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Join the ServerWearing cropped slacks, gold-gleaming loafers, a pristine white T-shirt, a wine-colored jacket, and with softly curled hair—this was Jin Heeyoung’s son, Kang Dohyung.
“No, CEO Lee. Who said J International is going under Gayun Group?”
Dohyung leaned his upper body forward and spoke to the man wearing silver-rimmed glasses.
Pfft.
The man with silver-rimmed glasses let out a mocking laugh.
At the same time, Dohyung’s expression stiffened.
“The rumors in this business are pretty obvious.”
Did he think I was some kind of fool?
The man with the silver-rimmed glasses cast his gaze downward, scanning Dohyung from head to toe.
His eyes, calculating whether there was anything worth salvaging, were savage.
Lee Gyeonghwan, the CEO of LK Holdings.
His name sounded grand, but everyone in this business knew he had acquired a construction company with money from high-interest daily loans.
He was a merchant among merchants, someone who possessed an uncanny nose for the scent of money and absolutely never made a losing investment.
There were also endless rumors that he was backed by Gangnam big shots, that politicians were involved, and even that gangs who had grown their influence in Gangcheon were associated with him.
“There are plenty of rumors going around that Chief Kang has no shares left and is completely broke.”
Gyeonghwan spoke arrogantly, leaning back as far as he could.
‘He’s supposed to only care about money, but his rumors travel terribly fast.’
Dohyung forced his contorted lips to relax and leaned forward.
“I’m telling you, it won’t be long.”
Dohyung raised and lowered his eyebrows, subtly leaking the information that Jin Seohee and Yoon Leehyun were not actually a married couple.
Gyeonghwan continued to tilt his glass, listening to Dohyung’s words with utter indifference.
The thick gold bracelet and the gold ring with a massive stone captured the light under the dim illumination.
“So what?”
As if asking what they were supposed to do, Gyeonghwan interlaced his fingers and met Dohyung’s gaze.
Startled for a moment, Dohyung subconsciously pulled his upper body back and let out a small cough.
“Are you telling me to dump all J International stocks?”
“Or should I go all-in and buy them up?” Gyeonghwan murmured in a low voice, gripping his glass tightly as if to crush it.
His cold tone, suggesting there was no profit for him either way, made Dohyung needlessly adjust his shirt.
‘He’s probably only about five years older than me.’
Dohyung struggled to hide his irritated expression and met Gyeonghwan’s gaze.
“Whether Yoon Leehyun assumes the presidency is one thing, but there will be no merger.”
The two of them were not married, and in the end, the merger would fall through.
Therefore, J International’s stock price would inevitably plummet.
That was the summary of Dohyung’s words.
“Well.”
Gyeonghwan took a leisurely sip from his glass.
Soon, with a loud thud, Gyeonghwan set his glass down and stood up without a shred of regret.
“You’re a novice who doesn’t even know the basics of a transaction.”
To think he had called him out for such trivial business—Gyeonghwan made his deep displeasure evident.
Damn it.
Dohyung swallowed the curse in his throat and spoke.
“Just build a bridge to the Taiwanese side for me.”
Gyeonghwan turned around and tapped Dohyung’s shoulder, tap, tap.
After tapping once, twice, and three times, Gyeonghwan firmly gripped Dohyung’s shoulder.
“In Chief Kang’s eyes, do I look like…”
If it hadn’t been for Yoon Jihoon’s tip-off, Gyeonghwan would have had no reason to meet Dohyung in the first place.
He leaned down and whispered.
“…just some worthless nobody who arranges transactions?”
The warning voice was heavy, as if it could wring Dohyung’s neck at any moment.
“I will give you an opportunity to have some fun even without stock manipulation, CEO Lee.”
Clenching his teeth at the crushing pain, Dohyung spoke while staring straight ahead.
“Stocks and fun.”
As if not particularly moved, Gyeonghwan exerted more force into the hand holding his shoulder.
“……Ugh.”
A groan ultimately escaped Dohyung’s lips.
“A transaction, Chief Kang, is about offering what the other person wants, not pushing what you want.”
Dohyung’s eyes shook momentarily.
He had lingered around him for months, having heard he was someone who loved money.
He thought he had finally grabbed his chance, but had it been a miscalculation?
‘I heard he also has deep connections with China and Hong Kong.’
The information he had bought with money couldn’t possibly be a lie.
Dohyung hardened his heart and placed his hand over Gyeonghwan’s, which was still gripping his shoulder.
“The merger is out of the question. The stock is about to fall, CEO Lee.”
Dohyung spoke with his eyes cast down, his legs trembling anxiously.
“Ha.”
Look at this bastard.
Slowly growing angry, Gyeonghwan’s words turned harsh.
“If I leak the technology, the stock will fall. How about picking it up then? J International isn’t such a fragile company. You must have verified yourself that its bottom support is rock-solid, CEO.”
Saying to ‘pick it up’ was practically the same as telling him to take J International for free.
‘Is this bastard crazy?’
Gyeonghwan tilted his head.
“I’d prefer if we proceeded quickly. If Gayun suddenly locks down a technology contract, wouldn’t it be troublesome for both of us?”
“Gayun?”
“Since Jin Seohee and Yoon Leehyun are not legally married, the merger has sailed… but Gayun has always been keeping a vigilant eye on J International to swallow it, so it won’t be any different now. Before that happens, we must contact Taiwan.”
He had to sell off the technology as soon as possible.
It would be too late after the merger, Dohyung thought, his legs trembling with anxiety as he stared at Gyeonghwan.
Tapping his fist on the table twice, Gyeonghwan turned around without saying yes or no.
“Damn it, what is this? Is he going to do it or not?”
