Chapter : 07
Ju-hye smiled awkwardly, her cheeks flushing.
Though Su-ha was only four years younger than her, he always treated Ju-hye like a much younger child.
Sometimes it embarrassed her so much that she wanted to avoid him altogether.
“No, you should come right away. I just heard an explanation about Father’s condition, too. They said we need to be careful so that nothing startles or stresses him for the time being…”
“Yes. Until he fully recovers, I’m planning to tell him to step back from company affairs as well.”
The other siblings were the same, but Chairman Jin Su-cheol was the most work-obsessed of them all.
Even when their mother was alive, the thing she worried about most was his overwork, so there was no need for further explanation.
“How did he end up collapsing?”
“Overwork, what else? He’d been saying for days that he couldn’t see well out of one eye, and I kept telling him to get checked. But he said he didn’t have time because he was dealing with the press over the union issue.”
Su-ha let out a deep sigh and ran a hand through his hair.
“This morning, he said over the phone that he couldn’t feel the left side of his body, and then he collapsed. We rushed him to the hospital right away, so we didn’t miss the critical window. At least there’s that.”
Even at seventy-five, Chairman Jin Su-cheol still hadn’t stepped away from the front lines. He wanted to set an example as a manager, and his children had agreed, but they’d always worried that something like this would happen someday.
“It’s a relief you check in on him every morning, oppa. If you hadn’t…”
Ju-hye pressed a hand to her still-racing chest. As Su-ha gently soothed her, telling her she didn’t need to worry anymore, he suddenly brought up something else.
“Come to think of it, the Jinju Arboretum remodeling ceremony is coming up soon, right? Father won’t be able to attend. He’ll be really disappointed.”
“It’s just an arboretum ceremony. It’s not something he absolutely has to attend.”
She said that, but truthfully, she was quite disappointed.
Chairman Jin had supported his daughter in many ways, but the one thing he’d opposed was her running the arboretum.
If Dae-hyeon, whom Ju-hye had married, hadn’t significantly raised Jinju Civil Engineering’s stock price and eased the chairman’s worries, the arboretum project would probably never have existed.
“Just an arboretum ceremony? He knows how meticulously you’ve managed it. You know that.”
Su-ha shook his head, getting worked up as if it were his own matter. His light brown hair swayed with the movement.
“I’ll definitely attend in his place, so don’t feel too disappointed.”
“Thank you, oppa.”
She’d poured a lot of effort into the remodeling, and she’d wanted to invite her father to the ceremony and show him firsthand how much the arboretum had grown.
Seeing that enthusiasm reflected in her brother made her feel a little embarrassed.
“By the way, have you eaten dinner yet?”
Su-ha changed the subject with a grin when he noticed Ju-hye’s shy expression.
At his gentle question, Ju-hye’s lips parted hesitantly.
“Ah, well…”
“Let’s have dinner together, just the two of us. Su-gyeong just got back from a business trip, too, so she probably hasn’t eaten yet.”
Ju-hye responded with an awkward smile instead of words, then turned to Dae-hyeon with a troubled expression.
Surprisingly, Dae-hyeon was also looking at them—more precisely, his gaze was fixed on Su-ha’s hand resting on Ju-hye’s shoulder.
“It’d be better if my brother-in-law headed out first, right?”
At the dry question, Dae-hyeon’s eyes shifted.
“With the chairman having collapsed, you’ll probably need to recheck the Jinju Civil Engineering forum schedule as well… Your workload must have increased. You must be tired.”
The wariness heavy in Su-ha’s voice was familiar.
So was the mask he put on, smiling as if nothing were wrong, so his younger sister wouldn’t notice.
Ju-hye, unaware of any of that, looked at him as if to ask, What should we do?
“No, that’s not the case.”
Dae-hyeon glanced at his wristwatch and lifted the corner of his mouth.
“The forum schedule was set with plenty of leeway, so there’s no need to review it again. As soon as the chairman recovers, we can proceed immediately.”
It was a perfect answer, as if he’d anticipated this situation all along—without the slightest hint of disorder.
“You’re well prepared. Father will be pleased when he wakes up.”
Even so, Su-ha looked at Dae-hyeon with an unmistakably dissatisfied expression.
“Thank you.”
When Dae-hyeon responded politely, Su-ha’s gaze grew even colder.
“Still, today I was hoping to spend some quiet time just with my siblings—”
“Oppa, I’m sorry.”
