“Why?”
“We’re going by car.”
“But you said there’s no time to drive?”
“No time to drive, but—”
He meant he would just sit in the car.
“Is this like a mom taking her disobedient son to the car at the supermarket?”
“Never had a son like you. Go—I need to teach this guy to watch his mouth.”
As the elevator doors opened at basement level 2, Jaehyuk grabbed Junghyun by the nape of his neck and stepped out while speaking.
Without looking back, Jaehyuk said goodbye to all three people at once and dragged Junghyun away. Even while being pulled along, Junghyun cheerfully waved his hand.
“See you next time then! Enjoy your date, hyungs. Take care, attorney hyung.”
After Junghyun and Jaehyuk left the elevator with that final greeting, the remaining three people all looked at each other cautiously. When the elevator doors closed, Junyoung muttered softly with a knowing expression.
“See that? I told you he’s not ordinary.”
It wasn’t clear whether he was talking about Jaehyuk, who was no longer there, or complaining to the remaining Suhyuk and Yeonwoo, but Yeonwoo smiled bitterly.
“Jaehyuk did say he’s not ordinary either.”
“That’s not what I—”
Junyoung cut himself off and hesitated to continue, which made Suhyuk stare at him, asking what was wrong.
Under his silent pressure, Junyoung’s lips trembled before he finally continued.
“I’m just concerned about him.”
“Why?”
“Just… something feels off.”
Unlike his usual self—who was always logical and clear when speaking and who despised expressions like “without knowing why” and “just because”—Junyoung’s emotional and abrupt expression made Suhyuk pressure him suspiciously.
“Why? What’s concerning you?”
Junyoung stared blankly at Suhyuk, who was insistently asking if he knew something they didn’t. Then he turned his gaze to look over Yeonwoo, who was wearing a soft sky-blue shirt with a bright ivory trench coat and pants of the same color, and muttered softly.
“They match too well.”
“…What are you saying?”
“I mean they fit together too well. As if they were deliberately matched.”
“…Huh?”
At Suhyuk’s confused response, Junyoung explained further.
“You know, when something fits so perfectly it feels unnatural. Like when you’re doing a puzzle and a piece fits perfectly in place, but the colors or picture don’t match, creating a sense of discomfort.”
Junyoung explained with some hesitation, omitting the word “unsettling,” and Suhyuk frowned and asked again.
“Aren’t you being too sensitive?”
“I’d prefer if that were the case…”
As Junyoung’s words trailed off, the elevator doors opened upon reaching basement level 3.
“It’s just how I feel. Well, it might be because of my profession, so don’t worry too much about it, hyung. You too, Yeonwoo. I need to get to work, so I’ll go ahead. Seo Yeonwoo, enjoy your date and take care of yourself. You don’t look well.”
“Okay. Go ahead.”
After Junyoung left first and headed toward his car, Suhyuk and Yeonwoo also exited the elevator together.
But Yeonwoo’s expression didn’t look good the entire way to the car.
He even appeared somewhat depressed, which made Suhyuk carefully speak up.
“…What’s wrong? Are you concerned about Junghyun-ssi?”
“…Um… I think I made a mistake. Both to you, hyung, and… I shouldn’t have questioned Junghyun-ssi so accusingly. I was just worried because it was the first time I’d seen Jaehyuk injured. Junghyun-ssi must be the most upset.”
As Yeonwoo looked apologetic to Suhyuk, saying he shouldn’t have brought up the hospital, Suhyuk suddenly covered his mouth to hold back laughter.
But the corners of his mouth had already turned up slightly.
Finding this strange, Yeonwoo asked.
“…Why?”
“Um… I think that injury was caused by Junghyun-ssi. It seems like he punched him while trying to wake him up.”
After sharing what he had deduced from the reports and from Junghyun and Jaehyuk’s conversation, Yeonwoo stopped walking in surprise.
“He hit Jaehyuk?”
His voice was high. It was an unusually surprised tone for Yeonwoo.
“Apparently while half-asleep.”
“Wait, Jaehyuk couldn’t dodge it? A punch thrown while half-asleep?”
“Seems that way. That’s why he seems a bit upset.”
“Even fairly capable Alphas can’t hit Jaehyuk.”
As he said this, the corners of Yeonwoo’s mouth also turned up slightly. It wasn’t enough to say “serves him right,” but he didn’t seem displeased.
It seemed he had quite a lot of pent-up feelings toward Jaehyuk.
“Don’t let on that you know in front of Jaehyuk. He’ll get upset.”
He tried to be serious about it, but the corners of his mouth wouldn’t obey. So he covered his mouth with his hand and started walking again. While trying to stay as composed as possible, he changed the subject.
“Still… Junghyun-ssi is impressive. I can see why Jaehyuk wanted to marry him.”
“You think so?”
“Yes. I was worried he might be pushing himself because of us, but they seem to be compatible. And they look good together.”
