To My Brother’s Friend - Chapter 54

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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 54
Han Young-sook’s face, which would normally have greeted Hee-jo warmly, was now covered with shock, joy, and indescribable emotion.
“I just heard that correctly, didn’t I? So what you’re saying is—”
Han Young-sook took several deep breaths before finally managing to open her trembling lips.
“You’re pregnant, aren’t you? You’re saying you’re carrying a child right now?”
“Yes, Teacher. It seems that way.”
“No, not ‘seems.’ It’s true—the dream I had today must have been a prophetic dream. Yes, it was a prophetic dream….”
Han Young-sook, muttering with a dazed expression, suddenly pulled Hee-jo into her arms and burst into tears.
“You’ve endured so much, haven’t you? You’ve been through so much, Hee-jo. I know exactly what you’ve suffered. From that day on, when you came here insisting you wouldn’t worry your brother….”
In Han Young-sook’s mind, a vivid image of young Hee-jo, not long after entering middle school, surfaced clearly.
That day, Hee-jo had been caught off guard by her first menstruation, which came without warning, and didn’t know what to do.
Though she might have been frightened by such an unexpected situation on the street, Hee-jo, with her pants stained red, had entered the Transmission Hall and spoke urgently.
“Your very first words that day were about that. You asked me not to tell your brother. I was confused about how you could hide your first period, but that wasn’t what you meant at all—you were worried that if your brother found out you’d been so flustered on the street, it would upset him, so you asked me to keep it secret.”
Rather than being embarrassed and ashamed herself, that little girl had been more concerned about worrying her brother.
After washing Hee-jo and dressing her in fresh clothes that day, Han Young-sook had remained alone and wept endlessly.
She pitied Hee-jo for growing up far too quickly.
She had cried for a long time, her heart aching for this kind and gentle child.
That day, she had made a vow.
To become this child’s family.
It didn’t matter what Hee-jo thought of her.
She simply wanted to be someone this girl would remember when life’s weight pressed down on her and made her falter.
She wanted to be the only sanctuary she could trust and lean on in a world where no one would take her side.
“Stay for dinner tonight. I’ll prepare all your favorite dishes until the table groans under the weight. Yes, and I’ll call Beom Executive Director too.”
Hee-jo, watching her teacher unable to hide her excitement, carefully opened her mouth.
“Teacher…”
“Hmm? Oh, Beom Executive Director is busy? Then just the two of us—”
“I’m not going to tell Kwon Yeol.”
The buoyant atmosphere instantly turned cold and heavy.
Han Young-sook stared at Hee-jo in disbelief.
“What are you saying? You won’t tell him?”
“I’m going to divorce Kwon Yeol as planned.”
At these ominous words, Han Young-sook blinked rapidly.
“So you’re saying you won’t tell him?”
“Yes. I’m going to raise the child alone.”
Hee-jo wrapped her arms protectively around her lower abdomen.
“Chairman Beom hopes I’m not pregnant. If it becomes known that I’m carrying a child….”
Han Young-sook could easily guess what Hee-jo left unsaid.
She too had heard the cruel rumors that followed Beom Hun-young.
“Still, shouldn’t Beom Executive Director know? He’s the father of the child.”
“If he learns the truth, he’ll protect me no matter what. He’s a man of strong responsibility. But—”
The price would be devastating.
Kwon Yeol’s position, having incurred Chairman Beom’s wrath, would crumble in an instant, and in the worst case, he could be stripped of his position as heir.
“I can’t destroy everything oppa has built because of my own selfishness.”
Han Young-sook’s eyes squeezed shut as a piercing ache tore through her chest.
A child who had grown up lonely, never even properly receiving warmth from her own parents, was now turning her back on the person she loved to protect the life growing within her.
“…Poor thing. How could fate be so cruel to you, hmm?”
Han Young-sook gripped Hee-jo’s hand firmly.
“Yes, if that’s truly what you wish, then so be it. But you won’t raise the child alone. We’ll raise it together, understood?”
“Teacher….”
“We’ll need to prepare to head back to our hometown soon. That Seung-won has been complaining about being bored lately now that he has some free time, and this works out perfectly. I should have the house renovated. He once dreamed of becoming an architect, you know?”
I understood my teacher’s tender heart—deliberately speaking as if nothing were amiss to ease my burden, to soothe my dizzy mind even slightly.
Tears welled up fiercely, but I swallowed them down, holding the sobs inside.
I had to become stronger from now on.
Only then could I protect the child.
“Teacher, may I ask one favor of you?”
* * *
Kwon Yeol gazed out the window.
It had already been several days since I last held Hee-jo.
“I feel dizzy and need to rest a bit. I’m sorry, oppa.”
“I’m sorry, I must have fallen asleep first.”
“Ah, today I… my condition isn’t good because that time is approaching….”
The inability to be intimate wasn’t the problem.
Her physical well-being always took priority over my desires.
But there was another reason for the inexplicable unease flowing through the depths of my chest.
‘She didn’t look at my face today either.’
Recently, Hee-jo had been avoiding my gaze.
The smiles she gave me remained gentle, and her voice was still affectionate.
But the moment our eyes might meet for even an instant, she would flinch and quickly look away.
Everything seemed the same as always, yet something had changed.
Just like it had been shortly after Hee-jae died.
Her body was here, but her heart seemed to be somewhere far away.
Could it be because of the new project I recently took on?
I had heard she was putting considerable effort into it.
Even my own mother had clicked her tongue and remarked that the usually docile girl was remarkably tenacious when it came to work.
I knew better than anyone that I too lose sight of my surroundings when absorbed in my duties.
So I tried to convince myself that I should understand her—
Yet why did I keep feeling as if the ground beneath my feet was crumbling away?
Returning home after work, Kwon Yeol stepped into the quiet living room, illuminated only by the solitary glow of a desk lamp.
“….”
Hee-jo, who always used to rush over saying “Oppa, you worked hard today,” nestling into my arms.
Yet for the past few days, what greeted him was not Hee-jo’s warmth, but only the chill of an empty room.
Opening the bedroom door quietly, he found Hee-jo curled into a small ball on the bed, fast asleep.
Kwon Yeol reached to brush back her hair, then withdrew his hand.
She must be exhausted. Worn down.
“When you hold me like this, oppa, I finally feel like I can breathe. It gives me peace of mind.”
The image of Hee-jo speaking those shy words felt distant now, as if from a forgotten past.
Not wanting to disturb her sleep, Kwon Yeol quietly made his way to the bathroom.
‘She’s just tired, that’s all.’
As if washing away his intrusive thoughts beneath the forceful cascade of water, he headed not to the bedroom but to the study room.
The moment he opened his laptop, complex numbers and dizzying charts flooded his vision.
These would crack the fortress his grandfather had built so firmly, and keep Hee-jo by his side.
“If you truly care for that girl, you must know when to let her go. That is the path to protecting both yourself and her.”
“I understand.”
I understood my grandfather’s wishes clearly.
But understanding his words did not mean I would follow them.
‘That will never happen.’
Before long, Chairman Beom would come to realize it.
That the outsider who needed to be removed from this fortress was not Hee-jo.
Rather, he would find himself begging and pleading with Hee-jo to stay.
Kwon Yeol stared at the screen with darkened eyes, then picked up his phone.
After a brief signal, the other party answered, and his lips parted with a chilling edge.
“Update location data by the minute. Don’t touch the server until I give the signal.”

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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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