CMT Ch26

“Watch your mouth. Right now, those words aren’t just about me, they’re insulting Director Kwon too.”

“So what? Is that bastard listening to what I’m saying right now? As long as you keep your mouth shut, how would that bastard know what I said?”

“A leaky bucket leaks inside and outside. Do you think we don’t know at home that you often make mistakes with your words at drinking parties outside?”

As if trying to engage in a battle of wills with a man who wasn’t even there, Seokyung had been raising his voice, veins popping in his neck, but Seoyoon’s words seemed to prick his conscience, and he glanced around before lowering his voice as well.

“I’m not trying to insult you, okay? If you made progress quickly, that’s something to praise. We’re not kids, can’t we talk about whether or not you slept with someone your brother is seeing? Let’s be honest, even Father and Mother want you to spread your legs for Kwon Kijung and get something out of it.”

“Hyung, please stop.”

“But the two of them are too naive, and you’re the same. What’s so great about giving your body in this day and age? That guy will just eat you up until he’s tired of you and then throw you away. Are you going to stand by and get played like an idiot? No. You need to have something in your hand for when Kwon Kijung shows you even the slightest weakness, so you can break even.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“You need to get something in your hands when you get close to Kwon Kijung. You know that Cheongkwang and Mirae Construction have been competing for the same redevelopment site since last year, right? You need to dig up a piece or two of information to sell to a competitor, so that no matter what happens between you and that bastard, you and our family can survive.”

Seoyoon couldn’t help but sigh. It was a subject he didn’t even need to hear to the end. His stepbrother’s delusions had ruined things more than once, but he would only pretend to reflect on it at the time, and his pipe dreams, like an illness, never got better.

“Can’t you please think realistically? Not only is there no way I could steal information from Cheongkwang with my abilities, but even if I were lucky enough to steal it, what ability do we have to sell it? Dealing in stolen goods isn’t something just anyone can do, and reality isn’t a movie, Hyung. What we can do is improve the company’s image as much as possible and gain practical benefits when we have a friendly relationship with Director Kwon. Just like you closed a deal today after a long time.”

“Really? Do you also think that me closing a deal today is thanks to you?”

“That’s not what I meant. I just mean that we all need to think realistically.”

“Do you think it’s thanks to you?”

“No. That’s an achievement you earned through your own efforts. Don’t twist my words.”

The first thing Seokyung did after taking over his father’s business was to push for business expansion. He strongly argued that they shouldn’t remain a subcontractor supplying parts to Cheongkwang forever, and that they should start a new business to find a new way out. His parents supported him, saying that young people think on a different scale, and Seoyoon also thought that he was right at the time.

However, the attempt to expand the business, driven only by enthusiasm and without proper preparation, ended in failure, and only resulted in undermining the trust that Daeryung had built up over a long period of time. Seokyung seemed to regret not being careful, but it was only for a moment.

“I’m going to go up now. Sleep well, Hyung.”

“We’re not done talking yet. Stop right there.”

“No, we’re done. I’m sleepy. Let’s talk about the rest tomorrow.”

Once Han Seokyung, drunk on alcohol, started nitpicking, it was best to get out of there quickly. As Seoyoon hurriedly turned around, Seokyung’s voice pierced his back again.

“I told you to stop right there!”

Crash!

An explosive roar, unsuitable for a night when everyone was asleep, erupted in his ears. Seoyoon, who had turned around, couldn’t even take a step and reflexively cowered.

Seoyoon, who had stopped breathing and lowered his head as if avoiding a bomb, realized a moment later that Seokyung had thrown an empty glass at him. Fortunately, the cup missed its human target and shattered against the kitchen shelf.

“What’s all this noise?”

Before he could calm his startled heart, another person’s trembling voice chimed in. It was his mother, as surprised as Seoyoon by the sound that had attacked in the middle of the night.

She looked at the brothers standing in the dark kitchen, her mouth agape, before letting out a groan and touching her forehead.

“I can’t live like this… I thought a thief had broken in! You’re not little kids, if Mom has a heart attack and dies, will you be happy?”

His father was standing next to his complaining mother. Awakened from his sweet sleep by the sudden commotion, he strode forward, ready to shout like a steam train.

“How old are you two!”

A voice even louder than the sound of shattering glass echoed thunderously across the ceiling of the large house.

It was his father who had said that he wanted to see the brothers build Daeryung Trading together. As he had fallen asleep in a good mood after hearing the good news, he seemed genuinely angry at the sight of his two sons shattering his harmonious expectations. Seoyoon stopped breathing and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Han Seokyung, did you lose your temper again and bully your brother? What are you doing here when you went to bed a while ago—”

“We weren’t fighting!”

Before his father’s roar could erupt again, Seoyoon raised his voice first. The squeezed-out voice was trembling, but it was more likely to be mistaken for heightened emotions than fear.

His father stopped talking and looked at Seoyoon. Seoyoon took a deep breath and continued.

“We weren’t fighting… I came down to get a drink of water because I was thirsty, and I accidentally broke a cup. Hyung didn’t do anything. We were just talking quietly.”

“Seokyung, tell me. Is that true?”

His mother, touching her forehead, asked. He could feel his brother, who was standing behind Seoyoon, fidgeting, and soon a calm voice was heard.

“Yes. We were just talking. We were also discussing how to improve the company’s work in the future.”

“…That’s what he said! Why do you get angry before even hearing what the kids have to say?”

His mother glared at his father with a resentful expression. His father, who had been so imposing, couldn’t hide his embarrassment and only frowned.

“It’s not like these guys are acting their age and bickering for the first or second time that I wouldn’t be suspicious.”

“No matter how grown up they are, they’re still kids we keep close at home. How can a father start by suspecting his sons?”

