TTD 158

-Side Story 2.6-

Ja-kyung stood on the second-floor terrace with a cigarette in his mouth, quietly gazing at the construction site. He couldn’t see inside clearly because of the barricade, but trucks loaded with small trees were constantly entering the entrance.

Trees in this winter…

He felt skeptical, but it wasn’t easy to even approach the area. Whenever he loitered around, staff would appear out of nowhere like ghosts and chase him away.

After pondering for a while, Ja-kyung went to the room where Wang Lun and Wang Han were staying and flung the door open.

“Hyung! Where’s that filming drone we bought the other day?”

But Wang Lun and Wang Han jumped in surprise and hid something. At first, he thought they were doing some kind of test or whatever again.

“What are you two doing? Why are you hiding it?”

“It’s, it’s nothing much.”

“What is it? Don’t tell me you’re investing somewhere again!?”

When he frowned, Wang Lun nudged Wang Han.

“Just show him. Wei should know too.”

“He’s going down to Qishan soon anyway, so why bother? Don’t you trust CEO Kang?”

The mention of CEO Kang made it suspicious. When he held out his hand demanding it, Wang Han handed over the tablet. It was an internet article, and the headline caught his eye first. “The Secret Romance of Chaebols?” As he slowly read the article and looked at the photo, Ja-kyung couldn’t help but frown.

Though it was taken in the dark, it was definitely Kang Il-hyun. In the photo taken in front of a restaurant in New York, Kang Il-hyun was holding an umbrella over some woman. Reading the article again, the content was as follows:

A few years ago, rumors circulated that marriage talks had occurred between the two, and this seemed to prove it. His gaze couldn’t leave the word “marriage.” As he stood there looking dumbfounded, Wang Lun snatched it away.

“It’s obviously a baseless rumor.”

“Right. The article will be taken down soon anyway, right? It’s obvious. CEO Kang will be throwing a fit.”

Listening to their conversation, Ja-kyung scoffed.

“You don’t need to do that. Do you think I’m as petty as someone?”

“You’re bolder than anyone. You’ve got guts too.”

“Right. Don’t worry about it.”

“Haha, worry? I’m Lee Ja-kyung.”

Ja-kyung, who had been laughing, forgot the purpose of coming here and left the room. After closing the door and walking down the hallway, a message arrived. It was from Kang Yoo-jung. She had sent a brief note along with the article that had just appeared.

[Don’t misunderstand. Our families knew each other, and it’s true the adults talked about marriage, but nothing more than that happened.]

He was momentarily stunned by the shock. They really had marriage talks? Kang Il-hyun never mentioned anything like that to him. Of course, he never asked either. Come to think of it, he didn’t know the details of who he’d met or what relationships he’d had before.

Maybe he just didn’t want to know.

Composing his complicated emotions, Ja-kyung thought carefully.

Kang Il-hyun was incredibly good at blocking articles about his private life, so why would something like this suddenly appear?

-It just pisses me off. It feels like I’m always the only one who gets jealous.

-I wish you’d get jealous as intensely as I do.

Remembering the conversation they’d had before departure, the puzzle pieces fell into place. Dumbfounded, he laughed and shook his head. Did he really pull this childish trick? Anyway, he does have a childish side. Ja-kyung opened the chat window and sent a message to Kang Il-hyun.

[Who is that woman? I’m about to die of anger, so explain yourself right now!]

If this is what he wanted, he should give it to him. What kind of response will come? Will he be pleased? Or will he shamelessly deny it? However, even after an hour passed, then two hours, no reply came. Maybe he’s asleep since it’s late.

As time passed and the day was coming to an end, he finally received a message, but it was just a message saying that he would take down all the articles and not to worry about it. If he had made a joke like usual, he would have retorted, but he couldn’t ask him anything more because of the tired voice reporting his work.

*

“Go talk to him.”

“You go, hyung.”

“Then let’s go together.”

Wang Lun and Wang Han approached Ja-kyung, who was sitting on the living room sofa. Although the romance article about Kang Il-hyun had been taken down, on social media it was spreading even faster with embellishments. Photos of babies made by synthesizing their two faces were even circulating, and this morning Lee Ja-kyung seemed to have been quite shocked by seeing them.

On top of that, since Kang Il-hyun wasn’t contacting him frequently due to work, his mood seemed even lower.

“Wei. Want to go eat something delicious?”

