Chapter 17
Han Juntae tapped the scattered photographs with the long fingernail he had grown on his ring finger.
“What a fucking hilarious bastard.”
Using that long nail, Han Juntae flicked the photographs off the desk and sneered.
“I told him over and over that if he wanted to have fun, he should do it with his big brother. And yet he goes off and enjoys himself all by himself again. Tell me, am I supposed to be angry or not?”
The man standing with his head bowed in front of Han Juntae picked up the photographs from the floor and placed them back on the desk.
His gaze lingered briefly on the graceful woman in the photographs before drifting away.
“What? You think she’s so pretty you could die? Then why the fuck didn’t you report that she was pretty to me, huh?”
Han Juntae rummaged through the papers on the desk and pulled out a stack.
“If there’d been even one word in here saying she was pretty instead of calling her an idiot, don’t you think I would’ve paid a little more attention to her?”
There was no way a personal profile report intended for a superior would contain such an insulting word.
Several photographs had already been submitted as well, yet the man obediently lowered his head and apologized.
“I’m sorry. It was my oversight. But the first person to reject her was Vice Chairman Han.”
There was a sharp edge hidden beneath his seemingly empty words.
He knew better than anyone why his superior had suddenly taken an interest in Yoon Seoha again.
Because the woman was beautiful?
That was laughable.
There were enough empty-headed pretty girls surrounding Han Juntae to fill an entire truck.
The reason was none other than his half-brother, Han Junhyuk.
If Han Junhyuk had ignored Yoon Seoha just as completely, he himself would never have been summoned here at this hour.
Han Juntae had rushed all the way to the main family residence in Pyeongchang-dong—a place he normally never even bothered to look at—after hearing that his younger brother was going to get married.
“Thanks to him, you’ve got one less troublesome matter to deal with.”
“What are you talking about?”
“If your younger brother gets rid of Yoon Seoha, Vice Chairman Han won’t have to worry about this matter anymore.”
Han Juntae’s interest in Han Junhyuk was bordering on obsessive.
Of course, it wasn’t affection between brothers. It was an extremely abnormal mixture of love and hatred.
“Wasn’t that your younger brother’s role from the beginning? The dedicated garbage disposal unit for Vice Chairman Han.”
“Well, Father did say something along those lines.”
Only then did Han Juntae regain his composure. He chuckled and casually asked,
“But there’s still been no word from them?”
“No. After we were informed that they had successfully infiltrated the facility, we haven’t heard anything yet…”
As if he didn’t want to hear another word, Han Juntae aggressively scratched inside his ear with his pinky nail.
“They get paid that much and this is how they work?”
“Even so, this is the first time anyone has managed to breach Shield One Secure’s external security.”
“Good. I think I’ll feel a little better once they bring me that bastard’s hide. He gets to monopolize an interesting toy all by himself and doesn’t even know how to share it with his brother. Tsk. I raised my little brother wrong.”
It was as though worthless pebbles transformed into precious gems and uncut stones the moment they fell into Han Junhyuk’s hands.
It was ridiculous, but Secretary Choi didn’t let any of it show on his face.
Instead, he quietly asked,
“What should we do if, by any chance, something goes wrong?”
Han Juntae shook the photograph bearing Seoha’s face and answered absentmindedly.
“Take care of it yourselves. Even if you get caught, my beloved little brother won’t care. You made sure to keep their mouths shut, didn’t you?”
“Yes. You don’t need to worry about that.”
What Han Juntae had said wasn’t entirely wrong.
Despite Han Juntae’s frequent bouts of madness, Han Junhyuk always remained as calm as the eye of a storm.
In a way, it was also proof of just how clever Han Junhyuk was—and how well he understood his older brother.
After all, it was common for Han Juntae to eventually lose interest when his younger brother failed to react to his provocations.
“But have you ever seen Junhyuk date a woman?”
“No.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. They say even a quiet cat climbs onto the warmest part of the kitchen first, but does it make sense for him to get married before his own older brother? That guy who’s been a virgin all this time?”
Whether Junhyuk was a virgin or not was hardly important right now.
Secretary Choi simply stated the facts in an attempt to calm Han Juntae, who was losing his temper over everything.
Only after saying it did he realize that it had probably been a poor choice.
“Chairman Han Dong-pyo personally ordered him to do it in your place, so he probably had no choice.”
A fairly heavy paperweight flew from Han Juntae’s hand.
A dull crack echoed through the room.
A moment later, bright red blood streamed down Secretary Choi’s forehead.
