“…”
“My pushing this unreasonable meeting was, yes, out of my own selfishness. The desire to watch my most beloved and proudest grandson date, marry, and have children. I thought that even if you were reluctant at first, you would eventually meet someone and form a deep relationship. But…”
Ho Jaejung, who had been staring at his grandson Munbeom, exhaled a sigh that sounded like lamentation.
“You’re insensitive to your own emotions. It takes time for you to realize them. Just like your father.”
“…”
From Munbeom’s perspective, he wondered why his grandfather was suddenly saying such things. Regardless, Jaejung was serious.
Munbeom’s father was a dominant alpha with dull emotions. If emotions that gradually rose didn’t reach a certain level, he would either not consider them important and let them pass, or let them flow away as if a hole had been punctured in a pot before they reached that level.
That’s why it was truly unexpected when he said he was getting married. Later, when he saw Heo Yeongran, who was brought as his partner, Jaejung thought, ‘Ah, that girl must have pushed for this.’
Even if one side pushes forcefully, it won’t work if the timing isn’t right, but somehow back then, everything aligned so they got married and had a child. Thanks to that, he was able to hold Munbeom in his arms, but the various incidents and accidents that followed were too numerous and diverse to list individually.
The divorce after a long, long period of adjustment, during which Yeongran committed acts that were nothing short of criminal against her own child, while the father pretended not to know and went fishing. In the end, Chairman Ho Jaejung had no choice but to step in personally. This had begun from the moment Munbeom was born. And this indifferent grandson never seemed to acknowledge or appreciate the old man’s devotion, always remaining aloof.
Looking quietly at Munbeom, Jaejung abruptly asked:
“What were you thinking, bringing Yeonwoo, that young one, before me?”
“…”
The wrinkle between Munbeom’s brows deepened instantly.
At a glance, it might seem like he was uncomfortable with the mention of a person who didn’t fit the situation, but in reality, it was different. This was a young man who had acquired something precious that he had never had before, wanting to keep it all to himself, and disliking anyone else showing interest in it. Afraid they might take what was his.
I failed to teach him how to recognize and accept those feelings. It’s something ordinary people learn naturally, but this boy never learned it.
Suddenly remembering his past choice of always protecting and sheltering Munbeom, eventually sending him abroad, Jaejung’s face crumpled intensely.
As his grandfather made a strange expression, Munbeom slightly distanced himself. In response, Jaejung grabbed Munbeom’s arm and asked in a subdued voice:
“Beom-ah. When are you meeting Yeonwoo, that child, again?”
“…Haa.”
Without answering, Munbeom exhaled deeply, shaking off Jaejung’s hand so harshly it seemed cruel, and stepped back. Then, in a voice stiff even to his own ears, he said:
“I’ll handle the matter related to my mother at my level. I’ll manage it so that even if news of this incident leaks outside, it won’t cause problems. Grandfather, you won’t have to worry about my mother anymore, so please go back now.”
“…”
“I will no longer attend the meetings that were temporarily suspended. Since the Ho Moon Group stock market has somewhat recovered, I will at an appropriate time…”
“Do you even know what situation Yeonwoo, that child, is in?”
Bringing up his mother was to divert his grandfather’s attention.
Munbeom disliked hearing Yeonwoo’s name from Jaejung’s mouth. Despite knowing that his grandfather wouldn’t do anything rash to a young omega, he somehow felt uncomfortable and disliked it, trying to change the subject, but he couldn’t understand why his grandfather kept mentioning that person.
“Why do you keep bringing up Yeonwoo? That person is…”
“You bristle at the mere mention of Yeonwoo’s name, yet you still don’t understand!”
“…”
“Can you live well even after breaking up with that child?!!”
…No, why are you suddenly raising your voice?
As Munbeom frowned with lingering displeasure on his face, Jaejung pointed directly at that face.
“The Ho Moon Group stock has recovered, so what? Because you’ve restored the stocks that plummeted due to my feigned illness, you’re going to leave Korea again? Could you go alone then?! Leaving Yeonwoo here while you just work alone, huh?! Can you confidently live like that—eating and sleeping alone for the rest of your life?!! Why did I call for Yeonwoo?! Because I wanted to see him!!”
