#98
“Yes, family.”
Eunhong’s eyes widened at the words that followed, confirming he hadn’t misheard.
“You two are going to get married, aren’t you?”
“What?”
Eunhong’s eyes opened so wide that it seemed like something should be placed underneath to catch them if they fell out. Jaeha covered his own eyes with his large hand, sighed deeply, and then looked at Secretary Kim.
“Take Grandfather back to the main house.”
“…After all these years of knowing you, why are you dragging this out?”
Jaeha’s face contorted mercilessly. He clenched his teeth and repeatedly called out to Chairman Lee, making poor Secretary Kim fidget anxiously, not knowing what to do. Eunhong fidgeted with his tightly clasped hands before looking directly at Chairman Lee and opening his mouth.
“But marriage is different. That’s something we haven’t even discussed between ourselves. I…”
“We are not getting married.”
Jaeha cut off Eunhong’s words. Since Eunhong was turned toward Chairman Lee, he couldn’t see Jaeha’s expression. At the resolute voice, Eunhong unconsciously frowned slightly.
Chairman Lee looked back and forth between the two and sighed briefly. It wasn’t easy to understand his grandson, who refused to take the easy path. He put on a deliberately firm expression and continued.
“There will be many more incidents like today in the future. How long will you live like children playing games? If your mate is so important to you, you should think rationally. Shouldn’t you create a good image before any news or rumors break?”
Chairman Lee simply stated the facts. There was no need to exaggerate for his grandson to understand. Yet Jaeha’s expression showed no signs of softening.
“I’ve spoken with President Choi of J Hotel. He said to just give the word anytime. So don’t worry about the venue or wedding gifts. Go pay your respects to your in-laws immediately and set a date for the formal meeting. If you want to have the ceremony in spring after receiving Eunhong’s birth chart and selecting an auspicious date, time is tight. The PR team will embellish the story of your romance appropriately for public release.”
Jaeha abruptly stood up as if he didn’t need to hear any more, pulling Eunhong up by the arm. Everyone in the living room suddenly looked at the two.
“We absolutely will not get married.”
At Jaeha’s response, emphasizing each word as if it were an impossibility, Eunhong foolishly opened his mouth.
“Huh?”
“We… will not get married according to Grandfather’s wishes, so please do not bring up this topic again.”
Jaeha’s voice was resolute and ice-cold. Perhaps due to the suffocatingly intense pheromones, Eunhong’s face froze pale. He blinked slowly, struggling to grasp the meaning of what Jaeha had just said. Somehow, it was hard to breathe.
Being a dominant Alpha himself, Chairman Lee didn’t even look up at Jaeha despite the overwhelming pheromones pouring out. Without a change in his expression, he picked up his teacup and moistened his throat.
Eunhong flinched as Jaeha’s grip tightened painfully.
“I will live without any connection to Han Jung Group. Don’t try to use me to create your heir. Isn’t it enough that I alone am ground up to create the picture you want, at the expense of innocent people?”
“…Do you think that the fact you were born into Han Jung will disappear just because you say so?”
“Even if I can’t escape, I’m saying don’t drag Eunhong into Han Jung affairs, into the Group’s business.”
“How long must I let you be? Your grandfather doesn’t have much time. Have you thought about the shareholders? They would feel secure if you succeed me. You haven’t just enjoyed all your possessions for nothing.”
“Didn’t you know? My current home, car, the money I spend. It’s all achieved by me, without a single penny flowing from Han Jung.”
Ah. Jaeha paused briefly, then smiled wryly and said bitterly.
“If you want me to repay you for raising me, no, even the money you paid to my mother to create me, I will. Send me the bill.”
“You…!”
Chairman Lee’s eyes flashed as he abruptly stood up. An attendant quickly came to support him as he staggered due to his uncomfortable leg. The knuckles gripping his cane jutted out like his temperament.
“How dare you speak like that! To your grandfather! How I raised you…!”
“Please just go home now.”
Jaeha’s face, facing Chairman Lee, twisted unpleasantly.
“I understand clearly what you want. Succession or whatever, I’ll listen to that separately at the main house. So for today… please… please just leave.”
“…”
“If Grandfather won’t leave, then I will.”
“Jaeha!”
Eunhong urgently grabbed Jaeha, who was turning to leave while gripping his hand. Chairman Lee’s complexion, dark and leaning on his cane, looked ominous. But Eunhong was startled to see that Jaeha’s face was also terribly contorted when he turned around.
