Contract Marriage with a Male Friend - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#18

The Skyriver Hotel was a place he visited often.
Four days ago, he’d come here at the summons of Chairman Dok Go Hyung Jun, who’d held a formal dinner gathering in this very building.
‘I should pick up some chocolate.’
He’d heard that the pastry chef who’d recently transferred to this hotel was exceptionally skilled.
An Soo Yi had always loved desserts, but among them, chocolate held a special place in her heart.
When she was little, she’d grabbed his hand and said seriously, ‘If I don’t get into university, let’s work at a chocolate factory together.’
“…….”
Yet as Beom Jin recalled that endearing memory, his face remained expressionless.
He didn’t want a mere image in his mind—he wanted to see the real An Soo Yi.
In all the time they’d spent together, had they ever been apart this long?
“……Hm.”
As he exhaled a low breath, the shoulders of the subordinates riding the elevator with him tensed.
For over a week now, Dok Go Beom Jin’s “processing” had continued relentlessly.
He was the man who’d ignored Chairman Dok Go Hyung Jun’s orders for years and kept to his work hours as strictly as clockwork.
Recently, Beom Jin had taken on a staggering amount of work.
With him—a man so skilled at processing that even the chairman himself had said no one could match Beom Jin—stepping forward, the pace of operations accelerated beyond all comparison to the norm.
As a result, many places now needed him, and the inevitable clash between forces supporting and forces checking Beom Jin intensified.
Alongside his regular company duties, he now led the charge in “processing”—purging traitors and covertly extracting necessary information—while simultaneously wielding political maneuver.
These days, Beom Jin had scarcely a moment to breathe.
Rumors circulated that his recent activities meant he’d “officially entered the succession war.”
But those who served him directly saw it differently.
It wasn’t about consolidating his position……
Venting.
Yes, it was closer to simple venting.
Beom Jin threw himself into trivial tasks he needn’t have personally touched, stripping away even his opponent’s very soul.
Today was no exception.
Though his secretary could have handled it easily, Beom Jin was personally heading up to the Sky Lounge to extract materials from An Myung Jae.
He could have sat in the car or in the suite An Myung Jae had reserved, and his staff would’ve brought him everything—
Ding.
The elevator doors slid open with the arrival chime.
“An Myung Jae’s location.”
At Beom Jin’s command, Jung pulled out his phone and checked the screen.
“He appears to be arriving at the bar shortly.”
The dining area and bar of the Sky Lounge were connected, though they had separate entrances.
The entrance visible immediately to the right upon exiting the elevator led to the dining space, while the bar lay to the left after walking down the long corridor ahead.
“What about arrangements?”
“No need for concern, sir.”
He glanced down at his wristwatch.
Thirty minutes at the shortest, an hour at most.
‘I can pick up that chocolate.’
He could leave it at her door.
Then the softhearted An Soo Yi would contact him.
They’d been apart for nearly two weeks now.
That was when it happened.
“Oh? Who’s this? Isn’t it our Executive Director Dok Go?”
A middle-aged man exiting the dining area greeted him warmly.
“Chairman Kim, it’s been a while. Good to see you.”
“Running into you in a place like this. I’ve heard the rumors—your grandfather must be quite pleased. He was saying his grandson’s finally come of age, haha.”
Chairman Kim clapped Beom Jin lightly on the shoulder with a hearty laugh.
“Kangho Group will only soar higher from here on. When that fool Eun Seok will finally get his act together is beyond me.”
“I understand Eun Seok has also successfully completed his project. Congratulations.”
“My, Kangho Group’s intelligence network is terrifying as always, isn’t it? How did you even know that? I only got the report a few hours ago myself.”
Chairman Kim clicked his tongue in amazement before asking in a meaningful tone.
“By the way, did your grandfather mention it? Our group’s anniversary celebration is in just over two weeks.”
“Yes, I’ve heard.”
“I’d really like for you to come. My granddaughter is returning from America, and she should have someone familiar here in Korea.”
At the mention of his granddaughter, Jung standing behind Beom Jin’s eyes flickered subtly.
Please don’t say any more than that.
