MW 58

All he had was this body and a single suitcase. That fact made him laugh uncontrollably.

Dohae, wiping his face with a tired expression, changed direction and entered the main house. The Chairman Gu couple was nowhere to be seen, though he wouldn’t have cared if they were. As Dohae passed through the living room and headed towards where his room had been, a thought suddenly struck him, and he turned his steps towards Secretary Oh’s room.

He was curious to see the face of the man who hadn’t shown up once, claiming to be so busy. Stopping in front of Secretary Oh’s room on the first floor, Dohae pushed the slightly ajar door and went inside.

The desk, as always, was filled with inscrutable documents, and the bookshelf on one wall was crammed with numerous books.

Tsk, Dohae clicked his tongue and was about to turn his head to leave the room when a single book, sticking out from the very bottom of the bookshelf, caught his eye.

Does he have time to read books in a busy time like this? And a book that thick?

Feeling a strange sense of curiosity, Dohae approached it and reached out to pull out the thick book.

Thud.

At that moment, a small gray USB fell to the floor from underneath.

“What is this?”

Picking it up, Dohae was overcome with a strange feeling. He didn’t know what it was, but the thought that he had to check it took over his entire body. He hurried out of the main house and headed for the trashy house of Seo Yijae where he was staying.

Then, after rummaging through the open suitcase and taking out the laptop from the very back, Dohae pressed the power button, inserted the USB he had brought from Secretary Oh’s room, and opened the file.

“Keu…… keuheuk, puhahaha……!”

Scrolling down and taking in what he saw, Dohae was able to understand the identity of the object Secretary Oh had hidden.

“As expected, God has not abandoned me.”

At every moment of crisis, God had always extended a helping hand of salvation. Dohae, with the list of Sejin Group’s slush funds in his hand, immediately got up from his seat.

Bang, Dohae kicked the door open without any lingering attachment and came out, just in time to face Chairman Gu and Mrs. Lee who were heading to the main house.

“You! Why are you here!”

Mrs. Lee’s expression contorted upon seeing him, and pointing at Dohae with her fingertip, she shrieked.

“Who do you think you are to come back here! No, have you been hiding there all this time?”

“Ah, you’re here? I was just about to come find you.”

With a composed face, Dohae swept back the bangs that were poking his eyes, smiled broadly, and looked at his adoptive parents. The two of them, even more dumbfounded, stared at Dohae with twitching facial muscles.

“You…… do you really want to die? What are you doing, not getting out immediately! Secretary Oh!”

Secretary Oh, who was standing behind Chairman Gu, approached Dohae. Looking down at Dohae standing before him, he had a pathetic expression, as if asking if it was so difficult to just hide quietly.

“I can’t let it end like this.”

“What are you going to do if you say that! We’ve fed you, housed you, and done everything, but we’ve gained nothing!”

Tsk, tsk, Chairman Gu clicked his tongue and frowned, saying they shouldn’t have taken him in in the first place.

“You’re going to abandon me like this? After just using me?”

“Secretary Oh, what are you doing! Kick him out immediately!”

“Yes, Chairman.”

Dohae, whose wrist was grabbed by Secretary Oh, twisted his body as if having a seizure and shouted.

“Fuck, this is all your fault!”

With a fierce resistance, Dohae broke free from Secretary Oh and, before he could be surprised, rushed at Chairman Gu and shouted.

“If you hadn’t been greedy and tried to sell that bastard Seo Yijae to an old alpha, Kang Jaeha would never have met him! The engagement and marriage would have proceeded as planned!”

“L-let go of me……”

“And you’re abandoning me after that?”

Gritting his teeth, Dohae fiercely lifted his head and glared at Chairman Gu and Mrs. Lee. He could see security guards, responding to Secretary Oh’s call, quickly opening the gate and approaching.

Slap!

“You ungrateful bastard! There’s a limit to backstabbing someone who raised you, without even knowing the grace of it!”

Chairman Gu, who had barely managed to pull Dohae off with the help of three security guards, slapped his cheek. Dohae, hit with more force than expected, twisted his lips into a smirk at the metallic taste spreading in his mouth.

