After finishing his meeting with the PR team manager and returning, Yoon-shin loitered needlessly around the secretariat. Having bided his time, he swiftly approached Secretary Tak, who had just finished a call, and knocked solemnly on top of the partition.
Knock, knock.
"Excuse me, Secretary Tak."
"Ah, Attorney Do. Did you finish your discussion with the PR team manager? What did they say?"
"They want to release the firm's official position for damage control. They asked if we could add one more interview."
"Stirring the embers? The PR team thinks they've hit the jackpot and are getting greedy, rowing harder now that they're in the water. Greed is dangerous. It's wrapping up nicely right now."
"So I said I'd ask for the CEO's opinion and get back to them. But he doesn't seem to be in his office?"
This secretariat had undergone a major reorganization after Se-heon took office as CEO. Because it had to function as the CEO attorney's secretariat, the staff had increased and the workload had grown. Thanks to that, Yoon-shin, too, had become more cautious in his movements.
Today was no different. He only kept stealing glances, no longer barging into Se-heon's room unannounced as he used to. In the meantime, Se-heon had stepped away. Since he hadn't been seen since before Yoon-shin scheduled the meeting with the PR team manager, it meant he had been away for at least several hours.
"Oh, didn't you try contacting him? Even if he's busy, he'd make time for Attorney Do."
"That's exactly why I didn't. I might disturb important work."
Secretary Tak was the person who oversaw everything related to Kang Se-heon within the firm. So Yoon-shin had tried to glean a hint about what he didn't know, but the man's face looking at him seemed somehow suspicious. Without hiding his puzzled gaze one bit, Yoon-shin leaned over the narrow information desk.
"Chief, you have something to tell me, don't you?"
Secretary Tak likewise leaned his upper body toward Yoon-shin, wearing a complicated expression, as though he wanted to speak yet held back. After some time, he ultimately kept his words to himself, as if deciding something. Perhaps the open space was the problem. Feeling stifled, Yoon-shin shifted locations. He quickly moved behind the man and earnestly pushed him toward an empty spot at the end of the hallway where he sometimes spoke with Se-heon. Seeing him follow reluctantly, Yoon-shin figured he must have a message he needed to convey after all. As expected, the location seemed to be the issue.
Finally alone, the two faced each other. The first to open his mouth was Yoon-shin, who had much to be curious about.
"What is it?"
"Sigh... I know this is something I shouldn't stick my nose into."
"But you know there are times when a third party has to step in for things to get resolved, right?"
Secretary Tak seemed to agree with those words.
"Actually, someone came from 'Sansa' earlier."
'Sansa' was the name of the gallery Yi-kyung owned.
In the time it took Yoon-shin—who had far too many suspicions dawning on him—to respond, the man's careful voice, laden with worry, continued.
"As far as I know, no meeting request came through official channels from 'Sansa'. If it were an internal contact, there might be some leeway, but he never receives external guests who show up unannounced and unilaterally without an appointment. I've served him for years, but I've never seen it happen. Yet... he went without protest."
Secretary Tak was right. Se-heon didn't even associate with people who didn't observe basic courtesy. No matter how large the client, if they didn't contact him in advance, he wouldn't meet them. Everyone knew there was no such thing as special treatment with him. Even the former CEO who had founded Do-guk, the father of Attorney Song Mi-hee, always made appointments in advance after stepping down from the front lines.
It was one of two things. Either there was a deep understanding between Se-heon and Yi-kyung, or he was forcibly tolerating her rudeness. Either way, it sounded uncomfortable—no, unsettling—to Yoon-shin.
Deep in his heart, the hope that perhaps Se-heon's guess might be wrong still remained. He couldn't entirely crush the sprouting expectation that Yi-kyung might accept the two of them peacefully. But since that night when Se-heon had come to take him to her house, feeling how hard she tried to block any conversation about the matter, he had gradually come to accept in his mind that he needed to give up.
'I thought Noona would understand.'
This romance—even the elements he had thought would be comparatively easy—turned out to be impossibly difficult upon closer inspection.
He had already resolved internally to tie up the knot on this matter anyway.
