The New Groom Chapter 27

“He was walking around with a face so messed up he couldn’t even open his eyes properly. Ugh, what a damn idiot. I gave him a few bucks to go get it fixed because it’s an eyesore.”

“I see. Good job, Dad. It was pathetic to even look at. I asked him how it happened and he wouldn’t answer, so I figured there must have been some reason, but… so Seungchan did it.”

“I actually called Joo Seungchan earlier and had a word with him. If you’re going to beat someone, beat them where it doesn’t show, so why on earth would you make a scene like that where it’s all visible and get the company people whispering? It’s not like he’s a beginner, and he’s a guy who knows everything there is to know. Tsk.”

“Did he say why he did it?”

“He just brushed it off, saying it was nothing. It’s not like that bastard is the type to blabber about every little detail. Do you really know nothing?”

Hwang Bosik asked again. Lee Jeongrok shook his head silently. Hwang Imin shifted her gaze to her phone.

“It’s hot out, I don’t know why they have to go and fight like that.”

Talking about assault—how one person assaulted another to the point of breaking bones and causing a limp—Hwang Imin was completely nonchalant. Thinking that the gangster roots don’t go away, Lee Jeongrok inwardly despised both the father and daughter.

However… Lee Jeongrok did have something he was inwardly curious about.

“Is Manager Joo originally a somewhat rough person?”

At that, Hwang Bosik snorted.

“Somewhat rough? It hasn’t been that long since that bastard was even made into a person, kid.”

“Don’t overdo it, Dad. Seungchan may look like that on the outside, but he’s soft on the inside.”

“A guy who’s soft on the inside turns someone’s face into a rag like that? Secretary Yoon would be so dumbfounded if he heard you.”

Not having a reply, Hwang Imin just shrugged her shoulders. Hwang Bosik pointed his chopsticks at Lee Jeongrok and continued.

“You, don’t go fooling around with Joo Seungchan for no reason either. That guy has been in and out of prison like he’s eating meals. When his eyes flip, even I can’t stop him.”

“…Yes, Father-in-law.”

“That doesn’t mean you should be scared and sneak around avoiding him. He’s a guy worth having, so keep him by your side and raise him well as your own person. You hear me?”

“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”

But from that point on, Lee Jeongrok couldn’t properly remember how he ate his dinner.

He’s been to prison? And like he’s eating meals?

As a gangster bastard, he had assumed he would have been in and out of prison, naturally. However, because of the ominous words Hwang Bosik added afterward, his heart hammered with shock. “When his eyes flip, even I can’t stop him”—the fact that even that ignorant Hwang Bosik couldn’t stop him. He couldn’t bring himself to ask what kind of crimes he had committed to go to prison. He felt like he would be even more terrified if he knew.

There were people around Lee Jeongrok who had been to prison, too. But they were all white-collar criminals, not people who had committed ignorant crimes. Lee Jeongrok suddenly recalled what Joo Seungchan had said at the restaurant.

‘I have nothing to be afraid of.’

He felt a chill run down his spine, wondering if he was truly a guy who had nothing to be afraid of. He felt a sudden chill at the back of his neck, realizing how naive he must have looked to himself for talking about hiring a hitman against such a guy.

Though he had bluffed as much as he could in front of Joo Seungchan, in reality, Lee Jeongrok had no friends to connect him to a hitman. His friends were innocent hothouse flowers just like him, who had never even heard of the term “contract killing.” They probably wouldn’t even easily believe the things he had endured. The events Lee Jeongrok had experienced over the last few days were not within the category of things his friends could imagine. Not that he had any intention of opening up to them anyway.

In the end, Lee Jeongrok had made ridiculous threats to a violent recidivist who had been in and out of prison like it was a routine, and he would have to continue to endure disgusting acts that had no end in sight.

After finishing his shower, Lee Jeongrok stood blankly in front of the mirror and stared at his cheek. He had managed to reduce the swelling, but perhaps because it had been irritated by the vomiting at the company in the afternoon, it had swollen up again until it looked ready to burst.

‘If you’re going to beat someone, beat them where it doesn’t show, so why on earth would you make a scene like that where it’s all visible and get the company people whispering? It’s not like he’s a beginner, and he’s a guy who knows everything there is to know. Tsk.’

