ITDW 44

It was a small-scale year-end party with about thirty people from the business world gathered. In the grand hall, an orchestra played classical music in a comfortable atmosphere, and people with affable expressions on their faces engaged in networking. As it was a party to bid farewell to the year and welcome the new one, they exchanged well-wishes with each other and talked about discovering promising business opportunities.

It was a party where the heirs, each holding a position in their respective companies, took center stage. The people around Jaeri’s age who appeared occasionally were all younger siblings brought along by their older brothers to help them get accustomed to the social atmosphere. Naturally, the kids gathered among themselves.

In the group of peers consisting of six people, Jaeri had a presence.

With short hair, a three-piece dinner suit that fit his body perfectly, a tie bar, pocket square, cufflinks, and even a wristwatch, he was dressed with all the accessories that could be worn with a men’s formal outfit. However, the combination of colors he chose was cold and monotonous, so rather than being flashy despite being so dressed up, a cool impression dominated, creating a unique appearance.

Even at a glance, his looks made one think he was a handsome man, and his cold expressionlessness resembled his attire.

Jaeri was just standing there. If there was anything he did, it was to take small amounts of the things Jungyoon had specified for him to eat and consume them.

Occasionally, Jaeri would look up at the huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling. That was the only thing that caught his eye.

Jaeri was not unaware of the attention from the people surrounding him. He was just indifferent, but people often mistook that indifference for ignorance and acted as if they intended to enlighten that pure ignorance. For Jaeri, it was extremely bothersome. Also, there were cases where people did all sorts of things to draw his attention, and that was even more bothersome.

“Wouldn’t you like a glass of champagne? It’s a party.”

Kim Jungjun. The man who spoke to Jaeri was his cousin from the paternal side, one year older than Jaeri.

Chairman Kim did not get along well with his brothers. As a result, there was not much interaction with relatives, but the third generation would get along reasonably well whenever they happened to meet by chance.

“No.”

“If you refuse so bluntly, it’s embarrassing.”

He feigned an affable face and acted sheepish.

“I can’t drink alcohol.”

“Then, in a few hours, it’ll be okay to drink?”

Kim Jungjun asked slyly, thinking Jaeri was making an excuse about his age to refuse.

“If I drink alcohol, hyung will scold me.”

“…Hmm, the vice president? I’ve never met him, but I hear he has a formidable personality. You really live under such tight control, huh?”

In one of Korea’s top ten chaebol families, which had some ties to the Han-Young group, there were rumors circulating among insiders that the third-generation heir of Han-Young had a rotten personality. The peculiar thing was that he did not have the delinquent traits typical of a rich family’s son.

He was clean when it came to drugs, nasty drinking habits, assault, and womanizing issues. At the company, he was praised for his good leadership and character, and his business performance was good too, so it was not easy for rumors of a bad personality to spread.

First of all, they sharpened their eyes at the fact that he was the eldest son who did not fear the group chairman, his father.

Jungyoon had majored in cardiothoracic surgery and then suddenly joined the group holding company as a vice president. On the surface, it looked like Chairman Kim cherished the successor very much. However, if that were the case, he should have called Jungyoon into the company right after he finished his public service physician alternative military service.

Many people thought that when Jungyoon went to the university hospital, he had fallen out of favor with the chairman, or that he had a deep passion for medicine, or perhaps both.

After seeing him properly join as vice president later, they affirmed that Jungyoon had not fallen out of the chairman’s favor, and that he had simply prioritized his own will over his parents’ wishes. Considering that there was no other notable successor in the Han-Young family besides Jungyoon, it was easy to infer that Chairman Kim would have opposed Jungyoon going into the medical field.

There were talks that Chairman Kim must have practically begged and even given him the vice president position at the holding company to bring him into the company.

Additionally, rumors that he had cut ties with his birth mother added words like he was too cold. What had the stepmother done so wrong that he cut ties with his birth mother like severing a rope, while not doing the same with his father who had cheated first?

His business style was the same. When advancing new businesses, he received consulting from various external firms, but even if the consulting firms unanimously recommended the same direction, he ignored it entirely and pushed through with his originally planned approach, or so it was said. One couldn’t understand why he commissioned consulting in the first place if that was the case.

In any event, his judgments had never been wrong up to now. No matter how much animalistic instinct he had for business, it was never an easy task to push forward with a project under his own responsibility when everyone else said no.

Smart, upright, and with flexibility evident in his business results, unafraid of anything so that in any situation he prioritized only his own intentions, and cold-blooded.

They inferred that Han-Young’s Kim Jungyoon must be a bit of a lunatic. It was just not known yet.

Amid all that, when the youngest of that family said he would get scolded by his hyung just for drinking alcohol, the third generation’s attention focused. The kids who had been gathered talking among themselves suddenly perked up their ears to hear Jaeri’s response.

“What’s wrong with that.”

Jaeri did not deny that he lived under tight control. It was not embarrassing at all.

“It’s not bad.”

Kim Jungjun took a sip of champagne.

“Ah. This is really good.”

“……”

“They say the champagne given to us is almost non-alcoholic. Probably only about 1 degree? Just take one sip, it’s the end of the year.”

Jaeri placed his gaze far away in response to his temptation. In the distance, Jungyoon was networking with strategic partners he had not seen in a long time. He seemed to pay no attention to this side.

