My Brother's Friend Wasn't a Guy - Chapter 58

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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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58.

When Lee Jin emerged from the interview into the lobby, Kang Hyun sat alone, perusing a ceramics magazine.
An air of untouchable grace seemed to have seized the entire space, rendering his presence unmistakably striking.
How many people could command such an intense presence even while confined to a wheelchair?
Noticing passersby stealing glances at him, Lee Jin exhaled softly and made her way over.
“Bored while you waited?”
“Bored? Far from it. Actually quite entertaining.”
An enigmatic smile played at the corners of Kang Hyun’s mouth—a thin veil concealing the satisfaction of having made Cha Ji-hun squirm.
The moment she’d brought up the wedding invitation, he’d fumbled through excuses and bolted without ceremony.
Had he shown a bit more desperation, a touch more nerve, the entertainment would have been exquisite.
It was a shame he hadn’t deployed all the methods he’d devised to keep that senior in his place, to ensure he’d never dare look twice at Lee Jin.
Still, he’d broken Cha Ji-hun down sufficiently—enough that the man would spend weeks barely functioning. In the end, restraint had been the kindness.
Regardless, watching that senior flee with his tail between his legs had lifted Kang Hyun’s spirits considerably.
Unaware of any of this, Lee Jin tilted her head curiously, grasped the wheelchair’s handles, and started toward the exit.
“I’m glad you weren’t bored, at least.”
Stepping outside, the beautiful landscaping surrounding the museum came into view.
Autumn had reached its zenith, and the ornamental trees displayed a kaleidoscope of burnished hues that caught the eye.
“Want to take a walk?”
Lee Jin nodded at his suggestion.
“Yeah, let’s.”
The two strolled along the walking path before stopping beneath a massive plane tree. Leaves the size of Kang Hyun’s palm, turned golden, fluttered down from the canopy.
The fallen leaves scattered on the ground were different from those still descending—desiccated and brown.
Each crackle beneath her feet seemed to delight her, and she began kicking playfully at the pile.
Watching this, Kang Hyun let out a soft laugh and snatched a freshly falling leaf from the air, extending it toward her.
“Here, this one.”
When he offered her the beautifully colored leaf, Lee Jin reached out without hesitation.
But instead of surrendering the leaf, he caught her hand.
Before she could process what was happening, he slipped something onto her ring finger. The motion flowed so naturally that she had no chance to pull away.
“What—what is this?”
Lee Jin stared at what now rested on her ring finger, her eyes narrowing slightly. For what Kang Hyun had placed there, disguised as a fallen leaf, was a couple ring.
The very same couple ring she’d left at Cheongjeokje the day she’d asked him to break up.
“You’ll wear it again, won’t you?”
His gaze deepened as he met her eyes with the question.
Wearing this ring meant returning to what they’d been before the breakup. In other words, it meant they were together again.
Lee Jin’s fingers trembled slightly as she touched the band on her ring finger, releasing a small sigh.
She couldn’t tell if her feelings for him ran deeper than she’d realized, or if his relentlessness had simply prevailed—but one thing was certain: she’d reached a point where refusing this ring was impossible.
She regarded him briefly with a sidelong glance, then gave a slow nod.
“I was terrified you’d say no.”
He drew in an exaggerated breath, laughing. Lee Jin had resolved to maintain her composure, but his amusement proved contagious, and she found herself laughing with him.
Their laughter echoed between them as they exchanged another round of smiles.
Then he reached into his jacket’s inner pocket, retrieved his own ring, slipped it onto his finger, and held his hand up with deliberate pride.
Had someone been watching, they might have thought he’d dipped his hand in gold—his bearing was that triumphant.
“What are you doing?”
Lee Jin raised an eyebrow questioningly, and his eyes brightened as he answered.
“Showing off.”
“Showing off to me?”
“No. To myself.”
The question hung in the air, perplexing her. Seeing her confusion, Kang Hyun chuckled softly.
“You couldn’t possibly know how long I’ve waited for this day—to wear a couple ring again.”
His smile faded, revealing an expression suffused with regret and resolve in equal measure, strange to witness.
But that severity lasted only a moment. As his gaze fell upon the ring on his hand, the harsh desert wind in his eyes gradually transformed into the gentle warmth of a spring breeze.
The transformation was so seamless that Lee Jin found herself unable to look away. Then Kang Hyun interlaced his fingers with hers.
Ownership—possessive and fierce—radiated from every knuckle. He drew their joined hands toward him and pressed his lips against the back of her hand as he spoke.
“I’m never letting you go again.”
Heat flooded through her at those words. Was it strange that his relentlessness brought her joy? Lee Jin kept the feeling hidden as she gazed at the couple ring now adorning her finger with darkened eyes.

