AOA 79

Kim Jaewon and Jo Seontae were criminals who would do anything as long as they were paid. They were especially notorious for filming sexual assaults to blackmail victims for money.

They claimed they didn’t know who had hired them, only that they’d received my name, photo, and address from a private detective agency director and had followed me around for over a week.

My routine was fairly simple: home, school, and cram school. Since I moved around by car and always went to crowded places with security cameras, abducting me wasn’t easy.

So Kim Jaewon and Jo Seontae suggested to the agency director that they either stage a strong fender bender or assault me and break an arm or leg.

But the director insisted they needed a video. That was the client’s non-negotiable demand.

In the end, they planned to act during my biological father’s sixtieth birthday banquet at a hotel. A petty thief with a record was sent to steal my wallet amidst the chaos after the banquet and lure me to the tenth floor.

It’s said that it took DS Group’s security team less than half a day to uncover all of this. And it didn’t take much longer for the name Jeong Guhyeon to come out of the agency director’s mouth.

None of it was surprising. I’d already suspected as much.

He was the one who killed me because he didn’t get my biological father’s attention. He had gone so far as to prepare alcohol, sleeping pills, and even gloves. Seeing that he’d hired people from a private agency this time, it was clear he had a sharp mind for this sort of thing.

Apparently, the real reason he invited me separately after the banquet to ask whether we were having a housewarming was just to make it easier to steal my wallet. Judging by the fact that he had no backup plan, he must have believed without a doubt that it would work.

Honestly, if Baek Mugyeong hadn’t come to save me, I would’ve walked right into it.

The more I heard, the worse I felt. The malice that Jeong Guhyeon directed at me made my skin crawl.

Before the regression, he killed me with his own hands because I stole our parents’ attention. And now, he tried to ruin me by hiring others.

At this point, my half-brother felt even more dangerous than my biological father, who saw me as nothing more than a tool.

“What do you want to do about Jeong Guhyeon?”

Baek Mugyeong, having finished the explanation, asked an unexpected question. His face was set and serious.

The way he looked, it was like he’d bury Jeong Guhyeon in the ground if I gave the word. As much as I wanted to kill that bastard and grind him into a pulp, I couldn’t ask someone to commit murder for me.

“I just want to live without ever seeing his face again. And if he goes down, even better.”

I meant every word. I didn’t want to see Jeong Guhyeon, my father, or my stepmother ever again. I just wanted to live well, without getting tangled up with them.

“Understood.”

Baek Mugyeong answered like he was officially recording the request. But this was a family matter, and he wasn’t the final decision-maker. The opinion that mattered most was Baek Jinseok’s, the one who had approved this marriage in the first place.

As expected of a chairman of a major corporation, Baek Jinseok cared a lot about appearances. He might very well say, ‘We can’t be in-laws with that disgraceful family’, and demand an immediate divorce. I figured the odds were about fifty-fifty.

If a divorce happened, Baek Jinseok would have no reason to threaten his brother, and there’d be no need to resort to pregnancy as a last resort. The possibility of Baek Mugyeong dying in an accident would also disappear.

Just imagining Jeong Guhyeon getting crushed in Baek Jinseok’s hands made me feel refreshed. The satisfaction welled up inside me, and I slowly clenched my fist without Baek Mugyeong noticing.

“Don’t say a word to Chairman Jeong Suchan.”

“I know.”

If I wanted to screw over my father, the first step was to keep quiet. I resisted the urge to let my lips curl into a smile. If I looked too pleased right now, I’d seem like a lunatic.

“Then I’ll be going.”

“Thank you.”

As I stood up with Baek Mugyeong, I quickly expressed my thanks. He gave me a look like he didn’t understand what I meant.

“You came home early just to tell me Jeong Guhyeon was behind it. You could’ve waited until dinner. That’s what I’m grateful for.”

“Ah, it’s nothing. See you.”

He answered professionally, gave a small nod, and walked out of the bedroom. Left alone, I let out a long sigh and sat back down in the chair.

Now, all that was left was Baek Jinseok’s decision.

I waited with a pounding heart for the full force of his wrath.

*

My father’s birthday banquet was on Saturday, the identity of the attackers was revealed on Sunday, and Baek Jinseok summoned me on Tuesday afternoon.

