PA 67

“Get out!”

“Mr. Yejun, Mr. Yejun.”

Secretary Song tried to calm Yejun, who was shouting at Sanghyeon, by grabbing his shoulder. At that, Yejun shoved Secretary Song away with both hands as if shuddering.

“Get away from me!”

“The chairman is very ill right now. So…”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“Secretary Song, you may leave.”

After Secretary Song left, Sanghyeon rose from the sofa and turned his body toward Yejun. Standing like that and looking at Yejun for a long while, Sanghyeon slowly began to speak.

“I thought I should see you at least once.”

“Why? To rape me again?”

“You’re not hoping for an apology, are you?”

“No, don’t apologize.”

Sanghyeon let out a small chuckle and looked at Yejun with a gentle gaze.

“My position is clear. I don’t like you, Chairman, I like Junhyuk.”

Now I know for sure. That kid, I….

Sanghyeon straightened his clothes and walked past Yejun toward the door. Yejun clenched his teeth and held his trembling body steady. It was when Sanghyeon grabbed the doorknob and was about to leave the waiting room. Yejun looked up at him with resentful eyes and asked.

“We won’t be seeing each other anymore, right?”

“Is that what you hope for?”

Sanghyeon took another step closer to Yejun. Yejun let out a hollow laugh as if finding it absurd and continued speaking.

“You’re just as selfish now as you were back then, Chairman.”

“I do have that tendency.”

However, Sanghyeon did not seem to take any psychological damage from Yejun’s sarcasm. He just accepted Yejun’s sharp criticism with a calm face.

“The reason you’re bequeathing everything to Junhyuk… surely there isn’t some other reason, is there?”

“Well…”

Yejun simply shut his mouth at the ominous feeling. He didn’t want to get any more deeply involved in Sanghyeon’s affairs.

Sanghyeon gazed at Yejun, who was observing him carefully. Sanghyeon seemed to have been bewitched by Yejun’s mysterious and beautiful appearance when he first saw him on TV. As he usually did, he had ordered his people to bring Yejun before him, no matter what it took. That was the beginning of all the wrongdoings.

What would it have been like if I had tried doing the things that everyone else does?

To Sanghyeon back then, Yejun had been nothing more and nothing less than an object of sexual desire. But now, Sanghyeon was lost in the fleeting thought of what it would have been like if his beginning with Yejun had been different. Even now, his chest tingled when he looked at Yejun.

As if his subconscious was mesmerized by Yejun’s appearance, Sanghyeon took a step closer and extended his arm to gently stroke his white cheek. But Yejun turned his head away.

I’m reaping what I sowed.

For the past seven years, Sanghyeon would occasionally dream of holding Yejun’s hand and walking in a park. In the dream, Yejun wore a fresh smile and held Sanghyeon’s hand tightly. It was a situation that would not happen in reality. A corner of Sanghyeon’s heart ached with a chilling pain.

“Lee Yejun.”

“……”

Sanghyeon continued speaking as he looked at the back of Yejun, who had turned away as if to ignore him.

“No matter what happens from now on, it’s not your fault.”

“……”

Sanghyeon had a premonition of his own death. He was cautioning Yejun, who might struggle if he were to die.

“And one more thing, no matter what happens to me, don’t forgive me.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t be able to push you away harshly just because you’re sick?”

Yejun retorted irritably, as if finding it ridiculous. In that moment, the silent Sanghyeon looked as if he were smiling sadly. Yejun clenched both fists as if to steel his heart and glared at Sanghyeon with sharp eyes.

I can’t let my heart grow weak.

Out of defiance toward Sanghyeon, Yejun spat out harsh words.

“Fine, I’ll make my position clear on this occasion. I love Junhyuk. Both before and after you raped me. So don’t ever appear before me again.”

“……”

Do I feel a little better now that I’ve seen him….

Other than occasionally appearing in his dreams, Sanghyeon hadn’t missed Yejun that desperately. It was just that, since that time seven years ago, he had been unable to be intimate with anyone other than Yejun. Sanghyeon couldn’t understand the reason either. Sanghyeon’s head spun, and fatigue washed over him.

I shouldn’t collapse here and make a fool of myself.

Leaving behind Yejun, whose clenched fists were trembling slightly, Sanghyeon exited the waiting room. He paused his steps for a moment at the end of the hallway. Secretary Song, who was following him, looked at Sanghyeon with a worried expression and began to speak.

“The shooting range meeting that was originally scheduled has been postponed a little while ago.”

“I see.”

“I’ll have a driver on standby immediately.”

“Forget the driver. I’ll drive myself.”

“But.”

A worried Secretary Song objected to Sanghyeon’s words. Sanghyeon looked at Secretary Song with a displeased expression.

“I’ll have the car waiting on the first floor.”

