Chapter 20: Danger and Memories

My mother sat down on the sofa too and brought the ashtray closer to her as she started to speak.
"You and Byung Hun...you couldn't be..."
"W...why are you bring that up now...? Don't talk about things that aren't related!"
"It's related to the reconstruction of the Lee Corp."
"Eh?"
"Marry Byung Hun."
"Mwoh...? What are you saying? We're oppa and dongsaeng, you know?"
"You're not related by blood, so you can get married."
"T...that's true, but marriage is..."
"It's fine if you like each other, isn't it? Haven't you already had ?"
"T...that's..."
"I don't have to hide it. I can tell. You're my daughter."
"..."
"So the biggest problem has been solved. With that, the Lee Corp reconstruction can go smoothly."
"What are you saying...?"
"The two of you were raised together as siblings dduring puberty, but as to whether you would be able to actually like each other...That was a problem, but it seems like I didn't need to worry."
"Omma, c...could you posibly have been hoping for this outcome?"
"A wealthy son and a humble daughter from a previous marriage. For those two people to overcome their relationship as siblings and get married...Don't you think it's wonderful?"

"Stop screwing around! How would our marriage save the Lee family?"
"What would the world think if you two married? Have you ever thought about it?"
"That's...I don't know, but..."
"The marriage of two siblings not related by blood, and on top of that, the bride and groom are the Lee family heirs. You're both pleasant to look at, so you'll be popular with the media. It'll definitely become a popular topic."
"And that means?"
"The first is publicity. Your marriage can appeal as the rejuvenated image of the Lee Corp. The second is stock prices. Investors will buy stocks from the company that's being talked about, regardless of the management situation. Lee stocks will definitely go up."
"Publicty and stocks..."
"Plus, while we have the authority, we'll cut off the old divisions that are dragging down the group. Then, Lee family will be protected." I don't really understand management. However, I thought the way my mother was explaning things was a little simple.
"Will that really make the Lee Corp...?"
"Well...The chance that my plan will succeed is about thirty percent."
"T...thirty percent? That's just like a gamble..."
"If we wait now, the Lee Corp will without a doubt disappear. Of course, if we ask for help from somebody like Min Soo-ssi, we'd bound to fail. In order to save the Lee family, the only thing we can do is gamble."
"That's..."
"I'm gambling on your marriage with Byung Hun."
"L...like I said, I can't marry oppa for a reason like that!"
"Don't be so naive!"

Suddenly, my mother seized my shoulder and turned me towards her so she could look at me directly.
"I refuse to be poor! If I'm going to be poor, I'd rather die!"
"O...omma..."

"If that person dies now, I won't even recieve a hundredth of a penny if the Lee Corp falls, you know? Don't you dare let Byung Hun's heart get away. Your fate and mine depends on that boy!"

In the evening, I was told by my brother that there was something he wanted to show me, so I was called over to the office.
*I wonder why he invited me to the office...He's probably going to tell me that management is in a difficult situation...*

In the office that I was guided to, my brother was talking on the phone with his eyebrows furrowed.
"Therefore, proceed with that matter as I said to do the other day juseyo...Understood. Then..."
"Oppa..."
"Ah, you came? Sit over there."

After I sat on the sofa, my brother brought over his computer and sat next to me.
"Um...What do you want to show me?"
"This." After my brother did something with his computer, a three-dimensional image was displayed on the screen.
"This is...a town somewhere?"
"Ne. A town of the future that hasn't existed before."
"What do you mean?"
"The truth is, we're accepting orders for redevelopment in the regional towns and cities. I took a command and I'll complete this town."
"That's daebak! It sounds like a big job."
"Ne. It's a job that appa always wanted to do. If we can start work with no problems, appa will definitely get his energy back."
"I think so too! I look forward to it."
"I'm looking forward to it too. Look here. This group of buildings is only fifteen minutes from the airport." My brothr's eyes were bright as he talked passionately about the work that would be done from now on.
*Now that I think about it, this might be the first time oppa is talked to me in detail about his work..*

My brother continued showing me more documents. Partway, I saw words I didn't expect.
"Then, to line up with this main roada..."
"W...wait a second..."

