CHAPTER 372: DON’T GIVE HYUNG A HARD TIME

I looked at Seo-Jun. His cheeks were puffed, as if he was holding in a sneeze but I knew better than anyone.

He was holding in a laugh.

"I know you want to do, so go ahead and lau—"

He didn’t even let me finish my statement when he let out a loud laugh.

Yes, yes, my stomach is a comedian, laugh as much as you want. It’s your right.

Still, I clenched my jaw, holding back my clenched fists from swinging mindlessly. I almost... Almost punched Seo-Jun, to be honest.

I quickly rinsed my mouth and stormed out of there with Seo-Jun still laughing and following me from behind.

Why don’t you choke on your laughter while you’re at it?

"I’m going down for breakfast," I said and slammed his door behind me even though I knew he was coming after me.

"Jo-Pil, just ho... Hold on," he said. It seemed like he had finally stopped laughing but what do I do? The damage had already been done.

As I walked down the stairs with Seo-Jun following me from behind, I saw Min-Cheol looking up the stairs from the foot of it.

"Little Min?" I wondered what he was doing but then he smiled at me.

"I knew I heard your voice, Hyung. Come down let’s have breakfast."

I was already coming down anyway.

"Good morning," I greeted him and he smiled.

"Hyung, it’s already noon." He said and I rolled my eyes away.

Well, we all slept in so let’s just assume it’s morning.

I got down, hearing footsteps from behind as Seo-Jun followed after and I glanced over my shoulder to find him still shirtless.

Did he really not put on a shirt just because he feels hot?

He wants to go around with that masterpiece on display?

"Why aren’t you putting on a shirt?" Min-Cheol asked, scowling at him and Seo-Jun smirked.

"’Cause it’s hot."

That didn’t seem like a reasonable reason and Min-Cheol knew, or maybe he just felt it, that Seo-Jun was trying to entice me with his body.

He placed his hand on my shoulder and pushed me forward, saying to Seo-Jun who was still behind us,

"Then go shower. Don’t give Hyung a hard time."

What? Me? A hard time? Pft, I’ll do fine staring at that chest for the whole day and not even drool.

(You liar)

Well, Min-Cheol pushed me towards the dining table. He didn’t exactly push me but he kept his hands on my shoulders while I walked ahead.

The dinner table was empty but I could feel some movements in the kitchen. They were probably still preparing since we woke up late.

"Did Hyung leave early?" I asked, referring to Ki-hoon. It was as if I was seeing less and less of him these days.

He must be that busy.

"Yes," Min-Cheol said as he pulled my chair out and watched me sit before taking the seat next to mine. "Fortunately, the issue at his office had been settled. The nuisance has been caught." Oh, that’s quite the good news. "...but it doesn’t seem like it’s the end so he needs to make some more precautionary measures before the presentation next week."

I nearly gasped, turning to him. The cooperation, which was long overdue compared to the original, was finally taking place and it was next week?!

Gosh, it felt so sudden even though it dragged on for quite a while.

Hm, I guess I should also prepare.

Thanks to the cooperation dragging this long, the impatient bad guys must’ve acted and made slip-ups that Ki-hoon and Min-Cheol could not ignore.

But even though they did slip up, I doubt they gave their entire operation away. So, something was bound to happen on that day.

Ki-hoon’s cousin... One of the side villains who lasted quite a while in the original, might fall sooner this time around.

Though he was tagged a side villain, he was still a mastermind who could create problems however he saw fit just to get what he wanted.

Ki-hoon’s position.

He’s been after it from the start and that was why he tried to make Ki-hoon run mad by staging a cheating font for me in the past. And then when Ki-hoon was unstable, he would use the opportunity to throw him off the rails.

But unfortunately for him, the incident only made Ki-hoon pursue the path of an heir. He had little interest in taking over his father’s company and making a name for himself from the start.

But seeing how I supposedly cheated him and ran after money here and there, he decided to become someone whom I could never ignore.

And if he got to see me again... If he came across my pathetic self, he would make sure that I regretted everything I did to him.

Well, thankfully we didn’t go down that path since I had the memory my past self had forgotten during their meeting.

"Well then, should we be getting ready for such a grand event?" I asked, smiling at him. "I look forward to seeing the global change you and Hyung will bring forth to the world."

My words were like a spark of encouragement to him, and as he heard them, his face flushed with a light pink shade, and a small smile played on his lips.

"I’ll make sure Hyung doesn’t get disappointed." He said and I smiled back.

Seo-Jun watched us. He watched me, actually.

He sat at the other side of my chair so he could sit next to me. His face rested on his palm that was resting on the table and his eyes were glued on me.

It wasn’t the same affectionate and warm gaze he had when we were brushing our teeth but something quite puzzling. There were a few things he wanted to know about. A few things about me that he was still so damn curious about but he didn’t know how to ask.

Well, he felt I might get offended if he did ask. Or maybe I would just shut up, since the question was a bit sensitive but then, he couldn’t fight his curiosity.

"What is it?" I asked, my lips twisting slightly as I met his eyes and he snapped out of his thoughts.

Still, he did not move and only blinked his eyes. He smiled and said,

"Jo-Pil, you know how you asked me all those questions last night?" He began and I nodded, wondering what he was getting at. "Well, I also had a question I wanted to ask."

Was it about my feelings? I thought he already said he didn’t need to know about my feelings since the simple things I did already assured him.

He didn’t look like he was being a helpless romantic right now so I don’t think it’s about my feelings. Then... What was it?

"What... what is it?" I asked, my insides swelling with a bit of unease since he was having this serious gaze on me. Though he was smiling, it didn’t look like a comforting smile.

"Don’t take this the wrong way but... Did you hate us?" He asked and I froze. "Right now, I’m not just asking about me since you already gave me that answer but... I’m asking in general. The four of us who bought you as a slave. Did you hate us the moment you were sold?"

My heart was thumping wildly and my palms were growing sweaty. I clutched them together, my skin pressing heavily on each other and making hot friction that could bruise me.

At that point, I couldn’t help but wonder if my most inner darkness was being let out to the light.

Maybe if it were just the two of us, I would’ve been honest, but Min-Cheol was here. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

Feelings of betrayal and hurt flooded me from my past life but I shook it away, smiling as I decided to answer the way I usually did in the past.

"I said it before but I’m grateful—"

"Yes, I know that." Seo-Jun cut me short and my smile froze in place. His eyes slanted as he observed me carefully. "But I know you only said that to fit your circumstances."

"What are you doing?" Min-Cheol asked. "Don’t put Hyung on the spot." Seo-Jun looked at him and sighed.

"Yes, I don’t want to put him in the spot either, but the curiosity is eating at me, and I don’t want to come up with my own answers. I know, and he knows," his eyes trailed from Min-Cheol and back to me. "...that everything he said about being grateful was a load of crap he came up with in his quest to survive."

I felt like I had been stripped bare. Naked. Seo-Jun had seen through me. He always saw through me but this time, it was especially vivid.

"You said you’re grateful you were bought because then your debt was paid, but I thought of this then, and I still think of it now. That menatility was plain bullshit and you know it. No one would be happy to be bought as a slave, even though it’s to pay their debt."

There was a heavy lump in my chest and no matter how hard I gulped down and swallowed, it was still there. It... It was disturbing.

"So please be honest, Jo-Pil. You don’t need to lie to make us feel better. Nothing will change if you decide to let it out of your chest and be honest." He leaned closer and asked, "Did you hate us for buying you as a slave?"