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[This morning, Haeun Group CEO Kang Il-hyun appeared at the prosecutor's office as a witness. Many reporters have been camped out since dawn in front of the prosecutor's office. Haeun Group announced that there will be a major reshuffle of executives and personnel transfers to reform its image in light of this incident.]
After the anchor's explanation, the screen appeared. Kang Il-hyun stood before the cameras with his left arm in a cast, a suit jacket draped over his shoulders. Though he had regained some of the weight he lost during hospitalization, perhaps due to makeup, he looked somewhat haggard today.
CEO Kang, please say a few words here. What will happen to management going forward? Everyone was clamoring for a statement. Il-hyun turned around, and suddenly the reporters' murmuring subsided. He, who had been keeping his lips firmly shut, wore a sorrowful expression.
[I apologize for causing concern to many people. Through this incident, Haeun will be reborn. Furthermore, I intend to reveal all the truth and... resolve my late father's grievances.]
Perhaps choking up at the end, he briefly bowed his head and bit his lip hard. Seeing his trembling lips, camera flashes exploded as if they had been waiting, and shutter sounds rang out loudly. When he raised his head, his eyes were moist. Thank you. After bowing politely, he entered the prosecutor's office under protection.
Wang Han, Wang Lun, and Ja-kyung, who were watching TV, wore expressions of disbelief.
"Isn't that level basically acting?"
"Did you see his lips trembling just now? It'll be plastered across the front page of tomorrow morning's newspaper."
Ja-kyung nodded while eating watermelon. When it came to acting, Kang Il-hyun should be the one doing it, not her. She had been worried since last night hearing he'd appear at the prosecutor's office, but it was for nothing. Checking the internet articles that quickly went up, everyone was saying how pitiful, how unfortunate, and in the midst of it all, how handsome he was.
What the hell is "so fucking sexy" supposed to mean? She frowned and ate watermelon when Wang Lun, who was changing TV channels, suddenly spoke up.
"But us. Is it okay to keep living like this?"
Wang Han turned around.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm asking if it's fine for us to keep loafing around here."
Wang Han thought for a moment. Now that he heard it, it wasn't wrong. Ja-kyung also agreed with that statement. Their injuries had all healed, yet there was no talk of work. If they were given money, shouldn't they be made to work and be put to use? The day before yesterday, she had quietly asked Park Tae-su, but uncharacteristically, he had equivocated.
"Maybe Wei, they're worried you'll get hurt again."
Both people's gazes flew at her simultaneously. Ja-kyung shook her head. Kang Il-hyun was someone who kept public and private matters completely separate.
"Probably not."
"Of course it is. It's obvious just looking. Though, we're fine with loafing around since it's comfortable for us..."
Ja-kyung fell into deep thought. On TV, Kang Il-hyun's appearance from moments ago kept being replayed. It felt strange seeing the person she'd slept face-to-face with until morning on TV. And not saying this because he was her lover, but even setting aside personal feelings, he really was handsome.
Without realizing it, she stared blankly and giggled like a person with a loose screw.
***
"So?"
"For now, I told them you didn't know."
"Good. You keep pretending you don't know."
Il-hyun looked out the window. People he had already hired were handling work in place of Lee Ja-kyung and the Wang brothers. The reason he hadn't told them yet was because he was afraid they might use that as an excuse to leave. It wasn't that he distrusted Lee Ja-kyung, but a fear that she might disappear always remained in his heart.
He let out a small sigh and leaned his head back. Having been harassed by prosecutors all day, exhaustion swept over him. They were desperate to sink their teeth into anything. Il-hyun repeated the same words like a recorded tape.
He had been kidnapped along with Chairman Kang, nearly died there, and miraculously survived. And his father had passed away, so he was deeply grief-stricken. He had no idea how much effort he put into acting like a filial son he didn't mean.
Within an hour, instructions came down from the prosecutor's upper ranks to let it go appropriately. Considering how much they'd pocketed through their own mouths all this time. It was an expected result. Seeing the deeply frustrated expression of the prosecutor in charge, Il-hyun smiled with a regretful face and said they'd meet again.
Arriving at the company and entering his office, the secretary ahead wore a troubled expression.
"Inside, the madam is waiting."
If madam meant... Lee Ja-kyung?
That certainly wouldn't be the case. Opening the door and entering, as expected, Kim Sun-young was sitting on the sofa, looking straight ahead. Tension could be felt in her face as she looked back. This was the first time facing her since the funeral and the forty-ninth day ceremony. She, not seeming like someone who had lost her husband first, remained haughty and composed. While the secretary brought out tea, the two sat facing each other and exchanged simple pleasantries.
"What brings you all the way here?"
She, who had been sitting across and gazing at the table, raised her head.
"I heard you told Seok-ju to learn the work at the company."
He had instructed Kang Seok-ju to attend school for the time being and learn company work during the remaining time. Crying over spilled milk, he had been forcibly coming to work since last week. As if that wasn't enough, on days off, he had to report on the work he learned from Il-hyun.
