BTL Ch 5

“That doesn’t look like Taegeon uncle’s car. Who is it?”

Soon, the male student, who was standing a bit crookedly with both hands in his pockets, looked over at Hayeon.

Still feeling too close, Hayeon sighed and called out a name.

“Shin Kangmin.”

Hayeon’s voice held a strong warning for him to back off, but Kangmin just shrugged, leaned back, and asked again.

“I said, who is it?”

Hayeon, who had been looking up, lowered her head straight ahead and turned around.

“Taegeon uncle’s cousin.”

“Coussin?”

Kangmin, who seemed lost in thought, rubbed his chin, then snapped, “Ah!” as if he recognized something.

“The youngest grandson the KW chairman has been so desperate for? I think his name was Kang Chaeheon?”

“You know him?”

“How could I not?”

Hayeon muttered, “Right,” and nodded at Kangmin’s nonchalant reply.

She had forgotten, since they’d been hanging out so much, but Shin Kangmin was the precious only son of a mid-sized group whose main income came from KW’s contracts.

They first met three years ago at a year-end party hosted by KW. Taegeon, unable to watch her semi-reclusive life of only going between home and school after her parents passed, dragged her to the party. And there, she became friends with Kangmin, who showed interest in her.

Their friendship wasn’t mutual; it was more like Kangmin’s one-sided effort. Over the past three years, he was the second person, after Taegeon, who really helped her get her personality back to normal. That’s why Taegeonwas so fond of Kangmin.

“So?”

“Huh?”

Hayeon, who was about to enter her classroom, looked up at Kangmin, who hadn’t gone to his own class but had followed her all the way to hers.

“What’s your deal with that guy?”

“What?”

“The way you were looking at him, all wistful, like you were seeing off a long-lost husband. Made me think you liked him.”

Hayeon clamped her mouth shut at his blunt, straightforward question.

That was answer enough.

Kangmin’s eyes narrowed as he looked down at her, then he grinned. Without warning, he leaned in, closing the distance. His face, right in front of hers, sparkled with mischievous playfulness, as if he’d never frowned.

“Why? Surprised this oppa’s such a good guesser?”

“Oppa, my foot. Like I always say, don’t forget you were born two months after me.”

Hayeon quickly turned her head and strode into the classroom.

Kangmin followed her, sat in the seat in front of her, and tilted his head.

“But isn’t Kang Chaeheon a bit too old for you to like him?”

“Aren’t you going to your own class?”

Ignoring Hayeon’s demand to get to his class, Kangmin propped his chin on Hayeon’s desk.

“I vaguely heard that he and Taegeon uncle aren’t that far apart in age. Let’s see. We’re 19, and Taegeon uncle is 21 years older than us, so he’s 40.”

Having calculated that, Kangmin dramatically widened his eyes.

“So he’d be at least thirty, right? Too bad, but shouldn’t you just give up on that crush? He’s a bit too old for you to like him.”

“He’s not 30, he’s 29. And what’s wrong with an age gap like that? Age isn’t a big deal these days.”

The phrase “age is just a number” was definitely meant for Kang Chaeheon.

29, my foot. His face was so youthful you’d believe he was a college student. If she stood next to him, they probably wouldn’t look that far apart in age.

Kangmin watched Hayeon’s outburst with a slight frown, then sighed and stood up.

He didn’t want to see this clueless Lee Hayeon defending Kang Chaeheon any further. Plus, he’d never won an argument with Lee Hayeon anyway, so arguing more would only annoy him.

“Going?”

Annoyed by her innocent gaze looking up at him, oblivious to his thoughts, Kangmin poked Hayeon’s forehead and hitched up his slung backpack.

Did Hayeon know that he was starting to feel resentful toward Chaeheon, whose face he had only ever seen fleetingly in economic magazines?

No way.

Kangmin scoffed internally and shrugged.

“Weren’t you just telling me to go?”

“Bye.”

Kangmin, as if on cue, quickly turned his head and annoyingly glared at her small head, which was waving goodbye, before leaving the classroom.

Right after that, the bell rang, signaling the start of self-study.

That’s when their new homeroom teacher, who had changed with the new school year, walked in with a thick stack of papers.

