Chapter 169 – GOY 169

#169

“It ​was ​a ​short ​time, ​but ​I enjoyed it. ​Thank ​you.”

“…….”

Lee ​Yeon-soo ​bowed ​politely and then turned ​around.

‘Don’t ​go…. Please don’t ​go.’

Joo Seung-hyuk thought ​as ​he ​watched ​his ​retreating ​back. But he ​couldn’t ​bring ​himself to open ​his mouth. No, he ​couldn’t say ​a word.

It ​was for ​the best. ​Lee ​Yeon-soo ​had to leave. ​He shouldn’t ​be the Guide of ​a fake like me. ​I mustn’t hold him ​back.

Joo Seung-hyuk ​persuaded ​himself. He turned back, intending to ​return to the annex. ​But ​his ​legs ​wouldn’t ​move.

He hated this.

He ​wanted to ​be ​with Lee Yeon-soo. ​He ​hated the thought of not ​seeing him. ​He ​wanted to be ​Lee ​Yeon-soo’s ​Esper. ​He ​hated the ​idea ​of Lee ​Yeon-soo becoming someone else’s Guide.

Joo Seung-hyuk turned ​around again.

He had ​to catch Lee ​Yeon-soo. He couldn’t let ​him go ​like this.

The moment ​Joo ​Seung-hyuk tried to ​take a step, ​someone grabbed ​his ​arm.

“Seung-hyuk-ah!”

Chairman Joo ​pulled ​Joo Seung-hyuk ​into ​a sudden, ​tight ​embrace.

Startled, ​Joo Seung-hyuk tried ​to ​push him ​away. ​But ​Chairman ​Joo would not let go.

He held Joo Seung-hyuk by the shoulders and stared intently at his face. Chairman Joo often observed his face, searching for traces of his wife.

But today was different.

He wasn’t observing him [Read on Read BL Novels]as if Read on Read BL Novelslooking at a replica of his wife; there was something poignant in his gaze.

It was the kind of affectionate look he had dreamed of every day when he was a child, before being banished to the island.

But now, it wasn’t welcome at all. In fact, it felt far more disgusting than when he was merely being observed.

Joo Seung-hyuk forcibly shook off Chairman Joo’s hand. Goosebumps broke out across his entire body. However, now was not the time to worry about that man.

He ran in the direction Lee Yeon-soo had gone. His heart pounded and raced as if it might burst.

But it was too late. Lee Yeon-soo had already left.

Joo Seung-hyuk stared at the large main gate with vacant eyes.

“Seung-hyuk-ah!”

But Chairman Joo had chased after him again.

He had used mana on Ju Tae-han and shaken off Chairman Joo’s hand. Was he planning to punish him?

Contrary to Joo Seung-hyuk’s expectations, Chairman unauthorized copyJoo was unauthorized copynot angry. Nor did he [unauthorized copy]order a secretary or employee to punish him.

“You need to wash up.”

Joo Seung-hyuk’s hands were sticky with dried orange juice, and his face and hair were a complete mess. The expensive clothes Chairman Joo had personally purchased were also soaked through with juice.

He must be intending to scold him for being dirty. Instead of explaining the circumstances, Joo Seung-hyuk remained silent.

After having Joo Seung-hyuk washed, Chairman Joo immediately put him in a car and took him to the hospital.

Why the sudden trip to the hospital? He was curious about the reason, but no one would tell him.

A nurse took samples of his hair and blood, and Chairman Joo disappeared somewhere after saying, “I will verify this personally.”

Then, a hospital employee guided Joo Seung-hyuk to a VIP room. It was a place similar to where he had met Lee Yeon-soo yesterday.

He thought they would be together today as well…. He had wanted to eat delicious food with Lee Yeon-soo, talk with him, and show him around the house.

But he had left, and Joo Seung-hyuk was alone once again.

‘It’s for the best for Lee Yeon-soo too. No, I hate it.’

Two conflicting thoughts emerged simultaneously, continuing to torment Joo Seung-hyuk.

Around the time the sun set and darkness descended outside the window, Chairman Joo entered the room.

“Seung-hyuk-ah, let’s go.”

There was a dampness in his voice. It was a side of him he had never seen before, but Joo Seung-hyuk didn’t care.

“Are you sending me to the island?”

He asked in a dry voice.

“Seung-hyuk-ah….”

“I hate it. I’m not going there.”

If he were sent abroad, he wouldn’t be able to meet Lee Yeon-soo. Therefore, he had to stay in Korea.

“…Where would I send you?”

“Just throw me away.”

According to Do Hyuk-jin, S-Class Espers were few in number and could earn a lot of money. So, even if he lived alone, there would be no problem. Moreover, he had heard that orphanages take in children without parents, so he could stay there.

“Who on earth would throw you away!”

Chairman Joo shouted in anger. It seemed he had no intention of letting Joo Seung-hyuk go easily.

Was it because of the face that resembled that woman? Or did he want to torment a fake like him? Did he hate the idea of an S-Class Esper going elsewhere? Was he worried that the fact that he was a fake would be revealed to the outside world? Or, since he was a child registered on the family tree, did he simply hate the sound of having abandoned a child?

He tried to deduce the reason based on Chairman Joo’s past behavior and the things other people had said, but he couldn’t find the exact cause.

