn’t I have looked like a cat twisting its body away from being touched?
Alejandro stared at Lee Haram, then smiled brightly.
“‘Ah. Are you jealous?'”
“‘No! It’s because Gunho hyung is having a hard time!'”
Though I didn’t know what they were saying, watching the two bicker was truly fascinating.
With two identical golden-haired beauties standing side by side, they were like doppelgangers.
“‘Ah, anyway. Try reducing your pheromones a bit!'”
“‘Pheromones? Why?'”
“‘Just reduce them!'”
As his son threw a stubborn tantrum, Alejandro’s gaze fixed on me.
Under that piercing stare, cold sweat seemed to run down my spine.
“<Mm, in that case.>”
In that moment, the air changed.
“<Is this level acceptable?>”
“……!”
The pheromones disappeared.
As if they had never existed, the weight pressing on my body vanished and the air became clear.
‘He’s even more skilled at control than Haram……?’
It was far more delicate control than the 0.1% increments Lee Haram had mentioned.
“<Haram. When you suddenly came to Spain before and threw such a tantrum asking me to teach you control methods. So it was all for this?>”
“Ah, why would you say that……”
So the ‘training’ Lee Haram had mentioned before was referring to when he suddenly left for Spain around middle school.
In the midst of this, I could tell his intention in switching to English. Alejandro gave me a wink, closing one eye.
‘Europeans……’
I was already half-overwhelmed by the abundant gestures rarely seen in Korea.
Meanwhile, Kim Jaewook was enjoying himself, drinking among the mixed foreign and Korean staff. That guy, as I’ve felt before, has amazing social skills.
“Hyung, I’m late with introductions, but this is my dad. He came to Korea for a bit. I was going to tell you later, but I didn’t think I’d be introducing you today……”
“<I heard you’ve become good friends with Haram. Thank you. I’ll be staying briefly for matters related to VivaPlay’s Korean branch.>”
Alejandro continued with a smile.
“<I’ve been so busy until now that I couldn’t even find time to come to Korea, but I finally got the opportunity. Fortunately for us, even in the economic downturn, we have no time to rest.>”
He looked me straight in the eye and said,
“<In a way, you could say it’s thanks to you.>”
“……”
“<That VivaPlay was blessed with work.>”
I chose silence instead of answering.
“But Dad, how do you know Gunho hyung? I mean, I’ve shown you Dad’s picture occasionally, sure.”
“<That’s a secret.>”
“Ah, what is it! I’m curious.”
“<I’ll tell you someday.>”
The fact that he already knew my face and name, and those words too.
Alejandro openly showed that he’d wanted to meet me for a while.
When he pulled out a cigarette pack from his pocket, Lee Haram scolded him.
“I told you to quit smoking.”
“<Sorry, Haram. Just for today.>”
“You always say that.”
Alejandro then asked me,
“<Shall we step outside for a moment, Gunho?>”
* * *
“So, um. Alejandro…… Haram’s father?”
“<You can call me Alec. Or Jeonghun is fine too. ‘Ahjussi’ works as well.>”
Calling someone who only looked to be in their early thirties ‘ahjussi’ seemed a bit much.
A pure Korean name like Jeonghun didn’t suit him either, so there was only one option left.
“<Then, Alec-ssi.>”
“<Yes. Gunho-ssi.>”
I got straight to the point with the good-naturedly smiling golden-haired handsome man, Alejandro.
“<Did you hear about me from the Chairman?>”
“<……Chairman Baek is not at fault.>”
He immediately continued his answer.
It was as if he already knew I would ask this question.
“<I pestered him for years to find out. The reason he suddenly changed his mind about continuing investment in our company, and the decisive trigger for it.>”
Alejandro put the cigarette pack he’d been holding back in his pocket, then continued with a somewhat serious expression.
“<Baek Gunho. I’ve heard many good things about you.>”
“<……They must have all been empty flattery.>”
“<No. Every single one was sincere. That you’re the unique genius of the Baekil owner family and an innovative future talent…….>”
“That’s not true. Not at all.”
I firmly expressed my refusal before more embarrassing words could come out.
Then I asked him a question.
“<Does Haram know about this…….?>”
“<I didn’t tell him. I thought you wouldn’t want that.>”
He, who had been taking in the Seoul night view, turned his gaze to me.
“<I understand your position a little, having heard it from Chairman Baek and CEO Baek Yeonhui. Looking at your actions…… anyone can see you want to live quietly.>”
“……”
“<It must have been difficult.>”
Then he said with calmly sunken eyes,
“<This is presumptuous of me, but I was once in a similar situation, so I understand well. Your courage to take action in such circumstances, I couldn’t help but be deeply impressed by it.>”
And he bowed his head.