“You fucking idiot. At least know whose side you’re supposed to take. Does he look like the kind of guy who’d obediently do whatever Father tells him? Whose side are you on?”
Secretary Choi naturally pulled out a handkerchief and pressed it against his forehead to stop the bleeding before pushing his crooked glasses back up.
People didn’t know that the reason he had managed to stay by Han Juntae’s side for so long was precisely because he was the sort of person who could still calmly get another word out even at times like this.
“If Madam were involved, things might be different.”
“Madam, my ass! It pisses me off that he’s the kind of bastard who won’t budge an inch if he doesn’t want to do something. Anyway, dig up some more information on Yoon Seoha. Not this useless garbage that everyone and their dog already knows.”
“Understood.”
It had been a long time since Han Juntae had gone this far off the rails.
After Han Junhyuk completely withdrew from the succession race at H Bio and became independent, things had been unusually quiet for a while.
Just when Secretary Choi had begun to think life was finally peaceful…
He couldn’t tell whether the throbbing in his head was because of the injury from the basalt paperweight or because of the boss who was going to hound him relentlessly from now on.
In the end, there was only one conclusion Secretary Choi could come to.
Money was the root of all his troubles.
Making a living really wasn’t easy.
The air inside the car on the way home felt slightly stuffy.
Seoha felt around for the button with her fingers and lowered the window a little.
When the cool breeze brushed against her cheek, her heart finally loosened.
Perhaps thinking that Seoha was hot, Junhyuk turned on the air conditioner. The inside of the car quickly became cool.
“Maybe it’s because I ate something hot.”
Seoha awkwardly offered an excuse even though he hadn’t said anything.
Instead of responding, Junhyuk simply turned up the volume of the soft jazz playing inside the car.
Her softened emotions gradually settled into calm.
How long has it been since I felt like this?
Going out late at night without anyone accompanying her was something her peers could take for granted, but it had always been impossible for her.
She could barely remember the last time she had gone out alone at night without Cha Mi-yeon or a companion.
She had been living in a prison disguised as a home for quite some time.
I turned off my phone ages ago, so…
Imagining how furious her adoptive mother must be made Seoha feel like laughing instead.
Just this brief taste of freedom had made her heart feel so light.
If she ever truly held freedom in her hands, perhaps she would be able to spread her wings and soar through the sky.
“Oh, right. Thank you for dinner. It was delicious.”
At Seoha’s belated words of thanks, Junhyuk replied indifferently.
“This is where I usually eat whenever a contract gets finalized.”
“Oh, so it’s kind of a routine?”
“I’m the type who absolutely hates having an established routine broken.”
When Seoha had told him she could eat just about anything, he had taken her to a restaurant famous for mung-bean chicken ginseng soup.
Rather than order the samgyetang, which was inconvenient to eat, he had ordered chicken porridge for her.
He ate quietly, and Seoha simply moved her spoon without saying much either.
Even so, surprisingly, there was no awkwardness between them.
There was something else that was strange, too.
Even though she was moving around without Dodam, who was practically always by her side, Seoha didn’t feel uncomfortable at all, perhaps because Junhyuk escorted her so perfectly.
Excessive kindness and insufficient consideration have always made me uncomfortable…
Yet Junhyuk behaved as though he knew exactly where to find the balance between the two.
Was it experience? Or simply the wisdom that came with age?
Seoha found herself becoming increasingly curious about the man named Han Junhyuk.
After stopping by the company again to pick up Dodam, he asked,
“If you’re going to start living with me right away, you’ll need to pack your things from home and bring them over, won’t you?”
Seoha was about to say that there was no need when Junhyuk continued, leaving her speechless.
“But I hate bringing things into my house that have been used or handled in someone else’s home. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, throw everything away and buy new ones.”
Seoha couldn’t help being startled by how precisely his words had hit upon what she was thinking.
It felt as though Junhyuk had looked directly into her mind.
She had wanted to honestly say, There isn’t a single thing I want to bring from my family home.
She didn’t want to take anything from Cha Mi-yeon’s house.
Not even something as insignificant as a toothbrush she had used.
Perhaps Junhyuk misunderstood her hesitation to answer, thinking she was dissatisfied.
“Whether you like it or not, you don’t have a choice. My rules come before your preferences.”
He was right.
The marriage registration was merely a pretext.
As someone who would be staying under his roof for the time being, it would be strange for her to complain.
Besides, Junhyuk had said exactly what she herself had wanted to hear.
If anything, she should be grateful to him.
