#85

The conversation paused briefly as a staff member brought the ordered drinks. Perhaps because she was nervous, Kyung Seung-hee ordered another iced coffee, complaining that it was hot, while Jung-hyun looked down at his small, steaming teacup.

“I don’t have the tact to beat around the bush. I’m asking just in case…”

“Yes, Jung-hyun.”

“…You are aware of my trait as well, right?”

There was a part of this that he couldn’t quite understand, no matter how much he thought about it.

He had learned during their last meeting that Kyung Seung-hee was an Alpha. However, no matter how much of an Alpha someone was, they could not have children with a man who was a Beta.

Having been taught that continuing the family line was the duty of a child of a chaebol family, Jung-hyun could not comprehend the decision of this prestigious Vice-Ministerial family.

As for Myeong-jeong, he probably wouldn’t care if the partner was a man or an elderly person as long as he could be linked to a family of Vice-Ministerial rank, but the other side must have had a much wider range of choices.

“Of course. You’re a Beta, Jung-hyun. A wonderful Beta who seems more like an Alpha than I do.”

Kyung Seung-hee replied with a bright smile.

“I imagine what you’re curious about is what the point is if the two of us marry but cannot produce an heir to carry on the line, right?”

“…Yes, that is correct.”

“My proud prosecutor sister can handle carrying on the Kyung family line. You don’t have to worry about things like that, Jung-hyun.”

There was no hint of hesitation in Kyung Seung-hee’s tone. Jung-hyun looked at her face and asked again a beat later.

“Still, I don’t quite understand why you chose me. …There must have been many people with far better conditions than I have.”

“Now that I see it, you’re quite lacking in confidence compared to what you possess.”

Seung-hee continued with a smile.

“Actually, I fell in love at first sight after seeing your photo in the news.”

“…….”

“I did, with you, Jung-hyun.”

Kyung Seung-hee’s cheeks were faintly flushed, and her eyes sparkled more than ever. As if confessing a youthful love.

* * *

As soon as Kwon Jung-hyun returned home, he lit a cigarette without even taking off his coat.

It had been so hard to endure even during the short walk to the veranda he used as a smoking area that he lit the filter and inhaled the smoke immediately.

And as soon as he stepped outside onto the veranda, he exhaled the smoke he had been holding. After repeating this a couple of times, he felt the suffocating tightness in his chest—as if something had been stuck there—ease slightly.

“Haa…”

The air was cold, as expected of midwinter, and his fingertips grew chilly in an instant. Jung-hyun looked up at a pine branch weighed down by heavy clumps of snow.

Was meeting people always this energy-consuming? And not just anyone, but his betrothed.

Until the moment he stepped back inside the house, he had to be escorted by Kyung Seung-hee. Whether it was because he had shown his sick side during their last meeting or if it was just her personality, she treated him like a fragile child the entire time they were together.

From the perspective of someone who had lived his whole life as a Beta male, such treatment was hardly welcome.

“…….”

Come to think of it, there was exactly one other person who had treated him that way. Someone who had placed a wet towel on his forehead when he had a fever, cooked porridge for him, and brought water to take with his medicine.

A part of his chest throbbed. When he recalled that time, the image of that large back walking away, wounded, automatically came to mind.

‘Now that I’ve realized these feelings, how can I go back to the way things were?’

Those words were right.

He knew best why he had felt uncomfortable throughout the meeting with a betrothed who lacked nothing. It was likely because he had realized these feelings.

A ringtone blared loudly from his coat pocket. Jung-hyun immediately snapped out of his thoughts and pulled out his phone. His brow furrowed instinctively at the name on the screen.

“Yes, this is Kwon Jung-hyun.”

—CEO Kwon. Can you come to the Association now? It’s urgent.

It was a call from the President of the Korea Ice Hockey Association. He had only had a few formal meetings with the President during the acquisition of the club; they were not on terms to make personal calls.

He had an intuition that this was no ordinary matter. Jung-hyun put out his short cigarette and headed straight for the garage.

Upon arriving at the Association, Jung-hyun was immediately guided to the President’s office.

The President, whose salt-and-pepper hair was neatly swept back, got straight to the point as soon as Jung-hyun sat down. After hearing the story, Jung-hyun had no choice but to repeat those four syllables that felt strangely foreign.

“…Match-fixing?”

“Yes, an anonymous tip arrived this morning. It says they have clear evidence that the MJ Blue Wolves fixed matches and demands that CEO Kwon be dismissed.”

The President leaned back into the plush sofa as if he had a headache and put an electronic cigarette to his lips. Jung-hyun composed his expression and spoke calmly.

“No such thing has happened, Mr. President.”

“The issue isn’t whether it happened or not. We can’t possibly know if coaches or players are exchanging money behind our backs. Those rotten bastards. If they’re going to take money, they should at least not get caught.”