It seemed today was the day.
"Secretary Tak, I'm leaving early today. Please clear my schedule."
"Don't worry. I'll log it as an external meeting."
"And the car, too."
"Ah, you didn't bring yours today? I'll arrange for a car with the driver right away. Um, you'll keep what I told you a secret, right!"
Yoon-shin turned and hurried away, waving his hand as if to say not to worry while running at high speed toward his office.
"Attorney Do! Your leg still...! Don't run...! Please don't...!"
Secretary Tak watched that precarious retreating figure with a worried expression, then quickly came to his senses, returned to his seat, and arranged a sedan for Yoon-shin.
* * *
The iced coffee, once filled to the brim with ice, had long since melted and grown watery.
Yi-kyung sat motionless, not moving so much as a fingertip, as if performing a solemn rite. Her grim expression and stubbornly set lips seemed to forewarn that she was about to broach a serious matter. Se-heon, seated directly across from her, watched that sight and picked up his glass with utmost leisure. Sitting with his back perfectly straight, he sipped the melted coffee elegantly and fell into thought.
'14 minutes....'
Having calculated how many minutes he had been enduring this, he debated whether he should simply break the ice first. Since obtaining his bar license, this was the first time he had exercised such prolonged patience for anyone other than Do Yoon-shin. After agonizing, he decided to grant just one more minute and took another sip of coffee. Just then, Yi-kyung, who had been carefully gauging his cues while feigning composure, opened the debate with a clear, deliberate tone.
"Both Yoon-shin and I have much to be grateful to CEO Kang for. The debt is one we will repay for a long time to come. But that is that, and this is another matter."
He swallowed another mouthful of the diluted coffee and responded with unshaken composure.
"That's usually how people begin when they're about to bite the hand that feeds them. Yes, do go on."
Startled, Yi-kyung hurriedly continued, as though afraid she would soon get swept up by the eloquent man's pace. A resolute determination to seize the initiative was evident in her powerful, no-nonsense tone. Her honest attitude in all things resembled Yoon-shin.
"You're both men. Do you have a future?"
"I'm no prophet. We'll find out when we get there. As it happens, both parties involved are willing."
"The ending is all too obvious. I wish you would reconsider this relationship before it's too late. You are a person of discernment."
Clink.
Deliberately setting his cup down on the glass table with an audible sound, he fixed his sharp gaze entirely upon her. Se-heon possessed an exceptional talent for drawing others' attention with even the slightest gesture or the faintest movement. Realizing she had been immediately stifled, she tried desperately to maintain her timing, but his calm yet powerful voice cut through the air faster.
"That won't be possible."
"Even if I oppose it?"
"Do you think that matters to me? Is it that you don't know the ways of the world, or that you don't know me?"
"This is me knowing Yoon-shin. Our Yoon-shin is a brother who listens to his Noona. He has always listened to my opinions. He wouldn't deny that I raised him like a son. If his Noona raises strong opposition to his choice for the first time, he'll surely realize it's the wrong path."
Her words weren't entirely correct, but they were mostly logical. Se-heon didn't bother to refute them point by point. But there was one thing Yi-kyung was gravely overlooking. It was the history of how difficult—truly, how difficult—it had been for the two of them to start and maintain this romance. She herself was not entirely free from it.
"Then why have you pretended not to know while suspecting all this time?"
"That's because Yoon-shin..."
Yi-kyung, who had been answering without hesitation, paused. Her face suggested she had plenty more to say, yet the rest didn't follow even when he waited several dozen seconds longer. As if to say he had already endured enough and would wait no longer, he continued on his own.
"For example, if you love Do Yoon-shin, yield so he can live a better life. Don't fall into the swamp together."
"Yes, exactly. As expected, you have awareness, so you understand."
"No. You won't understand. I'm going to drag Do Yoon-shin into a swamp."
Surprised, she bristled.
"Is that something you should say in front of Yoon-shin's Noona?"
Se-heon wasn't the least bit concerned. Rather, he admonished her with brazen nonchalance.
