Chapter 34
Chapter 34
Even amidst the chaotic barking of the dogs, those words pierced through her ears with startling clarity. Bom jumped in surprise.
“What? Something between us? That’s... that’s ridiculous...”
“Was I the only one who thought so? It’s not like you hate me, Bom.”
Well, it wasn’t that she hated him, but...
‘Something between us? I should take this chance to draw a line.’
A sense of crisis washed over her.
She had been aware of the affection Jae-gyu had been showing her. However, she hadn’t been certain. He was always so playful, and he was naturally a kind person to begin with.
She had truly thought the kiss was a mistake, but his words proved otherwise. The realization flashed through her mind that another precarious situation could happen at any moment.
“I... hate it.”
She could clearly see Jae-gyu’s dark pupils trembling from the close distance. Strangely, her chest tightened with a sharp pang.
“Do you really hate me? Are you being sincere?”
“Yes.”
“Do you happen to have a boyfriend in Seoul?”
“No, I don’t...”
Jae-gyu nodded as if he had expected that answer.
“Hmm, then what’s the problem? Why do you hate me?”
She was feeling flustered, and the barking dogs were making it hard to think straight. Bom just threw out the first thing that came to mind.
“I hate that weird way you talk—it’s not quite a dialect, but it’s not Seoul speech either.”
Startled for a moment, Jae-gyu replied seriously that he could choose to speak in one or the other, or even mix them.
“If that’s the problem, don’t you worry, Bom.”
A smooth, gentle Seoul accent flowed out of his mouth. This wasn't right... Bom scrambled for another excuse.
“I hate these functional tees, too.”
The way the shirt clung to him with its subtle sheen made her eyes wander toward him constantly. She truly hated that part.
“I’ll wear suits from now on.”
Right, clothes were something he could just change. She dug up another reason.
“Your muscles are too big; it’s overwhelming.”
In truth, that was a lie. A physique that solid and large was rare. She had always found it incredibly sexy. Even when he held her, his body completely enveloped her, giving her a sense of security.
‘That’s exactly why I can’t.’
It was dangerous. She felt like she would keep falling for him.
“The muscles...”
This point seemed difficult for him to concede, as Jae-gyu struggled to find his words.
“I’ll get rid of the muscles. I’ll look up how to trigger muscle loss and follow the routine.”
No, that wasn't it. Now she was just blurting out whatever came to mind.
“I prefer someone with a steady monthly salary over an unstable business.”
“Even the CEO gets an annual salary at our company. The paycheck comes in like clockwork. No problem.”
“...”
She was backed into a corner. Defense was no longer possible. She pushed against Jae-gyu’s chest with a loud thud as he drew closer.
“I hate it! I just hate everything!”
She turned and ran up toward her house without looking back. He called out "Bo-om!" from behind, but she pretended not to hear.
After pressing her fingerprint onto the door lock Jae-gyu had recently installed, Bom caught her breath, only to remember something she had forgotten.
“Ah, the club...!”
This weekend, Greennarae was scheduled for a field trip to Jae-gyu’s workplace.
To think she had forgotten that. Her mind went blank.
After what just happened, how was she supposed to face him again? Bom slumped down in the entryway, covering her burning neck with her hands.
“Ugh, what am I going to do?”
The field trip was a course where she would have no choice but to be stuck with Jae-gyu for at least half a day. She found herself resenting Greennarae.
⋆★⋆
Standing in her spacious living room overlooking the Han River, Jung Nan-hee gulped down the rest of the tea in her tall glass.
“Ugh, this tastes absolutely foul.”
It was onion skin tea she had sourced for weight management. As Nan-hee headed toward the kitchen with a grimace, Yoon Jung-gi raised his voice.
“Can’t you do something about that unrefined way of speaking? I’ve been pointing it out for decades, yet it still slips out!”
Jung-gi was sitting upright on the plush sofa, reading Time magazine. He took off his reading glasses and tossed them irritably onto the coffee table.
“I don’t know how you hold it back in front of your students in the lecture hall.”
“What? Are you serious right now?!”
“Don’t the students call you an old fogey?”
“You’ve lost your mind. You’ve become so arrogant since you started broadcasting again. If you’re going to be like this, just quit!”
“Do you think I’m crazy?”
Nan-hee had certainly changed after returning to broadcasting. She said it felt like she had been trapped in a well for decades and was finally seeing the light of day.
In the past, she would have broken into a cold sweat, not knowing what to do when Jung-gi snapped at her. But not anymore. She looked him straight in the eye and said what was on her mind.
Jung-gi, who had been losing his temper, let out a rough sigh and fell silent.
‘I thought things had quieted down for a while, but here they go again.’
Yoon-cheong, who had been dozing off in a massage chair in the corner with an eye mask on, woke up to the sound of his parents arguing.
However, he didn't bother getting up. There were still about five minutes left in the thirty-minute cycle he had set.
Once it was over, he had to change and head straight to Yeoksam for a meeting. Yoon-cheong had high expectations for today’s meeting.
After failing one large corporation recruitment process after another following graduation, Yoon-cheong was currently preparing to start his own company using investment funds from his father.
