To My Brother’s Friend - Chapter 32

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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 32
Jin Seo-ryeong spoke, her gaze sharp as she observed Hee-jo sitting with perfect posture.
“When your mother was alive, I married into this family, lived in the Annex, and learned the ways of the household. If you insist on marrying, if you insist on becoming part of this family—”
The very words kindled her anger. She drew a deep breath to steady herself, then slowly opened her eyes and continued.
“Move in here and live with us. There are so many things I need to teach you, keeping you close by my side.”
“….”
“Why aren’t you answering? What, did you think you’d roam freely outside and play the mistress of the Beom Ho Group, only to find yourself shackled? If I hadn’t made this offer first, you should be bowing in gratitude. Do you understand?”
Jin Seo-ryeong’s voice cut sharply through the space.
Hee-jo took a shallow breath.
‘I think I need to ask Kwon Yeol about this….’
The thought flashed through her mind that this wasn’t a decision she could make alone.
“If you can’t accept this, this marriage will never happen. I’ll stop it by any means necessary.”
Jin Seo-ryeong’s voice rang out again, unwavering.
“It means I won’t show any more consideration. My son’s feelings and your circumstances—none of it matters.”
Hee-jo recalled the words Kwon Yeol had left behind this morning before she went to work.
“Tell me everything honestly. That way I can prepare for it.”
“You don’t have to force a smile. We’re husband and wife now. Make sure no one even suspects our relationship.”
That meant she had to live as a perfect wife until the contract period ended.
While spouses would consult on everything, sometimes one had to clean up after the other’s actions and adapt accordingly.
What Kwon Yeol wanted wasn’t a subordinate waiting for approval, but a wife standing confidently by his side.
If they set up a newlywed home outside Jeoksanwon, Jin Seo-ryeong would become anxious worrying about her, and that burden would ultimately fall on Kwon Yeol as well.
Hee-jo opened her mouth as if she had made a decision.
“Yes, I will do as you say.”
“…If you go to Kwon Yeol and complain that I forced you again—”
“I respected and liked your mother.”
The unexpected confession caught Jin Seo-ryeong off guard, silencing her.
Hee-jo, with her head bowed, continued quietly.
“When I first met you, I was truly amazed. I thought, ‘There are people in this world so beautiful and elegant.’ How could someone be so radiant and yet so kind?”
Hee-jo’s gaze, lost in distant memory, fixed on a point on the floor.
“The beautiful clothes, the lovely fragrance, the pristine shoes. I loved everything about you. I wanted to be like you, yet felt such despair knowing that even a lifetime of effort wouldn’t let me reach your heels. So I always thought—I wish my mother had been someone like you.”
“…What are you trying to do right now?”
Jin Seo-ryeong forced down a rough, sandy sensation that had caught in her throat.
“Did you change your strategy? Are you trying to win my favor with words like these?”
“No. I know that’s impossible. To you, I’m not even worth a single wildflower by the roadside.”
“Then why are you doing this!”
“I just… wanted to speak the truth I’d kept locked in my heart, at least once.”
Hee-jo slowly lifted her gaze and looked directly at Jin Seo-ryeong.
In those clear, transparent eyes, there was no cunning, no sordid greed.
They were like a mirror filled with such unmistakable sincerity that one couldn’t deny it.
“I am truly sorry to you. No one knows better than I do how lacking I am.”
“….”
“That’s why I’ll do my very best, beyond what I’m capable of. I won’t let my presence become a burden on your family relationships.”
I’m sorry.
The quiet apology settled coldly across Jin Seo-ryeong’s chest.
“…Ha, really now. Every single one of you makes me out to be the villain.”
Jin Seo-ryeong clenched her teeth. Her fists trembled with tension.
Her husband, her father-in-law, her sons—and now even this child was casting her as the antagonist.
‘Do you think I’ve never been sincere?’
In truth, eight years ago, right after Hee-jae’s funeral, Jin Seo-ryeong had tried to embrace Hee-jo.
She had witnessed her mechanical son begin to laugh like a human being after meeting the siblings.
These children had become her son’s only refuge—she had resolved to cherish them as her own daughter.
Until three years ago, when she saw that scene.
On Hee-jo’s birthday, Kwon Yeol had emptied an entire Gallery Annex owned by the Foundation because Hee-jo, who had been listless since her brother’s death, showed even the faintest glimmer of interest in the paintings displayed there.
He had invited a private chef to create an intimate dining space, thinking it would be good for Hee-jo to eat while viewing the artwork.
Jin Seo-ryeong found her son’s devotion remarkable, yet her heart ached at the depth of his affection for his deceased friend.
