Yunhui's eyes darkened as he stared at his reflection in the mirror.
He had been young back then. All he'd worried about was making Ian uncomfortable. He'd decided that what was impossible was impossible and given up without even trying.
But he was no longer the seventeen-year-old Kang Yunhui. Everything was different now.
By the time he had changed in the dressing room adjoining his bathroom, his secretary was waiting for him.
“You have a video conference with the US branch this morning. At noon, you're meeting with the Minister of Economy, and at three this afternoon…”
As his secretary ran through the day's schedule, Yunhui put on his suit jacket and checked his phone. He skimmed the messages that had come in from various people, only to stop at one particular name.
Seo Ian.
The sight of those three unmistakable syllables changed the look in his eyes.
After reading Ian's message, the corners of Yunhui's mouth curved upward ever so slightly.
“Cancel everything after five this afternoon.”
“Pardon?”
The sudden instruction caught his secretary off guard.
“And cancel everything tomorrow, too.”
At this additional order, the secretary's face tightened. This was the schedule of the vice chairman of Sanha Group and CEO of Sanha Electronics. Arranging each appointment was difficult enough. Canceling them at a moment's notice was hardly a simple matter.
Kang Yunhui knew that perfectly well, which made it all the more difficult for his secretary to understand how he could so casually order every appointment canceled.
“You're also having lunch with the chairman tomorrow.”
“Good. That one should be easy to cancel.”
Faced with an answer that was the exact opposite of what he had expected, the secretary could only close his mouth.
As Yunhui climbed into the car to leave for work, his secretary glanced at him and tilted his head.
While he himself was already getting a headache over how to reschedule all those canceled appointments, Yunhui seemed to be in an unusually good mood.
He wasn't smiling or anything, but the familiar chill had disappeared from his normally expressionless face.
Had something good happened?
He was curious, but he didn't dare ask outright.
He got his answer quite naturally after five that afternoon, when all of Yunhui's remaining appointments had been canceled.
*
Standing outside Yunhui's house, Ian let out a weary breath.
He had spent the entire day meeting with his lawyer and running from place to place, dealing with the seizure imposed by Haemyeong Industries and the process of renouncing his father's inheritance on behalf of himself and his mother.
He was exhausted.
And now, knowing he had to face Kang Yunhui, he felt as though he could barely breathe.
There had never been a time when coming here had felt so difficult.
Ian shook his head to dispel the pointless thought and reached for the intercom.
Before he could press it, the gate opened with a click.
Startled, he looked up to find an unfamiliar man standing directly in front of him.
“Mr. Seo Ian?”
The man addressed him by his full name.
When Ian nodded, the man immediately bowed.
“I'm Park Minjun, the vice chairman's secretary.”
He produced a business card and offered it with a courteous gesture.
Ian accepted it, looking somewhat bewildered. He couldn't imagine ever having a reason to use it.
“The vice chairman is waiting for you inside.”
The secretary stepped aside as he spoke.
Ian had sent Yunhui a message saying he would come today, and Yunhui had told him to arrive at this hour. Still, he hadn't expected his secretary to be waiting for him all the way out at the gate.
“Aren't you coming in?”
Ian had stepped through the gate, but the secretary showed no sign of following him. It was already past six, so it wouldn't have been strange for him to be finished with work.
“The vice chairman instructed me to remain on standby until he contacts me.”
Ian couldn't quite understand what that meant, but he supposed it had nothing to do with him.
It felt awkward to simply turn away, so he gave the man a slight bow. The secretary returned it, then stepped outside the gate.
Ian had assumed that someone holding the position of vice chairman would be busy, but Yunhui had apparently come home earlier than expected.
It never occurred to him that Yunhui had deliberately cleared his schedule for him.
The front door was unlocked, as though Yunhui already knew he had arrived.
When Ian entered, he found Yunhui sitting on the living room sofa. Yunhui showed no particular reaction to his presence.
Ian approached the sofa but stopped in front of it, unsure what to do when the owner of the house didn't acknowledge him.
In the past, he would simply have taken the seat opposite Yunhui without caring whether Yunhui paid him any attention.
Now, though, he felt uncomfortable around him.
“Why are you standing there? Sit down.”
Yunhui indicated the seat opposite him with a glance.
“Right.”
Ian tried to conceal his awkwardness as he sat down. Yunhui's gaze followed him.
“Well? Your answer?”
There was no unnecessary preamble.
Yunhui demanded his answer immediately.
