My Brother's Friend Wasn't a Guy - Chapter 48

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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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48.

“No, no, no! Kang Hyun!”
Jin Ae-ran couldn’t believe the scene unfolding before her eyes.
A car slamming on its brakes. Her son’s body bouncing off it, hurled through the air. Every moment seemed to stretch in slow motion, burning itself into her vision with crystalline clarity.
It was nothing short of miraculous that she didn’t lose consciousness right there.
Jin Ae-ran’s legs gave way and she collapsed, then crawled toward Kang Hyun on her hands and knees.
Her designer clothes were ruined, her stockings torn to tatters, but she had no mind for such things.
“K-Kang Hyun…”
My son. My son. Jin Ae-ran reached out with trembling hands and grabbed her fallen child. Even as she did, the driver got out and called 119.
People inside the house, sensing something was wrong, came rushing out. The chauffeur and household staff tried to hold her back and spoke urgently, but Jin Ae-ran heard nothing—their voices simply didn’t reach her.
The street was cordoned off. Passersby murmured in alarm. Within moments, a 119 ambulance arrived with sirens blaring.
The paramedics worked quickly. Jin Ae-ran watched in a daze as her son was loaded onto a stretcher, hoisted into the ambulance, and fitted with an oxygen mask.
The dark red bloodstain left on the pavement where he’d fallen branded itself into her mind like a scar.
“I… I’m going with him.”
She barely collected herself before climbing into the ambulance just as it was about to depart. Some people tried to stop her, but Jin Ae-ran stubbornly pushed aboard anyway.
In the speeding ambulance, jostled side to side, she found herself resenting her son. Why did he have to go this far? What on earth was he thinking?
Then she found herself praying to a God she didn’t even believe in. Please, save him. If you just let him live, I won’t ask for anything else.
During that rush to the hospital, she seemed to wither away by the second. The paramedics looked at her with pity, but she was too lost to notice.
The ambulance headed to the nearest and largest University Hospital. Once in the Emergency Room, Kang Hyun was rushed off for tests.
As Jin Ae-ran sat numbly in a chair outside the exam room, her two eldest sons arrived, having heard the news.
“Mother!”
Only then did she lift her head and look at her sons. Ever since her husband—who had inherited the chairman’s position—died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage years ago, she had lived for her sons’ future and safety.
When the eldest became chairman, she had meticulously managed his health and adjusted his schedule to ensure he wouldn’t suffer the same fate as his father.
The middle son received the same treatment. She had worked tirelessly to ensure the family maintained its wealth, prestige, health, and power across generations.
She had never once doubted that these efforts were anything but right.
Her youngest son’s marriage had been part of that grand design. To maintain their transcendent class and untouchable wealth, one naturally had to marry someone of compatible standing.
But her youngest had challenged her directly. And he’d staked his very life on it.
“Your complexion is terrible, Mother.”
“Really, I think you should rest inside.”
Her two sons urged her to rest, their faces creased with worry. But Jin Ae-ran shook her head. She kept seeing that dark red bloodstain spreading across the asphalt. She couldn’t shake the fear that something might go wrong with Kang Hyun.
If she sent her son ahead of her, she wouldn’t be able to live either. For the first time in her life, she faced a situation where wealth and power meant nothing.
The shock of that realization exhausted her utterly—as if she had aged ten years in mere hours.
Then the exam room door opened, and the medical team emerged, leading Kang Hyun on a mobile bed.
“Fortunately, his life isn’t in danger. His left tibia is fractured, and he’s showing concussion symptoms—we’ll need to monitor that closely. There was a laceration on his forehead which we’ve sutured.”
“Yes, thank you for everything. We’re grateful.”
Moon Sung-hyun was nodding to the doctor when Moon Jung-hyun suddenly cried out urgently.
“Mother!”
Hearing that his life wasn’t in danger, the tension drained from Jin Ae-ran and she collapsed. The commotion that followed was considerable.

