Chapter 40: Everyone’s Suspicions
“Is it okay to leave him like that?”
Director Choi asked as they drove away from the warehouse. Dohyuk kept his gaze lowered and said nothing.
“If we let him live, there could be consequences…”
“Someone who has something to lose knows fear.”
He meant that as long as Kang Dohyuk held that weakness, the man wouldn’t dare to act recklessly. Since he had also crushed the man’s hands to ensure he could never hold a gun again, things would be quiet for a while. If he harbored resentment over today’s events and came at him again, then Dohyuk would thoroughly crush both him and the girl in the photo.
“What should we do about Star Finance?”
“Leave it be.”
Director Choi blinked in surprise at Dohyuk’s answer.
“Kim Seonuk is just a minnow. It would be a waste of time to go after a guy like that. Since he has a stupid son, the Chairman of Star Finance should take responsibility.”
It meant Dohyuk would move directly. He was planning to point his knife at Kim Seonuk’s father, the Chairman of Star Finance Group, rather than at Kim Seonuk himself. Director Choi felt a chill down his spine, seeing that Dohyuk seemed to think he had found a good excuse. Truly, this was a person he never wanted to face as an enemy, no matter what.
“What about Muryeong’s location?”
“We’ve identified it. Shall I prepare?”
To his words suggesting they could depart right away, Dohyuk shook his head.
“Leave it for a few days. He’ll need time to recover.”
Director Choi was about to ask “Recover?” but quickly swallowed his words, realizing who needed to recover. To think the day would come when Kang Dohyuk would be concerned about someone other than himself…
“Maybe…”
He was about to ask something that had been bothering him recently, but closed his mouth. Dohyuk looked at him with an expression asking what he was going to say, but Director Choi shook his head and turned to face forward.
Has Yeon become the Managing Director’s weakness?
It was a ridiculous question. Hadn’t Dohyuk just mocked the hitman for creating someone he feared losing? Besides, there were talks of a strategic marriage with Kangsan Construction, so it couldn’t be.
No, perhaps the strategic marriage didn’t matter. After all, Baek Hyeri wasn’t a precious person to Kang Dohyuk either. So it wouldn’t be strange if someone else became important to him.
Even so, of all people, a shaman of unknown identity… Someone whose identity was unclear could easily become a target for enemies, since there would be no consequences if they were eliminated. Unlike other times, the reason Dohyuk personally shot the hitman, Choi Woosik, was for the same reason. Choi Woosik, whose main job was murder, could never sue Kang Dohyuk.
So it was no exaggeration to say that Yeon was the worst possible romantic interest for Kang Dohyuk. For a man with many enemies to keep someone by his side who may as well not exist was no different from driving them into danger.
Suddenly, he realized he was worrying about Yeon rather than Kang Dohyuk. It seems it wasn’t only Kang Dohyuk who was captivated by that strange aura.
To think he was hoping that Yeon, who had returned to Muryeong, would hide even deeper… For Director Choi, who had never even thought of betraying Kang Dohyuk, this in itself was shocking.
***
The Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, who had been treated to dinner followed by premium liquor, took quite a liking to Kang Sunhyuk. He gave his personal contact information, saying they should meet often, as he found Sunhyuk more personable compared to Dohyuk, who was too rigid and difficult to talk to.
“I’ll drive you home.”
When Kang Sunhyuk suggested this to Baek Hyeri, she shook her head, saying it was fine.
“I can call a driver.”
She didn’t use a personal chauffeur. Though her family had offered to provide one, she said she didn’t want to use a driver when she wasn’t even an executive, and commuted by driving herself.
“Wouldn’t it be more practical to use a driver who’s already here?”
Kang Sunhyuk grinned and pointed to Lee Seojin who was standing in front of his car. Since it had gotten late, he had sent his chauffeur home, and Lee Seojin was waiting to drive.
“Unless you have a specific reason to avoid me, please don’t refuse.”
Seeing his good-natured smile, Baek Hyeri sighed briefly and agreed, getting into Sunhyuk’s car. It seemed silly to keep refusing when they wouldn’t be alone, with the secretary there too.
Throughout the drive toward her home, there was an awkwardness with no suitable conversation to be had. Kang Dohyuk wasn’t the type to engage in warm exchanges either, but Kang Sunhyuk was uncomfortable in a different way. How to put it? There seemed to be a difference in level when conversing. She had no intention of looking down on him for this, but she couldn’t help feeling he wasn’t her type.
The Vice Minister seemed to like his straightforward and somewhat eccentric character, but Baek Hyeri’s position was different. With talk of a strategic marriage between Kangsan Construction and Dragon Holdings, she couldn’t simply view him as just an executive from a business partner.
As they ate dinner and had a drink, she did see some different sides to him. She had thought he was ignorant and stubborn, but watching him with the Vice Minister, she saw he was good-natured and quite adept at keeping the other person in good humor. Thanks to this, Baek Hyeri could enjoy her meal comfortably without having to deal with the Vice Minister.
If Dohyuk had come, she probably wouldn’t have known whether the food was going down her throat or her nose. She might have been cautious even about the clinking sounds of spoons and chopsticks. The thought made her smile. Despite having different mothers, she wondered how brothers could be such complete opposites.
“What happened to that person?”
