Chapter 140
Hyeon-woo was reassigned from the west wing to the east wing. He was given a new room in the corner of the second floor and moved his belongings there.
Since his training in the east wing wouldn’t start until next week, Hyeon-woo left work a bit early for once. After getting out of Driver Yoon’s car in front of the house, he hurried towards the city instead of going to Aunt Kyung-ae’s house where Jerome was.
Leaving the quiet mansion, he felt energized by the bustling streets full of people. As he entered the agreed-upon café, Ju-on, who had arrived earlier, waved at him.
After picking up his ordered drink, Hyeon-woo approached the table where Ju-on was sitting.
“I was right, wasn’t I? He imprinted on you.”
Hyeon-woo nodded at Ju-on, who immediately got to the point. Ju-on smiled meaningfully, as if he had expected it.
The fact that Hyeon-woo had contacted him first to meet meant he had confirmed his words were true. Ju-on crossed his legs and took on a cocky posture.
“Ask me anything you’re curious about.”
“……”
“But remember, not everything I say might be correct, so filter it yourself.”
Hyeon-woo frowned at this irresponsible remark, and Ju-on quickly added,
“It’s not like Tae-geon would tell you these things. I’ve deduced all this through observation. Even figuring out you were his imprint partner was based on my intuition. But I was right, wasn’t I? Impressive, right? I’m thinking of pursuing profiling. I heard it’s popular in England. Should I really study it when I go back?”
“It’s profiling, not propelling.”
“Wow, you’re alive! Mr. Killjoy!”
Hyeon-woo laughed weakly at Ju-on’s silly joke.
A bitter smile spread across Ju-on’s face as he drank the coffee on the table.
“Actually, I have many doubts about Tae-geon’s accident.”
“…What do you mean?”
The sudden statement wiped the smile off Hyeon-woo’s face.
“I mean it doesn’t seem like an accident, but an incident caused intentionally by someone.”
“……”
“The offending driver suddenly dies, and the suppressor tax exemption plan completely falls through.”
“That’s because Tae-geon, who was pushing for it the hardest, is in that state.”
“Does that make sense? Is Tae-geon the one making laws?”
Ju-on cut off Hyeon-woo’s opinion and spoke with a serious face.
“Even the proposed bill was scrapped, as if it never existed. But do you know what’s most suspicious of all?”
“……”
“It’s Tae-geon himself.”
Ju-on’s voice lowered.
“It doesn’t make sense from the start. Given Tae-geon’s temperament, it’s odd that he’s being so quiet even though his plans have been thwarted.”
“…Maybe he’s like that because the situation isn’t favorable.”
“Wow, as if Choi Tae-geon’s temper would allow that.”
“…Well…”
Hyeon-woo trailed off, seemingly unable to refute further. He knew all too well that Choi Tae-geon wasn’t someone who would easily give in to anyone’s interference.
“You don’t know how much time and effort he poured into that new drug. What that drug meant to Tae-geon.”
“……”
“We were right at the finish line, it was a done deal. But he had no reaction when he heard it was completely scrapped? As if he already knew this would happen.”
Ju-on glanced at Hyeon-woo, who was sitting with an unreadable expression, and took a sip of his drink.
“I think you’re also involved in something surrounding Tae-geon.”
“…Me?”
Hyeon-woo’s eyes widened in surprise at suddenly being mentioned.
“I’ve been thinking about why Tae-geon withdrew from the front lines and is living in seclusion like this.”
“……”
“What could make a man who wouldn’t even blink if someone threatened his life with a weapon act like this? Then it suddenly occurred to me. Ah, there was one thing even he feared.”
“……”
“Han Hyeon-woo, you.”
“……”
“I couldn’t think of anyone else but you. Someone must be threatening Tae-geon using you-”
“Pfft!”
Hyeon-woo, who had been listening quietly, finally burst out laughing.
“You have quite an imagination.”
“……”
“Being threatened? Choi Tae-geon? And because of me?”
“……”
“…As if someone like me matters.”
Hyeon-woo thought to himself that Ju-on would be better suited as a screenwriter than a profiler. Perhaps for thrillers or crime dramas. Given his vivid imagination, science fiction might work too.
