My Brother's Friend Wasn't a Guy - Chapter 23

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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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23.

“You’re right—even if you come across as taciturn, you’re not as cold as all that.”
Kang Hyun exhaled sharply at Jin Ae-ran’s words of praise.
Here he was, over thirty and fully grown, hearing a compliment he’d never received in childhood.
“Think what you like, Mother.”
There was no point in making excuses—besides, the mess he’d created meant he couldn’t tell her the truth about Seo Yi-jin.
Even setting that aside, he wouldn’t parade Seo Yi-jin in front of his mother just to please her.
“Then go on with your business. I’ll be heading out.”
“All right. You don’t need anything?”
“Nothing.”
Kang Hyun glanced back at Jin Ae-ran and left the Luxury Goods Mall.
He still couldn’t get used to the way his mother—who’d always treated him like a burden—now regarded him with a warmth like spring wind.
‘Cheon Eun-jeong isn’t the sort to warrant that kind of enthusiasm.’
Her judgment of people was poor. Those accustomed to flattery tended to lose their eye for character.
Add to that the fact that his mother’s circle consisted of people who valued only appearances and possessions, and the pattern was clear.
That was why both Lee Hwan and Seo Yi-jin had fallen out of her favor. Even after Lee Hwan landed a position at a Major Law Firm, his mother’s view of him hadn’t changed.
Unable to bear the conflict with his mother, Kang Hyun had avoided seeing Lee Hwan for five years—thinking that perhaps distance would finally bring her peace.
But fate proved cruel. When death took his dearest friend, Kang Hyun learned once and for all that there are no second chances.
‘From now on, I won’t move at Mother’s command.’
But the reason he’d embarked on this absurd masquerade was that he hadn’t yet won Seo Yi-jin’s heart. If only she would choose him, Kang Hyun could turn his back on the entire world.
He needed the certainty that she, too, would abandon everyone for him.
One night wasn’t enough. He wanted everything from her—her body, her heart, even her breath and her soul.
It didn’t matter if this dark, clinging obsession was abnormal.
If only he could make her entirely his.
As Kang Hyun walked out of the department store, a shadowy hunger flickered in his eyes.

***

Cha Ji-hun had been seized by unease with increasing frequency lately.
At first he didn’t know why, but when he traced it back, he realized the anxiety had taken hold ever since he’d seen Seo Yi-jin at the Gallery.
‘Seo Yi-jin….’
He pictured her bright face and irritably swept his hair back.
He’d fallen for her at first sight when she entered university, and he’d gone to great lengths to get her to join the same University Club.
Of course, he’d kept his true feelings masked behind the guise of a kind senior, looking after her from the sidelines.
Since Seo Yi-jin showed not the slightest interest in romance, he’d managed to suppress his impatience—he was certain that when the time came, she would choose him.
But after seeing her at the Gallery, that certainty began to crack.
The thought that it might not be him. The thought that all his years of effort might amount to nothing, that she might end up in another man’s arms. That thought was driving him mad.
“There’s no way they’re dating… right?”
He conjured up the image of that striking man Kang Hyun and muttered a curse. Wasn’t it unfair that someone with a face like that was always hovering around Seo Yi-jin?
His knowledge of her extended only to her university life.
He hadn’t known that during those five years when Kang Hyun had vanished, he’d occupied the space like a fox claiming a tiger’s den.
“I should do something for her birthday.”
He muttered this with purpose, then reached out to his junior club members to organize a surprise birthday party for Seo Yi-jin.