"Ms. Do Yi-kyung, shall I offer you a word of advice in good faith? I am someone who can shove Do Yoon-shin into a filthy sewer hole reeking of garbage at any time."
"You're saying you know a lot about us siblings and how to handle us?"
"What I'm saying is, if I'm there, that guy will go straight into that hole of his own accord without a moment's hesitation. So before I shove Do Yoon-shin into the pit I'm standing in, stop doing things that constantly provoke me. If you want to keep him in the light, this isn't a good way to persuade me."
Picking up the glass again, he crossed his legs with a snap and slurped his coffee. That arrogant bearing proved that Se-heon was thoroughly threatening Yi-kyung. Thanks to that, she, who had tried to threaten him using Yoon-shin as a hostage, could do nothing but wear the expression of someone who had received a counterpunch in return.
Yi-kyung's vision swam. Of course, she had learned over time what kind of person Kang Se-heon was. Deals with none other than the older sister with the person he loved caught in the middle suited him perfectly, in a sense, as someone who stopped at nothing. But it defied her common sense.
This was why it couldn't work. Overcome with emotion, she finally revealed her resentful feelings.
"How can you speak that way about someone you love? Could you say that in front of Yoon-shin?"
As expected, he was unaffected by such an attack. He looked like a man confident he would not be shaken no matter what harsh words came from her mouth. In truth, Yoon-shin heard all manner of words from Se-heon, ranging from low to high watermarks. Had she known what crude things he heard in bed, she would have been speechless.
"In short, this is like Solomon's Judgment. We are each pulling Do Yoon-shin's arm from either side. If you try to snatch Do Yoon-shin away from me, who will truly suffer? Me? I think Do Yoon-shin will get hurt. I have no intention of letting him go, even if it means his arm gets torn off."
"Why are you being so stubborn in a way that doesn't suit you at all? It's just a relationship, isn't it? It'll end someday."
"Who says we're just dating? Do you even know how far I intend to go with him? Why do you run your mouth so confidently about things you don't know?"
The very moment a question mark formed over his words, a presence was heard near the door. It was a gallery employee. The atmosphere seemed quite chilly; the employee faltered as they conveyed that a guest had arrived. Yi-kyung answered in a deflated voice to send them away, and the moment the person's presence vanished, she pressed Se-heon further.
"A man... Yes, honestly, even if it's difficult and uncomfortable, if Yoon-shin likes him, I can tolerate it. Even if he were poor and uneducated, if it's his choice, it can't be helped. But not CEO Kang."
"I have a great deal of money, am exceedingly well-educated, and have honor as well. I wish you would explain in a way that makes sense."
"I've failed at both love and marriage, so I know the reality of it. Do you know how many crises come in life? How much you have to compromise with each other. Aren't you someone who doesn't know how to lose?"
He, who had been sitting cross-legged and slanted, folded his arms as though he had heard something he shouldn't have. He looked extremely arrogant.
"Ha, are you saying I can't be with him because I've won too much in life? Incredible."
It was at that very moment. The small presence that had briefly vanished was heard again. Once again, it was the sound of footsteps. They were drawing nearer. However, Yi-kyung was so heated she couldn't pay attention to that; without even looking toward the door behind her, she waved her hand dismissively. Her impatient fingertips also carried the message of whether they hadn't heard her say to send them away. She gestured several times and answered a beat too late.
"Is that all you think it is? You've been lonely your whole life. You can't trust anyone around you. He's different from you, Attorney. He's someone who can't be left alone. I'm sorry to say this, but CEO Kang is someone who would make even his lover lonely. If only you had both parents, or at least one parent, or if not that, siblings or relatives, or even just a friend you could pour your heart out to. So he doesn't have to wait endlessly for you alone when things are hard. Is that such a difficult condition?"
Se-heon, who had been silently watching the glass beading with droplets, furrowed his brow. It was because he partly agreed with her words. But Yi-kyung, watching him, seemed to mistake it for denial. She began to act even more emotionally.
"Even this incident. I heard you tend to use even terrorists as public opinion weapons when necessary, yet you couldn't prevent an accident from happening to Yoon-shin, and even used him as a shield! Did that sit well with you? I couldn't sleep. Yes, quite fitting for someone who said he'd keep him even if his arm gets torn off."