"What are you scheming?"
Her eyes were sharp. She hadn't chosen Chairman Kang for love from the beginning. Moreover, after learning that he regularly exploited girls younger than her daughter, she had come to despise him. She just hadn't shown it because she didn't want to let go of what she held. She wasn't grieving the loss of her spouse; she was only worried about her own and her son's welfare going forward.
"I'm asking. What you intend to do with Seok-ju."
Il-hyun took out a cigarette and lit it. The doctor had told him to quit, but it just wouldn't work out as he wanted. On exhausting days like today, even more so.
"Why, he's my brother. Are you worried I'll eat him alive?"
"You think I don't know? Your father ending up like that was your doing too."
Seeing her venomous expression, Il-hyun held his cigarette and snickered.
"Think whatever you like."
"Don't touch Seok-ju. I can't tolerate that."
"Mother."
Il-hyun continued calmly.
"I told you before. I don't dislike you. But I don't like Seok-ju. Honestly, I want to bury him somewhere, but I'm enduring it because he's my brother."
She bit her lower lip tightly.
"I can't let him hang out with junkies forever. If Father were alive, maybe, but I can't stand to see that. Don't worry, I'll take him and teach him to come to his senses."
Some of it was sincere. If they didn't covet his position, he intended to leave both Kang Tae-han and Kang Seok-ju alone. It was funny how he hated Chairman Kang yet resembled him so perfectly. Perhaps she sensed it too, as her fierce demeanor softened somewhat.
Furthermore, Il-hyun didn't dislike Kim Sun-young. Rather, because of her attitude of cherishing her children dearly, Kang Seok-ju had been envious to him in childhood. Of course, Kim Sun-young would never imagine that in her dreams.
After receiving assurance of Kang Seok-ju's safety, Kim Sun-young left the office, and Il-hyun removed the cast he'd been wearing and tossed it aside. Just then, a message came from Ja-kyung. It was asking when he'd get off work.
The fact that someone was waiting for him at home felt newly joyful. She added that she watched TV and that he worked hard today. Definitely, compared to before, she expressed her feelings more often. She initiated kisses, came close to be held.
"Should have just cut off my hand instead."
He clicked his tongue in regret. If that had happened, he could have been even more spoiled. Putting the cast back on, he sighed.
"Fuck. When do I have to wear this until."
His arm had healed long ago. But wearing this, Lee Ja-kyung couldn't do anything and listened to everything, so he planned to keep it on for a while. Of course, when caught, there'd be another scene. A smile spread across his face as he replied.
Kang Il-hyun ♡ Lee Ja-kyung
Il-hyun, wearing a shower gown, lay in the bathtub, and Ja-kyung brought shampoo, squeezed it into her hand, created lather, and rubbed it into his hair. Covering his casted arm with a towel so water wouldn't touch it, she carefully wiped the foam from his hair.
Kang Il-hyun's eyes looking up curved into crescents. When he puckered his lips asking for a kiss, she told him not to move and placed his head on the headrest.
"Something seems strange."
"What is."
"Usually, casts come off in about a month."
"I was badly hurt so the bone hasn't fully healed. You heard what Kang Yu-jeong said too."
I did hear it. Ja-kyung nodded. Il-hyun swallowed laughter inside. She apparently had no clue that even Kang Yu-jeong had stepped forward to lie. After washing his hair with care, they entered the shower booth together. When the gown came off, the traces of gunshot wounds on his abdomen and shoulder were distinct.
Every time she saw those wounds, her eyes stung and her heart ached. She created lather and rubbed, avoiding those areas. He carefully took her hand and rubbed it against his cock.
"Here too."
She frowned and slapped it away. His arm wasn't fully healed yet but he was being fresh. She pushed him away, but today he kept clinging. A switch was pressed somewhere and water poured from above. Startled that his casted arm might get wet, she shoved him, but he was relentless. Suddenly her whole body was soaked.
He pulled her body close and stuck out his tongue, sucking at her jaw and neck like a starving person.
"Wait, just a moment."
"Alright."
"What do you mean alright, mmph, my arm's getting wet. My arm!"
He pulled out the cast and threw it aside. Ja-kyung's eyes grew wide. His injured arm pulled her waist close. He was strong and perfectly fine. What the hell. She glared in disbelief before her lips were devoured.
Even trying to protest, the sounds were swallowed into his mouth, useless. Il-hyun's thigh pressed against her center, stimulating her. It had been a while since they'd had sex, so Ja-kyung's body also heated up. In the brief moment their lips separated, she grabbed his face and stared wide-eyed like a flatfish.
"Fraud."
"Sorry. I'll take the abuse after we're done."
He smiled brilliantly and pressed his lips to hers again. It was an apology without a shred of sincerity, but she liked it anyway. The wet shirt fell to the floor, and her back thudded against the booth glass. Her body burned hot, and her breathing grew increasingly rough.