By Zephyria “W-What are you talking about! I’m fine!”
Yu-jin, who had been blinking blankly, belatedly understood what he meant and pushed him away in horror. Winston laughed out loud at the sight of his back as he hurriedly ran into the fitting room, but soon it turned into a bitter smile. Ah, followed by a sigh, he muttered to himself.
“I was serious.”
Haa, haa.
Yu-jin, who had hurriedly closed the door and was now alone, belatedly caught his breath and stroked his chest. Really, that’s too much of a joke. As he pouted his lips for no reason, he raised his head and saw his reflection in the mirror that took up the entire side of the wall. His flushed cheeks and unusually shining eyes clearly revealed his excitement. As he grabbed his cheeks in embarrassment, his heart belatedly began to pound.
‘Honey’
Winston’s whisper seemed to be heard again. Yu-jin felt like his heart was going to explode and covered his face with both hands.
* * *
“Haaah.”
Everyone was surprised by Winston’s yawn and stared at him with wide eyes. It was his mother who frowned and gave him a warning.
“What are you doing at the table, Winston? That’s rude.”
“I’m sorry, I’m a little tired.”
It wasn’t a very sincere apology, but his mother’s expression quickly softened.
“Don’t overdo it, you’re doing well enough.”
The other children looked at him with incredulous faces, but she just kept her gaze fixed on Winston and smiled contentedly.
Winston had started working at the company before he even entered university. He had shown an interest in investing early on, since middle school, and after going to England, he started investing in earnest. Since becoming a university student, he had been working at his father’s company every vacation. His father had warned him that he wouldn’t treat him specially, and he actually didn’t, but he clearly showed that he was satisfied with the results he produced. His insight was quite sharp, he didn’t hesitate to make any bold investments, and each time it achieved surprisingly good results.
The most recent investment, which had generated enormous profits, further solidified his position. Mrs. Campbell was optimistic that he might be able to take a fairly important position in the company as soon as he graduated from university, or even before. The outlook for the oldest and largest investment company in the United States was very bright, and its stock price was rising day by day.
It would have been perfect if it hadn’t been for the recent unfortunate incident.
“Father is late again today.”
At Gordon’s words, Mrs. Campbell replied in her usual cold tone.
“The company is in that state, so he has no choice but to be busy. It will be resolved soon.”
“It won’t be easy.”
Everyone turned their gaze to one place at the indifferent voice. Winston nonchalantly cut his steak and continued,
“At the very least half a year, or even several years. Tax evasion is a serious crime.”
Everyone fell silent. Only the small sound of cutlery clashing could be heard in the quiet dining room, and Catherine carefully opened her mouth.
“Is it true? Father committing tax evasion, that’s ridiculous.”
“To be exact, the board of directors did it.”
When Winston made a short correction, she glared at him for a moment, but soon noticed her mother’s gaze and quickly lowered her eyes. Mrs. Campbell took a sip of wine and calmly began to speak.
“Harold will take care of it. The company won’t collapse because of this, will it?”
As if seeking agreement, Winston simply replied to the gaze directed at her son.
“It won’t affect the company’s profits. Investments are going smoothly, and so is management. The lawyers will take care of it. Father will be very busy for the time being, but there’s nothing we need to worry about.”
“That’s good. Everyone, don’t worry about it.”
With Harold absent, Mrs. Campbell’s words were like law in the house. Everyone quietly closed their mouths, but there was always someone who was oblivious.
“I wonder who did such a thing? An anonymous tax evasion report, if it’s enough to turn the company upside down like this, there must be a pretty good reason.”
Catherine gestured, but Jason didn’t realize it at all and kept rambling.
“Thanks to that, Father hasn’t been able to go to the Separate Residence/Annex lately, right? I heard from an employee before that when you go in the morning, that guy is so sleepy that he can’t open his eyes because he’s been doing something all night. Maybe he’s having fun with someone else behind Father’s back?”
“Jason.”
Gordon called his younger brother’s name in a sharp voice. Jason, flinching his shoulders, finally lowered his head and hurriedly began to shove meat into his mouth. During the series of happenings, Winston continued to eat calmly. As if Harold’s current crisis had nothing to do with him.
But Jason’s words were deeply engraved in his mind. It was Winston himself who had been taking Yu-jin out every night lately. He hadn’t been caught yet, but if it continued, it would eventually be known. Of course, he had already anticipated that situation, but there was something he had to do before revealing their relationship.
I need to hurry a little more.
Winston counted the days in his head and emptied the wine in his glass.
* * *
“Wow!”Yu-jin shouted loudly, raising both hands high above his head as if in a triumphant cheer. Today, they were driving down the freeway with the convertible top down, just the two of them under the surprisingly bright sun.
“This is so much fun! Amazing!”
Winston simply chuckled at Yu-jin’s reaction, who was constantly cheering and didn’t know what to do with his excitement. It was a bit of an adventure, but it had succeeded as expected. Now, the two of them were heading to a villa located on a fairly remote property.
It had been a week since Winston took a vacation from work. Taking time off amidst the hectic internal affairs of the company would have earned any other employee some unpleasant remarks, but after all, he was Harold’s son. Winston, having secured a two-week vacation, immediately informed Yu-jin of the fact. Yu-jin was so surprised that he could leave the mansion in broad daylight and go on vacation elsewhere that he almost lost his breath, but he expressed anxiety before joy.
“Can I really leave? Really? How? People will see, it’s daytime? And for several days?”
It was only natural for him to worry about Harold, as Harold was the absolute ruler of this mansion. But Winston had already anticipated that.
“It’s okay, don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything.”
Winston hugged Yu-jin and lightly kissed him on the lips.
“You trust me, right?”
At his smiling question, Yu-jin nodded, his eyes sparkling.
“I trust you, Winston.”
Winston smiled again and shared a longer kiss this time. And two days later, as promised, he put Yu-jin in the convertible and drove him out of the mansion. In broad daylight.
“How did you do it?”
Yu-jin asked after his excitement had subsided somewhat. Winston also shouted loudly to him, who had to shout with all his might because of the loud wind noise.
“It’s simple, I said you had measles.”
“What?”
Yu-jin shouted in surprise, and Winston said nonchalantly.
“It would be a big problem if other people came into contact and got infected, so I said I would take you to the hospital. I don’t get most diseases, you know.”
“B, but…”
Yu-jin was impressed by his quick thinking, but he still couldn’t shake off some worries. He was worried about Winston, but Winston took it completely differently.
“I gave you vaccinations last time, remember? Don’t worry.”
It wasn’t just that. Winston wanted to give Yu-jin everything he deserved but hadn’t received. First, he had him undergo a health checkup, and just in case, he had him get all the vaccinations he could receive, even belatedly. The only thing that bothered him was that it was all nighttime activity. After all, there’s nothing worse for the body than not sleeping at night.
That’s over now.
Winston thought as he drove the car. He wanted to clearly establish their relationship on this trip. Revealing it to the family would come next. Above all, Yu-jin’s opinion was important.
Yu-jin definitely likes me, but he might not be thinking about marriage…
Winston was keeping all possibilities open. If Yu-jin’s heart wasn’t there yet.
I’ll have to make it that way on this opportunity.
His determination was firm. If Yu-jin didn’t want it, he would make him want it. Absolutely, no matter what, he would never let Yu-jin go.
Winston believed it without wavering.