IDTE 18

Chapter – 18

“Your expression doesn’t look great.”

Kim Geon, always impeccably dressed, sat down beside me. Today he carried the scent of fallen leaves and damp grass.

“I guess they don’t say friendship is a good thing for nothing. You came out right away like this.”

“Of course. If my friend calls, I should show up anytime.”

He’d once said we might become good friends. I decided to test that.

“Things didn’t work out with Lee-hyun?”

“Wouldn’t it be stranger if they did?”

“Well. I told you—it depends on you, Min-ha.”

Kim Geon took the beer glass from my hand and brought it to his lips. Just like before, he pressed his mouth to the very spot where my lips had touched. The sight felt strangely intimate.

“I told the firm recently that I’m resigning.”

“Why? Your colleagues all seemed nice. That’s a shame.”

“You were the one who told me to join Seongjin.”

The polite, gentle expression on his face curved into something playful.

“So help me out.”

“How?”

“Set up a meeting with Chairman Park Jin-ho.”

“Haha.”

His laughter burst out—bright and carefree. To someone who didn’t know the situation, it would have sounded like the laughter of a man who’d just heard wonderful news.

“I haven’t laughed like this in a while. Thanks.”

“You know I didn’t say it to make you laugh.”

“Min-ha, there’s nothing good in it for you if you meet Chairman Park. I mean that.”

“I mean it too. I think I need to join Seongjin Capital. That’s why I’m trying.”

“If I remember correctly, I told you to get close to Lee-hyun. Not Chairman Park.”

“That advice didn’t work out. I’m sorry.”

I drained the beer, the glass now empty enough to see the bottom.

“He and I are like parallel lines. No matter how much time passes, we’ll never intersect.”

“Did you know?”

Two fresh glasses of beer were set down in front of us.

“Parallel lines face the same direction.”

The glasses were placed a little too close together, so I nudged them apart.

“So? Are you going to help me or not?”

“If you meet Chairman Park—what then?”

“I won’t try any obvious tricks in front of him. I’ll just face him head-on.”

“So you’re going to gamble everything?”

We were seated near the entrance. Every time the door opened, cold air rushed in and filled my lungs.

It cleared my head more than ever.

“Fine. But you’ll owe me properly. If I help you, the picture gets messy. And that’s what Chairman Park hates most.”

Checkmate. Maybe I could even capture the king.

“And Lee-hyun gets really scary when he’s angry. Will you protect me?”

The way Kim Geon lowered the corners of his eyes playfully reminded me of a boy I used to tease when I was young.

No matter how many times I saw him, he was impossible to read.

It was close to one in the morning, and once again sleep wouldn’t come easily.

Since that day, contact with Do Lee-hyun had been cut off again. He had disappeared from my life.

There had been a time when I’d felt relieved that he wasn’t truly my fiancé. And once again, I found myself thinking how fortunate it was that he wasn’t the man I loved.

“Pathetic avoidant bastard.”

I muttered softly, letting the anger inside me spill out.

Bzz—

At the vibration, I checked my phone screen. Why had I hoped, even for a second, that it might be him?

It was Senior Choi.

Before answering, I caught sight of the grotesque silhouette of bare tree branches reflected in the window.

“Hello…?”

“Min-haaa.”

“Sunbae, are you drunk?”

“Min-ha, why are you doing this?”

A few days ago, when I told the managing partner I was resigning, I was met with countless attempts to persuade me to stay.

And Senior Choi, in particular, had been persistent. It wasn’t unexpected.

But my decision was firm. To overturn Seongjin Capital, I had to walk into it myself. I couldn’t miss this chance.

His voice over the phone was slurred, heavy with lingering attachment.

“You’re drunk. Go home.”

“Are you doing this because of something I said before?”

“It’s not that.”

“I know why you’re resigning. I know everything.”

I heard him sigh deeply.

“You’re going to those Seongjin bastards, aren’t you? Right? You traitor.”

A sharp ache pierced my chest.

His word—traitor—made me bristle, but I couldn’t even deny it.

“Sunbae, I’m hanging up.”

“Protect justice? You hypocrite. I still tried to trust you. Do you know how obvious you’ve been lately? I’ll keep watching you.”

“Sunbae!”

My voice rose without me realizing. I couldn’t handle any more stress.

“If you have something to say, say it sober. I’m hanging up.”

I ended the call and rubbed the stiff back of my neck.

I tried to dismiss it as drunken nonsense, but the word traitor echoed relentlessly in my head.

Outside, the twisted branches seemed even more grotesque.

The second time I met Chairman Park Jin-ho, he seemed far larger than I remembered.

If a tiger were to take human form, it would probably carry that kind of overwhelming presence. A predator was still a predator.

“So, what does this old man have that you want?”

He smiled kindly, but his eyes gleamed like a beast’s. The same look I had seen in Do Lee-hyun’s eyes.

“Chairman, I won’t beat around the bush. I want to work at Seongjin Capital.”

“Why?”

“I’ve long wanted to handle the kind of work Seongjin deals with rather than build a spotless résumé.”

I swallowed before continuing.

“If I put in a few solid years here, I know my market value in the back channels will rise accordingly. People may whisper and criticize, but they can’t deny value.”

“Hm. You speak so smoothly—it sounds like a speech you memorized last night.”

I’d known it wouldn’t be easy. Maintaining my composure alone took everything I had.

“Apologies. To be honest, I’m not curious why you want to work at Seongjin. It’s not important to me. I only asked out of courtesy, assuming you’d prepared an answer.”

His large frame leaned forward, looming over me.

“What I’m curious about is this—what’s in it for me?”

“For Seongjin Capital to grow further, it needs to appear cleaner on the outside.”

“So you’re saying Seongjin Capital is dirty?”

“Not entirely clean. If you gain even one more clean asset who can be useful at times like this, I know you won’t be at a loss.”

He didn’t lean back.

“To clean properly, you start by sweeping the dust hidden in the corners. I can handle that. I’m confident.”

“Haha. I can see you prepared thoroughly. But why not discuss this with Lee-hyun?”

“Do Lee-hyun…”

My throat was dry as I swallowed again.

“If I say he worries about me too much, would you believe me?”

“He opposes it, doesn’t he? Because he doesn’t trust you.”

You already know everything, old man.

I forced a smile and reached for my tea. It had gone ice-cold.

“One more question. Are you here today as Lee-hyun’s fiancée—or as a lawyer?”

When I stepped out of Chairman Park’s office, Kim Geon was pacing the hallway.

“Did it go well?”

His eyes sparkled, ready to spill questions.

“I think… I succeeded.”

“You’re impressive, Min-ha.”

We exchanged a light high five.

It was done. Once things wrapped up at the firm, I would report to Seongjin Capital’s Compliance Support Team.

Still trembling, I followed Kim Geon down the bleak staircase of Seongjin Holdings. Reaching the first floor felt like an eternity.

“Kim Geon!”

A familiar low voice rang out from the distance.

Do Lee-hyun stood there, radiating a presence fierce enough to sink his teeth into my throat.

“Min-ha, go ahead.”

Footsteps echoed sharply down the corridor.

Lee-hyun’s cold aura was already close behind us.