To My Brother’s Friend - Chapter 39

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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 39
That voice… surely not…
It was a familiar tone—low and measured, yet commanding enough to silence the ambient noise of the room in an instant.
Through the crack of the opening door, carrying with it a faint woody fragrance, came none other than Kwon Yeol.
“…Kwon Yeol?”
Hee-jo, dazed and murmuring in bewilderment, found him approaching without hesitation, his strong arms enveloping her shoulders firmly.
The moment the cool fabric of his suit made contact, her shoulders trembled slightly.
“Why that expression? You look at me as though I were a ghost.”
“How… how did you get here…”
“This is your first time attending something like this.”
As he spoke, Kwon Yeol cradled her face in his large hands.
“I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving you alone.”
His thumb traced her lower lip slowly and tenderly—a gesture that seemed remarkably familiar.
Oblivious to the dozens of eyes fixed upon them in shock, his gaze remained fixed solely on Hee-jo nestled in his embrace.
“…Kwon Yeol?”
Breaking the heavy silence, Kwon Yeol’s mother, Jin Seo-ryeong, called out to him in a bewildered voice.
Only then did his gaze shift slowly toward the source of her voice.
Yet he kept Hee-jo firmly cradled against him.
“How did you manage to come all this way at this hour?”
Madam Jung approached, her lips curving awkwardly upward.
Conscious of her mother-in-law’s piercing gaze and the scrutiny of those around them, Hee-jo’s face flushed as she twisted her body, attempting to slip from his embrace.
Not a chance. Kwon Yeol persistently threaded his fingers between hers, interlocking them with unyielding determination.
“O-oppa, please stop this.”
Hee-jo called out softly in distress, but it was in vain.
He paid no mind, deliberately tightening their interlocked hands as he turned to greet his approaching mother.
“Didn’t you say you were terribly busy?”
“Yes, I am quite busy.”
“And yet…”
“I felt I should offer my greetings in person. Since my wife is attending such an occasion for the first time, she may be unfamiliar with many things.”
At the word “wife,” Jin Seo-ryeong—still wearing her forced smile—Hee-jo, held captive in his grasp, and Kim Jung-yeon and the members of the Jinri Society observing them all froze simultaneously.
Madam Jung visibly stiffened in shock, then swallowed awkwardly, her expression turning guarded.
“…Why would you worry about such things? I’m right here beside you.”
Of course.
Jin Seo-ryeong, her lower lip caught between her teeth at her son’s gaze, turned to face those watching, her lips curving upward once more.
“You all know him, don’t you? Our eldest son. Beom Executive Director would like to offer his greetings.”
Kwon Yeol bowed his head slightly.
“Good evening. I am Beom Gwon-yeol, Hee-jo’s husband.”
By introducing himself not as a member of the Beom House family or as Executive Director of Beomho Construction, but solely as “Hee-jo’s husband,” a subtle shift rippled through the atmosphere.
Several present cast sidelong glances at Kim Jung-yeon, who stood trembling with her lower lip clenched tightly.
It was a seasoned matron’s witty remark that finally broke the tense silence.
“My goodness, to see Beom Executive Director, who is so difficult to meet. Today must be my lucky day, don’t you think?”
At that, everyone began chiming in with flattering remarks as if they had been waiting for the opportunity.
“That’s right. We’re so delighted. The two of you looked like a picture at the wedding. You were such a perfect match.”
“Exactly. I thought the bride’s face would burst that day, honestly. Beom Executive Director couldn’t take his eyes off her for a moment.”
“Thank you.”
Kwon Yeol slowly caressed the back of Hee-jo’s hand with his thumb, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.
“Hee-jo was certainly beautiful that day.”
In that instant, the jaws of everyone present dropped.
“Of course, she still is.”
No one dared to speak further.
Beom Gwon-yeol, renowned for his precision and cold demeanor without a single flaw, was gazing at a woman with such tender eyes and uttering such embarrassingly sweet words.
His mother, Jin Seo-ryeong, felt the same shock.
She had believed the marriage was chosen reluctantly, driven by guilt and debt toward her deceased son Hee-jae.
To her, marriage was merely a form of atonement for her son.
But… what was the meaning of that gaze?
