The Gift
I left the two of them to their quiet bickering and leaned in toward Lee Hyesun, dropping my voice to a whisper.
"What on earth is going on?"
"Jiyoung is Lee Chul-young's daughter too. Director Hwang used that to lock down Hanseong Medical Center. The hospital is mine now. She still holds the right to run it, of course, but personnel authority sits with me."
"Don't tell me. Just to keep her seat?"
"Mm. She's done a few other things wrong besides that. This isn't settling a tab. It's a leash."
I was at a loss for words. However you turned it, this was a daughter she had carried and borne in her own body. Was she really handing her child over for the sake of her own greed? It was wretched enough that I caught myself thinking it might actually be better for Hwang Jiyoung this way.
"......I understand."
"You'll fit in on this side just fine, won't you? You caught on at once."
"I just never imagined it would go like this. Her own daughter......"
"It happens now and then among the women who bore Chairman Lee's daughters. Those daughters are worth more than you'd think. They have something the sons don't."
"The inheritance?"
"Mm. Succession down the father's line is unusual enough that most people wouldn't guess, but you picked it up right away. Because of the will, priority goes to the mother. I never cared enough to memorize the fine print, so I'd have to read the clauses again, but she has to be the mother at the moment the daughter turns twenty-five. The old man must have been afraid someone would take the fortune and throw the child away. In any case, she's a lottery ticket that's already as good as drawn."
"To that extent......"
"Mm. Do we look respectable from the outside? We're vulgar. Rock bottom. Anyway. Better I take her than leave her as an incubator under Director Hwang. And while I'm at it, someone to look after our daughter."
"Ah, Mom......"
"No. Didn't this incident teach you anything?"
"......Ah......"
"I want someone at your side at all times. Not because I distrust Shinwoo, of course......"
Even as she said it, Hyesun stole a glance at me and took my hand, and Hwang Jiyoung drew in a sharp breath at the sight. Quick and perceptive as she was, that much contact would have been enough for her to notice. We had been careful with how we addressed each other, but there was no helping a touch like that.
At those words, Hyunji and Hwang Jiyoung—still fussing at each other—turned their eyes on us. Hyesun paid the looks no mind and simply watched me, and I asked again at a word I couldn't follow.
"......A gift?"
"From now on, use her as you please. Whatever you've been holding back, let it all out."
"......What are you saying?"
"Hm? Haven't you been feeling a bit of stress lately? Urges. I heard that man described it as something piling up in the chest, or in the head."
"......"
How in the world did she know? I had noticed, without quite admitting it, that the count felt short, that a faint thirst had begun to creep in—but that was only because I kept putting my partners under with my Special Internal Energy. When I couldn't answer, Hyesun nodded as if she had expected as much, and Hyunji looked at me with open pity and carefully took my hand.
"Oppa......"
"You have to let it out. I mean it. You'll start to change."
"......Change how?"
"It's a wonder you've held out this long. If a Multimale doesn't properly release his desire, his character warps little by little. It almost never comes to that, but you consider everyone around you far too much, and that's what worries me."
"......Is that why you said you wanted me to be selfish?"
"Mm. That monster didn't appear out of nowhere. From now on, don't watch anyone's face. Do whatever you want. I...... I don't want you to change."
"Me neither, Oppa......"
I didn't mind Hyesun's and Hyunji's worried gazes gathering on me, but I wasn't that far gone. If anything, the satisfaction I drew from the happiness on Hyunji's face—and the others'—ran deeper. There seemed to be some misunderstanding I wanted to correct, yet I couldn't find the words to begin.
......They'd only think I was the strange one.
What mattered was keeping Hyunji and my other women from worrying. If I simply went along and showed them I wasn't changing, there wouldn't be a problem. I nodded quietly.
"Please don't worry. I haven't been holding anything back. Hyunji gives me everything I want."
I couldn't ask for more than this. I almost never slept alone at night. There were plenty of afternoons as well, and whenever a sadistic urge rose, I worked it out with Ju Hayeong. Besides, this wasn't the shape I had wanted. If Hwang Jiyoung came to want it first, that would be different. I couldn't say any of that aloud. It would only put pressure on her.
"......Oppa...... Th-that's my line...... You always make it good only for me......"
"No. I like it too, you know? The way you like it is adorable."
"......Jiyoung's right here...... I-I'm embarrassed. Hehe......"
That flushed, shy look on Hyunji's face was enough to ease a great deal in me. Hyesun, though, only watched me warmly and nodded.
"Just stay like this. I don't want anything more. If you're this tender...... I think I could be happy too."
"......Don't worry. If it gets hard, I'll say so. So, as for Jiyoung—"
"No. Even so, from now on you will use Hwang Jiyoung that way. That was the condition of taking her in."
Hyesun answered me firmly, then turned her gaze on Hwang Jiyoung—Lee Jiyoung, from this moment on. Jiyoung, who had been staring at us as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing, flinched the instant that gaze landed on her.
"You're prepared, aren't you?"
"......Yes......"
"If you upset Hyunji or Shinwoo even a little, I'll make you truly regret it. That inheritance? I don't need it. I have money of my own. Which means if you simply do well, all of it is yours. Do you understand?"
"......I'll keep that in mind."
