By Zephyria Winston, having received a report from his personal secretary, furrowed his brow deeply. The secretary, immediately recognizing that he was in a very unpleasant mood, could only watch him carefully without saying a word.
“Haaa…”
A sigh that seemed to well up from the depths of his chest escaped his lips. Slowly lifting his eyelids, Winston gazed into the distance and muttered to himself.
“Annoying.”
The secretary became inwardly anxious but silently waited for his employer’s next words. In the silence where even breathing seemed to cease, the secretary could only watch him quietly as he stared at one spot. After an indeterminate amount of time, Winston finally spoke.
“Tell the reporter I’ll give them another scoop. Tell them I’ll give them an exclusive interview.”
“Yes, about…?”
Winston replied to the cautious question.
“Tell them to hear it directly.”
“Understood.”
The secretary left without further delay. Left alone, Winston continued to gaze into the distance, muttering in a low voice.
“It’s all going to end soon anyway, why is Mother in such a hurry?”
* * *
Yu-jin looked down from the window at the headlights of a car crossing the garden. Confirming that it was Winston’s car, he reflexively checked the clock on the wall. It was well past midnight. He hadn’t been coming home this late recently, so he was inwardly worried. He shouldn’t be, he scolded himself, he should ignore it.
He hurriedly closed the book he was reading and turned off the light, then jumped into bed, relying on the moonlight. He tried to fall asleep right away, but the more he tried, the clearer his mind became. Frowning deeply, he pondered, when he suddenly heard footsteps from beyond the door. The steadily approaching sound was definitely Winston’s.
They had been sleeping in separate rooms for days. The reason, of course, was that Winston wasn’t feeling well. He was bracing himself, expecting him to pass his room and go to his own bedroom, but unexpectedly, the footsteps stopped in front of Yu-jin’s door.
Silence fell in an instant. Yu-jin strained his ears at the abrupt stop. But it didn’t continue. The thought of Winston standing on the other side of the thick door made his heart clench with tension.
Knock, knock. At the knock that came after a pause, he almost jumped out of bed. Startled, he widened his eyes and blinked, and a moment later, the door slowly opened. Light entered the dark room. The shadow of the man standing with the light from the hallway behind him stretched long. Yu-jin reflexively closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. But he could feel Winston’s gaze on him. He felt as if his heart was pounding dully against his chest.
Just as he thought he sensed movement, he heard the sound of the door closing. Still waiting with his eyes closed, he heard footsteps continue. Confirming that they were gradually moving away, Yu-jin hurriedly sat up in bed. He didn’t hesitate for long. As if by instinct, he quickly crossed the room and opened the door.
“…Hey.”
Winston, who had already walked quite a distance, paused when he called out into the hallway. The moment he slowly turned around and their eyes met, Yu-jin felt his heart sink.
For a while, they simply stared at each other, their gazes meeting in the air. For some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to speak, and Yu-jin stood there, hesitating. He didn’t know what to say. He needed to say something.
It was Winston who broke the silence first.
“Sorry, did I wake you?”
At the low, calm voice, Yu-jin quickly shook his head.
“No, I was awake.”
As soon as he said it, he realized that he had practically confessed to pretending to be asleep. Yu-jin’s face flushed with embarrassment, but Winston thankfully didn’t point it out.
“That’s a relief. Then… can we talk for a moment?”
Yu-jin, bewildered by the unexpected words, nodded. Winston, confirming his answer, asked again.
“Shall we go to my room? Or yours?”
Yu-jin paused for a moment before answering.
“Your room would be better. Let me shower and change, then we can meet.”
“It’s alright.”
“I’m not comfortable.”
Yu-jin immediately denied Winston’s words. This time, he added without delay.
“I’ll ask the Butler to prepare some tea in the meantime. Will 30 minutes be enough?”
Winston seemed to think for a moment before speaking.
“Fifteen minutes.”
“Alright.”
Just as he readily nodded and was about to go back into his room, Winston called out to him from behind.
“Yu-jin.”
Stopping without thinking and turning around, Yu-jin heard Winston say,
“Thank you.”
