My Brother's Friend Wasn't a Guy - Chapter 55

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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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55.

Do Hyun-su couldn’t remember how he’d managed to escape from that place.

“I, I, I like women. I’m crazy about women. S, so, l, let’s call it a day!”

In a daze, Do Hyun-su burst out of the Sky Lounge and spotted Cheon Eun-jeong in the lobby, seizing her hand without hesitation.
“Hey, why are you out so fast? What’s wrong with you?”
Cheon Eun-jeong pressed him for answers, but with a face as though he’d seen a ghost, he dragged her down to the Underground Parking Lot.
“J, just get in quick.”
Bewildered, Cheon Eun-jeong climbed into Do Hyun-su’s car and tilted her head in confusion.
Do Hyun-su, his face drained of all color, floored the accelerator like a man being hunted and peeled out of the garage.
After driving for some time, he carefully scanned the rearview and side mirrors, and only once he’d confirmed no one was following did he let out a long, shaky breath.
“What’s going on? Why are you acting like this?”
Cheon Eun-jeong asked with an exasperated look, and only then did Do Hyun-su respond.
“Listen, your blind date is gay.”
“What?”
Cheon Eun-jeong’s expression went blank for a moment, and Do Hyun-su groaned in frustration.
“I had a gay superior in the military who gave me absolute hell, and it’s still a trauma for me, but of all people—”
He continued ranting on, but Cheon Eun-jeong wasn’t really hearing him. All she could think about was whether it was good or bad that her blind date was gay.
“Hey, are you even listening to me?”
Do Hyun-su’s outburst snapped her from her thoughts, and Cheon Eun-jeong turned to study his profile quietly.
“Why, why, why are you looking at me like that?”
“Just trying to memorize what a popular face looks like.”
“Hey!”
Catching sight of Do Hyun-su flustered and red-eared, Cheon Eun-jeong laughed before her expression turned wistful.
“Forget it. Let’s just go get a drink. Why has my luck been so rotten lately?”
Do Hyun-su’s eyes darted sideways.
“What? You’re thinking something really disrespectful right now, aren’t you?”
Do Hyun-su, who’d been thinking it was all because of her, flinched and shook his head.
“No, it’s not.”
“It is too!”
“It’s not, I’m telling you.”
“Then what isn’t it?”
The two bickered on, and only belatedly did they realize that at thirty-one years old, they were squabbling like children, so they fell silent.
Without anyone starting it first, sighs leaked out from both of them in succession.
“Ugh.”
It was one of those days when you wish someone else would take all your bad luck.

