My Brother's Friend Wasn't a Guy - Chapter 46

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

46.

Thus Kang Hyun left the Munsung Group Headquarters and made his way to the construction site, where work was well underway.
“Director, welcome.”
Oh Hyun-jae, the most veteran manager from the Architectural Firm, greeted Kang Hyun warmly.
“Everything is progressing without any major issues, I trust?”
“Yes, absolutely. It looks like we’ll be able to meet the deadline without a hitch. Why don’t you take a walk through? If there’s anything incomplete, just let me know.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll look things over on my own. Just keep the work going.”
“Understood.”
With that, Oh Hyun-jae departed, and Kang Hyun stood motionless, gazing at the house under construction.
Though still incomplete, his eyes traced the building’s shape—modern yet reminiscent of the Cheongchuk-jae style. It was a house he had designed, infused with Lee Ji-jin’s tastes and desires.
If everything went according to plan, he would unveil this house as their newlywed home when he and Lee Ji-jin discussed marriage. The completion date was being coordinated for exactly that time.
A bitter laugh escaped between his teeth.
He had played it cool in front of his grandfather, but Secretary Kim’s words echoed endlessly through his mind.
‘Two hundred million won?’
His mother, who had nothing but money to her name, had spent only two hundred million to remove Seo Lee Ji-jin from the picture.
Yet she had returned even that, withdrawing cleanly in his name and under the guise of his welfare.
Wasn’t this far more than his mother had bargained for?
‘If she’d really meant to leave, why didn’t she grab a bigger piece?’
If Seo Lee Ji-jin had been greedy—if she’d seized two billion or three billion won—he might have seen her differently. But the thought of her fretting over returning just two hundred million, wringing her hands with worry, made his blood boil so intensely he thought he might lose his mind.
The fact that she’d been wounded by the attempt to reduce love to a transaction, that her blood had run backward—it made him want to scream.
The image of her clinging to her shattered pride, laughing as though nothing were wrong in his presence, nearly drove him mad.
But what could he do? I can’t let you go.
Even if I become filth you can’t associate with, even if I drag my own mire onto you, I can’t let you go.
I’ll pull you down into the mud and wallow with you there.
Kang Hyun’s eyes had turned black as pitch as he fixed his gaze on the building under construction.
Lee Ji-jin believed they had parted ways, but Kang Hyun did not. That was why he hadn’t halted construction at all—he was pushing forward according to the completion schedule.
By then I’ll have brought you back, no matter what. The building under construction steeled his resolve anew.

***

Lee Ji-jin was at the Pottery Studio, creating a piece for a competition submission.
After parting from Kang Hyun, she had been planning to continue teaching pottery classes as before when she heard about the competition.
If she’d had to keep up with classes for the sake of making a living, she would have abandoned the competition long ago.
But because she had money from selling pottery to Kang Hyun, she didn’t need to run classes immediately. So she was able to commit herself to competing.
For now, she would focus on the submission for about a month, and then resume operating her pottery classes afterward. Having finished conceiving the piece, she moved into production.
Since this work would involve stacking various ceramic forms like a tower, she needed to work diligently.
Lee Ji-jin had a habit of pushing her body harder when her mind was turbulent, and she thought being frantically busy was better. It was the only way she could keep from thinking of Kang Hyun.
But they had spent quite a bit of time together in this studio, and everywhere her eyes landed held memories carved into it.
After removing fired ceramics from the electric kiln and spreading them across her largest worktable, Lee Ji-jin exhaled softly without meaning to.
She had kissed him on this table. Whenever he was within arm’s reach, he would always pull her close without exception.
The image of his face came back—that shameless grin he’d flash, insisting that when she looked away, it was just an unavoidable conditioned reflex.
‘Should I replace the table?’
Lee Ji-jin sighed and forced her scattered thoughts back to focus on the ceramics.
She knew that even if she replaced the table, the memories with him wouldn’t vanish. The table was just one trigger among many for recalling him.
By that logic, she’d need to move the entire studio. But for her, that was too heavy a burden.
The real problem was that even if she moved the studio, memories of him would keep surfacing. She would spiral, helpless and adrift.
Given all that, it was better to stay as she was. She could use the memories as an excuse, justify his constant presence in her thoughts.
Eventually, even these memories would fade. His face would grow dimmer and dimmer.
Lee Ji-jin consoled herself this way and studied the ceramics closely, searching for any flaws or imperfections.
As she worked, she suddenly stiffened. An odd unease had washed over her—the distinct sensation of being watched by someone.
Her eyes widened as she peered outside. But it was late, and the world beyond the glass was shrouded in darkness, indistinct.
‘I must be getting on edge.’
She dismissed it lightly and returned to her work.
But her instinct had been right. Hidden in the darkness outside, Kang Hyun was watching over her.
After visiting the construction site during the day, Kang Hyun found it hard to bear his longing for Lee Ji-jin. So he came to the studio.
Once the sun set, the studio’s bright lights made it possible to see inside from outside.
This wasn’t his first time. He often came at night like this and watched her for a long while before heading home.
It was precisely because of this that he had managed to stay away from Lee Ji-jin all this time, to endure her absence. Had he not even caught a glimpse of her like this, he would have broken long ago and appeared before her without restraint.
If he were to walk through that door with shameless confidence, what expression would she wear? Such imaginings spiraled endlessly in his mind.
It was a different sort of torment from when he hadn’t seen her at all. Kang Hyun knew the time hadn’t come yet, so he gathered every ounce of patience he possessed and held back.
Whenever he thought of holding her in his arms again, there was no reason to resist.

