Unhealthy - Chapter 20

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 20. After the Night Away

Gi Jae-jun would respectfully call Taejun “hyung” to his face, but behind his back, he wouldn’t refer to him as his older brother.

He didn’t want to be formal even with his half-brother.

Well, that was their business between the two of them, so it wasn’t her place to get involved.

“I just did.”

“Even though Gi Taejun acts cold, he really cares about you. When you think about it, he’s the one who brought you into this house.”

Jae-jun seemed to have no intention of ending the conversation as he wandered around, running his fingertips across Hae-yeong’s desk.

For Hae-yeong, who wanted to change clothes and lie down on the bed to rest, each sentence this intruder uttered felt like a chilling shiver against her skin.

The reason he was being so persistently annoying today was also suspicious.

“Where is the elder? Did he go out somewhere?”

She asked about Gi Chairman’s whereabouts, though she wasn’t curious, hoping to change the subject so he might take the hint and leave.

“He went out with stepmother. Said they had a gathering.”

While she gained the unexpected benefit of knowing she wouldn’t have to face Gi Chairman today, the atmosphere Jae-jun was giving off still approached her with a different kind of unpleasantness from Gi Chairman’s incomprehensible obsession.

“You must be tired too, oppa. Go rest.”

“What happened between you and Gi Taejun in Cheongsan?”

Hae-yeong’s expression hardened as Jae-jun’s attitude seemed subtly different from before he left the house, and his excessively persistent behavior made her uncomfortable.

“What if something happened, and what if nothing happened?”

Honestly, Hae-yeong wondered why she was being so sharp with Jae-jun, who had always been warm to her, especially today.

Even so, she wanted to rest alone peacefully enough to exclude all such circumstances.

She wanted to take a warm bath and needed to sort out her relationship with Taejun to some degree within herself.

“Are you asking because you hope something happened?”

“Hey, why are you being so sensitive? I was just curious since it’s the first time you two stayed out overnight together. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Jae-jun finally pushed up the corners of his mouth and smiled refreshingly.

The strange expression that had been cunningly gleaming like a snake seemed to return to his previous gentle appearance.

“Let’s go together next time, oppa. Then you won’t have anything to be curious about.”

“You know that’s not what I meant. Still, it would be nice if you took me along. I really care about our Hae-yeong a lot.”

Jae-jun stepped closer to Hae-yeong as she put down her shoulder bag and took off her jacket. Hae-yeong’s brow furrowed sharply at the strong perfume smell that stung her nose.

“But Hae-yeong, are there mosquitoes already? Looks like you got bitten on your neck.”

In that moment, Hae-yeong felt as if the blood flowing through her veins had turned ice cold.

It was a situation she hadn’t thought of at all.

It was a mark left from her last entanglement with Taejun before leaving the Second House. Hae-yeong raised her trembling hand and pretended to scratch her nape.

“Yeah, there were a lot of mosquitoes in Cheongsan.”

Hae-yeong was surprised that her voice could flow out so calmly.

The lie flowed more smoothly from her lips than the truth, and through this opportunity, she realized for the first time that she could become quite a skilled deceiver.

“Cheongsan mosquitoes are really vicious. Most of them are mountain mosquitoes, so it must hurt. Should I put some medicine on it?”

As Jae-jun intrusively closed the distance, Hae-yeong instinctively took a step back.

The cool touch of the wall against her back felt like Taejun’s indifferent gaze running down her spine.

“Medicine stings and I don’t like it. I’ll just leave it.”

“It’ll scar if you scratch it. Well, if you don’t want to, there’s nothing I can do.”

Jae-jun moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue as if disappointed.

His gaze lingered on that spot for a long time before falling away, as if he might lick up that red, vivid mark left on Hae-yeong’s nape.

Hae-yeong, who tried to ignore that creepy gaze, added firmly.

“I want to change clothes. Do you have anything else to say?”

“Yeah, go change.”

Jae-jun seemed to obediently leave the room, but stopped with his hand on the doorknob and slowly turned only his head.

In the stagnant air, his lips slowly curved upward in an arc.

“Oh, right. Hae-yeong, did you know? Father has been looking for your aunt.”

“…Who?”

“Your aunt, Hae-yeong. Her name was An, with the characters ‘ji’ and ‘min’, wasn’t it? You said before that you wanted to know if your aunt was still alive.”

“Right… But you’re saying the elder is looking for my aunt?”

At this bolt from the blue, Hae-yeong’s complexion turned pale white in an instant.

Caught in a dizzying sense of floating as if the support beneath her feet had suddenly disappeared, Hae-yeong didn’t even feel her nails digging into her palms.

“You didn’t know. It seems Father has been trying to find your aunt for quite a long time, but he probably couldn’t bring it up to you because it didn’t look like there would be good news.”

“…I had no idea. He never said anything to me.”

Hae-yeong replied, trying to swallow her trembling breath.

She was reminded again of how the foundation of her belief that Gi Chairman’s reason for taking her in was pure compassion had been shaken to its roots.

What on earth was his reason for trying to find her blood relative? Everything was full of questions.

“I only found out recently too, but Father thinks about you a lot. The way he controls various aspects of your life is because he’s worried, so don’t take it to heart.”

“How did you happen to hear about my aunt?”

“Really by chance. He must have been deeply concerned because I happened to overhear him discussing it with stepmother. Father doesn’t know that I know.”

Jae-jun shrugged as if it was nothing, but his eyes were persistently digging into Hae-yeong’s wavering pupils, collecting each reaction like a trophy.

“…From what I remember hearing from father, she was ashamed of being related by blood to my brothers who were involved in the dark world, so she cut ties completely. After that, she disappeared entirely and there was no contact at all. Actually, I never met my aunt once while growing up.”

“So you don’t even know what your aunt looks like?”

“Yeah… I don’t know what she looks like.”

Hae-yeong’s voice trembled thinly.

It was because she was facing an unexpected situation.

“What about photos? Surely there are some photos left?”

“None at all. Even when I was organizing father’s and uncle’s belongings, there was nothing like that.”

“Hmm… That’s troublesome.”

Jae-jun acted as if he was lost in thought, touching his chin.

Even though he had already confirmed the aunt’s survival report in the study, he was thoroughly enjoying himself by comparing it with the information coming from Hae-yeong’s mouth.

“I think I vaguely heard that she went to Japan somewhere to make money, but that wasn’t accurate information either.”

“Japan?”

“…I don’t know either, not really.”

“I’ll ask Father carefully depending on the situation. There might be good news.”

Observing Hae-yeong’s eyes filled with confusion, Jae-jun whispered affectionately as if he were a savior bringing hope.

But that voice sounded like a snake’s moist breath to Hae-yeong’s ears.

“Thank you for telling me.”

“Don’t mention it for something like this.”

Jae-jun finally turned and left the room.

Watching his retreating figure through the closing door gap, Hae-yeong belatedly caught her breath.

***

She left the house without even eating, using the excuse of having to go to school early in the morning. But her heart was still full of unresolved questions.

Her head felt heavy from not sleeping a wink all night.

‘Oh, right. Hae-yeong, did you know? Father has been looking for your aunt.’

Jae-jun’s words that her aunt might be alive echoed in her ears like a hallucination.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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