***

Go Myung-suk received an unexpected call.
Jin Ae-ran from the Munseong Group had reached out asking to meet.
Go Myung-suk had assumed there would be no reason to see her again and was flustered. Yet she couldn’t refuse the meeting without even knowing what it was about.
When Go Myung-suk arrived at the appointed place, she was even more taken aback.
She was faced with a lavish spread of dishes at a famous Korean Traditional Restaurant—the kind that appeared on television, laden so bountifully the table seemed ready to collapse.
“I, what is all this…?”
“I was remiss in my conduct before. I merely wish to offer you a meal as my apology, so please don’t feel burdened and enjoy.”
Go Myung-suk blinked, unable to believe that a wealthy matron was actually apologizing to her.
She had lived through hardships enough to know that people of means don’t apologize without ulterior motive.
“You tell me not to feel burdened, but how could I not? If you have something to say, please say it.”
The smile that had been plastered across Jin Ae-ran’s face cracked. It was easy to suppress someone with wealth and power, but it was far harder to sway those who couldn’t be bought that way. For such people, a different approach was required.
Something like showing sincerity and desperation, perhaps. But that was not Jin Ae-ran’s strength.
What she excelled at was using her abundant money and power to subjugate her opponents.
That was why Lee Jin and her mother were such formidable adversaries. Because they couldn’t be manipulated by wealth or influence, Jin Ae-ran had to resort to methods that exposed her greatest vulnerabilities.
Jin Ae-ran resented her son for driving her to this point and forced her lips upward.
“When I say my previous actions were wrong, I do not say it merely for courtesy’s sake. So please, I beg you to forgive me.”
“What could I possibly hold against you? It’s only natural that the wealthy family would find our Lee Jin unsatisfactory.”
“No, that’s not it. I simply failed to recognize Miss Lee Jin’s worth. Compared to her, my son is lacking—quite lacking indeed.”
Jin Ae-ran meant every word. By now she was desperately hoping Lee Jin would take that fool off her hands.
Go Myung-suk, unaware of what had shifted this proud woman’s heart, wore a bewildered expression.
Moreover, when Jin Ae-ran spoke of Kang Hyun, her voice carried an emotion that was utterly strange—as though she were dismissing her own son like a burden.
“Your son is beyond reproach. He’s steady, considerate, and has depth of character.”
“Kang Hyun?”
Jin Ae-ran found herself echoing the question, her eyebrows twitching. The words rose to her throat—if he were really that fine, why didn’t Go Myung-suk marry him into her family?—but pride sealed her lips shut.
Go Myung-suk wasn’t being polite.
Kang Hyun had been coming to her house constantly since middle school, so she’d watched him over many years.
Long as that time was, she’d never found any particular flaw in him.
So when she saw Jin Ae-ran questioning her words, Go Myung-suk found herself at a loss for what to say. Whether the mother and son got along well or poorly remained a mystery to her.
As an awkward silence stretched on, Jin Ae-ran released a short sigh and spoke.
“Kang Hyun says he won’t accept anyone but your daughter. Honestly, where will you find parents who don’t favor their own child? I was greedy, it’s true, but nothing forced ever works out. That’s why I’ve had a change of heart.”
As she laid bare her true feelings, Go Myung-suk, who had been lost in thought, finally answered.
“As long as they’re both willing, I have no objection.”
At that, a gleam appeared in Jin Ae-ran’s eyes.
“Then I’d be grateful if you’d speak to Miss Lee Jin about this.”
“Pardon?”
When Go Myung-suk blinked in confusion, Jin Ae-ran said something entirely unexpected.
“The truth is, I met Miss Lee Jin first, but she turned me down.”
Go Myung-suk hadn’t known about any such meeting. Lee Jin had shown no sign of having seen Jin Ae-ran.
Doesn’t she still not trust me? Go Myung-suk’s face darkened.
She felt a weight settle in her chest, realizing it was her own fault that Lee Jin had grown so accustomed to enduring things alone.
“I’ll try to speak with her, at any rate.”
Jin Ae-ran looked relieved at Go Myung-suk’s answer, but Go Myung-suk’s own heart found no ease.
When would her daughter finally speak her true wishes, without worrying about anyone’s eyes upon her?

***

That evening, after clearing away dinner, Go Myung-suk set out some fruit and quietly sat across from her daughter.
“I’m full.”
Yet watching Lee Jin casually reach for the fruit anyway, Go Myung-suk let out a quiet laugh and spoke.
“Mom ran into Kang Hyun’s mother today.”
“Hm? You met who?”
The moment Lee Jin heard “Kang Hyun,” she stiffened visibly, so Go Myung-suk rephrased slightly.
“Kang Hyun’s mother. I met her.”
“Why? Why would you?”
Searching for any sign of heartache, Lee Jin’s eyes darted left and right.
“She apologized. Said she was sorry for before.”
“She… apologized?”
The words were so unexpected that Lee Jin’s expression went blank for a moment.
“Yes, she said she hadn’t properly recognized your worth.”
At Go Myung-suk’s words, Lee Jin’s face grew complex. She couldn’t believe that proud woman had actually apologized to her mother.
Did Kang Hyun make her do it? Would that woman have agreed so readily just because he asked? A tangle of thoughts clouded her mind.
“Lee Jin.”
Hearing her mother’s voice, Lee Jin barely broke free from her thoughts and met her gaze.
“Think about what you want. Don’t worry about what anyone else says.”
“What I want?”
“Yes—what do you want to do? You like Kang Hyun too, don’t you?”
At her mother’s question, Lee Jin bit her lip. She’d never lived by her own will or inclination, so she had no sense of how to proceed.
As a child, she’d watched her mother always put her brother first and accepted it as natural; now she’d decided that a place beside Kang Hyun was not rightfully hers and had only avoided him.
Her own true desires had never been a consideration. They never were.
Watching her daughter, Go Myung-suk was crushed by guilt, but instead of collapsing and weeping, she forced the corners of her mouth upward.
“I want you to live as you choose. Whatever decision you make, I’ll support you.”
“Mother……”
Seeing the redness bloom around Lee Jin’s eyes, Go Myung-suk whispered to herself.
My daughter—live the life you want from now on. Be happy.

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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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