“He said he doesn’t like it because of the scar.”
As soon as those words left Nam Yihwon’s mouth, Jo Inchan’s face turned cold as he glared at him, and the atmosphere instantly turned icy as if a bucket of cold water had been thrown over it.
“…Nam Yihwon.”
It was extremely rare for Jo Inchan, who was known to be one of the more mild-tempered members within Prism, to react so sharply toward another member, so the others couldn’t hide their bewilderment and instinctively glanced at me. This was practically an unconscious reflex at this point, shaped by the countless times they’d had to act immediately based on decisions made by me, the leader and eldest member of Prism.
“…….”
But this issue had stemmed from the traces left on Jo Inchan’s body, and it was something that happened after I left Prism. Because of that, I, who knew less about it than anyone else here, couldn’t easily find the words to speak.
‘He must’ve kept the surgical scars covered with a support brace ……. Then that means there really are other scars.’
There are scars on Jo Inchan’s body caused by violence.
And I, who had been apart from Prism, didn’t know a thing about it.
Just that fact alone left me so shocked that I stood frozen in place, blankly staring down at Jo Inchan’s body. I was so anxious, I almost wanted to forcefully grab his clothes right then and there, not caring if it created a ruckus, just to see what was underneath.
“It’s not like that.”
Even though I hadn’t said a word and just stood there blankly, Jo Inchan seemed to read my mind. He grabbed and shook my shoulders, trying to explain himself. But the one who’d dropped the bomb, Nam Yihwon, turned his head with a scoff and muttered, “Like hell it’s not.”, rendering all of Jo Inchan’s efforts useless.
At that, Jo Inchan clenched his teeth so hard it made a grinding sound and shot back with a biting remark.
“What do you even know to be running your mouth like that?”
“Why? I know exactly where and what kind of scars you’ve got, and how much you’re struggling by yourself to keep it hidden.”
“I said I was fine. So … there was no need to bring it up in front of other people.”
As soon as the words ‘other people‘ left Jo Inchan’s lips, Nam Yihwon—who hadn’t budged no matter how much Jo Inchan glared or snapped at him—gave the slightest twitch of his brow. And the instant the word ‘fine‘ came out, before anyone could stop him, Nam Yihwon suddenly grabbed Jo Inchan by the chest.
A low voice, laced with unmistakable anger, spoke.
“You’re not fine.”
“…….”
“You’re the only one insisting you’re fine, and damn it … even you know you’re not fine. So stop trying to carry it all by yourself. Watching you is seriously suffocating. It’s killing me.”
“What I mean is, don’t put more burdens on someone who’s already having a hard time. Do I seriously need to spell that out for you?”
Hearing that, Nam Yihwon let out a bitter laugh and stepped closer to Jo Inchan, staring down at him with sunken eyes.
“Well, if you don’t spell it out, I won’t get it. And even if I do, I’ve got no intention of doing what you say.”
Jo Inchan, too, was staring back without backing down in the slightest. It wasn’t all that unusual for those two, who were the same age, to clash with such a tense, hostile air, so the fight itself wasn’t particularly alarming.
More than that … it was just the fact I’d learned moments ago that had left me a bit shaken.
I pressed hard on my temple, trying to make the throbbing headache subside even a little. Then, to cut through the tension that felt as if they were about to tear each other apart, I lightly nudged both Jo Inchan and Nam Yihwon with my forearm, putting a bit of space between the two.
That seemed to bring them back to their senses. They both backed off, their hostile expressions fading as they became aware of their surroundings.
“We’ll do a final check on Prism’s outfits and makeup!”
And right on cue, a staff’s voice calling for Prism rang out.
‘Ah, the scars. I never really got to ask about them.’
I gave my body a light pat, almost like a silent gesture of ‘goodbye‘, and watched Jo Inchan’s back as he walked away.
Then, a voice so faint it sounded like it might disappear slipped out.
“What if … what if Kang Hyukwoo had someone he loved?”
I clamped a hand over my mouth, startled by the words that had slipped out before I even realized it.
At that, all the members burst into hearty laughter, as if they’d just heard the funniest joke in the world. Though their faces were lit up with wide smiles, they seemed to be hiding emotions that couldn’t have been more different.
“What are you talking about? That makes no sense.”
“Love? From a bastard as selfish as Kang Hyukwoo? He couldn’t even handle a casual relationship properly.”
“Alright, we’ll be back!”
