Chapter 28
Chapter 28
Did You Kill Her?
“Are you done with your call?”
Choi Yu-jin, who had stepped out of the venue to take a work-related call despite it being a holiday, scowled at her older brother who had followed her.
“Where’s your father-in-law? I was hoping to greet the Chairman since it’s been a while.”
He probably didn’t want to say hello; he just wanted to flatter him into giving him a good position. Besides, Chairman Yu had no reason to be here. Choi Yu-jin scoffed.
“Is that all you have to say after following me all the way out here?”
Choi Yu-jin despised her brother. The fall of the Ajin Daily was caused by Choi Sang-jin’s reckless business expansion. He was unlucky, incompetent, and didn’t know his place.
In the end, it was Choi Yu-jin who, with Juseong’s help, had built the company to its current state. He had ignored her when she was struggling, but as soon as JSENM grew, he started acting as if the Vice Chairman position was rightfully his. It was pathetic.
“He and Father are busy.”
“Really? It seems you two aren’t on the best of terms. You should try being a little more charming with the Chairman.”
She couldn’t understand why their relationship had to be brought up at all. The reason Choi Yu-jin had transformed Ajin into the current JSENM was solely due to her own abilities.
The help she received from Juseong wasn’t won by acting cute for Chairman Yu. It was earned through numerous presentations during her newlywed days.
“Still, you must feel secure with your grown sons. Have things gotten better with your second son? Is Eun-ho not getting married? Should I introduce him to a nice girl from a good family?”
To think he was now trying to gain an advantage by using his nephew... The way he said it, as if he were doing her a favor, made Choi Yu-jin sigh.
“...Actually, I wasn’t planning on coming. I only came because Father begged me to, to help save your face. Without me, you’re nothing, aren’t you?”
At Choi Yu-jin’s unfiltered words, Choi Sang-jin’s face turned red.
“Juseong must be treating you well, for you to be so insolent to your older brother.”
“I suppose so. Thanks to you running the company into the ground, I got to marry into Juseong and even become Vice Chairman, didn’t I?”
Choi Sang-jin clenched his fists. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, then, as if something occurred to him, he smiled slyly.
“What would your friend think, seeing you sitting in her place? You two were such close friends. Lee Hui-seo.”
‘...What?’
Overhearing this, Yu Yeon-seo held his breath. Lee Hui-seo and Choi Yu-jin were friends? This was the first he’d heard of it...
“Come to think of it, the timing was... strange, wasn’t it? It happened right after you ran off, claiming you were going to save the company.”
“...”
“Maybe Lee Hui-seo... maybe it wasn’t a suicide?”
At Choi Sang-jin’s insidious words, which coiled around her like a snake, Choi Yu-jin squeezed her eyes shut. She could almost hear Lee Hui-seo’s voice in her ears.
[Yu-jin.]
“Did you kill her?”
Choi Yu-jin bit her lower lip. Fury rose to the crown of her head, but she knew that if she got swept up in this, she would lose the argument.
“That’s enough of you overstepping your bounds. I might just take back that position you’re barely hanging onto.”
“What? How are you going to take it?”
“Take it? Let’s be clear. You never had anything to begin with.”
He was a blood relative she would have cast aside long ago if not for their parents. Huu, letting out a breath, Choi Yu-jin swept back the hair tickling her face.
Choi Yu-jin looked at her brother, whose expression had hardened with wounded pride, and smiled brightly.
“The engagement ceremony was supposed to be private, yet an article was brazenly published. As if someone had leaked it beforehand... It was you, wasn’t it?”
The reporters snapping pictures near the entrance as if on cue, the security guards only pretending to restrain them. There was no way Choi Sang-jin, the president of a newspaper company in name only, would miss this golden opportunity to associate himself with Juseong. He wanted to use this event to flaunt his connections.
“But what to do about this...”
Choi Yu-jin searched for the news article the reporter had just posted on a portal site and showed it to Choi Sang-jin.