Hwang Bosik’s words came back to him. He was right. Joo Seungchan was “a guy who knew everything there is to know.” Unlike the assaults on the driver or Secretary Yoon, when he assaulted Lee Jeongrok, hadn’t he mercilessly targeted only the places that were not visible, the places covered by clothes? No one knew what he had suffered.

This cannot go on.

This way… there had to be a special measure, absolutely.

After staring at his cheek for a long time, Lee Jeongrok turned around. The bathroom door had been replaced with a new one in a single day.

Hwang Imin was on the sofa by the window. She was wearing comfortable pajamas, lying relaxed, and reading the book she had left unfinished the day before. Calm jazz played in the room. Lee Jeongrok went to the bed. He fiddled with the bed sheets and adjusted the pillow positions, lingering needlessly. As he got under the covers, Hwang Imin glanced at him and turned off the light. The reading lamp left by the sofa cast a soft, orange glow over him. If he didn’t bring it up, the atmosphere was such that they would just fall asleep.

“…Earlier this evening.”

Lee Jeongrok, clutching the blanket tightly, opened his mouth.

“About what we talked about while eating.”

“What conversation?”

“About Manager Joo laying hands on Secretary Yoon and the driver.”

“Ah, yes. And?”

Finally taking her eyes off the book, Hwang Imin looked at him. Lee Jeongrok desperately contrived a nonchalant expression. He tried to look her straight in the eye like a man with nothing to hide.

“Actually, on Saturday… I mean, the day Secretary Yoon and the driver were hit, I know the circumstances.”

“You know why they were hit?”

“Yes. It was an embarrassing and shameful thing to tell you, Father-in-law, so I unintentionally hid it.”

Hwang Imin, her eyes wide, closed her book.

This was the main point. Lee Jeongrok took a slow, deep breath and spoke.

There had been many things that happened on Saturday, but Hwang Imin didn’t need to know the whole truth. For instance, the incident that occurred at Go Yoongi’s villa or the incident between Joo Seungchan and Lee Jeongrok had to remain unknown forever. Lee Jeongrok skipped over a few facts that were unfavorable to him and told her a cleverly distorted version of what actually happened.

“Maybe the three of them don’t even know that I know. I basically overheard them. After visiting the villa on Saturday, my clothes were wet and I was tipsy, so I went straight upstairs. But I forgot my phone in the car, so I went back to the parking lot. When I got there, the car doors were locked and there was no one around. When I went outside to look for them, the three of them were gathered at the garbage collection area.”

“The garbage collection area? What were they doing there?”

“That is… I didn’t know until now… but those guys didn’t think too highly of me.”

“Wait a minute, honey.”

Hwang Imin approached the bed. Sitting next to Lee Jeongrok, she cautiously took his hand.

“Don’t tell me… you mean they were talking behind your back?”

Lee Jeongrok nodded his head heavily, pretending. He even completely distorted the incident, claiming the ringleader was Joo Seungchan. He packaged the truth in the exact opposite way, claiming Secretary Yoon and the driver were hit while trying to stop Joo Seungchan as his words grew increasingly severe. Hwang Imin seemed to be deeply shocked, listening with her mouth half-open.

“Seungchan? Seungchan? There’s no way he would do that… Oh my god…”

“I trusted Manager Joo a lot, so… I was shocked.”

“How dare he.”

Her astonishment gradually transformed into rage. Hwang Imin hissed as if she were furious to the core.

“How dare he do such a thing. I must have misjudged Seungchan. How dare he, to my husband…”

“The reason I was a bit sharp yesterday… was because that kind of thing happened on Saturday, and feeling so complicated, I made a mistake without realizing it. I hope you understand.”

“Of course. Naturally. No, I didn’t even know such a thing happened and I was playing at the villa until late that day… I am truly sorry. I have no face to look at you.”

“Stop. It’s in the past.”

Only when Hwang Imin backed down and lowered her head did he finally feel his mood lift slightly. His wife was definitely the daughter of a gangster, but half of her was still of Kim Soohyun’s bloodline. As expected, she showed signs of being educated by a cultured artist.