Wedding Ending Chapter 6

Min Jaeyoon resolutely held his coat, which had been resting on his knees, and shoved it toward Kang Seunghyun as if throwing it. His sharp, almond-shaped eyes fixed a piercing glare in this direction.

“Once we get home, sign the papers first. I am not going to appear in public with you ever again!”

“Let’s talk when we get home.”

“You only ever care about how other people see us.”

Min Jaeyoon’s voice gradually grew louder. His throat, engulfed by accumulated resentment, trembled faintly. Because of that, the words leaking out shook in succession as well.

“Back then at the wedding hall, you should have listened to me when I said we should stop those two from getting married! If we had, then you too…!”

“Shut that mouth of yours.”

“Why, am I wrong? Or did I strike too close to the heart? You like Yuseong too!”

At fifteen years old, Lee Yuseong, who won the boys’ doubles at the International Junior Tennis Championships, had a promising future. Naturally, the four of them often used to play doubles tennis. To balance the teams, Kang Jion and Min Jaeyoon were partners, while Lee Yuseong and Kang Seunghyun were frequently paired up as a team.

They should have stopped it back then. They should have kept Kang Jion from entering the wedding hall. Because Kang Seunghyun liked Lee Yuseong too! Given Jion hyung’s personality, there was no way he would marry someone his younger brother loved.

From the very beginning—no, from the start, we had made the wrong choice. Because Kang Seunghyun had proposed marriage as if to take revenge on Lee Yuseong. Min Jaeyoon had simply been persuaded by those words, as if under a spell. He had even felt a strange sense of kinship with Kang Seunghyun, who shared his sentiments.

―If you marry me, you can show hyung how precious of a person you are. Isn’t that enough?

Looking into Kang Seunghyun’s eyes, which were filled with certainty, that thought crossed his mind. He wasn’t a man to spout nonsense. So perhaps he could trust his words. Only then, wiping the corners of his eyes which had become red and sore from crying so much, did Min Jaeyoon step out of bed.

And it didn’t take long to realize reality. Kang Jion sincerely congratulated the two on their marriage. Even at gatherings that were difficult to arrange, he showed no separate interest.

Moreover, Kang Seunghyun was a workaholic. He knew nothing but work. Even on the honeymoon, in the study, in the bedroom, every single waking moment, he did nothing but work. Just when on earth was he going to take revenge on Lee Yuseong! The one who always grew anxious was Min Jaeyoon.

“It’s all the same to you whether I’m here or not anyway!”

At Min Jaeyoon’s sudden outburst of shouting, sudden force was applied to the toes of the driver sitting in front of them. The car shot forward like an arrow and went up onto the sidewalk. Bump, bump—the inside of the car violently jolted. Min Jaeyoon’s body lurched heavily before he could even grab onto anything.

It was all something that happened in a single flash. Avoiding the people who had turned into utter chaos, the car, its steering wheel spun recklessly, crashed into a building with a loud bang.

At the exact same time, everything before Min Jaeyoon’s eyes blinked out into pitch blackness.

Lightbulbs wrapping around a massive tree twinkle. The streets were entirely filled with a Christmas festival atmosphere. When the moving car got caught at a traffic light, the young Min Jaeyoon firmly pressed the button with his tiny, fern-like hands.

The car window rolled down and a cold wind rushed inside. His fine, thin strands of hair fluttered in the wind. The driver hurriedly rolled the window back up. It would be a disaster if he caught a cold. The driver spoke as if to soothe Min Jaeyoon.

―We are almost there.

Just hearing those words made Min Jaeyoon’s heart go thump-thump. He looked down at the box he was clutching. Vitality swirled in Min Jaeyoon’s two eyes, reflected on the glossy red wrapping paper. Will Jion hyung like it?

While the car passed through the bustling downtown area and headed toward a secluded place, Min Jaeyoon kept fidgeting with the Christmas present he had prepared. It was something he had picked out after agonizing over it for a whole week.

The heavy iron gates opened, and the car Min Jaeyoon was riding in entered the grand mansion. No sooner had the car slowed down around the fountain and come to a stop than Min Jaeyoon opened the door and scampered down. The white hood of his sweatshirt pulled out over his coat shook up and down like a squirrel’s tail. You mustn’t run. The driver shouted from behind in concern, but it failed to reach the ears of the elementary schooler Min Jaeyoon.

