116.
#The Final Stretch
Returning home, Ui-hyeon grabbed one side of the book he had received from Dawoon and flipped through the pages. When he reached a bit past the middle, he discovered a note tucked between the pages.
Haah. A big sigh escaped him.
‘Have you seen David’s new book?’
When Dawoon had suddenly brought up the book, Ui-hyeon had thought he was talking nonsense. Ui-hyeon had no interest in books other than textbooks. He hadn’t even read web novels that everyone else was reading. He would shake his head at the mere sight of text. So when Dawoon suddenly mentioned a foreign author to him, he wondered if Dawoon was being dramatic about going to study abroad.
‘Take that book with you.’
Dawoon nodded towards a book on the desk. It looked boring from the cover alone. It wasn’t even a regular novel, but something with a scientific title, which made Ui-hyeon immediately show his dislike.
‘The middle part was quite impressive.’
‘What’s with the sudden book talk? You know I hate books…’
As Ui-hyeon was about to wave his hand in refusal, Dawoon gestured towards the ceiling with his eyes. Wondering what it was about, Ui-hyeon looked up and noticed something shiny.
‘Don’t look at unnecessary things, look at me. You came to see me, right?’
Dawoon changed the subject, warning him not to pay attention to it. Immediately understanding his intention, Ui-hyeon shifted his gaze back to Dawoon.
‘Make sure you read that book.’
Though Dawoon was smiling as he spoke, Ui-hyeon could sense desperation in his eyes. He had thought he might have been imagining things, but to think there was actually something like this hidden in the book. After not being able to contact him properly for days, making him worry…
He had suspected something was wrong when Dawoon’s phone had been turned off for days. It had been suspicious from the moment he started talking about suddenly studying abroad. It felt like if Dawoon left Korea like this, he might never see him again. Ui-hyeon had alternated between cursing him as heartless and worrying anxiously, until late last night when he discovered an unknown username adding him in the game he had just logged into.
– Who are you?
– Me.
– Who’s ‘me’?
– Jeong Dawoon.
At the reply, Ui-hyeon thought the sun must be rising in the west. Jeong Dawoon, of all people, playing a game? Even during middle and high school when kids were obsessed with games, and even in college, Dawoon had never set foot in a PC room, let alone play mobile games.
– What bastard is impersonating you? You’re a scammer, right?
Unable to believe it, Ui-hyeon asked, and the other party remained silent. He was about to dismiss it as an impersonator, wondering how someone could impersonate Jeong Dawoon.
– I need help.
Even when he saw that sentence, he thought it was an obvious ploy to extort money.
– You said it yourself 3 years ago. To tell you anytime if I needed something.
From that point, things started feeling strange, and he couldn’t ignore it.
– Are you really Jeong Dawoon?
– Come to my house tomorrow.
The conversation ended there. The other party logged out, so Ui-hyeon couldn’t ask anything more. It was too suspicious to dismiss as a prank, as all they wanted was for him to come to the house.
With half doubt and half belief, he had gone to Dawoon’s house today. But when security guards blocked him at the front gate, he was certain that something had really happened.
‘What’s this? Are you really being held captive?’
He asked as soon as he saw Dawoon’s face, but Dawoon didn’t give a straight answer. He just brushed it off, saying Ui-hyeon could see for himself. After calling him all the way to the house, Dawoon didn’t say much. He only mentioned that Hayun was also going to the UK branch and taking Haram with him.
Even when Ui-hyeon was appalled at the fact that Jeong Hayun was going too, Dawoon just smiled. But Ui-hyeon knew that smile well. Three years ago, when Dawoon was hiding his situation with Hayun and suffering alone, he had smiled like that too.
Ui-hyeon couldn’t even press Dawoon to open up in his own room. Dawoon had signaled with his eyes that there were surveillance cameras in the room. Thinking that even sound might be transmitted, Ui-hyeon couldn’t easily say anything. He felt that if he said something careless, it might make things more difficult for Dawoon.
In the end, he could only sit face to face briefly and say meaningless things like “Have a good time studying abroad” and “Keep in touch when you’re there.” And as he was about to leave, Dawoon handed him this book.
[Three days later, 11 AM, flight to London.]
That was all that was written on the note.
“Ah, you inconsiderate bastard. What am I supposed to do with this? Come to the airport to see you off? You need to explain in detail for me to understand. This is driving me crazy, really.”
