What Do You Want From Bitna?
After finishing dinner in that warm, lively atmosphere, Kang Bitna changed back into dry clothes and came out again.
She said her goodbyes to Beomjin and Junseok, then headed for the door. Naturally, I stepped outside as well to see her off.
"I should get going. I've imposed on you quite a bit."
She still spoke with a shy smile on her face.
"I'll walk you to the taxi stand."
"Ah, you don't have to…"
She swayed gently from side to side, as if her heart were fluttering.
"Shall we?"
I held out my hand. She looked quietly at my face for a moment, then nodded.
Outside, the ground was still damp from what must have been a brief shower, but the weather was mild enough to walk without an umbrella.
The cold air carried the scent of wet earth and trees, and the road glittered under the streetlights.
The neighborhood itself was quiet—but the moment I started walking beside her, my mind turned into pure chaos.
What am I supposed to say now? I already confessed…
My mouth went bone-dry. It wasn't that I couldn't speak—I simply had no idea how to begin, or what words to choose.
My brain felt like it had short-circuited and powered down completely.
Would "So we're dating now, right?" sound too formulaic? Or something lighter, like "Does that mean today is day one?" But that might come off as too flippant.
My eyes stayed fixed ahead, but my consciousness was somewhere else entirely.
She walked slowly without saying much, a soft smile lingering on her profile.
She looked far more at ease than I did. Or maybe she was simply waiting to hear what I would say next.
The thought sent a cold sweat down my back—even in the dead of winter.
The main road was drawing closer.
Time was running out.
Then—
"Hoojin."
"Y-yes?"
She stopped beneath a streetlight and called my name. I answered half in a daze and turned to face her.
Her expression had grown quite serious.
"There's something I've been hiding from you."
"Something you've been hiding?"
"Yes. And I don't think I can keep hiding it anymore."
She looked at me with a resolute voice and an equally resolute face.
Of course, I already had a fairly good idea of what she was about to say.
But I deliberately didn't bring it up first. It seemed better for both of us if she chose to be honest on her own.
"Even after I tell you this… I hope your feelings for me won't change."
"Don't worry. Even if you told me you were an alien, that wouldn't change a thing."
"Heh."
She gave a small laugh.
My words seemed to steady her; the anxious edge in her expression softened a little.
After hesitating for a long while, she finally began to speak, slowly.
"The truth is…"
She met my eyes directly as she continued.
"Kang Beomtae, the chairman of LK Group, is my grandfather. And Kang Taeju, the vice chairman, is my father."
As expected.
Once the words were out, she squeezed her eyes shut.
But when I gave no reaction at all, she slowly cracked them open again and looked at me.
Puzzled by my completely unfazed expression, she tilted her head and asked,
"Why aren't you surprised? Isn't this the kind of thing you're supposed to be shocked by?"
Then her eyes suddenly widened.
"Wait—did you already know?"
"I wasn't completely certain, but I had my suspicions."
When I answered so calmly, she looked genuinely stunned.
"Huh? Really? How?"
"A few days ago, I saw you get into Kang Hanna's car. So I figured you might be family."
Her brow furrowed at once.
"You saw that?"
"Yes. By chance."
"It was only for a second."
"Yes. Lucky timing."
She still eyed me with lingering suspicion. Fair enough—recognizing Kang Hanna in that fleeting moment was hard to believe. But there was no need to explain further.
I wouldn't have the time soon enough anyway.
I watched a black SUV cut sharply into the alley toward us.
Then I gently guided Kang Bitna behind me, almost as if shielding her, and murmured,
"Stay behind me for a moment."
From the engine note and the way it moved, I already knew this was no ordinary passenger car.
The quiet exhaust, the sound of the tires on a hard stop, the trained precision of the driver—
A clear scenario formed in my head at once.
Screech—
Having spotted us, the vehicle stopped, and four burly men in black suits piled out in a rush.
"Miss Bitna!"
"Are you all right?"
"Subdue him."
The short command from one of the bodyguards had barely left his mouth before the men in black suits charged me without hesitation.
"Wait! This is a misunderstanding—stand down!"
Kang Bitna cried out urgently, but her words did nothing to stop them.
If anything, the way I moved to protect her only made me look more threatening in their eyes.
The first bodyguard reached out and seized my shoulder.
The instant he realized my body wouldn't budge an inch, his face twisted.
Crunch—
"Ghk!"
I twisted his wrist and shoved his shoulder at an angle.
The off-balance bodyguard went sprawling ungracefully onto the ground.
I hadn't used excessive force on purpose.
The remaining three bodyguards looked back and forth between their fallen colleague and me.
Kang Bitna, too, stared at me in shock, unable to form words.
"What the hell is this guy…!"
The second and third rushed me at the same time. One of them drove in from the side, wrapping his arms around my waist to lift me.
But I held my center, twisted my hips with force, and hoisted his arm up.
Then I shoved him straight into the bodyguard coming from the other side.
Thud!
"Urgh!"
"Gah!"
Both of them lost their footing and staggered backward.
Sensing that I was stronger than expected, the last man lowered his stance without dropping his guard.
He was the one who had given the order to subdue me—and his presence was entirely different from the other three.
A low, solid center of gravity. Rapid visual scanning. Controlled breathing and a sharp gaze.
Not an easy opponent.
