123.
#I’ll Do It, Engagement
“It’s nothing.”
Haram quickly wiped his eyes with his arm and smiled, but the Chairman’s frown deepened.
“Hayun?”
At the Chairman’s words, Haram instinctively turned around. Realizing that Hayun was behind the closed door, the Chairman patted Haram’s shoulder and instructed the housekeeper to take the child away. Haram looked anxiously back and forth between the closed door and the Chairman.
“I need to talk with Hayun for a moment, so go downstairs and wait first. Let’s have dinner together later.”
The Chairman soothed Haram with a gentle expression. After watching Haram go downstairs with the housekeeper, he stood in front of Hayun’s room and took a deep breath. He could guess why Hayun had returned after two months, and it made his insides churn.
Jeong Dawoon’s disappearance was unexpected for him too. Still, he thought it was fortunate. He welcomed the fact that Dawoon had freed himself from Hayun without his intervention, thinking there was no chance of him coming back. The problem was Hayun. Hayun was more obsessed with Dawoon than the Chairman had anticipated. When he heard from the person he had planted in the London branch that Hayun was using every means to find Dawoon, his blood pressure nearly sent him back to the hospital.
Out of sight, out of mind – that’s how it should be. So, he believed that with a little more time, Hayun would eventually give up.
He believed and waited. That became one month, then two months.
Knock knock. He knocked on the door, but there was no answer from inside.
“It’s me.”
He announced himself, but it was still quiet.
“I’m coming in.”
Perhaps because Haram had just left, the door wasn’t locked. As he opened it and entered, he saw Hayun’s back as he stood by the window, having already changed his clothes.
“You’re here.”
Hayun turned and acknowledged the Chairman, but his tone and expression were cold.
“Have you decided to throw away your manners now?”
Unable to hold back, his displeasure showed.
“That’s rich coming from someone who showed up unannounced.”
Hayun snorted and retorted. The Chairman had to take a long breath to forcibly swallow the rising emotion.
“When you come in, you should come and greet me first!”
Even at the shout, Hayun’s expression didn’t change. He stared at the Chairman with an expressionless face, as if he had lost all emotion. Even the Chairman flinched at that coolness. Although Hayun had confronted him several times before, he always had a grinning face that seemed to be teasing, not this expressionless one.
“It’s better to be sharp sometimes rather than always grinning while doing company work, but if it’s too much, that’s also problematic. Do you know what the executives are saying about you?”
Not just from the London branch, but also from the short visit to the headquarters today, there was a lot of talk about how Hayun was different from before. Complaints that people were too scared to even speak to him had already reached the Chairman’s ears.
“I don’t come to the company for fun. If they have nothing to feel guilty about, there’s nothing to be uncomfortable about.”
Hayun retorted coldly.
“What did Haram do wrong?”
At the Chairman’s question, Hayun tilted his head slightly, barely noticeable. It was a reaction of not understanding what he meant.
“What did you say to the child you met after a long time to make him cry!”
He could overlook the executives’ chatter, but seeing Haram crying irritated him. Haram was Hayun’s real brother. Although they had different mothers, he was clearly Jeong Seo-hoo’s son. It displeased him that Hayun was being harsh even to Haram, obsessed with Jeong Dawoon.
“Was he crying?”
He asked back, but there was still no sign of regret in Hayun’s tone or face. Rather, it seemed like he was asking, “So what?”
The Chairman had a lot to say, but it didn’t seem like any conversation would be possible with the current Hayun. He had to grit his molars and swallow his emotions to suppress all sorts of irritation and anger.
“If you can’t take proper care of him, it might be better for me to take Haram.”
He had said this a few times before. Back then, Hayun had opposed, saying that even if he was busy with company work, Dawoon would take good care of Haram.
“Do as you please.”
But this time, he answered without a second of hesitation. It was as if he really didn’t care. This further provoked the Chairman’s anger.
“You really…!”
The words trailed off at Hayun’s indifferent gaze.
Isn’t this what you wanted, grandfather? You told me to do this, so what’s the problem?
His thoughts were clearly conveyed through his gaze alone.
Emotions boiled to the point where his tightly clenched fist trembled. Hayun’s gaze briefly lowered, then stopped when he saw the Chairman’s hand shaking on his cane.
“How unusual of you to hold back.”
At the mocking words, the Chairman finally shouted, “Jeong Hayun!” Then, thinking this would never end, he took deep breaths in and out repeatedly to control his emotions.
