#92

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Shin Ho-jae suddenly stopped in his tracks as he saw his silhouette reflected in the glass.

He noticed his tie knot was crooked. As Ho-jae fixed the knot, he stared blankly at his own reflection.

He saw a face frozen stiff for reasons he couldn’t tell—whether it was nervousness or anticipation. He also saw the suit and coat he had dressed in with more care than he ever did for a normal workday.

“Whew.”

After swallowing a sigh for the nth time, Ho-jae stepped through the revolving door.

Before him stood a magnificent red building with Namsan Tower visible in the background. It was the MJ Hotel.

The man who claimed to be Myeong-jeong’s lawyer had informed Shin Ho-jae of the date and location with an extremely polite demeanor, adding that his client had been very eager to meet him.

It didn’t make sense at first; even after receiving the lawyer’s call, Ho-jae had remained dazed for a while.

The person from Myeong-jeong who had paid for his father’s hospital bills.

Naturally, he assumed it was Kwon Jung-hyun.

But now, they wanted to ‘meet’?

He wondered if this was some cruel joke.

Did Jung-hyun feel some lingering guilt because of the way they had broken up? Regardless of the other man’s intentions, Shin Ho-jae couldn’t refuse the offer to meet. Because, in his own way, he wanted to see Jung-hyun too.

He knew it was a foolish and pathetic thing to do. To be in a position where he was still chasing after someone who had told him he was ‘a nuisance.’

What on earth should he say when he met him? Seeing as the request came through a lawyer, did it mean he shouldn’t mention the things that happened during their ‘private meetings’?

His mind was so cluttered that he felt a headache coming on. With one last nervous sigh, Shin Ho-jae made his way to the hotel’s second-floor restaurant, the designated meeting spot.

At the entrance, a staff member in a neat uniform asked for the reservation name.

“I’m Shin Ho-jae.”

“Mr. Shin Ho-jae, we’ve been expecting you. Shall I take your coat?”

“Ah, yes. Please…”

The staff member took Ho-jae’s coat and guided him further into the restaurant. It was a private room with sliding doors.

“Mr. Shin Ho-jae has arrived.”

With those words, the door opened quietly. Shin Ho-jae passed the staff member and stepped slowly inside.

The interior of the room was decorated like a small, private dining area. There was a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking a beautiful garden, a small cooking station, and a table for two.

And there was a tall man standing with his back to Ho-jae, gazing out the window.

The man slowly turned around. A smiling mouth and deep dimples were the first things Ho-jae noticed. The physique, style, and jawline were remarkably similar to Jung-hyun’s.

“This is the first time we’ve greeted each other like this. Was the trip here not too far?”

But it wasn’t Jung-hyun.

“Let’s sit down and talk first.”

Shin Ho-jae awkwardly lowered himself into the seat the man gestured toward. The man smiled brightly and extended his right hand to Ho-jae.

“Let me introduce myself formally. I am Kwon Ki-hyuk, the representative of MJ Sports.”

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“When I was young, I used to visit the rink often with my grandfather. Did you know my grandfather is from Hamgyong Province? Since it’s such a cold region, playing on the ice was a part of daily life, apparently.”

Kwon Ki-hyuk spoke cheerfully as he picked up a piece of sushi with his bare hands. By the time he swallowed the sushi, a new piece was placed on his plate.

A chef was preparing them personally at the small cooking station beside the table. A sommelier waiting on the other side poured white wine into Ki-hyuk’s empty glass and then poured the same into Shin Ho-jae’s.

It felt as if he were witnessing another world. Ho-jae responded to Ki-hyuk’s words a bit late.

“No. I didn’t know that.”

“Really? Anyway, even to a child’s eyes, ice hockey was truly cool. Martial arts on ice—there’s no way a boy wouldn’t love that. Right?”

Shin Ho-jae nodded in agreement and took a sip of water.

Usually, he couldn’t get enough of sushi, but he couldn’t really taste the food, so his eating pace was slow.

Ho-jae stole a glance at Kwon Ki-hyuk’s face.

When he had first seen him from behind, he thought he looked similar to Jung-hyun, but looking at him now, they didn’t look alike at all. Especially the eyes.

Ki-hyuk had long, narrow eyes without double eyelids, and whenever he smiled, his eyes folded so much that his pupils almost disappeared.

It was completely different from Jung-hyun’s smile, which usually only reached the corners of his mouth.

The new owner of the team, Jung-hyun’s older brother. And the benefactor… who had paid for his father’s hospital bills.

Even after hearing it directly from his mouth, he still couldn’t believe it. Ho-jae picked up a piece of sushi with his chopsticks and chewed mechanically.

His heart, which had been racing wildly, had finally settled.

Looking back, Advisor Park Nam-woong had only said that ‘a lawyer working at Myeong-jeong’ had left a business card; he never once mentioned it would be Kwon Jung-hyun.

It was a matter that could be simply and clearly summarized as a ‘misunderstanding.’ Now that he knew who the real benefactor was, he should just be happy. So why did he feel so uneasy?

The chef placed a new piece of sushi on Shin Ho-jae’s plate. It was a white-fleshed fish topped with gold leaf.

“That’s why, when my grandfather told me to pick a player to sponsor, I chose Shin Ho-jae without hesitation.”

Ho-jae stopped mid-reach for the sushi and looked up.

“…You’re saying the Vice President pointed me out?”

“Yes. That was exactly 15 years ago, so you were about 9 years old, right?”

“…Yes. That’s correct. I first started receiving the Chairman’s sponsorship in elementary school.”