Determined to care for this child in place of her increasingly busy son, she had selected a dress herself and visited the Gallery Annex with the gift in hand.
Intending to deliver a surprise, Jin Seo-ryeong had entered quietly, masking her presence.
But the scene before her was nothing like the peaceful, familial moment she had imagined.
Kwon Yeol had stepped away, and Hee-jo, left alone, slowly reached for the glass he had been drinking from.
Then, with deliberate slowness, she pressed her lips gently against the rim where his had lingered.
It was less an indulgence than a prayer.
With her eyes closed, Hee-jo’s face—as she breathed in the traces of Kwon Yeol—bore an expression of profound loneliness and tender ache.
That reverent, heartbreaking image had terrified Jin Seo-ryeong to her core.
She feared her son would crumble beneath such a relentless, consuming love.
The moment she made a sound, Hee-jo had smiled brightly as though nothing had happened—a smile that made Jin Seo-ryeong’s skin crawl.
And the way her son gazed at that radiant, gentle girl with such tenderness in his eyes.
Jin Seo-ryeong had returned home ashen-faced and torn to shreds the dress she had intended to give as a gift.
The first and last gesture of genuine affection she had ever meant for Hee-jo.
From that day forward, she had kept Hee-jo close and relentlessly reminded her of her place, warning her not to dare harbor such ambitions.
Yet her dark premonition had come true.
“….”
Jin Seo-ryeong stared sharply at Hee-jo, who hung her head like a condemned prisoner beneath the guillotine.
She spoke with a cold, measured tone, suppressing the emotions threatening to burst forth.
“If you’re going to do your very best beyond your capabilities, you should have changed how you address me from the start.”
Seeing Hee-jo’s eyes widen in surprise ignited her fury anew.
It wasn’t displeasure—it was those eyes themselves that she despised, the way they constantly shook her resolve and extracted guilt from her.
“Don’t hold Kwon Yeol back. If you’ve forced him to stay when he should soar to greater heights on his own, then you must bear the consequences.”
Jin Seo-ryeong’s voice fell coldly over Hee-jo’s head.
“The price of calling me Mother and enduring this household will be quite steep.”
* * *
“…So, you’re saying you agreed to move into Jeoksanwon?”
Kwon Yeol’s hand, which had been moving the knife, came to an abrupt stop.
Though he feigned indifference, his lowered gaze twisted with a chilling edge.
“Yes. I’m planning to stay in the Annex and learn from Kwon Yeol’s Mother.”
Watching Hee-jo answer with composure, Kwon Yeol exhaled a breath of exasperation.
“Do you not understand what that means?”
“I do.”
There was no wavering in Hee-jo’s hands as she held her fork and knife.
“It means she intends to keep me in check. To ensure I don’t forget my place.”
“And you understand that?”
“At the same time, it also means she’s acknowledging me as family.”
Narrowing his brow at her response, he smoothly drew her plate toward him and exchanged it for his own, which he’d already cut into pieces.
“…Thank you.”
He always showed this kind of thoughtless tenderness, appearing without warning.
Her heart trembled, but she forced herself to maintain a composed expression.
“From now on, don’t thank me for every little thing. Accept it as natural. That’s what couples who are inseparable do.”
Hee-jo answered softly and placed a perfectly cut piece of steak into her mouth.
She busied herself with her knife, trying to hide her increasingly ragged breathing.
His careless yet tender words echoed sweetly in her ears.
“Hee-jo.”
Kwon Yeol rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingertips.
“You, who wanted to escape from Beom House, are now crawling back there of your own volition.”
A sharp displeasure settled in Kwon Yeol’s voice.
He could see plainly how his mother would exploit and manipulate this girl, yet he couldn’t understand why Hee-jo would willingly become the bait.
No—more precisely, it infuriated him that she claimed to use him while throwing herself into danger.
“I thought that to fulfill my role properly in such a short time, I need to learn by Kwon Yeol’s Mother’s side.”
“….”
“Don’t worry. I know well how to treat Madam.”
Kwon Yeol, watching Hee-jo show no sign of yielding her resolve, eventually released a faint sigh.
“Are you truly certain about this?”
Beneath his dry tone, a faint concern for her seeped through.
Hee-jo smiled and nodded.
“It’s my responsibility, after all.”
Kwon Yeol quietly observed Hee-jo’s composed face as she chewed with her lips sealed.
Each time the cutlery clinked, a soft sound rang out and faded, repeating in gentle rhythm.
Hee-jo truly looked unbothered.
As if fulfilling the task set before her was her very calling.
As if it were only natural.
Yes, it certainly was natural, but….
Why did his heart ache somewhere deep within, watching her faithfully honor their contract?

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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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