“I… I… can I get out of the car?”
“No. Don’t worry. Nothing too serious will happen.”
“…….”
“I’ve already sent a separate message to Haejeong.”
“…What? About what……”
“That I’m taking Im Munyeong to the main house in Pyeongchangdong.”
“…….”
“Did you hear? What Haejeong did.”
“…….”
“It seems like you knew, and with that look on your face you followed him all the way to the company.”
Yeon Juhyeok read him with sharp precision. He continued speaking, emotionless, as though he already knew every detail of the situation.
“I heard you met his mother too. And that you haven’t seen Haejeong since then.”
“……You… know everything.”
“How could I not.”
“…….”
“One phone call is all it takes to know every step of Im Munyeong’s life history.”
“…….”
“Do you understand? What kind of people you’re dealing with here.”
It was a statement that carried a subtle pressure. But it wasn’t an atmosphere of intimidation. It seemed to be nothing more than a statement meant to make him clearly aware of the reality of his situation. Yeon Juhyeok quietly looked over the shrunken Munyeong and leisurely opened his mouth once more.
“It looked like you ran away knowing that.”
“…….”
“The fact that you came back means you’ve braced yourself to some degree, I’d think?”
“…It, it’s not that I came with that kind of resolve. It’s just — I was worried about Haejeong….”
“Ha. Of all things, worrying about that guy….”
“…….”
“Not only is he out there being with a man, he’s the one who made the adults faint over who that man is. And you’re worried about someone like that?”
He let out a baffled, hollow laugh as if he genuinely couldn’t comprehend it. Munyeong’s words seemed to have left him utterly dumbfounded.
In the end, it was confirmed — what Chu Dowon had said was true. Munyeong lowered his eyes and exhaled a silent sigh. This is truly maddening.
“The company’s been turned completely upside down because of him and he hasn’t shown his face once.”
“…….”
“That guy right now, just how far off the rails he’s…. Ha. Never mind. I feel like I’m saying things I shouldn’t.”
Yeon Juhyeok, as if a wave of fury was rising in him, let the words spill out in a choked voice before catching himself. Perhaps deciding that going further would only hurt his own dignity, he pulled himself back properly and held his tongue. Whether there had been a great deal happening in the meantime, just the thought of his younger brother had Yeon Juhyeok’s fists trembling faintly.
Just then, the car began to pass through the gates of a large estate. Realizing they had arrived at their destination, Munyeong’s palms went completely damp with sweat. His face had gone pale, and at a slight trembling of his shoulders, Yeon Juhyeok caught the sign and said lightly:
“There’s no need to be afraid.”
“…….”
“Don’t worry. Our Chairman is more than what you might think.”
“…….”
“He’s a benevolent man.”
Yeon Juhyeok said it as though it were nothing, and when a servant waiting at the front of the house opened the door, he moved with an elegant bearing. And the door on the opposite side of the car opened as well. It was the first time anyone had ever opened a door for him, and Munyeong stepped out of the car with tentative, uncertain steps.
It was a mansion more magnificent than any high-rise building. The exceptionally large garden was striking, and refined music even drifted through it. Several staff members were cleaning around the garden, and a gardener could be seen pruning bare branches. Munyeong followed the path the servants guided him along, feeling as though he had stepped into another world entirely.
The interior was even more grand than the exterior. Artworks of every kind and an interior reminiscent of the Renaissance era were elegant and deeply impressive. If Haejeong’s apartment had a modern, contemporary feel, this mansion was like the palace of a noble. Munyeong felt his body instinctively draw inward at the majestic aura the estate exuded.
“I’m home, Father.”
Yeon Juhyeok, who had gone ahead, handed his briefcase and outer jacket to the servants as he spoke. Beyond a long corridor, the living room opened up, a long emerald velvet sofa stretching through the center of it. At the head of it, an elderly man holding a cane rose to his feet. As he slowly stood, the servants waiting nearby hurried over to support him.
“I’m fine.”
The man — somewhere between middle-aged and elderly — spoke with quiet dignity and waved the servants away.
“Good, you’re here. Have you had dinner?”
“Yes. Have you eaten, Father?”
“Of course. I have. Getting on in years as I am, if I don’t eat on time my energy starts to flag.”
“Please don’t say things like that. You’re still in your prime.”
Yeon Juhyeok moved toward the man with a warm, easy manner. Munyeong had grown so tense that his wrist had begun to ache. He forced his other hand over his faintly trembling one and gripped it still.
“So you’re the one.”
Juhyeok had been right. He had been terribly tense, but Chairman Yeon’s voice as he recognized him was extraordinarily gentle. It was the softest, most warmhearted voice of anyone from Baekil Group he had met so far.
“……H, h, hello—!”
Munyeong, far too nervous, failed entirely to control the volume of his voice.
“Ha ha. Yes. A pleasure to meet you, my dear.”
Chairman Yeon laughed with an easy, unaffected warmth and called him my dear — a term that treated him as though he were very young. Startled by the unfamiliar address, Munyeong looked up at him with wide eyes, and Chairman Yeon gave Yeon Juhyeok, standing beside him, a few nudges in the side.
“Tall and fair-looking — I can certainly see why Haejeong fell so hard.”
And he brought up — with complete ease — the kind of thing that might have made other adults recoil in alarm. Suddenly, something Haejeong had once said about his father came to mind. That he liked anniversaries, keepsakes, romance, and things of that nature. It didn’t seem like an inaccurate description. Chairman Yeon was the first person of the upper class who had never, not even subtly, dismissed or looked down on him.
“Sit down. Would you like some tea?”
Chairman Yeon asked in the manner of a familiar, approachable elder.
“……Oh, yes. If you’re offering… I would be grateful.”
“Is that so?”
Chairman Yeon, pleased by Munyeong’s proper response, passed word to the servants to bring out refreshments as well. And so they were seated — Chairman Yeon at the head, and Munyeong and Yeon Juhyeok each on one side. Munyeong perched only on the very edge of the sofa, his back ramrod straight, like someone bracing for a dressing-down.
“You don’t need to be so tense.”
“…Oh, …yes.”
“I didn’t call you here to give you a hard time.”
Chairman Yeon took another calm sip of the tea he had already been drinking and continued speaking at ease.
“Our youngest has been making such a fuss about how much he likes someone, I got curious and had my eldest arrange it. Said I wanted to see your face at least once.”
“……Yes.”
“If it felt rude to you, I’m sorry.”
“Oh, no — not at all. I didn’t feel that way in the slightest.”
Munyeong shook his head and hands emphatically, his expression bewildered. Shortly after, the servants brought out fragrant tea with flower blossoms set in the cups, along with refreshments that looked delicious just to look at. He hadn’t eaten a single thing all day, and the moment he saw them, his mouth flooded with saliva. But given the situation, Munyeong swallowed it down firmly and gripped his still-trembling hands tightly together. Fortunately, the ache wasn’t bad enough to be sharp.
“Is that the hand?”
At that moment, Chairman Yeon’s gaze landed on him with quiet precision.
“…Pardon?”
“The hand that was hurt because of our Haejeong.”
“……Oh…. How did you……”
