My Brother's Friend Wasn't a Guy - Chapter 39

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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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39.

Lee Jin spent a full day recovering, then rose from her bed.
She’d felt lost about what to do, but her mother proved to be an unexpected pillar of support.
So she found her strength. Yes, she could live well without Kang Hyun. It was simply a return to the time when he was just her brother’s friend, when he hadn’t held such weight in her life.
One month—that was the time she had left with him, until the pottery was finished and handed over. She meant to use every moment of it to set her heart in order.
The day she’d met Jin Ae-ran, tears had come at dawn because she’d realized her feelings for Kang Hyun had already deepened beyond her knowing.
She liked him. So much that she was afraid—afraid she’d never meet someone like him again, afraid she’d never be capable of opening her heart to anyone else the way she had to him.
The friend of her brother’s whom she’d never thought of as a man had somehow stolen her heart whole.
Still, there was no help for it now. She had to prepare herself for the parting. Lee Jin set her resolve firm. One month to sever every lingering attachment.

—Are you very busy?

Kang Hyun read Lee Jin’s message and exhaled, running a hand through his hair.
He’d hardly slept in two days, caught up in handling complaints that had arisen at the construction site.

—No, I’m fine. Want to see each other later?

Still, he typed out the message without letting on how exhausted he was.

—Yeah, buy me something delicious.

It had been a few days since they’d seen each other, and her message seemed to carry a note of playful complaint—he found it endearing.

—What would you like? Just say the word.

He hurried to prepare for work.
“What? Chief, you’re heading out?”
An employee who’d stayed up through the night with him asked, disappointment written plainly across his face.
“You don’t need me anymore. Go on home once everything’s wrapped up.”
Despite being told to leave, the employee’s expression didn’t brighten. There was still too much miscellaneous work left to do.
But he couldn’t voice a complaint—Kang Hyun was the chief, and he was merely staff.
“Yes, Chief. Have a good night.”
The employee watched Kang Hyun’s unusual haste with a wry smile. He was definitely heading out on a date. If you envy someone, you lose.
“Come on, hurry up. You want to skip another night at home?”
With nothing but the single-minded thought of getting home, showering, and sleeping, he drove the others to work faster.

Kang Hyun stopped by his Officetel to wash up, then met Lee Jin looking neat and presentable.
“Oh, you’re here?”
Lee Jin, who had been waiting first, greeted him.
Something about her felt different. Kang Hyun studied her expression carefully.
“I’m starving.”
But when Lee Jin opened the menu and said she was hungry, he decided to focus on ordering for now. Keeping her well-fed was one of his goals, after all.
“Sounds like you’ve been busy?”
“Yeah, a complaint came up suddenly and construction got halted completely. Since it’s a time-sensitive project, dealing with it was a headache.”
“I see. That must have been hard.”
The conversation flowed smoothly. Lee Jin found that being in his presence wasn’t as difficult as she’d expected, so she swallowed the bittersweet feeling. Perhaps her resolve not to cling to the past was turning her into an actress of sorts—or maybe she had no time to feel awkward because these fleeting hours felt too precious.
Maybe this time, slipping away, was simply too dear to waste on discomfort.
After the meal, the two of them headed toward the Han River. Despite the late hour, the riverbank—where the oppressive midday heat had finally faded—was still quite crowded.
A cool breeze swept across the open water, tousling her hair.
Laughter and cheerful chatter drifted around them like background music.
“Wait here for just a—”
Kang Hyun stopped mid-sentence, his expression darkening. He realized he couldn’t bear to leave Lee Jin alone.
He shot a pointed look at the men passing nearby, then suddenly reached out and took her hand.
“No, this won’t do. Let’s go together.”
“Huh? Where?”
“To buy beer.”
And so, hand in hand almost without thinking, they arrived at the Convenience Store, where there was also a crowd gathered at the simple tables out front.
Kang Hyun’s brow furrowed once more.
Those men hadn’t approached Lee Jin or started any trouble, yet he alone bristled with wariness.
“Why even come to a place like this…”
Lee Jin heard his muttered words but couldn’t quite understand what was bothering him, so she tilted her head in confusion.
“What? Too many people?”
“Yeah, more than I expected.”
More precisely, too many men.
The moment he spotted those men glancing at Lee Jin, he’d grown hypersensitive. The sleepless night and exhaustion had worn his patience thin.
A possessive fire churned inside him like he was some jealous child. He recognized the irrationality of venting such nameless anxiety this way, but he couldn’t stop it.
“No, this won’t do. We need to move somewhere else. Somewhere we can see the Han River, but with fewer people—somewhere quiet.”
Hearing this, Lee Jin grew puzzled and asked:
“A place like that exists?”
“Yeah, my Officetel.”