“Uh…”
Yu-jin blinked in confusion and simply went back into his room without saying anything. Only after closing the door behind him with a thud did he finally let out a sigh. Hearing Winston apologize and thank him in quick succession made his head spin. For that man to say such things so easily, and to me of all people.
Over something so trivial.
The more he thought about it, the more dumbfounded he became. Could his head be acting up because of the pheromone? Come to think of it, it’s been a while since he had it removed, hasn’t it? He might have had it removed at the party…
Then, ah, a realization dawned on him. Maybe he went to the party today. He must have had the pheromone removed there. Maybe that’s why he’s late…
It was a reasonable deduction, but unlike his convinced mind, his heart was reluctant to accept it. There could be plenty of other reasons. Maybe he had a lot of work at the company today, or maybe he was sick…
It wasn’t outwardly obvious, but he would sometimes seem dazed or drop things. It’s clear that he hasn’t fully recovered yet.
What does it matter either way.
Yu-jin shook his head vigorously and deliberately walked with large strides to grab the robe he had carelessly draped over the couch. He tightened the belt more forcefully than necessary, took a deep breath, and then called the Butler to ask him to bring tea. After hanging up the phone, Yu-jin closed his eyes and vowed to himself. Winston’s affairs are Winston’s responsibility. It has nothing to do with me.
Don’t worry about it.
“Yeah.”After speaking to himself, he checked the time. There were still about five minutes left. He deliberately left his room right on time, feeling uneasy about what Winston was going to say.
* * *
“Welcome.”
After knocking and opening the door, Winston was waiting for him. Yu-jin pretended not to notice the droplets falling from his still damp hair and entered the room. Winston, as if aware of this, pointed to a seat for Yu-jin and said, “Just a moment,” before heading straight to the bathroom. Soon, the loud noise of a hair dryer filled the air. Yu-jin waited quietly for him to return.
After the Butler placed the tea, the two sat facing each other across the tea table. Yu-jin, forcibly tearing his gaze away from Winston’s still flushed cheeks, stubbornly looked down at his teacup and opened his mouth.
“What do you want to talk about?”
He had no idea what Winston was going to say. In any case, it must be an important topic, considering he insisted on talking at this hour.
As expected, Winston paused for a moment. Just as Yu-jin felt an ominous premonition, Winston took a short breath and began to speak.
“First, I want to apologize. My mother caused trouble.”
As soon as Mrs. Campbell was mentioned, Yu-jin’s heart clenched. Seeing Yu-jin’s face turn pale in an instant, Winston felt both guilt and anger. He looked no different from a rabbit trembling before a hunter. The thought that he had lived his whole life feeling that kind of fear towards his mother made his heart ache. Winston swallowed a sigh and continued.
“She tried to create a scandal between you and my father and publish an article about it, along with suspicions that Angie might be my father’s child. Don’t worry, I stopped it.”
Winston quickly added this before Yu-jin could collapse from the shock. Yu-jin swept his chest with a trembling hand, gasping for breath.
“That’s, that’s a relief…”
The thought alone was horrifying. Reporters might once again set up camp in front of the gate, just like before. No, it didn’t matter what happened to him. The thought that Angela might be caught up in the scandal made his mind go blank.
“How could she do that?”
Yu-jin belatedly felt resentment and opened his mouth with a trembling voice.
“It’s fine if it’s just about me. But Angie, Angie is still a child. How could she involve Angie…”
Winston felt the same way. Considering that he had once misunderstood Angela as his father’s child, he could fully understand how terrified Yu-jin must have been.
So, he must have agreed to marry me willingly, to protect the child.
Winston couldn’t even imagine how tormented Yu-jin must have been, forced into marriage by his threats. And to be subjected to endless slander on top of that.
Bastard.
Winston cursed himself inwardly and continued.
“I know. And if my mother finds out about this, she’ll definitely try something else.”
Seeing Yu-jin freeze, unable to even breathe, he voiced what he had been thinking.
“So, I want to make you a proposal.”
“…A proposal?”
Yu-jin looked at him, bewildered. Winston nodded and added.
“Or it could be a request.”
The words were only getting harder to understand. Winston finally spoke to Yu-jin, who was waiting silently.
“I want us, you, me, and Angie, to do a family interview together.”