Desires Chapter 5.5 - Provocations

Cha Woojin did not listen attentively to Yoon Jioh’s words. Cha Woojin’s attitude was extremely arrogant and indifferent. Yoon Jioh gently soothed him to elicit a sense of reassurance from Cha Woojin.

“Certainly, Mr. Song Yeongin will also be pleased with the director’s decision. After all, he has gained the best guardian.”

When Yoon Jioh mentioned Song Yeongin, Cha Woojin finally showed a reaction. Wiping the cold sneer from his face, Cha Woojin wore an expression that was utterly unlike him.

“No, that boy might actually dislike it.”

“?”

“He’ll definitely hate it if I say I’ll buy his paintings. He won’t be thrilled about me becoming his guardian either. I don’t even know if he still wants to keep painting…”

“Why do you think that?”

Yoon Jioh asked, showing a puzzled expression.

“People like us, full of greed, can never understand.”

“…….”

“Just like we can never understand Uncle Kang Hajong, who turned his back on the family and gave up everything to become a priest.”

An employee, neatly dressed in a black uniform, brought documents, and Cha Woojin signed the paper placed in front of him.

“Manager Park.”

When Cha Woojin called out to Park Seongjae, Park Seongjae approached Yoon Jioh and placed a blank check on the marble table.

Cha Woojin spoke in a calm, low voice.

“Write the amount.”

Yoon Jioh wrote a number with countless zeros, but Cha Woojin’s cold expression didn’t even flicker.

The share that would fall to Song Yeongin from the astronomical amount Yoon Jioh wrote was probably as insignificant as dust. However, such trivial calculations were of no importance to Cha Woojin.

Even if he hadn’t involved Han Jiyeon in the first place, Yoon Jioh was the kind of person who would have inflated the stakes as much as possible. He was a cunning schemer who would never miss a golden opportunity to manipulate the scales with conglomerates on either side.

From the moment he saw Song Yeongin’s striking beauty, which stirred dark desires, he must have known instinctively. From the moment he brought that pure, captivating beauty into this game…

Yoon Jioh had deliberately pushed that boy into the spotlight. To catch Cha Woojin’s eye. To catch Matteo’s eye. And to catch James Han’s eye…

Yoon Jioh had been waiting for the chance to escalate the stakes. It was clear that this was all part of his calculations, so the outcome would have been the same regardless.

“How will we handle Mr. Song Yeongin’s consent?”

“We’ll set a separate date. He’s someone who pathologically hates missing work.”

Yoon Jioh couldn’t help but laugh at Cha Woojin’s lighthearted joke.

The rumors about Song Yeongin and Cha Woojin, which had already spread at Matteo’s banquet, were quietly circulating among the upper-class gossipmongers. The rumor that Cha Woojin was utterly smitten with his beautiful male lover had become a scandalous topic that captivated the mouths and ears of high society.

A conglomerate among conglomerates, a noble among nobles, the king of the elite—that man, the famously haughty Cha Woojin, was said to be buried between a man’s thighs, consumed by debauchery.

His status as an object of awe among them was due to his untouchable, arrogant sexual allure. Everyone wanted to sleep with that man, but no one could easily have him—this unassailable sexual fantasy had placed him at the pinnacle of desire and envy among the elite. It was as if he were an idol or celebrity they admired… And so far, Cha Woojin had cleverly used this advantage to his benefit.

That such a man was consumed by debauchery with a strikingly beautiful man—there could be no rumor more provocative or base, stirring the lowest desires.

The rumor grew flesh and swelled. For Cha Woojin, who managed his reputation with near-obsessive perfection, it was nothing short of a blemish, yet he made no effort to quell the scandal.

“Has Song Yeongin truly captivated him? Has Cha Woojin fallen into a reckless game of love… or even a dangerous fling?”

If not, none of this could be explained. Even if he had avoided a misstep, Cha Woojin had accepted significant losses at Woosung Electronics to ensure Song Yeongin’s paintings were not handed over to James Han.

The cold-blooded Cha Woojin that Yoon Jioh knew from the past would never have done such a thing. The Cha Woojin he knew would never have been foolish enough to trade a mere painting for business losses, risking the company he had built and grown with his own hands over a decade.

He might be Kang Hajong’s hidden kin. He bore an uncanny resemblance to the noble and refined appearance of a young Kang Hajong. That was precisely why Yoon Jioh couldn’t ignore him. If that suspicion were true, what on earth was he planning? Yoon Jioh clicked his tongue inwardly.

“What a scandal…”

Yoon Jioh whispered with a meaningful smile.

“You’ve changed a lot. You’re not the little brother I knew.”

Cha Woojin didn’t bother to put on a poker face for Yoon Jioh. Yoon Jioh was his cousin, raised alongside him. In their distant childhood, there were days when they affectionately called each other hyung and followed each other fondly. At the very least, the two shared innocent memories.

“People always change… Just like my cousin hyung, who one day started treating me like a stranger, addressing me with formal respect as if I were his superior.”

Yoon Jioh smiled faintly, and that smile was deeply bitter. However, those with ambition in their hearts never falter at such fleeting emptiness.

To gain more from Cha Woojin, Yoon Jioh chose a path completely opposite to that of his younger brother, the photographer Yoon Geono. Unlike that useless, idle fool who was the spitting image of their incompetent father, Yoon Jioh was fundamentally different.

Cha Woojin was wary of those with excessive ambition.

If Yoon Jioh had remained a good cousin, showing no greed like Yoon Geono, he wouldn’t have been able to brazenly pick Cha Woojin’s pocket as he did now. In the upcoming division of the Hajung Group, Yoon Jioh would not yield an inch. The same went for Cha Woojin.

Yoon Jioh had simply chosen the best method for survival, and Cha Woojin had come to accept that he could no longer treat him as a close cousin. Regretting something that could not be undone was the most foolish thing. Both of them knew this well.

“There’s one thing I need you to promise.”

Cha Woojin’s pitch-black eyes gleamed with ferocious intent, unwavering in their calm.

“What do you mean?”

“Even if something happens, you must not recklessly reveal any suspicions about Song Yeongin. Not to Mother, not to the priest, not to Song Yeongin himself. No matter who it is… keep your mouth shut and watch your tongue. Don’t even think about exposing anything—stop right here!”

Yoon Jioh nearly succumbed to that ferocious, intimidating aura.

He knew exactly what Cha Woojin was talking about—the possibility that Song Yeongin was Kang Hajong’s kin.

However, Yoon Jioh hid his intentions and responded with a feigned ignorance, his expressionless face betraying nothing. Those who could not become kings had to wear masks and play their roles.

“As expected, my little brother is thorough.”

Cha Woojin warned with the ferocity of a tyrant purging traitors, consumed by madness.

“Listen carefully. If that happens, I’ll really wring your neck.”