Before the conversation could drag on any further, Ju-hye apologized and slipped out of her brother’s arms.
As he watched his sister walk away, Su-ha’s brown eyes shimmered with regret.
“We already had dinner plans. It’s our wedding anniversary today.”
“Oh, right.”
He spoke as if he remembered, but there was no real sign of congratulations in Su-ha’s eyes.
“Yes. We rushed over as soon as we heard about Father… and Dae-hyeon hasn’t eaten either.”
“Is that so?”
“If we sit around worrying about Father, we might just upset our stomachs.”
Ju-hye walked over to Dae-hyeon and linked her arm through his.
Since her brother didn’t know about their divorce yet, they needed to look like a harmonious couple.
“When Su-gyeong arrives, please pass along our regards. We’ll head out first.”
Dae-hyeon stared intently at Ju-hye’s face as she explained things softly.
Ju-hye felt his gaze but pretended not to notice, tugging on his arm instead.
He looks like he assumed I’d agree without question.
She was shaken by what had happened to her father, but above all, Ju-hye wanted to settle the divorce discussion with Dae-hyeon.
She wanted to hear him say that he’d at least think about it, instead of continuing to deny and refuse.
“It’s a shame to let you go like this.”
“I’ll take good care of her.”
Dae-hyeon answered firmly to Su-ha, who was looking at them with lingering regret, and reached out.
His large palm wrapped firmly around Ju-hye’s shoulder, pulling her closer.
“Ju-hye’s still shaken and doesn’t look well, so we’ll be heading back first.”
At his concerned tone and gentle gesture, her chest suddenly ached.
He was only acting warm because he didn’t want anyone to suspect their situation…
Knowing that, she hated herself for still feeling a sting at the tip of her nose.
She hated herself for being comforted by something like this.
“Call me when you get home, Ju-hye. Okay?”
At Su-ha’s gentle voice, Ju-hye nodded repeatedly. Because of that, she failed to notice—
The murderous look Su-ha was directing at the hand wrapped around her shoulder.
Dinner was ultimately postponed.
On the drive back, with Secretary Kim at the wheel, Ju-hye quietly stared out the window.
She occasionally felt Dae-hyeon’s gaze on her cheek, but she ignored it.
“For the time being, it’s best to avoid anything that might startle the chairman. Even if such news arises, don’t inform him right away.”
Her mind was in chaos because of her father’s sudden condition.
The doctor’s warning, in particular, weighed heavily on her.
She’d already been worrying about how to tell him about the divorce—but now even that opportunity had vanished.
“You haven’t told your family yet?”
As soon as they crossed the threshold, Dae-hyeon asked in a blunt tone.
Ju-hye headed quietly toward the dressing room, but when he followed her all the way to the vanity, she sighed and spoke.
“What are you trying to say?”
“That even your brother doesn’t seem to know you’re thinking about divorce.”
Was he being sarcastic?
Ju-hye shot a sharp look at Dae-hyeon’s unreadable face.
“Of course not. Anyone might collapse if they heard something like that.”
“Well, your family does take an almost excessive interest in you sometimes.”
The barb in his words was painfully clear.
But she couldn’t figure out the exact reason, which left her confused.
It couldn’t be something as absurd as him being bothered by how close the siblings were.
“Right. So don’t worry.”
Ju-hye found what seemed like the most plausible justification and held it out to him.
“Even if we divorce, it won’t cause you any trouble.”
“Trouble?”
“You’re hesitating because of Jinju Civil Engineering, aren’t you? I know that.”
Since separating from Jinju Construction, Dae-hyeon had continuously served as CEO of Jinju Civil Engineering.
When rumors spread that Ju-hye was the real power behind the scenes, he successfully expanded large-scale projects and personally crushed the falsehoods.
So it made sense that he’d be deeply attached to the company.
“Jinju Civil Engineering is your company. I never had any shares to begin with, so I won’t suddenly ask for anything back now.”
“…What?”
“I mean, there’s no need for you to worry about my feelings just to protect the company.”
She was tired. She’d felt the need for this conversation, but not today.
As Ju-hye hurried to end it, Dae-hyeon’s mouth twisted.
“…!”
“I’ve never thought about it that way. Not even once.”
Dae-hyeon grabbed his wife’s arm firmly and spun her back around as she tried to flee into the bathroom.
