To My Brother’s Friend - Chapter 8

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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 8
Silence fell.
Kwon Yeol slowly lifted his head, meeting Hee-jo’s gaze as he tilted his head slightly to one side.
“Speak plainly so I understand what you mean.”
“Whether it’s once or three times, it’s all the same to my brother, isn’t it?”
Hee-jo swallowed hard.
His eyes were so deep and dark that I couldn’t possibly discern what he was thinking.
With each second stretching like minutes of silence, tension crept into the corners of my mouth.
As we continued to study each other in that heavy quiet.
Suddenly, Kwon Yeol’s hand reached out.
The moment I reflexively squeezed my eyes shut.
I felt the soft touch of a napkin gently wiping the corner of my mouth.
When I opened my eyes, Kwon Yeol had folded the napkin and placed it before me, meeting my gaze.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
I could hear my heart pounding in my ears.
So loudly I worried he might hear it too.
“You’re quite careless, Yoon Hee-jo.”
His unexpected words made me blink.
Did Kwon Yeol not hear what I said?
Or was he pretending not to hear?
Yes, he must be pretending not to hear….
Suddenly, the bridge of my nose stung.
Afraid I might shamefully burst into tears, I abruptly stood up from my seat.
“I’ll go brush my teeth.”
“In the middle of eating?”
“I’m finished. And it seems that’s what you want anyway.”
I spun around and entered the Bathroom attached to the Master Room, slamming the door shut behind me.
“Ha, ha… ha, haha….”
Breathing heavily, I soon found myself laughing like I’d lost my mind.
How could he possibly be so composed?
After tearing through my insides until dawn, how could he act so indifferent?
I bit my lip hard and dipped my toothbrush into the toothpaste.
‘Calm down. I need to calm down.’
After Hee-jae died, I had sworn never to cry again.
Because my brother would grieve if there was no one to wipe away my tears.
Because I wanted to show him only happiness.
Taking a deep breath, I slowly brushed my teeth.
Once I leave the Hotel, I’ll pack my things first. Then I’ll head to the Workshop.
‘The Master said I could stay in the empty room.’
I was currently living in a Luxury Residential Complex Apartment registered under Kwon Yeol’s name.
He had wanted to give her that house as a gift, but Hee-jo refused.
Even staying there temporarily made her feel guilty; accepting something so extravagant would make her feel like a parasite.
‘Everything is proceeding as originally planned.’
Having steeled herself, Hee-jo moved her hands diligently.
She felt as though she could only breathe once she put distance between herself and Kwon Yeol.
* * *
Kwon Yeol, seated on the black leather sofa, turned his head to watch Hee-jo approaching him.
“I apologize for making you wait.”
Kwon Yeol’s eyes narrowed slightly.
She was the usual Yoon Hee-jo.
Drawing invisible lines between them, concealing her emotions behind a smile—the grown woman she had become.
“It suits you well.”
“…What does?”
“That outfit.”
In an instant, the composure I had so carefully built crumbled at his single remark.
I found it unbearable that Kwon Yeol could speak so carelessly about clothes, oblivious to what was happening inside me.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“…”
“I was never afraid even before the Chairman. But right now, Yoon Hee-jo looks like you might tear me to pieces—it’s frightening.”
Hee-jo’s eyes hardened as she met Kwon Yeol’s gaze, which held a curious, intrigued expression.
“Did you hear what I said properly?”
After a brief pause, Kwon Yeol answered.
“I heard.”
“Then how could you possibly—”
How could you be so composed?
As if he understood the words Hee-jo couldn’t bring herself to speak, he opened his mouth.
“I find it fascinating.”
“Fascinating…?”
“When did that little thing grow so much?”
At the word ‘little thing,’ her face was about to crumple.
“When did you grow so much that you’ve completely consumed me?”
Consumed…!
Of course, it was she who had made such a proposal.
Thinking of last night’s actions, anyone could see that it was she who had been consumed.
She had learned viscerally and vividly through her entire body what becomes of prey caught by a beast.
“What? Do you feel wronged?”
“…”
Kwon Yeol, observing Hee-jo’s silence, slowly rose from his seat.
Beside him lay the coat he had removed and folded.
