GCT 32

Declan and the people involved with him were arrested one after another. It had been a long time since Lear was discharged from the hospital, and he handed over the data he had finally obtained after breaking all the security on O’Connell’s laptop. A few more things were revealed as a result.

Diane had been killed by Declan as an act of retaliation and a warning for digging too deeply into the Rosenberg case. And the candy found at her house had been planted to cover up the incident. Evidence proving this poured out.

However, the higher-ups said that making things bigger amidst this mess would be endless, and suggested that they cover up the past incidents for the time being.

For the time being. No one knew if “for the time being” would be a year, ten years, or a hundred years. Still, there was nothing a mere agent could do. This wasn’t something only Nasim couldn’t do, but something Director Chantelle Corey couldn’t do either.

In any case, the news reported daily on Declan’s organization and Joel Declan.

Yohan received the tragic news about three months after the Declan incident occurred. It was the news that the arrested Philip had died in the detention center. There was no brotherly love between them, but he was still bothered by it, perhaps because they were related by blood and had once lived together.

“Do you really have to go?”

At Lear’s words, Yohan let out a deep sigh. Then, taking a black necktie from the closet, he asked Lear.

“I should wear a tie, right?”

“Yohan.”

“Still, I have to go. Well, they probably won’t be very happy to see me…”

It was obvious even without seeing it. Well, he didn’t plan on greeting anyone, just making a brief appearance.

“If you say so, I can’t stop you.”

Yohan said it was fine and handed the necktie to Lear, asking him to tie it for him. He felt suffocated, as if his body was too constricted after always wearing loose shirts.

“I can never get used to suits, no matter how many times I wear them. I guess I’m just not cut out for it.”

“You look pretty.”

Good grief, there he goes again. He says things like that so casually. Isn’t it more correct to say handsome rather than pretty? But he didn’t dislike Lear saying such cringe-worthy things to him. Yohan blushed and fiddled with the back of his neck.

“No, it’s not like I’m wearing this to look pretty… I’m going to a funeral. And it’s because my brother died in prison.”

There’s no soap opera more dramatic than this, Yohan said, clicking his tongue. Lear listened quietly to Yohan’s words, then took the necktie in his hand, placed it around Yohan’s neck, and began to tie it neatly.

“I’ll take you there.”

“It’s fine.”

“I’m not fine with it.”

“Well… okay. I’m just going to stop by for a moment anyway.”

Yohan let out a deep sigh. And his heart felt heavy the entire way to Philip’s funeral.

Still, perhaps because it was a family that had produced a doctor and a lawyer, the funeral was packed with people. It was possible that the news of Philip dying in prison hadn’t been made public.

Yohan had just stepped into the funeral home, planning to quickly head to the cafe where Lear was waiting. It was then.

“Yohan.”

“Oh? You’re here?”

Yohan gave a bitter smile at the sight of Carolyn.

“I needlessly…”

“No, it’s alright. Well… things turned out this way, but he was the children’s father, after all.”

“That’s true. More importantly, are the kids okay?”

“Should I say it’s a relief they’re young… They cried until they were exhausted and fell asleep.”

Yohan nodded, then sighed and asked Carolyn cautiously.

“How are the other family members?”

“Well… they’re just sad. I don’t think they’ve accepted what happened to Philip yet.”

“I suppose so. They probably never imagined their model doctor son would end up like that.”

You can never really know what will happen in a person’s life. Yohan, too, had never thought his brother would do such a thing. Then, suddenly thinking of his older sister, Hannah, Yohan asked Carolyn.

“By the way, my sister… is she still doing well as a lawyer?”

“She is. She seems quite busy. I think she’s gotten even busier lately. It’s probably because of ‘that incident’…”

“Ah, what was the name of the law firm my sister works at?”

“Mackerson & Hill. I heard it’s a big and famous firm. It became even more ingrained in my mind when I brought up divorce with Philip and we were going through the proceedings. The divorce lawyer Philip hired was from Mackerson & Hill.”

Mackerson & Hill? It was the name of a law firm he’d heard somewhere before. Yohan racked his brain as he listened to Carolyn’s story.

“Esprit was sued by New York’s Lausi Hospital. The hospital was sued after five patients who were prescribed Horamadon died of heart attacks, and the hospital sued Esprit for not properly disclosing the risks. At that time, that woman seems to have helped out with a lot of things.”

“O’Connell did?”

“Well, should I say it was indirect help rather than direct help. O’Connell is a graduate of UC Berkeley School of Law, and she seems to have connected them with Esprit. The law firm Esprit hired at the time had many UC Berkeley alumni.”

“Where was it?”

“Mackerson & Hill.”

A story Lear had told him once came to mind. Yohan instantly got goosebumps. As expected, it was all connected. Of course, the law firm’s school ties likely played a role in the process of landing a big case.

“So my sister is a UC Berkeley graduate.”

“Ah, yes. I heard that firm has a lot of graduates from there in particular.”

“What a pain in the ass.”

Carolyn let out a small laugh at Yohan’s words. Yohan looked at Carolyn and smirked as well. Then, as the atmosphere suddenly became awkward, Yohan glanced at his watch and said he had to get going, but Carolyn grabbed his arm and said.

“More importantly, Yohan, are you really just going to leave? At least say hello to your family…”

“They won’t want to see my face. They’ll blame me again. This is enough.”

Yohan said it was fine, told Carolyn to contact him if she needed anything, and then left the funeral home. He let out a deep sigh and thought that he should hurry to Lear, who must be waiting, and give him a tight hug. It was then.

