PO 28

Han Jaegang obediently accepted Woojeong’s request. His voice was dry without emotion, so he couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“I promised to grant anything, so if that is what you want, Woojeong-ssi, then let’s do that.”

When he added that one line, a quiet knock sounded and the door opened. Employees came in and began setting plates in front of Woojeong one by one.

Different kinds of plates quickly filled the table. An employee came closer to Woojeong and pointed at the dishes while giving a brief explanation.

“All the dishes we served are made with seafood that has been cooked or pickled. We brought smaller portions first so you can taste everything, and if you need more of something or if anything is inconvenient, please call right away.”

Woojeong lost his words and stared at the table. The food was varied in type, and the portions were enough for even six or seven people.

Because he had just said he wanted no further involvement from the one who went this far to care for him, his thoughts tangled over what he should say.

“Eat. Since I didn’t know what you like, I told them to bring a variety.”

“…….”

“Or is this also me caring too much and crossing the line? …It’s hard.”

Han Jaegang urged Woojeong to eat, but he himself didn’t touch the food at all. He looked like someone who had completely lost interest in the meal, glancing only at his phone and moving his fingers from time to time.

His demeanor had clearly changed. The chill that flowed from him was far colder than any moment that had seemed cold before.

He felt so unfamiliar, to the point where Woojeong wondered if this was the same person, and even speaking to him felt cautious.

In the silence, Woojeong only held his chopsticks still, then turned his gaze to the door. A familiar voice was audible. A moment later, the sliding door of the room opened, and a face Woojeong knew came inside.

“……Hyung.”

“Oh, you were eating? Hm? What is all this?”

As he stepped into the room, Lee Doyoung looked at the table and made a puzzled expression. Even to his eyes, the table covered with plates seemed unusual.

Before Woojeong could explain anything, Han Jaegang pushed back his chair and rose.

“Today the food is really not good. Let’s just move somewhere else.”

He lifted his jacket from the rack and was the first to leave the room. Yoon Hyunjun, who came in late, looked back and forth between Han Jaegang’s retreating figure and Woojeong, then gave an awkward smile.

“What is this? Did he get mad because the food wasn’t good? Woojeong-ssi, get up. Let’s go too.”

•••

In front of the stairs leading down to the whiskey bar, Lee Doyoung turned to the two and asked.

“What about you two?”

“I already told them inside, so you go first.”

Yoon Hyunjun answered as he lifted his cigarette pack. After the two went down the stairs, he walked toward Han Jaegang, who was smoking at a spot a little apart from the entrance. Feeling something was wrong about how he had turned cold since the Japanese restaurant, Yoon Hyunjun tapped his arm and asked.

“Why is your face like that?”

“What?”

Han Jaegang brought the cigarette to his lips and answered indifferently. He held the cigarette in his mouth with a face that betrayed nothing of what he was thinking.

“I went to the trouble of picking up Lee Doyoung too because you told me to take my time. Did something happen between the two of you?”

“No.”

Han Jaegang let out a long breath and exhaled smoke slowly. The taste of the cigarette was bitter.

A few days ago, Han Jaegang received a report from Joo Yeongmo about the investigation on Lee Woojeong.

<It seems that Lee Iljun and Kang Eonju had quite a passionate romance. They married after five months of dating, and Lee Iljun immediately entered his in-laws’ business.>

Lee Iljun, who had nothing, stepped into the wealthy in-laws’ business through remarriage with Kang Eonju. If things went well, it was a position where he could aim for the successor seat of a solid food distribution company.

What followed after that was obvious. Lee Iljun pretended to obey meekly to whatever Kang Eonju said, and during that time Woojeong naturally drifted away from his father’s attention. With a twisted stepmother and a warped stepbrother, young Woojeong became the easiest target for their abuse.

<According to Madam Kwak, who had worked long in that house as a servant, such things started right after the families merged. At that time, Lee Woojeong was about six years old.>

<……Six years old. So what exactly did they do to torment that child?>

<There was physical abuse and verbal abuse of course, and they locked him in his room or neglected him. That must be why he was often hospitalized in his childhood. Especially his conflicts with Mr. Lee Doyoung were severe, and I heard there was even a time when he almost died because food was forced down his throat. To pass along every detail I heard is hard even for me, Executive Director. Please check the documents.>

<Because of the age gap, it would have been easy to dominate him.>

Looking into the childhood of a child that no one cared about was in fact more difficult. Abuse was usually carried out secretly inside the home by family, and the more serious it was, the harder it was to find evidence. On top of that, much time had already passed.

The only person who could give proper testimony was the housemaid. She had been extremely wary of any approach from Han Jaegang’s side at first, but when persuaded that Woojeong’s maternal relatives were desperately searching for him, she finally opened her mouth.

<It seems true that he was weak in health. There were several records of hospitalization from illness and some minor injury treatment records as well. Of course, Executive Director, you know too that just that alone isn’t enough to prove abuse.>

Han Jaegang, who was checking the documents with a cold face, lifted his head and asked. The last time Woojeong was hospitalized was because of a traffic accident. The accident seemed to have been serious, since the medical records were packed and the hospitalization period was long.

