Chapter 55 Part 1

When Lee Jun first started dating Chaeheon, he didn’t try to know much about him. It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested. It was just that he had nothing to say to him, so he had nothing to ask, especially about his family.

He just liked Chaeheon, and nothing else really mattered. Besides, he didn’t usually think that the family of someone he was dating would be a well-known one.

He should have noticed when Park Dong-hu said he couldn’t tell him. If it had just been an ordinary family, Park Dong-hu wouldn’t have been so anxious. Not digging deeper then came back to bite him.

If, as Han Jeong-min said, Chaeheon was the NK Group chairman’s grandson…

“This is serious.”

Right now, Chaeheon had feelings for him, but hadn’t Lee Jun personally seen how easily such feelings could be crushed and rendered meaningless to rely on?

Lee Jun took out his handphone, which had been ringing continuously for who knows how long, and stared at the name on the screen. Just seeing the name Chaeheon made a complicated mix of emotions surge, making it impossible to pinpoint what he was feeling.

He seemed to stare endlessly at the phone, which rang as if it would continue until he answered. He didn’t decline the call, nor did he answer it. He just stayed still.

His heart felt that way now. He liked Chaeheon so much, but he felt he didn’t know how far they could go together. He couldn’t turn away from him, but he couldn’t fully trust and lean on him either.

The vibration stopped, and Lee Jun, seeing Chaeheon’s name change to ‘missed call,’ went into his contacts and looked for another name. As soon as he found it, he connected the call and held the phone to his ear, looking around the alleyway. He suddenly thought, was this alley always so narrow?

“It’s me.”

He now had someone he needed to meet immediately.

Lee Jun went to the park where they had met last time and spotted a familiar face, walking towards him.

“Park Dong-hu.”

Park Dong-hu, who had been trembling his legs, turned around and raised a hand towards Lee Jun.

“You came.”

“Why are your legs trembling so much?”

“This? Without me realizing it…”

Park Dong-hu rubbed his leg once and scratched the back of his head. He wasn’t wearing a hat like last time, but seeing his still anxious look, Lee Jun went and sat beside him.

“Is someone still looking for you?”

“I’m just having nightmares, but every day feels like my blood is drying up.”

Seeing how he had lost weight all at once from his emotional distress, Lee Jun felt a pang of guilt for calling him to ask something.

However, he couldn’t come all this way and not ask.

“That person, you know.”

As Park Dong-hu looked at him, waiting to see what he would say, Lee Jun cleared his throat, which had suddenly felt tight. He thought that since they had discussed it last time, it wouldn’t be difficult to bring it up again, but he was wrong.

“Where is he now?”

“Surely… you’re not going to tell Chaeheon, are you?”

Park Dong-hu, flustered, stood up from his seat, then belatedly looked around. He stiffened his expression as if he had done something to draw attention and then lowered his voice.

“If it’s about that, I can’t tell you anything.”

“It’s not about that. There was something I wanted to ask.”

“Ask me.”

Park Dong-hu seemed determined not to reveal his uncle’s whereabouts. Lee Jun knew that the very fact he knew where he was was the cause of his anxiety. If he knew nothing, he wouldn’t be so shaken.

“Do you know about Chaeheon too?”

“Well…”

“NK.”

As Lee Jun mentioned it first, Park Dong-hu flinched and averted his gaze. It’s true.

“Tell me what happened.”

Lee Jun acted as if he expected an answer right then and there, and Park Dong-hu sighed as if he had no choice.

“Look up ‘NK family tree’ online.”

At Park Dong-hu’s reply, Lee Jun turned on his handphone and went online. Then he searched for the NK Group family tree.

His hand paused as he scrolled down the screen, past photos of people arranged according to their relationship, with the chairman at the top.

Chaeheon’s name was there. There was no photo, but his name was there, very small.

“Is this really Chaeheon?”

“It is, but honestly, how would anyone know just from that? Would you suspect everyone with the same name? Besides, nothing was revealed about him other than his name.”

“You’re right.”

Lee Jun murmured, his eyes fixed on the screen. The Chaeheon he had seen all this time wasn’t ostentatious. Of course, he didn’t know everyone who grew up in such a family, but he had never felt any sense of incongruity when he was with Chaeheon.

Except for that one time, at the Club.

“Be careful, Lee Jun.”

Park Dong-hu’s low voice lingered in Lee Jun’s ears for a long time before fading.

Chaeheon tapped Lee Jun’s name on his handphone screen. He had called, but it went to voicemail, and there was no reply.

Is he so busy he doesn’t even have time to look at his phone?

“I wonder.”

The truth was, the call was just an excuse; he genuinely wanted to keep being with him.

“But it’s not helping.”

Chaeheon tilted his head and looked at the man kneeling before him.

The incident at the Club, where they had surrounded a man, was repeating itself. The man, whose arms were held so he couldn’t move, glared at Chaeheon, who had put him in this situation.

“Is it right to treat your uncle like this?”

“If you knew that, then why did you let me catch you?”

Chaeheon didn’t want it to come to this either. How good would it have been if he had just surrendered to Jang Chae-hui?

“Thanks to you, I’m the one who’s in trouble again.”

Jang Chae-hui had said she’d give him her shares if he caught their uncle, but now that this had happened, it would cause another huge mess. It would be like trying to cup his hand to receive the shares but finding nothing there.

Chaeheon sighed, annoyed.

“I told them to look for places Uncle might go, but…”

In the end, he was caught by Chaeheon.

“Jang Chae-hui could never catch me.”

The man, Jang Hyeon-seong, scoffed, as if it was preposterous. He still watched for any opportunity to escape whenever the grip on his arms loosened, and he spoke to Chaeheon.

“It’s strange. I put it off to Chae-hui, so I thought you’d stay put, but why did you move?”