“Now that I think of it, didn’t you attend Saint Phil School as well?”
“……Yes. Only very briefly, though. We merely crossed paths.”
“Getting in there is hard enough. Even crossing paths is impressive. And if you walked the same campus, well, my granddaughter and you practically shared middle school, didn’t you?”
Jung and the other subordinates tensed at Chairman Kim’s obvious eagerness to connect his granddaughter with Beom Jin.
One of the subjects never to be broached in front of Beom Jin was women.
More precisely, it was marriage.
“Please look after my Se Na for me. Let me know if you need anything at all, yes?”
Then Chairman Kim checked his watch and, with a busier demeanor, bid Beom Jin farewell.
“My, look at the time. I’ll see you soon. Give my regards to Chairman Dok Go.”
“Yes, sir. Safe travels.”
“Hm, I’d be happy if someday you called me by a different title, haha.”
Chuckling as if he’d just made a splendid joke, Chairman Kim departed.
As the elevator doors closed, Beom Jin looked up.
“……Jung.”
Jung immediately responded, reading Beom Jin’s expression.
“Yes, sir?”
“Tell the Chairman: I will not attend the Haejeon Group anniversary celebration under any circumstances.”
Beom Jin’s eyes narrowed deliberately.
“And tell him it’s not advisable to try connecting me with that granddaughter.”
“Understood, sir.”
Jung pulled out his phone as it vibrated.
“Sir, An Myung Jae is heading directly to his suite.”
Beom Jin let out a low curse.
“What a nuisance.”
“My apologies.”
“Go that way. Is Sung Pil already there?”
“Yes, he is.”
Beom Jin turned wordlessly, and someone waiting by the elevator quickly pressed the button.
‘I’ll be able to buy that chocolate faster.’
With that thought, he stepped into the opening doors.
Click.
After the elevator doors closed.
“……Ah.”
An Soo Yi, standing around the corner where she’d been hidden, released the breath she’d been holding.
Her fingertips had gone cold, and her legs trembled beneath her.
‘What did I just see? What exactly did I just see?’
The man in the dark suit, regarded with such deference as “Executive Director,” spoken to with eyes cold enough to freeze blood—that man was unmistakably……
Dok Go Beom Jin.
Her childhood friend, someone she thought she knew everything about.
Yet the Beom Jin she’d just witnessed seemed like a complete stranger.
Executive Director.
Grandfather. Kangho Group.
Chairman Dok Go Hyung Jun.
Saint Phil School.
Haejeon Group anniversary celebration.
And…… a granddaughter.
An Soo Yi, her eyes unfocused, pulled out her phone as she stared blankly at the floor.
She accessed a search portal and searched for Kangho Group.
The results displayed the group’s official promotional videos and homepage, with affiliate companies listed below.
With trembling fingers, she tapped the screen, bringing up the page about Kangho Group.
Chairman: Dok Go Hyung Jun.
He had two sons.
The eldest, Dok Go Jin Su, was president of Dokgo Construction; his son, Dok Go Seung Jin, was an executive director.
The favored second son had died in a car accident seventeen years ago, and his widow, Jo Seo Ryung, currently served as director of the Dokgo Cultural Foundation.
The page indicated that there were children among these family members, but further details were not readily available online.
An Soo Yi realized it instinctively.
That Beom Jin was the son of Dok Go Hyung Jun’s deceased second son.
When she searched for “Haejeon Group,” a family tree appeared alongside Chairman Kim Jung Ho’s name.
There was also the name “Se Na” she’d just heard.
“…….”
She searched for “Saint Phil School” and found it was a prestigious American boarding school founded in the 1800s, famous for its sprawling campus and over eighteen sports teams.
Tuition for one year exceeded twice her annual salary.
Most graduates went on to Ivy League schools and now held major positions throughout the world.
Among its alumni were presidents of various nations and corporate magnates—names An Soo Yi had certainly heard before.
“So the Dok Gos…… were a chaebol family.”
A laugh escaped her open mouth.
The friend she’d thought closest, the one she’d believed she understood better than anyone, had been in an entirely different world all along.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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