"Starting today. Understood, Hwang Jiyoung?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Lee Jiyoung, who had been watching us in silence, went over and took her place at Han Gyeo-wool's side. So in the end she had accepted this absurd arrangement for the money—but that was only natural. A person ought to know how to claim what is hers. And given the situation she had been thrown into, she needed something she could trust. I understood all the more why she had no other choice.
And from what I'd seen, there wasn't a sharp edge to her.
Considering the Hwang Jiyoung I had observed, there was plenty of room to work things out in time. Not right away—she had just had her entire life upended without warning. My own head was still spinning. Then I realized it was already past nine.
"I'll stay with Hyunji, so the rest of you should go and rest."
"......Oppa."
It wasn't Hyesun who answered me. I turned, and Hyunji, worry plain on her face, caught my hand and went on.
"I...... I want to stay with Jiyoung tonight......"
"......You do?"
"Yes...... I'm sorry. I want to be with you too, but......"
"No. I should have realized you'd have a lot to talk about. All right. I'll step aside."
"I'm sorry......"
"Sorry for what. I'm still reeling from today myself. You too?"
"......A little. That's why I want to talk with Jiyoung more......"
"Yeah. I get it. Then, Hyesun—let's give the two of them some time tonight."
Hyesun, who had been watching us with quiet pleasure, startled and hurried to answer.
"Mm. Let's. Sweetheart, if you need anything, tell Jiyoung."
"......Don't worry. And...... Oppa......"
"Ah, the date? I'll come tomorrow morning. Only if the doctor says you're cleared to be discharged, all right?"
"......Okay...... And......"
Afraid I might have been hurt, Hyunji called after me, but I rose, pulled on my rumpled coat, and grinned.
"Don't apologize. Have a cozy night, just the two of you. I'll be with Hyesun, then."
"......Ah......"
No one in that room could have missed what I meant. Hyesun jerked as if she had been shocked and spun toward me, but I thought it was just as well. Dragging it out would only waste time. These days I almost never had a free moment, and catching the right timing had not been easy.
As expected. No change.
At my words Hwang Jiyoung's face went scarlet, and the moment our eyes met she looked away. Han Gyeo-wool was different. She watched me as if she had already sensed it coming—maybe because we had been seeing each other now and then. I could read the faint shift in her eyes. A little pleasure. But what mattered most was Hyunji's reaction.
"......Please take good care of Mom, Oppa......"
"......Yeah."
I had misread the direction of her worry. She wasn't afraid I had been hurt. More precisely, she had been afraid I would be left alone at home. She let out a breath of relief and smiled softly, and there was nothing on her face but happiness and warmth.
......I don't want to feel this.
It was the sense of being asked, almost outright, to understand. I really didn't need to worry about Hyunji anymore. This absurd situation was normal now; I was the only one left who still had to adapt. My body, though, seemed to be adapting already. Faced with something this intensely stimulating, I could feel that eager part of me beginning to stir, heat gathering low. In that case—
"R-right......"
From here on, it was time to attend to Hyesun, her face burning as she fidgeted with the handbag clutched in both hands.
The moment I stepped into the elevator I took out my phone. I posted in the group chat telling them not to wait, then let Rahi know ahead of time that I wouldn't be coming home tonight. She might have been waiting up. I replied to the lingerie photo Ju Hayeong had sent—told her she looked beautiful—and snorted at the picture from Go Yewon: Chang-soo and Eunchae sprawled across the gym floor. They'd tapped out early today.
"Gulp......"
Just then the sound of Hyesun swallowing filled the elevator. She clapped her fingertips over her mouth and stole a look at me, but the flustered little gesture only made me laugh.
"You were so composed back in the auditorium."
"......I-I didn't know it would be today......"
"Shall we do it another time, then?"
"......No. I know it isn't easy for either of us to line up time like this."
"Then I'll take that as a yes."
"......Thank you for putting it that way......"
Hyesun was heating up as well. She swallowed again and fussed with her handbag. I wanted to take that hand, but I was a little conscious of Han Gyeo-wool standing behind us, so I asked instead.
"I keep seeing this shy side of you in front of Gyeo-wool."
Hyesun didn't seem to care in the least, and Gyeo-wool answered as if it were nothing.
"Please consider me not here."
"Gyeo-wool is fine. She's my daughter too."
"......What?"
"Ah, you didn't know. Hyunji didn't tell you?"
"No. Then why the surname......"
"I wanted to remember my mother. Of course, my mother now is the Chairwoman."
So Han Gyeo-wool was adopted as well. I already knew well enough not to approach the family affairs of this world with ordinary common sense. I nodded and watched the elevator numbers, and in the silver doors I caught Hyesun's reflection—her lips parting, the words refusing to come.
"Are you scared? We really can do it next time."
"N-no! It isn't that......"
"If there's something you want to say, please say it freely."
"......Then may I ask you for one thing......?"
I looked at her. Expectation mingled in the eyes she lifted to mine, and that cute face made me reach out and stroke her cheek.
"Ah......"
"Of course. From here on, you're the lead."
"......Mm...... Th-then......"
"I'll make the arrangements."
"Please......"
Clear enough that even Gyeo-wool knew it—Hyesun's fantasy must have been specific. What was it? I was curious. Not curious enough, of course, to be fool enough to ask right here and spoil it.
"I'm looking forward to it."
"......I'm worried you'll hate it......"
"Shall we talk in the car?"
"Mm......"
And a short while later, I learned that what Lee Hyesun was imagining was nothing like what I had expected.