#90

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“Shin Ho-jae remains steadfast despite ‘Owner’s Misfortune,’ leading a 7:4 victory over the Tigers”

In the bedroom where darkness had settled, the pale light of a liquid crystal screen illuminated Jung-hyun’s face.

The article stated that Shin Ho-jae, who had become the vice-captain following Choi Yong-su’s season-ending injury, had led the players to victory.

Things must have been noisy both inside and outside the organization with various news reports, but fortunately, it seemed the players were enduring it well. While he felt sincerely relieved, a slight bitterness welled up before quickly sinking beneath the surface.

The sound of the wind was tumultuous outside the window. The light snow that had been falling gradually had turned into a blizzard since evening. Jung-hyun sighed and covered his eyes with his hand.

It had been a long time since he felt this kind of helplessness—not since his time in the United States. A time when he could do nothing and simply killed time. But compared to now, those days were a walk in the park.

Every time he closed and opened his eyes, the articles about him had multiplied several times over. Peter had been unfairly ousted simply because he was an acquaintance of Jung-hyun, and the club staff were likely suffering under reporters who clung to them like leeches and protesting fans.

And Shin Ho-jae…

At the thought of Shin Ho-jae, the ribs over his heart tingled. Jung-hyun closed his eyes and exhaled quietly. The corners of his eyes, touching the back of his hand, felt hot.

To make matters worse, he wasn’t feeling well. The colds that usually passed quickly every change of season felt as though they had persisted throughout this entire winter. The emergency medicine he had at home had run out long ago, but he wasn’t in a position to go to a hospital or pharmacy for a prescription.

It was because reporters had been loitering near his house ever since the articles were published. On the first day, it seemed they had even staked out the place all night, but today, perhaps due to the weather, things had calmed down a bit.

It was around then that a small sound blended in with the loud wind. It sounded exactly like someone knocking on a door. Jung-hyun frowned.

Jung-hyun’s house was a two-story detached home with a small garden between the main gate and the front door. There was no way a knock at the main gate would be audible in the second-floor bedroom.

That meant someone had passed through the main gate and was knocking on the front door. Jung-hyun immediately stood up. If someone had climbed over the gate and entered, he couldn’t just leave it be.

As he quietly descended the stairs, muffling his footsteps, he heard the same sound again. Jung-hyun turned away from the direction of the front door. The sound wasn’t coming from the front door, but from the back door connected to the utility room.

Jung-hyun cautiously opened the utility room door. In the dim space where the lights were off, a washing machine and a drying rack were visible on one side.

And the blinds of the glass folding doors were tightly drawn. Beyond the blinds, he could see a dark silhouette that was clearly a person.

Despite visually confirming that someone had entered the garden and intruded up to the back door, strangely, he didn’t feel afraid or unpleasant.

As if possessed, Jung-hyun walked slowly toward the back door. He reached for the blind cord. With a shrrrk sound, the lowered blinds rose horizontally, revealing the weather outside with thick snowflakes fluttering and a man standing in front of the door.

It was Shin Ho-jae.

The moment their eyes met through the glass, Jung-hyun saw a slight glimmer of gladness appear on Shin Ho-jae’s face.

Jung-hyun reflexively averted his gaze. Why make a face like that? After the way we parted at the end.

With a faint sigh, Jung-hyun opened the locked door. Shin Ho-jae stepped inside, carrying the cold air and clumps of wind-blown snow with him.

Jung-hyun closed the door again and drew the blinds. Only after confirming they were completely cut off from the outside did he speak.

“How did you get in?”

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t reach you by phone, so I just came to find you… I didn’t think I should ring the doorbell, so I climbed over the wall in the back. I saw there was a door here when I used the washing machine before. I was worried there might be a security system…”

Shin Ho-jae’s voice was slightly excited as he answered. It seemed the process of sneaking in over the wall had been thrilling. When Jung-hyun stared at him blankly, he seemed to realize this wasn’t the time to talk about such things so excitedly and lowered his eyes slightly.

The surroundings were very dark, but because Shin Ho-jae was so fair, his face was clearly visible. His damp padding jacket, the tip of his nose and cheeks turned red from the cold, and even his ears and the backs of his hands.

A mixture of worry and reprimand churned weakly in Jung-hyun’s stomach.

Just how long had he been standing outside in this weather? Had he not considered that Jung-hyun might not hear the knocking, or might not even be home?

“Just how long have you been outside? Your clothes are soaked. You’re in the middle of the season; don’t you care about your body?”

The words came out sharper than intended. At that tone, Shin Ho-jae answered in a small voice.

“I wasn’t out for that long. This is just wet because of the snow. You don’t have to worry…”

“I’m saying this because it would be troublesome if someone saw you.”

“…There was no one. It seems the reporters all withdrew because of the weather.”

Jung-hyun sighed and gestured toward the padding jacket Shin Ho-jae was wearing.

“Take off your outer coat first.”

At those words, Shin Ho-jae unzipped his padding jacket with an awkward gesture. Jung-hyun immediately put the jacket into the dryer.

