No matter how vigilant he was, he was offended and angry that a suspicious person had been perfectly mixed in his house for a few days. Wasn’t she even with Yihyeon while he wasn’t there?
‘As you can guess, the fake ‘Kwon Yihyeon’ was ordered by someone else and was intentionally placed next to the managing director…’
A reasonable doubt arose. There were two people in the house who hid their identity with the same pattern. Did the housekeeper and Yihyeon really know each other?
When he thought of that, he couldn’t eat anymore, as if something was stuck in his throat.
Joohyuk, who stopped eating and drank cool water at once, looked at Yihyeon who was in front of him.
The man who was sitting next to him, hiding his identity. A man who obeyed his words so devotedly. And the man with his mate’s eyes.
Joohyuk’s eyes narrowed.
Without him, the contract had no effect. He was used at a much lower price than other sex partners, but now he was giving him a bonus of several million won periodically, regardless of whether he gives back or not. That money alone would have already exceeded his salary.
There were three types of people who moved under the influence of others. Either he was very loyal to his master, or he chose to receive a large reward, including material factors, or both.
Either way, one thing was certain. That the man in front of him was not his alone.
More than anything else, that bothered him the most. The truth was that the dog who followed him had an owner who followed him more deeply.
In the past, it would have been possible to have someone question him in various ways and then throw him away, but not now. Question him and throw him away? He didn’t know if that was how it used to be, but it was impossible now.
There was laughter. It seems that he understood a little bit of Lee Sihoon’s heart.
If he was someone else’s, shouldn’t he steal him away?
* * *
On that day, a small change occurred in the penthouse.
In the penthouse, the large room next to Joohyuk’s bedroom became Yihyeon’s, and the empty interior was filled with a wide bed and various furniture in one day. Joohyuk, who was reluctant to let others into the house, doubled the number of people guarding the outside and the number of people inside.
Even though the number of guards increased, Yihyeon felt strange that he had even prepared a new room for him.
“But when you sleep, you sleep in my room.”
If that was the case, why did he make a new room for?
He was curious about Joohyuk’s intentions. But when he asked him why he was doing this, the answer he would return was obvious.
“Kwon Yihyeon, you can do what I tell you to do and just accept anything quietly.”
Those words made him unbearably anxious.
“I heard that your shoulder has improved a lot, how is it?”
Joohyuk, who was tying a tie for work, asked Yihyeon, who had been standing next to him like a habit. With Joohyuk’s suit jacket in his hand, he was looking down, and then he met his eyes.
“I can come back at any time.”
Joohyuk’s eyes looking at Yihyeon became cold for an instant. But soon, it bent softly, as if it had never been cold.
“That’s fortunate. I’ll call the doctor around the time I leave, so I’ll check your condition and set a date for work.”
“I see. If you can give me the current external guard system, I’ll let you know when I start the security…”
“You don’t have to.”
Joohyuk, who took the suit jacket in Yihyeon’s hand after tidying up his tie, grinned.
“From now on, all of my bodyguards under the Shinwoo group will move together. We will also fill in the staff.”
Joohyuk, who was wearing a jacket, pulled Yihyeon and hugged him, looking closely into his eyes. The dark eyes that couldn’t be understood caught Joohyuk’s attention as if it contained magical power.
“You don’t even have to act as a secretary. I’ve already got a new secretary, so I don’t have to worry about Kwon Yihyeon.”
When he lightly press the corner of his eye with his thumb and swept it, his black eyes filled with doubts.
“Then I have nothing to do, do I?”
“There is.”
He lifted Yihyeon’s chin slightly and brought his lips closer to his lips.
“Being by my side. Isn’t that your job?”
* * *
The number of people increased, but Joohyuk was not there, so he only felt a little sluggish.
‘No, that’s what this room is.’
Yihyeon, who was standing still in the newly assigned room, headed out the door without a moment’s notice. As soon as he stepped out the door, the guards outside stared at him without saying a word, like a guard dog with their ears pricked up.