“Throw him out immediately, and make sure he takes nothing from this house!”

“Yes, Chairman.”

It was then that Chairman Gu, waving his hand as if he couldn’t stand the sight of him any longer, turned his body. Dohae, who was on his knees with his arms held by the security guards, lifted his head and said.

“Father, wouldn’t it be safer to put the money in a Swiss bank account rather than laundering it in Macau?”

“How did you……!”

Chairman Gu, his face pale and drained of all color as if all the blood had left his body, stared at Dohae.

“You should have been more careful. After what happened five years ago.”

“You……!”

“Slush funds and whatnots, those things aren’t really important to me.”

Dohae, licking the inside of his burst mouth, spat out blood-mixed saliva with a smirk. Ptooey.

“……What do you want.”

“You know what it is. Money and a doctor for the surgery. Take responsibility and prepare them. I’ll take responsibility for bringing that bastard Seo Yijae here.”

Smirk, with his eyes curving into a bright smile, Dohae watched the security guards, who were glancing at Chairman Gu, let go of his arms, and then he slowly stood up.

“Congratulations on being in the same boat with me again.”

Dohae walked in front of Chairman Gu, who was trembling with rage, and with those final words, he walked towards the main house. As if dumbfounded by his actions, Chairman Gu and Mrs. Lee let out a hollow laugh, but they could neither stop nor hold Dohae back.

⁺₊❆₊⋆

He was a little sweaty, probably from tensing up his body with nervousness. Yijae returned to the villa, washed up briefly, and came out to find Jaeha already preparing dinner. He touched the ends of his still-damp hair and hurried towards him.

“I’ll help too.”

“You need to dry your hair completely.”

Jaeha, who had spotted the approaching Yijae, put down what he was holding on the table and walked towards him.

“Ah……”

“Look at this, your back is all wet.”

Jaeha narrowed his eyes, staring at the T-shirt that was soaked and clinging to his body from the water dripping from his hair. His warm body temperature and the moist, glistening body seemed to keep stealing his gaze.

Jaeha ran his thumb over the skin where water droplets had formed and bit the inside of his mouth to come to his senses from the sensation he felt below.

“All we have to do is move it to the terrace, so you dry your hair, change your clothes, and come out, Yijae.”

Jaeha, turning his body with one eye scrunched as if in a difficult situation, hurriedly gathered the food and went outside. Yijae, watching his back as he walked away in a somewhat awkward posture, tilted his head in confusion, then quickly went into the bathroom to dry his hair as he had said.

“This looks delicious.”

Yijae, who had dried his hair thoroughly and changed out of his wet clothes into a new T-shirt, came outside and opened his mouth as he looked at the meat cooking deliciously.

“You have to eat a lot today.”

Following Jaeha’s gaze as he pointed to the table while flipping the meat with large tongs, he saw an enormous amount of beef and pork.

The overwhelming amount seemed a bit daunting, but he was hungry since all he had eaten before coming to the villa was breakfast and pork noodle soup.

Crackle, crackle, Yijae looked down at the charcoal fire with its popping embers and watched him cut the meat into bite-sized pieces, then picked up the gloves placed next to him. No, he wanted to, but Jaeha’s hand stopped him faster, and he could only touch the rough surface of the gloves.

“What if you get hurt?”

“I just have to flip it, ah!”

Yijae flinched as hot oil splattered on his arm for a moment. Jaeha, also with a surprised face, pulled his hand to check the injury.

There was only a slightly reddened spot, but fortunately, it wasn’t a major injury. Nevertheless, Jaeha, still with a stern face, completely took away the gloves Yijae was trying to grab and sat him down in a chair next to the table, saying.

“Your role today, Yijae, is to eat the meat I grill for you well.”

“But still, how can I……”

He always did nothing while Jaeha made breakfast and did the dishes, and he didn’t want to be of no help even on a trip.

“Then help me clean up later.”

“I’ll do the dishes too.”

Jaeha, who smirked at Yijae’s added words, said he understood, then placed the cooked beef and asparagus on a plate and handed it to Yijae.

“Try it.”