‘Fuck! That was a close call!’
Hahyun, relieved that he noticed in time, smiled gently toward the directors.
“You’re absolutely right. Because of Director Kim Cheolwoo’s eyes, I can’t tell you everything, but…”
As Hahyun said this, the directors began avoiding his gaze. Hahyun inwardly sneered.
These people were supporting Hajin’s side because of Director Seo Sanghyun or Chairman Choi, but they could betray them anytime if it benefited them. Perhaps there might even be someone Secretary Kim had planted in this very room.
“One thing I can promise is that CEO Seo Hajin will absolutely never be detained. All charges will be cleared, so if you just wait a little, the stock price will rise too. You can trust me on this. Surely you don’t think our brothers would live in the same house and carry out today’s events without any communication between us?”
“Well, if that’s the case…”
The directors who had been shouting with veins popping, demanding to know how this situation would be handled, calmed down at Hahyun’s words.
“Is there anything we can help with?”
Finally, the question he wanted came. Hahyun stood up from his seat and spoke with a respectful attitude.
“Later when the board meeting is held, Director Kim Cheolwoo will try to maintain his position no matter what. That would be best for him to take the front stage. At that time, all the directors need to do is vote for CEO Seo Hajin.”
It was a reasonable request, but the directors didn’t look pleased. This was because the votes from Kim Cheolwoo’s side outnumbered the votes of the people gathered here.
“If that’s the case, shouldn’t you be convincing them rather than us?”
Though he hadn’t heard the specific situation from Hajin, Hahyun didn’t think Hajin would keep the directors who had joined hands with Secretary Kim until the end.
Seo Hajin maintained loyalty to the end with people he judged to be his own, but he never trusted someone who had betrayed him once. So they were already discarded cards.
“You don’t need to worry about that. By the day CEO Seo Hajin returns, everything will be neatly arranged. Directors, just don’t fall for their tricks and wait comfortably.”
As he spoke, his abrasive nature slipped out. Noticing the change, Sanghyun quickly smoothed things over.
“Well, everyone’s busy, so let’s end here and get up. We gathered for a relatively good reason, so that’s fortunate, isn’t it?”
At Sanghyun’s words, the directors dusted off their seats and stood up. The door to the CEO’s office opened, and Hahyun quietly watched as they filed out one by one before delivering a parting shot.
“Ah, lastly, if any of you have already crossed over to the other side, I hope that fact never gets discovered for the rest of your life. Unlike me, CEO Seo Hajin is a frightening person.”
While Hahyun meant it as sincere advice, to the elderly directors, it sounded incredibly impertinent.
After all the directors had left and only Sanghyun remained in the CEO’s office, he lightly tapped Hahyun’s shoulder.
“Hey, you… If your uncle called the directors to support you, shouldn’t you be on your best behavior?”
“What did I do?”
“Haah, I swear… Now I understand why your older brother didn’t make you the CEO. How can you lead a company when your true feelings are so transparent?”
“That’s why I said I didn’t want to do it. I really hate doing this, but I’m being forced.”
“Alright, alright. By the way, was what you said earlier true? That everything is part of Hajin’s strategy?”
Hahyun answered without even a second’s hesitation.
“Of course it’s true. Have you only known Hajin hyung for a day or two? He’s not someone who would lose to the likes of Secretary Kim. He’s completely cunning.”
“Right, I did find it a bit strange when he told our allied directors not to exercise their votes at the board meeting.”
There was much more to add, but Sanghyun stopped there. The brothers were no longer the little boys who suffered abuse from Chairman Seo.
“He’ll handle it. Uncle trusts Hahyun.”
“Ugh… Why are you being so cringeworthy?”
“I’m just impressed by how much you’ve grown. Well, I’ll be going now. Remember to eat.”
“Yes.”
As soon as Sanghyun left, Hahyun hurriedly checked his phone. But there was still no contact from Juwon. Looking at the clock, he realized he still had quite a while to wait before he could leave work.
Hahyun cursed and sat down. The only consolation was that the days of being tortured while sitting in this seat were not far off.
* * *
Through my hazy consciousness, I heard someone’s voice.
“Fuck! Right now when Yoon Juwon can’t even regain consciousness because of someone!”