“Anything you need?”
One of the bodyguards approached and politely asked. Previously, it was hard and overbearing to the point where it was obvious that he was being watched, but now he was polite as if he would listen to anything he said. He didn’t know what he was told, but for Yihyeon, even this was inconvenient.
“No. Never mind.”
He spoke briefly and headed to his original room. He felt a presence following him, but he wasn’t particularly fazed.
Even though the sun was still rising, Yihyeon, who entered the dark room alone, stood in front of the door for a moment and paid attention to the outside presence. He felt another man standing in front of the door, let alone the man following him.
Surveillance, security, or both.
Yihyeon looked at Joohyuk’s changed behavior and put all of the atmosphere together so far, and made a face that was unsettling. It would be better if he told him clearly if there was something he wanted.
Yihyeon turned from front of the door and approached the chest of drawers, reached under it and took out a folder phone. Turning on the power, he approached the window and opened it wide. A cold wind blew in like a sword.
When he called the only person he was contacting on the folder phone, the other person answered as if they were waiting.
-Are there any injuries? Are you okay?
He had a sad tone in his voice that was filled with worry. The people in Joohyuk’s bodyguard team should have already reported it to him, but he had to ask.
“I’m sorry for worrying you. I am fine.”
-I’m glad if that’s the case…
Still, the worries that remained in his voice were not erased. Yihyeon tried to ignore his voice and brought out the business.
“Did you get the recorder?”
– Yes, it has been delivered.
At the time of being kidnapped by Lee Sihoon, Yihyeon took advantage of the wound on his shoulder and asked to tie his hands in front of him. It was clear that he was holding hands with Sehyeon, so he thought he would be reluctant to make his wounds worse or for him to suffer, and as expected, he gently tied his hands in front of him. Thanks to this, I was able to touch and activate the miniature recorder that was hidden under the belt buckle.
At that time, all conversations with Lee Sihoon were recorded. It contained the content that Lee Sihoon was the mastermind behind the golf course incident and his hatred for Joohyuk.
When he was alone with Sehyeon, he handed the recorder to her and asked her to deliver it. By that time, Joohyuk was already lining up with his bodyguards, and there were too many eyes to see him deliver things to his people who were mixed among them. So Sehyeon decided to deliver it instead, and in fact her bodyguard pretended to shove one of his men and handed him the item.
Sehyeon’s urgent voice was still vivid.
“Oh my gosh, Hyun-ah. I was just using him to bring you from Lee Joohyuk so I partnered with Lee Sihoon.”
At Sehyeon’s words, he said it deliberately colder.
“Use? It would not be just that.”
“… What?”
“You were trying to destroy the entire family of Chairman Lee Jungho. Am I wrong?”
Sehyeon didn’t say anything to the question filled with certainty.
He knew his sister. The thing that bothers her was the people who she was trying to get rid of from the root.
Sehyeon kept her mouth shut and held her hand on her lap, pathetically. She was the older sister who could do anything for him, but other than that, she was an infinitely cold person.
If Lee Sihoon was aiming for Joohyuk’s life, she would have collected evidence for ‘murder solicitation’’ and, in addition, the threat material he had been carrying out. It would be great if Joohyuk died in the process, but even if that wasn’t the case, she would at least try to make him lose during his hospital stay.
As much as he was able to obtain the corruption-related data of the third son, Lee Haejun, he must have been in Sehyeon’s hands, and Ahn Seohee also had a history of using some of the donations received through a foundation in the past as her slush funds.
If all successors were lost and even the new wife was found to have committed corruption in the past, Chairman Lee Jungho would be driven out of the position of head of the company just for their work.
Sehyeon, who had an unavoidable and thorough entrepreneurial mind, would not miss that time and will combine the stake in the Shinwoo Group secured under her original name and the stake in ‘Yoon Jaehee’ to overthrow Chairman Lee Jungho and become the major shareholder of the Shinwoo Group.
