By Zephyria 
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen a scene like this!”
“This is what the main office is all about. Finally, the complete form!”
The children smiled broadly. It was just eating a meal together, but they were so happy, laughter never ceased. Okay, okay- sit down! Jae-eon hyung, this way! He sat down in his seat, following the fussing guidance. But the cushion was thicker than usual. He glanced down and saw that another cushion had been added. Huh? Whose is it? It was just when Ki Jae-eon was about to lift his butt again.
“Just use it.”
Ahn Seo-myeong, who was sitting next to him, slightly raised the corner of his lips and whispered softly.
“Seniority preferential treatment.”
It somehow felt like he was teasing him, but was it his imagination? Ki Jae-eon confirmed that Ahn Seo-myeong was sitting on the bare floor and made an ambiguous expression.
‘…Seniority preferential treatment, huh.’
He was just thinking blankly when the children started chattering to him.
“Ah, if I knew oppa was coming, I would have asked you to make rolled omelet!”
“Should I go make it now? Can I borrow the kitchen?”
“Oh, good! Hyung, this guy’s cooking is amazing.”
The children fidgeted with regret. They looked like grandmothers who were flustered because they didn’t have any food to give to their grandson who had made a surprise visit. Even in that situation where the guest and host were reversed, Ki Jae-eon didn’t mind. Rather, he was busy waving his hand, telling them not to worry.
“I-it’s okay. It’s, it’s enough…”
He decided that he had to tell them someday that he didn’t particularly like rolled omelet, and slowly scanned the food that was being placed on the table. The side dishes were the same as usual, but they looked especially delicious. A hunger he hadn’t felt in a while. Ki Jae-eon couldn’t resist and picked up his chopsticks. Gurgle-. His empty stomach rumbled loudly. His body was reacting first to the comfortable atmosphere. Ki Jae-eon picked up a moderate amount of seasoned bean sprouts with a straight posture and put it in his mouth. It was crunchy and refreshing, stimulating his appetite.
‘It’s…delicious.’
When he came to his senses, he was gobbling down his rice. He looked like someone who hadn’t eaten in ten days.
It was when Ki Jae-eon had emptied half a bowl that he realized he was eating too sloppily. Ah, was I being frivolous? It was at that moment when belated embarrassment washed over him. He suddenly realized that he was the center of attention.
‘…Why aren’t they eating.’
Ki Jae-eon rolled his eyes and looked at the children sitting in front of him. They were staring at him with their chopsticks in their hands. Their expressions were all different. Some children were blankly staring with their mouths open, while others were frowning as if they were holding something back. The only thing they had in common was that their rice was piled up as full as it was when they first received it.
“……?”
“!!”
What was even stranger was their reaction.
If they happened to make eye contact, they would quickly turn their heads and shove side dishes into their mouths. Gobble, gobble! It was almost like they were sweeping it in.
‘They’re going to get indigestion eating so quickly.’
Ki Jae-eon was worried, but on the other hand, he thought, ‘They must have been very hungry,’ and pushed the meat dishes towards them.
But in reality, the children’s situation was different.
They weren’t just shoving food into their mouths because they were hungry. They were just desperately trying to hold back their tears.
‘Sob, sob! I can’t eat!’
‘If I cry here, it’ll only make Jae-eon hyung uncomfortable!’
‘Hold it in, Jo Eun-ha! A woman doesn’t cry easily.’
‘Oppa must have had a hard time… But I can’t feel sorry for him.’
‘Jae-eon hyung, I, Lee Gyeong-hak, the only son of the Lee Family for three generations! I’ll grit my teeth and hold it in with all my might!’
The children overcame the rising sadness in their own ways. Of course, Kim Ju-won’s efforts, who was sitting far away with his eyes wide open and warning, ‘Don’t make uselessly sad faces,’ accounted for more than 90% of their endurance, but anyway, the effect was tremendous.
“The food tastes so good today… Sob!”
“Yeah!”
“Hiss, ha! The white kimchi is spicy, so spicy. Sniff!”
“Stop with the bullshit. Aish-.”
When Kim Ju-won’s annoyance finally exploded, the children made tearful faces with their cheeks full. Their faces were so moist that they were about to burst into tears right away.
“Don’t scold us, Kim Ju-won…”
“Talk after you finish eating!”
That’s how the breakfast ended amidst a desperate struggle that only Ki Jae-eon didn’t know about.
*
‘I overate.’