As I quietly watched them walk away, Yoo Jay, who had been lost in thought the whole time, stepped away from the group and turned back to look at me. Then, in a calm, unwavering tone, he answered,
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can bring myself to wish that person well.”
“…What?”
“I really want Kang Hyukwoo to experience for himself what it felt like when we lost you, hyung.”
“…….”
“After all, that person must have known full well what Kang Hyukwoo did, but they still chose to love him and stay by his side. There’s no way I can ever forgive them.”
Hearing his answer, I couldn’t bring myself to say the truth: that person was just a child who knew nothing about Kang Hyukwoo. All I could do was press my dry lips together in silence.
***
In Kang Hyukwoo’s world, he was the most pitiful person of all.
He had given everything in his pursuit of success and worked relentlessly. Yet despite being a capable and extraordinary individual, he was never recognized or rewarded, all because of the parasites who kept trying to obstruct him every step of the way.
[LMAO, why is it so funny when Seo Yutae just shuts down all ideas in the meeting in one go? But fr, that was the right call. Our kid’s a genius. He’s totally a cat]
└ Cat-lighting a guy who looks like a literal jaguar … love really is terrifying
[No, Hyukwoo-ya lol please just sit still for once. If Yutae says he wants to do something, just let him do it, goddammit. It’s not like you have good instincts anyway. If you’re not gonna help while we’re on the bus, at least don’t get in the way]
[That Hyukwoo is seriously so damn lucky. Like, how does someone like Seo Yutae just roll into his life and make his whole fortune skyrocket? Pretty sure he used up all his lifetime luck just meeting him]
Kang Hyukwoo took great pride in having clawed his way through unfair circumstances and survived. Even if there had been some mistakes or wrongdoing along the way, he justified it to himself; it was all done in desperation, just to survive, to make a living. Never mind that his livelihood had never actually been at risk, and that it was all driven not by need, but by greed for his business to flourish.
Yet even so, he always felt lonely and bitter, believing that no one ever truly acknowledged him. To borrow Seo Yutae’s words, that mindset could only be described as a severe case of self-pity and selfishness.
It might have sounded absurd, but even the most vile of criminals, as long as they were human, were bound to feel emotions and yearn for acknowledgment and affection. Perhaps it was precisely because such a person had been so self-centered and selfish enough to commit crimes that they had disregarded the past where they had ruthlessly crushed others’ hearts, wishing only for their own emptiness to be filled.
Kang Hyukwoo amassed immense wealth by exploiting Prism to the brink.
He came to enjoy privileges far beyond what his abilities alone could have ever earned him, but he always felt that something was missing. In an effort to fill that emptiness, he repeatedly resorted to all sorts of illicit activities, driven by an insatiable hunger for more money and power.
However, the more time passed, the more he felt that something was drifting further off course.
“Ah, crazy. Who ordered the teddy bear cake? I’m twenty-five!”
“Yutae-hyung did.”
“…You told Seras you liked teddy bears.”
“Hyung, thanks for the cake! Wow, it’s so cute! I really, really love teddy bears!”
Kang Hyukwoo grew increasingly unhappy each time he saw others finding happiness in things so different from what he had pursued. This feeling was particularly intensified whenever he looked at the members of Prism, who had formed bonds stronger than blood and found joy in one another.
“Even though we’re swamped with our schedules, it’s still a holiday. We should at least try to get into the festive spirit. Let’s buy some jeon1 on the way.”
“Yutae-hyung, give us some pocket money! It’s the holidays!”
“Sure, I’ll give you some.”
“Ah, forget it. I can’t even joke around with you, seriously.”
It was the kind of wretched feeling that, if put into words, would have felt like admitting defeat.
So, Kang Hyukwoo started to look down on them even more. He belittled the things they held dear, the things he could never truly have, trying to make those values seem as small and meaningless as possible.
“Do you really think doing all that makes you a real family?”
And he did everything he could to break Seo Yutae, who stood at the center of that value.
“You’re really something, Seo Yutae. After all the times your father dragged you down, you’re still cleaning up his messes. Just abandon him.”
In the midst of it all, Kang Hyukwoo came to realize something important.
No matter how many times his father caused trouble, Seo Yutae never stopped bowing his head to the victims in apology, nor did he give up on persuading him to live a proper life. In Kang Hyukwoo’s eyes, Seo Yutae’s father was a man with neither the will nor the hope to change. And yet, Seo Yutae made tireless efforts to somehow turn his father around, breaking himself in the process. He kept holding on to the hope that one day, his father would come to his senses and live an ordinary life like everyone else.