That was when Kang Bitna couldn't take it anymore. She stepped forward and shouted,
"Stop it! If you keep this up, I'm really going to get angry! He is not that kind of person!"
"Miss…"
Only when she planted herself in front of me with her eyes blazing did the bodyguard finally ease his stance and wave the others back.
"In that case…"
He was about to say something more when—
Vrooom!
Another car roared in from the opposite alley at high speed.
Its headlights blazed as a luxury foreign sedan screeched to a halt right in front of us.
The driver's door opened, and the sharp click of high heels rang out beyond the car door.
The woman who stepped out approached with overwhelming presence.
A black long coat. A sleek ponytail. Eyes that radiated cold, steely charisma.
Kang Hanna.
It was her.
"What on earth is this mess?"
At her single, firm line, the bodyguards froze mid-motion.
Without taking her eyes off the situation, she issued orders to the men who had confronted me.
"All of you, stand down and return. I told you to find Bitna. Who told you to start a fight?"
"But…"
"Did you not hear me?"
"Our apologies."
Under her unyielding tone, the four bodyguards bowed crisply, climbed back into their vehicle in perfect order, and pulled out of the alley.
Only then did Hanna walk slowly toward us. She scanned my face as if appraising me, then gave a slight nod.
"It was a misunderstanding. I'm sorry for startling you."
She spoke with an apologetic look.
But her expression didn't feel genuinely sorry.
How to put it? It felt more like she was testing me.
For all I knew, she might have ordered the bodyguards to jump me herself.
She would have needed to find out what kind of man I was.
If I had run in that situation, she would have opposed anything between me and Kang Bitna without a second thought.
Interesting.
"I was startled, but as long as Bitna is all right, that's enough for me."
I answered evenly, without showing anything on my face.
"Bitna."
Kang Hanna turned her gaze to her younger sister.
"Why weren't you answering your phone? I heard what happened at the company. Are you really okay?"
"Ah—you called? I didn't know. Haha…"
Bitna answered with an awkward laugh.
Apparently she had ignored every call while she was at my place.
She hadn't wanted anything to interrupt the time she was spending with us. The thought that she truly liked me settled warmly in my chest.
"But how did you even know to come here?"
Bitna asked as if the question had just occurred to her. Kang Hanna frowned.
"How else? I heard Noh Hoojin took you out of the set, so I got his home address from the company and came looking. Do you have any idea how worried I was? Though it turns out I didn't need to worry after all."
She glanced at me as she continued.
"You work out, I take it? Our bodyguards aren't ordinary people."
Curiosity was written all over Kang Hanna's face. Seeing how proactive she was, the sisters clearly shared a close bond.
In that case…
I needed to make a good impression.
"I'm capable enough to protect Bitna."
"Ha. What is this? Are you two already…? Have you gotten to that kind of relationship?"
"Unnie!! It's not like that!"
Kang Hanna pointed back and forth between the two of us, and Bitna's face flushed bright red as she shouted.
That kind of relationship, huh. What an entertaining older sister.
"By the way… do you know who I am?"
Kang Hanna fixed me with a steady stare.
"I do. You're Kang Hanna, CEO of LK Entertainment."
"Ah! Bitna must have told you."
"No. I already knew before that."
A spark of interest lit in Kang Hanna's eyes.
"Is that so?"
She crossed her arms, studying me as if lost in thought for a moment, then spoke again.
"You have time for a cup of coffee, I assume?"
"Of course. There's a café nearby…"
"Just get in my car. Bitna needs to avoid being seen out with me. We'll go somewhere quiet."
"Very well."
I nodded and agreed readily.
"Unnie, what are you planning…"
"You stay out of this."
Bitna looked back and forth between us, clearly restless and uneasy.
Thirty minutes later.
A private room in a high-end restaurant in downtown Seoul.
Under warm lighting, a marble table and luxurious leather sofas filled the spacious room. Beyond the large glass windows, the nightscape of the city blurred softly.
We sat with cups of richly aromatic coffee in front of us.
Kang Bitna kept glancing around and said nothing, only sipping her coffee. I sat comfortably across the table from Kang Hanna.
She still had her arms crossed, looking me over as if evaluating me.
"Noh Hoojin."
"Yes. Go ahead."
"You know what LK Group is, I assume?"
"Yes. One of the top three chaebol conglomerates in the Korean economy. With considerable political influence as well."
My answer was plain, but precise.
Kang Hanna nodded briefly, then asked again.
"Then you have some idea of what happens when someone gets close to a member of our family, don't you?"
"Yes. I don't expect a warm welcome."
She raised an eyebrow slightly.
An expression of genuine interest.
"You're calmer, more confident, and sharper than I expected."
"It seems you barely had any expectations of me at all."
At my provocative reply, Kang Hanna couldn't hold back a small snicker.
Bitna shot her sister a sidelong glare, and Hanna quickly composed her face again before continuing.
"I have only one question for you. What is it that you want from our Bitna?"
"Unnie. Stop joking around."
"I'm not joking. I'm serious."
Her gaze turned sharp. She hadn't even touched her coffee cup, and her voice carried a tightly restrained wariness.
She was asking in earnest.
She was dressing it up, but the real question was this: What intention did you have when you approached our family?
I knew I couldn't simply answer with love.
Love changes, and impure motives leave an ugly mark in the other person's memory.
How should I answer?
I didn't need to think for long.
Do it the way I always do. The usual way.