***

A few hours later, Kang Hyun regained consciousness. At that same moment, he heard his second brother Moon Jung-hyun’s growling voice.
“Hey, are you out of your mind?”
If he were, would he have done something this reckless? Unable to produce words, Kang Hyun only managed a soft, deflating sound.
“Phew, at least it wasn’t worse. But don’t you dare be relieved—you should be ashamed of yourself. Mother collapsed and had to be admitted too.”
Really? Kang Hyun’s lips twitched slightly. Since he showed no real contrition, Moon Jung-hyun went on to lecture him relentlessly.
Then Kang Sara entered the room and scolded him for tormenting a patient, and he was chased out.
Left alone, Kang Hyun carefully traced through everything he’d orchestrated.
It might have looked like an impulsive leap in front of a car, but it wasn’t. This accident had been meticulously planned.
Kang Hyun understood that transforming a person in a short time required severe shock. So he staged this scene in front of his mother.
He’d hired a veteran stunt driver to operate the car and threw himself in front of it. The screech of the emergency brake was unusually loud because the driver was a seasoned professional.
‘I never intended to actually die.’
Why would he throw his life away? He was going to live a long time with Seo I-jin.
The thought of her living as another man’s lover or wife made his blood run cold. He’d probably be too furious to even close his eyes in death.
While he was absorbed in these thoughts, the door clicked open. A nurse had come to check on his condition.
“Could I ask you for something?”
“Oh, yes. Go ahead.”
The nurse looked startled as the patient, barely awake, spoke to her.
“Could you please pass along my acquaintance’s phone number, along with news of the accident and the hospital’s location?”
“Oh, yes… of course.”
Most patients wouldn’t make such a request. But the nurse understood—a patient who’d just come to after an accident would struggle to determine the hospital’s location or room number. She chose to be gracious about it.
Moreover, he was a VIP patient important enough that the hospital director himself checked on his condition. There was no reason not to accommodate a simple phone call.

While Kang Hyun was speaking with the nurse, Jin Ae-ran lay hospitalized in another VIP room.
Moon Sung-hyun and Moon Jung-hyun, after confirming Kang Hyun had awakened and delivering a round of admonishments, now stood watch over her bed with exhausted faces.
Jin Ae-ran had just woken and acted as if she might rush to see Kang Hyun at any moment, but her two sons and the medical staff had persuaded her to stay put. She’d endured severe shock and depleted her strength; recovery came first.
Jin Ae-ran watched the IV Drip fall drop by drop, her gaze distant, and let out a sigh. Her mind still felt numb—she couldn’t make sense of what had happened.
Still, it was a relief that Kang Hyun appeared unharmed, though she wouldn’t be truly at ease until she saw him with her own eyes.
Jin Ae-ran checked the amount of IV fluid remaining, her restlessness mounting—she wouldn’t be able to move until the drip was finished.
Moon Sung-hyun spoke to her then.
“Mother, the one who caused the accident is young and will recover quickly. So please rest easy and focus on your own recovery.”
“That’s right. Good heavens, what on earth was he thinking, pulling such a stunt?”
Moon Jung-hyun clicked his tongue in disapproval.
At that, Jin Ae-ran recalled what Kang Hyun had said before throwing himself into the car.

“If you won’t give your permission, aren’t you curious how far I’m willing to go?”

Those words sounded as if this wasn’t the end—as if there was more to come.
It felt like a declaration of war: if she wouldn’t approve his relationship with Seo I-jin, he would commit something far more reckless than this.
Jin Ae-ran spoke to her two sons, her expression worn.
“You both know I’ve opposed the woman Kang Hyun is seeing. He wouldn’t accept that, so he’s done this. What would you have me do?”
Moon Sung-hyun replied then, his expression grave.
“Honestly, there’s no reason Kang Hyun should have to live for the Moonseong Group. He’s determined to live doing what he wants anyway. Why not just let him marry whoever he loves?”
If this incident hadn’t occurred, Jin Ae-ran would never have asked her sons’ opinion.
She had been harboring plans to eventually draw Kang Hyun into the Moonseong Group.

When she said nothing and only sighed, Moon Jung-hyun spoke up.
“Mother, forgive me for saying so, but Kang Hyun is… how should I put it… different. People call that sort of thing crazy. Just looking at what happened today, it’s obvious you won’t be able to overpower him going forward. So what can you do? We don’t know what that lunatic will attempt next.”

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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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