OMS 72
by Cherry[Today, news broke about Daesan Group Director Kim Jun-han’s romantic relationship. As it involves a corporate leader, many people are curious and interested. The response has been incredibly hot. Actually, I think Kim Jun-han’s handsome face played a big part in this. Why are you laughing? Don’t you all look at appearances? You do, don’t you?]
All day, stories about Kim Jun-han played on TV. While thinking it strange that a current affairs channel was gossiping about a corporate leader’s looks, Lee Hee-soo felt both glad and disappointed to hear news of him this way.
Was this why he made such a fuss about terminating the pregnancy and getting divorced? Well, there was no love to begin with, Kim Jun-han had just been patient all this time. Clicking his tongue while holding playing cards, he watched as Kim Yoon-ah snatched up the red card laid out on the blanket. Park Dong-sik looked at Kim Yoon-ah admiringly.
“You’ve improved a lot, haven’t you?”
Embarrassed by the unexpected praise, Kim Yoon-ah smiled shyly while secretly taking the remote to turn off the TV.
“Why? Just leave it.”
“I can’t concentrate…”
“I’m fine.”
“…”
“It’s really hitting me how remarkable the person I lived with was. How is he on every channel? Is he a celebrity? Well, he is better looking than some celebrities, I’ll admit that. Though his personality is ice-cold. But that’s part of his charm too. Ah, I lost.”
While he was sighing, there was suddenly a thud from above the display cabinet. They both turned to look. Several photo frames were displayed on top, and one had fallen face down. Kim Yoon-ah tilted her head to one side in curiosity.
“Why did that fall?”
Park Dong-sik stood up, still holding his cards. Going to the cabinet, he stood the fallen frame back up, it turned out to be a photo of Kim Jun-han and Kim Tae-han holding guns. Frowning, he alternately looked at the mounted deer head above the fireplace and the photo frame.
“What’s this damn ominous feeling?”
“The technical term is poltergeist phenomenon.”
Park Dong-sik raised one eyebrow at Kim Yoon-ah’s casual remark.
“Pol…what?”
“When objects fly around or fall for no reason. It usually happens a lot in haunted houses.”
Feeling spooked, Park Dong-sik rubbed his neck unnecessarily. Ah, creepy. Ever since that shaman mentioned something about the grim reaper, it keeps coming to mind. He spat into the air three times, ptui, ptui, ptui—and put the frame back. In the photo, Kim Jun-han wore a serious expression beyond his years, while Kim Tae-han smiled broadly like a mischievous child.
The photo brought back many thoughts. His first visit to this villa was last winter. Following Kim Jun-han here, he met Lee Hee-soo’s lover and witnessed Kim Jun-han’s cruel side firsthand. Then Kim Jun-han had nursed him all night, and the three of them, including the dog, had slept together. Of course, that was all in the past now.
While lost in memories, Kim Yoon-ah carefully spoke up.
“I’m curious about something regarding Hee-soo…”
“Yeah? Ask away.”
“How did you come up with the idea to hide here?”
Park Dong-sik returned to his seat.
“There’s a saying: ‘Looking for a light under a lamp.'”
“I know! It means you can’t find light while under a lamp!”
This time he lifted her chin proudly, showing off.
“Right. We used that principle when we came here.”
Kim Yoon-ah marveled at his ingenuity.
“Amazing. Getting wisdom from an ancient saying. Ah! You’ve been reading a lot of books lately too, right?”
“Honestly, I’m forcing myself to read. When the babies are born, imagine if they’re dumb. Everyone in that house will say they take after me. I’m doing my own version of prenatal education.”
“You know what? Hee-soo was smart even before the accident but became even more brilliant after. That day, I thought we were going to Japan too. Who would have imagined we’d come to a villa owned by the Daesan Group?”
On the day they escaped from the hospital, they had arranged smuggling passage by boat but didn’t go to the agreed location. Instead, they sent out two people with similar builds wearing identical clothes, faces hidden by hats and masks. The brokers didn’t care about confirming their identities, they only cared about the money. If the Kim brothers were searching for Lee Hee-soo, they were probably focusing solely on Japan, never suspecting the switch.
“This is why book smarts aren’t everything. Have those guys ever had to run from debt collectors? Ever staked out in the freezing winter like a dog trying to catch someone who stole money? They only know how to order their subordinates around. Right? They’re useless without their secretaries. Useless.”
Listening to this, Kim Yoon-ah became dejected.
“I think Hee-soo would do fine without me now…”
“No. It’s because of you that I’m holding up this well.”
“These days I feel like I’m just a burden…”
Seeing Kim Yoon-ah starting to spiral, Park Dong-sik changed the subject.
“Hmm, shall we make some green onion pancakes? Whitey and Blackey are crying out that they’re hungry.”
At the mention of Whitey and Blackey, Kim Yoon-ah grimaced.