***

The next day, Baek Jin-hee stopped by the pottery studio. She wandered through it, examining this and that, before fixing Lee Ji-jin with a searching look.
“Tell me honestly. Is something going on between you and Kang Hyun?”
How could she have sensed it just from looking around the studio?
Lee Ji-jin had been careful to hide any trace of Kang Hyun’s absence, yet there was no deceiving Baek Jin-hee’s eyes.
Lee Ji-jin sighed and told her the truth—that they had broken up.
“What? Kang Hyun really was the third-generation heir of the Munsung Group?”
Baek Jin-hee had jumped in shock, but quickly came to understand why Lee Ji-jin had chosen to end things.
Watching her face, Lee Ji-jin felt a bitter taste in her mouth. So it was true after all—the gap between them was indeed unbridgeable, at least in everyone else’s eyes.
“Come on, let your unnie buy you a drink. A night like this calls for one.”
Baek Jin-hee seemed more downcast than Lee Ji-jin herself. So the two of them spent the evening drinking at a pojangmacha near the studio.
“Poor thing. But you’re pretty, so a good man will come along again.”
Baek Jin-hee drank more heavily than usual, repeating “Poor thing” over and over. By the time they left the pojangmacha late in the evening, Baek Jin-hee was quite drunk.
“Poor thing…….”
“All right, stop feeling sorry for me now. Get home safely, okay?”
Lee Ji-jin called a registered taxi and sent Baek Jin-hee off in it.
Standing in the increasingly chill night air, her mind gradually cleared. By nature, Lee Ji-jin didn’t usually drink to the point of intoxication.
Ever since childhood, her father Lee Hwan had been strict, and his education had instilled in her an almost compulsive sense of responsibility for her own well-being.
And yet tonight she had drunk more than usual. It was proof that parting from Kang Hyun was harder to bear than she could admit.
‘Should I walk for a bit?’
Home was only two stops away. Walking would help clear her head and settle her stomach.
So Lee Ji-jin set off on foot toward home. But something felt wrong. Two men had been following her this entire time.
At first she’d dismissed it as a coincidence, but as she approached the final alley before her street, there was no way it could be mere chance.
This alley was particularly deserted and dark—so much so that Lee Hwan always used to come meet her whenever she was out late.
Now there was no Lee Hwan to come meet her. The moment that realization struck, Lee Ji-jin stopped dead in her tracks.
Instead of entering the alley, she should slip into the convenience store on the opposite side. She turned quickly with that thought, but the strange men were already closing in fast.
With all the unsettling news lately, a chill ran down her spine. The look in these strangers’ eyes was deeply unpleasant.
“Hey there…….”
As they began speaking in a casual, menacing tone.
“What do you want?”
A man with a broad, sturdy frame and imposing height stepped protectively in front of Lee Ji-jin, shielding her as he spoke.

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