Watching Gyeonghwan’s retreating back, Dohyung sank into his chair and gulped down the whiskey.
Not satisfied with that, he pulled out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.
“Excuse me, sir, but please use the smoking room.”
Dohyung furrowed his brow at the bartender’s words.
“South Korea sure has a lot of things you can’t do. Don’t you think so?”
Clack, clack. He opened and closed his Zippo lighter repeatedly, kept the cigarette in his mouth, and lit it.
With a smirk on his lips, he shoved the cigarette straight into his scotch glass without hesitation.
With a hissing sound, a trail of smoke rose.
“Is it still smoking if I only lit it? If so, send me the fine.”
Hoo—
Dohyung rounded his lips and let out a long breath, as if exhaling the smoke.
As the bartender took a step back, Dohyung gestured with his index and middle fingers.
“You should take the fine.”
“Hmm?”
Grabbing the bartender’s vest collar tightly, Dohyung pulled him close and stuffed four fifty-thousand-won bills into the vest.
He was surprised.
Leaving the bewildered bartender behind, Dohyung walked away with long strides.
***
“Aram.”
Seohee had been dazed ever since the news ended.
“Yes, Madam.”
“Can I… use that for a moment?”
When she pointed to the tablet with her index finger, Aram pulled out an identical tablet from the drawer.
“This is the device you used to use, Madam.”
“Ah.”
Nodding her head, Seohee naturally unlocked the screen.
“Yoon Leehyun.”
When she searched his name on the portal, articles lined up one after another.
Contrary to her expectation that countless articles would plaster the search page since Friday Night had just ended, only a limited number of articles from limited media outlets were visible.
‘Why are the photos all the same?’
A crisp white shirt under a dark navy suit, a neat tie, and his hair combed back cleanly.
She had to stare at the photos for a long time, as the face felt both familiar and strange.
“Is this the only photo?”
“Ah, about that…”
Startled, Aram added an explanation.
“The Representative has strictly prohibited any other photos from being released.”
“Ah.”
A sigh escaped her.
To think he was a man who could control the portal.
Suddenly, her throat went dry.
“Then, was the broadcast on Friday Night earlier also something arranged in advance?”
Why hadn’t she thought of that?
There was no way a man with this level of influence would allow himself to be exposed to the news defenselessly.
Seohee bit her lower lip.
“When did we get married?”
“You were married five years ago.”
Yoon Leehyun marriage, Yoon Leehyun Jin Seohee—no matter how many times she searched, no photos of a wedding appeared.
“Was it an unofficial wedding?”
Normally, with this kind of wealth, wouldn’t at least one wedding photo appear in the news?
Doubt crept down her fingertips.
‘Are we really strangers?’
‘No. He must have blocked the wedding photos from being disclosed.’
Suppressing her anxious mind, she tried entering various search terms until she saw a headline: [Gayun Group Yoon Leehyun, J International Jin Seohee Marriage].
Her anxiety cooled down at just that one line.
The habit of biting her lip continuously stopped.
***
Slide.
Seohee opened her eyes at the sound of the hospital door opening.
“Leehyun.”
Leehyun reacted quickly to her weakly murmured call.
“Weren’t you sleeping?”
“Or were you unable to sleep?”
Looking at his wristwatch, Leehyun furrowed his brow.
“Can’t you sleep?”
Seohee blankly shook her head.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t sleep, but rather that she was unable to.
All sorts of disjointed thoughts were spinning inside her head.
Arranged marriage, J International, mercenary, America, and countless other words rushed in.
What kind of relationship did they have?
Was there a deep emotion between them?
Even amidst this, her heart beat honestly.
His undone shirt, his forearms with protruding veins, and his bobbing Adam’s apple.
There was no part of his body that didn’t capture her gaze.
‘Am I the only one who likes him? Am I the only one who flutters like this?’
‘When that person has no feelings at all?’
Her mouth went bone-dry, and her fingertips tingled.
She felt a sudden rush of fear.
What if he suddenly grew distant, saying it was a marriage in name only?
Her heart thudded in fear.
The breaths she inhaled and exhaled grew longer.
Even as she watched him approach her, she kept biting her lip.
“Seohee.”
Leehyun gently caressed her face.
‘Was it an arranged marriage? Was it really?’
The unspoken question lingered at the edge of her lips.
Unable to bring herself to look at Leehyun, she turned her head away, and he let his hand drop in embarrassment.
Feeling disappointed by that again, she turned her body completely.
At that, Leehyun took steady steps and walked over to the opposite side.
Lowering his body halfway, he quietly met her gaze.
“What’s wrong?”
Leehyun’s hand brushed her disheveled hair.
Seohee flinched, shifting her cheek.
At that, Leehyun paused.
“Our…”
Was it an arranged marriage?
A relationship with not a shred of affection, matched only for each other’s needs, neat and concise—one that could be cut off the moment one side became unnecessary under the guise of an imbalance.
The words she couldn’t speak only lingered at the edge of her lips.
Leehyun leaned his upper body down as if to listen.
He raised the back of his hand as if checking her temperature, then gently caressed her.
He is so tender. What are your feelings?
Seohee quietly closed her eyes.
‘Is it because I’m carrying a child? Is he being nice to me because we have a child together?’
The mind that had been swirling as if swept by a wave quickly settled down.
Seohee reached out and covered the back of Leehyun’s hand, which was caressing her forehead.
Watching his Adam’s apple bob, she pulled his hand down.
Leehyun’s pupils reacted instantly.
“How did we get married?”
It was a somewhat direct question.
Arranged marriage—Leehyun recalled what Oh Seokhun had said on Friday Night.
His brow showed a minor ripple of agitation, but it was only for a brief moment.
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