Chapter 13

“How about you?”

A casual tone asked out of context. Woojung, who was fully concentrated on making fried rice, asked back, “Huh?” Her gaze remained on the pot.

“Aren’t you interested? The son the chairman supposedly hid.”

Perhaps finding the question unexpected, her dark brown eyes, which had briefly turned toward him, dropped back down. Contrary to the expectation that she would chatter away, a brief silence followed. Her deft hands were still scraping the bottom of the pot.

“Isn’t it stranger to be interested?”

It’s all done. Saying that, Woojung scooped the scraped portions onto Ju-shin’s plate first, took her own share, and spoke nonchalantly.

“It’s family business, after all.”

“…….”

“If he hid his child, there must have been a reason for it, right?”

Though she added that she was still a little curious about who it was, she crinkled the bridge of her nose and laughed like a mischief-maker. That, too, must have been her consideration. She probably thought the person who asked might feel embarrassed or awkward if taken the wrong way.

Kim Ju-shin obsessively observed Jung Woojung, who had returned her focus to eating. The head nodding slightly as if savoring the taste, lips glossed with red oil, and hairs tucked behind her earlobes.

Ever since he met her again, an emotion difficult to define had abruptly revealed its presence like this. A familiar yet unfamiliar feeling that made his solar plexus grow cool and unbearable anxiety take hold.

The fingers that had been tapping the table at regular, rhythmic intervals struck in rapid succession as if to draw attention. As intended, Woojung raised her head.

“Show some interest. According to the rumors, I’m a candidate, too.”

Though he had never seen the chairman’s face in person, the intern was different from him right down to his physical build. Even if by any chance the rumor were true, it made no sense to assign him to the food division when there were plenty of bustling, prestigious affiliates.

Woojung, who had blankly watched him speaking quite seriously with an indifferent face, swallowed what was in her mouth and chuckled.

“So what if Ju-shin-ssi is the chairman’s son?”

“…….”

“Are you going to give me a lightning-fast promotion or something?”

Checking the time, Woojung pulled her chair back, saying they should get going. The chair legs glided smoothly over the slick tiles.

At that moment, a snorting laugh was heard.

“Just a promotion?”

You have no ambition. Adding this with the corners of his lips pulled up, Ju-shin intercepted the card Woojung extended toward the counter and replaced it with his own. The woman who bounced up and down protesting that she couldn’t let him do this calmed down only when he said they’d buy coffee. She didn’t forget to warn him not to pull a stunt like this next time, either.

Of course, even if they went to a cafe, he intended to pay. Because the more pennies she saved, the sooner Jung Woojung could escape that coop-like house.

The midday sun was moderately hot. Their side-by-side walking shadows tilted shortly over the paving stones. The topic still lingered on ambition.

Promotions, special bonuses, overseas training. The intern of barely four weeks scoffed as if all those things were trivial.

Rather than finding it exasperating, she felt it was cute. Even him bringing up an uncharacteristically dry topic, and his smile looking more relaxed than usual. She even felt a little fluttery, wondering if he had finally opened his heart to her as his senior.

As Woojung rolled her eyes to pick something greater than a promotion, Cinderella—the symbol of rising in status—came to mind, prompting a scoff.

“Then what, the chairman’s wife?”

Kim Ju-shin withdrew his hands from his pockets and laced his fingers behind his head. Then he asked casually.

“Do you want it?”

“If I want it. Would you make it happen?”

“Depending on how you act?”

A pleasant laugh was embedded in the low tone of his retort. Because that breath was pretty, Woojung, raising her head without realizing it, spread her palm to create a sunshade.

Then her gaze tangled with Kim Ju-shin’s, who had lowered his eyes. Since it wasn’t even a staring contest, she couldn’t avoid it as they were bound together, so she walked slowly while looking straight into them.

His pupils were truly dark. The whites were clear and clean, and the deep pupils were as quiet as a remote island. His elongated eye shape gave off a cold impression, but looking at him closely like this, it wasn’t purely sharp either.

Just how foolishly had she been acting like that? Just as his plump lips seemed to narrow, he uttered words of unknown meaning.

“Wow. Such initiative.”

“……?”

“Are you already trying to seduce me?”

It’s embarrassing when you look at me so passionately. Kim Ju-shin, with a smile hanging on the corners of his lips, propped his cheek with the back of his hand and feigned innocence.

“Ha.”

Woojung let out a hollow breath. Even though she straightened her head back up, his facial features harmonizing with the pouring light remained like an afterimage. The inside of her stomach, which was solidly full, tickled.

Rubbing her warm earlobes with her hand, Woojung swiped at her nose out of gratuitous embarrassment.

“This is a secret, though.”

His dark pupils lowered gently. The clear face that met her eyes as if waiting for it grinned widely and lifted its small chin.

“My dad is also the president of a food company.”

Laughing brightly and asking if she was surprised, the woman started boasting at length about a traditional hangover soup restaurant.

No matter where you go in Seoul, there’s nowhere as delicious as my dad’s hangover soup—she said, and before long, the number one spot in the industry was practically in the bag. So a parachute hire like him wouldn’t dare look down on someone like her, his daughter. Her clear voice chattered excitedly.

“…….”

That was so…

So absurdly provocative. An intense thirst arose, as if her throat were burning up.