As he dug up to that point, Sehyeon’s eyes quickly sank. She grabbed her hand and shook her fingertips to contain her anger.
“They are an unforgivable family. You had a hard time for 17 years because of that…”
Tears welled up in Sehyeon’s eyes. She was very cold towards other people, enough to be called cold-blooded, but in front of her only brother, she was just a delicate woman.
“I was only going to wait a year. Even if that bastard Lee Joohyuk didn’t treat you like that… I was trying to be patient.”
Sehyun grabbed his hand and asked with tears in her eyes.
“Let’s go back, Hyun-ah. You’ve done enough. I’ll take care of the rest. And since I’m almost ready to drive out Chairman Lee Jungho’s family, I’ll wipe them all clean and give you the CNU group.”
If Sehyeon’s plan went well, Joohyuk aside, after detonating an ethical bomb about Lee Sihoon and Lee Haejun to gather public opinion, all their corruptions would be publicly announced. If corruption was revealed one after another amongst unfavorable public opinion, their positions will be deprived one by one at the general shareholders’ meeting, and in that case, Joohyuk, who was still standing, would be fired.
In the end, the Lee Jungho family who wielded the Shinwoo group will all step down from the front line. In addition, if Sehyeon, who accumulated shares as if she had been preparing for this day for a long time, became the major shareholder as planned, she will be able to seat anyone she wants in the vacant chair. If everything went perfectly.
As a kind of revenge and compensation for the disgusting Lee Jungho family, Sehyeon was thinking of driving them all out and giving her younger brother the whole Shinwoo group.
But he shook his head.
“I will never sit there.”
“Hyun-ah…”
“You know, Noona. To me, the covenant is the most important thing.”
Unlike someone else.
Although Joohyuk forgot, he did not forget his instincts.
As soon as he mentioned the covenant, Sehyeon put on a painful expression instead. Even after being like that, there was also a sad look on his face and she wondered whether he was putting up with it. It seemed that the only consideration she could do was not criticize with words.
With a bitter smile, he turned his head away from Sehyeon’s gaze.
“And it’s not my job to drop Lee Sihoon and Ahn Seohee. I’m just helping out.”
If she was just helping out and dealing with them, she didn’t need a year. Because she was able to create and deal with innocent sins.
But he hoped that it would be Joohyuk’s hand to condemn and destroy them.
When he first found Joohyuk, Yihyeon could not understand him.
There were reports that he had been constantly threatened by Lee Sihoon and Ahn Seohee, but he never took action. He just pretended to be fierce like a tiger and passed it on.
After mobilizing all of his people to investigate further, he found out that Ahn Seohee held a hostage in the ossuary. And in the ossuary were the remains of Park Hyein, the first Omega wife of Chairman Lee Jungho and mother of Lee Joohyuk.
It was a story that had already spread to some extent in the world that Joohyuk visited the ossuary where his mother’s ashes were enshrined every month for several years. The reason he visited the ossuary every month was because he missed her, but in reality, he was going to check if the ossuary was safe.
Rumors spread that Park Hyein was a woman who did not care about her only son at all while she was alive and only longed for the affection of Chairman Lee Jungho. However, Joohyuk was too precious to be such a mother, and because of the fact that her ashes were in Ahn Seohee’s hands, he couldn’t even push Lee Sihoon out properly.
As time went by like this, the life of Joohyuk and Lee Sihoon and Ahn Seohee was in danger. It had to be stopped.
However, he did not intend to solve everything blindly. He wanted him to stand up on his own. He only helped him, but Joohyuk had to think about confronting Lee Sihoon and Ahn Seohee with his own will. Otherwise, when he was gone, he would not be able to properly cope when they crawl back and start harassing him or when others were aiming for his neck and seat.
