#64
***
Chairman Lee slowly rose from the large armchair he had been buried in. He had just received a report that Jaeha’s car had entered the company parking lot. Chairman Lee slowly walked to the window, leaning on his metal cane, but without giving the impression of being weak or frail.
“The preparations I asked for?”
Secretary Kim, waiting behind him, placed a thick envelope of documents on the desk. Chairman Lee glanced at it and nodded slowly. He had been looking for his youngest grandson for several days because he had something to ask of him. As Jaeseong had said, he thought it was time to start empowering Jaeha as well.
“Did you relay the message to look into the company my youngest is running?”
“Yes, Chairman. I’ve passed the task to the secretarial office.”
“Tell them to look carefully. Make sure they don’t miss even the smallest detail of how he’s been managing it, and report back to me.”
“Understood.”
“And as for Jaeha’s father…”
Chairman Lee paused, lost in thought. Just then, the secretarial office notified him of a visitor’s arrival. Soon after, a tall figure walked through the long corridor and straight into the chairman’s office. Jaeha nodded lightly to Secretary Kim, who bowed in greeting, and approached Chairman Lee.
“You called for me.”
Chairman Lee gestured towards the sofa, telling him to sit down leisurely.
“I don’t know what Grandfather’s business is, but I clearly told you last time. I said no.”
Jaeha set his lips firmly. It wasn’t the first or second time his grandfather had tried to bring him in. He had left early and started his own business because he hated being controlled and manipulated. He despised being at his grandfather’s mercy. But this time, for some reason, even his sister had joined in, and the talk was long and persistent. Jaeha pressed his throbbing head, feeling a headache coming on.
“I’m going to live without any connection to Han Jung Group.”
“I’m not asking for much. Just… take over and run one cultural foundation.”
“I know that’s just the beginning.”
“I’m letting your father live freely, so your distrust of me is just your groundless stubbornness.”
Jaeha’s eyebrows twitched at the mention of his father.
“Grandfather.”
As Jaeha looked at him with a hardened face, Chairman Lee’s eyes also darkened. At times like this, he resembled his grandfather more than his own father.
“Your father says he doesn’t have much time left.”
“He’s held out for a long time without pheromones.”
“The foundation work is what your mother used to care about. Just take that and run it well. I won’t ask for anything more.”
Jaeha’s eyes widened in disbelief. To think he would bring up his mother. His grandfather’s strategies were varied, but this was the first time he had mentioned his mother.
“Did you think I would accept it readily if you used my mother? Death is the end. Why would I care?”
Chairman Lee took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. Secretary Kim quickly approached to light it. Blue smoke rose in a long trail. Chairman Lee coughed violently while exhaling the smoke. Jaeha’s expression, who had been watching silently, twisted mercilessly.
“When mother was alive, you disapproved of her.”
“That’s right.”
He gritted his teeth audibly.
“Why are you pretending to respect her after she’s gone? Atonement?”
Jaeha clenched his fist painfully. His grandfather had regarded his mother as a thorn in his side. After wanting to get rid of her so badly, when she passed away, he acted as if he had lost a family member. And now he wants to pass on her belongings, which his father had been holding onto, to him. It was nothing short of a cheap melodrama. Chairman Lee, who had finished his long cigarette despite coughing, looked at Jaeha with a deep sigh.
Jaeha met his grandfather’s cloudy eyes, heavy with fatigue. His eyebrows trembled slightly, anticipating what he was about to say. At Chairman Lee’s gesture, Secretary Kim brought over the envelope of documents he had placed on the desk earlier and held it out.
“Your father sent his will through a lawyer. He says to leave all the disposal of your mother’s artwork to you.”
***
[Hey, honey. Did my honey eat a lot?]
Eunhong squinted at the message. Then he put his hand on the keyboard to reply.
…Hmm.
What should I answer?
Why… are… you…? He typed out the letters and then deleted them all again. The blinking cursor returned to the front. It was puzzling. He clearly seemed angry, but why did he send such a message?
Eunhong pondered for a moment and then tapped the keyboard again.
Yeah, I ate. Did you…
No. Eunhong frantically pressed the backspace key again.
Is this message reflecting an angry state? So… does it include some kind of sarcasm? He knew Jaeha wasn’t the sarcastic type, but he couldn’t help but be suspicious of the “honey” message that came after three days. Even though they lived together, messages were a different matter. For the past three days, Jaeha had abruptly stopped sending the numerous messages he used to send. It was a situation Eunhong couldn’t help but be concerned about.