Lost in quiet thought, he sensed Yi-kyung exhaling roughly and smiled bitterly. But he remained silent. Not because he intended some counterattack, but because words didn't readily come to mind. At the same time, his mind, which had been in a congested deadlock, sorted itself cleanly like a tangled thread unraveling. He stretched out his left hand, on which he wore a ring, wiped the moisture above the glass, and looked straight ahead.
At that moment, a figure walking unhesitatingly toward them entered his field of vision. Ignoring the director's signal to leave, the owner of that silhouette approaching with steady steps—unless his eyesight had suddenly gone mad—was Yoon-shin.
Whether Yi-kyung finally noticed the presence that had approached so closely, she turned and shouted this time.
"Can't you see I'm entertaining an important guest? I told you to send them back... kh..."
She, who had been reaching out clumsily, froze solid. It was because the face of the person standing rigidly beside the tea table was familiar. Since the trespasser was the director's younger brother, it seemed the staff couldn't send him away carelessly nor use force. Neither could she blame internal staff for poor management. She made a chagrined expression and turned to Se-heon, exchanging glances with him. Just as he was about to signify that he hadn't known either, Yoon-shin seized the timing.
"Noona, that was something I said I'd do. The CEO opposed it, and I did it secretly."
Yoon-shin explained calmly, gazing at her with eyes full of hurt. He didn't know in detail how deep a conversation the two had shared in here. What he knew were the snippets of conversation he had roughly overheard near the door. They remained in his mind with a clarity too vivid to ever erase. Today's events might, in some sense, be the most unforgettable humiliation and insult in Kang Se-heon's life. Because with aspects he couldn't help about himself, he was being rejected before even trying anything.
Yoon-shin was so furious his vision grew dizzy at the sight of him quietly enduring words he should never have had to hear in his life, simply because he loved him. He felt a surge of conflicting emotions watching him refrain here, when he was capable of immediately rising and repaying the humiliation he was receiving dozens, hundreds of times over. His eyes were fixed on Yi-kyung, but Yoon-shin opened his mouth clearly aimed at Se-heon.
"Why aren't you rebutting the claims? You're a lawyer who wins, Sunbae."
Se-heon, who hadn't expected the situation to come to this, sighed in exasperation. Worn out, he ran a hand over his face as if asking whether Yoon-shin asked because he didn't know, then slowly looked up at him. Taking in Yoon-shin raging before him, Yi-kyung flustered at an angle not knowing what to do, and his own dumbfounded self sitting here, a conversation from long ago came to mind.
'In the end, you really went and did this.'
Pinching his forehead as if dumbfounded, he belatedly replied to Yoon-shin.
"I'm thinking. About how to handle words that are right."
"Don't be ridiculous. Right? What's right about it? Why are you putting up with it? Since when were you someone who listens to this and endures it?"
"Did it look like I was putting up with it? You should have come in earlier. You would've seen me not putting up with it."
Seeing that Se-heon had no intention of refuting Yi-kyung's words, Yoon-shin could endure no longer. He grabbed his wrist and forcibly pulled him up.
"Just get up."
Se-heon, wondering why he was following so obediently, quietly looked down at the white, straight hand on his wrist and slowly removed it. Then he fully rose from the chair and straightened his clothes. Yoon-shin's appearance was unforeseen, but he had guessed the siblings would meet and talk about this someday, so he didn't feel the need to interfere.
In truth, Do Yi-kyung was doing her utmost to be reasonable to an astounding degree. Perhaps because she had already suspected this in her heart. The fact that Do-guk had represented her in a lawsuit long ago must have influenced things as well. She must have wanted to avoid this confrontation most of all, yet having found out, it wasn't hard to guess that she was inevitably casting herself as an obstacle. Looking down at Yi-kyung, who was gnawing at her nails, he tilted his chin lightly toward Yoon-shin and asked.
"Seems like you've heard everything there is to hear. Do you have things to say to your brother? Judging by her state, she seems to."