Having come several times with his father, he knew the layout of the three-story grand mansion inside out. A middle-aged butler approached and tried to guide him to the elevator. However, Min Jaeyoon felt it was a waste of time to even wait for the luggage to be unloaded. Min Jaeyoon brushed past a maid moving about the house and ran up the central staircase. Whether it was because he ran fast, or because he was thinking of the person he was about to meet, Min Jaeyoon felt his breath rising right up to his throat.

―Where is hyung?

But the very person who was supposed to be there is nowhere to be seen. Opening the door and breathing heavily, Min Jaeyoon glared at Kang Seunghyun, who was sitting at the round table. Because he was glaring right back at him too.

―Jion hyung, where did he go?

―He went out. He’s probably with his friends.

Kang Seunghyun, dressed in a neat dress shirt, replied as he shifted his gaze back to the book he was reading. It was glaringly obvious that he didn’t want to deal with him any further.

Min Jaeyoon made a dejected expression. Because they always met, he had simply thought that he would naturally see him if he came to the house. That was why he hadn’t even told his parents and had pestered the driver to come all the way here. However, he hadn’t known that such a thing was only possible because President Min had made an appointment in advance.

Hesitating, Min Jaeyoon let go of the doorknob and moved his feet. It can’t be helped… Min Jaeyoon timidly placed the box he was holding onto the round table. Even though they were brothers, unlike Kang Jion, there was something about him that made him uncomfortable to approach.

―Hey. Can you pass this on to Jion hyung?

Although he had wanted to hand it over directly on Christmas Day two days later and see his delighted face, Min Jaeyoon had to go on an overseas trip with his family as soon as he returned.

―Don’t give it to him today, pass it on right on Christmas Day.

Min Jaeyoon’s voice grew smaller and smaller, as if intimidated. Kang Seunghyun, who had been completely ignoring him, seemed to lift his head to look before looking down at the box.

―All right.

Min Jaeyoon’s face brightened up completely. He’s not as bad of a kid as he looks. Of course. He’s Jion hyung’s younger brother… Stroking his chest as if sighing in relief, he turned his body. And as he closed the door, a strange thought occurred to him. Min Jaeyoon looked up at the room door as if to check.

This is clearly Jion hyung’s room. Why is he in here? Through the narrow gap of the closing door, the figure of Kang Seunghyun looking at the box slowly disappeared.

“…Check vitals.”

Amidst the bustling words spreading in his ears, Min Jaeyoon’s consciousness slowly floated to the surface. He slowly lifted his eyelids. His eyes closed on their own at the glaring fluorescent light.

“Jaeyoon. It’s Mom….”

Once again, his eyelids lifted with difficulty. However, the shapes wavered as if he were looking at them from underwater. The figure of his mother, who had her hair elegantly put up, appeared blurry. Fingertips painted with azalea-colored nail polish grasped Min Jaeyoon’s hand. Her trembling was transmitted directly into his palm. Min Jaeyoon parted his dry lips. However, he couldn’t speak. He was blocked by the respirator covering half of his face.

After a succession of footsteps was heard around them, a doctor who pushed past his mother removed Min Jaeyoon’s respirator. Forcing his closing eyes open to shine a light, Min Jaeyoon narrowed his eyes.

“Is Executive Director Kang conscious?”

“Not yet.”

Along with the words echoing incessantly layer upon layer, a blurry afterimage unfolded before his eyes. People who had been laughing with happy faces while moving along the street instantly shrieked in horror. Screams that seemed to tear skin clawed at Min Jaeyoon’s ears. Min Jaeyoon couldn’t see the surroundings that had turned into a shambles. Because Kang Seunghyun had pulled his face in and held him tightly in his arms. Even when a heat or a rut came, he had never held him like that while having sex. It was nothing more than an act carried out of a sense of duty.

The purpose of their marriage was to see Kang Jion regret. Of course, Min Jaeyoon vaguely guessed that Kang Seunghyun would hold that kind of expectation toward Lee Yuseong as well. Still, while staying by Kang Seunghyun’s side, there were aspects where he gradually got to see a different side to him. Although he acted coldly as if cutting everything with a knife, most of his judgments were right.

On top of that, Kang Jion was endlessly kind and sweet to Min Jaeyoon, who had become a family member. In any case, that too must have been out of courtesy toward Kang Seunghyun.

“Executive Director Kang has regained consciousness as well!”