Chapter 28: Something Unknown (2)

Jiho awkwardly went down the stairs behind Jaeun, who excitedly ran out to greet the two people. And, with good timing, they met the two just as they were opening the door. Shin Jihye, who was expressionless, smiled brightly.

“Jiho, Jaeun. It’s been a while.”

“Hello, Aunt. Hello, Yiwon hyung!”

“Hi, Noona.”

“Jiho. Why aren’t you greeting me?”

Because Jiho ignored Yiwon standing next to Jihye, Yiwon came up to him and tried to act close. Jiho tried to shake off the thick arm Yiwon put on his shoulder, but the harder he tried, the closer Yiwon stuck to him.

Seeing this, Jaeun’s face stiffened.

“Aren’t you guys acting too passionately at home?”

“What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”

Jiho glared at Jaeun and he slipped out of Yiwon’s arms. With that, Yiwon started to make weeping sounds as he rubbed the corners of his eyes.

“It’s been such a long time since I came here but Jiho is treating me so poorly that I’m crying…”

“We saw each other a few days ago.”

“But it’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other here.”

“Everything’s a problem with you.”

Even though Jiho rebuked him, it really has been a long time since he’s seen Yiwon at one of these family meetings.

Joo Yiwon isn’t part of the family. But that’s only by blood or law; Joo Yiwon has always been a part of the Shin family. The only reason he hasn’t been able to attend these meetings is because of how busy he is these days.

Thinking back, Jiho’s mother had even offered to add Yiwon to the family register when he was 12 years old. But Jiho heard that Yiwon turned it down immediately. Although he’s never heard why…1

‘If we were brothers, would he have been less annoying?’

Since he wouldn’t make weird jokes about how they’re dating or whatnot.

When Jiho glanced over at him, Yiwon smiled as if he was just happy that Jiho was looking at him. Jiho frowned and turned away.

As Jiho entered the living room with the three people, his father, who had just been smiling, had a scary expression on his face.

Shin Jihye greeted her parents lightly first before Joo Yiwon politely bowed. 

“It has been a while.”

“Oh! Yes, it’s been a while, Yiwon.”

“Keu-hm, hm.”

Although Jiho’s mother greeted him brightly, his father made it obvious that he was displeased and fake coughed instead of answering the greeting. Jiho, who was standing off to the side, pretended not to notice and asked him.

“Dad. Are you cold?”

“No, no. It’s been a while.”

His father’s displeasure was odd. In fact, this isn’t the first time he’s been weird like this. That being said, it hasn’t been that long either…

Maybe about ten months ago? Shin Joong Ho started to treat Joo Yiwon with disapproval. 

He used to say that Yiwon is a guy who does anything he’s put up to, well, and that he wants to give a spot in the company to Yiwon someday.

But the way Shin Joong Ho looks at Joo Yiwon now is hostile, as if he’s looking at a thief trying to steal away his precious jewel. 

His father isn’t the type of person to hate someone for no reason, but from Jiho’s perspective, there’s absolutely no reason for him to hate Yiwon. Jiho couldn’t understand this situation.

He’s not saying this because they’re family–Jiho’s father is actually a really good person. His father runs Chungram transparently, and he’s known for giving good benefits to the employees. 

On top of that, the person who readily took the orphaned Joo Yiwon in and raised him as his own son was Jiho’s father.

But why is he suddenly treating Joo Yiwon so coldly? Right now, Yiwon is paying them back2 hundreds of times more than the grace they gave in raising him.

What’s even weirder is how accepting Joo Yiwon is of his father’s attitude towards him.

Yiwon doesn’t seem the slightest bit discouraged, even though he was the one who matched his father’s hobbies like Go3, even more than Jiho, the actual son, did. 

Even though Jiho doesn’t like Yiwon, he feels like Yiwon doesn’t deserve such unfair treatment like this.

Isn’t Joo Yiwon humanity’s savior? He should be treated as such.4

Although he wanted to step in and reconcile the two of them, it’s hard to do so when he doesn’t know what happened between them.

Additionally, his mother, who usually restores the peace in the family when something goes wrong, just had a vague smile on her face, as if she couldn’t do anything.

Right when the atmosphere in the house was about to freeze over from the awkward atmosphere, Jaeun, who had been furiously darting his eyes back and forth, quickly stepped in.

“Grandpa. I’m hungry.”

“You’re hungry? We can’t let our grandson be hungry.”

As Jiho’s mother–the most powerful person in the house–spoke, the atmosphere instantly cleared up. Jiho’s father fake coughed again before rising and heading to the kitchen.

While everyone else went to the kitchen, Jiho quietly followed his older sister, who was heading to her room to change out of her uncomfortable clothes.

“Noona. Do you know why Father is acting like that?”

“How could you not know?”

His older sister chided as she laughed. Unable to understand what she was talking about, Jiho tilted his head. Jihye smiled.

“It’s nothing. Are you that clueless because you guys fought so much as kids?”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s acting like that because Joo Yiwon keeps saying he’s going to marry you. Because two boys are saying they’re going to marry each other.”

Jiho was being serious. He felt his worry wash away at his sister’s words.

