I felt an intense gaze from Hahyun sitting next to me. He seemed to be staring fixedly at my lips. I slowly opened my mouth.
“I, well, my family…”
“Huh? Family? Hyung’s family…”
Ah, right, Yoon Juwon was from an orphanage.
I paused for a moment, recalling things about Yoon Juwon, then spoke again.
“They were probably good liars.”
“…Why do you think that?”
“Well, they abandoned a child at an orphanage without taking responsibility. That’s why I hate people who lie.”
Both my mother and father always lied to me. They took all the grant money meant for student artists and used it themselves, nearly preventing me from entering college, and they claimed they never used loan sharks but made me take on all that debt.
It was too much for me to bear just because they were my “loving family.”
“In a relationship based on love, shouldn’t there be nothing hidden between us?”
“You’re right. I made a mistake because I was anxious.”
Since I was speaking sincerely, Hahyun seemed to be listening seriously too.
“Don’t do that again in the future. And stop crying whenever things don’t go your way. I won’t let it slide anymore.”
Hahyun took a deep breath as if trying to hold back tears and covered his mouth with his hand. He managed to prevent himself from making crying sounds, but he couldn’t stop the tears from falling. If he were even a little less cute, I would have been harsher! But he was too adorable, so I decided to stop here.
“Come here.”
I opened my arms as a gesture of reconciliation, and Hahyun rushed into my embrace. His large chest, heaving as he tried to hold back his tears, made my entire body shake.
* * *
Although the truce between Hahyun and me seemed to have been established, it shattered with a crash after not even a few hours. The problem was that Hajin came home earlier than expected.
When I tried to get up to greet Hajin, Hahyun grabbed my wrist with a pitiful expression and wouldn’t let go. Of all times, it happened to be the hand with the clear cut I got from a knife while cooking recently, so I couldn’t shake him off.
“You’re home?”
When I greeted him brightly, Hajin glanced at us and was about to walk past but stopped.
“Ah, I decided not to be jealous.”
Hajin said that, then came to the sofa and grinned at Hahyun. Then he threw out a cruel remark before leaving.
“Seo Hahyun, because you broke the rule yesterday, today is my turn.”
“Fuck.”
Hahyun’s face, which had been wearing a pitiful expression until just now, contorted completely. Hajin turned his head and met my eyes. I glared at him, conveying my resentment: if he decided not to be jealous, why did he have to do that? He just shrugged his shoulders and went upstairs.
“What was that just now?”
“What?”
“You and Hajin hyung were exchanging looks.”
“I was cursing him with my eyes. Asking why he had to provoke you when you were already in a bad mood.”
Hahyun raised his eyebrows as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Really?”
“Of course.”
“…Next time, please curse out loud. I want to hear you curse at Seo Hajin.”
“Okay. Let’s look for an opportunity.”
* * *
A week later, unable to stand watching the brothers constantly fighting, I declared to them:
“From now on, if I see you two fighting, I’ll sleep alone, so figure it out yourselves.”
Thanks to that declaration, I don’t know about at the company, but at least at home, they didn’t openly fight anymore.
There was another reason for my declaration besides not wanting to see the two of them fight.
I felt like my body wouldn’t last if I had to deal with both of them on alternating days.
Did they somehow sense my plan?
Hajin’s exercise guidance became even more strict.
Hajin started adjusting the treadmill speed faster than usual.
“Run.”
“Huff, wheeze.”
It was possible to run if I forced myself, but I was curious why he was suddenly doing this.
“Why are you doing this suddenly? I’m, I’m dying here.”
“Your stamina is getting worse by the day.”
“Hyung, just give up. When he exercises, he gets even weaker that night.”
Hajin looked at Hahyun and sneered.
“Is that all you have in your head? Do you really think I’m making Yoon Juwon exercise for sex?”
I flinched because that’s exactly what I had been thinking.
“Isn’t that it?”
“Of course not.”
Hahyun and I looked at Hajin simultaneously. Hajin sighed, looking at us as if we were pathetic.
“Juwon is a wanted person right now. Although it’s unlikely, if he were to be discovered, he would need to run away, right? How could someone who’s been staying at home all this time escape?”
So that was the deeper meaning.
Now that I heard it, I felt a bit sorry for being annoyed every time he made me exercise.
“Oh, that’s right! Why didn’t I think of that?”
“What?”
“Hyung, instead of this, let’s build a bunker. We already have a basement, so let’s clear it all out and build a bunker where just the three of us can live. How about it?”