It was Hahyun’s voice, and,
“Well, wouldn’t the person who spent the night with him yesterday know better?”
It was Hajin’s voice.
Why are those kids fighting from the morning? Wait, is it even morning right now?
I forced my eyes open and turned my head to find that outside was still shrouded in pitch-black darkness. This meant that a day hadn’t yet passed.
Come to think of it, I was so caught up in Hajin’s return yesterday that I forgot to contact Hahyun. So it was natural for him to be angry. Yes, it’s all my fault.
I wanted to get up quickly and stop the fighting brothers, but my body wouldn’t listen. Maybe I could let them fight for about 5 more minutes before getting up? Just as I thought that and closed my eyes, Hahyun’s voice sharply scratched my ears.
“Coming home during such a busy time. Do you even intend to become CEO again, hyung?”
“Of course. Speaking of which, aren’t you busy right now? I told you to keep a good eye on Secretary Kim.”
“Don’t make me laugh. Before I left work, Secretary Kim’s face was pale as a ghost, so what do you mean by ‘keeping an eye on’? Isn’t the game already over?”
“…”
Hajin shut his mouth as if acknowledging Hahyun’s words. If I had known this would happen, I should have asked yesterday what was going on, even though Hajin looked tired.
“See? I knew it. From the beginning, it was all planned by you, hyung. Secretary Kim taking you down? Even a passing dog would laugh at that.”
“Why do you say it like that? If I had known, I would have dealt with it earlier.”
“Are you going to keep playing dumb?”
“…I’d need something to play dumb about first. If my charges were cleared, it would have been announced.”
I silently listened to the brothers’ conversation and nodded at Hajin’s excuse. Hajin’s explanation using official news as evidence seemed more convincing than Hahyun’s suspicions without any proof.
“Fuck!”
Come on, no matter how angry you are, how can you curse at your older brother like that?
While mentally adding commentary to each of the brothers’ words as a spectator, suddenly the blanket was yanked away. I was so surprised that I forgot to pretend to be asleep and opened my eyes wide. Hahyun was standing there with the blanket in one hand, breathing heavily.
“Wake up.”
“…Huh?”
“I know you’re not sleeping, so get up.”
His breath was rough as it escaped through stubbornly closed lips. I could tell he was very angry, but Hahyun didn’t look scary to me. He just looked like a puppy angry at its owner who had been away from home for several days. Still, I should try to soothe him, right? I reached out and stroked his cheek. Hahyun’s eyebrows twitched.
“So you were sleeping.”
“…That’s not important, so get up. Go to my room. It’s my turn today, and with hyung here like this, wouldn’t I be angry?”
Lately, Hahyun’s anger hadn’t seemed scary to me, so I thoughtlessly showed him the sight of me together with Hajin.
Just as I was about to get up, Hajin pressed his finger against my forehead. My physical condition was so poor that just having my forehead pressed with a finger made it impossible for me to raise my body.
“No.”
At Hajin’s firm word, Hahyun grabbed his wrist.
“What do you mean ‘no’? You didn’t come home and now you’ve forgotten the order too?”
Hajin chuckled and removed his hand from my forehead.
“I don’t think I’m the one who broke the order.”
As Hajin pointed at me, who couldn’t even properly get up and was still lying down, as if to say “think about it,” Hahyun’s face contorted horribly.
“When I came home, he was sprawled on the sofa, unable to even stand up. With a raging fever… I brought him to my room and have been nursing him until now since he couldn’t even go get water. Tell me, Seo Hahyun. It was clearly my turn yesterday, so what exactly happened?”
Wow… How can he lie so brazenly without even blinking an eye?
While admiring his shamelessness as I looked at Hajin, I turned my head to see Hahyun trembling with indignation, his hands shaking. Seeing him like that made me feel sorry for Hahyun. I wanted to step in directly and say that’s not it, that Seo Hajin pounced on me as soon as he arrived, which is why I’m in this state now, but I held back, thinking that if I said that, it would hurt Hahyun’s feelings even more.
As I kept my mouth shut, Hajin became even more shameless.
“Hey? Seo Hahyun, I said tell me. What exactly happened while I was gone that has left Yoon Juwon in such a wrecked state?”
