Chapter 57

Chapter 56.

Chaeheon arrived directly at the Main Residence and, as soon as he got out of the car, immediately addressed the Executive Secretary who was waiting for him.

“What about what I asked for?”

“Here it is.”

“Thank you.”

As soon as Chaeheon received the tablet from the Executive Secretary, he stopped in his tracks. The Executive Secretary had expected him to go meet his grandfather immediately, but seeing him halt, he observed Chaeheon’s expression.

And as Chaeheon looked at the tablet with serious eyes, the Executive Secretary silently stood by his side.

“If you give me more time, I can find out more.”

“This much is enough.”

Chaeheon had requested information about Haein, specifically asking to limit it to her university life.

Due to the unusual request, the Executive Secretary had only compiled information that could be found by calling the school, but Chaeheon, as if satisfied, didn’t ask for more.

“She took a leave of absence in the middle. And she hasn’t returned to school yet…”

He confirmed that, counting from the time she took her leave of absence, she hadn’t returned for nearly three semesters. Chaeheon tapped the edge of the tablet, thinking, then touched the screen.

Afterward, he handed it to the Executive Secretary and began to walk.

“I’ve deleted the contents from there, so if you have it stored anywhere else, please erase it.”

“Understood. The Chairman is waiting.”

“Let’s go.”

As Chaeheon responded plainly and entered the mansion, the employees he made eye contact with greeted him, and the secretaries working at NK also met his gaze.

“It’s been a while.”

“Yes, how have you been?”

Since most of them had worked for Chaeheon since he was young, the greetings were simple exchanges of well-wishes. But then an unexpected person interjected, and Chaeheon stared intently at his face.

“Greet me warmly too.”

It was Han Jeong-min. At Han Jeong-min’s mischievous words, offered with a wave of his hand, Chaeheon looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“What’s going on?”

“I was planning to meet you, but then I heard you were coming to the Main Residence today, so I came here.”

Chaeheon wondered why Han Jeong-min would come all this way to speak with him, but Han Jeong-min took a step closer, narrowing the distance.

“I have something to tell you…”

“It must be urgent, judging by the fact you came all the way here.”

Chaeheon knew he usually didn’t come to the Main Residence, so when he asked why Han Jeong-min had sought him out, Han Jeong-min merely shrugged.

“I could wait, but I found out something really important…”

Ultimately, Han Jeong-min was insisting on seeing him first, so Chaeheon excused himself to the Executive Secretary and turned away.

“Let’s go to my room.”

Chaeheon then led the way past Han Jeong-min and went up the stairs. Han Jeong-min watched Chaeheon’s retreating back, then chuckled and followed. Seeing Chaeheon act as if nothing was amiss, unaware of what he was about to say, made him smile. It meant that Lee Jun hadn’t told him anything yet.

Han Jeong-min, filled with anticipation at the thought of surprising Chaeheon, followed him.

At that same time, Lee Jun said as he entered his house.

“I’m home.”

Lee Jun, who was about to take off his shoes and step inside, paused as he lifted his head. The quiet living room looked no different from usual, yet something felt strange.

He felt an inexplicable sense of unease, making it difficult to go further inside. Still, he took one step in and set his bag down beside him.

“Hae Sol.”

He turned his gaze from the living room and knocked on the nearest door. It was Haein’s room. There was no response, so he opened the door and checked inside; as expected, it was empty. Leaving that door as it was, he knocked on another door and checked inside similarly. It was his mother’s room.

Seeing the empty room, he understood the source of the unease he felt. The house, usually bustling with Hae Sol, was quiet. Even if it was Hae Sol’s naptime, the feeling was different. It was an empty, desolate feeling, as if no one was there.

Lee Jun looked around other areas, confirmed no one was there, and picked up his phone. As he called Haein, he still looked around the house to see if she had left a note, and his steps stopped at Haein’s room.

In the silent space, where only the dial tone was audible, Lee Jun slowly pushed open the half-ajar door.

At the automated message indicating the call couldn’t connect, his hand holding the phone dropped. Entering the room, Lee Jun opened the closet as if in a trance and became immobile.

The hand clutching his phone trembled violently, and his eyes couldn’t tear away from the closet. Just then, his phone vibrated with an incoming call, and Lee Jun put it to his ear without checking who it was.

[Lee Jun, where are you?]

“At home.”

[Did Haein leave, by any chance?]

“No.”

