# Chapter 181
’42nd floor… that’s quite high.’
The floor number of the office I was told about was considerable. From there, I’d probably be able to see the entire surrounding landscape through the windows, with room to spare.
“This way, please.”
A man in a neat outfit guided Lee Hwan from the entrance. As expected of the Central Building, it was impressively tall, large, and luxurious.
Lee Hwan tried not to look around too much as he slowly followed the man ahead.
“Um, Kang Dongha…”
When he abruptly asked, the man’s eyes momentarily darted upward.
“He arrived earlier and is waiting for you.”
He had said they should go together, so why did he go up ahead? Lee Hwan grumbled inwardly as he stepped into the elevator.
That dissatisfaction smoothly disappeared when he entered Kang Dongying’s office.
The man knocked on the dark wooden door, and a calm voice was heard from inside.
“Come in.”
When the door opened, an enormous office with one wall made entirely of windows stretched before his eyes.
Kang Dongying and Kang Dongha were sitting on a sofa set up on one side. The two, seated across from each other with a table between them, didn’t seem to be on good terms.
No, more precisely, Kang Dongha seemed quite tense. In contrast, Kang Dongying was pouring another cup of tea with a relaxed expression and an easy smile.
“Please sit over here.”
Unlike his earlier words, Kang Dongying didn’t point or gesture to indicate where “here” was.
However, Lee Hwan immediately realized where he was supposed to sit. As soon as Kang Dongying spoke, Kang Dongha, who had been sitting across from him, automatically stood up and moved to the side seat.
Like a well-trained big dog.
His face appeared composed, but like someone under stress typically does, he was slightly clenching his teeth. Not daring to tighten his molars for fear it might show, just his front teeth.
Did he know that even this slight muscle movement was clearly visible to Awakened people? Lee Hwan swallowed the sound of clicking his tongue and sat down with a neat posture in the seat Kang Dongha had vacated.
“Your contact was late.”
His tone suggested that Lee Hwan had belatedly reached out, wanting to meet, and he had made time for it. But it didn’t seem like he was just mentally compensating for not being chosen.
He had simply erased Kang Dongha’s existence, who was sitting beside him.
Lee Hwan hesitated briefly. Should he point this out and pretend to be stupid with poor situational awareness, or just let it slide and listen further to what he had to say?
Taesung would probably prefer Lee Hwan to hide both his perceptiveness and intelligence, casually drink some tea, and then leave. Lee Hwan also thought that would be wise unless he intended to use this man for something immediately.
But then there would be no point in coming all this way. Since he was here in person, he should at least try to probe him to figure out what kind of person he was and to reference for future plans.
Some things, especially impressions of people, were better understood by seeing once rather than hearing a hundred times.
“Well, I wasn’t sure if you really wanted me to contact you, considering our meeting wasn’t exactly pleasant to begin with.”
Lee Hwan smiled slightly, putting on his social face. Being a field support Supporter occasionally meant being viewed as someone who does menial gate work in Awakened-related departments, so he’d gotten better at delivering subtle counters without getting caught.
He politely rephrased what was essentially “What did you expect when your first impression was garbage?” and a peculiar amusement flickered in Kang Dongying’s eyes.
He stared at Lee Hwan for a moment, then simply lifted his hand to the side and wiggled his fingers.
As if receiving telepathy, there was a knock at the door, and another man in a suit walked in.
Lee Hwan immediately recognized him as the man who had come to see him with Kang Dongying.
“I told you to greet him politely.”
An unexpected blame with no particular anger or disappointment. That day, the man had simply relayed Kang Dongying’s message without committing any other disrespectful act.
So if anyone was to blame for the unpleasantness, it would be Kang Dongying himself, who had sent strange messages and left without even getting out of the car. But like the chaebol heir he was, he excelled at dissociating himself from responsibility.
And then.
SMACK!
He suddenly tensed his shoulder and slapped the man’s cheek. The man staggered, quickly corrected his posture, and blood began to flow from his nose.
Lee Hwan barely hid his shocked expression and slightly turned his head to find Kang Dongha staring back at him with a rigidly frozen face.
‘Shit, seriously.’
Only then did he realize. Kang Dongying’s desire to see Lee Hwan wasn’t simply about his pride. He was warning Kang Dongha not to further upset him.
By making him bring Lee Hwan along and then creating this fucked-up atmosphere by putting on a show, picking an absurd fight.
“I’ll apologize on his behalf. And for my brother as well.”
‘I told him to come to me, but he brought Kang Dongha?’
“I think my message was a bit ambiguous last time. I should have explained properly.”
‘Is he not understanding what I’m saying?’
“By the way, how did you get to know Kang Taesung? Ah, this is just curiosity, since there’s no connection between you two.”
‘I’ve already investigated you from head to toe. What’s your relationship with him?’
His intentions were crystal clear through his words. But again, showing that he understood everything would likely cause trouble.
Lee Hwan hesitated briefly, then slightly relaxed the tension in his eyes. He took a sip of the prepared tea and exhaled. Like someone who had tried to act tough once but was now intimidated by the scene that had just unfolded.
