“But what’s funny is, if you were concerned about rumors because of your uncle’s situation, the normal thing would be to postpone their wedding instead. The simplest and most plausible solution would be to tie those two together and send them abroad, while you get married first. Then the two of them could stay in America for 2-3 years before coming back and getting married. Everything would be resolved naturally, like flowing water. Without any suspicion.”
After saying this, Junghyun stuffed a soggy french fry into his mouth and put the trash in the bag, then took another sip of cola.
Then he continued.
“When I saw you insisting on such an unreasonable demand to get married first, and within just two weeks, despite having such a simple and easy solution available, there’s only one answer.”
Junghyun paused briefly at this point and threw out a single word while looking at Jaehyuk, as if confirming his answer.
“Pregnancy.”
When Jaehyuk pressed his lips tightly together at Junghyun’s rather sharp deduction, Junghyun took another sip of cola and slowly presented the logical basis supporting his inference.
“Honestly, if I hadn’t known about your uncle’s situation, I would have been uncertain, but thinking about that case made it clear. If you don’t marry first, and instead your hyung marries first or has a child first, they could just go abroad for a while, but with your hyung’s case and yours, it’s obvious that child would grow up under suspicion forever. That it might be your child, not Suhyuk hyung’s. But Yeonwoo hyung and Suhyuk hyung don’t seem like the type to let something like that slide, so you must be marrying first to create noise and block the rumors at the source.”
At this point, Junghyun put down his finished cola and neatly took out a wet wipe to clean his hands.
“And behind all this would be the Honorary Chairman. Honestly, even though it was urgent, my conditions were extremely favorable to me, so the fact that he gave permission without saying anything means the Chairman must have tacitly agreed to the plan. The only thing you disagreed on was probably the issue of children. Since you’re the successor, you should have a child in Korea first so that even if Suhyuk hyung comes back with a child later, people won’t dare gossip freely. Your grandfather would want you to have a child quickly, but you had no intention of doing so. But rather than fighting with your grandfather, you found an easy and quick excuse. Infertility.”
Junghyun’s reasoning was very accurate, as if he had gone inside Jaehyuk’s head.
No, it was even more meticulous in terms of details.
“…You’re more clever than I thought.”
“It was too strange that everything moved so quickly to marriage without any opposition from your side. Even if you made the decision on your own, it doesn’t make sense that the successor who is trying to inherit everything directly, even bypassing your father’s generation, would have his marriage decided so hastily. It’s impossible. Something must have been urgent for your grandfather too.”
Even the wording was so accurate that Jaehyuk had nothing more to say.
“…Did I give too many hints?”
“I grew up having to read people’s minds, so I’m quick to notice things.”
At that, Jaehyuk finally relaxed his expression and smiled.
As if telling him to say something that makes sense.
“Other people must have been walking on eggshells around you.”
“Let’s say we walked on eggshells around each other. I’m not an easy person to deal with.”
“True… You’re definitely quite different from what I thought.”
“What did you think of me?”
“Megalodon.”
“And now?”
“A Chihuahua from hell with a terrifying muzzle.”
“Well… I’ve evolved somewhat.”
As Junghyun wiped his hands, saying it didn’t matter, Jaehyuk silently looked at him.
As if observing him, and calculating something, Jaehyuk stared at Junghyun with an unreadable expression before turning his gaze away again after a moment.
“By now, I’m curious about your reason for marriage, but I decided not to ask, so I won’t.”
“There’s nothing special about mine. It’s really just a purely personal and emotional reason. And there are debts too.”
“…Debts?”
After neatly putting the wet wipe in the bag and placing the paper bag at his feet, Junghyun calmly continued.
“Various kinds of debts. Emotional ones and… others.”
“If I were to ask to whom?”
“Not just one or two people.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“I told you it’s an extremely emotional and personal matter. Anyway, please tell Yeonwoo hyung not to worry. And it would be better to let them know in advance that I’m aware of the pregnancy. It won’t matter within the family, but when meeting outside, I can cover most things.”