***

Jin Ae-ran listened to the report on Kang Hyun while failing to hide her anxiety.
Her sole preoccupation these days was whether Lee Jin had accepted her son or rejected him.
It was hard to believe that she’d once boasted of her son as the finest son-in-law material — now, to her eyes, he appeared less like a prize than a time bomb.
And because it felt like a time bomb in her own hands, her unease refused to fade. There was no way to predict when it would detonate.
So Jin Ae-ran wanted to hand that time bomb off to Lee Jin. She alone was the bomb defuser who could disarm it.
“They do meet, then? But there are still no real signs of progress?”
“That’s correct, ma’am.”
Jin Ae-ran fell into thought at Secretary Kim’s report. The frequency of visits to the workshop or their meetings had been gradually increasing, but those encounters never lasted long.
From what she could gather, her son might be showing up unannounced and pestering Lee Jin.
“When you think about it, that girl is stubborn as they come.”
Jin Ae-ran clicked her tongue, recalling Lee Jin’s resolute rejection of her proposal.
“My son may have a decent face — I’ll grant him that — but if a woman can see that face and still not fall for him, well, she’s no ordinary girl.”
Secretary Kim spoke up after hearing Jin Ae-ran’s wistful murmur.
“Lee Jin recently entered a piece in the Pottery Competition and won a Silver Award.”
“Is that so?”
Jin Ae-ran felt a spark of curiosity. She had always taken an interest in artwork and paintings to furnish her home.
She knew Lee Jin was a ceramicist, but she’d never felt compelled to see her work.
She’d only thought of her as a woman to keep her son away from, never as an artist in her own right.
If the opportunity presented itself, she ought to see what kind of pieces she made. And since she’d won an award at the competition, here was a chance to use that to her advantage.
Jin Ae-ran turned the wheels in her head and issued an instruction to Secretary Kim.

Several hours later.
Lee Jin came face to face with a congratulatory floral wreath delivered to her workshop, and her jaw dropped.
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t order this.”
“Of course not. The person who did order it is someone else. They’ve already covered the cost.”
Lee Jin couldn’t bring herself to suggest that perhaps the wreath had been delivered to the wrong location.
The ribbons on the wreath bore inscriptions: “Congratulations on Competition Success,” “Lee Jin, Silver Award Winner in the Pottery Competition.”
Had there been only one or two wreaths, she wouldn’t have been so rattled. But counting them, there were exactly twenty.
With twenty floral wreaths lined up in front of the workshop, barely a sliver of space remained for a single person to squeeze through.
Moreover, thanks to the brilliant floral arrangements of the congratulatory wreaths, they were so eye-catching that from down the street, only this workshop was visible.
“Can you at least tell me who sent them?”
When Lee Jin asked the person who appeared to be in charge of the delivery, he asked her to wait a moment, then retrieved something from the vehicle.
Handing her a premium potted Orchid Plant with ribbon inscriptions to match the wreaths, he pointed to the card nestled in the pot and spoke.
“If you open that, you’ll know who sent it.”
“Thank you.”
Lee Jin stepped into the workshop with a bewildered expression, cradling the orchid. The delivery workers had already finished their work and left.
“I have no idea what this is all about.”
She spoke the words seeing Kang Hyun inside the workshop. Despite the peculiar parade of wreaths, he merely let out a soft chuckle, as if he’d guessed something.
Lee Jin set down the pot and hurried to open the card.

—We celebrate your success in the Pottery Competition and look forward to your continued achievements.
Jin Ae-ran, Director of Munseong Group

After reading the card’s message, Lee Jin’s expression grew complicated. Kang Hyun, catching sight of the card she held, let out a scoff and spoke.
“Even the formidable Jin Ae-ran makes reckless moves from time to time.”

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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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