“You, you… do you actually think what you’re doing right now… makes any sense?”
“What’s the problem.”
“So you… you, right now, making all this chaos because of that person… does that even make sense to begin with? That person is a man. A man. On top of that… do you think Mother would oppose you for no reason? I’m sorry about what happened, but still. You’re the second son of Baekil Group and that person is—!”
Yeon Juhyeok was so flustered he stumbled over his words in a way that didn’t suit him at all. And unable to bring himself to say the rest, he forced the words back down with great difficulty. Munyeong could understand perfectly well what his older brother was saying. And he acknowledged what he said entirely. Haejeong, who lacked for nothing, was the son of this remarkable family, and he himself was someone from the very bottom — no parents, no proper job. He knew it well, and his head lowered on its own. But Haejeong, on the contrary, did not stop. Instead, he raised his voice even higher, the veins standing out in his neck as he shouted.
“That’s exactly why I said I’d leave. I said I’d throw away this house, the company, all of it, and leave! So what’s the problem?!”
“You… you, is that really something you say in front of Father?!”
“Then what am I supposed to do. If this way doesn’t work and that way doesn’t work either, what exactly am I supposed to do?”
“…….”
“I can’t do this without him. Father. Look at the state of me. Without him my life has absolutely no meaning. I don’t want to do anything.”
“…….”
“So what do I do. If nothing works, what am I supposed to do. Should I just go drop dead? I’m already losing my mind over how sorry I am to him. Should I just smash my head in and die right now?!”
It was barely any different from a child throwing a tantrum. But it wasn’t a simple fit of stubbornness — it was a cry choked full of desperate anguish. Chairman Yeon turned away from the sight of his own son and squeezed both eyes shut. Munyeong was frozen in place, as though he’d been struck by a stone one after another.
Yeon Juhyeok, struck speechless by his younger brother’s uninhibited words, let out a hollow, depleted breath repeatedly and raked his hands roughly through his hair.
“You… do you think forcing things like this blindly actually solves anything?”
He couldn’t figure out how on earth to stop this runaway train of a person, and Yeon Juhyeok was at his wit’s end.
“Then, did you think calling him here and giving him a talking-to was going to solve anything?”
“What, what?”
“I wasn’t doing anything either.”
“…….”
“I hadn’t been able to send him a single message, say a single word to him…….”
Haejeong’s body visibly convulsed. Munyeong looked up at him with eyes that were genuinely startled. He opened his mouth, his face full of pent-up frustration, his eyes blazing with indignation, grinding his back teeth as he forced the words out with everything he had.
“You know what Mom did to him. All of it.”
“…….”
“But he says it’s fine. Says he doesn’t need compensation, says he doesn’t want anything.”
“…….”
“And I, damn it……. But I didn’t know anything…….”
Haejeong drew in a ragged breath, his hands trembling faintly. His large hands, veins rising to the surface, were shaking. Munyeong looked down at those hands, then turned to gaze blankly at his profile.
“I didn’t know a damn thing……. I… have sins I’ve committed… so I couldn’t do anything…… just holding on stubbornly, doing nothing, and then why, why did you have to go and touch him again. I couldn’t even lay a hand on him myself! Why!”
Haejeong’s massive frame began to heave. Seeing him like that — the very image of barely-contained grief — left everyone present speechless. Yeon Juhyeok stared at his own younger brother, mouth hanging open, face slack with shock, and Chairman Yeon turned his gaze away entirely as if he couldn’t bear to watch. At the sight of him even stamping his feet, Munyeong felt something both staggering and heavy settle deep in his chest. The bloodshot eyes, the look of raw anguish, the utterly wrecked state of him. He could sense clearly enough just how much Haejeong had been suffering. Haejeong had been hurting just as much as he had. Complex, layered emotions began to wrap around every part of him. Without thinking, Munyeong reached out and took hold of the hand that had been gripping him so tightly. In that instant, he felt Haejeong’s body flinch.
“…Um…….”
“…….”
“……Haejeong.”
He called his name, in the softest, quietest whisper.
“……I’m o, okay….”
“What do you mean okay!”
Haejeong snapped back at Munyeong’s even-keeled words in a voice raw with anguish and shouted. Feeling sorry for him in all his agitation, Munyeong quietly patted his broad back in small, gentle strokes.
“…I really am okay….”
“…….”
“Nothing was done to harm me.”
“…….”
“…If anything… he even apologized to me.”
Munyeong continued speaking calmly, gently, in the tone of someone soothing a child. At his soft, reassuring words, the heaving in Haejeong’s body slowly began to subside.
“…Don’t be angry…….”
“…….”
“…It’s exhausting.”
As Munyeong said it quietly, offering him a faint smile as he gradually came back to himself, Haejeong’s tear-choked gaze met his. Only then did Haejeong turn to face him, and with eyes still full of doubt, he looked him over carefully and asked again with suspicion.
“……Is that true?”
Munyeong nodded slowly.
“……Really, nothing happened?”
Nod, nod.
“He didn’t hit you?”
Nod.
“He didn’t threaten you to break up or anything like that?”
…Nod.
“He didn’t throw a money envelope at you or do anything like that?”
Munyeong, at his relentless questioning, let out a faint smile and faithfully nodded all the way to the last one. Only then did the hardness in Haejeong’s expression begin to ease.
Watching Haejeong gradually settle, Yeon Juhyeok clutched the back of his own neck and let out a pained groan. Seeing his younger brother — who had been rampaging like a wild animal — calm down so quickly at a few gentle words from the other person was so profoundly shocking that he couldn’t even manage a hollow laugh.
Chairman Yeon, who had been sitting like someone deep in meditative discipline, seemed to sense the atmosphere had quieted — he slowly lifted the eyelids he had closed, both hands resting on his cane.
“Is it all over now?”
Haejeong had a talent for unsettling even the most benevolent of people. At Chairman Yeon’s stern, dignified words, Haejeong scratched his nose sheepishly and looked away instead of answering.
“If it’s all over, sit down. Both of you.”
At his voice — commanding with as much composure as he could muster — Haejeong tucked Munyeong behind him again and muttered under his breath.
“…Why is he here though.”
“Ahem.”
Chairman Yeon fixed Haejeong with a stern look. He was somewhat more imposing than before, though not threatening. At his father’s firm rebuke, Haejeong finally lowered his tail, just slightly.
“……Well, why did you call him here without telling me.”
“You’re the one who spent weeks absent from the company without leave, ignoring every attempt to reach you.”
“…….”
Haejeong, with apparently nothing to say, failed to snap back — which was unlike him. Yeon Juhyeok was wearing a quietly pleased smile at the sight of Haejeong getting a scolding.
“And the state of you…….”
Chairman Yeon looked over his disheveled son and let out a deep, pained murmur. Clearly nursing a headache, he pressed his fingers to his forehead, held himself back for as long as he could — and in the end, raised his voice with a burst.
“Is this how you wear out your father’s heart? You?”
Unable to hide how hurt he was, even Chairman Yeon — who had been composed up to this point — raised his voice.
“Then what am I supposed to do! When Mom keeps pulling things like this!”
“You’re a grown man — instead of persuading your parents, you’re trying to beat them at their own game!”