***

A few days later, on her birthday, seven or so club members gathered at Seo Yi-jin’s Atelier.
“What’s all this? You didn’t even let me know you were coming.”
Seo Yi-jin’s eyes widened at the unexpected visitors.
“Did you really forget what today is?”
Kim Eun-byul, a university classmate, asked with a teasing tilt of her head.
“What day? Oh… my birthday?”
Cho Ha-jin answered cheerfully as Seo Yi-jin stammered through her response.
“Ding-dong-ding—that’s the answer!”
Meanwhile, the others wasted no time setting up the Birthday Party without consulting the Atelier’s proprietor.
“Should I put this here? Hey, grab that over there for me.”
“Why aren’t you strong guys moving faster?”
The studio erupted into chaos. Cha Ji-hun, who had left the party preparations to his juniors, smiled at the dazed Yi-jin.
“If you’d called ahead, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
So he’d simply shown up unannounced. Of course, she was genuinely grateful he’d remembered her birthday. But she’d made plans with Kang Hyun.
She glanced at the time and realized he’d be arriving soon, her expression shifting to one of distress.
“But what do I do? I had plans and was about to head out.”
“What? You have other plans?”
“Seo Yi-jin has another appointment besides us?”
“Wait, did you get a boyfriend?”
Questions came pouring down.
Now that she thought about it, during her university years Yi-jin had celebrated her birthday first with her club’s seniors and juniors.
She’d set aside a separate day to have dinner with Baek Jin-hee, her high school friend, and it was the same with her brother Lee Hwan.
Her family, living under the same roof and seeing each other’s faces every day, did little more than stick candles in a cake and sing at home. Though Lee Hwan did give her birthday gifts of things she’d wanted.
The club members, realizing they’d been pushed to the back of the line, made a show of exaggerated shock.
“That’s what I’m saying—if you’d only called, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Yi-jin looked apologetic, but they grew excited and began spinning various theories.
Whether Seo Yi-jin was in a relationship or not, whether she’d found a boyfriend or hadn’t—their bickering voices grew loud.
Through it all, Cha Ji-hun’s expression darkened. Seo Yi-jin had always acted as though it was natural she’d spend her birthday with the club members.
“You could just push the appointment back a little.”
His tone carried the implication: you’re not actually going to send away all these people who came for you? Cha Ji-hun meant it that way.
The truth was, he’d brought the juniors along because he’d suspected Yi-jin had prior plans.
Recalling the intensity in Mun Kang Hyun’s eyes from their last meeting, he was convinced the man would never leave her alone on her birthday.
But when he realized his suspicion had proven correct, a bitter taste flooded his mouth. He’d racked his brains to use their numbers as leverage to keep her here, and now, watching her troubled expression, he felt a surge of jealousy so violent it nearly consumed him.
“Well, the appointment time is… almost here. And we weren’t supposed to meet somewhere else—he was coming here.”
Just as the saying goes, speak of the tiger and it appears. As Yi-jin said this, the doorbell chimed with a clear, bright sound.
“Quite a few customers today?”
Kang Hyun stepped into the studio, and upon seeing faces he’d never met before, his eyebrows rose slightly.
Moments ago, those same people had been playfully giggling about Seo Yi-jin’s love life, but the instant they saw Kang Hyun, they fell silent as if on cue.
At first glance, he was no ordinary man.
Tall, with a lean, muscular build and features that rivaled a model’s. More than that, the cool air he emanated carried an almost unsettling pressure.
How on earth was Seo Yi-jin connected to a man like this?
Kang Hyun could almost hear the gears turning in their heads, and he let out a soft laugh. The ones who’d been debating whether Seo Yi-jin had found a boyfriend fell silent the moment they laid eyes on him.
Why did he sense hostility in their gazes even as he kept his own expression deliberately light?
‘Funny. So they do have eyes after all.’
The looks from the men were particularly telling. The worst among them was that senior.
The man he’d refused to even remember the name of, instead calling him only “that senior” or “that bastard senior,” now wore unmistakable displeasure, his brow furrowing.
‘That kind of expression makes me want to wipe that look off his face.’
Kang Hyun kept those twisted thoughts to himself and looked at Yi-jin. She turned to him with an apologetic expression, seeking his understanding.
“They showed up to give me a surprise birthday party without calling first, so our times overlapped. What should we do?”
“What do you mean what should we do? They came to celebrate your birthday—we can’t just leave. Let’s all have the party together.”
“Here? All of us together?”
At Yi-jin’s question, Kang Hyun nodded readily. At that, Cha Ji-hun’s composure cracked—his expression hardened.
“Of course. And after the birthday party, we’ll do what we originally planned—our date.”
The word “date,” dropped deliberately for all to hear, sent considerable shockwaves through the room.
“What? Seo Yi-jin, are you really dating that guy?”
Yi-jin watched her female friends’ eyes light up with curiosity, then nodded slowly.
“Yeah, I decided to date him not long ago.”
At those words, Cha Ji-hun’s eyes darkened and withdrew into themselves.

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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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