“Take the jacket and leave once the drying is finished.”

As he pressed the button, the sound of the dryer operating soon filled the utility room.

Using that sound as background noise, Jung-hyun conflicted for a moment. He couldn’t help but be concerned. It was very cold outside. He wanted him to rest sufficiently in a warm place before leaving.

However, it wouldn’t be right to show such kindness now to a relationship that was already over. He didn’t want to plant strange expectations in Shin Ho-jae, nor did he want things to become any more complicated.

It was Shin Ho-jae’s voice that broke that thin, vacuum-like state.

“I spoke with reporter Park Ha-na yesterday.”

Jung-hyun narrowed his eyes at the unexpected name.

“She told me that the victim in the article was Kim In-jung. We also discussed that there’s no way the CEO would have solicited an article from that person.”

“…”

“Reporter Park Ha-na says something about the story is strange. Du-min and I, and many other players in the club, think so too.”

Jung-hyun’s face slowly hardened. He had wondered why the man had come all this way through a blizzard in the middle of the night; it seemed he wanted to tell him this.

“We all want to help you, CEO. We can help. If you tell us what happened, then surely…”

“Don’t do anything useless.”

When Jung-hyun cut him off irritably, Shin Ho-jae fell silent for a moment before stepping forward abruptly. Jung-hyun reflexively stepped back.

“Why is this useless?”

“…”

“You were dismissed after being falsely accused. Everyone is cursing you now because they don’t know the circumstances, but once they find out what happened, people will understand.”

Shin Ho-jae’s face as he spoke was serious, and his eyes were full of trust. As if he believed it without a shadow of a doubt.

Jung-hyun gazed blankly at that face.

What would happen if he told Shin Ho-jae the facts exactly as they were? A thought he had never entertained before crept in.

It was a ridiculous thought. Seeing Shin Ho-jae’s face, had his resolve to protect the club wavered?

What would be the point of telling him? Did he want to hear Shin Ho-jae say that the Kwon Jung-hyun he imagined would indeed do such a thing? Or was he expecting him to be furiously angry at what Kwon Ki-hyuk had done?

The risk was too great to tell the truth just for that small amount of empathy.

Kwon Ki-hyuk was like a natural disaster that could never be resisted by human strength. Something to be avoided and fled from, not fought against.

It was enough that he alone stood in the way of it. After all, wasn’t Kwon Ki-hyuk’s goal and target always just him?

“Falsely accused?”

For whatever reason, he didn’t want Shin Ho-jae to get entangled with him.

“Why do you think that? It’s true that I did it all.”

“…That’s not true.”

“No. It is the truth.”

Jung-hyun curled one side of his mouth into a smirk.

“I frequently solicited articles from reporter Kim In-jung since the club’s beginning. We had a relationship where a bit of money changed hands in return.”

“…”

“But at some point, he started writing articles as he pleased. That’s how the incidents with you and Yuk Du-min happened. You were angry, Shin, but I was angry too. I detest people who climb over their station without knowing their place.”

Shin Ho-jae’s brow furrowed slightly. Jung-hyun looked him straight in the eyes and spoke.

“Reporter Kim was very dissatisfied about the lawsuit. Since he kept contacting me, I thought I should resolve it quickly, so I called him to a villa owned by Myeong-jeong. Instead of a resolution, my fists flew first.”

Shin Ho-jae simply stared intently at Jung-hyun’s face in silence.

It was easy to spout nonsense. He just had to combine what he had actually seen with the stories he had heard from Kwon Ki-hyuk in a way that made sense.

“Since I’d already hit him, I figured it couldn’t be helped, so I agreed to pay 5 million won per hit as compensation. After I lined his pockets, the little rat stabbed me in the back like this.”

Then, Shin Ho-jae, who had been standing still, suddenly grabbed Jung-hyun’s hand.

Startled, Jung-hyun reflexively tried to pull his hand away, but Shin Ho-jae gripped tight and didn’t let go. There was no way Jung-hyun could win if Shin Ho-jae truly used his strength. Naturally, a slight struggle ensued.

And eventually, Shin Ho-jae flipped Jung-hyun’s hand over to check the back. The back of the hand was full of marks where skin had peeled off and healed over.

Jung-hyun applied strength to his hand once more. This time, Shin Ho-jae didn’t grip harder, and the hand slipped away easily. His voice was high, trying to hide his fluster.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Shin Ho-jae stood there, gazing quietly at Jung-hyun. Then, he spoke in a low, sunken voice.

“…CEO, the hand of someone who hits people doesn’t look like this.”

Jung-hyun’s face stiffened slightly, but he immediately maintained his composure.

“…That’s because I didn’t hit him with my fists. I used a golf club.”

“Your hand felt hot. Do you have a fever?”

Jung-hyun frowned and looked at Shin Ho-jae.

“Let me see.”

Shin Ho-jae’s hand moved toward his forehead as if to check his temperature. Jung-hyun sharply brushed the hand away.

“Don’t touch me as you please.”

91 – Puck Drop