Unhealthy - Chapter 25

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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 25. An Absolute Wall

Gi Chairman’s words were disguised as encouragement, but their essence was nothing short of a sentence to live as support staff for Taejun.

Blue veins bulged on Jae-jun’s hand, but he still bowed his head while wearing the mask of a loving younger brother.

“I’ll have to learn, but I’m not sure if I can learn the work as quickly as hyung, Father.”

“Why can’t you, In-seok? Even if you can’t match our Gi Corporation, you should at least keep up. That way you can help your hyung expand our Je-won Group even more.”

Gi Chairman’s comparisons always had Gi Taejun as the reference point.

No matter how much Jae-jun struggled, it was an absolute wall he could never reach, an insurmountable hurdle.

As Gi Chairman burst into hearty laughter and patted Taejun’s shoulder, a sinister gleam flashed in Jae-jun’s eyes.

Taejun felt his father’s gentle touch on his shoulder and Jae-jun’s shadowed gaze simultaneously as he swallowed the bitter liquid in his glass.

Taejun already sensed how miserably this hypocritical peace flowing over the dining table would shatter the moment Jae-jun opened his lips.

“Oh, Father. I have a favor to ask.”

“Hm? A favor?”

To Gi Chairman, whose mood had reached its peak, Jae-jun revealed the venomous fangs he had prepared.

“I want to marry Hae-yeong.”

That shocking declaration burst forth not from Taejun, but from the completely unexpected lips of Jae-jun.

“What? What did you say?”

At the unbelievable words, Gi Chairman’s expression hardened instantly. The ripples in the wine glass in his hand stopped.

“I want to marry Hae-yeong before graduation and settle down. Hyung will be marrying Seo I-jeong from Sehwa Group soon anyway, and we can’t keep Hae-yeong as a freeloader in our house forever.”

“Sir, this is… we haven’t discussed this separately…”

When Hae-yeong couldn’t continue speaking with her pale complexion, Jae-jun pressured her with eyes feigning affection.

“Hae-yeong. When hyung gets married, his wife will come live in this house too. I don’t want you to live awkwardly watching their faces. If an unmarried woman with no blood relation lives in the same house as hyung and his wife, it’ll only cause unnecessary gossip.”

“Gi Jae-jun. You seem to be mistaken about something. The marriage issue with Ms. Seo I-jeong has already been resolved, and Hae-yeong is—”

Taejun cut him off coldly and glared at Jae-jun, but what actually turned the situation around was Gi Chairman’s cunning voice.

“Yes, that doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”

“Father!”

Despite Taejun’s sharp rebuke, Gi Chairman continued while staring intently at Hae-yeong.

“If Hae-yeong is okay with it, I’d feel secure having a daughter-like child as my daughter-in-law. The eldest daughter-in-law will handle the household affairs anyway, so it would be good for you, Hae-yeong, to support Jae-jun at home while staying safely by my side as you do now.”

Gi Chairman’s voice was benevolent, but beneath it lurked a vicious possessiveness to confine Hae-yeong under his influence forever.

The shackles of restraint disguised under the pretense of safety weighed heavily upon her.

“Sir…”

“I was already annoyed by all the talk going around outside, but Jae-jun had a commendable thought. Yes, let’s do that. Hae-yeong, what do you think?”

Gi Chairman’s gaze was hidden behind a mask of benevolence, but within it seethed an irresistible desire for control.

It was nothing short of a coercive sentence borrowing the form of a question.

“S-Sir. I…”

As Hae-yeong turned pale and trembled her lips while her bewildered eyes wandered through empty space, Taejun couldn’t bear it and threw a sharp declaration across the dining table.

“Father, let’s discuss this matter separately.”

Taejun’s voice, which cut through Hae-yeong’s precarious words in one stroke, sharply sliced through the silence.

In Taejun’s eyes surged a ruthless determination without a trace of retreat.

“Why should I consult with you about the kids’ marriage? The kids’ opinions are what matter most.”

Like someone who had already finished meticulous calculations in his head, Gi Chairman spoke leisurely.

The calm smile on his lips stemmed from confidence that he could manipulate the fates of those writhing in his palm however he pleased.

“Hae-yeong is seeing me. She’ll marry me, not Gi Jae-jun.”

At Taejun’s bombshell declaration, the temperature in the dining room plummeted rapidly below freezing.

Gi Chairman let out a hollow laugh as if dumbfounded and glared fiercely at Taejun, who had raised an ominous rebellion.

“Ha, really. What nonsense is this? Don’t you know Gi Corporation’s marriage was already promised to Sehwa Group’s eldest daughter?”

“I resolved it.”

“Who gave you permission to resolve such an important marriage arrangement? Don’t you know what kind of company Sehwa Group is?”

“I know.”

“Hae-yeong will marry Jae-jun, and you will obediently…”

“I cannot comply.”

Taejun shattered Gi Chairman’s words in one blow and lowered his upper body.

The gazes between father and son collided violently, sparking fierce flames.

The overwhelming pressure emanating from Taejun spread tensely as if to devour all objects.

“I’ve liked Hae-yeong for a long time and can’t let her go. So, Father, give up on the marriage issue.”

It wasn’t a plea to his father, but an ultimatum to an enemy trying to invade his sacred territory.

The vicious possessiveness contained in Taejun’s voice rang in Hae-yeong’s ears, pushing her into an inescapable whirlpool of fate.

***

Hae-yeong cried until her eyes were completely swollen.

Even though she had turned off all the lights in the room and burrowed into the blankets, the cruel sentences exchanged over the dining table became daggers that slashed every corner of her heart.

Gi Chairman’s indifferent gaze as he traded her like an object, and Taejun’s chilling voice as he claimed ownership of her, tore through her mind making it difficult to even breathe.

How much time had passed?

Along with a brief knock, heavy footsteps approached, cutting through the silence.

She could tell without looking. In this hellish house, it was him—Taejun, her only salvation and destruction.

“Get up.”

Taejun’s voice, standing still at the head of the bed, was low and calm.

Instead of answering, Hae-yeong pulled the blanket up to the top of her head and curled up her body.

It was stubbornness from not wanting to show her miserable state, and a belated rebellion against the men of this household who had driven her to the edge today.

“Come on.”

With a short sigh, she felt the weight of the bed sheet sinking deeply.

When Taejun snatched the entire pile of blankets and gently pulled them away, Hae-yeong’s disheveled face was starkly revealed under the moonlight.

Her swollen eyes and reddened, raw nose tip looked pitiful.

“I don’t want to.”

Hae-yeong finally couldn’t swallow her tears and burst out sobbing, releasing her suppressed grief.

Instead of pushing her away, Taejun cupped Hae-yeong’s wet cheeks with his large hands.

At the sensation of rough fingerprints brushing against her sensitive skin, Hae-yeong felt even more sorrowful and pushed against his chest with her fists.

“Did you have to say it like that in front of everyone? I’m not some object…”

“I claimed you as mine because I hated seeing you treated like an object. Is that so upsetting?”

“I was scared…”

At Hae-yeong’s childlike whining, Taejun’s lips curved gently.

It was petty resentment he would normally have cut off sharply, but the current Taejun seemed determined to willingly become the target of her venting.

He grabbed Hae-yeong’s slender wrist and wrapped it around his neck, then lifted her like a doll and sat her on his lap.

“If you’re scared, hide behind my back. Why do you keep sticking out and asking for trouble?”

“You didn’t even hide me…”

“If I hadn’t hidden you, would you be sitting on my lap right now?”

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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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