SMW 68

To anyone listening, it was a voice filled with emotion upon finding a long-lost blood relative, but upon hearing it, Choi Seol’s expression grew even colder.

“I don’t know why you’re so angry, but it’s only natural that I repay the favor.”

“I don’t need it. I can do it myself.”

“You?”

This time, a clear sneer was audible. For a moment, the man’s voice dropped to an unnaturally low pitch.

“Seol-ah, what on earth do you think you can do? You’re the kind of fellow who shrinks away, unable to even keep a proper promise.”

“What nonsense is this?”

“Mr. Han Yeo-reum, you said you were high school classmates with our Seol?”

The man looked at me again. His behavior was so unpredictable that I no longer had the energy to play along. However, as if my reaction didn’t matter, the man continued.

“To be precise, you were in the same class only for the first year, and since Seol went to study abroad right before the second year started, this must be a reunion after a very long time. Even so, since you looked after my family based on a mere one-year connection, I must naturally compensate you.”

“What are you doing right now?”

“Please, do not decline. This includes hush money as well.”

Only then did I realize what the man meant by a ‘business partner.’

“Han Yeo-reum.”

Suddenly, my arm was yanked hard. Before I knew it, Choi Seol [stolen content]had stepped up onto [visit our site]the stolen contentwooden veranda and was pulling me toward the room.

“Stay inside. I’ll explain later.”

“Hey, wait a second…!”

I was about to be shoved recklessly into the room when—

“I told my uncle that you were on vacation. In fact, your people had already arranged it that way. Of course, that alone wasn’t enough to fool my uncle, so I handled things appropriately myself.”

Choi Seol flinched, stopped his movement, and looked back.

“Surely you didn’t shrink away from your promise to me; regardless, I’ve cleaned up the mess out of the affection I’ve shown you so far… but as time dragged on, I grew angry. I wondered what on earth you were crazy about, so I searched with a wide range of possibilities, and just the other day, I caught something interesting.”

The man stood up and stared intently at us—or more accurately, at me—twisting his lips as if amused.

“‘I came to find something I missed,’ huh. It’s romantic, but you should have known the timing. [visit our site]You of all people should know that [Read on Read BL Novels]there [unauthorized copy]is nothing to gain from making me angry.”

It happened in an instant. Without a moment to stop him, Choi Seol grabbed the man by the collar and slammed him against the veranda pillar. There was a loud thud, but the man didn’t even blink. If anything, it was Choi Seol whose face was distorted.

“So, are you bragging about digging up dirt on a complete stranger?”

“Strange. You surely wouldn’t be unaware that one must prepare at least this much to be manipulated according to my will.”

“Cut the bullshit. Who the hell is going to follow your—”

“It’s true that you lost your memory.”

“…”

The moment Choi Seol hesitated, the man laughed. It was the most chillingly bright smile I had ever seen.

“Well, it is strange for you to do something so cute, something even Luck wouldn’t do. Read on Read BL NovelsIt’s quite refreshing unauthorized copyafter so long. The only other time you showed visit our siteyour emotions like this was back when you still smelled of baby milk.”

Choi Seol’s momentarily faltering momentum turned fierce again. However, even as the man gripped the hand that held his collar, Choi Seol was unable to shake him off or escape. The opponent seemed to quite enjoy it.

“If it’s for something like this, fine, I’ll overlook it once. Memories can simply be recovered.”

Having said that, the man lightly brushed Choi Seol’s hand away and stood straight. After perfectly straightening his clothes, the man passed Choi Seol and approached me.

“Since I’ve seen that my cousin is alive and well, I shall take my leave for today.”

The man finished with a polite greeting until the very end and walked out the main gate alone. After he disappeared, all that remained between us was a long silence.

“Did you meet Mr. Baek Seol-ha?”

At the dark expression of Chief Yoon, who had been waiting outside, Baek Han’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“You would have met him too if you had been standing at the entrance.”

“I greeted him, but he seemed very angry.”

As expected, he seemed to have been quite tormented by that fellow. Baek Han chuckled.

“It is a bit like that. Meeting him after so long, he was acting like a pretty cute little brat.”

“Then, is it true that he really lost his memory?”

“I don’t know about ten years’ worth, but it seems true that he’s forgotten recent events. I mentioned that I’d handled things with the uncle, calling it a vacation.”

Chief Yoon’s eyes widened.

“That… Mr. Baek Seol-ha…”

“He didn’t raise a single objection. [stolen content]He seemed unauthorized copycompletely clueless. About the state his father is in right now.”

“That is…”

“Ah! No. It would be more accurate to say, the state he himself put him in.”

Baek Han curled his lips as if he found it quite amusing.

“Well, for me, there’s nothing to be disappointed about. In fact, I might have been deeply saddened if it weren’t for the memory loss.”

Baek Han had many things he hated. But among them, the thing he hated most of all was breaking a promise made to himself. Of course, as long as it wasn’t intentional, he was a person who could be generous once. As someone who would lead the Yuseon Group, he could afford that level of magnanimity. Unlike some people.

“But doesn’t the fact that he lost his memory mean a variable has appeared in the Vice Chairman’s plan?”

“Why worry so much? It’s simply a matter of recovering the memories.”