"I do. Please help me speak with Yoon-shin."
"Do that."
Se-heon answered calmly and looked at Yoon-shin again. Suppressing with difficulty the desire to lick those eyes full of confusion, he compromised as much as possible and brushed aside his soft hair.
"I already acted like a real bastard where you couldn't see. Don't wound her needlessly over nothing, and keep it moderate. I'll be in the parking lot, so finish as quickly as possible and come out. I can't wait long."
"Sun..."
Yoon-shin, about to say something, stared blankly at Se-heon's retreating back. As he slipped out the door, the door closed, and when only the siblings remained inside, he slowly turned his head in the silence. He sat before her, who gestured as if telling him to sit, expressing his hurt through his expression, gaze, voice, and even gestures.
"Is this how it's going to be?"
"Did you think I'd raise both hands in approval?"
"What, you think I liked my brother-in-law—no, that bastard CEO Yu?"
"Jung-won has family; all his relatives are alive and well. He has quite a few friends he can rely on. Of course, like CEO Kang, half the people who know him probably want him dead, but at least he didn't use me to save himself."
Now I understand.
Se-heon was right, and I was wrong.
He had understood intellectually when Se-heon explained why he had been so sensitive about the interview Yoon-shin had conducted on his own, but he hadn't accepted it in a corner of his heart. Only now did he clearly realize. That man had seen right through to the fact that Yi-kyung would misunderstand this way—because he was someone who committed the sordid act of using others without compunction, while Yoon-shin was not.
Had he only been seeing what he wanted to see all this time? He had always thought that if it were her, she would understand everything. He had believed his thoughtful, wise Noona would demonstrate her usual insight and consideration regarding this matter. Even if she didn't, he had believed at least her reasons for opposing wouldn't be what she had just said. Because that man had a cold personality, because he was too busy, because he was a man who did many shady things, because he had far more than Yoon-shin. There were so many reasons to oppose; he couldn't understand why she had to use loneliness as an excuse to his face. If he had known it would be like this, he shouldn't have begged them to meet together.
"I really was a fool who could only see what was right in front of him."
"Yoon-shin."
"Who said you were being used? Do you think I'm such an idiot that I'd be used because I'm crazy in love?"
"Even if you weren't used, it's the same. You said you felt how uncomfortable and terrible it is to be recognized by people, watching me get hounded by the press. Yet you were the one who got used recklessly trying to help Attorney Kang. A bad start leads to a bad end. That's why I didn't want to know. Why did it have to be Kang Se-heon? Don't you know Kang Se-heon?"
"Noona, I'm an orphan now too. What exactly is the problem?"
"I'm afraid your choice will make you unhappy. That's what scares me. If you date such a cold man and the love fades, how will you handle it then? Haven't you seen what happened to me? At least a married couple can file a lawsuit, but if CEO Kang sets his mind to it and starts trampling you, you'll become more miserable than anyone I've known. You never caused an accident your whole life, and now you've caused a huge one and hammered a nail into your Noona!"
As he had said, Yi-kyung seemed to firmly believe that there might be a better life for him. His own thoughts were different; it seemed nothing could be better than this. Seeing her, always calm by nature, so agitated, it didn't seem she would be easily persuaded. Kang Se-heon was tactful enough that he surely could have done it. But seeing that he hadn't done so earlier, his heart was still complicated. It pained his heart that Se-heon seemed to agree with all her words. He felt he shouldn't leave him alone right now, yet his desire to defend him was so great he couldn't stand up.
"Noona, Senior doesn't trust people and keeps them at a distance not because he's cold. He's just enduring in that way."
"If it were someone else, I wouldn't oppose. How could I find a better man than him in this world? But you're different. It's because I know how tender you are. Even if luck is on your side and it doesn't end in disaster, it's the same. You'll be compromising your whole life. I can't let you be in a relationship where you sacrifice yourself."
Yi-kyung was gravely mistaken about something. And she was saying things that were all wrong. Yoon-shin found it hard to endure her doing this, and she of all people. Not simply because she was his Noona. It was because the siblings owed him so much.
"Do you