Eunhong furrowed his brow and considered, then started typing a reply again. In any case, since he had committed a sin, he intended to answer as affectionately as possible.
He was about to write, “Yes, I ate. What did you eat? Who did you eat with?” I swear. If only Gil Dong-wook hadn’t bumped into him just as he typed ‘Y’.
[Y]
“Huh…”
Before Eunhong could delete the message, Jaeha had already read it. As he stared at the chat window in bewilderment, no more messages came below the ‘Y’ that had lost its ‘1’.
“Ah… Dong-wook, really.”
Eunhong muttered with a hint of resentment in his voice, but Gil Dong-wook didn’t hear. He seemed to have some work-related business with Yoo Junseok in the next seat.
[I sent it by mistake.]
He hurriedly explained, but this time Jaeha didn’t even read it.
Ha… Eunhong rubbed his forehead. He thought he should try calling after composing himself. Eunhong put on his coat that was hanging on the chair and headed for the rooftop. Just as he was about to get on the elevator, the phone in his hand rang with a buzz. Thinking it might be Jaeha, he happily picked up the phone, but upon seeing the screen, his face hardened coldly.
[Han Jeongwook]
He hung up the incoming call and turned back, leaving the company building. It was because there was a risk of running into team members on the rooftop. As soon as he found a secluded spot between buildings, he pressed the call button to call Han Jeongwook.
Han Jeongwook, who answered before the second ring, asked why he hadn’t shown up for the scheduled counseling time, and Eunhong confronted him with the facts he had learned from Jaeseong. He coldly stated that he would never be involved with Handae Hospital again and told him not to contact him.
“I’m blocking your number. Don’t contact me anymore.”
Unlike Eunhong’s angry voice, Han Jeongwook was calm.
– The issue of your information being sold by an informant and the report are different matters.
“You call that an explanation!”
– And I didn’t orchestrate the information sale. Though you probably won’t believe me.
“You know well. I’m holding back from wanting to expose this to the media. Both you and your hospital.”
Only then did a response with emotion come from Han Jeongwook. Of course, it wasn’t the reaction Eunhong had expected. Han Jeongwook replied with a voice tinged with laughter.
– I know you can’t do that.
“…”
– No matter how much I explain that I didn’t know about it, that it wasn’t me, it won’t get through, right? You must have very negative feelings towards me right now.
“You’re asking the obvious in detail?”
Han Jeongwook made a sound of consideration, as if swallowing his words for a moment.
– I guess the meeting disguised as psychological counseling is off the table. I agree that in this state, even if you received treatment from me, it would have no effect. Things have gotten strangely tangled.
“What exactly do you want to say?”
Suddenly, Eunhong felt tired of even answering the call. Just as he was about to take the phone away from his ear, intending to hang up and block the number, Han Jeongwook abruptly threw out a statement he couldn’t ignore.
– I’ll clean up the report documents for you, so let’s meet.
“…”
– Not at the hospital, somewhere with a nice atmosphere. I think I mentioned it before, but I have some interest in you. I have a lot I want to talk about. I’d like to talk face to face.
“No. Don’t think about blackmailing me. You must know who bought my information. If you have something to say, talk to that person.”
– It’s not blackmail… And that person is too scary.
“I have no intention of meeting Han Jeongwook again.”
And without hesitation, he pressed the red button to end the call. Eunhong stared at the phone screen silently for a long time. His heart was pounding due to an emotion that was hard to distinguish between anger and fear.
‘Should I tell Jaeseong noona about this?’
By now, he had completely forgotten that he needed to call Jaeha. Even if he had remembered, he wouldn’t have been able to make the call with his current voice. Eunhong took rough steps. Just as he was about to run back up to the office, as luck would have it, he ran right into Woohyun.
“Who’s Han Jeongwook?”
As Eunhong tried to ignore him and pass by, Woohyun grabbed him. When he turned around with an irritated face, Woohyun blew out a puff of cigarette smoke. Being a non-smoker, Eunhong didn’t know that people often smoked at the entrance of this alley. Woohyun spat out words mixed with mockery again.
“I heard there are betas like you. Betas who like alphas. Is he another alpha? What about Lee Jaeha?”