"What is it?"
"On the screen earlier, it said 'Bang Industries', but..."
"Ne. For this project, the cooperation of Bang Industries indispenasble. They'd always been hesitating about cooperating, but they suddenly showed interest. They probably decided it would be beneficial to be grouped with us."
*Could it be...that Min Soo-ssi is cooperating because he's assuming I'll accept his proposal...*
"To be honest, I don't really have a good impression of that person, since I saw him with you. However, there's nothing more foolish that bringing private matters into business. Even if there are somethings I'm concerned about, we need Bang's efforts."
"Did you call me here because you wanted to say that...?"
"Ne. I thought I'd tell you beforehand."
"Min Soo-ssi's efforts are definitely necessary for the Lee Corp, right...?"
"Ne, we need his cooperation for funding."
"Are there no other methods?"
"Do you really hate Min Soo-ssi that much? Do you still hold a grudge about what he said when he was drunk?"
"I...was proposed to by Min Soo-ssi..."
"What did you say?"

"In the morning, when I came back from the hospital, I met with Min Soo-ssi, and he showed me a marriage registartion form there. He said that he was the only one would be able to save the Lee Corp...So I should marry him..."
"Is that true...?"
"I think that the reason he said he'd cooperate with the Lee Corp is almost definitely because he thought I would accept the proposal. That namja thinks I'm a yeoja who'll do anything for money! Will you still rely on him after that? As I thought, work and the Lee family are more important to you than me..." My brother looked very distressed.
"Aniya, So Hyun ah..."
"That's enough..." I got away from my brother who tried to restrain me and flew out of the office.

After I ran out of the office foyer, I walked while crying down the streer which was just starting to get dark. The cell phone in my bag had been ringing ever since a while ago.
*Arayo...I know that Min Soo-ssi's efforts are necessary in order for the Lee Corp to recover...*

For a brief time, I was able to be happy. However, that was just an apparition that I saw only for a moment before this painful reality...

*For the Lee family, and for oppa, I...But what am I to oppa...?* The more I thought about it, the more I felt like I was so far in the dark I couldn't get out.

I took out my cell phone which was still ringing. On the screen, it wasn't oppa calling but some other name that was displayed.
"Yeobosaeyo, Jin Young oppa?"

Jin Young POV

So Hyun gave me a phone call. She didn't sound cheerful like she usually did, and she spoke with a voice that sounded like it would start crying at any moment. Something definitely happened.

*Come to think of it, isn't this the first time So Hyun is invited me out?* I tried to think back on when I started dating So Hyun, but it was always me that invited her out, she never invited me out...Or that was how it had been.
*Even so, for me to be so happy just from being invited out by So Hyun, I've got it bad.*

There probably wasn't a girl more contrary to me than So Hyun. That was what I was thinking as I was preparing to go out. Before I dated So Hyun, there was a period when I really played around. To the point that I didn't have enough fingers on both hands to count the number of women. It had been natural for me to be dating a woman while sleeping with another. But now, in my opinion, I've settled down a lot. I couldn't say that I was well-meaning, but I mean, I was a healthy man, you know? But recently, I've been different. Now, I didn't want to sleep with any woman, just So Hyun.
*Well, I felt like before those feelings had explooded...*

The reason that So Hyun wouldn't let me kiss her. It might have been because of her brother. After I thought that, I couldn't stop what I was doing.
*Back then, if I had forcibly, that probably would have been the end of the relationship with So Hyun.* When I thought about that, I was glad that So Hyun's brother came then.
*I've been restraining myself pretty well...I really want to praise myself for how great I am.*

No matter how much money I used on things like presents and trips, she wouldn't really be happy.
*I thought she'd be happy about the apartment, but that was no good either...* All the women I've had up until now would be happy when I gave them designers bags or invited them on overseas trips. Even though they were all happy if I just used money on them, So Hyun was the complete opposite. Forgot about being happy, she would just smile a little while looking a bit troubled.

*She's dating me, so she should at least not dislike me, right? Or maybe, just like how I played around with yeojas in the past...Maybe So Hyun is just playing around with me?* No, that probably wasn't it. So Hyun wasn't cunning enough to date somebody she didn't even like. Plus, if she were that sort of woman, I wouldn't be so attracted to her.

*Now that I think about t, the first time I saw So Hyun...She was different from the cheerful surroundings then, too, and felt a bit cold.* What I thought the first time I saw So Hyun was that  she was a 'peculiar girl'.

::Flasback::

That day, there had been showy party. I've gotten where it was, but the daughter of a large company had turned twenty, so there had been a party to celebrate that. I was a son of the Jung family, and I didn't hate parties, so I went to the party since I was invited.

"Oh, if it isn't Jin Young. You were invited too?" I was spoken to by a woman I'd spent the night with just once, so I greeted her casually like I usually did.