In Kwon Yeol’s eyes as he looked at Hee-jo, there flickered an emotion so profound it was unfamiliar.
An affection so devastatingly deep that even his own mother had never once witnessed it.
“Fearing that my sincerity might be insufficient, I have also prepared a one-year membership to the Hanhui Hotel aesthetic center. Everyone here is welcome to use it whenever you wish.”
“Goodness…!”
Gasps of astonishment erupted from all corners.
Annual memberships to the most prestigious aesthetic center coveted by all the wives in the financial circle were being distributed to everyone.
The subtle coldness that had been directed toward Hee-jo moments before vanished without a trace, replaced in the eyes of the Jinri Society members with desperate longing and envy—a desire to draw closer to Hee-jo and maintain Beom Executive Director’s favor.
Kwon Yeol, accepting the flood of greetings with a faint smile, leaned toward the rigid Hee-jo and whispered softly.
“Won’t you smile for me?”
“Ah…”
“Don’t worry—I won’t send you an invoice.”
At his playful jest, the tension that had been taut within Hee-jo suddenly released.
Hee-jo’s lips trembled as she whispered back to him, barely audible to anyone else.
“Is it… really okay to do this?”
“You said it’s nice that I’m a chaebol.”
Kwon Yeol murmured low, his words tickling the delicate skin near her ear.
Wherever his warm breath touched, a faint chill ran across her skin.
“To win over Yoon Hee-jo, I have to do at least this much. Don’t I?”
At his playful whisper, Hee-jo could not bring herself to answer, only pressing her lips together firmly.
…That’s not true. I’d be happy just watching him breathe quietly.
But I cannot say such things.
I must appear to be drawn only to his status and wealth.
Yet oblivious to the melancholy settling in Hee-jo’s heart, Kwon Yeol simply caressed her hair gently.
Gently. Tenderly. With infinite affection.
As if it were real.
Hee-jo steadied her wavering heart and curved her lips upward.
“….”
The gazes of Jin Seo-ryeong and Kim Jung-yeon, observing the two of them, turned cold and distant.
“Then I shall take my leave. I hope you both enjoy the rest of your evening.”
* * *
“What happened?”
The moment Kwon Yeol stepped into the entrance hall of the Annex after work, Hee-jo rushed forward with an urgent question.
At her intensity, he let out a soft laugh.
“I haven’t even taken off my shoes yet.”
Yet Hee-jo continued to regard him with determination blazing in her eyes.
The look of someone with mountains of accusations to level.
…Hmm, should I show her a mirror?
Even with that expression, she looked less frightening than like a doe with fierce eyes.
But if I said that now, even someone as composed as Yoon Hee-jo would surely pout in earnest.
Kwon Yeol simply lifted his shoulders in a light shrug before stepping toward her.
At the suddenly closed distance, Hee-jo’s gaze wavered precariously.
Just as she instinctively stumbled backward in surprise, a large hand firmly caught her delicate, trembling back.
“Ah….”
“If you’re going to approach like you’re about to bite, then bite.”
Kwon Yeol’s lips moved dangerously close to her earlobe, neither quite touching nor quite pulling away.
“Why do you look like you’ve been bitten?”
As if I truly want to bite you.
The cool evening air and heavy woody fragrance emanating from him enveloped Hee-jo like a pressing weight.
“Um, your mother….”
“My mother.”
“She seemed quite shocked.”
“You seem that way too.”
A soft kiss—his lips brushed gently against the tender corner of her eye before withdrawing.
“If you’re startled by just that much, how will you endure what’s to come?”
“Oh, oppa. That’s not it. Your mother….”
“What matters most to me is you.”
Kwon Yeol lifted Hee-jo effortlessly into his arms.
Startled, she clutched his broad shoulders tightly.
“Not your mother’s reaction. How did Yoon Hee-jo feel?”
“That’s….”
“I told you clearly—no hiding between us.”
Kwon Yeol captured her gaze and spoke in a low murmur.
“We’re husband and wife.”
As he moved through the living room toward the bedroom, he sank deeply into the window sofa while still cradling Hee-jo in his arms.
By the time Hee-jo gripped his shoulders tightly at the sudden weightlessness, she was already settled on his firm thighs.
Hee-jo found herself looking down at him naturally, swallowing hard.
“Tell me. How was it?”

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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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