As always, Hahyun didn’t know moderation. Compared to Hahyun, Hajin was a gentleman for trying to resolve his anxiety by making me exercise. While I was thinking this, Hajin spoke.
“Oh… That sounds like a good idea. Then, no one will bother us, right? And we won’t have to worry about running away for the rest of our lives.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
I stopped my exercise, feeling bewildered and incredulous. Then both brothers looked at me with expressions that seemed to ask why I was acting like this.
Are they really unaware of what’s wrong? After thinking about it, I belatedly realized that when it came to issues of keeping me confined, the brothers became the most compatible people in the world.
“Don’t be lazy. I told you earlier, right? We need to prepare in advance because we never know what might happen. If someone chases you, run without ever looking back. To do that, you need to practice running with all your might even during normal times.”
With a feeling of wanting to cry, I got back on the treadmill. After running until I was completely out of breath, when I felt like I would die if I ran anymore, Hajin stopped the machine.
Thinking it was finally over, I tried to escape the exercise room, but Hajin grabbed my wrist.
“What? Isn’t it over?”
“No, there’s still something important left.”
After that, Hajin began teaching everything from escape methods in dangerous situations to self-defense techniques against unexpected attacks. It was so hard that I sent a pleading look to Hahyun, but even Hahyun didn’t help, saying this was all for my sake and couldn’t be helped. In the end, I was the only one dying again.
* * *
Hajin frowned at the report comparing Secretary Kim’s and Hahyun’s shareholdings with his own. It seemed Secretary Kim was secretly buying shares to increase his stake and planning to combine it with Hahyun’s, but unless there was an overwhelming difference that couldn’t be handled without selling land, the current situation was ambiguously balanced enough that he might not need to sell the land.
“50,000 shares…”
Hajin repeated the same words and closed the file. It would be good if he could crush Secretary Kim’s ambition with the money he had, but the problem was Juwon.
Ever since Juwon’s initial betrayal, he couldn’t figure out what emotions he felt toward him. He vaguely thought it might be a desire for revenge because he’d been wronged, or it might be guilt for taking his place when they were children.
But before he could reach a conclusion about his feelings, Hahyun suddenly intervened, causing his possessiveness and desire for exclusivity to grow stronger. Until then, Hajin had thought his feelings for Juwon weren’t love. He believed love had ended the moment Juwon betrayed him.
Then he realized belatedly. That his feelings hadn’t ended just because of betrayal, that despite the ups and downs, his heart had always been constant toward Juwon.
After recognizing his emotions, the current unstable situation became even more unsatisfying. Didn’t Juwon say he couldn’t choose anyone? That meant he might choose one person at any time.
So now, the most urgent task was to win Juwon’s heart. To do that, he had no choice but to put Hahyun in the representative position at this upcoming board meeting and secure some time.
Having made his decision, Hajin immediately summoned Hyunwoo. Shortly after, Hyunwoo, looking tired from his heavy workload, entered the director’s office.
“Did you review the report well?”
“The difference is ambiguous.”
Hyunwoo looked suspiciously at Hajin, who seemed to be contemplating despite having clear results. Initially, Hajin had been unwavering in his determination to own more shares than Secretary Kim, even if it meant selling Area A.
But suddenly he completely changed his attitude, spouting nonsense about retreating this time and waiting for the next opportunity rather than selling buildings to hold shares. Hyunwoo felt like slapping him to bring him to his senses, but unable to do that to his superior, he decided to try persuading him while suppressing his anger.
“Yes, as you can see, with this much difference, we can easily fill the gap without selling the building. But with the board meeting approaching soon, why are you trying to hand over your position instead of taking the safe route?”
Hyunwoo wasn’t the only one frustrated by Hajin’s antics.
For this board meeting, he had prepared a lot, even giving up his weekends. He tried to recruit all internal and external directors who owned more than 10,000 shares, and their financial strength wasn’t bad after emptying their secret funds. On top of that, Hajin himself had been actively networking to create many allies.
Despite all this, Hyunwoo couldn’t understand why Hajin was trying to hand over his position this time. Hajin got up from his seat and approached Hyunwoo.
“Hyunwoo, are you frustrated?”
“Yes.”
“Shall we talk without rank?”
As soon as Hajin finished speaking, Hyunwoo cursed.
“Fuck, this is bullshit. Just tell me what the problem is. Then I can either help you or quit.”
