My Brother's Friend Wasn't a Guy - Chapter 54

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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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54.

Kang Hyun didn’t linger at Lee Jin’s workshop. He simply had a cup of tea so as not to burden her, then took his leave.
Watching Lee Jin’s expression shift through a kaleidoscope of emotions, he found himself breaking into quiet laughter.
Since his leg injury left him unable to drive, he accepted his driver’s assistance and climbed into the car.
“I should visit Mother. Let’s head to Moonseong Group Headquarters.”
“Yes, understood.”
And so Kang Hyun set out toward Moonseong Group Headquarters.
Through the car window, he gazed absently at the passing landscape, his mind turning back to words his mother had spoken when he’d gone to meet Lee Jin.

“I told you I’d allow you to see her, and yet she refuses.”

There was something almost pitiful about the way she seemed to hold back so much of what she wanted to say.

“I’ve already told you—I won’t accept anyone but her.”
“What more do you want me to do? What else can I possibly do?”

Jin Ae-ran’s voice rose as her pent-up anger finally erupted, but she caught herself the moment she saw Kang Hyun still in the condition of a severely injured man, lowering her voice with effort.

“You know better than anyone what you can do. After all, scheming without scruples is your specialty.”

Kang Hyun deliberately pressed his mother harder, even though he’d never intended to leave persuading Lee Jin entirely in her hands.
Background investigations were merely the baseline for her; she was meticulous enough to track his own movements, visiting Lee Jin during his absences with calculated precision. She’d even prepared money to the point of scheming a meeting with Lee Jin.
Yet she had the audacity to visit him in that half-hearted way and then act as though her part was finished.
He had no intention of letting her off the hook so easily.

“As you can see, my mobility is still quite limited, so I’ll need you to put in some work.”

When Kang Hyun spoke with a slight smile, Jin Ae-ran’s expression darkened visibly.
A week passed. Kang Hyun was discharged from the hospital and could move about independently with the aid of a wheelchair or crutches.
His physical fitness had been exceptional, so aside from the plastered leg, his recovery was nearly complete.
Yet during that entire week, his mother had made no significant moves.
That’s why Kang Hyun was now on his way to see her—much like a creditor pressing for overdue payment.

When Kang Hyun entered his mother’s office, he caught a glimpse of Jin Ae-ran’s startled expression before she could hide it, and he smiled faintly.
“What brings you here?”
His mother, who always complained that she never heard from him unless he initiated contact, had gone pale at the sight of him—as though she’d seen the grim reaper himself. It was quite amusing.
“Are you busy?”
“What? No, well… somewhat.”
The moment Kang Hyun’s eyes swept across the interior of the office, Jin Ae-ran felt cold sweat trickling down her back.
Everything about the way he moved—so leisurely, like an apex predator—seemed to tighten the noose around her neck.
She remembered clearly what Kang Hyun had said before. It was an implicit threat: make more effort to persuade Lee Jin.
Though she’d understood the message, Jin Ae-ran had done nothing about it. A thought had taken deep root in her mind: ‘This ought to be enough. What more could he possibly want?’
But now that her son had come to see her, she felt like a thief caught red-handed, her gaze faltering. He hadn’t shown up without purpose.
Suppressing the urge to throw her son out, Jin Ae-ran forced her lips into a smile.
“Why don’t you go see Lee Jin? No matter how busy you are, surely you can spare that much time. If it doesn’t work out, you could always meet on a weekend.”
This boy!
So that’s why he’d come. Jin Ae-ran realized anew that her son’s head was filled with nothing but Lee Jin, and a bitter taste rose in her throat.
She’d cursed him so many times for being an ungrateful son that she’d grown weary of even that thought.
Lately, she’d even found herself wishing that Lee Jin would just take him away—though ideally without Jin Ae-ran having to compromise her own dignity.
Without a word, Jin Ae-ran simply glared at Kang Hyun, her whole body trembling with barely restrained fury.
“I trust you’ll do as I’ve asked, so I’ll be on my way. You seem quite busy, and I don’t want to take up too much of your time.”
…….
Kang Hyun left his mother’s office without waiting for her response. As the door closed behind him, something crashed against it.
It seemed the infuriated Jin Ae-ran had hurled a stack of papers in frustration.
‘Endearing.’
There was something undeniably charming about the maternal nature that held itself in check before her son, only to reveal itself once he’d gone. Such a genuine display of a mother’s heart.
Kang Hyun’s lips curled into a slight smile as he unhurriedly made his exit.

