79.
#No Intention to Hide
Hayun raised his eyes to look at the butler’s face, who wore a bitter expression.
“The Chairman has ordered to fire all the employees of the mansion and hire new people.”
Hayun chuckled at these words.
“Well, I expected that.”
“What should we do?”
Even though the Chairman had given the order, Jeong Hayun was the actual owner of this mansion, and the butler was well aware of this fact. Right after the death of the previous owner, Jeong Seo-hoo, the Chairman’s influence was stronger, but not anymore. No matter how much the Chairman ordered to fire all the mansion’s staff, it wouldn’t happen unless Hayun allowed it.
“Hmm.”
Hayun made a long nasal sound and leaned back deeply in his chair. What to do? He wasn’t unaware of why the Chairman ordered to fire all the employees. But would firing them solve the problem? If those who had seen something were to gossip outside, it could make matters worse.
However, he couldn’t ignore those who had spoken carelessly. It wasn’t a problem that the Chairman had found out. In fact, Hayun had no intention of hiding his relationship with Dawoon from anyone.
‘Just don’t let Haram find out. Keep him in the dark forever.’
The only person he needed to hide it from was Jeong Haram. He didn’t care who else knew. On the contrary, he partly wanted to declare Dawoon as his own. Although not yet, once Dawoon graduated from university, people from all directions would try to set him up with Haedo Group. He had no intention of watching that unfold.
Should he take Dawoon abroad for a few years? When Haram becomes old enough to handle knowing everything, there would be no reason to hide anymore. Until then, rather than constantly rejecting marriage proposals for himself and Dawoon, it might not be bad to go abroad for a few years under the pretext of an overseas branch assignment.
Above all, if they went abroad, Dawoon wouldn’t have to worry about other people’s eyes. If the environment changes, he might have the freedom to reestablish their relationship. The overseas branch assignment might not be a bad idea after all.
In the end, what mattered to Hayun wasn’t whether to fire the gossiping employees or not. It was how Jeong Dawoon would react when the rumors spread.
“For now, fire the person who misspoke in front of grandfather. Make sure to give them proper severance pay and don’t forget to have them sign a confidentiality agreement for all matters within the mansion. Make them aware that if they violate it, we’ll sue for defamation and claim damages ten times the severance pay.”
The butler acknowledged Hayun’s instructions.
“And tomorrow morning, gather all the employees, not just those who were present, and remind them once again about keeping quiet about the mansion’s affairs.”
“Will that be enough?”
It was a question asking if it was okay not to fire everyone as per the Chairman’s order.
“Should innocent people suffer? I have no intention of such tyranny.”
Hayun replied lightly with a smile. This conclusion was possible because he never intended to hide it perfectly in the first place.
“How’s Haram these days?”
He changed the subject to Haram.
“If you’re asking about his studies, he’s doing very well.”
“Of course, he would. It’s not for nothing that we’ve provided all sorts of tutors. Is he not finding school life boring?”
That’s how it was for Hayun. Having learned too much in advance, school classes were boring. Although he attended school to maintain relationships with peers, even those relationships weren’t very interesting. Whether peers or teachers, everyone was busy watching out for Jeong Hayun, the heir to the Haedo Group, and it was too obvious. So proper human relationships were impossible from the start. Still, his father said there was a need to experience ‘normalcy’ and made sure he didn’t neglect school life.
It would be better to come home and play with Dawoon instead of pretending to be close with peers.
He had often thought that even at a young age. Wouldn’t Haram, who was receiving all sorts of education from a young age just like himself, find school life equally boring? Although he acted like a mere child in front of Dawoon, as Haram grew older year by year, he was becoming more and more like Hayun when he was young.
Even pretending to be a child convincingly in front of Jeong Dawoon.
Hayun smiled as he recalled how Haram’s expression would change when Dawoon wasn’t around. Blood really doesn’t lie, it seems.
“He didn’t say anything in particular. He might have said something to Young Master Dawoon though.”
It meant that if Haram were to talk about his school life, it would probably be only to Dawoon. Hayun nodded with a smile.
If he were to suggest going abroad to Dawoon out of the blue, he would surely refuse immediately. There was only one keyword that moved Dawoon. If Haram were to go study abroad, wouldn’t Dawoon want to stay with him for a while, if only out of anxiety? Of course, he didn’t intend to keep Dawoon by Haram’s side indefinitely. Many famous foreign private schools had dormitory systems. Haram, who would have to enter the dormitory, wouldn’t be able to stick to Dawoon as much as he does here.
