To My Brother’s Friend - Chapter 12

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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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Chapter 12
The Jeoksanwon, where the ridges of tiled roofs stretched endlessly like mountains, was the residence of the Beom Ho Group’s chairman and his family.
In the sprawling traditional Korean estate—vast enough to be called a village—the only sound was the wind crossing the garden’s pond.
Chairman Beom Hun-young’s study occupied the deepest corner of Jeoksanwon.
“Mm.”
A wrinkled, thick hand reached for one of the delicate tea cakes arranged on a glossy wooden table.
Beom Hun-young gazed at the pavilion standing gracefully beyond the window as he bit into the cake.
“These days, I won’t eat anything unless Hee-jo made it.”
While apprenticing in traditional knot-making under Han Young-sook, Hee-jo had also learned to craft tea cakes in her spare moments.
“I heard she learned because Han Young-sook’s snacks were so delicious?”
Kwon Yeol nodded.
“That is what I was told.”
“Such deft fingers the girl has. Sharp eyes too. She listened carefully to what was said only a few times, and managed to satisfy this particular old man’s exacting palate so perfectly.”
True to his own words, Chairman Beom Hun-young was renowned as a fastidious gourmet with refined tastes.
Even during his hungry years, rolling rough in the shadows, he would sooner go without food than eat something that displeased his palate.
“Madam Jung was astonished as well. She’s worked at Jeoksanwon for over twenty years perfecting my tastes, yet Hee-jo accomplished it in mere weeks—no, days.”
With a satisfied expression, Beom Hun-young swallowed the cake and wiped his hands with white cotton cloth, then asked with studied indifference.
“Did you stay at the hotel? You’ve been gone since Friday.”
“Half the time, yes.”
“Half? Then where were you the other half?”
“At the apartment.”
The apartment…
There was only one apartment currently registered under Kwon Yeol’s name.
In that instant, a flash of keen intensity—sharp as a blade—flickered across Beom Hun-young’s otherwise calm eyes.
“This doesn’t sound like something that will end quickly.”
“It won’t take much of your time. I’ve already reached a conclusion on the matter.”
“You’ve already decided?”
Surely not…
The moment that thought crossed his mind, lightning struck.
“I intend to marry Hee-jo.”
A silence as profound as death fell over the room.
Beom Hun-young slowly set the cotton cloth on the table, tapped his knuckles lightly against the armrest, and spoke.
“You’re saying you’ll marry… that girl Hee-jo?”
“Yes.”
“Why.”
“I wish to complete this project well.”
Beom Hun-young’s brow furrowed in incomprehension.
“I don’t see what that has to do with marriage.”
“I want to be at ease at home.”
At ease at home…
Beom Hun-young repeated Kwon Yeol’s words under his breath, pressing his temples with his fingertips.
The eldest son was saying that if he married someone chosen by the family, coming home wouldn’t be clocking out—it would be clocking back in to appease his wife and in-laws.
Beom Hun-young couldn’t comprehend it at all.
Kwon Yeol was a child who understood better than anyone the price of the rights he was born holding and the weight of the duties that came with them.
Even when his younger siblings ran wild and caused chaos, Kwon Yeol never wavered, maintained his center, and quietly bore his siblings’ burdens as well, satisfying him.
The eldest son, born with the qualities of a sovereign, was his pride and his source of confidence.
But what in the world was this unbecoming statement from a man of the Beom Family—this cowardly declaration?
“I don’t know what wind has blown into you. You know better than anyone what marriage means to us.”
“I believe marrying Hee-jo is the best choice to elevate the Group. If my mind and body are at ease, I’ll be able to focus more on my work.”
Half was truth, and half was a lie.
What I need isn’t a ‘lifelong companion’ or anything like that.
I simply needed a justification to block the time-wasting institution of marriage while simultaneously protecting Hee-jo in the safest and most perfect way possible.
Rather than giving my side to a woman I don’t know at all, it would be far more efficient to live as husband and wife with Hee-jo and then divorce her, leaving her with immense wealth.
Kwon Yeol believed that was the best consideration he could offer as a temporary husband and as her brother.
If he recklessly brought Hee-jo to his side, Grandfather’s wrath would be directed entirely at her.
To fulfill Grandfather’s long-cherished wish without difficulty, he had to emphasize her usefulness.
Only then could he protect Hee-jo until they parted ways.
“I won’t marry anyone but Hee-jo.”
Beom Hun-young, whose lips had been moving, soon pressed them shut.
No one could stop Kwon Yeol when his eyes held that look.
Not even himself.
Watching those black eyes, steely with the resolve to see his will through no matter what, Beom Hun-young felt distant and bewildered, unable to form words properly.
‘My daughter-in-law was right.’
His daughter-in-law, Jin Seo-ryeong, had always been anxious about Hee-jo’s existence.
“I’m afraid, Father. I fear that girl, who seeps in silently like mist, will eventually claim the seat beside Kwon Yeol.”
