Struck by an ominous premonition that came out of nowhere, Kang Hyukwoo immediately reached out to Han Jaewoon, Han Seungbeom’s younger brother, and arranged a meeting. If the absurd possibility he had in mind turned out to be true, he figured the family members who had been closest to him would have noticed something strange first.
Shunned by his company and with his future activities uncertain, Han Jaewoon, who had been left with nothing to do but stir up trouble on SNS, came running to the agency executive’s office as soon as he was called.
“I mean, isn’t that the least family can do for each other? Frankly speaking, there aren’t just one or two people who enter the entertainment industry by riding on their older brother’s coattails. Does he hate me that much? It’s all just his victim complex. He grew up without a mom, so he’s got this inferiority complex toward me. Our mom was nothing but good to him, so obviously, he should be good to me in return.”
Kang Hyukwoo put on a fake smile as he watched Han Jaewoon passionately spitting out nonsense for over an hour right in front of him. He then started to comfort Jaewoon with flattering words like, “You must feel really wronged”, “Isn’t this all Han Seungbeom’s fault?”, and “As the one who brought Prism to success, I guarantee you, Jaewoon-ssi, you’re talented enough to have made it just fine without Han Seungbeom.”
Then Han Jaewoon, as if he finally believed he had found someone on his side, nodded eagerly while tears full of sorrow streamed down his face.
“Heu, heuhuhu … you’re right. It’s just, I think we’ve been so foolishly kind to him all this time that we ended up being taken advantage of. Heuk, ugh. How can someone change so suddenly like that? They say success changes people. I guess that’s true after all.”
The moment Kang Hyukwoo heard the words “change so suddenly“, his eyes lit up as he thought he had finally found a clue, and he spoke again.
“He changed? Wasn’t Seungbeom-ssi always like that, though?”
At Kang Hyukwoo’s first question, Han Jaewoon’s face brightened, and he started speaking in a deliberately exaggerated way, trying his best to capture Kang Hyukwoo’s attention.
It was because, during the long conversation, although Kang Hyukwoo responded consistently, Han Jaewoon subconsciously felt uneasy as he began to notice signs that Kang Hyukwoo was gradually losing interest.
Both Kang Hyukwoo and Han Jaewoon were at rock bottom, shunned by the public with nowhere left to fall, so there was no such thing as superiority or inferiority between them. However, as the conversation went on, Han Jaewoon found himself unconsciously having to humble himself more and more. He was already being manipulated by Kang Hyukwoo.
‘Han Seungbeom? Is he interested in stories about Han Seungbeom? Why does he care about him?’
Eventually, Han Jaewoon began to recount every single memory he had of Han Seungbeom in detail, all in an effort to make a good impression on Kang Hyukwoo.
“Not long before the CSAT, he suddenly started acting weird. Like he became a completely different person ……. He started saying he wanted to become a celebrity, even though he couldn’t speak properly in front of people. And he kept smiling all the time. He really wasn’t like that before. Our mom was so shocked she even dropped her spoon.”
“…….”
“Oh, right. He totally messed up his CSAT too. Our mom used to say the only thing he was good at was studying. He was really good at it. He even scored Level 1s on all his mock exams…….”1
He said things like, “Our mom was nothing but good to him” just a moment ago, but now he was telling him they were making such a fuss over a single smile. Watching him even say without hesitation that Han Seungbeom had no talent except for studying, Kang Hyukwoo couldn’t help but let out a sneer for a moment.
‘Stupid bastard…….’
Kang Hyukwoo himself was not a person of admirable character, so he didn’t get angry about what Han Jaewoon’s family had done to Han Seungbeom. Rather, he was frustrated that the guy in front of him couldn’t even keep his fabricated story straight, making him wonder, ‘Do I really have to dig information out of such a half-witted guy?‘
However, Han Jaewoon, mistakenly believing that Kang Hyukwoo was on his side, eagerly continued speaking.
“Oh, it’s not like he completely failed everything! He got perfect scores in English and foreign languages, but his math and science scores dropped drastically.”
At first, Kang Hyukwoo dismissed it as meaningless chatter. But as he thought it over, Kang Hyukwoo suddenly realized that even here, he could sense similarities to Seo Yutae, and he couldn’t help but hold his breath for a moment.
