Unhealthy - Chapter 59

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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 59. Before the Truth

Taejun stood before the corpse placed in the local police station morgue.

Gi Jae-jun’s face, laid on the cold metal slab, was frozen in a distorted expression, all traces of his former arrogance completely gone.

“It’s highly likely to be an accidental fall, but what’s concerning is that the footprints and bloodstains found at the upper part of the fall site don’t belong to your brother.”

As Taejun finished his confirmation while listening to Secretary Lee’s low report, he dryly watched the scene of the white sheet being covered over the corpse once again.

He never knew that Gi Jae-jun would drag him down so disgustingly even in death.

Whether the bastard had an accident while pressuring An Ji-min, or whether An Ji-min pushed him away to protect herself didn’t matter.

He was only concerned about the additional shock Hae-yeong would receive due to his half-brother’s death.

Taejun headed to the small temple hermitage where An Ji-min was hiding.

The night at the summer mountain temple, thick with lush greenery, was filled with humid air and the sounds of unknown insects.

Inside the old wooden building, An Ji-min was blankly staring at the flickering candlelight with completely unfocused eyes.

As the door opened and the damp night breeze and unfamiliar footsteps entered, she struggled to lift her head.

“You are…”

An Ji-min’s voice trailed off, terribly cracked.

Her gaze couldn’t settle on Taejun’s face and wandered through the air.

On the woman’s hands were red marks that looked like scratches from wandering through mountain paths, dangerously remaining.

Taejun, taking in each of those traces, approached and sat in front of An Ji-min.

“According to the police, the last person Gi Jae-jun contacted before he died was you, Aunt. Is that correct?”

“That bastard tried to kill me. Screaming like a madman that he would take Hae-yeong back again, that he would steal back Jiwon Group… It, it was an accident.”

An Ji-min clasped her trembling hands together as if the memory of that day was coming back to her.

“I didn’t want to arouse unnecessary suspicion from my husband, so I headed to a place far from home to have a quiet conversation. It was a path I always took, but that man missed his footing and…”

The brief but intense struggle that took place on the steep muddy path wet with rain, and the dull sound of the heavy body disappearing down the slope seemed to fill the room like auditory hallucinations.

Taejun mercilessly cut off her words. No more specific truth was needed for him or for this world.

Whether it was an accident or intentional.

“Aunt. Please don’t say anything. Not to me, not to the police, and especially not to Hae-yeong.”

Taejun knelt down in front of An Ji-min. His eyes held a gaze so cold it was almost piercing.

Taejun’s gaze met An Ji-min’s wavering eyes head-on.

“Gi Jae-jun lost his way, missed his footing, and fell straight down the cliff. You were here at the hermitage offering prayers at that time. I’ve already arranged for monks and witnesses who will testify to that.”

“But the police already searched near the walking trail…”

“Money and power exist to be used at times like this. I’ve already pulled strings with the embassy, so by tomorrow it will be concluded as a simple accident. Whether it’s the Japanese police or Korean prosecutors, I haven’t left a single piece of evidence for them to suspect you, Aunt. You just need to act shocked as the last person to meet Gi Jae-jun.”

Taejun gripped An Ji-min’s dry hand, stiff with fear, as if it might break. The veins bulging over his knknles represented Taejun’s desperation.

“Hae-yeong must not know this fact. She must never be allowed to harbor any suspicion for the rest of her life. To Hae-yeong, you must remain her last remaining family and pure comfort.”

At Taejun’s firmness, An Ji-min finally burst into the tears she had been holding back.

Deep sobs of repentance broke the silence and mournfully echoed through the old hermitage, but Taejun remained unmoved.

Coldly watching An Ji-min collapse, he forcibly endured the terrible pain stabbing his side. Whether the wound had worsened from moving too much, he could vividly feel something damply seeping out inside his thin shirt, but protecting Hae-yeong’s world was more important than his immediate pain.

After meeting with Japanese police and embassy officials throughout the night to perfectly clean all records of the incident, Taejun returned to the hotel at dawn the next day.

After the short night passed, pale dawn mist was already settling outside the window.

His face reflected in the bathroom mirror looked somehow haggard and sharp.

In just a few days, his gaze had deepened, and his eyes were once again thickly covered with an unwashable darkness.

On top of the stigma of being Gi Chairman’s son, he was now burdened with the shackles of being an accomplice who concealed the truth.

Taejun roughly washed his face with cold water, skillfully containing that darkness.

He didn’t care how much more his soul was defiled.

As long as the filth he bore didn’t reach Hae-yeong, he was ready to willingly walk into deeper hell.

Taejun put on a new shirt to cover his wound and finished preparing to return to Hae-yeong as if nothing had happened.

On the plane back to Korea, Taejun briefly instructed Secretary Lee.

“Hold Gi Jae-jun’s funeral quietly locally. Only leak to the media that he died suddenly while staying abroad. Even if it reaches Hae-yeong’s ears, it must never be more than a simple accidental death.”

“Understood, Director.”

Taejun closed his eyes, looking at the clouds outside the window.

Hae-yeong would now become the owner of Jiwon Group and live under brilliant lights.

And he would fill all the terrible pits beneath her feet where that light didn’t reach.

That seemed to be what he, as Gi Chairman’s son, had to do to live as An Hae-yeong’s man. Just like when Gi Chairman devoted himself to Jiwon Capital.

When he arrived in Seoul and opened the hotel door, Hae-yeong, whose eyes were swollen as if she hadn’t slept well, ran over and embraced Taejun.

“Why did you come back so quickly? Is the urgent matter finished?”

Taejun inhaled Hae-yeong’s scent deep into his lungs and patted her back.

It was an incredibly gentle touch, unbelievable for someone who had just come from concealing the truth.

“It was just a simple clerical error. It’s all resolved now, so don’t worry.”

Taejun smiled while lying without a moment’s hesitation. The face of the man who had just faced the cold aura of a corpse and erased traces of an accident tantamount to murder was terrifyingly peaceful.

Hae-yeong relaxed and pressed her ear to his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. The regular sound of Taejun’s beating heart sounded like the safest lullaby in the world.

Taejun cast his gaze over the head of the woman who had buried her face in his embrace. The most beautiful lie he would protect for a lifetime had just been completed.

Hae-yeong could simply live in this peace without knowing anything. Even if his soul burned in hellfire as the price, Taejun was determined to choose that path willingly.

Hae-yeong, who had been silent in Taejun’s embrace, fiddled with his clothes and lifted her head.

Her uncharacteristically fidgeting appearance, rolling her eyes around, was somehow different from usual.

“But… I have something to tell you.”

At her hesitant voice, Taejun asked back in a deliberately gentle tone.

“What is it?”

Instead of answering, Hae-yeong gripped Taejun’s shirt collar tightly. Her fingertips were trembling slightly.

After hesitating for a long while, Hae-yeong finally uttered the clearest confession in the world in a very small voice.

“I think… I might be… pregnant.”

Taejun’s thoughts stopped for an instant.

Taejun stared at Hae-yeong with his hands still frozen around her.

“What?”

Taejun’s voice cracked harshly at the end.

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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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