My Brother's Friend Wasn't a Guy - Chapter 28

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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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28.

Moon Kang-hyun was thoroughly irritated by Cheon Eun-jeong’s sudden invasion of the office. The first thing she’d asked upon seeing him was whether she could touch him a little.
He’d nearly let out a string of curses aloud. But Cheon Eun-jeong was no different from him. If she was bent on touching Moon Kang-hyun when he clearly despised it, she must have had a sound reason for it.

“I’m under suspicion.”

The trouble had started at the Osong Group’s new product launch party. The problem was that the supposed couple had looked far too stiff.
Cheon Eun-jeong claimed her family suspected them, and she’d turned around and blamed Kang-hyun for it.
Why on earth had he chosen her? Kang-hyun sighed and, as if counting it as an act of charity, offered his arm.

“Next time, we’ll need to at least manage a pose like this. If both of us are too reluctant to move properly when the moment comes, we’ll be in trouble. So I’m just testing whether we can manage to link arms without it looking forced.”
“Seriously…….”

Pathetic. Kang-hyun barely swallowed the curse that threatened to escape and watched as Cheon Eun-jeong linked her arm through his.

“Well, I suppose it might just work.”

Cheon Eun-jeong tapped his arm approvingly, then withdrew briskly as if her business were concluded.

“I’ll be going now. Next time we meet, I’ll have to pay more attention to my expression too.”

There was no doubt about it—she’d come to torment him. Kang-hyun offered a cursory farewell and returned to his office without looking back.
But a moment later, a strange message arrived.

—I’ve got Seo I-jin with me right now. If you’re not here within one minute, she’s mine.

“Has she lost her mind?”
The words tumbled out before Kang-hyun could stop himself. As bad luck would have it, an employee carrying documents caught the full force of it.
“P-pardon me, sir? Did I… did I do something wrong?”
Kang-hyun watched the workplace tension bloom around him and exhaled deeply.
“No, it wasn’t about you, Han Gyeol. Don’t worry about it.”
But the employee stared at him with visibly trembling eyes before hastily leaving the documents and fleeing.
Damn. It was like watching someone dangle a feathered fishing line before a cat’s nose—Cheon Eun-jeong was using Seo I-jin as bait, waving her right in front of his eyes.
No matter how unpredictable Cheon Eun-jeong could be, she wasn’t the type to fabricate lies.
Which meant the odds were high that she really did have Seo I-jin with her.
Kang-hyun exhaled a long breath, steadied the rush of emotion rising in his chest, and typed out a response.

—You have to tell me where you are first, or how am I supposed to show up?