<How did the traffic accident happen?>

<He was riding in a car driven by Mr. Lee Doyoung, and there was a collision. At that time, Mr. Lee Doyoung was driving under the influence.>

<School?>

<His school attendance was a mess from the start, and after being hospitalized for the traffic accident, he eventually dropped out. It is said the guardian wanted it. According to Madam Kwak, it looked like they never even intended to educate him in the first place. There were no academies or other activities, and it seems he stayed almost only at home. She said it was pitiful, as they locked up a grown child at home and kept him from doing anything.>

<While Woojeong went through such things, what did that father do? He couldn’t have not known.>

Joo Yeongmo hesitated for a moment, then cautiously spoke.

<It seems… he placed more importance on his relationship with the new wife. After remarriage, Mr. Lee Iljun depended completely on Ms. Kang Eonju financially. So it is very likely he intentionally turned a blind eye to Lee Woojeong’s situation.>

It could be one thing if it was a stepmother of different blood or a stepbrother with a twisted nature, but for Lee Iljun, he was his real son.

He threw his own child to them like prey and lived only for his own safety and success, Lee Iljun was nothing more than trash.

<It is common for biological parents to neglect children in such a way. That is why the problems become severe.>

<The more I hear, the more absurd it is. Since his own father was like that, he must not have even thought of seeking help.>

<Yes. There is no record of Lee Woojeong seeking help from school or other institutions. Maybe because they silenced him thoroughly, the couple’s reputation outside wasn’t bad. Outwardly, they managed their image well as if they were a harmonious family.>

Han Jaegang felt anger rising. It wasn’t the same as when he heard such stories through TV or radio.

From the time he was six until he turned twenty-one, Woojeong lived no differently from being in a prison with good facilities. In that place watched over by wardens called family.

“Why did you walk out like that earlier? You were icy cold.”

Yoon Hyunjun belatedly lit a cigarette as he asked. Han Jaegang was already in a mood back at the Japanese restaurant, right after an employee had taken Woojeong’s outer garment.

Han Jaegang had called Woojeong to the Snow Reflection Residence, spent time, then sent him back late at night with his scent slightly on him, all for the purpose of checking how much control was exercised over him at home.

In just that one night, Woojeong showed up with bruises on his neck that had been unblemished the day before. Woojeong seemed unaware that his nape was exposed and the bruises visible.

Leaving such marks in a spot that anyone could easily see meant they had treated Woojeong that way for so long that they no longer felt any need for caution. It also meant Woojeong had grown used to such violence.

Even though it was only part of what he had suspected being confirmed, for that instant, he felt unbearably filthy.

“It is just that something made me angry.”

Maybe that was why. If it had been his usual self, he would never have said something like that to Woojeong at such a moment.

He revealed that he knew Woojeong’s situation, and he made it clear that if Woojeong only wanted it, he could take him out of that place right away.

He was ready to do so gladly if Woojeong only said one word asking for help. To Woojeong, it must have been sudden. Even if it was sincere, it was a rash and foolish proposal.

<Please don’t treat me kindly. You don’t need to take care of me without my hyung knowing. …Doing this toward me is not right toward hyung.>

After hearing the proposal, Woojeong went off in an unexpected direction. He confessed that he was struggling between Han Jaegang and Lee Doyoung, and he asked to be freed from the rope that bound his neck.

Lee Woojeong was foolishly kind and ignorant of the world. That was why, even when Han Jaegang used trivial matters as excuses to call him to the Snow Reflection Residence, and sometimes crossed the line, Woojeong accepted it as goodwill without suspicion.

So Woojeong, who had always been helplessly swayed wherever Han Jaegang pushed, this time cleverly used his promise to grant anything and drew a line for himself.

“Control your expression. Woojeong-ssi seemed frightened for nothing.”

Woojeong had no reason to trust and rely on Han Jaegang. That was why he had no choice but to act that way.

He wasn’t a child so ignorant or lacking in morals that he would recklessly trust and throw himself at someone just because that person knew his brother, so it was natural.

Even so, how many people could refuse a proposal to be saved, face to face. Woojeong, who he thought was only young and weak, was more resilient than Han Jaegang expected.

“Hyunjun-ah.”

“Ah, what…”

“He told me not to cross the line.”

Woojeong’s plea, asking him not to come closer, not to treat him kindly, not to care, didn’t actually have the purpose of completely pushing Han Jaegang away.

To him it felt like a pitiful effort to restrain the desire to reach out to him.

“Hearing those words made me want to cross it even more. What should I do?”

Lee Woojeong feared kindness, and he was wary of affection. The usual ways that worked with people could not soothe his anxiety.

Even for Han Jaegang, who was skilled in relationships, Lee Woojeong wasn’t an easy counterpart. In the life he had lived, there had been no one like Woojeong.

That was why he couldn’t even resist the urge to kiss him, and he said words he shouldn’t have said.

Han Jaegang crushed out the burned cigarette in the trash and laughed.

Lee Woojeong had made him like that. Even now, Woojeong was unsettling some corner of Han Jaegang’s heart.

It was ridiculous….But he didn’t dislike it.