Chapter 11: Basic Necessities
“Who’s this lady? Ah, could it be Baek Hyeri from Kangsan Construction?”
Kang Sunhyuk asked with exaggerated curiosity. He had clearly already checked her background. Baek Hyeri looked at Dohyuk with an expression that seemed to ask who this person was.
“Pleased to meet you, Baek Hyeri-ssi. I’m Kang Sunhyuk. Executive Director of Dragon Holdings.”
Kang Sunhyuk smiled smugly, emphasizing the words “Dragon Holdings.” Only then did she rise from her seat and extend her hand to Kang Sunhyuk.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Baek Hyeri, Planning Director at Kangsan Construction.”
Kang Sunhyuk seemed slightly taken aback by her strictly professional attitude. Someone of his status would have expected Baek Hyeri to bow her head in a demure greeting. He accepted her handshake awkwardly, but his expression suggested this wasn’t what he had anticipated.
“Since we’ve met by chance, may I join you? It’s rather lonely eating by myself.”
Kang Sunhyuk brazenly pulled out the chair next to Dohyuk and sat down without waiting for an answer. Baek Hyeri glanced subtly at Dohyuk. Dohyuk exhaled a long, silent breath.
Chance? As if. He already knew that Dohyuk would be meeting with Baek Hyeri today from yesterday’s discussion in the chairman’s office. But how did he know the location and time of the appointment? It meant someone was feeding information to Kang Sunhyuk.
Where had this rat sneaked in from? While Dohyuk was contemplating how to find and deal with the informant, Kang Sunhyuk continued his noisy chatter.
“Isn’t it boring with just Dohyuk? This guy is rather dull. He’s been taciturn since childhood.”
“I heard you two don’t get along, but seeing how you speak, you seem incredibly close. Must have been a false rumor.”
“W-who said such a thing…?”
Baek Hyeri’s direct remark caught Kang Sunhyuk off guard. Dohyuk raised the corner of his mouth in a slight smirk. Baek Hyeri would prove to be no easy opponent for Kang Sunhyuk.
“We’re not close.”
He answered clearly. Kang Sunhyuk’s face visibly distorted, but what was more ridiculous was his attempt to pretend they were close in front of her. Baek Hyeri would have already figured out everything worth knowing. She’d know that Dohyuk, Kang Sunhyuk, and Kang Chahyuk all had different mothers, and would have guessed why Chairman Kang Mansik had placed his three sons as Executive Director, Managing Director, and Director. Considering all that, she had chosen Dohyuk. It was the result of judging him to be the least problematic among the brothers.
“Ha, bastard.”
Seeming to realize it was futile, Kang Sunhyuk abandoned his pretense of friendliness. But the sudden profanity made Baek Hyeri’s eyebrows furrow.
“Fine. Let’s not beat around the bush.”
Kang Sunhyuk leaned his upper body toward Baek Hyeri.
“How about me instead of Kang Dohyuk?”
After saying not to beat around the bush, he was being absurdly direct. Baek Hyeri let out a laugh of disbelief.
“If you marry this bastard, how will you live without dying of boredom? You must know after meeting him a few times. This bastard is so austere.”
Unable to deny the description of austerity, Baek Hyeri turned her gaze slightly to look at Dohyuk. Dohyuk showed no reaction.
“Besides, I’m the eldest son. Our chairman might be testing us now without saying anything definitive, but ultimately, won’t he leave everything to his eldest? Even thinking about the future, I’m better than Kang Dohyuk.”
It was too childish to even warrant a sigh. Using the “eldest son” card to persuade Baek Hyeri.
“I see.”
Having apparently sized up Kang Sunhyuk’s character in just a few exchanges, Baek Hyeri smiled a perfectly composed smile. Her attitude suggested she would just humor him and be done with it, but Kang Sunhyuk foolishly smiled back.
“See, we understand each other!”
As Kang Sunhyuk got excited on his own, Baek Hyeri gave him another gentle smile and picked up her bag, rising from her seat.
“Unfortunately, something urgent has come up, so I’ll take my leave now. I’ll contact you separately later.”
“Huh?”
Kang Sunhyuk was visibly flustered when Baek Hyeri announced she was leaving without even having her meal. Dohyuk stood up to see her off.
“Kang Dohyuk-ssi, you must have quite the complicated life.”
Before leaving the restaurant, she made a passing remark.
“I’ll see you at our next meeting.”
At her mention of seeing him at work rather than in a private setting, she gazed at Dohyuk quietly before flashing a bright smile.
“The next time I arrange a meal, I should find a quieter place. Somewhere others can’t barge in so easily.”
She left this half-joking, half-serious comment and turned away without lingering.
“What? She really left?”
Kang Sunhyuk, who had followed them out belatedly, clicked his tongue in disbelief.
“So damn haughty. Is this what happens when you grow up in a wealthy family?”
Dohyuk rarely agreed with Kang Sunhyuk, but on this occasion, he did—not about Baek Hyeri being haughty, but about how different upbringings can shape different temperaments. Despite sharing the common point of being Kang Mansik’s sons, Kang Sunhyuk, Kang Chahyuk, and Dohyuk had all been raised by different mothers. The stark differences in their personalities were probably due to that. Every time he saw Kang Sunhyuk, Dohyuk felt that this was a blessing in disguise.