Whatever the reason, if Chairman Joo had no intention of letting him go, he could just run away. He had absolutely no intention of being dragged back to some remote island he didn’t even know the location of, like before. Furthermore, if he were dragged away now, he didn’t know when he would ever return. He hated the thought of not being able to meet Lee Yeon-soo until then.

Joo Seung-hyuk checked the mana flowing through his body. Chairman Joo’s subordinates might try to stop him, but he was confident he could defeat them all. He just had to do what he did on the island.

But when should he run? Since this was the top floor of the hospital, it wasn’t an ideal place to escape.

Should he run the moment he left the hospital? Or when he got into the car?

After contemplating, Joo Seung-hyuk spoke.

“Then are you going to lock me up here?”

If they intended to send him somewhere else, he only had to escape before getting into the car. It would be the same even if they locked him in a warehouse.

But if they had brought him here with the intention of locking him in the hospital, he had to escape immediately.

Ju Tae-han used to visit Joo Seung-hyuk often just to yell at him.

‘How can someone like you be an S-Class? Does it make sense for an S-Class Esper to be this small? You’re just a mutant monster! You’re trash that’s only fit for experiments, what S-Class? I’ll send you to a hospital one day! Or to our lab!’

And just as Ju Tae-han had said, he might be trying to send him to the hospital today.

After all, Chairman Joo listened to everything Ju Tae-han said. The hair and blood samples might have been for that reason.

Joo Seung-hyuk watched Chairman Joo’s face, gathering mana at his fingertips.

If he were truly going to be locked in visit our sitethe hospital, he would [unauthorized copy]have to use his mana to escape immediately.

Chairman Joo gazed at Joo Seung-hyuk in silence. The longer he stalled, the more Joo Seung-hyuk’s tension rose.

Then, Chairman Joo suddenly hugged Joo Seung-hyuk.

“Seung-hyuk-ah, don’t worry. We are going to our home. I won’t send you anywhere. You are my son. You are the child of I, Joo Won-chan!”

“…….”

“My son. My son.”

Chairman Joo burst into overwhelming tears. His tears fell onto Joo Seung-hyuk’s face.

Joo Seung-hyuk frowned. It felt far more disgusting than when he had been drenched in orange juice.

Everything changed after that day.

Joo Seung-hyuk was revealed to be Chairman Joo’s biological child. Chairman Joo interrogated Secretary Ahn, who had previously conducted the genetic tests, and she confessed to manipulating the results because she coveted the position of the mistress of the Seong Han Group.

Once the truth was revealed, people’s attitudes did a complete 180-degree turn.

Relatives and Chairman Joo’s aides showered Joo Seung-hyuk with praise every time they saw him.

“I knew it from the moment he Awakened as an S-Class Esper. It’s all because he takes after the Chairman, isn’t it?”

“No matter how great Park Geon-woo is, he wouldn’t even reach the toes of our young Seung-hyuk, would he?”

“Of course. He is the youngest S-Class Esper, after all.”

“Now that we have Seung-hyuk, there’s nothing to worry about for Seong Han.”

“How can he be so handsome? His eyes, in particular, look exactly like the Chairman’s.”

The mansion’s employees and other staff were also desperate to get on Joo Seung-hyuk’s good side.

“Young Master, is there anything you’d like to eat? I wanted to make something you like, but Secretary Ahn kept interfering…. From now on, I’ll make it for you every day, so just let me know whenever you want.”

“Young Master, I apologize for my rudeness in the past. It was all because of that bitch Secretary Ahn.”

“I’m sorry. If I’ve done anything wrong, please understand generously.”

“You know how much I cherished you, right? I was so furious every time Secretary Ahn treated you rudely.”

For the first time in his life, Joo Seung-hyuk received apologies from numerous people.

There was no way the apologies uttered the moment he was revealed as the biological son of a chaebol family were sincere. But those who apologized were the better ones.

The majority of them were people who had despised and insulted Joo Seung-hyuk until now, yet acted as if nothing had happened, pretending to be close or blaming others.

Secretary Ahn was fired, and Chairman Joo took direct control over everything regarding Joo Seung-hyuk.

He began investigating how Joo Seung-hyuk had been living, and the employees competed to report the atrocities committed by others in order to save their own skins.

As a result, everyone who had looked down on Joo Seung-hyuk, including drivers and maids, was fired.

It was also decided that Ju Tae-han would leave to study in the United States. He was being kicked out after the fact that he had bullied Joo Seung-hyuk was discovered.

Chairman Joo had Joo Seung-hyuk live in the main house. Moreover, it was in the room right next to Chairman Joo’s.

Even when he was in the annex, stolen contenthe thought he was materially wealthy, but life in unauthorized copythe main house unauthorized copywas on a different level.

He was no longer a vulgar fake, but Chairman Joo’s real son and the legitimate heir to the Seong Han Group.

Everything surrounding him—food, clothes, furniture—was replaced with the highest quality, and his tutors were all replaced with people of high academic standing and outstanding careers.

The new employees were kind to Joo Seung-hyuk and perfectly polite. They never made even a slight slip of the tongue.

Everything had changed, but Joo Seung-hyuk wasn’t happy at all.

What he wanted wasn’t the glamorous life enjoyed as the heir to a chaebol family.

Joo Seung-hyuk simply missed Lee Yeon-soo. He wanted to meet his Guide again.