***

Cheon Eun-jeong told her family that she’d broken up with Kang Hyun. Their reaction was exactly what she’d expected: unsurprised.

“I knew this would happen sooner or later.”

Cheon Woo-jae’s quip nearly cost him dearly, but since they’d never been genuinely involved in the first place, Cheon Eun-jeong’s emotional response was muted enough that the situation didn’t spiral into catastrophe.

“Good timing, actually. There’s a family we’ve wanted to forge ties with for years now. Take this chance and meet their son.”

But then her mother said something unexpected.
A blind date already? Cheon Eun-jeong’s brow twitched, and her mother’s eyes remained cold despite the smile playing at her lips as she spoke in that terrifying way of hers.

“Kang Hyun’s mother apologized to me.”
“She… apologized? But why would she apologize?”
“First things first—change how you address me.”

Jang Hae-yeong, who possessed a talent for reading situations and gathering intelligence that was nothing short of supernatural in their circles, had apparently picked up on the unnatural nature of Cheon Eun-jeong’s relationship with Kang Hyun. And it seemed she’d kept that knowledge to herself.
Which left Cheon Eun-jeong no choice but to obey. And so here she was, marching toward a blind date.
“For crying out loud, did some unhappy ghost of an unwed daughter curse me?”
She muttered this complaint under her breath as she stepped into the hotel lobby.
Her older sister, groomed to succeed the group, had never been pressured into marriage.
It was always her—the middle daughter, convenient and easy to sacrifice. The perfect victim for a strategic marriage arrangement.
“Does marriage really have to happen?”
The Cheon Eun-jeong of the past would never have asked such a question. She’d harbored feelings for Seo Lee Hwan, yes, but had resigned herself to the impossibility of anything coming from it.
And if she were to marry anyway, she’d wanted it to be to someone with wealth, someone who could offer financial security—a thought that aligned, in its own way, with her family’s demands.
But watching Kang Hyun these past months had shifted something in her thinking. Did she really need to force herself into marriage at all?
With that thought came a new dread: approaching the blind date felt like being led to the slaughterhouse.
As she racked her brain for an escape, a familiar face caught her eye.
“Hey, Do Hyun-su!”
Do Hyun-su’s shoulders jerked at the sound of his name. His face went white as paper when he realized it was Cheon Eun-jeong who’d called to him.
He’d nearly died after revealing Kang Hyun’s secret at the hospital, saved only by Cheon Eun-jeong’s intervention.

“You owe me, don’t you?”

And this cunning Cheon Eun-jeong had made sure to extract a debt from the encounter.

“I’ll be collecting that debt eventually. Don’t forget.”

She’d sealed the debt without even asking his opinion, turning him into her creditor whether he liked it or not. He’d been trying to avoid her ever since, and now this?
Do Hyun-su was beginning to think he’d become a walking monument to misfortune. There was no other explanation for how consistently terrible his luck had become.
While he was still deciding whether to run, Cheon Eun-jeong closed the distance fast, her face bright with that disarming smile of hers.
“Perfect timing. Do me a favor.”
He didn’t want to—not even a little bit—but he couldn’t quite bring himself to say it aloud, not with his pride on the line. Instead, his voice came out wary. “Uh… what?”

Cheon Eun-jeong explained as if she’d been waiting for the question. He needed to pretend to be her boyfriend and torpedo her blind date.
“So you want me to meet your blind date and ruin it?”
“Exactly. Better comprehension than I expected.”
Do Hyun-su’s chest tightened, but he swallowed his protest and tried to think his way out. “I don’t know what I’d even say to him.”
“Haven’t you watched any dramas? Just tell him, ‘Eun-jeong’s my girlfriend, so sorry, but please leave.’ Simple.”
“That’s embarrassingly blunt.”
In the end, after taking a hit from Cheon Eun-jeong, Do Hyun-su swallowed his reluctance and climbed up to the Hotel Sky Lounge to meet her blind date.
But something was off about the guy.
According to Do Hyun-su’s expectations, the blind date should’ve grown angry and stormed off. Instead, his eyes held an odd, simmering intensity.
“I didn’t want to be here either. But I’m glad I came. I’ve just met my perfect ideal type.”
What? Do Hyun-su straightened his posture, which had been sprawled across the chair in deliberate arrogance, sitting up a bit more carefully now.
Then he glanced quickly around the area to see if there was some woman he’d somehow missed.
But there wasn’t anyone else. The blind date was looking directly at Do Hyun-su’s face as he spoke.

“Is it possible you have no interest in men?”
Oh, geez!

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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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