Dry Monsoon

Chapter 13 Part 1

“I’m sorry, Hee-joo.”

There was a long silence between the two before Mrs Yang broke it. They both were childhood friends and even with the differences in their social classes, they still boasted about their close friendship. Hee-joo placed down her spoon next to the emptied rice bowl and shook her head with a smile.

“It will be fine. When I think of my sister who suffered a lot, this is nothing.” Hee-joo said.

“Still if President Lee finds out, you’ll be the only one in trouble.”

“Him? Don’t worry about it and let’s not talk about it. Why are you suddenly dying to marry off your second son? Don’t you still have plenty of time?”

Kim Hee-Joo leaned her upper body and waited for Yang Jeong-ae’s words.

“That’s what I thought. Who would have known that Yoon Jae-sun would go crazy.” Mrs Yang said with a sigh.

“Go crazy?”

“She’s hallucinating my Lee Hyun as Hae in. Even if they are twins… I’m so sick of her.”

“Oh my gosh,” Hee-Joo gasped and covered her mouth.

Mrs Yang seemed to have suffered a lot of mental distress, she did not change her expression as usual and had a very silent demeanour. The staff, who realised that the two had finished their meals, immediately served the tea and refreshments.

The two of them savoured the tea in silence. An envelope was placed in front of Hee-Joo, who was lost in thought. Hee-Joo’s eyes were drawn in when she saw the luxuriously packaged envelope.

“That kid, bring her up to our Lee-Hyun’s level. I’ll cover all the costs somehow… so make sure that she gets married to him,” said Mrs Yang.

“I can pay for it.”

The dimples on Hee-Joo’s cheeks deepened as she rolled up the corners of her mouth to a smile. Mrs Yang’s eyes sank darkly at her words. Having a child to adopt was clearly a weakness for Lee-Hyun. Who the hell wants a son-in-law with a child out of wedlock?

She was angry with Lee Hyun, who went against her will, but it wasn’t that she didn’t fully understand his heart.

That was why she chose Kim Hee-Joo’s daughter. She was a child with the same weakness.

“No, this is a flawed marriage. This is only expected of us.”

“What flaw? We are to become part of the Seoryang Group. How can our family even dream of this? It’s a blessing from heaven.” Hee-Joo said with a smile.

“Thanks for thinking like that, but you know, Ji-Eun will have to raise a child that isn’t even hers. What’s worse, it’s a boy. I will take care of Yoon Jae-sun from my side, you make sure those two get married as soon as possible so they can quickly go through the adoption process. That way, there won’t be any troubles in the future. It is better if you could register their marriage first. I hope you get what I’m trying to say, right?”

Hee-Joo’s smile turned sweeter at Mrs Yang’s coaxing tone.

“Of course. I understand, don’t worry. Anyway, we’re going to become a family like this, aren’t we?”

Mrs Yang quietly smiled and took a sip from the shiny teaspoon as if she had finally calmed down. Hee-joo drew the thin envelope to her side. A smile was painted on her face after checking the amount on the check, and a thin wrinkle appeared on the side of her lips as an expression of satisfaction.

***

As soon as I entered the room, the door was closed.

There was an office with a huge drawing room, a conference table, and a bedroom overlooking Namsan Seoul Tower and the surrounding scenery. The sky was exceptionally blue today with no sign of a sunset.

Lee-Hyun passed by me as a ghost and plopped down on the huge bed. He slipped a finger into his tie knot and made it loose.

“If I don’t answer you, I’m asleep. My secretary will tell you when to leave.”

He unbuttoned his shirt one by one without sparing me a glance. I stood at the border between the bedroom and the drawing-room, found the nearest chair and sat down.

“If you were on a business trip, you could have postponed the date?”

“Pending off is literally building up the workload. Isn’t it good for Lee Ji-Eun to finish it up quickly?”

“That’s true… but how well does your mother know me? She is the very first person to bring up my real mom.”

“Well, I’ll have to get into my mother’s head to know that, but I guess she probably got to know your dormant accounts. There’s no boundary between what’s illegal and legal for her.”

My mouth dropped open from what I heard just now.

“That’s even more strange then. Why me? I thought maybe my stepmother made up some kind of big lie.”

“What’s wrong with Lee Ji-eun?” He asked with a questioning look.

“I don’t think I have the qualifications to become a daughter-in-law of a wealthy family. Don’t people in such a family have different genes?”

He grinned with an amused look and dropped the tie around his neck to the floor.

“I said that I wouldn’t go for any dates unless it was with Lee Ji-Eun.”

“What?!”

I stared at him absurdly. He took off his shirt completely and laid down on the bed. He covered his eyes with one arm and a mischievous smile formed on the corner of his lips.

“Did you forget? I consider the information about my client the most important. Everything about Yoon Jae-sun serves as a weakness for Seoryang. I admit that I’m crazy enough to blurt out everything about that when you asked about it the last time we met. But you, Lee Ji Eun, picked it up and ate every single word I told you. Anyway, since you get the information, you have to pay a price for it. You don’t have a choice. So let’s straight away get into the construction I gave you. Once the work is done, I will let it end quietly.”

I jumped up from where I was seated. The handbag that was on my lap fell to the floor. I clenched my fists as I tried to suppress my boiling anger.

“You didn’t accept the conditions I offered you, did you? About the today’s date, you promised to reject me or cancel it. How can you change your promise overnight?”

“Why? Do you think I’ll ask you to marry me? No…do you hate marrying me that much? Even if it’s awesome?”

He slowly lowered his arm from his eyes, suppressing his annoyed heart. He raised himself up at an angle and saw me picking up my fallen handbag. Biting my lower lip, I swept my bangs and took a deep breath.

“Yes, I hate it.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” He gave me a smirked and laid down on the bed again.

“Kwon Lee-Hyun.”

I was still furious and called out Lee Hyun’s name repeatedly. But no matter how many times I called his name, he didn’t answer. As I approached him, the front door opened and secretary Kim entered. After greeting me politely, he picked up the clothes Lee Hyun had dropped.

He was asleep as if he was dead. He looked so different when he was asleep like this. How tired he was to fall asleep in the middle of an important conversation?