“Do that.”

Realizing his mistake, Secretary Song quickly changed his attitude and headed for the underground parking garage. Sanghyeon stood at the end of the hallway and gazed at the waiting room where Yejun was for a long time. It was then. Yejun, looking extremely tense, was answering a phone call and running off somewhere.

☂︎

For a long while after Sanghyeon left, Yejun stood without being able to move a muscle. It seemed Sanghyeon hadn’t treated him like a cheap doll as he had in the past. The subtle wavering in his eyes was also bothersome. Yejun shook his head and picked up the cell phone he had placed on the table.

“Don’t think about anything now.”

Yejun muttered in a small voice, gripping the cell phone in his hand tightly. Then he stared blankly into the air. The screen of the cell phone, which had been set to silent so as not to disturb the event, lit up, and an unknown number appeared. Yejun picked up the phone without much thought and answered the call.

“Hello.”

— Yejun.

The voice coming from over the receiver was clearly that of someone familiar.

Father.

Yejun had been engulfed in a sense of despair, as if he had lost the world after his mother’s empty death. The man who was his father had not even shown up at his mother’s funeral. The resentment he still felt for his father was hardened like a stone, rolling around uncomfortably somewhere in Yejun’s heart.

“I have nothing to say to you, Father. I’m hanging up now.”

— Yejun, Yejun!

Hyungyu’s desperate and earnest voice cracked unpleasantly, striking Yejun’s ear.

— Don’t hang up for a moment, just listen to me.

“Do you have anything else to talk to me about besides money?”

— I couldn’t contact you all this time because I was too ashamed to face you. I’m truly sorry.

“Father, the way to help me is…”

— Hey, Yejun… if you don’t come, I, I… These bastards say they’ll cut off my wrist this time.

“Haa… I have nothing more to say. I’m hanging up.”

— I’ll send you the address by text. Come here. If you don’t come, I’ll die! Ah, aaack!

Hyungyu’s scream did not seem to be a lie. Yejun hung up the phone and checked his text messages. The message said to come to an address and bring 2.5 million won in cash.

“Haa… 2.5 million won.”

He’s about to get his wrist sliced off because he can’t even get 2.5 million won? Yejun’s head throbbed as he thought of his father, who still couldn’t leave the gambling dens. But Yejun was not born cruel. He rushed out of the event hall without contacting the head of security. Running out to the back of the venue, Yejun looked around frantically.

☂︎

Junhyuk held the first-half financial reports submitted by each department and called for Secretary Jeong.

“Why was the first-half financial meeting this afternoon postponed by an hour?”

“It was said that the Honorary Chairman will be visiting later.”

“Hmm…”

“Is something the matter?”

Junhyuk had intended to go to the production press conference early. Since it was Yejun’s first work to be commercialized, Junhyuk wanted to pay a little more attention to it. But it seemed he wouldn’t be able to leave work early, let alone attend the press conference. He was lost in thought and did not reply to Secretary Jeong’s words. Just then, the youngest employee from the secretarial office knocked urgently and threw the door open.

“I apologize. The Honorary Chairman is on his way up right now.”

“Now?”

While Secretary Jeong had another employee prepare some simple refreshments, the Honorary Chairman and Director Min arrived at Junhyuk’s private office.

“You’ve arrived.”

“Yes, yes. Executive Director Cha is always working so hard.”

The Honorary Chairman praised Junhyuk right away, without even properly looking at how he was doing his job. It seemed he trusted Junhyuk completely. For that reason, it didn’t seem like the Honorary Chairman’s reason for visiting Junhyuk was an inspection. Even after they sat down, they didn’t bring up a single work-related topic. They just casually asked about Junhyuk’s daily life.

Did they come to bring up Yejun?

Although only pleasantries were exchanged, Junhyuk’s mind was busy as he attended to them.

“Junhyuk.”

“Yes, Grandmother.”

At some point, the Honorary Chairman fell silent. Junhyuk had a hunch that the topic of marriage would come from Director Min’s lips.

“Jiyun doesn’t seem to be the one, does she?”

“…No.”

“Junhyuk, you now have to cover not only our Taejin but Seil as well, so you don’t have the time to waste on useless things, do you? That’s why a wife is especially important for a businessman. There’s a girl who just came back to Korea after finishing her studies abroad…”

“Grandmother.”

Junhyuk cut off Director Min’s words, which sounded somewhat urgent.

“Go on, speak.”

“I have no intention of getting married.”

“Junhyuk!”

“But if you keep pushing me, I might just go astray.”

“You…!”

“Director Min, that’s enough.”

As Director Min tried to refute Junhyuk’s words, the Honorary Chairman stepped in and began to stop her. At that, she cried out in a despairing voice, as if screaming.