His waist bent deeply, almost reaching a right angle.
“I sincerely thank you, Gunho-ssi.”
“……”
“Whether it was for Haram, or for some other reason. You saved the lives of our family and colleagues.”
It was Korean, not English.
In the precise pronunciation, like letters pressed down firmly one by one, traces of practiced pronunciation remained.
“To me, you are an irreplaceable benefactor.”
“……Please raise your head. I didn’t really do anything. I just lightly added a word, so to say I saved lives is……”
“<Then we were saved by that one word.>”
Just how long had he wanted to meet me to convey these words?
“<It was our lives. It was a company like my child, on which I’d staked all my youth and everything.>”
I wanted to shake my head at the continued heavy praise, but.
“<Thank you.>”
I couldn’t reject his sincere feelings.
When I just stood still, not knowing how to react, he suddenly let out a deep sigh.
“<But what should I do about this, it’s troubling.>”
“<What trouble…… do you mean?>”
“<Treating you to one meal today absolutely cannot fully repay this debt.>”
“<You don’t need to repay it.>”
“<Rather, even if I acquired this restaurant, building and all, and transferred it to you, it wouldn’t be enough.>”
“<You really don’t need to repay it.>”
I was slightly tempted but it didn’t seem like a joke, so I refused with a straight face.
Whether he didn’t hear my answer or ignored it, he continued speaking without hesitation as if he had a prepared script.
“<I heard this is your last semester of university. Do you have any particular path in mind after graduation?>”
“<Path…… you mean career or employment? No. Not yet.>”
“<Though we’re just a roughly run venture company level. I’m confident we have the power to protect at least one young man in his twenties.>”
Protect……?
Before I could understand what he meant, he pulled something out from his pocket.
A small piece of paper came out of a metal case smaller than his palm.
[Alejandro Lee, Lee Jeonghun
VivaPlay CEO / CSO]
A business card.
He spoke in Korean.
“Won’t you work with me, Gunho-ssi?”
* * *
“……So that brilliant plan of yours.”
Yu Gojun crossed his legs and propped his chin.
“You incite a fight between brothers and choose whichever side survives. Is that it?”
Sitting on the sofa across from him was a bleached-hair Alpha, Baek Jeongwoo.
He was Yu Gojun’s old friend.
“Haven’t you thought about the worst case where both of them turn against you?”
“So what if they turn against me. They’re all going to be my stepping stones anyway. This is just a kind of entertainment for me. Wouldn’t it be profitable if even one of them gets hooked?”
“……”
“At least Baek Gunho, that bastard is bound to cling to me.”
Yu Gojun recalled the incident at the party a few days ago.
“I don’t know, seeing how he and Kang Sanghun had such a hostile atmosphere? What makes you so confident?”
“It’s his position.”
“Position, you mean as the Beta younger brother?”
“There’s something like that. I can’t go into detail yet.”
Yu Gojun opened and closed his mouth as if he had much to say, then sighed and closed it again.
Knowing his temperament of needing to push through like a bulldozer once he’d decided on something, he quickly gave up, knowing that whatever he said would be like reading sutras to a cow’s ear.
“Well. Contrary to your intentions, the brothers seemed to get along very well though? I’ve never seen an Alpha helplessly held by a Beta before.”
That man who suddenly appeared.
He left a powerful impression that wouldn’t fade from everyone’s minds who had been there.
“Is that Baek Gunho person sick somewhere? I was shocked to see him suddenly spitting blood.”
“Why should I care? Whether he’s sick or not.”
Baek Jeongwoo shrugged exaggeratedly and gulped down the glass filled with amber liquid.
Alcohol, in broad daylight.
“Anyway, I’ll choose whichever side shows sincerity to me first and drag it out for a long time. Since I have plenty of time, leisurely……”
Then a phone notification sound rang.
Baek Jeongwoo rushed over like a shot and snatched up his phone.
“……What leisure.”
Yu Gojun sneered from behind, but Baek Jeongwoo wasn’t in the right mind for that.
“Fuck, what the hell have you been doing that you’re only contacting me now, you fucker……!”
Baek Jeongwoo habitually spat out curses, then the image of someone bleeding from the nose flashed through his mind.
This wasn’t like him. He knew that.
Still, he couldn’t help but ask.
“Ah, no. So, um…… your body……”
Just as he was stammering on like that.
– Hey! Sorry about that! Did I go too long without contact?
“……”
– But even if you miss your grand-uncle, cursing isn’t right, man! So thoughtless!
At the hearty voice coming through the receiver, Baek Jeongwoo’s face scrunched up completely. It wasn’t who he’d expected.
– Have you been well! My nephew!