As if reading Hyeon-woo’s thoughts, Ju-on’s brow furrowed.
“…Why do you think Tae-geon, who despised omegas so much, devoted himself day and night to developing suppressants?”
“……”
“Omega rights? Welfare? Do you think he cared about such things? There were countless profitable businesses besides suppressants. Among all those businesses, why did he focus all his efforts on developing safe and powerful suppressants without side effects?”
Ju-on looked directly at Hyeon-woo with confident eyes.
“You know too, who it was for.”
“…Ha!”
Hyeon-woo let out a cold sneer, seemingly finding it ridiculous, and sharply rebuked Ju-on.
“Cut the nonsense. I didn’t come here to listen to this.”
“……”
“What I wanted was the truth, not your absurd sophistry.”
“…Is that so?”
Ju-on twisted the corner of his mouth at Hyeon-woo’s cynical attitude.
He wondered how long Hyeon-woo could keep up this cold act, dismissing all his words as nonsense. Suddenly feeling competitive, Ju-on brought up a topic that Hyeon-woo absolutely couldn’t ignore.
“About the accident where your parents passed away.”
“…Why is that coming up now?”
Hyeon-woo’s eyes sharpened at the sudden change of topic. Even though much time had passed, it was still painful to recall.
More than the loss of loved ones, the helplessness and self-loathing from failing to uncover the truth about the accident, and the guilt over Jamie’s innocent sacrifice in his place, would often resurface and torment Hyeon-woo.
After briefly glancing at Hyeon-woo’s reaction, Ju-on carefully continued.
“Because it’s related.”
“……”
“…Anyway, I’m sorry about the accident. I apologize for bringing it up in this setting. It seems it was quite a big accident. Because of that, I was able to find related information without much difficulty. And I discovered something strange.”
“What do you mean by strange?”
Hyeon-woo, who had been warily watching Ju-on, immediately reacted to the last statement, unable to hide his curiosity.
“I converted the estimated time of the accident to Korean time. And it was only a 5-minute difference from Tae-geon’s car accident.”
“…What…?”
“It’s almost as if the accidents happened simultaneously.”
“……”
“I told you, it doesn’t seem like an accident, but an incident.”
“……”
“Do you still think my words are just sophistry?”
Ju-on looked with a bitter expression at Hyeon-woo, who was frozen in shock with his mouth open. The earlier attitude of flatly denying any connection between Tae-geon’s accident and himself was nowhere to be seen. It seemed he had started to consider the possibility of being involved in some conspiracy surrounding Tae-geon.
It couldn’t be helped.
Ju-on recalled the tragedy of the day Hyeon-woo’s parents passed away. They couldn’t even identify the defect in the car’s frame, which was completely burned down leaving only the skeleton, let alone recover the black box. That incident was just as suspicious as this one.
That’s why he was so shaken, despite dismissing it as sophistry earlier. Hyeon-woo probably hadn’t fully accepted his parents’ accident either. Just as he himself couldn’t accept Tae-geon’s accident.
Ju-on slowly spoke to the confused Hyeon-woo.
“This is just my guess, but it seems someone informed Tae-geon about your parents’ accident. And he probably thought you were at the accident scene too.”
“……”
“That’s why he was insanely happy when he regained consciousness and went into rut.”
“……”
“Because you were alive and not dead.”
*
After bathing Jerome and dressing him in pajamas, they lay down on the bed together. As always, Jerome held a storybook in his arms.
The fairy tale Jerome was currently obsessed with was Andersen’s “The Snow Queen”. For a month now, Hyeon-woo had been reading the same content repeatedly like a parrot, but Jerome listened attentively each time as if hearing a new story, his eyes sparkling.
“The Snow Queen again today?”
“Yes.”
Hyeon-woo made an arm pillow for Jerome, who was snuggling into his embrace, and opened the first page of the familiar fairy tale book.
The illustration depicted a happy moment of a boy and a girl basking in the sunlight against a background of red rose vines. It was the only page in this fairy tale book that captured the brightest and happiest moment.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