Ki Jae-eon stroked his full stomach and walked to his room. Ugh- Hic! He kept hiccuping because of the bloating. It was because his empty stomach was surprised by the sudden overeating. But he couldn’t help it. How could he refuse when the children, with their teary eyes, told him to try this and try that!
‘They were happy that I ate well.’
Ki Jae-eon smiled, thinking of the children who were like chicks.
If he could see the children’s sunshine-like smiles, he would have to force himself to eat two or three bowls of rice.
‘Still, should I take some digestive medicine?’
He might have to take the car in the afternoon.
‘There must be a lot of work piled up.’
Just as he was finishing his thoughts, a familiar face of a servant was standing in front of the door to his room.
“Young Master.”
The elderly woman gave a benevolent smile and bowed politely. Ki Jae-eon also stopped in his place and bowed in the same way. But his mind was racing. Sending someone meant that there was something to convey. And the owner of the message was most likely his father.
In an instant, he thought that what was coming had come.
‘Father must have seen the [Memory] too.’
Surprisingly, he wasn’t nervous.
Whether it was because he had already found peace of mind, or because he had vaguely guessed that he would be summoned at some point, he was just calm.
‘What will he say? If it’s Father-.’
He was quietly guessing when the servant opened her mouth, saying, “The Master has a message for you.”
As expected, his prediction was correct.
‘…Am I going to get scolded?’
He was thinking of the most likely situation when the words that came out of her mouth contained completely different content from what Ki Jae-eon had calculated.
“Then, I’ll be on my way.”
Until the moment the servant gave another polite greeting and stepped back, Ki Jae-eon stood there blankly. Judging by his wide eyes, he seemed quite flustered. Well, it was understandable. Ki Tae-ho of all people, his father… had ordered Ki Jae-eon to stay confined.
No, to be exact.
‘From now on, you may spend all your time as you wish, including dinner. He also added that you are to take care of the eldest young master until further notice. But don’t worry. There won’t be anything particularly difficult. We will disinfect the eldest young master’s wounds and wash his body. All you have to do is check on him every two hours, at two, four, and six o’clock.’
That’s what she said.
‘That means…’
Freedom?
Ki Jae-eon swallowed a gasp, understanding the meaning. It was because he didn’t understand.
‘Suddenly, why.’
He blinked in a daze. He was confused by his father’s uncharacteristic choice. He naturally thought he would be summoned to the study and report on the [Memory] in detail…
Beep, beep-.
Just as he was spacing out, the cell phone in his pocket rang.
[Jae-eon, I don’t know if you’ve heard-]
The sender was his secretary.
He informed him that his tightly packed schedule had been completely canceled with a single message.
Are they really telling me to rest like this?
‘There must be a lot of work piled up…’
Ki Jae-eon hesitated for a long time in his place before entering the room. He was still full of questions, but he didn’t feel the need to argue. He thought he would be summoned again soon.
However.
A day, two days, three days… More than half a month passed.
Ki Tae-ho never called Ki Jae-eon.
Even though he ate dinner with the people from the main office every day, even though he didn’t handle the piled-up requests. That silence only made Ki Jae-eon feel awkward.
Not only that, but many herbal medicines were delivered under his father’s name from time to time.
‘This is eel juice. The Master personally selected the eels. You can take it after your meal. Ah! Don’t force yourself, just when you want to drink it.’
‘These are pills made from Hwahyup grass. They are said to be good for removing coldness and boosting immunity. The Master made them. Ah, I mean, it’s not mandatory. The Master said you can take them when you want to.’
Moreover, the bizarre behavior didn’t stop there.
The fact that his father, who valued ‘Family honor’ more than anyone else, coldly drove away the guests who had rushed in after the sudden cancellation of requests was the most shocking. He couldn’t believe that he had done such rude things that would harm the Family without a second thought.
That’s the case today too.
“Do you know who I am? Hey!”
The man who had been banging on the gate for hours was said to be a longtime regular customer of his mother’s and — a member of the — party’s National Assembly. That meant that he was not someone to be turned away like that. Regardless of his character, the power he held was one of the pillars that supported the Gi Clan.
But his father and mother’s attitude was quite surprising.
“The Master told us not to open it.”
“The Mistress also agrees.”
“Everyone! Let’s do what we have to do~.”
“Ugh- it’s exhausting. People come to visit every day, geez…”
“Ugh, I should sprinkle some salt later.”
Their reaction was extremely cold.
The Gi Clan firmly locked the gate and did not allow anyone to enter. They continued to treat everyone equally poorly, whether they were big shots or not.
As if they didn’t care about the house or anything else.