Chapter: 2
Han Kang-yoon
Kang-yoon headed straight for his grandfather’s study as soon as he entered the house.
“Did you call for me?”
“Come here and sit.”
Though he had turned ninety this year, Han Tae-soo—still sharp and hale—was the chairman of Kangsan Group and a figure ranked among Korea’s top business elites.
“I heard you went on a blind date today?”
“Yes.”
“Well? How was it?”
Kang-yoon glanced at his grandfather’s face, tinged with expectation.
“She seemed like a good woman. I’d like to meet her again.”
“Heh heh… Good. Very good.”
Kang-yoon had gone on several blind dates arranged by the family before, but he had never reacted like this. A smile spread across Han Tae-soo’s lips. Seeing his grandsons marry and having great-grandchildren before he died was his final wish.
“Still, it’s because your mother thinks of you as her own child. That’s why she introduced you to such a fine young lady.”
“Yes. That’s true.”
Kang-yoon replied without hesitation.
The “mother” his grandfather referred to was his aunt, Jin Hyun-sook.
Kang-yoon had only ever been told that his biological mother died giving birth to him. He didn’t know what kind of person she was, or how she met his father and conceived him.
Having been raised under Jin Hyun-sook since childhood, Kang-yoon followed her as if she were his real mother. Of course, when he grew older and learned that he wasn’t her biological child—that he was a child his late father had brought in from outside—it had been a huge shock.
But Kang-yoon was smart. He knew exactly how he needed to behave to remain safely within this family.
Academics, sports, music, art—even height and looks. Kang-yoon excelled to the point of completely overshadowing Kang-moon.
Yet he never flaunted his abilities or talents.
Because he knew that staying beneath Kang-moon was the only way to stay safe.
Jin Hyun-sook was affectionate toward Kang-yoon—but only because he never threatened Kang-moon’s position.
Whenever Kang-yoon received more praise from his grandfather than Kang-moon, or showed exceptional ability, her warmth would subtly cool.
Others believed Jin Hyun-sook loved Kang-moon and Kang-yoon equally, but Kang-yoon knew better than anyone that the moment he surpassed Kang-moon, she would abandon him without hesitation.
“I’ll head upstairs now.”
“Yes. Get some rest.”
After bowing politely, Kang-yoon walked down the hallway and headed up to the second floor—only to run into Jin Hyun-sook as she was coming down.
“I’m back.”
“Yes. How was the blind date?”
Her neatly swept-up hair and lightly made-up face, bearing faint traces of age, looked refined and elegant.
Meeting her gaze as she looked down at him, Kang-yoon lifted the corners of his mouth into a small smile.
“She was pretty. She seemed kind, too.”
“Mm. Sounds like you like her. Will you meet her again?”
“That’s my plan.”
“Good. I’m sure you’ll handle it well. You must be tired—go rest.”
“Yes. Please rest well.”
As she lightly patted his shoulder and descended the stairs, Kang-yoon’s eyes narrowed as he watched her back.
Jin Hyun-sook was someone who drifted away when you tried to get close, yet quietly approached when you kept your distance.
Kang-yoon understood that loving a child your husband brought home from an affair wasn’t easy.
If anything, he was grateful that, in a household like this, she treated him kindly at all—if only for appearances.
And strangely enough, Kang-yoon had liked Jin Hyun-sook since he was young.
It wasn’t even a fraction of the love and attention she gave Kang-moon, but every time she called his name or straightened his clothes, his heart would race.
“Guess it’s because I grew up without knowing a mother’s affection. Still, how lucky I am to have at least an aunt.”
Whenever family members whispered behind his back, Kang-yoon would bite his lip and swallow his resentment.
He grew up believing that if he became a truly admirable adult one day, his aunt would be proud of him—but the more he tried, the more decisively she turned her back on him.
“I’m exhausted. Seriously.”
Normally, he worked out at the gym at dawn, showered, and went straight to work—so when he came home, a quick rinse was enough.
But tonight, he was unusually drained and felt like soaking in a bath for once.
He sprinkled a few drops of lavender oil—said to calm the mind and body—into the tub and sank into the water.
As the warmth enveloped him, the tension that had gripped his body all day finally began to loosen.
“Bora… Yoon Bora.”
The name rolled smoothly off his tongue, like polished beads.
He had only met her once, yet her face refused to leave his mind.
There were always plenty of beautiful women around Kang-yoon trying to get close to him, so he’d never been particularly interested in looks alone.
But Bora was a type of beauty he had never encountered before.
Porcelain-smooth white skin without a visible pore, contrasted by dark eyebrows and long eyelashes.
A high nose and vivid red lips—features of a classic beauty—yet she carried a uniquely elusive atmosphere that most women lacked.
