My Brother's Friend Wasn't a Guy - Chapter 47

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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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47.

How could she ever forget that broad back? Lee Jin’s breath caught without warning the moment Kang Hyun appeared before her.
The men who’d been approaching like thugs stopped short when they saw him. His unmistakably striking face seemed to catch them off-guard.
They were the typical type who preyed on the weak but cowered before the strong. One look at Kang Hyun’s commanding gaze, and they immediately tucked tail and lowered their stance.
“No, we didn’t mean—”
They shuffled backward, spat dismissively, and melted into the darkness.
Then Kang Hyun, who had been standing protectively in front of her, turned to look down at Lee Jin.
His face was leaner than before, the sharp planes of his features more pronounced.
His eyes were bleak and cutting as broken glass, and a dangerous aura rolled off him in waves.
……
Lee Jin didn’t know what to say or how to say it, so she simply looked up at him.
In the dark alley, his face caught in the streetlight was beautiful and decadent as a sculpture.
“I’ll take you home. Come on.”
He tilted his head, one hand shoved in his pocket, his posture deliberately indifferent.
He might have launched into excuses—how he’d happened to pass by, why she wasn’t home earlier instead of wandering at this hour—but he offered neither justification nor reproach.
Lee Jin couldn’t ignore his kindness; refusing help when she so clearly needed it would have been absurd.
“Thank you.”
With that, the two of them began walking.
They walked in silence, and suddenly Lee Jin realized that simply having him beside her made this dark alley feel less frightening.
When they’d been together, he’d usually driven her all the way to her door. On days he couldn’t come by the workshop, they’d talked on the phone.
So she’d forgotten how dark and oppressive this alley truly was.
The comfort she’d once taken for granted now felt startlingly unfamiliar, and her breath came in short, jagged gasps. At that small sound, Kang Hyun’s eyes flicked toward her face.
“You smell like alcohol.”
At his blunt words, heat flooded Lee Jin’s cheeks. She thought she’d sobered up long ago, but apparently not. She fought down the urge to sniff herself, to check.
Seeing her stubbornly clamp her lips shut, pretending she wasn’t drunk, Kang Hyun swallowed a bitter laugh.
‘Do you know how hard I’m holding back from demanding what the hell you were doing drinking alone at night?’
‘Do you know I’m barely restraining myself from pushing you, asking what would’ve happened if I hadn’t come?’
‘Do you know I’m fighting the urge to convince you—shamelessly, if necessary—that I should stay by your side, that it’s right, that it’s the only logical thing?’
‘If I push, you’ll run again.’
‘Then I’ll block every escape route. In the end, I’ll squeeze your throat and hold you in my grip.’
Kang Hyun forced himself to empty his head of these dark, spiraling thoughts.
Looking at the way Lee Jin drew a careful line—grateful for his kindness but making clear it ended there—sparked a petulant urge in him.
‘We’ve run into each other anyway. Why can’t I shake things up a little? It’s unfair that I’m the only one trembling.’
When they reached Lee Jin’s building, Kang Hyun caught her eye as she hesitated. She wanted to flee inside, but gratitude held her back; she was gathering herself to offer a proper goodbye.
Kang Hyun spoke before she could.
“If you get the Blessing and Acknowledgement you want—then will we start over?”
“What?”
Lee Jin blinked rapidly, trying to process what he’d said.
Blessing and Acknowledgement. That was the deepest reason she’d ended things—and his greatest vulnerability.
And now he was offering to give it to her. To erase his own weakness.
Kang Hyun smiled faintly at her stunned expression. ‘You thought it was over, didn’t you? But now you’ll realize—this thing between us was never finished to begin with.’
“Once everything you want is ready, I’ll let you know. Go inside.”
Without waiting for her answer, Kang Hyun turned away.
“Wait!”
She called out, but he didn’t stop; he just waved lazily without breaking stride.
Lee Jin’s bewildered face was almost worth seeing.
‘Keep trembling. Never stop thinking about me.’
With that thought, Kang Hyun disappeared into the darkness with a long stride.

