Chapter 26
(Wow... she's really something...)
I unconsciously swallowed dryly. Even though I had a very beautiful mother and older sister at home, seeing her retreating figure just now made me lick my lips, and I opened the pantry door and went inside. But even as I stood in front of the coffee machine, the cool, refreshing scent of her, which I had caught a whiff of as she passed by, seemed to linger at the tip of my nose.
"Unnie~"
At the familiar voice, Hye-jeong uncreased her brows and lifted her head.
"Oh my, Hye-seon. What brings you here without any notice?"
Hye-jeong waved her hand, dismissing the staff. The staff bowed deeply, their expressions as if they had met a savior, and receded like the tide.
In the empty conference room, only Hye-jeong and Hye-seon remained, sisters renowned for their beauty and wealth in the Republic of Korea.
Hye-seon sat down, placing her clutch bag on the chair opposite her unnie. But her expression was still dazed.
"On the way here, I stopped by Lawyer Kim's office to pick up some documents..."
"You could have just had your secretary do it, why did you come all the way here?"
"I just came..."
Hye-seon trailed off, gauging Hye-jeong's reaction. However, in her eyes, an irrepressible confusion blazed, as if the shock she had experienced in the hallway just moments ago had not yet subsided.
"Unnie. But about Minho... he seemed a bit strange?"
Hye-seon swallowed dryly and cautiously opened her mouth.
"He... didn't recognize me at all? He looked at me like I was a complete stranger, with an expression that said, 'Who are you?'"
Hye-seon's voice trembled faintly. It made no sense for him to look at her with an expression that said, 'Nice to meet you for the first time.' It wasn't a simple prank or dismissal. It was the gaze one would give a complete stranger.
Hye-jeong, as if it were nothing important, twirled the Montblanc Fountain Pen on her desk and let out a small laugh.
"Oh, that? Don't be surprised. My son has amnesia."
"......What?"
Hye-seon's eyes widened. She asked again, doubting if she had heard incorrectly.
"Am...nesia? Are we shooting a drama now? What are you talking about?"
"They say it's an aftereffect of the accident. The doctor said that the impact to his brain completely erased his past memories. Who he is, who I am, and even... what kind of relationship he had with you, all of it."
Hye-jeong leaned deeply into the chair's backrest, slowly uncrossing her legs, then crossed them again in the opposite direction. Under the desk, the lingering traces of her son, felt through the open lingerie beneath her mini-skirt, sent a jolt through her brain.
"So, it's natural that he doesn't recognize you. Right now, Minho's mind is a blank slate."
"That's... impossible..."
Hye-seon's face turned pale. The luxury clutch bag she was holding dropped to the floor with a thud.
(His memories... all gone?)
It wasn't just the shock of him forgetting family relations. She had a secret and immoral past with Minho, one she couldn't tell anyone about.
The passionate glances they exchanged in secret, the touches that happened under the influence of alcohol, and the memories of those precarious nights, walking a tightrope between Auntie and nephew, almost crossing the line.
"Then... everything that happened between us... he's forgotten all of it? Without a single trace?"
Hye-seon asked in a desperate voice. Hye-jeong twisted the corner of her mouth into a wry smile, as if enjoying her younger sister's reaction.
"Yes. All of it. You flirting with Minho, Minho obsessing over you... it's all been reset."
Hye-jeong's eyes gleamed like those of a beast.
"So, Hye-seon, wake up from your dream. The Minho of the past is dead. The child standing there now... is my pure son, reborn entirely from my womb."
"......."
Hye-seon bit her lip. It felt futile. The sticky, messy relationship they had built up over time had turned into foam with a single accident. But at the same time, the memory of the hallway just now flashed through her mind.
Minho, who had smiled gently at her. Not with the unpleasant, murky gaze of before, but with clear, transparent eyes... and the gaze of a male who had stolen a glance at her backside.
(Wait... he forgot everything? If so....)
Hye-seon's eyes stopped wavering and began to gleam with a strange light.
(This could actually be an opportunity. He said his mind was a blank slate, right? Then... all I have to do is paint my colors on that blank slate first.)
"A lie... I can't believe it."
Hye-seon feigned shock as she picked up the fallen bag. But within her, a new desire stirred.
"I'm going to... confirm it myself."
"What?"
"Whether he truly has no memories, or if my body remembers... I'm going to confirm it myself."
"Go ahead and confirm it. Try it."