What he liked most was her attitude: despite her family’s declining circumstances and having come to the blind date almost as if she were being sold off after watching the business she’d built collapse, she hadn’t acted servile or desperate.
And on top of that—
She was a woman Kang-moon had been interested in.
“Han Kang-moon… Who does he think he is, with such high standards.”
Unlike Kang-yoon, Kang-moon indulged heavily in women and pleasure.
He always had a girlfriend, often juggling two, three, even four at once, regularly getting into messy breakups.
And it was always Jin Hyun-sook who cleaned up after him.
Perhaps because her husband had cheated and gotten another woman pregnant around the same time, Jin Hyun-sook seemed to endure Kang-moon’s womanizing as inherited behavior.
“She doesn’t want to pair Bora with her own son… and if she connects Bora with me, Kang-moon won’t be able to touch her anymore. So she’s just handing her over to me…”
How irritating.
Kang-yoon scoffed and roughly ran his fingers through his damp hair in the humid bathroom air.
“Fine. Do whatever you want. This should be fun.”
Watching Kang-moon lose his mind if Bora ended up living in the same house would be entertaining enough.
And if Bora managed to charm his grandfather and uncover the family secrets Kang-yoon had long been curious about—
Maybe even Jin Hyun-sook would end up kneeling before him.
The thought lifted his mood. After showering, Kang-yoon grabbed a can of beer from the second-floor kitchen fridge and popped it open.
Just as he was savoring the sharp fizz sliding down his throat—
“Give me one too.”
At some point, Kang-moon—already half-drunk and slurring—jabbed his forehead into Kang-yoon’s back and muttered.
“You look wasted already. Why don’t you go sleep?”
“Heh heh. Hey, brat—when your older brother asks, you say ‘yes’ and hand it over.”
Older brother, my ass.
Kang-yoon had always doubted even their birthdays—only a day apart.
Ever since he was young, he’d wondered if Jin Hyun-sook had deliberately altered the dates to ensure Kang-moon remained the eldest.
No matter how he looked at it, there wasn’t a single thing he was inferior to Kang-moon in.
So how could that idiot possibly be the heir to Kangsan Group?
“Drink in moderation and go to sleep.”
“Hey. Han Kang-yoon.”
“What.”
Just as Kang-yoon handed him a beer and turned toward his room, Kang-moon grabbed him again.
“I heard you had a blind date today. How was she? Pretty, right?”
Kang-moon’s leering grin made Kang-yoon want to look away, but as always, he kept his face blank.
“Yeah. She was pretty.”
“Ohhh… Big chest? Natural?”
The vulgar comment made Kang-yoon’s brow crease.
Normally, he would’ve brushed it off—but imagining Bora’s face made irritation flare up unexpectedly.
“If you’re drunk, go to bed. Stop running your mouth.”
“Oho? Brat. Feeling manly now? Wanna spar? Huh?”
Watching Kang-moon strike a half-hearted boxing stance with ridiculous swishing motions, Kang-yoon sighed.
They’d trained together since childhood—horseback riding, golf, swimming, kendo, judo, boxing.
Kang-yoon outperformed him in every single one—but when they competed together, Kang-yoon had never once beaten Kang-moon.
Because he still remembered the icy look Jin Hyun-sook gave him the one time he won a swimming race as a child.
So even during sparring, Kang-yoon always let Kang-moon win, despite Kang-moon barely being able to throw a punch.
Unaware of any of this, Kang-moon would mock him, saying he was all size and no skill.
Seeing Kang-moon’s half-lidded eyes as he tapped Kang-yoon’s solid chest with his fist, Kang-yoon suddenly imagined those same eyes leering at Bora’s chest.
A sharp tension shot up the back of his neck.
“Hey—!”
“Ah! Hey! You—!”
Kang-yoon didn’t punch him—just thrust his fist right up to Kang-moon’s face.
Startled, Kang-moon flailed backward and crashed to the floor.
Watching him sprawled there only made Kang-yoon’s anger burn hotter.
“…Go to sleep.”
He stepped over Kang-moon writhing on the floor, entered his room, and slammed the door shut.
“That damn bastard…”
A worthless, incompetent idiot who couldn’t tell right from wrong.
How dare he—who did he think he was, setting his sights on her?
Bora’s shyly flushed, pale cheeks flashed through Kang-yoon’s mind.
He picked up his phone, hesitated briefly, then typed out a message.
Bora, it was nice meeting you today.
I’d like to have lunch together tomorrow.
After a few seconds of silence, the “1” on the messenger disappeared.
Holding the phone in his hand, Kang-yoon slowly closed his eyes.
