“Yes. See you again, grandfather.”
Until parting, it was harmonious without any particular trouble. Chairman Joo, who had a schedule, stood up from his seat first, and Young remained alone keeping his seat before leaving the restaurant at an appropriate timing.
“What the.”
It was after walking a few steps out the magnificent restaurant entrance that he encountered an unexpected person. Wondering why some car was following at a person’s walking speed, when Young, sensing something strange, turned around, it stopped completely.
“Huh?”
The face visible beyond the half-lowered driver’s seat window was Kyung-heon.
“Get in.”
It seemed today was fated to give time to the two lookalikes of the Joo family.
Seeing how he’d found his way here and come, there must be a reason. Young got into the passenger seat without complaint. The unexpected fact, as unexpected as his appearance, was noticed next.
“Oh, but… you drive yourself?”
As far as Young knew, he always traveled with a driver, but why was Kyung-heon sitting in the driver’s seat?
Kyung-heon glanced at the wide-eyed Young and then looked at the rearview mirror as he replied.
“Because I don’t have headaches now.”
Well, if someone whose head hurt at all hours grabbed the steering wheel, it would only increase the risk of accidents. Young immediately agreed with “Ah.” Then Kyung-heon added.
“Even now, if I have documents to review or other things I need to do, there are times I ask the driver. But for personal schedules, I try to do it myself as much as possible.”
Young nodded again this time, saying “I see.”
‘Entrust Kyung-heon with the bio integration transfer project.’
Kyung-heon was currently faithfully carrying out his grandfather’s orders these days. The Joomyeong Bio Integration Transfer TF Team had been formed, and he’d been selected as the head there, leading the team from the front.
Honestly, he didn’t know whether Kyung-heon, who had lived as a beta, lived leisurely or how. But recently, Kyung-heon was really busy. On days when Young woke up early, they barely exchanged morning greetings, and on days when he didn’t, he could barely see his face just before going to sleep.
Given that story, there was no way to know whether Kyung-heon drove on his own or if a driver drove the car. But it had the nuance of having been some time since he personally grabbed the steering wheel.
‘Wait… personal schedule?’
Young, who had been just nodding thinking “I see,” suddenly had a question.
According to Kyung-heon’s words, now that he was driving the car himself meant he was in the middle of a personal schedule. Moreover, if he’d bothered to come find him at the appointment place with his grandfather and waited for the meal to end, there must be a special reason.
He was even driving smoothly on the road after Young got in the passenger seat. Young, who had been tilting his head at his firm attitude, asked casually.
“But where are we going now?”
Kyung-heon answered immediately.
“To eat.”
“I just came out after eating with grandfather though…?”
After hearing the answer, his doubt rather increased. At Young’s honest muttering that came out like talking to himself, Kyung-heon calmly elaborated.
“It’s a restaurant grandfather frequents, so I know it well. He only goes when good quality seafood comes in. So you probably didn’t have anything you could eat.”
Young’s eyes opened indescribably wide.
It wasn’t the time to be surprised by the fact that Kyung-heon appeared here. Hadn’t he pinpointed the earlier situation accurately, as if he’d installed CCTV?
The contract exchanged between them under the pretext of marriage was limited only to the interests of each company. In other words, they’d never shared personal preferences or precautions, saying “we’re going to live together, so please respect at least this.” But how had Joo Kyung-heon seen through Young’s eating habits?
“How did you know? I really don’t eat seafood.”
“I saw it the day we first ate together. You didn’t touch the clam soup at all, and you picked out all the shrimp in the salad.”
Even hearing this much wasn’t enough to calm his surprised heart.
So that’s why—he’d stared so intently that it made one wonder why he was acting like that. He must have been watching all those actions in detail.
But even if he saw it, he remembers it all? The clam soup and the shrimp in the salad, in such detail?