And so the two of them ended up at Kang Hyun’s Officetel before they’d quite realized what was happening.
Lee Jin wondered if it was really all right to follow him here. But the hours she’d spent at Cheongzukje eased that doubt.
They’d been together at Cheongzukje too, so what difference could an Officetel make?—that’s what she told herself.
Yet the moment the door swung shut behind her with a soft click, Lee Jin realized this place was nothing like Cheongzukje.
If Cheongzukje was an old-fashioned hanok house that offered comfort and stability, this space was utterly Kang Hyun himself.
From the building materials down to each interior detail, everything seemed to carry his scent.
It was less a tiger’s den than a Kang Hyun den.
“Make yourself at home.”
“Oh, okay.”
Lee Jin answered somewhat awkwardly, then glanced around. The neutral-toned furniture and minimalist décor suited him perfectly.
As if drawn by a spell, she walked to the window and stood there; the Han River landscape unfolded beneath her feet.
“Wow, it’s beautiful.”
The view was far better than from an observation deck, and Lee Jin couldn’t help but marvel aloud.
“Look at whatever you want. Oh, some things might fall if you open them, so don’t touch the drawers, okay?”
Speaking with casual nonchalance, Kang Hyun busied himself gathering things.
He’d spoken as though opening a drawer would invite catastrophe, yet everything inside was arranged with military precision.
‘Ah, so this is what he’s really like.’
Lee Jin found herself struck by this realization and absorbed the surroundings intently.
Having spent time only in Cheongzukje—that wooden structure that radiated warmth and a gentle presence—she’d come to think of Kang Hyun as nothing but tender and affectionate. But the strangeness of this place now made her see how incomplete that picture was.
The urban, somewhat cold atmosphere mixed confusingly with Cheongzukje’s warmth. Like her own jumbled heart.
“You’re really not touching anything? When people say not to touch something, doesn’t it make you want to look all the more?”
“What, do you think I’m a five-year-old?”
At Lee Jin’s retort, Kang Hyun laughed and set down everything he’d brought onto the table.
Beyond the beer and snacks they’d bought from the Han River Convenience Store earlier, there was also fruit and cheese from his apartment.
“When did you start caring so much about food?”
Seeing the pile of side dishes heaped high, Lee Jin asked with bafflement, and Kang Hyun burst out laughing.
“Do I really seem like someone who cares that much about eating?”
“Yeah, very much so.”
Lee Jin nodded emphatically. Whenever they ate together, he set out enough dishes to break a table’s legs.
But Kang Hyun hadn’t always been this way.
After Lee Hwan died, watching Lee Jin grow even thinner—her already lean frame withering further—had pained him so much that he’d tried to coax her to eat more. Now it had become habit.
“Eating well is enough reason in itself.”
Kang Hyun deliberately redirected the conversation and handed her a beer can.
They sat on the floor with their backs against the sofa, drinking beer. The Han River’s night scenery lay open before them, and somehow the alcohol tasted sweeter because of it.
After some time passed this way, Kang Hyun spoke.
“I’ve got something I need to tell you.”
The way he’d phrased it—”something to tell”—struck her as odd. If he had something to say, he could just say it, but deliberately setting this kind of tone meant what he was about to say was significant.
“What is it?”
Lee Jin felt her chest drop. Surely he didn’t know everything that had happened lately.
Unable to guess what he might say, her heart began to pound.
“First, I want to apologize to you. I’m sorry. I’ve been hiding something and not telling you.”
“Uh… what?”
Lee Jin was flustered; she hadn’t expected him to be so direct about it.
“I’m part of the Munseong Group. What people call a Chaebol, basically.”
……
Lee Jin said nothing, just blinked, and Kang Hyun smiled bitterly as he continued.
“I always thought that whether I became a Chaebol or whatever, nothing would really change about who I am. But you’re different, aren’t you?”
Lee Jin, who had been lost in thought about what to say, opened her mouth at last.
“Why didn’t you tell me until now?”

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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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