“Can’t we change those fetal names?”
While she usually praised everything Lee Hee-soo did, she seemed to genuinely dislike these names.
White 60 billion rabbit: Whitey. Black 60 billion rabbit: Blackey. What could possibly be wrong with that?
“Let’s eat pancakes first. I’m hungry.”
Park Dong-sik threw the cards on the blanket and got up to his feet. Kim Yoon-ah looked at the scattered cards and belatedly opened her mouth with a frown. She asked if he had deliberately ended the game, but Park Dong-sik feigned innocence and never answered.
***
The man sitting on the sofa smiled gently while looking at a coffee cup decorated with flowers. He was Jung Sun-woo, the youngest of the Young-hwa Group, who was rumored to be dating Kim Jun-han.
“This must have been troublesome for you. I’m sorry. Because of me…”
“What do you have to apologize for, Mr. Jung Sun-woo? Being the subject of gossip isn’t anything new, so don’t worry about it.”
“That’s a relief. I was worried you might resent me.”
“Me?”
“Yes. Actually, I honestly shared my feelings about CEO Kim with a few people around me, and it seems the information leaked somehow during transmission. That’s why I wanted to apologize. However, I won’t apologize for having feelings for you, CEO. That’s my honest truth.”
Kim Jun-han stared directly at Jung Sun-woo. Though he’d occasionally seen him at gatherings since childhood, he hadn’t paid much attention to the other man. He only knew him as a good-looking Omega with a nice personality. He’d heard rumors that many Alphas sought his affection, but it was always just others’ stories. That was why he had firmly refused when Chairman Jung tried to set him up with his son. But it seemed like Jung Sun-woo’s feelings were different.
“Sun-woo. You came to the company before, right? You left a gift with my secretary too.”
“You remember. Actually, I gave you a coffee cup then, but you never said anything about it, so I felt a bit hurt. I came once more after that, but you weren’t in due to work. You must be very busy.”
“Mr. Jung Sun-woo.”
“Yes?”
“People make time to contact others when they’re interested.”
Jung Sun-woo tried to maintain a smile, but couldn’t hide the trembling at the corners of his mouth.
“It would hurt your pride if I explained further, so it’s better to stop here, right?”
He fanned himself while trying to cool the heat rising to his face, still maintaining his smile.
“This is embarrassing. I didn’t know you were such a direct person, CEO Kim.”
“You wouldn’t have known, but I’m usually even more direct than this. If something like this happens again, you’ll get to see that side of me too.”
Jung Sun-woo bit down on his lower lip and lowered his eyes. His expression was wistful, as if he might burst into tears at any given moment. Kim Jun-han checked his wristwatch. More than sympathy, he hoped Jung Sun-woo would leave soon, if only because of his backed-up schedule.
Seeming to understand this, Jung Sun-woo stood up and bowed his head.
“I’ve been very rude. Since I’m essentially the one who caused this incident, I’ll handle it. And please don’t mention today’s events anywhere. I’m embarrassed as a person…Please…”
“Don’t worry.”
“Pardon?”
“As you can see, my personality is such that I don’t have any friends anyway.”
At those words, Jung Sun-woo, who was about to cry, burst out laughing. With reddened ears, he apologized several times and left the office. Left alone, Kim Jun-han rose from his seat with a tired face and took out a medicine bottle from the drawer. As he was taking a headache pill with water, his phone rang.
“This is Kim Jun-han.”
[Director. Kim Tae-han is in Gangwon-do right now.]
He had someone follow Kim Tae-han because his vacation request was suspicious, but why suddenly go to Gangwon-do?
“Where in Gangwon-do?”
[He’s heading towards Hongcheon.]
Kim Jun-han’s expression hardened as he pondered. He opened his desk drawer and took something out. It was the call log of Madam Song that he’d compiled after Lee Hee-soo had disappeared, and suddenly one person came to mind.
Scanning the list with his fingertip, he stopped halfway. It was the Gyeongju housekeeper who managed the villa. Lee Hee-soo had called his mother the day before the surgery, and when he later asked about the reason, he had replied that it was just a simple welfare call. The two were quite close, so he had let it slide at the time.
[We’ll continue following him.]
“Yes, understood.”
After hanging up, Kim Jun-han picked up his office phone and pressed button 1. After the beep, Secretary Choi’s voice came through.
[Yes, Director.]
“Clear my afternoon schedule.”
[All of it, sir?]
“Yes. All of it.”
[Understood.]
Then he connected to the camera feed installed in his house on his mobile phone. As he watched Kim Tae-han’s morning movements, he saw him going up to the second floor of the main house. He presumably met with their father. Fast-forwarding showed him coming down about 20 minutes later. Pausing and zooming in on the screen captured his smiling face.
Kim Jun-han glared at the screen and muttered.
“You found something, didn’t you?”