This was unbelievable. He couldn’t believe it.
Now Yeonwoo finally understood why the man had seemed so put off. True, Kang Jihyeok looked at least ten years older than him on the outside. But regardless of appearances, his actual age was 21 — the same as Yeonwoo. And he had called someone his own age hyung-nim. No wonder he’d looked annoyed. If Yeonwoo put himself in the other’s shoes, he’d have felt the same way.
The reason Kang Jihyeok had bothered to tell him we’re the same age was obviously so he’d fix the way he addressed him, even now.
“Ji, Jihyeok—”
“Twelve-year gap.”
“…Old man.”
Yeonwoo desperately hoped Kang Jihyeok hadn’t noticed the awkward pause that had stretched between his words.
Chapter 1
Cha Yeonwoo’s Circumstances
A modern-day Cinderella. That was the most well-known way to describe Cha Yeonwoo. Even people who didn’t know his face — the moment they heard his name, the words “Oh, that guy? The Cinderella one?” would come tumbling out. The nickname was that famous.
“Noblesse oblige — Assemblyman Cha and his wife adopt a child from the orphanage they’ve volunteered at for over eight years.
Assemblyman Cha Baeju, beloved by many for his policies in favor of ordinary citizens, has adopted a child. Having already raised three children of his own, his decision to adopt carries a certain weight. Volunteering at an orphanage is one thing — adoption is another matter entirely. There were no shortage of critical voices regarding Assemblyman Cha and his wife’s decision to adopt. Some raised conspiracy theories suggesting that the adoption was motivated by tax benefits or some undisclosed reason. However, Assemblyman Cha and his wife explained their reasoning as follows:
— The child was just so adorable. He looked up at me with those sparkling eyes, as if asking me to take him home, and after seeing that, I couldn’t look away anymore.
— Fortunately, my wife felt the same way. So we decided to move forward with the adoption as quickly as possible. It was the best thing for the child, too. We’re simply glad to be able to give a poor child a new family.
Upon investigation, the circumstances that had brought the child to the orphanage were deeply unfortunate. His mother had been an alcoholic. Caught in the gaps of the welfare system…”*
Plucked from an orphanage and adopted into a wealthy family. People who didn’t know any better praised Assemblyman Cha and his wife to the skies, and turned envious eyes toward Yeonwoo — you lucky thing. Overnight, a child with no one in the world had become the youngest son of a rich household. What better rags-to-riches story was there? It seemed like something straight out of a movie or drama, and people told him he ought to spend his whole life grateful for his good fortune. But those who knew the truth looked at Yeonwoo with pity and sorrow.
When Assemblyman Cha first learned of Yeonwoo’s existence, he denied everything — claimed he had never once strayed from his wife. But after a paternity test, his attitude flipped a full hundred and eighty degrees. He complained, irritated, that what had been a momentary indiscretion had now become a headache. He said he’d slept with so many people he couldn’t even identify the mother, then unleashed a torrent of abuse at a newborn who couldn’t even open his eyes yet — “Who the hell do you think you are, you brat with no proper bloodline, trying to put a stain on my life?” — before dumping the baby at an orphanage. That he had thrown the child away like garbage and then, once election season came around, made a grand, publicized show of taking him back — this was a well-known story, but only among a select few. People clicked their tongues and whispered that even animals protect their own young, and that this man was worse than an animal.
The sensationalist reporting — which ignored basic press ethics and showed no regard for the adopted child’s rights — looked suspicious even to those who didn’t know the hidden truth. There were people who said things like, “Something about Assemblyman Cha seems a little off, don’t you think?” But that was all. It got consumed as gossip, and then naturally faded from people’s memories.
No matter how filthy the rumors circulating about him, Assemblyman Cha went around showing off photos of Yeonwoo to anyone who would look. He boasted that the boy would grow up to be stunning. He even went so far as to say that while he wanted to sell him off the moment he came of age, he planned to keep him close for a while and show him around to drive up his price. He made sure to add that anyone interested should make their interest known in advance.
They were disgusted by Assemblyman Cha’s words and actions — and yet they consumed Yeonwoo’s misery as entertainment. Because living through misfortune yourself was miserable, but watching someone else’s up close was enjoyable. Some even went further and placed bets on where the boy would end up being sold. And on what kind of end he’d meet. Cruel, perhaps — but that was the nature of this world.
Yeonwoo remembered, with vivid clarity, the day he arrived at that mansion — a palace that would become his prison, a place that would close around his neck like a noose. He had meant to bow his head and thank the people who would become his parents, trying to contain the hope swelling in his chest, and to greet the siblings he would have, telling them he hoped they’d get along. He would have done all of that — if not for the torrent of abuse they hurled at him the very first day.
“If it weren’t for that pretty face of yours, I wouldn’t have brought you back from that orphanage.”
“I want you out of my sight as fast as possible.”
…Yeonwoo was stunned by the words and the looks they gave him — as if he were something filthy. The expressions they had worn in front of the reporters were nowhere to be found. Stripped of that false mask, all that remained was naked contempt. Yeonwoo stepped back. And immediately, a hand flew at him.
He pressed his reddening cheek and walked out of that room — only to be met with more hate-filled eyes.
“Hyung? Did you just call me hyung? What the hell, where did this little bastard crawl in from, how dare he call me that?”
“Stay in your corner, exist like you don’t exist. Understood?”
“Ugh, disgusting. Why did mom and dad even bring something like this home?”
From that very first day, Yeonwoo understood his place. The reality waiting for him outside the orphanage was far more wretched and bleak than anything he’d imagined. But as he always had, Yeonwoo adapted to the reality in front of him. No — he had to adapt. Because if he didn’t, he couldn’t survive. When he was met with abuse, he smiled blankly as if he hadn’t understood. Even when he was hit, he didn’t cry. When he was knocked down, he got straight back up, and he made himself flat and small so as not to provoke them. Everything he did, he did to survive. And yet the people hired by Assemblyman Cha were unsettled by a child who didn’t act like a child. They said he gave them chills, that he was frightening — and they kept their distance. When he was being abused in front of them, they looked the other way.
Time passed, years slipping by one after another, and when Yeonwoo finally came of age, Assemblyman Cha wasted no time in taking him out and showing him around. Before adulthood, Yeonwoo hadn’t been allowed outside — not even into the garden — unless it was to be put on display for the press. But once he turned of age, things changed. Assemblyman Cha took him out almost every single day. Almost always at night, not during the day. Secret outings that no one outside Assemblyman Cha’s family knew about. And outings that Yeonwoo did not want.
“You should be repaying the grace of being raised.”
“You think I raised you out of the goodness of my heart? You need to pay back what it cost to raise you!”
“You ungrateful little wretch.”
These were the words he carried like a refrain. Repay the grace. Pay back the money. That’s why I raised you. Yeonwoo simply nodded along and said thank you out of habit. There was a time — the memory was so vague he could barely recall it — when he’d been dragged to some company’s founding party.
“Chairman, you’ve heard the rumors, haven’t you? This is my youngest son. Ha ha.”
Every time that arm wrapped around his shoulders, playing the role of a warm and loving father, it felt as though insects were crawling all over his skin. He wanted desperately to throw that hand off and run outside.
But he couldn’t find the courage. Because he was a coward. Yeonwoo stood there like a carefully dressed doll, blinking as he met their eyes. The oversized clothing he’d been put in at least let him hide his hands in the long sleeves. The fist he clenched tight — to hold back the disgust and the fear — was invisible to everyone around him.
“Takes after his mother’s looks, at least. Pretty face on him.”