***

A few days later, Jin Ae-ran received a report on Kang Hyun’s activities and tilted her head in confusion.
“This silence is strange.”
He was accepting the breakup just like that? Lee Jin says it’s over and it’s actually over? No matter how she looked at it, something felt wrong.
She’d been receiving regular updates on Kang Hyun, but there was nothing remarkable to report. He simply went to the Architect’s Office as usual, worked, and never saw Lee Jin.
Had her son ever been this obedient?
Of course, she’d made him go five years without seeing Lee Se-whan on her orders. But even then, she herself hadn’t permitted a meeting.
Jin Ae-ran had endured five years without seeing her son’s face, bitter at how carelessly he’d cast aside their bond as though it meant nothing.
“Now that I think about it, he still won’t show his face to me.”
Since the day she’d met with Cheon Eun-jung, mother and son hadn’t faced each other once. Not just avoiding her sight, but refusing all contact.
This was his signal that he’d return to his old heartlessness. Jin Ae-ran pressed her fingers hard against her temples, a headache blooming behind her eyes.
Lately it seemed she lived with painkillers.
How had a son been born who’d inherited every bit of her stubbornness? Jin Ae-ran clicked her tongue, marshaling her thoughts.
Touching Kang Hyun now wouldn’t be wise—better not to scratch and make it worse. For now, she’d leave him alone.
She checked the time, confirmed it was the end of business hours, and began tidying her desk. Normally she’d stay late at the office, but today her head ached too much, so she decided to head home.
When Jin Ae-ran arrived near her house, unable to bear the headache any longer, she lowered the car window. The autumn breeze flowing through felt refreshingly cool.
“Kang Driver, let me out in front of the house.”
“Yes, of course, ma’am. I understand.”
Jin Ae-ran got out of the car before it entered the parking garage. She thought she’d catch some air for a moment before going in.
But then a large, sleek new car appeared before her. It was her youngest son—the source of her headache and, appearance-wise at least, someone of whom she need never be ashamed.
She’d expected him to turn away from her, so relief washed over her that he hadn’t. If he was here, she’d know how to coax him gently back to his senses.
With this in mind, Jin Ae-ran spoke in a tone somewhat softer than usual.
“What brings you here so suddenly? If you have something to say, come inside and say it.”
But Kang Hyun didn’t budge. He simply poured out his words.
“I’m not seeing anyone else. I have no intention of seeing anyone but Lee Jin, and no intention of marrying anyone else.”
At that, Jin Ae-ran felt another headache threatening. So this was why he’d come to meet her—the realization struck her like a wave, and anger surged up in its wake.
Her son was attempting a frontal assault. He wasn’t backing away, wasn’t appeasing, wasn’t trying to persuade—he was here to make a crude announcement.
“Why her, of all people? Why does it have to be her, no matter what?”
Jin Ae-ran couldn’t suppress her rising emotions and cried out. She was truly fed up with his relentlessness.
With his wealth, his credentials, his appearance, he could find a far better match. She couldn’t fathom why he clung so stubbornly to that girl from such a hopelessly poor family, why it had to be Lee Jin.
“Mother’s standards for a good match aren’t the measure of happiness.”
“That’s only because you don’t understand yet!”
“No. I know very well what I want.”
Jin Ae-ran was shouting, but Kang Hyun answered in perfect calm. He met her stubborn glare with a question.
“What if I told you I’m so sincere about her that I’d stake my life on it?”
“What? What are you saying?”
“What if I told you I have no reason to live without her? Would you still repeat the same words?”
“You, you….”
At this point, Jin Ae-ran’s whole body trembled with dread. She knew all too well the peculiar intensity her son possessed.
“I don’t need that kind of happiness Mother talks about.”
“Y-yes, I understand. Let’s just go inside and talk—”
The light in his eyes held something wild, something unbounded. Jin Ae-ran lost control of her expression, wavering between persuasion and threat.
“If you won’t give your blessing, aren’t you curious how far I’d go?”
No. Not at all. Not even a little. Jin Ae-ran was shaking her head when a car suddenly came racing through the alley. For a vehicle passing through a residential area, it was moving far too fast.
A terrible premonition sent ice down her spine. And such premonitions never proved wrong. Kang Hyun suddenly bolted straight toward the oncoming car.
“No!”
Jin Ae-ran’s scream echoed as the screech of an emergency brake cut sharply through the air.

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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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