“…”
“Seeing him again, I found him so kind and pretty! For a child like that, I know several good families who would gladly take him even with tens of billions in debt!! An illegitimate child whose biological father appeared after twenty years only to take out private loans in the child’s name, and who seems intent on selling him to various perverted alpha pigs to somehow repay it!! I’d rather play matchmaker and introduce proper, decent alphas!!”
Chairman Jaejung, his face red with excitement, pounded his own chest.
“Alas, have I ever seen such a half-wit who doesn’t even know his own heart! Now I see Yeonwoo is a hundred, thousand times more precious! Perhaps I should adopt him into my family registry! Then you couldn’t even date Yeonwoo, let alone marry him!”
“…Grandfather.”
Munbeom’s voice calling Jaejung was terribly subdued.
He was not unaware that his grandfather was the type to make such sudden outbursts, but this seemed excessive. It felt like he was ranting excessively due to his own impatience, but Munbeom couldn’t ignore it as usual because there was something troubling in what Chairman Jaejung had said.
Noticing a different reaction in Munbeom’s hardened gaze, Chairman Jaejung closed his mouth. As he crossed his arms and turned his head away sharply, the wrinkle between Munbeom’s brows deepened further.
“What about Yeonwoo?”
“…”
Chairman Jaejung turned his back completely.
Seeing this behavior, as if he wouldn’t easily reveal anything no matter how curious Munbeom was, Munbeom gritted his molars. He wanted to grab his grandfather’s shoulders immediately and question him about what he had just said, but it seemed likely that there would be a barrage of nagging before getting the desired answer. In that case, it would be better to obtain information about Yeonwoo through a different channel.
Beyond the information that was publicly available, it would take some time to discover the details related to the private loans his grandfather mentioned, but at most it would take half a day. No, even faster. He needed to find out as quickly as possible.
Munbeom took out his cell phone and contacted Secretary Kang.
As he was leaving the hospital room, he heard Chairman Jaejung shouting from behind, asking where he was going, but ignoring it, he walked down the corridor and entered an empty hospital room in the middle. By then, the call had connected, and as Secretary Kang began to answer with a “Yes,” Munbeom instructed:
“Find out about all the debts under Lee Yeonwoo’s name. It seems that this Lee Jonghoon person has taken out private loans, so check where and how much he borrowed, and also…”
Would Yeonwoo, that young omega, know that there were private loans under his name?
From the beginning, Yeonwoo had come to the meeting because of hospital bills for his sick omega father. For that, a father who hadn’t contacted him for over twenty years suddenly appeared and sent him to a matchmaking meeting, and Yeonwoo had silently accepted both that and the subsequent regular meetings with him.
But the reason Yeonwoo had told him he could do whatever, whenever, wherever was because Yeonwoo had been attracted to him from the start, and Munbeom knew this. Pretending not to know, that in itself could be seen as exploiting Yeonwoo’s feelings.
In their relationship, the knife handle had always been in Munbeom’s hands. It couldn’t be otherwise. Age, experience, circumstances—everything was disadvantageous to Yeonwoo. Even the weight of emotions.
The moment he faced the fact he had been deliberately ignoring, Munbeom’s insides churned greatly. It was different from nausea, but he felt an inexplicable suffocation, as if everything he had done to Yeonwoo until now had been wrong and misaligned.
This connected to the frustration that had been troubling Munbeom recently. The fact that he couldn’t ignore forever was now right in front of him. Gritting his molars at the truth of his heart that was thrust before his eyes, asking how long he would continue to ignore it when things had gone this far.
Anxiously waiting for the phone call, he contacted Secretary Kang again.
As he was busy processing the instructions Munbeom had given, the secretary asked for a little more time, sounding flustered, but Munbeom cut him off:
“First, confirm where Yeonwoo is right now.”
[Ah, Executive Director, has some problem arisen concerning Yeonwoo?]
“It’s nothing like that. Just please check where he is and what he’s doing right now.”
[Yes, I’ll find out right away. But Executive Director…]
Munbeom was irritated that the person who said he would find out immediately was calling him.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