She had expected Kang Sunhyuk to keep making idle conversation in the car, but surprisingly, he was quiet. He seemed to be reading the mood, as she was putting up a wall. So she spoke first.
“Which person…?”
“The one who took the bullet for Kang Dohyuk.”
“Ah…?”
Judging by his expression, Kang Sunhyuk didn’t seem to know who that was.
“I’ve only heard that he was Dohyuk’s bodyguard…”
Kang Sunhyuk frowned, looking embarrassed. This response made her feel once again how poor their relationship was.
“Wasn’t he too delicate-looking for a bodyguard?”
At her comment about him being delicate-looking, Kang Sunhyuk furrowed his brow as if thinking, then made an “Ah” sound.
“Perhaps the one with blue eyes…?”
“Was he? I’ve never seen him up close. I only saw him collapsed on the day of the presentation, so I couldn’t see his eye color. His hair was a light brown. Is he mixed race?”
“So it is him. The sponsorship.”
Kang Sunhyuk muttered. Sponsorship? A look of puzzlement appeared on Baek Hyeri’s face. Was that man an entertainer? He didn’t seem like it…
“I heard he was Kang Dohyuk’s acquaintance. He even brought him to a dinner with me.”
Suddenly, the car slammed on its brakes, throwing Baek Hyeri and Kang Sunhyuk forward. Sunhyuk quickly stretched his arm in front of her shoulder, preventing her from hitting the front seat.
“Ah, thank you.”
“It’s nothing. But… what happened?”
Kang Sunhyuk spoke sharply to Lee Seojin.
“I’m sorry. I thought something was crossing in front of us…”
Lee Seojin turned around and apologized.
“Be careful. She could have been hurt.”
Seeing him scolding not for himself but for her almost getting hurt, Baek Hyeri quickly reassured him that she was fine.
“I thought he might be a relative, but I guess not.”
To prevent him from scolding his secretary further, she deliberately turned the topic back to Kang Dohyuk.
“Not as far as I know. I only saw him for the first time in the Managing Director’s office recently.”
It seemed he had been keeping him at the company too. Well, he had even brought him to the important business presentation.
By this point, she was really starting to wonder about the man’s identity. Someone special to Kang Dohyuk. That’s as much as Baek Hyeri had figured out. Though Dohyuk seemed to want to deny it, when that person was injured, it was the first time she had seen Dohyuk outwardly show something like emotion. Whether it was anger or whatever.
Maybe… A strange thought crossed her mind, but she quickly shook her head. It was true that that person seemed special to Kang Dohyuk, but thinking they might be in “that kind of relationship” seemed too far-fetched.
“If Dohyuk and that person were…”
Kang Sunhyuk deeply furrowed his brow, searching for words as if unsure what to say. When the right word didn’t immediately come to mind, he struggled for quite some time.
“In… that kind of relationship, what would you do?”
It wasn’t the most elegant choice of words, but Baek Hyeri smiled bitterly. Since she had been thinking something similar, she couldn’t just laugh it off as a ridiculous suggestion.
“Would you still marry that guy?”
She had thought it wouldn’t matter since there was absolutely no affection in the marriage anyway, but she couldn’t immediately answer yes. There was some difference between a loveless, business marriage and the other person having a lover, wasn’t there? She thought vaguely about it, but couldn’t explain the difference precisely. Still, as long as they were bound by the institution of marriage, she hadn’t planned to cheat, so she was even a bit confused.
If Kang Dohyuk saw that person as a romantic interest? Could I still marry Kang Dohyuk for business reasons?
“I’m not sure.”
She answered honestly. Seeming disappointed that she didn’t flatly refuse, Kang Sunhyuk let out a groan.
“I know I’m quite lacking compared to you. I fall short compared to that Dohyuk too. Still, I’d like you to give me a chance. If you need the Dragon Holdings name, I can provide that too. I might even be better than that heartless bastard.”
The longer he spoke, the more incoherent he became. But listening to him, she could sense what the Vice Minister had called “humanity,” which made her smile. Indeed, compared to Kang Dohyuk, who seemed impenetrable, Kang Sunhyuk was so rough around the edges that he overflowed with humanity. If asked whether he was someone she wanted to marry, that still wasn’t the case, but in truth, Kang Dohyuk was equally terrible as a marriage partner.
Especially if he had someone he cherished.
In the front seat, Lee Seojin’s hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as he listened to the conversation between Kang Sunhyuk and Baek Hyeri, whether he wanted to hear it or not. His mind had been in turmoil from the moment Baek Hyeri referred to the blue-eyed man as Kang Dohyuk’s acquaintance. Dohyuk had introduced him as an acquaintance? This was more troubling than when people misunderstood him as being sponsored.
That man had been both in Dohyuk’s office and in his home. To the question of whether he was someone special, Dohyuk had answered “Perhaps.” It really might be as Kang Sunhyuk suggested—that they had that kind of relationship. The thought made everything seem to go dark before his eyes.
After lingering by that man’s side for years, now, not even with Baek Hyeri but with another man…
It felt like a hot mass was rising up inside his chest. His stomach churned, and he felt like he was going crazy. He wanted to go find Kang Dohyuk and confront him right away.
But he knew well. Even if he went to confront him, that ice-cold man wouldn’t budge an inch.