‘…Seo Yutae wasn’t able to attend school after graduating middle school.’
Seo Yutae had to drop out of school and start working to support his family, so it was only natural that he never had the chance to even touch the high school curriculum. Later on, he studied on his own for overseas activities and became fluent in foreign languages, so it made sense that he did well in those subjects.
‘If Han Seungbeom started acting differently just before the CSAT, doesn’t that coincide with the time Seo Yutae fell from the building?’
Kang Hyukwoo muttered the question to himself and pressed his palm firmly against the goosebumps rising on his skin.
Is Han Seungbeom’s true identity really Seo Yutae?
Although he was aware that it was a ridiculous thought, it felt as if all the existing evidence was pushing it to be the truth.
“Were there no strange signs before that?”
“Well, I’m not sure. It was so long ago that even if something happened, I wouldn’t remember it clearly.”
Han Jaewoon, feeling his brain overload, started scratching the back of his head. When he noticed Kang Hyukwoo’s piercing stare, he flinched and quickly tried harder to recall. Finally, as if something had come back to him, he let out an “Ah” and paused.
“…There was a time when he kept staggering. Uh, what was it again? Since birth, his heart or something was weak, so he’s always been a bit sickly. But around that time, his condition seemed even worse. He couldn’t even get up properly from his seat. Father told him to just stay home and rest, because it would be bad if he collapsed, but he stubbornly insisted on going to see his aunt, saying it had to be then or never. Other than that, I really don’t know anything.”
What Han Jaewoon just said didn’t really help much in explaining that Seo Yutae and Han Seungbeom were the same person. Thinking it was something he could just brush off, Kang Hyukwoo naturally rose from his seat.
Seeing Kang Hyukwoo intent on finishing the conversation as soon as he achieved his goal, Han Jaewoon’s face went pale. He then hurriedly voiced the reason that had brought him here.
“What about our contract? To be honest, we’re both being unfairly blamed right now. I’m the only one who truly understands you, Director-nim. So, you can just rise again through me, right?”
“The contract … As you know, Jaewoon-ssi, the company’s in a rather difficult spot right now, so I think we should wait until there’s enough room for the public to accept it before discussing it. Let’s talk about it next time.”
“Next time? When exactly is ‘next time’?”
“Just head back for now, Jaewoon-ssi. I don’t really like being interrupted while I’m working. I’ll contact you through my secretary if I have time.”
Gripped by the fear that he might be abandoned like this, Han Jaewoon tried once more to get reassurance from Kang Hyukwoo. However, Kang Hyukwoo openly showed his discomfort and once again ordered him to leave.
Han Jaewoon, who had no choice but to rely on Kang Hyukwoo, stammered a moment, then quietly said, “Please, please contact me”, before hesitantly stepping out of the office. At that moment, the secretary walked in, handing Kang Hyukwoo the documents he had been carrying in his arms.
“These are the results of the handwriting analysis.”
It was the result sheet from the handwriting analysis, which had been requested by submitting both Han Seungbeom’s high school assignments and his current handwriting. Kang Hyukwoo let out a sharp, trembling breath and first checked the conclusion section of the envelope’s contents.
And then he felt his heart drop.
[Analysis result: confirmed to be the handwriting of a different person…….]
“…F**k, does this even make sense?!”
An immense wave of anxiety instantly hit Kang Hyukwoo all at once, making his breath hitch as he let out a wild, uncontrolled scream. What could be more terrifying than realizing someone who harbors such deep resentment—enough to kill him at any moment without surprise—might still be out there somewhere in the world?
His whole body quickly became soaked with cold sweat, as if he had been caught in the rain.
‘He’s dead. How is this even possible?!’
No, it can’t be.
This was something that should never happen.
‘…Is he trying to get revenge on me?’
Even when Seo Yutae was alive, that bastard was such a pain that he tried to drive a wedge between the Prism members, and he did all sorts of dirty deeds to make sure Seo Yutae couldn’t make a comeback … but now, all of that has gone up in smoke. He refused to believe it.
‘There’s no way he knows that I killed Seo Yuseong, right?’
If Seo Yutae were to learn that truth, everything would be over.
If he failed to deal with Seo Yutae, the only thing left for him would be a miserable end.
“No. If anything happens to me…….”
Rriiing.