“I’m the one who feels wronged.”
Unlike yesterday, when he’d worn a sleeveless suit with meticulous precision, today he was dressed in a relatively casual black knit sweater.
Yet even this casual attire couldn’t diminish the oppressive aura that radiated from him.
“Unexpectedly kept up all night by that brat.”
His broad shoulders, thick muscular forearms, and taut abdominal muscles—so defined it seemed fingernails couldn’t leave a mark—were all plainly visible even beneath the knit fabric.
“When she wakes up, Yoon Hee-jo will surely regret and panic. I’m doing my best to pretend I don’t know anything.”
One step. Then another.
Kwon Yeol approached her slowly.
“You keep provoking me.”
But his legs were so long that just a few strides closed the distance between them in an instant.
As Hee-jo faltered in surprise, Kwon Yeol wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her toward me with a swift motion.
Losing her balance, Hee-jo tumbled into his solid embrace.
“Why do you keep climbing toward me, Yoon Hee-jo.”
Why on earth.
“Do you want the same thing as all the other women?”
Those words cut through Hee-jo’s chest like ice.
She stood at a crossroads.
Would she become the younger sister of a friend who received special treatment.
Or would she become one of the countless women he found bothersome.
‘I hate both options.’
A desperate longing swelled in Hee-jo’s heart—to be remembered by Kwon Yeol even after she left.
Even the smallest mark would do.
If only he could think of me for just a moment.
“I’ve found you fascinating since I was young, oppa.”
“…Fascinating?”
When she echoed his words back, Kwon Yeol showed interest.
Hee-jo took a deep breath internally. Then she opened her mouth, feigning composure as much as possible.
“I’d never met anyone so handsome before, or anyone so wealthy.”
He nodded slightly, as if urging her to continue.
Deliberately ignoring the warmth of his large hand encircling her waist, Hee-jo continued speaking.
“So… I set a goal. I decided to obtain a trophy.”
“A trophy.”
“If I had to give my first time to someone, I decided it would be to the heir of Beom Ho Group.”
“….”
“I wanted to leave a memory in my life that such a person had existed there.”
Silence hung in the air.
Kwon Yeol gazed steadily into her eyes, while Hee-jo braced herself with all her strength.
I mustn’t look away.
If this feeling is exposed, I’ll become just one of countless women to him, destined to be forgotten.
“You’ve hidden it well.”
In that instant, Hee-jo’s heart plummeted.
I’d lied, claiming I treated him as merely a trophy, yet the moment Kwon Yeol accepted it as truth, my chest sank with a hollow ache.
“If Yoon Hee-jae had known, he would have wept until his dying breath.”
Yes, my foolish younger brother might have burst into tears the instant he heard those words.
That the cherished goal of his precious younger sister amounted to something so trivial.
And I couldn’t even blame my friend for it.
“So that was your goal. Spending a night with me… no, with the heir to the Beom Ho Group.”
“Any chaebol would have sufficed. Since the only one I knew was you, that’s why I said it that way.”
A hairline fracture appeared in Kwon Yeol’s previously impassive gaze.
He had two younger brothers besides me.
If Si-yeol and Jae-yeol hadn’t gone abroad and had remained in Korea instead.
If they’d interacted with Hee-jo since childhood, just as I had.
Then Yoon Hee-jo’s partner didn’t have to be me specifically—it could have been Beom Si-yeol or Beom Jae-yeol just as easily.
Or even not necessarily a man from the Beom family—
Any man bearing the title of chaebol could have rolled around in bed with Yoon Hee-jo.
Just as I had last night.
“Now Yoon Hee-jo could attend the executive meeting in my place.”
Kwon Yeol lifted the rose-pink knit shirt she was wearing directly upward. It was a garment he’d personally selected.
“Goal-oriented, with impressive audacity.”
The skin he’d bitten and sucked on all last night quivered with a soft bounce, now fully exposed before his eyes.
“And she knows how to keep it hidden by lowering her body just enough.”
Very thoroughly, at that.
Click.
Kwon Yeol released the clasp that had crossed her pale skin, then pressed down on her shoulders.
Hee-jo’s body descended slowly, following the guidance of his touch.
“I’ll give you something. A gift.”

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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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