Honestly, these were facts Young had already forgotten. What was important that day was the meeting between strategic marriage partners, not a place to examine menus or eating habits. So there was no way to prove Kyung-heon’s words were correct.
However, there wasn’t a trace of fabrication in his fluent recitation. Most of all, Kyung-heon had no reason to make up such trivial stories.
“You remember all of that?”
At the dumbfounded question, Kyung-heon smiled slightly.
“My traits changed, I didn’t lose my memory.”
“Ah….”
“Rather, all the facts I saw and heard became even clearer.”
He wondered if his head had been so full and heavy because he tried to remember even such detailed parts. Young changed his mind from saying “ah” again and asked.
“What month, what day, who wore what color tie… do you remember all of these things, one by one?”
The returning answer was firm.
“I only remember what I need to know, what I want to know.”
This time Young had to close his mouth without even being able to say “ah.”
‘Most of all, I have no desire to undo this marriage.’
Because he felt the same way as when he heard those words, he found it difficult to bring out any answer.
***
The place Kyung-heon brought him to was an Italian restaurant.
His words of wondering why they were eating when he’d just had a meal with grandfather became meaningless. From the moment risotto was placed in front of him, Young ate diligently. And Kyung-heon….
After quietly watching Young eat enthusiastically like before, he opened his mouth quietly.
“What did you talk about with grandfather—may I ask?”
No particular intention could be detected. It was no different in nuance from Young’s question asking if he remembered things like someone’s necktie color. Meaning it was purely curiosity without any ulterior motive.
Young nodded briefly while crunching on radish pickle. It meant he would finish eating first and then answer.
It didn’t take long. Young, who swallowed the soft grains of rice down his throat, soon parted his lips.
“Grandfather made a proposal.”
“A proposal?”
“Whether I’d like to try working.”
The request to contact him first if anything happened to Kyung-heon could be considered work if it was work. But Young judged there was no need to specifically convey the story that he himself might be in danger.
So he decided to only present grandfather’s second matter. The story that had started with “And by the way. Young, are you perhaps….”
“What kind of work?”
“He wants to set up a gallery for me.”
Kyung-heon lightly furrowed his straight eyebrows below his smooth forehead.
It was very brief. When he half-lowered his eyelids without any response and then raised them again, he already had the air of having seen through grandfather’s intentions.
Young smiled ambiguously, as if embarrassed or not. Because the proposal to run a gallery wasn’t simply compensation for complying with his own request.
Don’t take it the wrong way—that proposal, which had been the same for him, was ultimately taking issue with Young’s family.
In short, it was the intention that since Kyung-heon only had to display excellent abilities, he wanted his spouse to also have a befitting status. Even if it was only 3 years, it was also the intention to preemptively block any room that might remain as a flaw for Kyung-heon in the future.
Of course, Chairman Joo spoke well enough to make one think he hadn’t gone there for nothing. He cleanly conveyed his intentions so as not to hurt the listener’s feelings and avoid any other misunderstandings.
Well, it wasn’t really something to feel bad about in the first place. Wasn’t honor what Young’s family sought to gain from this marriage? They’d tried to create an opportunity to come out into the light under Joomyeong’s name. But if he’d help directly, then of course it was a thank you.
Moreover, the choice of a gallery wasn’t bad either. It was good for improving external image, and since he could demonstrate his specialized skill of money laundering techniques, it seemed more convenient to handle than a completely new field. Of course, if he changed his mind and operated honestly, it would be absolutely perfect.
“Do you want to do it?”
Kyung-heon asked concisely without adding any words. Young lowered his gaze for a moment before answering.
“I don’t know. Until now, I’ve lived thinking that not doing any particular work and just eating and playing suited my nature well. Well… my family members also asked if I knew how rough making money was, and didn’t let me do it, saying there was no need to suffer like that.”
“Is that so?”
“But seeing how I’m conflicted when I actually receive such a proposal, I guess I don’t completely lack the desire to do it?”
