# Chapter 92
Hajin clenched his fist to calm his increasingly agitated mind.
‘Stay calm. I need to be careful.’
There were so many things troubling him. Had his father faked his death to deceive the Association, or had the Association tried to kill him first…?
Above all, questions that complicated his mind were overflowing—did the Association know about Lee Hoseung’s survival, and did they know that Lee Hajin was Lee Hoseung’s son?
But he couldn’t ask carelessly. That’s why Hajin planned to find out for himself. His contemplative gaze turned toward Alpha Team.
‘I should at least tell these people.’
Han Seungho had already discovered Lee Hoseung’s existence, and Hajin didn’t want to hide it from them. So, although it might be considered somewhat impulsive, the moment they arrived home, Hajin called Alpha Team to sit in the living room.
“I have something to say.”
At those words, those who had remained composed even in front of the Association Chairman tensed up.
What could he possibly want to say that he called them without even washing up first? Surely he wasn’t planning to leave? That matter had already been resolved in the Chairman’s office.
So what could it be? Alpha Team wondered if they had done something to upset him or failed to handle something properly.
But no matter how much they thought about it, there was nothing like that. Unavoidably, they waited for Hajin’s next words while extremely tense.
“Well… *sigh*… Actually, on the day you all came to rescue me, I met my father there.”
“Father?”
The only person who immediately understood what Hajin was trying to say was Han Seungho, who had encountered Lee Hoseung at that time.
Han Seungho tightly pressed his lips together as he recalled Hajin, trembling yet insisting he had to end things with his own hands.
‘Next time I see him, I’ll kill him.’
He didn’t care if it was Hajin’s father or whoever. Lee Hoseung had already tried to kill Hajin right before his eyes. Besides, wouldn’t his own hands, already drenched in blood, be better than staining Hajin’s hands?
While Han Seungho was making this private resolution, Hajin continued his explanation.
He told them about meeting his father whom he had thought was dead, and that his father appeared to be an executive in the anti-government faction. He excluded the part about his father trying to kill him.
“So, I plan to investigate about my father, or rather, about the person named Lee Hoseung. What exactly happened, why he did such things…”
Hajin let out a deep sigh after finishing his words. After hearing the story, Alpha Team could finally understand why Hajin had acted that way in the Chairman’s office.
“What will you do after that?”
“…Pardon?”
When Hajin was taken aback by a response quite different from what he had expected, Han Seungho immediately came to his defense.
“Hey, why are you prying into that? Hajin hyung will handle it himself.”
But Lee Doyoon, rather than backing down, furrowed his brow.
“That’s what I don’t like. I don’t care what Hajin hyung wants to do. Just don’t think about doing it alone.”
The last sentence was directed precisely at Hajin. Hearing Lee Doyoon’s words, Han Seungho seemed to be convinced and looked at Hajin with understanding. The other two were the same.
Receiving everyone’s gaze, Hajin naturally tried to explain what he had to do. Thoroughly investigate what had happened, why he was kidnapped, what they were planning to do next…
“And after that…”
But the words that should have come next didn’t even linger on the tip of his tongue. Hajin’s lips moved several times, but as if his throat was completely blocked, no words came out.
How could he easily say that he would stop his father or, in the worst case, end it with his own hands?
Only Han Seungho, who had witnessed that moment, knew what Hajin had been trying to say.
“…”
He increased his resentment toward Lee Hoseung as he watched Hajin suffering because of the existence of a father he had met after decades. But there was nothing he could do right now.
Not for any other reason, but because Hajin hadn’t given up on him yet. Hajin seemed to be looking for reasons to give up, but in Han Seungho’s eyes, it was the opposite.
He was looking for reasons not to give up on his father. He seemed to be hoping that there was some reason, that even his kidnapping would become something he could understand.
So if the moment came when Hajin gave up on Lee Hoseung, he would be the one to end it.
Having made this internal promise, Han Seungho changed the atmosphere by stopping Hajin, who still couldn’t speak.
“It’s fine. If you can’t think of it now, you can think about it when the time comes. Why are you racking your brain like that? Let’s eat.”
The other three people, who had sensed something was wrong, joined in supporting that opinion. Baek Jaan was the first to speak to Hajin in an affectionate voice.
“Hyung, can you watch me cook as you mentioned before?”
Only then did Hajin emerge from his thoughts, staring blankly at him for a moment before standing up. It seemed better to focus on something, anything.
Even though Baek Jaan had disappeared into the kitchen with Hajin, Han Seungho and Lee Doyoon, who should have followed immediately, remained in the living room. Cha Jinwoo spoke up.