“Alright, alright, today, as I mentioned last week, we’re going to survey your desired universities and majors. I told you to think about it over the weekend, so you all did, right?”

The teacher quickly distributed the papers, adding, “I’ll be interviewing each of you based on this survey, so make sure you fill it out accurately!”

Hayeon took one sheet from the papers passed forward and slid the rest back, then exhaled slowly, “Hmm.” She propped her chin on her hand and traced the blank lines with her other finger:

1st,

2nd,

3rd.

Desired major…?

Until last year, her goal was to major in Business Administration.

It was out of a desire to contribute, even just a little, to Taegeon, who had taken her in when she had nowhere to go and raised her as if she were his own child.

But despite the two years she’d spent determined to do so, she found herself unable to easily fill in the blanks.

It was because of something Taegeon had told her just a few months ago.

[“They say Assemblyman Lee Seon-woong’s granddaughter has returned to Korea after getting her master’s degree in the UK. Looks like she’s got a clear path.”]

Following Taegeon’s wish to spend an hour together every evening after dinner, they were sitting side by side on the sofa, watching the evening news.

The news mentioned the Hwa Group’s growth last year and then optimistically looked at the tourism business that Hwa was newly venturing into.

Taegeon’s murmuring voice as he watched stuck in her ears.

Her name was Han Haein, wasn’t it?

Hayeon thought of her cousin, whose face she only knew.

She had graduated with a degree in Hotel Management from S University in Korea and immediately left to study abroad in the UK.

And it was even rumored that among Hwa’s prominent successors, Assemblyman Lee Seon-woong had personally chosen her as his successor.

Hayeon’s eyes grew heavy.

She remembered the day she first met Han Haein three years ago.

[“If we take her in, she’ll just cause unnecessary trouble. Even if not, is there anyone who’ll take her and raise her until she’s an adult?”]

On the day of her parents’ funeral, Hayeon first learned that her father, Lee Juwon, was part of the esteemed owner family of the Hwa Group. And that day, she met relatives she didn’t even know existed.

They argued and bickered among themselves about her future, which she hadn’t even asked for, regarding her new situation as an orphan.

All of this was happening in front of her parents’ memorial portraits, people she could never see again.

Purely for their own benefit.

[“Listen, you wouldn’t want to be an outcast here, would you? So if you have any shame, live as quietly as your father did. Then, we’ll hand over the inheritance prepared for your father’s share.”]

The woman who spoke of an inheritance her poor niece, who had lost her parents overnight, hadn’t even asked for, and hurled harsh words, was dressed so extravagantly it was hard to believe she was at a funeral.

And next to that woman, Han Haein stood, looking incredibly annoyed.

Hayeon squeezed the pen in her hand, clenching her teeth. Then, another face flickered before her eyes. That person, who arrived at the funeral home before any of her relatives, silently turned away after staring at her parents’ memorial portraits for a long time at the entrance.

She later learned who that person was from Taegeon, who arrived at the wake late.

That person, whom no one in Korea wouldn’t know, was Assemblyman Lee Seon-woong, Lee Juwon’s father and Lee Hayeon’s grandfather.

According to Taegeon, Assemblyman Lee Seon-woong, who led a group and was now establishing himself as a top leader of the nation, hated leaving a stain on his family’s bloodline.

“A narrow-minded old man who only cares about bloodline.”

That’s what Taegeonalways said whenever he brought up her grandfather.

That alone was enough to understand why her dad was ostracized and kicked out of the family.

Hayeon relaxed her grip, thinking of her mother, Yewon, who had regularly donated a certain amount to the orphanage where Hayeon was born and raised.

The pen slipped from her hand and rolled across the paper.

“Business Administration…”

Her reason for choosing Business Administration was certainly for Taegeon, but also, in a way, it was a desire to cause some trouble in the management dispute they so feared and worried about.

She wanted to show them firsthand how much a single loach could muddy the water. But…

Remembering Han Haein’s bright, smiling face in the media, wearing a master’s cap, Hayeon moved her hand.

Taegeon had always said that she was just like Juwon, never hesitating once she made a decision.

Today, there was no hesitation in her hand as she wrote ‘S University’ and next to it, ‘Hotel Management’.