His personality isn’t that great.
Only after acknowledging his feelings did various things about Seunggeon come into view. Face, physique, money. The commonly judged external conditions were excellent. But when it came to personality, it was ambiguous to give a positive evaluation. If he had to pick one good point, it was that he had a straightforward personality rather than being evasive. He was far from hypocrisy or falsehood.
Chaehun associated with people by strict standards. Of course, his ex-lover who he broke up with about three years ago was trash who two-timed, but at least his manners were good.
Seunggeon’s manners weren’t bad either. He sometimes said things that turned people’s stomachs inside out, but basically he was on the polite side.
Chaehun realized he was trying to find only Seunggeon’s good points and smiled bitterly.
Ticklish emotions like anticipation, joy, excitement, and so on filled his heart. It felt like small birds with soft feathers were flying around inside his chest. The unfamiliar yet familiar emotion he was feeling after a long time made him feel strange. The emotion of liking someone was this clear.
Still, he was smiling for no good reason when he felt his phone ring in his jacket pocket. The name of Chaehun’s older brother, Kang Suchan, was on the screen.
Unlike Kang Yeonghwan, Kang Suchan didn’t contact Chaehun unless it was something significant. They weren’t the kind of relationship where they called to check in like his mother did. With an ominous feeling for some reason, Chaehun quickly answered the phone.
“Yeah. Hyung. What’s up?”
—Where are you?
“Outside. I have an appointment.”
—When are you coming back?
“I’m not going home today. Why?”
—You’re staying out? Where?
Even when he asked what was going on, instead of answering, the persistence of asking where he was made Chaehun frown. The signs were really bad.
“I’m going somewhere with a friend. Is it urgent? Can’t you tell me over the phone?”
Chaehun spoke as indirectly as possible, just in case. If there was an urgent matter at home, he could ask Seunggeon for understanding and go back.
—Are you in contact with Director Shim?
“No. Why Director Shim?”
—Yeonghwan said you even got a watch? He’s not contacting you?
“That time, so after I paid back all the money, he contacted me saying let’s meet once, and that was the last time I saw him. That’s when I got the watch. Why Director Shim?”
Because the words “Director Shim” suddenly came out of Kang Suchan’s mouth, Chaehun tensed up. There was no reason for Kang Suchan to be looking for Director Shim Jeongmin at this point.
—Ah. Fuck. I just called Director Shim and it says it’s a number that doesn’t exist.
“Hyung. We agreed not to contact him anymore. We deleted the phone number too.”
—Numbers, you just memorize them and that’s it. More than that, I talked to him fine until a month ago, so why did his number suddenly change?
“I don’t know either.”
Chaehun answered calmly. The number Shim Jeongmin had given to the family was his second phone. He had heard that since it had served its purpose, he would change the number. He didn’t know it would turn out like this.
However, Chaehun focused more on the fact that Kang Suchan had tried to call Shim Jeongmin.
—You know the chairman guy’s number also says it’s a number that doesn’t exist? Aren’t these bastards really scammers?
Chaehun held back his words for a moment while swallowing. It was Shim Jeongmin who had made a business card with a fictitious chairman’s mobile phone number written on it, just in case. Chaehun had shown the business card with the chairman’s mobile phone number written on it exactly once.
The conditions set by the fictitious chairman were clear. In exchange for paying back the creditors’ money, they would no longer make contact. But Kang Suchan was trying to break that promise. Unable to make contact, he was now getting angry with the preposterous claim that they might be scammers.
He desperately wanted to shout that he shouldn’t do that, but held it in.
“They paid back the debt as promised. We agreed not to contact them.”
—Looking at how sharply they cut off contact like this, there’s something there.
“Hyung.”
—There’s still a ton of bank loans left. Shouldn’t you tactfully ask them to somehow take care of that too? When are you going to earn money and pay off the loans? Huh? Fuck. If these guys are going to help, they should help to the end. What are we supposed to do with just that much money? If he’s a chairman, his life must be pretty cheap. And you too, you shouldn’t do that. Getting a watch all to yourself. No, never mind. It’s all over, what’s the point of being petty? I’m hanging up.
The call was unilaterally disconnected. Chaehun froze for a moment while holding his phone, then let out a sigh. Kang Suchan had called to vent his anger at him. Because he was fundamentally blocked from getting money from the chairman to pay off the remaining debt.