“Even so, the headline is about Ji-hun, as Juseong’s nephew. You see? And JSENM is...”
The title ‘Eldest Son of the Ajin Daily’ is insignificant compared to Juseong. In fact, as soon as photos of the Juseong family were uploaded, all the portal sites were flooded not with the names Choi Ji-hun and Park Se-hwa, but with Yu Eun-ho and Yu Yeon-seo. The Juseong name wasn’t the only reason; the brothers’ surreal good looks also played a part.
“Mine.”
“...How long do you think it’ll be yours?”
After a few seconds of silence, Choi Sang-jin managed to say. Choi Yu-jin laughed out loud.
“Why? Ah, because of Ji-hun? Why would I give my shares to Ji-hun? Brother, I have a son too.”
“Right, your best friend’s son, with whom you share no blood.”
Yu Eun-ho was already set to succeed Yu Geon-min as Juseong’s heir, which only left Yu Yeon-seo. Choi Sang-jin clicked his tongue in disbelief.
“You’re going to hand the company over to that punk?”
“Oh, you think I can’t? Do you really not know why Yeon-seo is an actor, brother? It’s to get him some field experience.”
Yu Yeon-seo hadn’t fully synchronized all his memories yet, but he could easily tell that Choi Yu-jin was bluffing.
But Choi Sang-jin didn’t know that. His eyes widened in disbelief, and his body trembled. If it was passed down to Yu Yeon-seo, then JSENM would...
“Yu Yeon-seo, you think he can run a company properly? No way.”
The way he insisted it was his, when he’d never owned it, was like a kindergartener who didn’t want his toy taken away. You can’t get a company just by throwing a tantrum.
Yu Yeon-seo was getting tired of eavesdropping. There were also the side effects of the auto-action mode, and the manager glancing around over there seemed to be looking for Choi Sang-jin.
“Why not?”
Yu Yeon-seo threw the door open and walked in.
“Yeon-seo.”
“I think I’d do a better job than Choi Ji-hun, who’s busy pestering people to introduce him to actresses at his own engagement ceremony...”
“Looks like our dear nephew hasn’t grown up yet. Did he clean up his mess with all the women he knew before the ceremony?”
Choi Yu-jin didn’t miss this opportunity to mock him. Choi Sang-jin’s face, which seemed like it couldn’t get any redder, flushed all the way to his neck and ears.
“Uncle, you should keep your kid on a tighter leash. He might get his engagement called off.”
“...It’s been a while, yet you have no filter. How about you mind your own business?”
“Nah, it’s fine even if I don’t. How can you compare Juseong and the ‘Ajin Daily’?”
Huh? I thought I turned off auto-action mode a while ago. Why is my mouth running so smoothly today? Maybe I’m starting to enjoy running my mouth like my original self.
“Juseong is pretty great. It lets me be insolent to my own maternal uncle.”
Choi Yu-jin let out a small laugh. She’d been relentlessly attacking her brother without yielding an inch, and now she can’t hold back a laugh? She definitely did it on purpose.
“Oh, are you going to hurt me? I’ll tell Grandpa.”
Choi Sang-jin stepped threateningly in front of Yu Yeon-seo. Undaunted, Yu Yeon-seo continued to provoke him.
“Um... President. The ceremony is about to start...”
Just then, the hotel manager knocked on the open door and called for Choi Sang-jin. Choi Sang-jin glanced back and forth between Choi Yu-jin and Yu Yeon-seo, then clicked his tongue and left.
“Oh my! Yeon-seo, you’re bleeding!”
And Yu Yeon-seo quickly lowered his head. He’d had so many nosebleeds that he was practically an expert at not getting blood on his clothes.
Choi Yu-jin took a handkerchief from her jacket pocket and pressed it to Yu Yeon-seo’s nose. This looks like a really expensive handkerchief.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes. I’m just a little tired...”
It was a relief that it was just a nosebleed. They were common, so there were plenty of excuses.
[Do you really think Mom committed suicide?]
[Did you kill her?]