Rather than forcing the crippled man to stand up, he wanted to help him get up and walk of his own accord.
It was a contract to break his heart, but in other words, it was also a contract to raise Joohyuk. Sehyeon intervened unintentionally, but thanks to her, things moved forward.
All roads had been prepared.
“Now it’s almost over.”
Unable to hide the bitterness that was rushing in without knowing the reason, Sehyeon opened her mouth calmly, wiping the wet eyes with the back of her hand.
“Okay. If there’s anything I can do to help, I’ll help. Instead…”
Taking a shaky breath, she continued.
“Instead, when this is over, Joohyuk will be forgotten. Understand?”
He wanted to answer right away. What was there to be hesitant about? He was only moving because of a compulsory covenant, but he already had no affection for him other than memories of the past.
1 second.
2 seconds.
3 seconds…
Nothing came out as if time had stopped. He had no choice but to help himself. He bit the inside of his mouth painfully to come to his senses. It was then that a stinging feeling hit his head.
“I will… Surely I will.”
At that time, even though the effect of the anesthetic was still there, it seemed that his stomach hurt to the extent that he could not speak properly.
-I heard you sent it through the young lady, have you two met?
As if erasing the memories of the day he met Sehyeon, a clear, low voice came from over the phone.
“It just happened. Cut the back part of the recording appropriately and use the rest as evidence. The data collected so far will be sequentially delivered to the investigator Lee Joohyuk, Executive director.”
Unless it was aimed at someone’s life, it was impossible to get rid of a person like Lee Sihoon. A modest threat or corruption could be avoided by setting up a stand-by, if not, there was a way to get out of the scandal by using financial resources and power. Of course, the murder soliciting was also not without a way out, but to block all those methods, he had to use everyone who was available. To organize him and disappear within the given time.
He decided to take advantage of the fact that Sehyeon had already been drawn in.
“I have a request for my sister, and I will visit her sooner or later. By then, we’ll probably be pretty much done with our work.”
When he exhaled, for some reason, it felt empty, as if a corner of his chest had been opened. The more he recognized it, the more lethargy and helplessness seemed to creep in.
-… Can’t you come out now?
A worried voice could still be heard from the other side.
– I received a call from the nursery school we used. It seems that Lee Joohyuk, Executive director, used another person.
The movement stopped abruptly, then he released a sigh.
“I am a very suspicious person. The contract is about to end anyway…”
It was bittersweet. He almost laughed, wondering if he was still a suspicious person who didn’t know whether he was an ally or an enemy to Joohyuk. He couldn’t count the number of times that he gave his body to protect that person, and he did all sorts of strange things during the year to protect that one person.
He understood how he had been living, but nevertheless, he felt that Joohyuk did not have any trust in him, so his feelings were bitter.
– It is said that the one who came this time was a detective. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about, as they dealt with it well so that we didn’t get caught.
“I don’t know. Find the person and find out in detail. Please contact MYS as well.”
-All right.
“And…”
He hesitated because he couldn’t get the words out. For some reason, he felt like he couldn’t dig into this.
– What happened?
He immediately asked when he felt something strange.
Yihyeon was worried. Instinct told him not to say it, but something deep down kept bugging me.
In the end, he couldn’t stand it and spoke up.
“In the words of Lee Sihoon, Executive Director Lee Joohyuk suffered from a mental illness. It was information that was not in our investigation.”
-Are you planning to dig further?
His hand on the window sill twitched and he clenched his fist.
– After all, didn’t you say that you would withdraw without any regrets?
Yes. It was. That was the way it should be.
There should be no room for regret, so why was he trying to catch up with his missing past now?
When it came to Joohyuk’s work, it seemed like he was always at a loss, so he was pathetic. What more did he want to know? What excuse was he going to give?
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There’s probably no explanation I will find satisfying as to why this grown ass man blames his mate for developing drug and trauma induced amnesia as after what happened to them as kids.