He could understand why Kang Suchan was angry and also why he had become the target of his venting. But from the position of being on the receiving end, his mood hit rock bottom.
“Who’s looking for the chairman?”
“My hyung.”
Chaehun didn’t explain at length. Anyway, Kang Suchan had no way to contact the fictitious chairman. And he didn’t want to explain the complicated family circumstances to Seunggeon.
Even close friends didn’t know each other’s families in detail. Even for Chaehun, only Seo Jumyeong, whom he had been close to since childhood, roughly knew the circumstances. Seunggeon must have just learned that he didn’t have a smooth relationship with his brother. But it was awkward to talk about anything beyond that.
“You also live a hard life.”
“Yeah, uh-huh.”
Having his own words from a little while ago returned to him intact, Chaehun looked at Seunggeon once and answered briefly. Strangely, he felt like laughing. He felt comforted by this, whatever it was.
After that, they arrived at Seunggeon’s apartment without much conversation. Chaehun was puzzled as he watched Seunggeon drive the car to the underground parking lot.
“I thought you were going to Grandfather’s house?”
“I am going.”
Seunggeon, who had parked the car in the parking lot, got out. Following him out, Chaehun saw Shim Jeongmin and a man he was seeing for the first time getting out of a car parked right next to them.
Shim Jeongmin greeted Chaehun first when he saw him.
“Chaehun-ssi. Hello.”
“Oh. Hello. Director Shim. What brings you all the way here?”
“I came to pick up the young master.”
“……?!”
Chaehun looked back and forth between Seunggeon and Shim Jeongmin. The only person Shim Jeongmin would call young master here was Seunggeon. It was Seunggeon who answered Chaehun’s silent question.
“Grandfather doesn’t like me driving myself.”
Seunggeon’s expression and voice were cold, but somehow he felt like he was grumbling. He could understand that the chairman, who disliked his thirty-year-old grandson driving himself, had sent a driver and attendant. And he also understood the reason for being displeased.
Because Seunggeon looking sulky like that seemed cute, Chaehun quickly put strength into his face that was about to relax. If he laughed here, it would be difficult to handle.
But Seunggeon noticed it like a ghost.
“You might as well laugh.”
“Since your grandfather is worried about his young grandson, I can’t laugh about it. Be careful going and coming back.”
“I might be late. If I’m very late, I’ll contact you.”
“……Yeah.”
It was an ordinary greeting. However, at that moment, Chaehun realized that his relationship with Seunggeon had changed.
As the time they spent meeting each other increased, everything was changing little by little. Not only his own heart, but Seunggeon’s attitude as well. Seunggeon’s words and actions, which had asserted that emotions shouldn’t get entangled, were no longer just businesslike.
Before he could think about what that meant, Seunggeon got in the car. Chaehun watched the car carrying Seunggeon exit the underground parking lot and disappear.
Several realizations made Chaehun’s head complicated. He thought about how this relationship would end. When he imagined just greeting and parting ways like just now, he froze as if confronting head-on the cold wind blowing from the winter sea.
“Haa.”
Chaehun let out a sigh. The damp and gloomy mood didn’t suit him. At times like this, he needed to run. Chaehun recalled the treadmill at Seunggeon’s apartment and the park west of the apartment. There was plenty of space to run. He also remembered there were several sports clothing stores in the shopping building across the street.
Rather than borrowing Seunggeon’s training clothes, it would be better to buy comfortable clothes to change into.
As soon as he made the decision, Chaehun moved.
It was time to run.
* * *
“Your grandfather is the real troublemaker people talk about these days. You should rest well on weekends, but who would like being suddenly told to come and go? Oh my. That personality will never be fixed even if he dies.”
Seunggeon’s maternal grandmother, Lee Sujin, spewed harsh words in an elegant voice. The only person on Earth who could dare curse the chairman of Taehwa Group as a troublemaker out loud was Lee Sujin.
As the wife of Jeong Gyuwan and the lady of one of the top chaebol families in South Korea, her life had not been very smooth. As the third daughter of a so-so small business president, as a recessive omega, and with a body that couldn’t bear children, she suffered all kinds of hardships when she married Jeong Gyuwan.