“Just that? That’s just a joke. He’s been doing that since a long time ago.”

Even if he’s humanity’s savior or whatever now, Joo Yiwon was once a boy full of mischief. Though his friends all thought Yiwon’s jokes were a little unique, they all played along with them.

But when Jiho thought about his father’s age, the homoerotic jokes might have been uncomfortable for his father.

As Jihye took off her jacket and moved her hands to change out of her blouse, Jiho turned around without being prompted to. Jihye continued to explain while changing.

“Then try telling Joo Yiwon to stop. Father is mad because he told him to stop, but Yiwon is still making those jokes.”

“…He was doing all of that even when Father told him to stop?”

“Ever since the first interview. At first, he would call Yiwon to scold him every time he heard about it. Nowadays though, it seems like he’s so annoyed that he tries not to search for it anymore.”

“Really?”

Jiho thought that his family took Yiwon’s one-sided interviews as a joke until now. But to think that his father has been warning Yiwon from early on.

Joo Yiwon was originally an obedient child. Because he was living off of them, he rarely asked for anything from them.

Even though Jiho’s family pitied Joo Yiwon for being so conscious and hoped that he would treat them more comfortably…

They probably didn’t want Yiwon to just ignore their words.

“Noona, Noona knows Joo Yiwon’s schedule, right?”

“Hm… most of it? I don’t know his private schedule, but he doesn’t really have a private life besides going to meet you.”

“No… I think he’s dating someone.”

“WHAT? Joo Yiwon?”

Having finished changing her clothes, Jihye appeared in front of Jiho. And she looked a little angry.

“Who’s that bastard dating?”5

“That… I don’t know. I feel like he’s using me as a shield for his actual girlfriend while teasing me at the same time.”

“Ah, I thought…”

Jihye shrugged.

“Your words make sense but… it’s not like that. He really has no time. How would a guy who practically lives in the guild have time to go on a date?”

“That’s… true but.”

“Ha, well… When I think about it, there’s no reason for me to get mad at him for dating someone else… No. No. If he starts dating another hunter, he might run off to another guild…”

Jihye, who was seriously muttering something to herself, gripped Jiho’s shoulders with a resolute look on her face.

“Even if Joo Yiwon dates someone else and goes off to another guild, don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault.”6

“Of course it’s not my fault… But would Joo Yiwon really go to another guild? He’s done so much here.”

“That’s true. Who else would that guy date?”

Unlike Jiho, who was still full of doubts, Jihye was nodding her head with a relieved look on her face. It seemed like she reached some conclusion for something Jiho didn’t know.

“Anyways, Father isn’t acting like that because he means it either. If he was actually angry, he wouldn’t have even let Yiwon step a foot into the house.”

“But it’d be good if they got along. Dad used to think of Joo Yiwon as his own son.”

“That’s because… he’s become a little different from a son…”

As Jihye trailed off, she stared at Jiho. Then, she suddenly pinched his cheek.

“Wh-what?”

“Our Jiho is so cute. Let’s go back down now. They’re probably waiting because of us.”

Come to think of it, a couple of minutes had passed since they entered this room. Since they usually start their meal altogether, everyone is probably sitting in front of the table and waiting for them.

Although Jiho had a lot more things he wanted to ask, since there’s other chances to do so, Jiho followed Jihye out of the room.

Like Jihye said, the entire family had been waiting for the two to come. Judging from the tense atmosphere, his father and Yiwon must’ve clashed again.

“Let’s eat now.”

Fortunately, Jiho’s mother stepped in and started the dinner.

On the days where the family gathers at the house to eat, there is a tacit rule to not talk about work. For an hour or two, the family takes their time to eat and talk about small, personal things.

Every once in a while, the atmosphere would grow tense whenever Jiho’s father and Yiwon had the chance to talk to each other, but Jaeun stepped in each time. Thanks to that, the atmosphere loosened.

Jaeun isn’t usually this active in family affairs…

Jiho could bet one Lim Seung Joo that Joo Yiwon gave Jaeun money in advance to do stuff like this.7

After the dinner ended somewhat peacefully, Yiwon called Jiho.

“Jiho.”

“What.”

“I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“It’s hard to say it here, let’s go up to the room and talk.”

Yiwon grinned and wrapped his arm around Jiho’s shoulders. He moved his lips right next to Jiho’s ear and whispered.

“It’s about the guild. Wouldn’t it be good to talk while we’re already here together?”

“If it’s important, go through the guild procedures.”

“Not like that. I was just thinking about giving you some useful information.”

Information? If it’s something like that, there’s no reason to refuse. Jiho nodded and decided to follow Yiwon. In this house, the rooms Jiho and Yiwon used are still right next to each other on the second floor.

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Footnotes

(Click on the numbers to return)

1. There’s definitely a reason ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

2. The word used here, 보은 (“bo-eun”) is specifically an act of paying someone back for their kindness/grace.

3. A game. Here’s a Wikipedia article: LINK.

4. Mr. “I don’t like Yiwon” says.

5. Jihye, probably: How dare that bastard cheat on my brother?!

6. Jihye might as well hold up a sign. She couldn’t be any more obvious than this.

7. Lim Seung Joo: ???