On the other hand, Yeohwi tilted his head innocently as if he had no malicious intent whatsoever.
“Well, it would be difficult for you, hyung-nim, to find a young marriage partner like me even if you tried. The conditions are just too different, aren’t they? I heard that Uncle Do Jingyu takes care of everything for you… Hmm, I wonder if that’s not just some even more stupid little kid.”
“You… You insect-eating vermin bastard, how dare you to who!”
Do Jinsang, having lost his reason, couldn’t contain his anger and threw his champagne glass at Yeohwi.
Dowon swiftly pulled Yeohwi away to prevent him from being hit by the glass. However, Yeohwi had no intention of ending the show here.
After all, a fight was a game that only ended when you thoroughly trampled your opponent until they couldn’t get up at all.
Crash!
He deliberately shook off Dowon and moved forward to get hit on the head. The champagne glass that struck him shattered, fragments grazing Yeohwi’s face, and the spilled alcohol seeped into his white suit, creating a noticeable stain.
At that moment, Yeohwi staggered and fell.
The music stopped.
All eyes in the party hall focused at once.
Yeohwi carried out his role frighteningly well, as if possessed.
“Ugh, it hurts…”
Trophy husband?
An innocent child who knows nothing?
Then what was someone like Do Jinsang who bullied that child?
Do Jinsang was seething, unable to contain his rage. Yeohwi looked down at his wet clothes with a shocked expression. He touched the cut on his cheek with trembling hands, making sure the red blood was clearly visible to everyone.
“Dowon-ssi… Huu, I’m scared…!”
“Are you okay? You’re hurt.”
Dowon, with a frown, knelt on one knee in front of Yeohwi and took out his handkerchief to wipe the blood from his face.
“That person suddenly…”
Yeohwi grabbed Dowon’s arm, trembling in a perfectly terrified voice. Dowon’s expression twisted further.
“I know.”
The commotion grew louder. A crowd gathered to see what was happening, forming a circle around the three of them.
Do Jingyu, surprised by the unexpected situation, also approached them. Just as he grabbed Do Jinsang’s arm to ask what had happened, Dowon lifted his head.
His cold gaze was directed not at Do Jinsang, but at his uncle, Do Jingyu.
“Uncle, you should apologize.”
“What…?”
Do Jingyu’s face hardened. Do Jinsang was equally flustered.
“To my spouse, and to all the distinguished guests whose anticipated party has been ruined.”
“What are you talking about… Jinsang, what on earth did you do?”
As if answering for him, Dowon looked at Do Jinsang and continued.
“Uncle, you are the face of KD Group. But can that face not strictly reprimand a son who has ruined the group’s most important event?”
Do Jinsang shook his head with eyes wide open as if wronged. While glaring at Yeohwi, who had collapsed on the floor, as if dumbfounded.
“It’s a trick, it’s a trick, Father. Dowon, you bastard, who are you trying to fool…! I’m the one who should receive an apology. Get that ill-mannered brat up right now…!”
But the more Do Jinsang raged, the more unseemly he only appeared. A man in his mid-thirties raging against a twenty-year-old with downy soft skin. It was essentially a game he couldn’t win.
Dowon let out a sigh and turned his head toward the board of directors and investors.
“Everyone, I apologize for startling you. My cousin hyung-nim is still… not ready to appear in public settings. He’s a bit immature, but my uncle will educate him carefully once again.”
It was a perfect strike.
Not ready to appear in public settings. In other words, disqualified as a manager.
Uncle will educate him carefully. In other words, failed family education.
Do Jingyu was driven to the point where he had to publicly apologize and be humiliated because of the commotion his biological son caused. In this situation, he couldn’t keep his mouth shut and hold his head up solemnly.
“…It seems there was a bit of, playfulness between the boys. Aren’t young people all full of vigor? Haha… I’m ashamed to show you such an unseemly sight.”
He had obtained what he intended.
Dowon finally firmly wrapped his arm around Yeohwi’s shoulder and helped him up. And he boldly left the party hall with him.
“We’ll excuse ourselves.”
As they escaped from the banquet hall, Yeohwi whispered at a volume only Dowon could hear.
“I did well, right?”
“…”
Dowon didn’t affirm it. However, he didn’t deny it either.
Seong Yeohwi, who stabbed at his opponent’s vital points with a clear face and calculated actions.