“…You’re not asking if it’s my child.”
“For a child to be conceived, mating would have to be possible.”
Junghyun firmly believed that there had been no relationship between them, based on how Jaehyuk had recoiled at the thought of semen spatter.
It wasn’t that Jaehyuk hadn’t had relationships with other people, but he had clearly shown that he didn’t even want to let his lover stay at his home, and his claim about being too sensitive to be touched seemed genuine.
No, Jaehyuk was that kind of person.
As far as Junghyun knew.
“And honestly, with your personality, if there was a possibility it was your child, you wouldn’t have backed down so easily. You said you don’t like family trees getting complicated. That’s also thanks to your uncle, but anyway, to avoid potential problems later, you’d rather have broken the engagement, sent Yeonwoo hyung far away, and brought him back after the child was born and a DNA test was done. If it was your child, you could reunite and marry using the romantic excuse that he was pregnant with your child all along. If it was Suhyuk hyung’s child, you could just go abroad, wait it out, and come back much later when no one would calculate the child’s age.”
His character analysis was perfect.
“…You really are like a human AI.”
“I store all the necessary data. You were probably dumped about 1-2 months ago, so now it must be 2 months? Or maybe 3 months. If the wedding is next month, they’ll go on an overseas assignment right after marriage. Preferably to a region without Koreans, and when it’s time to give birth, they’ll use a chronic illness as an excuse to go to a high-end nursing home, have the baby, and return about 2 years later, claiming a sudden pregnancy, difficult labor, and premature birth in America. If it was a difficult labor and premature birth, they’d have a rebuttal even if people tried to calculate the dates, and if they find a high-end nursing home with good confidentiality, they won’t have to worry about information leaking. Well, there will still be some rumors, but by then you can create noise. People are more interested in you than Suhyuk hyung anyway.”
Certainly, Jaehyuk had to admit that was true. That was also part of why he rushed the marriage. After he got married, the level of interest in his brother would decrease.
“You know quite well?”
“Designing such things is my specialty. But I’d like some coffee.”
As Junghyun eyed Jaehyuk’s cup, saying he needed a cool coffee, Jaehyuk made a slightly displeased face.
Despite that expression, Junghyuk took it as if snatching it away and immediately took a sip after opening the lid.
Watching him drink the bitter, over-roasted coffee so easily, Jaehyuk asked again.
“But why did you tell me all this? You must have known I would be suspicious if you told me?”
“You said you don’t like lying, right? I don’t like pretending not to know something when I do, so I told you.”
“…Is that all?”
“Do I need another reason?”
This was the first time they had a conversation while looking directly at each other, and Jaehyuk silently stared into Junghyun’s eyes. Under that gaze that seemed to be trying to read Junghyun’s inner thoughts, Junghyun also stared back in silence. Eventually, Jaehyuk turned away as if satisfied and started the car.
“Fine. It’s better than lying.”
“I thought you’d say that.”
“To the company?”
“I am going to the company, but to your company. I don’t have anything urgent, so I can go in anytime. The weather is nice, so I want to leisurely go in while having coffee.”
“Alright.”
Having spent more time than expected coming out this far, Jaehyuk immediately started the engine, rolled down the window, and drove back the way they came.
It was an especially breezy afternoon.
* * *
“Well, I’ll head back now.”
After returning to the company and parking the car, Junghyun got out with the paper bag containing their trash and immediately entered the building.
As Jaehyuk had said, the parking lot was empty, with no one coming or going at this time.
Thanks to that, Junghyun walked leisurely and, while standing in front of the elevator pressing the up button, suddenly asked:
“By the way, why aren’t you asking about that?”
Jaehyuk, standing next to Junghyun and looking at the number panel, immediately asked back.
“…About what?”
“When and how I found out.”
At that question, he smiled.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“But aren’t you curious?”
“No, I’m not curious. The result is the same anyway.”
The moment he answered, the elevator stopped at basement level 2.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