“Anyway, I’ve shown my face today, so that’s enough. You bastard, you were probably thinking of snatching her all for yourself, but don’t even dream about it. Both Baek Hyeri and Dragon Holdings will eventually be mine.”
Dohyuk didn’t even want to respond to Kang Sunhyuk’s grandiose dreams, looking at him with contempt before turning away.
“Ah, sir, your food is about to be served. Are you leaving now?”
A waiter rushed out to stop him.
“This person will have it.”
“Pardon?”
Following Dohyuk’s gesture, the waiter looked at Kang Sunhyuk.
“But it’s for two people…”
The waiter meant how could Kang Sunhyuk eat two portions alone, but that wasn’t Dohyuk’s concern.
“I’ve already paid, so please enjoy it at your leisure.”
“Ha, you bastard! Am I a beggar? Why would I eat food you paid for?”
“Didn’t you come all the way here for a meal? So please, make sure to eat it.”
Dohyuk left the restaurant after dumping the meal on Kang Sunhyuk. Though the lunch was ruined because of Kang Sunhyuk, Dohyuk thought it was for the best. Like Baek Hyeri, Dohyuk had also felt their meeting was more like an extension of work. Thanks to Kang Sunhyuk, he only had to show his face briefly before ending it.
If Kang Sunhyuk wanted the arranged marriage, he could have it for all Dohyuk cared. Kang Chahyuk had said that a strategic marriage with Baek Hyeri would change the succession plan for Dragon Holdings, but that only applied to Kang Sunhyuk or Kang Chahyuk. It was true that marrying Baek Hyeri would allow one to leverage Kangsan Construction and lead business in Yeouido, but Dohyuk was confident he could grasp control of Dragon Holdings without Baek Hyeri.
The issue was that Baek Hyeri would choose neither Kang Sunhyuk nor Kang Chahyuk. Dohyuk was sure of this after seeing how she treated Kang Sunhyuk earlier. If she had to have a loveless marriage, what she wanted was a perfect partner. Kang Sunhyuk’s coveting that position was completely out of the question.
***
As soon as he opened the front door, the savory aroma of food wafted out. Dohyuk’s brow furrowed deeply at the food smell that could never have originated from his home.
“What’s going on?”
The housekeeper did come by occasionally, but she didn’t cook. She did prepare side dishes periodically, but since Dohyuk never ate at home, most of them went bad and were thrown away. So having the house filled with food aromas was unprecedented.
“The person inside asked to go grocery shopping this morning, sir.”
“He went out?”
Wasn’t he supposed to be prevented from leaving? When Dohyuk questioned with his eyes, the security guard quickly denied it.
“He gave us a list of what he needed, and we bought them for him.”
That was strange too. Normally, people would think about going out themselves, not asking their surveillants for help. As if he knew he was under a travel ban… This kind of behavior, acting as if he knew everything, wasn’t particularly pleasant.
“I think he might have been uncomfortable because of his attire.”
The security guard tried to make an excuse. Because blood got on his clothes last night, he must have changed? That question was resolved as soon as Dohyuk went inside and saw Yeon. He wore the same clothes as yesterday. Whether he had changed or not, there were no visible bloodstains, but he was still in the white martial arts uniform. At least this time his eyes weren’t covered.
Although Yeon saw Dohyuk enter, he showed little reaction. He seemed to acknowledge Dohyuk’s presence, glancing in his direction once before ladling stew from the gas stove and sitting at the table.
“Who said you could come in here?”
Dohyuk leaned against the kitchen entrance with his arms crossed.
“I’m merely fulfilling basic necessities.”
Fair enough. By that logic, he shouldn’t go to the bathroom either if Dohyuk hadn’t mentioned it.
“Seeing you eat, I guess you are human. Still, aren’t you brazen? Using someone else’s kitchen without permission.”
“Usually meals are provided, so there’s no need to go this far.”
Ah. So that’s why he’d endured without eating a single meal until yesterday. Dohyuk laughed softly at the fact that the reason wasn’t as remarkable as he’d thought.
“Director Choi sent porridge. I didn’t want to trouble different people every time.”
Dohyuk didn’t scold Director Choi for doing something unnecessary. If they didn’t intend to release Yeon as a corpse, feeding him was appropriate, but since Dohyuk himself wasn’t particularly concerned about food, he hadn’t paid attention to Yeon’s meals either.
“Set a place for me too.”
Dohyuk said as he pulled out the chair opposite Yeon and sat down. Yeon raised only his head from his position eating stew to look at Dohyuk. A hint of surprise crossed his usually impassive face. Dohyuk was equally surprised. It was unexpected to see someone who had seemed barely alive cooking stew and eating rice.
Dohyuk hadn’t particularly wanted to eat, but seeing Yeon having a meal made him think he should eat too.
However, Yeon didn’t budge at Dohyuk’s command.
“Didn’t you hear me?”
“I’m neither your subordinate nor your housekeeper.”
At the bold response, Dohyuk let out an exasperated breath. He glared at Yeon, but Yeon withdrew his gaze from Dohyuk and continued with his meal.
His image was gradually changing from the first impression. At first, Dohyuk had wondered if he even knew how to speak, given his silence. But once he opened his mouth, though not at length, he articulated his thoughts clearly. He showed absolutely no sign of fearing Dohyuk.
“The more I get to know you, the more intriguing you become.”
And the more annoying.