The President clicked his tongue, stood up, and brought over a yellow mailing envelope from the desk. The front of the already opened envelope had no postmark.

“Check it for yourself, CEO Kwon.”

Kwon Jung-hyun opened the envelope and pulled out the contents.

A single sheet of paper with a brief printout of what he had heard from the President and six photographs tumbled out.

Jung-hyun picked up one of the photos that had fallen on the desk.

“…….”

As Jung-hyun’s lips tightened upon confirming the face in the photo, the President let out a sigh loud enough to be heard.

It was the Blue Wolves’ head coach, Yoo Gu-hwan.

The photos showed his profile heading toward a bar in a busy district, and then his image leaving the bar, both taken from similar angles.

Jung-hyun stared intently at one of them. A duffel bag was slung over Yoo Gu-hwan’s shoulder. It hadn’t been there when he entered the bar.

The duffel bag looked as if it held something quite heavy, as the center was sagging. Almost as if it were filled with bundles of cash.

“If it’s true that he’s involved in match-fixing, it won’t be a matter of just one or two people being disciplined.”

Jung-hyun looked up and stared at the President.

“The club will be punished as a whole. If it’s during the season, not only disqualification—”

The President clicked his tongue and added,

“In the worst-case scenario, the club will be disbanded.”

“…Since it is not true, there is no way the Blue Wolves will be disbanded,” Jung-hyun countered in a low voice.

“I hope it’s not true as well. Everyone knows the Association and MJ Sports are on great terms; it would be a disaster if match-fixing rumors surfaced less than a year after the acquisition.”

The Association President gnawed on the drip tip of his electronic cigarette and sent a subtle look his way.

“You know I have a re-election next year.”

Last year, after the crisis where two clubs almost disbanded at once, public opinion toward the Ice Hockey Association had been quite poor. The only reason that opinion had been overturned was thanks to Kwon Jung-hyun’s acquisition of the Blue Wolves.

In reality, the Association had done absolutely nothing until the acquisition talks became official, but when the acquisition was announced, they had played the media to make it seem as though the decision was made under the Association’s full support.

It was a decision Jung-hyun had made because he needed to maintain a favorable relationship with the Association for smooth club operations.

“I will settle this so that the Association is not harmed.”

Only then did the President’s face brighten slightly upon hearing the desired answer.

“You know the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee also views MJ Sports very favorably, right? Please handle this well, CEO Kwon.”

“Yes.”

Jung-hyun took the envelope the President had given him and stood up.

“But it is quite strange.”

It was then that the President murmured, stroking his chin in a passing tone.

“This tip. Why did they set CEO Kwon’s dismissal as the condition? If it were a paparazzi looking for money, they would have suggested an amount first, and if they were the type seeking justice, they would have reported it to the press rather than the Association. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“…….”

“CEO Kwon, do you have some enemy somewhere?”

Kwon Jung-hyun paused for a moment, then looked at the President with a smile.

“You worry about the strangest things.”

“Right. I suppose so. Hurry along now.”

As soon as he left the President’s office, Jung-hyun called Head Coach Yoo Gu-hwan. Unlike in the office, his face was now stiff.

—Oh, CEO! Happy New Year. I should have called you first, but how kind of you to call me first.

The voice on the other end of the phone was bright. As if he had no idea what was happening. That was something he would find out once they met in person.

“Coach Yoo, can I see you for a moment?”

—Eh? Now…? But I’ve come down to my hometown for the New Year, what should I do…?

Jung-hyun replied simply as he got into his car.

“Where is your hometown? I’ll go there.”

“T-This is a frame-up, CEO!”

Coach Yoo jumped in his seat in the passenger side.

Having driven down to Coach Yoo’s hometown in Gyeongsangbuk-do, Jung-hyun had parked his car under a house wall and called Yoo Gu-hwan over.

Unaware of the situation, Coach Yoo kept trying to invite Jung-hyun inside the house, but this was not a conversation to be had in someone else’s living room.

Jung-hyun silently handed over the photo. It was the one of Coach Yoo entering the bar. Coach Yoo’s complexion turned pale upon seeing the photo, but he soon composed his voice calmly.

“This was just a year-end party with close acquaintances because it was the end of the year. I swear on my mother’s life that the word ‘fixing’ never even came up, CEO!”

“Who else was at this gathering?”

“Just people I’ve known for a long time. You wouldn’t know them even if I told you…”

Coach Yoo trailed off, glancing at Jung-hyun’s reaction.

“I will be the one to judge, so Coach Yoo, just answer the questions.”

Eventually, in a reluctant voice, Coach Yoo recited the list.

“Some guys I’ve known since my player days, Park XX, Bae XX, Hwang XX, and someone named Kim In-jung…”

“…Kim In-jung?”

As a familiar name appeared among the strange ones, Jung-hyun’s eyes instinctively narrowed.

“Do you mean reporter Kim In-jung from Daily One?”

86 – Puck Drop