***

Cheon Eun-jeong burst out laughing at the message from Kang-hyun. They say something’s wrong with a person who goes from crying to laughing, but she had no time to worry about such things.
“God, you’re ridiculous. Moon Kang-hyun, you’re really something.”
Is he funny? Seo I-jin tilted her head. When she was around Kang-hyun, she often found herself laughing at something he’d said.
But Cheon Eun-jeong’s laughter felt less like genuine amusement and more like the kind you get watching a comedy show.
The mismatch left I-jin feeling increasingly uncertain. Just then, the café door burst open.
With the violence of a robbery in progress, every customer in the café held their breath and turned toward the entrance.
A tall, handsome man stood there, working to steady his ragged breathing.
Indifferent to the weight of every eye upon him, Kang-hyun strode forward with purposeful steps.
“How did you know this place?”
I-jin’s eyes went wide—she hadn’t expected him to appear.
“I called him.”
Cheon Eun-jeong giggled, barely containing the urge to tease this Moon Kang-hyun who’d come sprinting like an arrow.
But Kang-hyun paid her no mind, his attention entirely consumed by checking I-jin’s condition. As he scrutinized her face, his brow furrowed sharply.
“Have you been crying?”
There was no direct accusation, but the implication hung clear—had Cheon Eun-jeong upset her so much she’d wept?
“Hey! What about my face? I’m the one who was crying!”
Cheon Eun-jeong, who had genuinely wept tears streaming down her cheeks, bristled. Seo I-jin’s eyes had only reddened briefly, yet to be called out on even that small display felt unjust and galling.
“You’re right. I didn’t cry—you did.”
The moment Moon Kang-hyun heard the word sister, his eyebrows twitched visibly.
Cheon Eun-jeong glared at him with all the irritation she could muster. She had told him several times that she had cried, yet he didn’t even seem curious about why.
“I called you on purpose thinking of him. But now that I think about it, I was wrong. Go back.”
As if he hadn’t heard a word, Moon Kang-hyun took a seat beside Seo I-jin.
Seo I-jin’s mind was a tangle of confusion about what relationship these two possibly shared.
Certainly, the way they’d looked together at the Architecture Office earlier had seemed quite intimate, but now they appeared to be sworn enemies.
Lost in thought, Moon Kang-hyun fixed his gaze directly on her face and asked.
“Did you come to see me?”
“Oh, yes. I had business nearby and remembered to stop by.”
“And she intercepted you first, didn’t she?”
When Moon Kang-hyun read the situation with such precision, as if seeing it with his own eyes, Cheon Eun-jeong’s mouth twitched awkwardly.
“This one’s been pretty busy. Remember I gave you my contact information earlier? Reach out through that later.”
When Moon Kang-hyun turned a menacing stare on Cheon Eun-jeong—a look that asked why Seo I-jin would contact her—she deliberately ignored his gaze and rose from her seat.
When she first met Seo I-jin, enthusiasm had overridden her caution and she’d brought her along without much thought. Afterward, she’d been too busy teasing Moon Kang-hyun to consider the consequences—which meant she’d momentarily forgotten his temperamental nature.
Still, it would’ve been nice if she’d remembered to call him. With a sniff, Cheon Eun-jeong stood and bid a deliberately casual farewell.
“Well then, I’m going.”
“Goodbye.”
Once Cheon Eun-jeong left the café, Moon Kang-hyun exhaled deeply. He’d never intended to bring Seo I-jin and Cheon Eun-jeong together, yet somehow the situation had become complicated.
Damn Cheon Eun-jeong. After cursing her once more under his breath, Moon Kang-hyun turned to Seo I-jin and spoke.
“Want to go to the office? I’ll give you a tour.”
“Oh, uh… sure.”
He’d worked so hard to earn the affection of someone who insisted his brother’s friend wasn’t a man. Everything had nearly fallen apart because of Cheon Eun-jeong.
With his nerve rattled, Moon Kang-hyun instinctively summoned a warmer smile to his lips.

The two returned to the Architecture Office and rode the elevator up to the fifth floor.
When Seo I-jin realized that the most well-appointed office, labeled “Executive Director’s Office,” was Moon Kang-hyun’s personal workspace, her expression registered genuine shock.
“Director, you have a guest. Shall I get you some coffee?”
“No, thank you—just carry on with your work.”
Moon Kang-hyun answered the employee graciously and ushered Seo I-jin inside.
“Are you the director?”
The office itself was far larger than she’d expected, but to learn that Moon Kang-hyun was the director of this substantial Architecture Office—surprise after surprise kept her reeling.
“Technically I am, but it doesn’t mean much. More like a figurehead or puppet CEO.”
Moon Kang-hyun spoke dismissively, yet no matter how she considered it, that didn’t seem to be the case at all.
“I’m glad I came to see. Otherwise, I would never have known you were this successful.”
While her tone sounded admiring on the surface, Moon Kang-hyun, who had observed Seo I-jin for so long, could instinctively sense it. She was drawing a line and retreating.
That’s why he had deliberately avoided showing her the office before. He was afraid she would feel the gap between them and run away.
Swallowing a sigh, Moon Kang-hyun settled into the seat beside her and spoke with deliberate shamelessness.
“If your face is this handsome, it’s an advantage to take the director position.”
Architecture involves dealing with people after all. At his added explanation, Seo I-jin didn’t know how to react and wore an expression of bewilderment.
He seized the moment and asked.
“Did you really just drop by, or did you come from the start to see me?”
Knowing Seo I-jin’s daily patterns and her usual movements, the answer was obvious. Moon Kang-hyun had judged that she wouldn’t have come this far on business.
Seo I-jin, whose thoughts were always written across her face, startled slightly. The cookie box she’d been carrying felt as heavy as lead.
The gift had seemed too meager, and she’d thought about turning back, but at this point there seemed no choice but to give it. After all, she had received so much from him and wanted to express her gratitude.
“Actually, I came to give you this.”
“Really?”
What’s this? Moon Kang-hyun’s heart began to race at the thought that Seo I-jin had come here specifically to give him something.
When he opened the box, he found cookies arranged neatly inside, each one made with meticulous care.
“I’m a bit embarrassed, but I made them.”
On top of that, she’d made them by hand. Moon Kang-hyun found himself momentarily at a loss for words.
An unexpected gift that filled him with such joy. It was as if he’d finally confirmed that he held a place in her heart.
“You really do have a gift for undoing my composure.”
Moon Kang-hyun pulled Seo I-jin into his embrace.

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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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