It was midterm season. My father didn’t care about grades good enough for a scholarship, just a diploma from a decent university. Since I was never very good at studying, I focused on not failing. For a few subjects, I already knew what kind of essay questions would appear, so preparing wasn’t too difficult.

Tuesday afternoon’s test was on phenomenology. After finishing the exam and getting my phone back, I stepped out of the lecture hall to find a bodyguard waiting.

Ever since the incident on Saturday, bodyguards had been following me. Though the mastermind had been identified, the matter wasn’t over yet, so Baek Mugyeong had insisted I stay under protection. Since their presence didn’t bother me, I went along with it.

But for the bodyguard who’d always quietly followed me from behind to come forward now, it meant Baek Jinseok had summoned me.

I got in the car he was driving and headed to Baek Jinseok’s mansion.

It wasn’t hard to guess why he’d called me. So when I saw my father at the mansion, I wasn’t surprised.

As soon as he saw me, my father jumped to his feet from where he was sitting in the drawing room.

“You, what the hell are you! If something like that happened, you should’ve told me right away! Why did you keep your mouth shut? I couldn’t even face the chairman!”

My biological father shouted in anger. His voice wasn’t loud, but the reprimand in it was harsh.

I wasn’t flustered, it was exactly what I’d expected. He was always going on about reputation and honor. With his eldest son Jeong Guhyeon causing a scandal and me saying nothing, of course he was furious.

There was a universal response for situations like this.

“Baek Mugyeong said he’d take care of everything.”

“Do you call that an answer? This is about Guhyeon! You should’ve told me too!”

“Why my brother? …What does he have to do with this?”

“What?”

“Wait… are you saying he was the one who did it?”

I asked as if I had no idea. It was a pathetic act even by my standards, but it was good enough to seem like I was just shocked.

As expected, my father fell for it and looked flustered. Still, he never said outright that Jeong Guhyeon was the culprit. Instead, he tried to push the blame onto me, saying this only happened because my brother and I didn’t get along.

“The chairman said he wants to hear your side of the story. So you’d better watch what you say.”

“You met with the chairman?”

“Yes. Do you know how shocked I was? We should’ve prepared in advance. Because you handled things poorly, I ended up being humiliated.”

I was momentarily speechless. I couldn’t believe he was blaming me even now.

“You being humiliated isn’t my fault.”

“What did you just say?”

“You said the problem is my brother. So it’s his fault.”

That wildly inflated money was now my leverage. I no longer had to be meek in front of my father. I answered, putting force into every syllable, and he stared at me in disbelief. Then he erupted.

“How dare you!”

“Don’t raise your voice here. It’s disrespectful to the chairman.”

I threw his own words back at him. My father, who always emphasized manners and dignity, turned red in the face and muttered a threat about getting back at me later, but I wasn’t afraid. The only card he had to hold over me was my younger brother’s medical expenses, and that didn’t work anymore.

And just then, Baek Mugyeong appeared. He said he, too, had been summoned by Baek Jinseok.

With the three of us gathered, an elderly servant appeared and guided us to the second-floor parlor where Baek Jinseok was waiting.

“Chairman, I was wrong. Please forgive me.”

As soon as we entered, my father dropped to his knees in front of Baek Jinseok. I froze in shock at the unexpected scene.

“Oh no, Chairman Jeong. You shouldn’t do this in front of your child. Please, get up.”

“Chairman, I-I failed as a father. Minchae, what are you doing? Come kneel, too.”

I went blank at the sudden command. But when I realized what he wanted, something hot surged up inside me. I wanted to curse him out from the depths of my soul, but I couldn’t, not in front of Baek Jinseok.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. I won’t kneel.”

“What?”

“The faults of a family member, of a sibling, are my faults too. If this had been any other issue, I would’ve knelt beside my father and begged for forgiveness. But if a sibling tries to ruin my life, that’s not my fault.”

I looked straight at my father and spoke clearly. My voice was trembling badly from nerves, but I managed to say it all.

Both Baek Mugyeong and Baek Jinseok stared at me in surprise, but I held my ground with as much composure as I could muster.

When it comes to family issues, people usually believe in shared responsibility. Even if I despised them, that was the norm. But this time was different. Jeong Guhyeon had tried to destroy me socially. If Baek Mugyeong hadn’t come, I might not even be standing here now.

So telling me to kneel and apologize was nothing but absurd.