Lightly brushing off Chief Yoon’s [visit our site]concerns, Baek Han cast [unauthorized copy]his gaze toward unauthorized copythe firmly closed main gate.

The scenery of the old hanok was not particularly welcome. It was even more so because it reminded him of a certain old man whose hobby was restoring an old noble house and frequently summoning people there to trample them. It was impressive that a little rat had been holed up in such a place for over a month.

The medicine must have been good.

Baek Han thought of the young master who suited this house quite well. He liked how he used his head with a certain level of tact despite his innocent face, and the tea was quite tasty. It was the perfect place to dream a midsummer night’s dream.

“Did they say he lost his memory in a car accident? Then he’ll probably get it back if he goes through it one more time.”

Dreams are simply things to be woken from. It had to be that way.

It was the first time since our first meeting at the hospital that it had been this awkward between us while alone. At that time, Choi Seol was calm, yet unstable. Since we started living together, I hadn’t seen that side of him anymore, but today I felt like I had gone back to that time.

“Before I came…”

Breaking the long silence, Choi Seol spoke.

“Did that man do anything to you?”

To think he’s worried about me first even in this situation—I don’t know if he’s kind or a fool. My already uncomfortable stomach felt even more stifled.

“Nothing like that happened. He was just standing in front of the gate when I was coming down from the mountain. At first, I thought he was a suspicious person, but he handed me a business card and said he was your cousin…”

“And you let him into the house?”

I hesitated for a moment at the sudden sharpness of his voice.

“I’m not blaming you. I just want to know the situation.”

Perhaps thinking I was frightened, Choi Seol’s voice became considerably softer. Thanks to that, I was able to gather my courage.

“I did think about [Read on Read BL Novels]it for a bit, [Read on Read BL Novels]but the situation Read on Read BL Novelswas just… that Vice Chairman person…”

“What situation? Don’t tell me that human threatened you?”

No, I’m telling you, just listen to me until the end. As the atmosphere threatened to turn fierce again, I quickly waved my hands.

“No! Absolutely nothing like that happened outside. It was just, how should I put it… you know. His words were somehow hard to refuse, and he had this aura that made me feel like I absolutely had to nod, and before I knew it, I was opening the gate.”

“So you were basically intimidated.”

“…Yeah.”

I felt utterly pathetic for offering this as an excuse. Since I hadn’t lied, I couldn’t say anything else, and then I heard Choi Seol’s sigh-filled mutter.

“Well, there are very few people in the world who can refuse that human.”

I thought I was really going [stolen content]to get scolded this time, but upon hearing that [visit our site]he understood, I quickly agreed.

“Right? His charisma is seriously no joke. Plus, he’s so polite and well-mannered that I couldn’t find a gap to push him away. And his face is also quite… well, you’re the best in terms of looks, Choi Seol.”

Did I go too far? Choi Seol’s eyes became even more menacing than when he grabbed that man’s collar.

“Han Yeo-reum.”

“Y-yes?”

“You must have liked that human quite a bit?”

“No, it’s not necessarily that.”

“You’re bad at lying.”

“…!”

The guy who had been cautious with me until just now closed the distance with a terrifying momentum. I instinctively tried to step back, but thinking that would make those eyes go even wilder, I endured it and spoke.

“W-what lie did I tell? He’s handsome, but I didn’t say he was ‘quite’ something.”

“Is that so? Then shall I hear exactly what you liked about that human who is handsome but not ‘quite’ something?”

I mean, why on earth do you want to hear that!

To be honest, I wanted to retort that in this situation, I’m the one who should be hearing more, but the words wouldn’t come out. So I just kept stepping backward, and damn it! Why are there so many things in this house—walls, pillars—that get in the way?

The moment I felt a pillar blocking my path behind me, I was destined to face Choi Seol up close. Unfortunately, Choi Seol’s eyes were still out of it.

Oh, whatever. Before Choi Seol could get any closer, I screamed at the top of my lungs.

“Hanwoo! He gave me top-grade Hanwoo!”

“…”

Whether it was effective or not, Choi Seol’s steps came to a dead halt.

“Hanwoo?”

“Yeah. Look over there. The golden wrapping cloths. He said both of those are top-grade Hanwoo sets.”

Choi Seol’s gaze followed where I pointed. After staring at the golden wrapping cloths as if they were his sworn enemies, he suddenly turned toward them. He picked up the cloths as if he were about to throw them into a furnace, and the moment he unwrapped them and the red meat revealed itself from the box, I unconsciously swallowed my saliva. Simultaneously, Choi Seol gave me a look of utter disbelief.

“Don’t tell me you let that human into the house because of this?”

Huh? I feel like a significant misunderstanding has formed.

“No, absolutely not! That is a total misunderstanding. Although the only top-grade Hanwoo I’ve seen [unauthorized copy]in my life has been on department store flyers or display shelves, still, really. I [visit our site]am Read on Read BL Novelsabsolutely not such a materialistic person that I’d be fooled by that and let a stranger into my house.”

Since I let him in before receiving it, it wasn’t a lie. However, despite my desperate defense, Choi Seol didn’t seem to believe me. It was unfair. My chest felt more stifled than when I was rejected by my first love.

“I really didn’t.”

“…Fine, I get it for now. But don’t just let strangers into the house because they give you things like this.”

He doesn’t believe me. Sniff.