Why, despite being so thoroughly taken advantage of and hurt, couldn’t Seo Yutae bring himself to give up on his father?
“He’s my father. There are real people who have been harmed by him, so how could I just turn a blind eye? What did those people do to deserve that?”
The reason was blood ties.
As absurd as it was, that single blood connection was enough to keep Seo Yutae bound to his father, forcing him to endure exploitation again and again.
And the very first thought that crossed Kang Hyukwoo’s mind when he realized this was this,
‘Then I’ll just make one myself.’
He decided to create someone who was bound to love him, someone who could fill this emptiness that wouldn’t go away.
Kim Chaeyul was brought into existence under that very idea.
Once he actually started raising the child, he found it wasn’t as bad as he’d expected.
No matter how little they resembled each other, it was still strange and fascinating to see traces of similarity here and there in a face that shared his blood. The child had his own kind of cuteness too. There were moments, of course, when he found himself frustrated and annoyed—either because proper communication was difficult, or because there were simply too many things he had to do for the child. But then, whenever that tiny hand gently wrapped around his fingertip, he’d feel as if all his frustrations just melted away.
Is this love?
For the first time, Kang Hyukwoo found himself thinking that.
“…….”
It was hard to accept that the child he had raised in that manner had rejected him.
‘Why? It was just one slap. I told him so many times not to follow strangers, but he broke that promise. I hit him for his own good, and yet, over something so minor, he looks at me like I’m some kind of garbage…….’
Should he beg to have his son back, even now?
No. What good would that do, when the boy would only burst into tears and run away the moment he saw his face?
Then was there someone who could take care of the child in his place?
No. There was no such person.
He couldn’t expect anything from the birth mother’s side, since he had taken the child from her the moment he was born. As for Kang Hyukwoo’s own parents, he had cut ties with them early in his career, when they told him they were facing serious health issues and needed him to cover massive hospital bills.
There wasn’t a single person left around him he could trust. Not long ago, everyone had bowed to him, trying to stay on his good side. But now that he’d lost what he had, all he had left was his son.
No, even that wasn’t true anymore. His son had left him too.
“Director-nim!”
As he sat clutching his head, thinking of his son’s face, his secretary burst into the office, looking pale and flustered. Puzzled, Kang Hyukwoo lifted his head toward the door, and in that moment, he felt his entire body go rigid.
“Oh, Director Kang. Long time no see. You’ve been so out of touch, I thought you’d run off for good, like a little rat.”
“…….”
“I happened to hear an interesting story about you, Director Kang. Care to hear what it was?”
The leader of the gangster organization he’d been avoiding all this time was now standing right in front of him.
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Translator’s Corner:
Explaining it (though it was late) just in case, but the gangster that always mentioned here is like … you know, professional thugs. The kind of organized gangster with membership and all, the one you saw if you watched Study Group drama.
Ugh, we’ll stuck with Kang Hyukwoo’s POV for a while. I always skipped this arc whenever I reread because I just couldn’t care less about him … it really leaves me with unpleasant feeling … and now I’m forced to read every sentence carefully to translate asdfghjkl why am I doing this to myself … I’m going to faint…..
I really need to start reading the comments (they have been piled up so much … I remember seeing someone in Survival arc chapter telling me I did a good job translating the way the characters speak … I hope it’s not buried yet … I haven’t had the chance to say thank you…..), but there’s this one comment I remember asking why Chaeyul rejected his father, who was always good to him before, because one slap and followed Yutae instead …. hmm, actually, I’m too used to that kind of thing to properly understand it, but let’s think about it.
When someone was horrible to you on a daily basis, you practically expected nothing from them. Like, getting hit one day after already being hit four times the week before wouldn’t feel like a big deal. But if someone who usually treated you with sweetness and love suddenly hit you, that would be … unsettling????? Shocking?? Definitely very scary. Like, a single blot can ruin the copy. And violence is traumatic. I don’t think anyone ever truly gets used to it. Even I still flinch and feel afraid when someone raises their voice or shows violent behavior. Let alone a child who’s never experienced it before…… (and I think, it’s an instinct tbh. To run away when someone hurts you. I remember my cousin, when she was a little younger, would run to my house crying everytime her father hit her. And when I was a child, I would either lock myself in the wardrobe (but this also because I was obssesed with Narnia and I hoped I would somehow transport to Narnia if I stayed there) or sit alone between the bushes in the back garden).
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