She couldn’t tell what lay at the root of this urge to tear into her and swallow her whole. If she had to pick something similar, it was probably appetite.

Wouldn’t it be appetite?

“Keep this between just you and me, Ju-shin. Okay?”

Adding playfully, asking if other people would lose their confidence if they knew, Woojung crinkled her pale face and smiled.

Ju-shin, hiding his ruthless inner thoughts, also curved the edges of his mouth at an angle.

It felt as though the four seasons of a young Jung Woojung—whispering trivial secrets and telling him to keep them between them—were echoing in his ears.

Pyeongchang-dong. Kim Ju-shin’s main family home.

A crystal-clear, bright full moon brilliantly illuminated the mansion’s courtyard. It was after the dinner of Kim Sang-ho’s family had concluded.

“Working out? Somehow you look even bigger.”

A slouching voice flew from behind Ju-shin, who stood tall on the garden stepping stones.

“Ashtray smell.”

“E-cigarettes don’t need their ash shaken off, you ignoramus.”

Kim Ju-shin’s step-sister, Kim Se-young, took a long drag from a rounded, rectangular device. Immediately, turbid smoke scattered into the empty air.

Standing next to pale-skinned Ju-shin, the woman’s tan stood out to the utmost.

“I heard you’ve been running around doing dog-like deeds lately. Are you a pervert?”

“I’ve heard all about Kim Se-young-ssi’s recent status.”

The woman, casting a sharp glare at his vexing face, clicked her tongue and shook her head.

A body lean without fat and a slender face. Abundant perm hair. Coupled with her tanned skin, she exuded an intensely exotic atmosphere. She was the only daughter between Kim Sang-ho and his legal wife Shim Na-kyung, and also Chairman Kim Sang-ho’s only publicly known child.

It was entirely of her own accord that she, whose life motto was freedom, had been pushed out of the succession. Thus, the expression “pushed out” wasn’t even accurate. Far from seeking power, she hadn’t shown any particular greed for wealth either. Her mother, Shim Na-kyung, likewise hadn’t forced the succession upon her daughter.

However, for the illegitimate child Kim Ju-shin—that Kim Ju-shin who was the token of an affair—to emerge into the world as a successor was something that must never happen.

When a grown Kim Ju-shin showed no greed for the succession and prepared to leave on his own, she had felt relieved. Then, confronted with Kim Sang-ho’s adamant stance that he would drag that woman’s son out into the world, Shim Na-kyung demanded a divorce and left the house. That had happened just a month ago.

“Get inside. The Chairman is looking for you.”

Kwon Seon-o, who had approached with suppressed presence, nudged his chin toward the direction of the mansion. In his hand was the e-cigarette confiscated from Kim Se-young.

Though she had it snatched away without a shred of resistance, like prey caught in a hawk’s talons, Se-young didn’t dwell on it. The composure of someone holding spares, perhaps.

“Is Manager oppa not getting married?”

“Oh, he says raccoons are strictly declined.”

To Ju-shin, who referred to her—a heavy smoker—as a raccoon, a long middle finger extended as if to pierce his nose.

Following her retreating back as she told him to go to hell, he chuckled. He had been in hell all this time and was just now trying to crawl out a bit, yet she told him to go back. She was talking nonsense. Like some sort of Satan.

Ju-shin raised his gaze to the pitch-black sky. A night without a single star was only murky.

“That thing I asked you to look into.”

Seon-o, who somehow managed to catch the quiet voice, replied.

“I’m looking into it.”

“Lying.”

You’d be disappointed if you thought of this young master as a fool, wouldn’t you?

Lowering his head, he smiled brightly.

It was true that, to prevent him from trying to find things related to Jung Woojung—whether she was human or something else—Seon-o had delayed it as much as possible. If he could, he didn’t want to give him even a single speck of dust regarding information on that woman. Because danger was bound to be lurking.

Ju-shin, wiping away the artificial smile he had worn, looked at Seon-o with an expressionless face. Then, his gaze, straying over his shoulder, pointed to a certain spot.

“Right on cue, they’re coming out. There was a lot I wanted to ask.”

Turning his body to follow the gaze, Chief Secretary Kwon recognized the approaching Chairman Kim and let out a low sigh. Even amidst that, the presence drew closer and closer.

Seon-o knew. What Kim Ju-shin, who had been talking about Jung Woojung, wanted to ask Kim Sang-ho. And the darkness that would drape over this household the moment those words were spoken out loud.

“Dad!”

Abruptly raising both arms, Ju-shin drew a large semicircle and waved his hands innocently.

At the title and behavior that defied all comprehension, Seon-o reflexively blocked the father and son’s line of sight. Then he merely shook his head slightly. It meant he would do as desired, so he shouldn’t make a big deal out of it.

Only then satisfied, the young master cupped both hands around his mouth to form a megaphone shape. Then, he smiled brightly toward his father, who was looking at him with a cryptic expression.

“Hang in there!”

Dad. Hang in there. A message of support mixed with a familiar rhythm echoed widely across the spacious garden.

Tsk. Clicking his tongue, Kim Sang-ho turned on his heels, while Kim Se-young, standing far off, twirled her finger beside her ear.

Ah. Family harmony is so hard. Watching Ju-shin shrug his shoulders and chuckle, Seon-o pressed a hand to his forehead.

What on earth was he supposed to do with this crazy young master?