To Wang Lun’s question, Ja-kyung just stared at his phone instead of answering. After confirming someone was calling him, he sighed quietly before answering. The caller was none other than Kang Seok-joo. As soon as Kang Il-hyun’s romance article appeared, he had been bombarding Ja-kyung with messages. Since he kept ignoring them, now he was even calling.

Ja-kyung stood up and ran his hand through his hair.

“What.”

[You finally answered? Hey! Why do you keep ignoring people? You saw the article, right? It’s chaos right now. Fuck, what did I tell you! I said Kang Il-hyun would get sick of you soon. I was genuinely worried but you didn’t listen! Haha, serves you right!]

“If you’re going to talk nonsense, hang up.”

[Fuck, don’t hang up and listen! I really want to make you a good offer. How much do you want? I’ll give you whatever you ask, so think carefully. Opportunities like this don’t come easily, you know? It’s not difficult. You’re skilled, right? Please just take care of that bastard. Hey, why aren’t you answering? Are you thinking about it? Did you get attached to him or something? Wake up, you idiot! Who’s going to appreciate that! Should I introduce you to someone else instead? Someone fancier. No wait, you like that kind of face, right? What about me? If you just kill that bastard for me, I’ll generously let you have me! Fuck! A young guy is better than an old man, right!]

Ja-kyung tilted his head back to look at the ceiling and sighed. Since he had time to spare anyway, should he just go kill Kang Seok-joo? But then Seok-joo brought up something unexpected.

[Kang Il-hyun went to a hotel with that woman. There’s even a photo circulating in our chat room right now, should I send it to you?]

“Stop talking nonsense and do your work, you bastard. Aren’t you busy?”

[No, I’m fucking free.]

Then a photo arrived. Ja-kyung clicked on it without thinking and scoffed. It seemed to be a back view of Kang Il-hyun with the woman, but the compositing was done in such a hurry that the feet were floating about a span above the ground.

[You saw it, right? You’re shocked, aren’t you?]

“Yeah. I’m so shocked. By your shitty editing skills.”

[Fuck, it’s not edited! It’s real!]

“Give it a rest, Seok-joo. Or you’ll really become watermelon fertilizer.”

[What bullshit! Just do me this favor! Hm? You don’t know I work more than a salt farm slave? At this rate I’m going to die from overwork. Kang Il-hyun is determined to legally kill me! So do me this favor. Please just kill that bastard! Please!]

He said he was free, but that was all lies. It seemed Kang Il-hyun was still working Kang Seok-joo to the bone. Shaking his head at the nonsensical talk, he hung up. Soon after, Kang Seok-joo sent another photo. If the feet were floating earlier, this time the left hand was missing.

This bastard ran it through AI. If you’re going to fool someone, at least show some sincerity.

He was so fed up he almost just sent it to Kang Il-hyun to screw the guy over but gave up.

Going downstairs, the Wang brothers followed behind him, glancing at him. Saying not to worry, that CEo Kang is absolutely not that kind of person. After snapping at them that they were noisy, he went to the bedroom Kang Il-hyun used and flopped onto the bed. About 10 minutes passed. When he went on YouTube and searched Kang Il-hyun’s name, all kinds of videos appeared.

Among the short videos were ones about the person involved in the romance rumors with Kang Il-hyun. The daughter of some chaebol who majored in architecture and was also active as a designer. She was a neat beauty, but no matter how he looked at it, she didn’t suit Kang Il-hyun.

Frowning, he opened the phone’s chat window. It must be night in New York now. Had he finished work and gone to the hotel? Or was he enjoying a party? Who was he with? Was he alone? He wanted to hear his voice. The person who used to call day and night even on business trips was sparse this time, which felt strange.

At first, he thought it was to provoke jealousy, but as it continued for several days, stress built up unknowingly. After hesitating, he sent a message and immediately received a call. His voice beyond the receiver sounded somewhat hoarse.

“Were you sleeping?”

[Yeah. I dozed off for a bit. Is something wrong?]

“No. Nothing. What about you? Are you very busy?”

[Rather than work, there were personal matters, so meeting people took time.]

He almost asked “What personal matters?” but gave up. It seemed like he was being conscious of the article for no reason. The tired voice bothered him particularly today, so he told him to go to sleep soon. Then he heard a low laugh. Even though he hadn’t said anything special, hearing that put him at ease.

[I miss you a lot.]

Ja-kyung answered with the corners of his mouth lifting. Me too. I really miss you a lot. In the end, Ja-kyung didn’t bring up the article. Mostly he didn’t want to act childishly, but it seemed there was also a little fear.