"Come to think of it, I heard that the daughter of Lee family is coming today too."
"The daughter of the Lee family?" I'd never met her,but I'd heard about her. The top of the Lee Corp had remarried to a woman more than twenty years yonger than him, and the woman had a child.
*Actually, at the time of the marriage, there were some guys around me who were saying that she was just aiming for the inheritance.* She probably actually married him because she was attracted to his money. Since she was that woman's daughter, I knew her to a point. If I flashed some money in front of her, she should flirt with me.

"Yah, do you know that daughter? I don't know her face."
"Oh, could it be that you're interested in the daughter of the Lee family?"
"A bit."
"I'm amazed. You'll cozy up to anyone as long as she's female."
"Saying it like that is horrible. Well...I can't deny it though."
"Fine. One of my friends should know her, so I'll ask." The woman walked away from me, her heels clacking.

While waiting for that woman to come back, I got some champagne and looked around the hall, with my back to the wall.
*After taking a look at the daughter of the Lee family, maybe I'll invite somebody to a hotel.* I finished the champagne which wasn't that great. Then, I spotted a girl standing out in the showy hall.
*Who is that?* Most of the people who came to the party were faces I recognized, but that girl looked especially out of it. That girl was standing like me with her back to the wall, drinking champagne with a bored expression.
*What a peculiar girl.*

Most of the women who come to the party were looking for husbands. People from high society gathered at parties like this. The woman from earlir definitely was thinking of inviting me out. That was probably why she looked unhappy when I started talking about the daughter of the Lee family. She was wearing a beautiful dress, but it felt like she wasn't used to wearing it.
*Did she sneak into the party by pretending to be someone's daughter?* No, if that were the case, she woud have been approaching men, but that woman was just for the time to pass and didn't talk to anyone.

"Jin Young-ssi, about the daughter of the Lee...Ah, she's over there." Could it be? That's what I was thinking. The woman was pointing at the girl I'd been staring at up until now.
"It might be because she's a child from a previous marriage, but she doesn't look like she's familiar with this sort of thing. Rather than spending time with a girl like her..."The woman got close to me and murmured in sweet voice as she looked up at me.
"Joesong, maybe next time!"

If I were acting like I usually did, I would probably have sneaked out of the party with this woman and headed towards a hotel. However, I didn't feel like that today. The women who invited men out with a coaxing voice and the men who were deceived by them. I was interested in the daughter of the Lee family who was watchiing them coldly.

"Yah."
"Eh..." When I spoke up to her, the daughter of the Lee family looked at me like she was surprised.
*Oh, she's pretty cute up close.*
"Um, may I help you?" Looking displeased and cautious from being sarted at, she looked back at me with a frown.
"Jung Jin Young ibnida, but who're you?" No matter how cautious they had been after I gave my name, any normal woman would comepletely change her attitude.
*In any case, she and her omma were dazzled by the Lee fortune, right? If that's how it was, she should accept my invitation.* But no matter how long I waited,there was no reply from her.
"Could it be you didn't hear me?"

Even though classical music was playing in the hall, it wasn't so loud that the people's voices coudn't be heard.
"Jung Jin Young ibnida. Who are you?"But after the girl glanced at me, she just looked away again without saying anything.
*Is she going to ignore me even though she heard me?*
"Yah, why aren't you responding? Why not be a bit more civil?"
"I don't want to be told to be more civil by somebody who would say 'Who're you?' to somebody they've just met."
"Eh..." Even I was surprised by the girl's words.
*She couldn't possibly not know the Jung, could she? Ani, if she's somebody in high society, there's no way she wouldn't...* Even if she was a child from a previous marriage, she should have known the companies that did business with the Lee Corp.

"Why don't you study up on manners a bit? If you don't, you won't be able to get a man, you know?"
"There's no reason for you to be concerned about that." No matter what I said, she cut the words right down.
*S...she's not cute at all...*
"If you flatter me, I'll buy you anything you like. Jewels or designer bags, I can get anything. So why not show me a bit more charm?"
*But I'm not in the wrong. She's the one who's wrong for saying something like that!*

"You said you'd get me anything that I want?"
"Mwoh?"
"Did I ever say I wante jewels or bags? I didn't even thnk about wanting those, and it would only be a bother to receive them." It felt like she was rejecting everything about me. I didn't even know myself how much I had used on each woman up until now while I was dating them. Whatever they wanted, I got for them. That had been something natural to me, but this woman was destroying all of that.