Jaeri asked quickly in a small voice.

“Is champagne originally only that low in alcohol content?”

“Not exactly, but since there are minors like you here, they must have prepared it like this.”

Kim Jungjun said with sparkling eyes.

“You don’t mean to say you’ve never even had a glass of champagne before?”

“Yeah.”

“Your hyung is too much, really. In Europe, even thirteen-year-olds drink it.”

Kim Jungjun, who had studied abroad in France, persistently tempted him while pronouncing champagne as ‘shampainyu’ each time.

“Really?”

“This isn’t alcohol at all.”

“…Anything with alcohol in it is alcohol.”

Jaeri bit his lip firmly and then spoke as if making a vow. However, Kim Jungjun was persistent.

“Who counts 1 degree as alcohol. You’re so frustrating.”

Kim Jungjun placed his empty glass on the tray carried by a passing waiter. Then he picked up another glass of champagne and dangled it in front of Jaeri’s eyes.

“As your hyung, I’m telling you, this is okay to drink.”

Jaeri narrowed his eyes.

“I’m not drinking.”

He refused firmly once again. Kim Jungjun’s face crumpled openly, as if he were drunk on the 1-degree champagne.

“Ah, you’re acting so high and mighty.”

At those words, Jaeri snorted. Who was he to value a person like that, so rudely.

Seeing Jaeri’s sneer, Kim Jungjun returned to his affable expression.

And then he tried to force the glass into Jaeri’s hand.

Clack—crack.

Jaeri roughly shook off Kim Jungjun’s hand, and the champagne glass shattered miserably on the floor. The sound of the glass hitting the thickly carpeted hall floor was not sharp.

However, even with that small sound, since it was a gathering of about thirty people, all eyes focused.

Once an incident occurs, how it occurred is not important. Even if Kim Jungjun had been rudely and excessively pressuring him to drink, people neither wondered about it nor cared. Unconditionally, it was Jaeri’s fault for behaving rudely and noticeably.

Feeling the gazes of the people, as Jaeri stood still, Jungyoon strode forward to him. Jaeri bit his lip while watching him approach.

The people around also looked on with interest. Jaeri’s face flushed slightly.

With a mild smile on his face, he asked for understanding from those around by saying, “I’ll take my younger brother for a moment,” and then grabbed Jaeri’s wrist and left the hall.

They went up the stairs of the hotel hall a little and entered a restroom in one corner. He entered the restroom, confirmed no one was there, and locked the door.

The interior of the restroom was cozily dim. Gray lighting enveloped the overall space, and only a few small circular lights illuminated the inside. Besides that, the only light was the yellow indirect lighting leaking from under the marble sink. And all around was quiet.

Jaeri only looked down at the floor. The red flush on his face did not fade.

“Did I teach you to refuse like that?”

His voice, jumping straight into the main point and scolding, echoed inside the restroom.

“…”

Jaeri continued to look only at the floor without responding. He could see his hyung’s shoes. Big shoes. And in front of them, his own slightly smaller shoes.

“I asked if you don’t know refusal manners.”

“…I know.”

“You know, and yet.”

His voice was stern. Jaeri looked up at him. Firmness was evident in his eyes looking down at Jaeri.

“…He, he gave me poison. I said no, but he kept trying to give it to me. How could I… do it with manners to a person like that….”

Jaeri protested. Their gazes met. A faint smile appeared at the corners of Jungyoon’s eyes.

He approached Jaeri closely. One step, two steps.

Jaeri did not back away while watching those steps. Now, their bodies were close enough to touch. It felt like his breathing was settling into Jaeri’s ear as he slightly lowered his head.

Jaeri’s shoulders flinched inward. He slowly stroked Jaeri’s back. That skinship was neither comfort nor suitable to call affection. Jaeri could not tell what it was. He just flinched each time he stroked.

Now, as if he were about to whisper a secret to Jaeri, he lowered his head. His lips were close to touching Jaeri’s ear. When he parted his lips, his truly hot lips touched Jaeri’s ear and then pulled away.

“You knew everything.”

The low voice resonated in his ear. It was a sound like a sigh, without much of the unique timbre of his voice.

“…Yes.”

Jaeri also answered softly, just enough for him to hear. Above his head, the sound of Jungyoon chuckling lowly came.

Jaeri had thought it was strange when Kim Jungjun excessively pressured him to drink. Cases where a person suddenly acts strangely are rare. Most of the time, it’s the situation that’s strange.

Jaeri had almost fallen for it when Kim Jungjun said it was only 1 degree champagne. Without even realizing it was a test from his hyung. Recalling that moment now made him feel a chill.

Preparing alcohol that was almost non-alcoholic was in preparation for the possibility that he might drink it. Now, he could guess that.

He wrapped his arms around Jaeri’s waist and hugged him.

“From now on, always think that I’m testing you.”

“…Yes.”

Even though it was words he heard while being held by him, his back felt cold.

There was a brief silence.

He turned Jaeri around to face the sink and pressed on his back. As Jaeri bent his upper body slightly forward, he spanked his hip once. Jaeri’s body was pushed slightly forward, and he steadied himself by gripping the sink with his hands.

“Ugh…!”

“Still, you have to refuse with manners.”

“……”

There was a hint of defiance somewhere in Jaeri’s silence. Jaeri felt wronged. Another spank landed.

“Ah…!”