As fear overwhelmed him and his hands trembled, the phone in his pocket started ringing.
At first, Kang Hyukwoo, thinking it was another call from the gangsters, irritably tried to press the decline button. But then he noticed the name displayed in the center of the phone screen and his expression hardened. After hurriedly dismissing his secretary and making sure the door was properly closed, he finally answered the call.
Then, a young, sleepy voice, typical of a child, came through the speaker.
“Daaad, you not coming home today? I’m scared to sleep alone……”
Until now, Kang Hyukwoo had always told everyone around him (including his right-hand man Lim Seunghoon and his close friends) that he no longer had any family left, and he even showed them the house where he truly lived alone.
But in truth, all of that was just a scheme to protect the safety of his beloved son from the many enemies created by his numerous misdeeds.
“Mmm, our Jihoonie, you called because you missed Dad? It’s so late, why aren’t you sleeping? Auntie’s right there with you, isn’t she? You can just ask Auntie to sleep with you.”
“I’m not close with this auntie yet, so I don’t want to sleep with her. We don’t even understand each other … I liked the last auntie better. But Dad, why do you always make them go away once I get close to them? I also hate moving all the time.”
“…I’m sorry. There are bad guys chasing Dad, so I had no other choice.”
The child on the other end of the call was Kang Hyukwoo’s most fatal weakness, the one he had tried hardest to keep hidden, and the very reason he couldn’t afford to die.
***
Late at night, the quiet of Choi Jeokhyeon’s office was softly broken by the voice of his secretary.
“As per your instructions, we succeeded in obtaining information from the woman Kang Hyukwoo met last Friday. It took longer than expected to ‘persuade’ her, which caused the delay. My apologies.”
“So?”
“…Your prediction was correct, CEO-nim. Kang Hyukwoo…….”
“…….”
“He had a child.”
After his relationship with the gangsters recently began to crack, Kang Hyukwoo became much more guarded than before. He drastically reduced contact with his son, relocated him to another area, and replaced all the personnel who had been caring for him.
It was undoubtedly an action taken out of a desire to be cautious, but excessive caution can sometimes end up exposing one’s weaknesses. Choi Jeokhyeon immediately sensed that Kang Hyukwoo had been frantically moving not only to quell the controversy but also to resolve other issues, and in digging into this, he discovered the existence of his son.
“Usually, parents don’t trust just anyone to take care of their kids. He must’ve wanted to personally select the nanny.”
Choi Jeokhyeon slowly shifted his red eyes downward to look at the photo the secretary had placed on the desk.
Perhaps having inherited much of his mother’s appearance, the boy in the photo, whose features bore almost no resemblance to Kang Hyukwoo’s, was smiling brightly with an innocent expression. His smile was so radiant that everyone who saw him couldn’t help but smile warmly in return.
But Choi Jeokhyeon simply stared at the child’s face with a cold expression, as if appraising an object, and then muttered to himself.
“Didn’t they say there’s no pain greater than the pain of losing one’s child…….”
If Seo Yutae were to learn of this weakness, would he really be happy?
Or would he become confused?
“…I’ll have to think it over.”
That was all that mattered to Choi Jeokhyeon.
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Translator’s Corner:
Our Han Seungbeom is a genius who can get into SKY …. Author-nim, why can’t you wait until he finished his CSAT before making Yutae taking over his body ….. in my ideal universe, Yutae is picking up Seungbeom in his CSAT location….. and Seungbeom debuted as face genius idol with genius brain too……
I have nothing to say in defense about this chapter … I also don’t know what’s wrong with the author-nim ….
Anyway, I just read the reviews on NU (everyone has a lot of nice things to say T_T), and someone cleverly wrote “See you at Cabin Four” … omg … even I wouldn’t be able to think that, it sounds so cool?
Thank you DragoM for the lightstick!
(fun fact: i was dreaming about seeing a buy me a coffee email notification yesterday (today???), so imagine how (happily) surprised i was when i woke up and saw there’s an actual bmc email notification …. it’s a dream comes true in literal sense……) (i thought i should be getting used with people’s warm words now, but every time i read how kind the messages are, i got really shy i don’t know how to respond …. even my face feels warm when writing this……..) (this is also why sometimes there’s a pretty long comments but i do nothing but like it T_T i’m really bad at responding to kind words …………….)
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