To My Brother’s Friend - Chapter 23

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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 23
Why was Hee-jo’s Brother calling at this hour?
Hee-jo cleared her throat and quickly answered the phone.
“…Yes, Hee-jo’s Brother.”
-What are you doing?
“Just… being here.”
-Have you eaten dinner?
“I just finished. How about you?”
-Me too, just now.
A moment of silence stretched between them.
Hee-jo, who had been biting the tender flesh inside her lip, carefully released it.
“Um, is something wrong?”
-Something wrong?
That’s what I was trying to figure out by asking…
But Kwon Yeol’s conversations always went like this.
He would echo the other person’s question back at them, catching them off guard, until they inevitably revealed their true feelings first.
“…”
He would pressure with chilling silence, and then—
-Why does your voice sound like that?
At an unexpected moment, he would strike with unexpected words.
Wearing an indifferent expression, yet never missing even a fleeting instant—as if he had been watching over me all along.
In that instant, her amber eyes trembled faintly.
Hee-jo swallowed hard, trying to suppress the burning sensation in her throat.
Her voice, scraped raw and subdued from retching, sounded strange.
-Yoon Hee-jo.
His steady breathing through the receiver stimulated her senses sharply, as if licking the curve of her ear.
“…I was just about to go to bed.”
-This early?
“I’m a bit tired.”
Even though she had already showered, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, worried there might be something lingering.
“Are you on your way home from work?”
-Yeah.
“Then… please drive safely.”
-I will. So leave the door unlocked.
“What?”
At his next words, Hee-jo’s mouth fell open.
-I’ll be there in five minutes.
Hee-jo reflexively glanced at the clock.
It had just passed 8:32 PM.
“Kwon…!”
But the call had already ended.
Staring blankly at the darkened screen, my lips grew parched, and my mind began to spin in dizzying confusion.
‘What on earth is happening?’
Kwon Yeol was someone who always called ahead, no matter how late—always before morning.
Before beginning his day, he would meticulously allocate time in his rigid schedule to spend with me, only then moving forward with his plans.
People around us remarked that I received special treatment, noting how Kwon Yeol always made time for my birthday dinner each year, no matter how busy he was.
But from my perspective, even that was merely one of countless appointments slotted into his perfectly orchestrated schedule.
Born from guilt and obligation.
Yet he had deviated from that path.
‘Impulse’ could never be associated with Beom Gwon-yeol.
‘What could have happened?’
On this night when all his duties should have ended.
Ding— ding—
Then, a crisp electronic chime sounded from the wall pad.
Seeing Kwon Yeol’s image fill the screen, I swallowed involuntarily.
Though I had expected him, my eyes trembled finely, as if I were someone drenched by an unexpected downpour, my gaze glistening with moisture.
“….”
Even though he couldn’t see me through the monitor, I felt as though he were scrutinizing me relentlessly through the screen, and every hair on my body stood on end.
Then he pressed the bell once more.
Frozen in place, I quickly pressed the wall pad’s button and hurried toward the entrance hall.
The thundering heartbeat that had echoed in my ears came to an abrupt halt the moment I saw Kwon Yeol through the slowly opening door.
As Kwon Yeol stepped inside, impeccably dressed in a tailored suit, the entrance hall that I had always thought spacious suddenly felt cramped.
He seemed to consume the very space itself.
Broad, solid shoulders that filled the doorframe completely.
A height so commanding that I had to tilt my head back to meet his gaze.
A cool, piercing light in his eyes bearing down on me.
His overwhelming presence stole my breath away.
“Why are you frozen?”
Kwon Yeol tilted his head slightly, his gaze fixed on my eyes.
“Did I come somewhere I shouldn’t have?”
Click—.
The door slowly closed.
A silence as deep as dawn settled at our feet.
Yet unlike the quiet interior, the gazes that met between us were anything but peaceful.
Dark eyes relentlessly captured my trembling hazel ones.
Damp strands of hair and long lashes.
Eyes slightly reddened and swollen.
A gaze that occasionally wavered.
Quivering lips.
And between them, a small, reddened tongue.
“….”
As Kwon Yeol observed me with a measuring gaze, his eyes narrowed slightly.
“Not even a message.”
A message…?
Had I agreed to contact my brother first?
Seeing my bewildered expression, Kwon Yeol’s brow furrowed with displeasure.
“In any case. If I don’t reach out, you never do.”
“Ah….”
I had nothing to say.
Because what Kwon Yeol said was true.
The moment I turned twenty, Hee-jae gifted me a cutting-edge smartphone to replace the worn flip phone I’d been using.
I’d stubbornly insisted that calling was sufficient, unwilling to burden my brother.
With trembling excitement, I transferred each contact number one by one.
My brother was naturally the first I saved, followed by Kwon Yeol.
“Consider it an honor.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a first. Me giving you my number.”
The image of Kwon Yeol smiling faintly as he returned the phone remained vivid in my memory.
And not long after, Hee-jae died.
From that moment until now, I had never once initiated contact with him.
Not a single time.
There was Jin Seo-ryeong’s watchful eye—disguised as sponsorship and protection—keeping me close, and whenever I attended an event, Kwon Yeol was there.
On my birthday, he came to pick me up as though it were the most natural thing.
Beyond this, whenever he had a moment, it was Kwon Yeol who asked if I’d eaten, if there was anything I needed.
All I could do was wait.
To ease Jin Seo-ryeong’s anxieties.
To keep my feelings hidden from Kwon Yeol.
My very existence was already a blemish, a stain upon his otherwise perfect life.
I had no wish to create further discord and jeopardize his position.
“We see each other often enough.”
Watching me offer a faint smile, Kwon Yeol raised one eyebrow.
Often, he thought.
Yes, certainly more often than with anyone else.
There was no one else he’d spent time with so frequently for reasons unrelated to business or professional gain.
And yet….
He couldn’t understand how she could be satisfied with merely that.
A mere touch to the promising and influential heir apparent of the Beomho Group would grant access to countless advantages.
But Kwon Yeol knew better than anyone that such scheming was entirely contrary to her nature.
Then what, exactly, was the source of his discontent?
Those who seized upon trivial pretexts to contact him irritated him endlessly, and yet somehow….
Yoon Hee-jo seemed like she would be fine.
I was prepared to listen willingly, whether she spent the entire day prattling on about trivial matters or recounting the mundane details of her day in that cheerful voice of hers.
Even if she clung to me and wept, unable to escape the aftermath of Hee-jae’s absence, I would listen gladly.
It felt as though, if I truly became Yoon Hee-jae, I could do anything for her.
Yet Hee-jo never reached out to me first.
Not once.
Fearing I might have missed her call, Kwon Yeol checked his phone whenever he had a spare moment, and even scanned his spam folder just in case.
Like those fools he had never understood—those who hung their hopes on someone’s contact and waited endlessly.
Only now could he understand why Yoon Hee-jae had sung all day about wishing Hee-jo would depend on him more.
“So.”
As Kwon Yeol stepped inside, Hee-jo instinctively faltered and retreated backward.
Meeting with Chairman Beom. Crying while thinking of Hee-jae. Even vomiting.
With so much to hide today, Hee-jo couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze directly.
“You didn’t meet anyone without my knowledge today?”
He tilted his head slightly, observing her eyes widen momentarily before trembling faintly.
“Did you see another trophy besides me?”

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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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