Should he really look into places where Haram could study abroad? Even if grandfather found out, he wouldn’t oppose Haram’s studying abroad itself. However, if he realized it was just an excuse for Hayun to take Dawoon abroad, all hell would break loose. But once it’s done, even grandfather wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.
***
After a brief knock, the door opened. Dawoon, who was reading a book, only raised his head to look towards the entrance.
“You’re still awake.”
It was almost midnight. It was amusing that he said such a thing when he had probably expected Dawoon to be awake at this hour, coming to his room. Dawoon glanced at Hayun’s face and then returned his focus to the book he was reading.
Hayun approached and sat on the edge of the bed. Dawoon felt one side of the mattress ripple but didn’t pay attention to it.
“Who did you have dinner with?”
Dawoon involuntarily frowned at Hayun’s question. It was Hayun who had suddenly contacted him when he was almost home and told him to have dinner before coming back.
“I just ate something quickly by myself.”
It was awkward to call Ui-hyeon, whom he had already parted with. Besides, Ui-hyeon had said he was going to watch a movie with Na-eun. He didn’t like that Hayun was trying to meddle in who he ate with after telling him to eat and come back first.
“Grandfather suddenly showed up. I thought it would be better if you didn’t run into him.”
Hayun explained why he had told Dawoon to have dinner before coming back, while snatching the book from Dawoon’s hands.
“Author Choi Seon-gyeom?”
Hayun asked, looking at the man’s face and name on the book cover. Dawoon calmly took the book back from his hand.
“Na-eun gave me tickets to his exhibition, so I got curious.”
It was a name he had never heard before, and he wasn’t a famous PD working in Korea. But if he was having an exhibition in Korea, there must be something to him. So when he looked him up, he found his autobiography. Whether it’s video or photos, he thought the artist’s life philosophy would be reflected in their work. So he thought it would be good to read the autobiography before going to the exhibition and bought the book.
“Never heard of him.”
“He’s a PD and photographer working overseas.”
“Is that so?”
Hayun casually acknowledged Dawoon’s words. His hand had already slipped under the blanket and was caressing Dawoon’s thigh. Dawoon stared intently at where he assumed Hayun’s hand was and let out a low sigh.
“Don’t.”
It hadn’t even been a week yet. Although he was already used to it and his lower body wasn’t sore or swollen, he wanted to reduce the frequency of their physical encounters if possible.
“As always, your words and body don’t match,” Hayun said.
His hand had worked its way to the inside of Dawoon’s groin, brushing against his center. Of course it would get hard when stimulated like that. Moreover, Hayun knew Dawoon’s body too well. No one else knew better how to touch him to make him feel good.
Dawoon grabbed Hayun’s hand over the blanket and glared at him. Hayun’s lips curled into a faint smile, as if finding it cute.
It’s annoying.
No matter how angry he got or how much he threw a tantrum, Hayun’s reaction was always the same. He couldn’t win with strength, and resistance was futile. In the end, he would become helpless against Hayun’s coaxing voice, and his body would faithfully respond to the stimulation Hayun gave.
There were times when he hated himself terribly for this. How could he feel pleasure from being embraced by his own brother? He used to berate himself, saying he wasn’t human, that a human couldn’t do such a thing. Even self-loathing faded with time and he came to resign himself to it. Still, he couldn’t completely shake off the lingering uneasiness in a corner of his heart.
Hayun’s hand was kneading Dawoon’s dick over his clothes. Even though he disliked it, the constant stimulation was causing blood to rush to his lower regions.
“I said I don’t want to.”
“Really?”
Hayun had already leaned in close, nibbling on Dawoon’s earlobe as he whispered. A mixture of ticklishness and a chill ran down his spine, making him try to shrink his shoulders, but Hayun was quicker in pushing Dawoon’s chest down onto the bed.
“Shall we check if you really don’t want it?”
Hayun’s face looking down at him was, as always, relaxed with a handsome smile. If he wasn’t a man, if he wasn’t Hayun’s brother, surely his heart would have fluttered at that smile.
“I don’t…!”
Without waiting for the full answer, Hayun pressed his lips against Dawoon’s.