“So what actually happened?”
He tried to avoid their gaze, but they weren’t the kind who would fall for such a shallow tactic. Han Seungho wondered if he had the right to speak freely about Hajin’s personal matters.
However, recalling Hajin trembling as he choked his father with his own hands, he felt it shouldn’t be hidden anymore. Han Seungho finally began to speak in a very small voice.
“The truth is, the person who’s his father tried to kill him.”
Even as he confessed, Han Seungho kept glancing toward the kitchen, feeling guilty about freely discussing Hajin’s story.
“What?!”
“Keep it down…!”
At Han Seungho’s rebuke, Lee Doyoon barely managed to suppress his outburst. Worried that Hajin might have heard, he hurriedly turned his gaze toward the kitchen and concentrated.
Fortunately, Hajin seemed to be focused on cooking, as only the sounds of peaceful conversation and chopping came from inside.
“Phew…”
“So, what happened next?”
Cha Jinwoo gathered their attention again. His voice had no inflection as if not at all excited, but the veins and tendons bulging over his tightly clenched fist showed that he was restraining himself.
Han Seungho continued with a small sigh.
“He didn’t actually touch Hajin. I intervened at that moment. Later, Hajin put him to sleep with Guiding…”
But what came next was important. Han Seungho glanced at the kitchen once more.
“But then Hajin said he had to end it himself and tried to kill that person.”
It didn’t matter who “that person” was. What mattered to them was the fact that Hajin had tried to kill someone for some reason.
It wasn’t as if they were newly shocked for ethical reasons. If they were to judge that way, wouldn’t they themselves be the most tainted?
If what Han Seungho said was true, then what Hajin had hesitated to say earlier meant he would stop his father—in other words, that he would end it with his own hands.
The three silently raged. The targets of their anger were overflowing.
From the father who had tried to kill Hajin to Seo Juan who had kidnapped him and Han Jiwoo who had participated in it, and even to the Association and themselves who hadn’t known such a situation was unfolding—their anger spread to all.
It felt like it was their fault that Hajin had such thoughts. Han Seungho, as if understanding this thought, spoke almost to himself.
“If Hajin hyung decides to end it, I’ll be the one to do it.”
“Did you call dibs? If it comes to me, I’ll end it.”
“Both of you, stop it. It doesn’t matter who does it. Just make sure Hajin doesn’t get shocked.”
Cha Jinwoo stopped the childish argument that was about to continue. Since he was right, the two who had been about to continue the verbal fight quietly nodded.
As the conversation was roughly concluded, Lee Doyoon stretched his stiff neck and checked the kitchen.
“Baek Jaan hyung probably heard too, right?”
Even if Hajin hadn’t heard since the spaces were separate, normally Baek Jaan would have heard. However, Han Seungho answered with a loud snort.
“Would he have heard? He’s probably grinning ear to ear, happy to be alone with Hajin hyung.”
Just as Han Seungho said, Baek Jaan was enjoying his time alone with Hajin.
Standing side by side, preparing ingredients and occasionally bumping shoulders during the process—Baek Jaan gladly accepted all of it.
Hajin spoke more than usual, perhaps feeling better as he moved his hands and focused on cooking, and Baek Jaan concentrated as if not to miss a single word or syllable.
So, as Han Seungho predicted, he naturally had no idea what the three people in the living room had been discussing.
“Why do you remove that from the shrimp’s tail?”
At Baek Jaan’s question, Hajin showed him the shrimp in his hand a bit closer and explained.
“It’s called a shrimp’s water gun. It’s a water sac, so if you don’t remove it, oil will splatter when it goes into hot oil. It’s better to remove it when frying like this because it’s dangerous.”
As Hajin skillfully removed the water gun attached to the tail, Baek Jaan clapped his hands softly and marveled.
“Hyung, how do you know all these things? You’re amazing!”
Hajin felt embarrassed receiving applause for something so trivial.
“Anyone would know this.”
His attempt to somehow dispel the embarrassment was immediately thwarted by Baek Jaan’s counter.
“Not everyone knows it. I didn’t know either.”
Unable to resist the sparkling eyes, Hajin finally handed a shrimp to Baek Jaan to divert his gaze.
It was quite different from when he had stopped Baek Jaan who was about to touch the food, saying that one person was enough to get fishy hands at first.
But if he didn’t make him shut up somehow, it seemed like he would be treated like a top-class chef just for removing a water gun from a tail, so he had no choice.
“You try it too, Baek Jaan.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