As Ui-hyeon grumbled while holding the memo, he discovered something written in small letters on the back and his eyes widened.
***
“It seems Author Choi Seon-gyeom has given up as well. His filming crew has already left the country, and Choi Seon-gyeom is scheduled to leave in two days.”
At Director Park’s report, Hayun checked the flight ticket details Choi Seon-gyeom had booked. The day after tomorrow, a flight to Greece.
“Greece was where he was working on his projects right before coming to Korea. I think he might have some work to wrap up there. The filming crew that left earlier all returned to Greece as well.”
“Good work. You may go.”
Even after dismissing Director Park, Hayun spent a long time examining Choi Seon-gyeom’s itinerary report. Giving up this easily? Something didn’t quite add up.
Had he given up because he couldn’t contact Dawoon at all? With Dawoon turning off his phone, Choi Seon-gyeom would have been unable to do anything.
Even so, it seemed like he gave up too quickly…
What would it feel like to learn of the existence of a son you didn’t even know existed? He couldn’t quite grasp it. The emotions Choi Seon-gyeom might have felt towards Dawoon were clearly different from what Hayun felt towards Dawoon. Having never had a child, he couldn’t understand what an obsession with blood relations felt like.
Maybe it’s not a big deal. His own father had loved Dawoon, who didn’t share a drop of blood with him, more than Hayun, his biological son. Perhaps all this talk about blood ties was just nonsense. Thinking about it that way, Dawoon might as well be a stranger to Choi Seon-gyeom. If Dawoon had any attachment to his father it would be different, but from what he could see now, Dawoon seemed to have no affection or lingering feelings for Choi Seon-gyeom.
Had he resigned himself because of how Dawoon was acting?
There was a lingering sense of unease, as if something was left unfinished, but when he considered various situations, nothing specifically stood out as problematic. Grandfather was still hospitalized, and his health condition was worse than expected, causing company executives to worry about Hayun leaving for an overseas branch at such a time. On the other hand, his aunt Jeong Seo-in was secretly pleased that Hayun would be away. She was loudly proclaiming that she could act as his father’s proxy.
Hayun wasn’t one to stand by and watch such a spectacle. He was in the process of handing over his duties to one of the capable and specialized executives, appointing them as the domestic COO (Chief Operating Officer), leaving no room for Jeong Seo-in to step in. The COO was Hayun’s person, not Chairman Jeong’s, and even though Hayun was going to the London branch, as long as the Chairman was in the hospital like this, the fact that Hayun was the de facto CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Haedo Group remained unchanged.
In fact, even if Grandfather got up and tried to seize power back in Hayun’s absence, it wouldn’t matter. In that case, he planned to just settle down in London with Dawoon. The old man would be furious if he knew, but in the end, Chairman Jeong would be the one at a disadvantage. Just the threat of Hayun not returning to Korea could be enough leverage considering the operation of Haedo Group.
Whether he maintained his current position or not, he had nothing to lose, so there was no hesitation. Everything was progressing smoothly. Nothing was outside of Hayun’s range of expectations.
“It’s too quiet.”
Contrary to expectations, Dawoon was easily conforming to the situation. He had never completely opposed Hayun’s words before. But this time, why did it feel so unsettling?
Wondering if he had missed something, Hayun checked the CCTV installed in Dawoon’s room again for the past few days. It really was a monotonous life. Haram frequently went in and out of the room, and when Haram wasn’t there, Dawoon mostly read books. Very occasionally, he would sit in front of the computer and play games. That was something he hadn’t done before, but there was nothing suspicious about his explanation that he started it to kill time because he had nothing else to do. If anything, not doing it during middle school, high school, or college had been unlike his peers.
Hayun pressed the intercom on his desk to connect with Director Park.
“Make sure to confirm that Author Choi Seon-gyeom leaves the country. You’ve assigned someone to watch Lee Ui-hyeon as well, right?”
[Yes. We’ve been monitoring him continuously since he visited the mansion. There have been no unusual movements.]
Director Park provided the answer Hayun wanted without any hesitation. Hayun frowned, pressing both sides of his forehead with his thumb and middle finger.
There’s no problem at all. If things continue like this for just three more days, he can take Dawoon and leave Korea to start a new life. Once they arrive in London, Dawoon will be different from now. Now that the shackles of brotherhood that had locked his heart have been removed, even if not immediately, with time, he will eventually accept Hayun as his lover. It had taken 18 years to get this far.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