“Actually, I haven’t been Awakened for very long.”
“Hmm.”
When he responded docilely, an ambiguous sound of encouragement followed, as if telling him to continue.
“I was planning to start work soon, so I stopped by Naru to look around, and on my way back, I tried using my ability in a nearby park, and that’s when I got caught… Ah, I’m definitely not unregistered. It’s just that I had really just Awakened…”
Lee Hwan rambled on with fake information that the other probably didn’t even want to hear. He focused on the ‘unregistered’ part, as if he was worried about being suspected during the period before official registration.
Kang Dongying sent a scrutinizing gaze, as if trying to verify the truth.
“So you completely moved in.”
A comment thrown out that could have been either a soliloquy or informal speech. It was a natural question. Was Kang Taesung the type to casually bring home some Awakened person he’d picked up?
If he lived that carelessly, he would have been in Kang Dongying’s grasp long ago.
“…Actually, I was originally scheduled to join Naru, but that overlapped a bit with my Awakening registration issue. He offered to help with that, so I followed him, and since there’s a guest master room and many other rooms, he said I could just stay…”
After the regression, Lee Hwan’s bank account was pathetically empty. His place was a single room, and despite the cold weather, the boiler would run intermittently.
If he had investigated, Kang Dongying probably knew Lee Hwan’s remaining balance in 2022 better than Lee Hwan himself.
Of course, even if he hadn’t lived in a poor house but a pigsty, it would be strange that Taesung would readily offer his home to a complete stranger, and that Lee Hwan would follow and live there so willingly…
He expected an immediate rebuttal. But surprisingly, the conversation broke off.
Lee Hwan licked his dry lips and gradually met Kang Dongying’s eyes, and suddenly interest reappeared on his face.
He shifted his gaze to Kang Dongha. Whatever he read in that expression, Lee Hwan could see from his peripheral vision that Kang Dongha nodded once.
“Hmm.”
A slightly twisted smile appeared on his lips, which had been feigning a proper impression. As if the threat was over, he finally gestured again.
The man who had been covering his nose with his suit sleeve bowed once and left the room.
“So that’s how he recruits talent. Extraordinary.”
Again, it was a mutter that could have been either informal speech or just talking to himself. Kang Dongha seized the opportunity to interject.
“I only met him recently too. Since his ability is quite unique, the Awakened management department was eager to scout him, so I went on Father’s orders… but Kang Taesung needed to give his permission before he would accept the position.”
“That’s… not really it. I just tend to think things through carefully.”
Lee Hwan immediately pretended to be flustered, blushing as he answered. Kang Dongying’s expression didn’t change, making it obvious what was going through his mind.
Right now, Lee Hwan’s personal information was probably flashing through his head.
Orphan. Cut off from relatives. Grew up without proper protection and no guardian. No close friends. No proper social experience. Admitted to a prestigious university but frequently took leaves of absence due to tuition issues, eventually dropping out. Bank account balance living day to day.
He would appear to be someone easily swayed by even slight attention. This way, Lee Hwan’s dismissal of Kang Dongying and meeting with Kang Dongha becomes a result of his naivety and being in Taesung’s pocket.
Kang Dongha, as he claims, was upset that his brother wouldn’t include him, so he begged his father, and following his father’s orders, targeted Taesung to meet Lee Hwan.
Kang Dongying was simply a bit late in a situation where finders are keepers. His pride no longer needed to be wounded.
He looked Lee Hwan up and down briefly.
“Must have been an easy catch.”
With that unpleasant assessment, ironically, the frozen atmosphere thawed again.
Lee Hwan’s intentional sigh served as a signal, and Kang Dongha hesitantly began to ask about cooperation with the researchers.
* * *
“It ended more smoothly than Kang Taesung was worried about. He was freaking out saying he’s a pervert.”
As he muttered that it was fortunate, watching the brown-haired man leave the building, Kang Dongha’s lips twitched.
His brother was someone who didn’t show weakness even to his family, but having grown up as his stress outlet, he had unintentionally witnessed various behaviors.
Kang Dongying had never once caused sexual problems like other chaebol heirs. Of course, he couldn’t know his brother’s sex life and had no desire to know, but he could certainly be sure that the term “pervert” didn’t come from there.
Still…
‘He is a pervert, though.’
He was someone who enjoyed seeing talented people trembling before him. He was an employer who gave generous carrots as much as he wielded the whip, but the collar he placed beforehand was sturdier than titanium.
For example, one of the Awakened he kept in the research building had received an A-class rating six years ago and had been courted by all companies. If he hadn’t been bound to Kang Dongying, he would now be a famous Hunter frequently seen on TV, working for any major corporation.
But he had a youngest sibling who had contracted a rare disease from exposure to gate mana. Coincidentally, some medications developed from research in Building D showed effects on the worsening condition.
‘Unfortunate or fortunate.’
Currently, his family resides in a safe neighborhood in central Seoul, and his sibling is being maintained in a VIP room at Naru Hospital.
Kang Dongying enjoyed collecting promising talents this way, keeping them under his control, and whipping them.
