Chapter 61
“Did you find your answer after trying it?”
Hahyun shook his head and laughed bitterly.
“It just felt like shit.”
Seeing his dejected expression, I felt guilty and couldn’t meet his eyes, so I lowered my head.
“But it wasn’t completely pointless.”
At those words, I raised my head and looked at him.
“While I was spending time alone, you gradually came closer to me. Since all my attention was on you every day, I could feel it all. That’s when I realized.”
“Ohhh…”
Hearing Hahyun talk like he’d suddenly become an adult, I was genuinely impressed and thought to myself that I seemed to be better at handling this kid than I’d expected.
“I realized that just because you love someone doesn’t mean you should keep pushing yourself on them—you should also give them time to come to you. Of course, I still think being apart feels like shit.”
As I listened to his words, which conveyed both his realization and his honest feelings, an indescribable, complex emotion washed over me. It was like a parent watching their once-constantly-crying child grow up and express gratitude with maturity.
In any case, it was good that Hahyun had grown. For me, and also for Hajin, who felt indebted to Hahyun… Thinking of Hajin, my mind began to grow complicated again, separate from the pride I felt looking at Hahyun.
It was because I remembered the brothers’ initial request for me to choose one of them. If at first I had stubbornly chosen both because neither felt right, now I was more confused because both seemed like the right answer.
As I shifted my gaze, Hahyun was staring intently at me. Unlike when he was explaining his realization earlier, his eyes were full of mischief.
“Hyung, you’re a little bit in love with me now, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not.”
“I know everything. Ever since you lost your memory, it all shows on your face. We all just pretended not to notice…”
Unless I was an idiot, why wouldn’t I know that? It’s just playing dumb.
“That’s not true either.”
Hahyun giggled knowingly as he pinched my cheek.
“It’s okay to fall for me. I fall for you several times a day.”
How can he be so straightforward? Even at this moment, I want to run away…
My heart raced because his personality, so completely different from mine, seemed so cool.
Hahyun, who had realized that keeping distance makes the other person approach, was truly a dangerous guy.
***
“So how much more funding do we need? Just get to the point.”
Hajin asked Park Hyunwoo, who was following behind him, while keeping his eyes on the documents.
“Secretary Kim’s side is buying up stocks as fast as they can, but the exact quantity hasn’t been determined yet.”
As Park Hyunwoo relayed the news that had just come in, Hajin passed through the gate. People passing by during rush hour nodded toward Hajin. Hajin gave them a business smile and walked toward the entrance. A car was waiting.
Hajin’s strategy was to identify all of the enemy’s weaknesses while thoroughly concealing his own information to make the opponent let down their guard. However, it was inconvenient to discuss confidential matters at the company.
“Director Park, let’s discuss it on the way.”
“Yes.”
Park Hyunwoo took the driver’s seat, and Hajin sat beside him.
“So in short, we can’t know exactly how much stock Secretary Kim holds?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“And the solution?”
“For now, there’s no better option than to wait until we identify all of Secretary Kim’s nominee accounts.”
Hajin smiled bitterly. Although Park Hyunwoo was speaking indirectly out of consideration for his position, the truth was that the quickest solution wasn’t waiting, but securing investment or withdrawing personal funds to hold more stocks than them. But he couldn’t bring himself to say that.
Ultimately, this game is won by whoever has more disposable funds.
Real estate, stocks, and money in overseas accounts kept for emergencies… In terms of absolute amount, Hajin also possessed enormous wealth, but to raise funds, he would have to sell what he owned, which would take time.
“I was so busy taking care of people that I didn’t take care of money.”
Although many words were omitted, Park Hyunwoo immediately understood what he meant.
“Secretary Kim probably couldn’t have mobilized much money either.”
“That’s not true. I’ve heard he embezzled quite a bit of money through all sorts of dirty work under Chairman Seo. He probably accumulated as much wealth as Chairman Seo.”
Park Hyunwoo’s mouth fell open. He must have been shocked. No matter how you look at it, it’s hard to believe that someone who was merely a secretary could accumulate that much wealth.
“Where did you hear that?”
“I hired black hat hackers and money laundering specialists to investigate. The evidence came out more easily than expected.”
“…”
He knew Hajin was thorough by nature, but he never expected him to have gotten this far without his knowledge.
“Then do we even need to buy stocks if we have that weakness to exploit?”
“Well… I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being prepared in multiple ways, is there?”
Hajin touched his chin and turned his head toward the window. Even though the window was closed, it felt like a cold wind was blowing.
***
I lost at the marble game again today. I shouldn’t have just exercised my fingers after eating—Hajin’s flicked marbles drove all of mine off the board.
“Hyung, we’ve already played 10 rounds. Let’s wash up and go to bed.”
“No, wait. Let me play just one more round, and if I still lose, I’ll call it.”
As I was setting up the last round and placing the marbles, something I wanted to ask him suddenly came to mind.
“Hahyun, I have something to ask you.”
“What is it? Ask me anything. I’ll answer honestly.”
“It’s nothing really… Yesterday you went out wearing a suit and came back drunk, right?”
The corner of Hahyun’s mouth lifted.
“Yes, but why?”
“Why? Well…”
I was curious about the reason, but when he asked why I was asking, I had nothing to say. I shouldn’t have brought it up…
“What? Can’t I be curious about things like that?”
Hahyun asked back with an annoying expression.
“I didn’t sneak out yesterday—you clearly saw me leaving, so it’s weird that you’re asking again. What exactly are you curious about?”
“Forget it. If you don’t want to tell me, fine. You’re just making me look weird.”
Since Hahyun was teasing me like that, I lost all desire to continue the game. I moved to the sofa, and Hahyun approached me with a grin and started clinging to me. I pushed him away with all my strength, but he just laughed and pulled me into a hug.
“It wasn’t a woman. I wasn’t the most diligent student, but I was close with the guys in the sports club. I just had drinks with them.”
Yesterday’s outfit wasn’t for having drinks with friends! This bastard is just messing with me.
“Yeah, sure. Good for you.”
Even though I was obviously showing my displeasure and being sarcastic, Hahyun started laughing like a madman. Normally, he would have made a big fuss if my expression had hardened even slightly, so I wondered what was going on with him.
Then I remembered what Hahyun had said earlier. That he liked the attention so much that he wanted to act that way more. So did he deliberately wear a suit?
Thinking that made me so angry that I wrapped my arm around Hahyun’s neck and started choking him. Hahyun laughed as he unwound my arm.
“Ah, you’re so cute it’s driving me crazy. You were jealooouus.”
“Fuck!”
“Wow… our hyung is even swearing now.”
As I was losing my temper with Hahyun, I felt a chilling atmosphere.
“…?”
Hajin was standing there with his arms crossed, watching us. I didn’t even hear him come in because I was messing around with Hahyun.
“Looks like you’re having fun.”
“Why are you picking a fight? If you’d come home early, hyung, you could have joined us too…”
Hahyun, who had been speaking, shut his mouth because Hajin’s expression was ominous. It didn’t seem like it was simply because we were having fun together.
After glaring at us for a while like he wanted to kill us, Hajin went upstairs without saying anything. That made it even scarier.
“Did something happen?”
“Seems like it.”
“Should we go ask him?”
“Why bother? If he needs us, he’ll come down.”
“No, Hahyun. You’ll see him at the company tomorrow anyway, but what about me?”
“Ah, is it your turn with him tonight?”
When I nodded with a pitiful expression, Hahyun frowned and said he would go check the situation. But sending Hahyun to Hajin when he was angry seemed like it would backfire, so I stopped him.
“Let’s go together. If you go alone now, the atmosphere is right for a fight.”