*I'm pissed...Why do I have to get so angry about a woman?*
"On top of that, you're a very disagreeable person."
"Eh?"
"Even though you knew who I was, you pretended that you didn't. You were testing me to see if I would be swayed by your money, weren't you?" I couldn't reply. It was just as the girl in front of me, the daughter of the Lee family, was saying.
"Don't put me together with women like that. I'm...Ani, I'm different from my omma..." The girl said that with her hands in tight fists. I felt like words she had just said weren't for me to hear but for herself.
*As expected, people must be saying a lot of things since she's a second wife.* I thought that it certainly wasn't unreasonable for her to be angry at the things I said to her.
*She's different from other woman. She's not so easy that she'll be swayed by money.* I might have been a little bit happy, since she was the sort of woman I had wanted to meet.

"If you understand, then please quickly go..."
"Jung Jin Young ibnida. What would your name be?" I held out the red rose that had been in my suits's pocket and started over.
"..."She gaped at me, like she didn't understand what I was doing at all.
"Certainly, this rose was also something that I bought, but you won't say that you won't accept this either, will you? It wasn't something expensive." When I said that a little peevishly, the harshness that I had felt from the girl before completely disappeared. She started laughing, sudden like a flower in bloom.
"Hehe, you're strange."
*When she laughs, she's seriiously kyeopyta.* Maybe it was because she had been looking at me so coldly up until then. Once she showed me her smile, she looked adorable.
"Lee So Hyun ibnida. I also said some rude things myself, so joesonghabnida." She smiled thinly as she said that, like a variety of things had happened to her.She looked very helpless to me then.

We went from the hall to the terrace for a change in location. There, we talked to each othr less formally.
"Oh, so your poppa is in America." Now that she mentioned it, my dad had said that the son of the Lee family was going to work at the New York branch.

So Hyun didn't say anythinng, but something had probably happened then. When she was talking about her brother, she looked even sadder than when I had been making a fool of her earlier.

"Yah, So Hyun-ssi."
"Eh?"
"Why not date me?"
"As I thought, you're fine with anyone as long as she's a woman." So Hyun said that like she was disgusted, and I hurriedly denied it.
"A...aniya! Ani, I can't say that that hasn't been the case up until now, but I'm not saying those words lightly to you, So Hyun-ssi!"
"You've probably said that same line to various yeoja before, right?"

As expected, confessing on the day we met was a bad move...I regretted it. But when I was rejected, I felt releved.
*I'm glad she's not the type of girl who would accept the feelings of somebody who confessed to her on the day they met.*
"I'm going back."
"Yah, wait! This is my business card! My number and email arewritten on it!" At first, So Hyun wouldn't take it, but I pushed it towards her against her will.

::Finish flashback::

*Oh man! Why didn't I ask So Hyun for her phone number then?* All I was worrying about then was telling So Hyun my email address. I'd completely forgotten to ask for So Hyun's email address, which was essential.
*She had that attitude towards me at the end, so there's ahigh chance that she won't contact me...*

After that, there was no response from So Hyun even though I waited a few days. Just when I was getting irritated, I got a text from So Hyun on my phone. It was just a simple greeting text. But I got a text from So Hyun...I was so happy about that, I forgot all my irritation. I replied right away and invited So Hyun out. Of course, she hesitated at first, but you could say there was my persistence...So Hyun gave in and agreed to a date with me.

*Then, I continued to go out on dates with So Hyun...On the umpteenth one, I confessed and then we started dating.* Though it wasn't that long ago, for some reason, it felt like a distant memory. Ever since then, my feelings for So Hyun just got stronger. I might have been in a hurry to make So Hyun mine.
*I wonder if So Hyun's feelings have changed since then?* With the car window open, the night breeze blowing in, those were the sorts of things I was thinking about.

Preview

"So, where are we going?"
"Anywhere is fine."
"Even a hotel?"
"Ne."
"I see..."

When I got off the taxi, I suddenly felt a strange atmosphere coming from the gathered crowd.
*What's up with these people...?*
"Could it be Lee So Hyun-ssi...?"
"Eh...Ne, but..."
"So Hyun-ssi, chukhahabnida! Let us know how you feel right now juseyo!"
"Eh...?"

What's on earth was happening...?

Author's notes

Wow~I was going to type more but I just realized that it's late. Umm...I'm a bit dizzy now so I think I have to stop today's updates here and have a rest. Anyway, see you at evening!! New chappie may up around that time. XD