[No, what happened to her? She said she was going for Hae Sol’s daycare consultation and still hasn’t come back. The daycare said she left a while ago…]

Listening to his mother’s words, Lee Jun slowly turned and looked around the room. Most of the baby items were there, but a few indispensable ones were missing.

From a part of the closet being empty, to diapers and comfort dolls – they were all gone.

It seemed Haein had taken Hae Sol and left.

“Haa.”

Lee Jun let out a bewildered sigh. She had seemed to be pushing him away, and now she had finally acted.

Just as when she had returned pregnant with Hae Sol, finding Haein, who had disappeared without warning, was the priority.

Lee Jun first called the Gamjatang Restaurant where he used to work. Park Geon-u had told him that Haein was working there part-time, so he planned to start looking there.

Lee Jun rushed out of the house.

“It’s been a while since I was here.”

Han Jeong-min looked around the room, picking up and putting down a few items.

“Everything you used to play with is still here. It looks like ten-year-old Chaeheon’s room.”

“You didn’t come here to talk about that, did you?”

As Chaeheon sat on the sofa, Han Jeong-min raised both hands, acting as if he meant nothing by it.

“It just reminded me of you when you were the youngest in the NK Group family.”

It was something he could say, having seen him since he was very young, but…

“If you’re going to talk about old memories, then leave.”

Chaeheon had someone urgent to meet. So, at Chaeheon’s words, suggesting he leave if he wasn’t going to get straight to the point, Han Jeong-min reluctantly dropped his smile.

“Lee Jun.”

At the abrupt mention of Lee Jun, Chaeheon’s eyebrows rose in displeasure. Despite that expression of displeasure, Han Jeong-min deliberately dragged out the moment without continuing. He pretended to look around the room again, and Chaeheon’s patience ran out.

“I’m leaving.”

“Lee Jun is different from those toys.”

However, Han Jeong-min’s words stopped Chaeheon in his tracks. Turning his body halfway, he saw Han Jeong-min giving his characteristic sly smile.

“Those toys here will be well-maintained by the employees, kept free of dust, but Lee Jun isn’t like that, is he? Can you marry that person?”

“Don’t say his name.”

“Ah, alright. Anyway, there are other titles I can use for him.”

Han Jeong-min stood up and faced Chaeheon.

“Can you marry the older brother of the woman I once dated?”

As Chaeheon remained silent, Han Jeong-min spoke without averting his gaze.

“I chose to date casually and then break up, but I wonder if you can truly keep him until the end. Will this NK family accept that person?”

One corner of Han Jeong-min’s mouth lifted, forming a wry smile. He knew he shouldn’t act this way since he’d be seeing Chaeheon for a long time, but a momentary spite rose within him. Chaeheon might not know everything, but thinking that Han Jeong-min had met Lee Jun through circumstances involving Chaeheon, he felt he couldn’t just let it pass.

Han Jeong-min didn’t know how much Chaeheon knew, but he deliberately left out the fact that Haein had given birth to his child. Telling him that much himself would be too anticlimactic.

“You’re not the only one who knows that; Haein’s older brother knows it too. When I told him, he seemed very anxious…”

Having said all he wanted to say, Han Jeong-min bid Chaeheon farewell.

“You said you were going to meet the Chairman. He must be waiting.”

As Han Jeong-min opened the door to leave, he turned his body to give a final greeting.

“See you again. After all, we’ll be seeing each other for a very long time. I think I’ll be busy for a while, so I’ll contact you when I have time.”

Therefore, it would be best to push Lee Jun and Haein out of their world.

After Han Jeong-min left, Chaeheon, left alone, had his half-exposed eyes lose focus. His gaze, which had been blank as if deep in thought, suddenly sharpened.

“So that’s how it was?”

Chaeheon whispered in a soft voice.

No wonder he brought up his uncle. He must have known who I was. It felt like a piece of the puzzle had fallen into place.

Should I call it the fun of figuring things out, one by one…

“It was wrong from the start.”

With eyes filled with regret and anxiety, Chaeheon swallowed a laugh.

While he was dating Lee Jun, he should have just told him, instead of waiting for the right moment. If he had, Lee Jun would have likely shared his story as well, and perhaps all these tangled matters could have been resolved beforehand.

“But I can’t let him go.”

Chaeheon’s gaze fell upon his hand, lying idly. He had just imagined Lee Jun not being by his side. A void, as if his chest were filling with air, made him instinctively clench his fist.

“I’ll have to untangle what’s twisted.”

If it’s too tangled to untie, then perhaps cutting it off decisively would also be a way.