“I’ll take Haram with me.”
Even when he stated it definitively, Hayun had nothing to say. To Jeong Hayun, even Jeong Haram seemed to be of no concern. It was maddening to think how he could be so indifferent even to his own flesh and blood.
“Since you’re back in Korea, go on a blind date and get engaged. I’ll tell them to prepare and choose a suitable person.”
He thought that if he forcibly matched Hayun with someone, it might reduce his obsession with Dawoon. Even if there were no feelings at first, people tend to grow closer to those around them. Now that Dawoon was gone, it was the perfect opportunity to attach someone else to Hayun.
“Engagement…”
Hayun, who was expected to flatly refuse as before, muttered with his gaze fixed on empty space. The Chairman’s eyes narrowed at this unexpected reaction. He had been prepared to push for an engagement or marriage by bringing up the company if Hayun refused, but Hayun made a long nasal sound and then looked at the Chairman.
“I’ll do it, the engagement.”
“…Really?”
It was the answer he wanted, but it came so compliantly that he felt suspicious.
“Isn’t it your wish?”
His voice was dry, as if it were someone else’s business.
“But I’ll choose my partner.”
The following words made him tense, wondering if Hayun was going to say nonsense about getting engaged to Dawoon again. Wasn’t Jeong Dawoon’s whereabouts unknown right now? Could Hayun have found Dawoon already? His brow furrowed involuntarily at his own thoughts.
“The granddaughter of Congressman Choi Min-guk, who was the former majority leader.”
Hayun’s words cut through all the miscellaneous thoughts.
“What did you just say…?”
The Chairman doubted his own ears. The only granddaughter of Congressman Choi Min-guk of marriageable age was Choi Yu-na, whom he had tried to match with Dawoon.
“Why? You don’t like it? Because she’s an illegitimate child? But you were the one who said that doesn’t change the fact that she’s Congressman Choi Min-guk’s granddaughter.”
He only frowned, keeping his mouth shut as Hayun recited exactly what he had said three years ago.
“Wasn’t it that you didn’t care who my partner was as long as it wasn’t Dawoon? Or now that Dawoon is gone, you’ve developed another greed?”
The Chairman swallowed a bitter smile at the blatant accusation. Yes, although there was the flaw of being an illegitimate child, Choi Yu-na was still Congressman Choi Min-guk’s real granddaughter, and officially registered as the second son’s legitimate child. As long as the media didn’t make a fuss, there wouldn’t be much of a problem.
No, in a way, he hoped the media would dig into her background through her engagement to Hayun. Later, when Choi Yu-na’s birth issue came to light, they could use that as an excuse to break off the engagement and then find a proper match.
The priority was to completely erase Jeong Dawoon from Hayun’s mind. If necessary, using Choi Yu-na wasn’t a bad idea.
“I’ll contact Congressman Choi Min-guk.”
At the words permitting the engagement to Choi Yu-na, Hayun, who had been staring intently, burst into laughter. He laughed out loud like a madman, then wiped away the tears that had formed in his eyes after a while. Then, as if he had never laughed, he looked at the Chairman again with a cold expression.
“Handle the communication between adults as you see fit. I know Choi Yu-na’s contact information, so I’ll meet her directly and tell her about the engagement.”
He wanted to ask why Hayun knew Choi Yu-na’s contact information, but he swallowed the question with a sigh. It wasn’t important how he knew. What was important was that Jeong Hayun was showing interest in someone other than Jeong Dawoon.
“Have dinner with Haram. I’m tired, so I’m not thinking straight.”
Hayun emphasized that he was tired. It meant he wanted the Chairman to leave his room now. The Chairman, feeling almost kicked out, sighed heavily while looking at the closed door.
An engagement with Choi Yu-na. He couldn’t grasp what Jeong Hayun was thinking.
Hayun looked down at several postcards placed on the desk. These were the postcards the housekeeper had shown him as soon as he returned to the mansion. They were sent from various places including South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, and then Turkey, followed by Italy and Germany.
There was no sender, but just seeing the writing “To Haram,” he was certain who had sent them.
Jeong Dawoon…
The guy who had thoroughly slipped out of his hands had been consistently reporting his survival to Haram. After Tanzania, it seemed he had traveled by car to places where they couldn’t trace him. He probably bought a plane ticket from Egypt to Turkey.
If he was determined to run away, the only option was to make him come back on his own.
Hayun’s eyes, looking down at the postcards, sank deeper and colder.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