“I’ve never said I didn’t do anything wrong. But your father…, Suhyeok, and you are in different situations, aren’t you, Jaeha.”
“What’s so different?”
“I’ll go. I’ll leave. You two rest.”
Chairman Lee lifted his head, exhaling a long breath. He looked so exhausted that Eunhong quickly bowed his head. It felt like he had glimpsed something he shouldn’t have seen.
Chairman Lee grasped Eunhong’s shoulder, patted it a few times, then slowly began to walk. At his gesture, an attendant followed. The old man crossed the living room slowly, unlike when he had entered, as if he had exhausted all his energy in a short time. After the secretarial staff, attendants, and Chairman Lee had all left the house, an awkward silence descended.
As the surroundings quieted and his jumbled thoughts began to organize, Jaeha dropped his shoulders. He buried his face in his hands and exhaled a long sigh. He was trembling like an injured beast. Eunhong massaged his wrist, which had turned white from Jaeha’s tight grip, then quietly approached and embraced him.
***
Eunhong went around distributing gifts. Chocolates, coffee beans, cosmetics, and heavy bottles of wine were passed out in order. He gave armfuls of gifts to each of the not-so-small number of team members. People who knew their alcohol sparkled their eyes at the wine labels.
“Wow- what is this? This is crazy! I’ve been wanting to try this! Look at the sense in selecting these gifts.”
Seo Heeseung, who easily got excited about small things, held the soap and toner to her chest and let out exclamations close to screams. Eunhong scratched his cheek awkwardly. For good reason, as these weren’t gifts he had prepared.
Actually, he had selected a few cute leather keychains from a vintage shop. But on the way to work, Jaeha had loaded boxes of these items into the car trunk, items Eunhong didn’t even know when he had prepared. Jaeha had said he’d prepared plenty since he didn’t know the exact number, and told Eunhong to distribute them to his colleagues.
“People might think you just returned from a honeymoon. Hmm…”
“Even if I went on a honeymoon, I couldn’t do this much. How much did all this cost?”
“No, it’s not like that.”
“This seems like it was bought by your partner from the other department? Your partner is so generous even though it’s not a honeymoon.”
“I’m telling you, I couldn’t do this much even for a honeymoon!”
The words exchanged out of gratitude made Eunhong embarrassed. His face quickly turned red as he handed out the gifts. Gil Dong-wook grumbled that the gifts were too extravagant, but seemed to have understood something about them as he patted Eunhong’s shoulder, asking him to thank his partner. Gil Dong-wook finally seemed to have completely let go of any lingering feelings for Eunhong. Eunhong suddenly realized why Jaeha had prepared these gifts.
“Is your partner from the other department going to leave before me?”
Yoo Junseok muttered as he took off his glasses and examined the wine label. He even put his nose to the cork stopper and sniffed, clearly quite pleased with it.
“Marriage is not…”
Eunhong awkwardly evaded the question but couldn’t actively deny it. Chairman Lee’s voice still rang in his ears. When Jaeha had flared up at the marriage talk, Chairman Lee had muttered, “Did I say something wrong?” before leaving. Knowing him to be a man with an unyielding determination despite his gentle face, Eunhong knew he wouldn’t give up easily. Like grandfather, like grandson—they had something in common, making it even harder to predict what would happen in the future.
Jaeha had been ashamed, as if caught exposing a dirty flaw, when Eunhong had accidentally witnessed the family quarrel. In reality, Eunhong didn’t mind at all. It was unknown when Jaeha would realize that his desire to hide and be ashamed only made Eunhong feel more disappointed.
After that, Jaeha had called Lee Jaesung, berating him for wanting to find the culprit who had told his grandfather about Eunhong. He criticized how staff management could have let this happen, asking if Jaesung didn’t know how the grandfather would react.
“Phew.”
After mechanically greeting everyone and distributing all the gifts, Eunhong found himself sweating. It was partly from the embarrassment and racing heart of pretending to be extroverted, which he wasn’t used to, and partly from the turtleneck he was wearing today feeling restrictive. As Eunhong pulled at the collar to get some air, Yoo Junseok’s gaze narrowed.
Though Eunhong was startled and tried to cover up, he’d already been caught. Yoo Junseok gave a meaningful smile and raised an eyebrow.
“Why why why what what?”
“Nothing, I’m just smiling, why are you acting like that…?”
If he stayed any longer, Yoo Junseok seemed poised to continue teasing him. As Eunhong jumped up and headed to the bathroom, Junseok’s muttering followed him: “Eunhong is so strange. Making me look like a pervert.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