He felt dizzy and squeezed his eyes shut. The suspicion he’d kept tucked away in a corner of his mind began to creep out. Ah, I really don’t want to think about this.
“I didn’t make things worse by jumping in, did I?”
“No, your timing was perfect. Any longer and I might have thrown a punch.”
That would have been a sight to see, though.
“But how did you find me all the way here? Were you looking for me?”
“My brother looked so pitiful all by himself.”
“He could have just slipped away on his own like you. Why bother? He probably stepped up because it’s been so long since he’s seen you.”
He sacrificed himself to block the attention that would have been focused on his younger brother? I should be nice to him when I go back in.
“He gets that personality from your father. I guess that’s why he’s so popular.”
Yu Yeon-seo shrugged. He was as popular as an idol with the general public; it was probably even more intense among the chaebol families.
Choi Yu-jin reverted to her usual bubbly self and clung to Yu Yeon-seo, a complete turnaround from how she’d been with Choi Sang-jin.
“But what’s this? You’re showing interest in the company... Should I give you some of my shares while we’re at it? Your grandfather would be delighted.”
“What would I do with them now? I was just talking.”
She seemed ready to hand them over immediately if he asked, as if she wouldn’t regret it at all. Yu Yeon-seo shook his head.
If I play this role and that role, maybe one day I could run a company, but still... Could I live every life that exists in the world before I die? Probably not.
“Let me know whenever you need it.”
Choi Yu-jin’s eyebrows drooped in disappointment.
Ah, I can’t stand the curiosity. Yu Yeon-seo decided to ask directly about what he had overheard earlier.
“By the way... I happened to overhear, and that...”
In any case, Choi Yu-jin was his mother now, but he hesitated to bring up the topic of ‘Mom.’
“You were friends, weren’t you?”
He ended up mumbling, but Choi Yu-jin stopped walking. Her eyes were wide with surprise. Why?
“Are you okay now?”
“With what?”
“About Hui-seo. Bringing her up.”
“Uh... Was I not supposed to?”
Not understanding what she meant, Yu Yeon-seo frowned. Choi Yu-jin muttered to herself, “Ah, he said his memory was strange.” She looked somewhat sad.
“You used to scream and have seizures whenever ‘Mom’ was mentioned.”
“I did?”
“Yes. You even fainted once, it was a whole ordeal.”
“Ah...”
So that’s why Yu Eun-ho said it was a relief this morning. Because I remembered Mom but didn’t have a seizure.
“Did it keep happening after that?”
“No, after that one big episode, you suddenly became fine, as if you’d completely forgotten Hui-seo...”
Choi Yu-jin’s voice trembled. It sounded like she was about to cry.
Back then, Choi Yu-jin and Yu Geon-min weren’t married yet, but she was concerned about the children left behind, so she visited them often.
And that was when she witnessed her friend’s son, who looked so much like her, collapse while foaming at the mouth.
“I heard that after that, talking about Hui-seo became forbidden among the family.”
“I see...”
Yu Yeon-seo nodded.
“I never thought you’d be the one to bring it up first.”
“You can find everything online these days.”
“Yes, that’s true.”
Choi Yu-jin started walking again. Yu Yeon-seo matched her pace.
“Then you must have heard everything.”
“Everything? Ah...”
Those words, ‘Did you kill her?’ To be honest, it’s not like I haven’t had my suspicions. But grilling her now won’t get me anywhere, so first I should get closer to Choi Yu-jin... No, why am I even bothering with this?
“Come on, no way. You wouldn’t have done that.”
“Of course not! Why would I do something like that?”
Yu Yeon-seo made a resolution. Let’s not think about it anymore. Maybe I should just take on a new project? Yeah, there’s still plenty of time before I go back to school.
“Still, I can’t help but wonder. Could someone really have killed her?”
“...”
“She was never the type to do something like that...”
This time, it was Yu Yeon-seo who paused.
[Do you really think Mom committed suicide?]
Ah, seriously. I said I wouldn’t think about it.