Hannah was smoking a cigarette in front of the building.

‘Ah, seriously. Of all people.’

Yohan tried to pretend he didn’t see her and walk past Hannah, but his eyes met hers, and she caught him. She looked quite a sight, worn out with exhaustion.

“You!”

She started lashing out at him without warning.

“You did this, didn’t you? You went around doing whatever you wanted, this cop bullshit, you’re the one who made things this way, aren’t you?”

“Why? Were you involved too, noona?”

“This bastard!”

Agitated by Yohan’s words, Hannah raised her hand and slapped his cheek. Her hand stung so much that it was not just hot, but the corner of his mouth was slightly split. Yohan’s face contorted as he looked at Hannah.

“This is assault on a federal agent. You, of all people, should know that if things go wrong, the sentence gets harsher.”

“The fuck did you say?”

“And I don’t think I’ve ever done anything bad enough to deserve being cursed at by you, noona. At least I haven’t done anything that would get me stabbed to death in prison.”

“You have the gall to say that with that mouth of yours…”

“Right. Since it’s come to this, I’ll say one more thing with this mouth of mine. When you think about it, you’re not so squeaky clean either, are you, noona?”

After sneering at Hannah once, Yohan spat on the ground and said with a deep sigh. Hannah felt a sense of shame under Yohan’s gaze, which seemed to say he knew everything, even her dirty secrets. But Yohan didn’t want to deal with her anymore. He was tired now, and this time it seemed he’d really be removed from the family register, so they would become nothing to each other, not family or anything else.

“Well, anyway. It seems you’re lucky to still be standing on your own two feet here…”

Yohan reached out his hand and tapped Hannah’s shoulder once, then said.

“Watch yourself from now on. This is my last piece of advice as a family member.”

As if she couldn’t take it anymore, Hannah raised her hand to slap Yohan’s cheek again. Yohan thought that since this was the last time, he should just take this one hit, and squeezed his eyes shut. But his cheek didn’t hurt, so when he opened his eyes, Lear, who had appeared out of nowhere, was firmly holding Hannah’s arm.

“Honey. The coffee’s going to get cold.”

At the voice from above her head, Hannah whipped her head around. Then Lear let go of the hand that had been holding Hannah.

“Honey?”

The moment her eyes met Lear’s, Hannah flinched at his intimidating gaze and asked Yohan.

“What’s this now? Are you dating men now? Isn’t that guy an Alpha? You should know your place.”

“Noona. What is this, the 18th century? What era are you even talking about? And this is California. Is it okay for a lawyer to be so narrow-minded?”

Yohan shook his head, then stood next to Lear, held onto his sturdy arm, and leaned on his shoulder, speaking in a taunting manner.

“I’ll probably be removed from the family register soon anyway, so I’ve decided to drop the Kwon surname and become a Crawford. Yohan Crawford.”

“……”

“Oh, and you know I have no intention of inviting you to the wedding, right, noona? I just thought you, of all people, should know your place.”

Hannah was about to say something to Yohan with a dumbfounded look on her face. But Yohan pulled on Lear’s arm, and mimicking him, said the coffee would get cold as he led him away. Lear followed Yohan’s lead without a word. And as soon as they got in the car, he asked Yohan in a serious voice.

“Yohan, is that for real?”

“What… you mean the last name? Yeah. From now on, you’re my only family.”

Lear grinned, then grabbed Yohan’s thigh firmly and caressed it. Wondering if this was a signal to pounce on him, Yohan looked at Lear’s hand, then raised his head to meet his eyes. Then Lear lightly pressed his lips against Yohan’s, and then, as if he had just remembered something, he called out to Yohan.

“Honey.”

“Yeah?”

“I forgot to tell you something. Seeing your sister reminded me.”

“Hmm?”

“The data from O’Connell’s laptop. I released it on the internet.”

“What?”

The sight of Yohan staring at him with wide-open eyes was quite lovely. Lear smiled brightly and this time stroked Yohan’s hair.

“I worked hard to decrypt it, even getting shot. Did you think I wouldn’t have made a separate backup?”

What a relentless bastard. Yohan looked at Lear with an expression that said he was truly amazing.

“And about Avon Catalini. When he was at the FBI Academy, his older brother, who was a war correspondent, was taken hostage, and it seems the government failed to rescue him. It looks like he suffered a lot from that. Russia took advantage of that opening.”

“Ah… so that’s what happened.”

“The CIA must have judged that since Avon Catalini showed good results in various areas at the FBI Academy, he would work hard to prevent what happened to his brother from ever happening again. He actually went to the Farm7) and passed all the tests.”

At Lear’s words, Yohan sighed deeply and said.

“Ha, I didn’t want to work overtime… This is going to be a mess. For real.”

Lear had expected words like, “That’s cool,” “That’s righteous,” “That’s lovely,” “How did you find that out on your own without being asked,” or “Isn’t our Lear a genius” to come out of Yohan’s mouth, but at the unexpected words, he wondered if he had done something unnecessary. However, Yohan firmly held the hand of Lear, who was watching his expression, and said.

“I should quit.”

“Really?”

Lear’s eyes sparkled. Yohan smiled brightly at Lear and said.

“Yeah. I don’t think I can handle this line of work anymore. So, you, the rich guy, can you feed me?”

Lear made a fuss, saying he would transfer the house deed to him right away, and then planted a kiss on Yohan’s lips. It seemed he would have to hurry with the wedding preparations. Yohan let out a small laugh at Lear’s kiss and wrapped his arms tightly around his back.