Apollo’s Heart

Chapter 156 –  Tae-jun Side Story (2)

Jae-won went into the villa and waited for Tae-jun. Inside the villa was almost no different from his childhood memories. While he looked around the villa for a long time, recalling old memories one by one, he heard the hounds barking. It seemed like his cousin was back.

“How were you doing?”

Tae-jun, who was watering the hounds in the yard, turned his head towards the voice. He seemed like he’d lost quite a bit of weight. His jawline became sharp as if it was going to cut something, calmly greeted the other.

“What are you doing here?”

“I heard that you’re spending your vacation at the villa, so I also came here to cool off my head. I looked around here for a while, but this place is really the same. The last time I came here was when I was in middle school.”

“Did you come alone? What about your wife and Yoon-a?”

Yoon-a was Jae-won and Si-yeon’s daughter. Tae-jun was quite fond of his niece, Yoon-a. She was a daughter, the greatest treasure of their life, who was obtained through just one mistake of Jae-Won. Perhaps, if it wasn’t for Yoon-a, their marriage wouldn’t have been possible due to the strong opposition from both families.

“Si-yeon went on a trip to Europe with my mother-in-law. It’s her birthday soon. And I left Yoon-a with my mother.” Jae-won slightly frowned as he took the hunting gear that Tae-jun was holding. “The smell of gunpowder is no joke. Did you catch a lot of wild boars?”

“Four today. I’ll have to call the county office tomorrow and have them slaughtered.”

“Sounds like disposal is not an easy job as well. Can’t we distribute them to the villagers?”

“We can’t because of the risk of spreading the ASF virus. Catch a few while you’re here. Their number is no joke.”

“It’s tough for me. It’s been 10 years since I last dealt with a gun.”

After returning all the hounds to their kennel, Tae-jun cleaned up his equipment and went to take a shower. In the meantime, Jae-won took out a bottle of whiskey from the display case and prepared some snacks. This could be counted as his first time drinking with his cousin since Yoon-a was born.

Tae-jun, who changed his clothes and completely erased the smell of gunpowder, spoke first.  “How’s the department store? Is it doing well?”

After the marriage, Jae-won moved his position from Hotel Seoin to Daejin Department Store. It was an agency for Si-yeon, who was away due to childbirth and childcare, but he decided to continue to run the department store for now since he showed a business acumen.

“It’s not bad. Except that I’m dying of worry about sales. If it drops even a little, my mother-in-law will scold me.”

“Do you want me to raise the sales for you?”

“It’s okay. I will be recognized for my own ability. What’s more important than that is I heard that the new drug development failed this time. To be honest, I came here because my mother told me to go and see you while she takes care of Yoon-a.”

“It wasn’t something I jumped into, thinking that it would be successful from the beginning. I have to take the risk. I just hope it’s not too late.”

“What do you mean by late?”

When Tae-jun reduced the size of the defense industry and revived the development of a new drug for Alzheimer’s disease, which was on the verge of being scrapped, everyone said he was crazy. However, he had been steadfastly pushing his business forward by doing things like building an Alzheimer’s Center at Seoin Hospital.

Instead of answering right away, Tae-jun spoke after downing the entire glass into his mouth at once. “Tell my aunt to not worry about it.”

“I will do that. Oh, and I brought a present.”

Jae-won took out a cigar box that he prepared. It was an expensive gift brought by his foreign buyer but was useless for Jae-won who didn’t smoke. However, Tae-jun’s reaction to the cigar was different from what he expected.

“I quit smoking.”

“What? You quit? All of a sudden?”

“It wasn’t all of a sudden. It’s been a while.”

Thinking back, there was no smell of cigarettes anywhere in the house. Jae-won slowly rolled his eyes and looked at his cousin’s condition. So he quit smoking? Why is he doing that? There was only one thing that came to his mind. The reason for all the changes that started with Tae-jun… Yuri Han’s departure, which happened three years ago.

Jae-won didn’t even know why Tae-jun let the woman he loved so much leave, or what happened between them. In any case, after she left, this guy frantically devoted himself to work. Although he was originally a workaholic, for the last three years, he had been abusing himself as if he were ascetic. It was not strange that Director Seo was worried about him.

Jae-won opened his mouth around the time when the drink went back and forth and he got drunk.

“Can I ask you one thing?”

“No, please don’t”

“You don’t even know what I’m asking, do you?”

“There’s nothing right to talk about as an excuse for being drunk.”

Oh no, that’s too accurate. But Jae-won did not retreat.

“What happened between you and Miss Yuri Han?”

“…It ended.”

“I don’t know what happened between you two but just go and beg her for forgiveness.”

“You said you don’t even know what happened.”

“Whatever it was, you probably let her leave because you did something wrong.”

If only it was enough to make him give up what he once imprinted as “his” in his hand.

Tae-jun’s face distorted as if Jae-won’s conjecture was correct. He then took a deep breath and said nothing.

At dawn, Jae-won, who had fallen asleep on the sofa after drinking, woke up in the cold.

Has the heating stopped?

As he looked around, he saw an open window leading to the terrace. And he saw the back of a person standing still. It was Tae-jun.

What is he looking at? No, what is he possibly thinking? How many nights and hours has he spent like that?

The place where he was standing seemed exceptionally darker. Jae-won couldn’t take his eyes off of Tae-jun’s back for a while.

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