Thanks to his impulsive action, the Do Jingyu father and son were branded as low-level thugs, and Dowon solidified his image as the next leader who was rational, distinguished between public and private matters, and definitely protected his people.
And Yeohwi himself was imprinted on everyone as Dowon’s sole partner by publicly showing an amicable marital relationship through Dowon’s protection.
***
After leaving behind the hot atmosphere of the party hall and coming out into the cold night air, his champagne-soaked shirt quickly became cold. Even after getting in the car with Dowon, suffocating silence continued.
A strange tension hung in the air as the adrenaline cooled.
Seong Yeohwi clenched his fists, trying hard to ignore the unpleasant feeling of the suit clinging to his body.
The sense of victory felt at the party hall. The satisfaction of having completely gotten Do Jinsang. And…
He glanced at Dowon in the seat next to him.
Unlike Yeohwi, who was soaking wet and even had his face cut, Dowon remained in his original tuxedo appearance, not moving a muscle and only looking out the window.
Yeohwi unconsciously hunched his shoulders. Whether it was because of the wet shirt clinging to his skin, he felt a chill. He tried not to show it, but he couldn’t hide even the subtle trembling.
‘Damn, it’s cold…’
Should I ask him to turn on the heater?
It was the moment Yeohwi was pondering.
Swish.
Along with a black object filling his vision, heavy warmth covered his shoulders.
Dowon had taken off his tuxedo jacket and thrown it to him.
Yeohwi’s eyes widened in surprise. The scent of cedarwood surged from the jacket.
It wasn’t showing off, nor was it worrying about him. Dowon still said nothing and only looked out the window.
“A-are you taking care of me right now?”
Yeohwi asked, moved. He couldn’t suppress the emotions welling up.
“If you catch a cold, you’ll be noisy.”
“So you’re taking care of me because you’re worried I’ll catch a cold.”
“Stop chattering and just cover yourself.”
Yeohwi grinned and gripped the jacket tightly.
His body scent mixed with the sweet fragrance of champagne, paralyzing rational judgment. How should he put it, he felt like he could do anything today. An omnipotent feeling of invincibility tingled up.
His heart was already beating like crazy, and as soon as they arrived at the mansion, this time he heard these words.
“Don’t go wandering around babbling in that state. Go wash up.”
“Ah… Yes!”
Worry, this is definitely worry, right?
That must be it, right? Right? That’s what it is, isn’t it?
Yeohwi, lest it be taken away, headed straight to the bathroom with Dowon’s jacket gripped tightly in his hand. Before going inside, he stopped at the powder room and secretly hugged the jacket to his chest.
‘It smells good. I wonder if this is what it would feel like to hug Dowon-ssi.’
Yeohwi, who was naturally blessed with a good sense of smell, thoroughly savored his cool, bittersweet yet deep scent. Beneath the smoky layer, he could smell a heavy woody scent and a moist, dewy fragrance like being wet with rain.
After being lost in hugging the jacket like that for a while, he belatedly came to his senses.
‘Wh-what am I doing right now.’
Wasn’t sniffing someone else’s worn clothes and falling into ecstasy like this kind of a creepy thing to do? It was almost like being a stalker.
‘I’m sorry, Dowon-ssi. I was wrong.’
Feeling guilty for no reason, Yeohwi glanced toward the empty hallway and neatly folded the jacket. He folded it again because the edges were crooked, and fixed it again, and after three attempts like that, he was able to fold the clothes into a perfect shape resembling Dowon.
Only then did the satisfied Yeohwi begin preparing to wash up.
He saw a dark stain remaining on the white suit soaked in champagne. The shirt was stuck firmly from the nape of his neck to his upper chest. It seemed he needed to wash up quickly.
First, he removed his jacket and tie and put them in the laundry bag, and now it was time to take off his shirt. But.
“Huh?”
How do you undo this?
The problem was the cufflinks on the sleeves, which he had worn for the first time in his life.
He tried to undo the complicated-looking metal piece, but it only slipped and didn’t budge at all. He needed to turn the toggle at the tail part and pass it through the shirt hole, but Yeohwi didn’t know that method.
“Ah, seriously… What is this.”
It was the moment Yeohwi was grabbing his wet sleeve and struggling in frustration.
The bathroom door opened without any sound.