Ian drew a quiet breath and looked at him.
“I'll do as you say.”
He offered no further explanation, either.
The truth was, Ian still didn't fully understand Yunhui's proposal. Even so, he had a vague, lingering belief that Yunhui wouldn't do anything to hurt him.
Yunhui studied him in silence before one corner of his mouth lifted in a faint smirk.
Then he picked up the document folder beside him and placed it on the table.
“Sign it.”
Ian swallowed his bitterness at the realization that they even had to put this in writing, then opened the folder.
“You don't have to go this far. I'll keep my word.”
It wasn't pleasant to discover that Yunhui trusted him so little that he had prepared a contract.
“I know. I just like having things settled.”
At Yunhui's reply, Ian raised his eyes to look at him.
Was he imagining it, or had some of the coldness disappeared from Yunhui's face since yesterday?
Whatever the case, Yunhui didn't seem upset about having to break off his engagement to Yudam because of Ian.
If anything, the corners of his mouth seemed to be curving upward ever so slightly.
Ian read through the first page, then skipped ahead to the last.
“Aren't you going to read it properly?”
“It's what we discussed yesterday, isn't it?”
The first page contained exactly what Yunhui had demanded of him the day before.
It also included clauses stating that, in exchange for Ian meeting those conditions, Yunhui would cancel his engagement to Yudam and take responsibility for Ian's mother's medical treatment.
There was plenty more written on the following pages, but from what Ian could tell with a cursory glance, it was the usual contractual language: the contents were to remain confidential and not be disclosed to third parties, and there were various provisions concerning what would happen if problems arose.
“You're going to regret this.”
Yunhui murmured the words as he watched Ian sign the last page beside his printed name.
“Even if I do, I won't go back on my word.”
Ian answered calmly, closed the folder, and handed it back.
Yunhui opened it and checked the signature on the last page.
For a brief moment, his eyes curved into a pleased smile before returning to their usual expression.
“Have you told Han Yudam?”
Ian let out a shallow sigh.
“Yudam isn't answering his phone.”
“Ah.”
Yunhui let out a short sound, as though he had forgotten something.
Then he took out his phone and called someone.
“This is Kang Yunhui. You can return Han Yudam's phone to him now. …I'll take care of that on my end, so there's no need for you to worry.”
Ian suspected he was speaking to Yudam's mother.
He wasn't even surprised that she would return Yudam's phone simply because Kang Yunhui told her to.
Vice chairman of Sanha Group.
That title carried enormous power.
Ian knew all too well just how far Yunhui had driven him into a corner with that power over the past few days.
When Yunhui ended the call, he gave a small shrug, as though to say that the problem was solved.
A moment later, as if the caller had been waiting for precisely this opportunity, Ian's phone rang.
He checked the screen.
It was Yudam.
Ian instinctively looked at Yunhui, but Yunhui showed no particular reaction, as though he had expected the call.
“Answer it. Put it on speaker. End things with him, right here in front of me. Make it final.”
The low, firm command made Ian swallow hard.
Yunhui's first demand had been that he break up with Yudam.
And now he wanted Ian to fulfill that condition right in front of him.
Ian let out a long breath and pressed the answer button.
No sooner had he switched to speakerphone than Yudam's voice rang through the living room.
[Seo Ian!]
Ian looked at Yunhui, but his expression remained unchanged.
[Where are you right now? I finally got my phone back. I guess making such a huge fuss paid off. They said they won't take it away again.]
Yudam sounded happy.
Even over the phone, Ian could hear the almost childlike excitement in his voice.
He listened to Yudam while holding Yunhui's gaze.
Say it.
Yunhui silently formed the words with his lips.
Ian knew what he had to do, but now that the moment had come, he had no idea how to begin.
Yudam wasn't just his romantic partner. They had been together for more than twenty years.
Could he really cut someone like that out of his life with a few words?
It was harder than he had expected.
His lips parted and moved, but no sound came out.
“Seo Ian.”
Yunhui called his name in a low, subdued voice.
His eyes darkened, and then his gaze shifted to Ian's phone.
It felt almost as though he were looking directly at Yudam on the other end of the line.
There was something terribly cold about that look.
Ian quickly shook his head.
Only then did Yunhui take his eyes off the phone and look back at Ian.
“Yudam.”
Holding Yunhui's gaze, Ian slowly opened his mouth.
“I'm sorry.”
He had only said two words, yet a sharp ache pierced his heart.