He still vividly remembered meeting Chairman Kwon Deuk-jeong for the first time at the age of nine.

Following his coach into an empty room, he had found an old man with snow-white hair and an expression as fearsome as a tiger. To the young, trembling Ho-jae, he had smiled gently and said, ‘My grandson liked you very much.’

To think that was referring to Kwon Ki-hyuk.

“Thinking about it now, I feel like the reason you’ve become so famous is all thanks to the fact that we met when you were young.”

“…Yes. I suppose so.”

Ho-jae, staring blankly at the white fish on his plate, spoke up.

“This question might be rude, but…”

“Ask me anything.”

“May I ask how you found out about my father and why you paid the hospital bills?”

Kwon Ki-hyuk curled the corners of his mouth into a gentle smile.

“To be honest, by the time I graduated from college, I had completely forgotten about Shin Ho-jae. I was so preoccupied with learning the ropes of the company. But two years ago, I heard news that you had joined a domestic team.”

“……”

“I knew you had gone to Canada through my grandfather’s sponsorship, so I thought it was strange. That’s why I looked into the situation a bit. And I found out that the sponsorship had been cut off, as well as the matter regarding your father.”

After saying that, Ki-hyuk let out a small exclamation of ‘ah.’

“I’m sorry for looking into it without your permission. And for not knowing that the sponsorship had stopped. If I had known, I certainly would have continued sponsoring you.”

“…No. You must have been preoccupied.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

Kwon Ki-hyuk, eyes crinkling as he smiled, continued as he picked up a gunkan-maki topped with plenty of sea urchin.

“Since I have an old connection with you and memories of my grandfather, I couldn’t just ignore it.”

“…Then why did you keep it a secret until now and only decide to meet me now?”

“At the time, I thought you might find it burdensome. Since you and I had never officially met. And it wasn’t something that warranted a thank-you note.”

“……”

“But now, haven’t I become the owner of the Blue Wolves? I was thinking I wanted to maintain a good relationship with you, the team’s ace, and just then, Advisor Park Nam-woong contacted me. I thought it was a good opportunity.”

“…I see.”

As Ho-jae looked down with a hint of melancholy, he suddenly heard Ki-hyuk laugh. He licked a bit of sea urchin that had dripped onto his palm and spoke.

“You don’t seem to believe that I was the one who did it, do you?”

“Pardon?”

“Did you perhaps think it was my younger brother, Jung-hyun?”

“……”

Shin Ho-jae neither confirmed nor denied it, simply remaining silent. Somehow understanding this, Kwon Ki-hyuk smiled broadly.

“Jung-hyun has been very envious of me since he was a child.”

“……”

“To be precise, should I say he wanted to copy everything I did? Thinking about it now, he was probably envious of the fact that I’m an Alpha. Poor thing. Our family is particularly fond of Alphas.”

Shin Ho-jae listened quietly to his story. Stories of Jung-hyun that he didn’t know. Almost reflexively, his upper body leaned forward slightly.

“Ice hockey, and even you, Shin Ho-jae—he started liking them because of me. In fact, I was the one who first prepared the acquisition of the Blue Wolves, but Jung-hyun stepped in midway.”

“……”

“Actually… I’m saying this because you’ve probably seen all the articles.”

Kwon Ki-hyuk paused for a moment, wiping his mouth with a napkin. Then, he drained the wine in his glass.

“Including this recent incident, Jung-hyun has caused a fair amount of damage to the group over the years. His personality is unpredictable and, as you know, he has a tendency to lash out. Even though he’s my family, frankly, even I find it difficult to deal with him.”

Ho-jae’s face stiffened slightly.

“We gave him charge of MJ Sports as a final chance, but unfortunately, it seems his true nature is inescapable.”

“…Are you saying that the incident in the articles was really something Representative Jung-hyun did?”

“If it weren’t true, Myeong-jeong would have handled it somehow. Instead of removing him from the representative position. Isn’t that right?”

“……”

“With this incident, even my father has completely given up on him.”

His leaning upper body slowly returned to its original position. Ho-jae’s gaze was vacant.

He had never thought of it that way. But hearing Ki-hyuk’s words, it made sense. If Jung-hyun had truly been framed, a giant corporation like Myeong-jeong wouldn’t have just stood by.

“He’s such a good liar… I’m worried that my brother might have done something terrible to you as well, Mr. Shin.”

Ki-hyuk smiled, his eyes crinkling as he looked at Shin Ho-jae.

“Even if he did, for my sake, I hope you can generously forgive him.”

He had thought that the story of Jung-hyun told by Jung-hyun’s own family would naturally be the story of the Jung-hyun he knew. But Ki-hyuk was saying that the Jung-hyun in the articles—the one he had denied—was the real one.

His mind was in chaos. If it were anyone else’s story, he wouldn’t have taken it to heart.

But wasn’t Ki-hyuk Jung-hyun’s biological older brother? There was no reason for a brother to intentionally make up stories about his sibling. At least, that was the common sense Shin Ho-jae lived by.

Then, was the Jung-hyun he knew really just a version he had distorted to his own liking…?

As if cutting through Ho-jae’s thoughts, Ki-hyuk raised his wine glass high and spoke.

“In that spirit, shall we have a toast?”

“Ah…”

Shin Ho-jae followed suit a beat late, lifting his glass. Ki-hyuk said with a crinkled smile,

“Let’s cheer for your future success, Mr. Shin.”

“…Thank you.”

The wine he brought to his lips after clinking glasses tasted so bitter it made him frown.

93 – Puck Drop