“Heh, how can a mother not trust her own child? Don’t worry. What kind of boy is Kwon Yeol? He would never do something so foolish as to ruin his own future.”
“But… that girl stands out far too much. No matter how far into the corner I push her, she captures attention at once.”
“It’s true she’s quite beautiful, but not enough to make him cast aside the crown of heir. Don’t fret. Kwon Yeol is different from those fools who are bewitched by beauty.”
Beom Hun-young was not unaware that the light in Kwon Yeol’s eyes when he looked at Hee-jo occasionally deepened.
An uncomfortable feeling, like a thorn lodged in his throat, arose, but Beom Hun-young dismissed it.
He was his eldest grandson, after all.
Kwon Yeol, who carried Beom Hun-young’s blood most richly, was a born predator and hunter.
He was certain that Kwon Yeol would never make a choice that brought him no benefit.
Foolishly certain, as it turned out.
“You’re really going through with that marriage?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know what you’ll lose?”
“I’m not losing anything—I’m gaining a stepping stone to climb higher. Rather than scattering my strength on unnecessary marriage talks, it’s more efficient to stabilize my surroundings early and devote myself fully to the Beomho Smart City project.”
Elevating Beomho Construction to a holding company was the long-cherished ambition that Chairman Beom Hun-young had always desired.
The keen light in his eyes wavered for a moment, and Chairman Beom let out a low sigh before reluctantly opening his mouth.
“Will you have any regrets?”
“Not at all.”
At the eldest grandson’s unwavering response, Beom Hun-young smoothed the creases between his brows with his fingertips.
“Hee-jo will accomplish far more than what Grandfather envisions, so there’s no need to worry.”
It wasn’t the girl he was concerned about—it was you.
Every time you looked at her, that gaze of yours grew distinctly more intense, and it had been gnawing at me ever since.
But Beom Hun-young swallowed his words.
“What if I cast you out from the Group?”
Even at that, Kwon Yeol answered with the detached tone of someone reciting a business report.
“There will be no alternative but me. And that will remain true going forward.”
“…Arrogant bastard.”
Yet Beom Hun-young could not refute him.
The second grandson, Si-yeol, remained attached to the company, but he harbored no great ambitions for its management.
He had driven a wedge in advance, insisting that satisfying the basic obligations bestowed upon him was enough, then devoted himself instead to racing circuits and sponsoring racing teams.
“If I were to live like Si-yeol as well, I fear you’d clutch the back of your neck and collapse. So I’m stopping here. Therefore, harbor no further expectations. In exchange, I’ll live quietly and cause no major incidents going forward.”
The youngest, Jae-yeol, was far worse.
He had openly declared that management would be left to his two older brothers, and he would simply enjoy the wealth and prestige inherited by birthright—and he lived precisely like the reckless wastrel he proclaimed himself to be.
Then suddenly, he was studying diligently while attending university in America, entered an Overseas Branch, achieved results, resolved the embezzlement and slush fund issues that had plagued the branch director and tormented Beom Hun-young, presented the solution to him, and then abruptly transferred his registration to the Scholarship Foundation.
“How much pain would it cause everyone if fraternal discord were to arise? That’s why, despite this exceptional ability, I harbor no ambitions for management. So grant me one wish, will you? When I’m being such a filial son.”
They were utterly unreasonable fellows.
Thus, Beom Hun-young had no choice but to hold fast to Kwon Yeol.
“…Whether it’s the project or your private life. If you stumble even once, you must be prepared to divorce immediately and remarry.”
“That won’t happen.”
Permission was finally granted, yet Kwon Yeol’s expression remained unchanged.
As though everything would unfold exactly as he intended.
‘Infuriating man.’
Beom Hun-young exhaled a sigh, observing the composed eldest grandson.
Had there been more time remaining until the project’s final stages, this wretch would have proceeded with the marriage regardless.
“You don’t understand how crucial matrimonial bonds are.”
“I will prove that I possess the ability to transcend such concerns.”
“…If only your words could match your actions.”
Beom Hun-young clicked his tongue, then fixed a sharp gaze upon Kwon Yeol’s face.
“In one year, if the results fail to satisfy me, you will divorce.”
“….”
“And you will remarry a daughter from the family I select. Then I will grant my approval.”
At the one-year deadline, Kwon Yeol let out a quiet laugh.
The phrase about carrying the purest blood of Chairman Beom Hun-young fit perfectly, didn’t it?
“Are you mocking me?”
“Understood. I gladly accept that proposal.”
“What?”
“It’s not as if that will ever happen anyway.”
Anger flashed across Beom Hun-young’s eyes in that instant.
“If I don’t see results within a year, I’ll file for divorce. I’m that confident.”
* * *
At that very moment.
Crack—!
With a sharp screech, Hee-jo’s body crumpled to the floor.
A metallic taste bloomed from her split lip.

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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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