Just watching them talk, they seemed to match well in terms of personality and hobbies. On top of that, their appearances complemented each other perfectly.
Compared to Jaehyuk’s flashiness, Junghyun’s plain but neat appearance matched well.
“They do seem that way. Jaehyuk actually dislikes people who try too hard to accommodate him or who are overly cautious, so someone as assertive as Junghyun-ssi suits him well. Jaehyuk definitely looks happy. I hope they get along well…”
Suhyuk cut himself off mid-sentence and paused. Then, as if suddenly remembering what Junyoung had said earlier, he made a face like he’d just realized something.
Now he seemed to understand what Junyoung meant.
That they matched so well it created a sense of discomfort.
Yeonwoo also quickly noticed his change in demeanor.
“Are you bothered by what Junyoung just said?”
“A little. Junyoung does have good intuition.”
“He’s a divorce attorney. He even prepared their prenuptial agreement. Maybe his perspective is just different from ours? Being cautious isn’t a bad thing anyway.”
Junyoung had started to doubt all couples after becoming a divorce attorney, partly due to his innate tendencies.
For that reason, he had unintentionally remained single, Yeonwoo comforted Suhyuk, telling him not to worry.
“Do you think so?”
“Yes. You say it yourself. It’s an occupational hazard.”
“Then that’s a relief. It’s hard to find someone who’s so compatible with Jaehyuk.”
“They’ll get along well. Surprisingly, I think Jaehyuk will be kept in line.”
“I think so too. I hope they get along very well. Now that we’ve seen Jaehyuk’s bruised face, I think we’re going to see many more interesting things.”
“Exactly.”
As if deciding not to hold back anymore, Yeonwoo burst out laughing openly, and Suhyuk, who had started the car, shifted gears and reached out his right hand to hold Yeonwoo’s.
“So don’t worry. Junghyun-ssi doesn’t seem like the type to care about such things either.”
“Okay.”
“Now let’s have lunch and go to the hospital. What time was your hospital appointment again?”
“3 o’clock.”
“We still have plenty of time. Is there anything you want to eat?”
As Suhyuk took his foot off the brake and pressed the accelerator, Yeonwoo made a slightly uncomfortable face.
Seeing that he seemed to have difficulty speaking, Suhyuk asked again.
“What is it? Tell me anything.”
“…Jajangmyeon.”
“Let’s have it. But why jajangmyeon? Both Jaehyuk and Junyoung reacted to it too.”
“There’s a bit of a story behind it. But hearing about it suddenly made me crave it.”
“Then we must have it. Let’s go.”
“Okay.”
Conversing in a quiet atmosphere, Suhyuk smoothly backed out the car and headed straight for the exit.
Quietly as always.
* * *
“No, no, let’s talk this out without physical contact. Our discord rumors will grow if people see us grappling.”
Despite being dragged along by his neck with obvious familiarity, Junghyun protested that it didn’t look good to others, but Jaehyuk remained firm.
“Don’t worry. No fool walks through the parking garage at this hour.”
“But there are people coming to the restaurant. There are also visitors who come and then go out to eat, like your hyungs just now.”
“Basement level 2 is reserved for Hanju employees.”
When Jaehyuk said that no one except those going on business trips or field work would pass through at this time, Junghyun clicked his tongue regretfully.
“Damn…”
“Get in.”
Jaehyuk opened the passenger door and quickly pushed Junghyun inside, who obediently sat in the passenger seat. Then, as Jaehyuk quickly went around the hood and was about to open the driver’s door, Junghyun reached out as if to open the passenger door.
Seeing this with impeccable timing, Jaehyuk jumped into the car like a falcon and grabbed Junghyun’s arm, while Junghyun smiled shamelessly and fastened his seatbelt.
As if he was just trying it out.
“You need a good scolding today.”
“That’s why you should be careful when making bets with others. Contracts have so many loopholes.”
“You’re really the type who would sell me out.”
“Of course not. I need you to make a lot of money so I can extort more from you—would I really sell Hanju to the Americans?”
“You’d probably sell it after extorting what you can.”
“That’s why you need to manage your shares well. Buy up everything you can and manage your siblings carefully. Especially your uncles and cousins.”
“Where did you hear about Morgan?”
Jaehyuk had been sensitive lately because Morgan had been secretly buying up shares on their side due to voting rights issues, and Junghyun had just added fuel to the fire.
Though they were monitoring the situation since it was still in the early stages, it wasn’t widespread knowledge enough to be rumored about, so Jaehyuk demanded to know how Junghyun knew about it. Junghyun made a face as if he was asking something obvious.
“Where else? Yorkshire.”
“And where did he hear it from?”
“What else would a stock gambling guy do normally? He’s extremely perceptive and has good intuition, so he must have been watching because the stock movement patterns were subtle. He can’t report it because it’s not certain, but he said he just noticed it.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