“Go in and go to sleep. What a fuss in the middle of the night.”

His father cleared his throat awkwardly and left first. His mother waved her hand as if she was fed up and chased her sons away.

“Both of you go in. You have to go to work tomorrow.”

“I’ll clean this up and go in. It’s glass, so I need to clean it up quickly.”

“Leave it. Mom will clean it up. You go up and go to sleep.”

“No. I broke it, so I’ll clean it up quickly and go up to sleep.”

His mother looked at Seoyoon, who was smiling awkwardly, with a complicated expression, and finally gave up, smiling weakly and nodding. She pressed the switch on the wall to turn on the main light in the kitchen, which had been dark until then.

“Turn on the lights brightly. Be careful not to hurt your hands when you clean up. Make sure to wear gloves. Did you put on slippers?”

“Yes. Hyung, you should go in too. I’ll clean this up.”

“Yeah, there’s no need for a lot of people to make a fuss over something like this. You go in.”

His mother also chimed in. She had been giving him the side-eye in front of his father, but she didn’t seem to believe that they had only been talking quietly either. She must have decided that it would be better to separate the brothers quickly, so she didn’t go back to her room and watched them.

Seokyung brushed past Seoyoon. His eyes, glancing back, still showed undiminished anger and hatred. Well, he didn’t even expect an apology or regret. Seoyoon was so grateful that he just wanted to thank him for quietly retreating without causing any more trouble.

Only after confirming that Seokyung had returned to his room did his mother take a step.

“Just clean up the big pieces and go in. We have to clean everything up tomorrow morning anyway.”

“Yes, good night. Sorry for making such a loud noise.”

With the faint sound of the master bedroom door closing in the distance, the kitchen became completely silent. In the dark house, under the pale light that brightly illuminated only the kitchen, Seoyoon stood blankly for a moment, unable to do anything. The shards of glass scattered across the wide, clean kitchen floor reflected the light in places, sparkling.

What would have happened if he had been hit in the head by that cup? A gruesome, bloody scene flashed through Seoyoon’s mind, left alone in the unexploded ruins, and his heart rate increased, but unlike the person who threw it, the glittering debris had no malice.

Seoyoon, staring blankly at the fragments, took out a paper bag, bent down, and squatted. Looking around, he picked up the large pieces one by one and put them in the bag.

Only the sound of glass clinking against glass created a subtle crack in the silent kitchen. Seoyoon’s profile as he picked up the broken glass was calm and nonchalant, like someone picking up seashells alone on an empty beach.

“Ah-”

Seoyoon, who had been quietly cleaning up, let out a small groan and dropped the piece he was picking up. Without even frowning, he spread out his palm, and clear blood was welling up on his finger, which had finally been cut by a shard of glass.

“I should have worn gloves…”

The muttered words of regret were lukewarm. Seoyoon stared blankly at his hand, which wouldn’t stop bleeding, and picked up the piece he had dropped on the floor again. He repeatedly brought his bare skin to the sharply cut part and pressed down hard. Small drops of blood welled up, and at the same time, a sharp pain sent a chill down his spine.

His expression was still indifferent, but hatred and anger were slowly coiling in his eyes. It was a similar look to when his stepbrother had glared at Seoyoon before returning to his room. And that dark light was sinking deep inside himself, not the culprit who threw the cup.

Cut it.

A voice, like a shadow, commanded in his head.

Don’t get angry now. It’s your fault. It’s not like you haven’t seen that guy act up when he’s drunk, so why did you try to have a conversation? You shouldn’t have exchanged words with him in the first place. Or you should have just matched his mood and laughed it off and left. It’s your fault for wanting to win against someone who’s not in their right mind and for not giving in and fighting back the same way. If it weren’t for you, there would be no loud noises in this house.

Seoyoon’s hand holding the shard of glass became even stronger. If he just cut it out like this, he would be able to breathe again, as he always did.

‘I don’t have a hobby of playing with bodies that others have damaged. Even if Seoyoon-ssi made those wounds himself.’

But at the voice that suddenly revived in his memory, Seoyoon’s gesture, which had been about to cut his skin while pretending not to know, stopped abruptly as if it had been braked suddenly. The thin stream of blood couldn’t even flow down and dried up as it was.

He mustn’t forget. There were only a few days left until the second appointment next Monday. He could excuse one cut from broken glass as an accident, but if there were several, he wouldn’t be able to fool the perceptive man.

After taking a long breath, which had become rapid, Seoyoon raised his head, which had been lowered. After swallowing his dry saliva, he stood up and washed the flowing blood in front of the sink. The blood didn’t stop easily and continued to well up, as if it had been cut deeper than he thought.

He put on rubber gloves on his uninjured hand and finished cleaning up the remaining shards of glass. After disposing of the trash and even vacuuming, Seoyoon was finally able to leave the ruins. It was already past 12 o’clock when he came down, so it must be well past 1 a.m. now.

Back in his room, Seoyoon roughly put a bandage on his injured finger and collapsed onto the bed. In the dark night, he closed his eyes to ignore the situation, but his mind, with a fire lit in its core, only became clearer and clearer.

Seoyoon knew himself well in times like these. He had to release it. This aimless, eyeless snake-like emotion that endlessly digs inward. He couldn’t tell whether it was anger, sadness, resentment, hatred, or a hybrid of all of them, so he couldn’t even name the random thoughts.

Tears didn’t come. This emotion had no voice or expression. It just kept wandering around somewhere in Seoyoon’s invisible heart, preventing him from sleeping even at night, and sometimes making it hard for him to breathe.

Seoyoon, who had been lying like a dead person, suddenly opened his eyes. Once again, a word covered in memories came to mind through the dark night.