Hye-jeong crossed her arms and snorted. Her expression overflowed with arrogance, beyond mere composure. As long as she remembered her son's ecstatic face this morning, having poured everything into her mouth, defeat was an impossible word for Hye-jeong.
"My son will never fall for you. That child is already accustomed to his mother's taste."
At Hye-jeong's provocation, Hye-seon's eyebrows twitched. Her pride was thoroughly wounded, but she instead wore a cold smile on her lips.
"Well? We'll have to see about that. A man's instincts... are surprisingly weak to new stimuli, you know."
Hye-seon slowly approached Hye-jeong, placed both hands on the desk, and leaned her upper body forward.
"Unnie, instead of just talking... shall we make a bet?"
"A bet?"
"Yes. If I succeed in seducing Minho... and 'mixing bodies' with that child."
Hye-seon's eyes gleamed with desire.
"All rights to Minho, hand them over to me. Stop interfering, saying he's your son or whatever, and cleanly acknowledge him as my man."
It wasn't a simple love triangle dispute. It was a battle over ownership, with Minho as the prize. A normal mother would have jumped up in outrage, but Shin Hye-jeong, the 'Queen of Myeong-dong,' was different. The madness of a gambler began to settle in her eyes.
"Hoo... interesting."
Hye-jeong rose from her chair and stood facing Hye-seon. A taut tension filled the conference room.
"Fine. I'll accept. You won't be able to touch even Minho's fingertip anyway."
Hye-jeong curled her red-lipsticked lips into a wry smile, dropping a bombshell.
"However, isn't the stake too small? Just betting Minho... doesn't suit our sisters' scale, does it?"
"What...?"
"The ownership of my son, Minho. And this Gangnam Building where we are standing right now. I'll bet the whole thing."
Hye-seon's eyes widened. The market value of this building alone was hundreds of billions of won. It was madness to bet it on a mere one-night wager. But Hye-jeong didn't stop. She brought her lips close to Hye-seon's ear and whispered low and chillingly, as if reciting a famous line from a movie.
"If you're scared, then die."
Those words detonated Hye-seon's fuse. The proud Hye-seon would never back down here. A venomous look settled on her face.
"Ha! That's outrageous. Unnie, I'll make you regret those words."
Hye-seon stared directly into Hye-jeong's eyes and shouted without an ounce of hesitation.
"I'll raise! And add my Cheongdam-dong Building! Race!"
"......!"
In an instant, assets worth trillions of won were added to the stake. Whether Minho's chastity would be taken or not, two Gangnam skyscrapers were on the line.
"Deal. The contract is established."
Hye-jeong extended her hand, looking satisfied. The two women's hands clasped. On the surface, it was an elegant handshake, but the grip was so intense it felt like it could crush each other's bones.
"Prepare yourself well, Hye-seon. My son isn't such an easy opponent."
"Don't worry. You said his mind was a blank slate, right? On that blank slate... I'll leave a very deep mark of myself."
The two sisters' gazes clashed fiercely in the air. Meanwhile, I, who had been peacefully sipping coffee in the pantry, oblivious to everything, suddenly felt a chill run down my spine.
"Ugh... why is it suddenly cold? Is the air conditioner too strong?"
I shivered and put down the iced Americano cup I had just been drinking from.
"That woman from earlier, she was amazing even thinking about her again..."
She wasn't just pretty. If my mother Hye-jeong was the pinnacle of ripe sensuality, the woman I encountered in the hallway earlier had the charm of an 'Ice Princess' - cold, intelligent, and stimulating a desire to conquer. To think that haughty gaze from behind her glasses had wavered at a single apology from me.
(A real honey pot just fell into my lap. If this isn't heaven, then where is? I should bury my bones here from now on.)
I put down the empty coffee cup with a satisfied expression. It was about time to head back to where my mother was. I didn't know if the boring meeting was over, but at least the fun of peeking at her open-crotch panties would still be there.
"Hoo, shall I go?"
I tidied my clothes and left the pantry. As I walked down the hallway, I sniffed, trying to find that cool, refreshing scent I had smelled earlier, but the fragrance had already faded.
Click.
I carefully opened the conference room door. But the sight that met my eyes as soon as I opened the door wasn't a bunch of drab suit-wearing old men.
"......Huh?"
I unconsciously let out a foolish sound. In the head seat of the conference room, opposite my mother Hye-jeong who sat like a queen, was none other than the 'beauty in the cream-colored dress' who had thrilled me in the hallway just moments ago, sitting with her legs crossed and facing Hye-jeong.