It bore the grand title of a "Medical Institution Linkage Platform," but the reality was different.
He was inflated with the idea of creating a virtual currency that could be used for payments instead of cash or cards, pumping up its market price to make a massive profit.
To this end, he had poured a lot of money into CEO Kwak, who operated a coin exchange. The launch was just around the corner. Today, he was scheduled to meet with developers and technicians who handled NFTs alongside virtual currency.
‘I’m glad I chose Computer Science as my major.’
Even if it was at a bottom-tier university. Graduating from a low-ranking CS department on the outskirts was one of Yoon-cheong’s sore spots.
He had prepared hard, even going through a second year of exam prep. However, he couldn't catch up to his peers who had been educated in Korea through elementary, middle, and high school. It was all because of his parents’ nonsensical obsession that "early study abroad in the US is a necessity, not an option."
The humiliations he suffered in America remained a trauma so deep he still felt like he might wet the bed in his sleep. He only felt like he could breathe again after returning to Korea. The only thing that bothered him was his younger sister, Yoon Bom.
Yoon Bom, who grew up receiving plenty of care from their parents in Korea, was quite different from him. She had a bright, untroubled personality and many friends. She maintained excellent grades and, taking after their mother, had striking looks.
‘Fuck, and she even got into Seoseong University on her first try—the school I wanted to go to. Who does she think she’s fooling? Everyone knows she only applied there to get under my skin, even though she was going to enroll in Seohwa Women’s University anyway.’
His blood boiled just thinking about the things Yoon Bom had done. After ruining his leg like this, she had the nerve to receive an award as a top graduate without a shred of guilt. She even passed the teacher certification exam for the Seoul area on her first attempt; her path was perfectly paved.
It was absurd. Now that she wasn't right in front of him, he couldn't be more relieved. His awkward relationship with his parents had also grown somewhat closer.
The massage cycle moved into its final acupressure stage. Nan-hee, who had gone to the kitchen to pour another glass of onion skin tea, sat down next to Jung-gi.
Then, she began a conversation that piqued Yoon-cheong’s interest.
“Honey. You know that prosecutor GW Bank set up with Bom?”
Unlike before, she was speaking with a hint of aegyo. Whenever she wanted something, she used the tone of voice Jung-gi liked, and it usually worked.
Jung-gi put down the newspaper he was reading and turned his head.
“Yeah. Prosecutor Choi Yi-jun. What about him?”
His tone was still stiff, but it had softened considerably. Excited, Nan-hee leaned in closer. She lowered her voice slightly.
“It seems he’s taken a liking to our Bom.”
Yoon-cheong, still pretending to sleep while holding his breath and eavesdropping, ground his teeth. He knew his mother had been matching Yoon Bom with the children of VVIPs through GW Bank.
In the past, this would have made him seethe with rage. It didn't feel good that they were focusing all their energy on marrying off Yoon Bom when the eldest son’s marriage was more urgent.
He knew the reason. They were clinging to her because she had a better chance than him. That made him feel even filthier. Still, he hadn't paid much mind to the GW Bank matter.
He didn't think a VVIP of GW Bank would be in some rural corner of the countryside, and even if they were, he didn't think there would be a professional of marriageable age there.
But the match turned out to be a young prosecutor who was handsome by anyone's standards. He heard the man's father was a local county governor and the family had a high net worth.
‘Yoon Bom, she’s got damn good luck as always.’
And that guy liked her? Was there any man who wouldn't fall for that pretty face?
“Then move forward with it. Why delay?”
Since their father wasn't keen on Bom coming back to Seoul anyway, there was no reason for him to oppose it. Having a prosecutor for a son-in-law would look good to others, too.
“Even if it’s the countryside, he’s still a prosecutor. Shouldn't we provide a proper dowry?”
“The Cheongnyangni Commercial Building.”
Yoon-cheong, who had been listening with a furrowed brow, took off his eye mask and ended the massage chair cycle with one minute remaining at Jung-gi’s words.
“Are you really giving that to Bom?”
“It’s a low-rise building in a dilapidated area, so it might lack prestige, but...”
“No, that’s more than enough.”
What the fuck are they talking about? Yoon-cheong stood up in front of the sofa. He barely managed to relax his stiff expression and forced a smile.
“Are you marrying Bom off soon? But wouldn't it be better for you to keep the Cheongnyangni building, Father?”
Think of how many development booms were left there. Right now, the surroundings were lacking, but once just two of the redevelopment zones were cleared, it would be a gold mine.
And they were giving that to Yoon Bom? He had naturally assumed it would be his.
“That’s the only thing I can hand over right now. You take care of the preparations. Make sure there’s no messy talk afterward.”
Yoon-cheong clenched his fists. Unable to hide his ragged breathing, he hurried into his room.
Even after going to that countryside, she managed to hook a prosecutor and get a prime building gifted to her by their parents?
“Do you know who I became like this because of?”
Yoon-cheong looked down at his right leg, which had a steel pin embedded in it, and slammed his fist onto the desk.
Bang—!
He wouldn't just sit back and watch. Never.