Everything was falling apart.
Over the past few days, Ian had come to understand exactly what those words meant.
The company’s stock price had crashed overnight, and the board of directors laid all the blame at the feet of a dead man. They were desperate to distance themselves from the late CEO Seo, and Ian was no exception. They argued that if Ian couldn’t take responsibility for the entire disaster, then he had no place at the company.
By the time he returned after his father’s funeral, his position was already gone.
He hadn’t been formally dismissed, but there was nothing Ian could do about it.
He had insisted on starting at the bottom because he wanted to rise through the company on his own merits rather than be handed a position through nepotism. He had begun as an intern, and although he had advanced quickly, he was still only a team leader.
It wasn’t difficult for people at the top to squeeze out a single team leader.
The shares his father had left behind became worthless along with the collapse in the stock price. The directors then pressured Ian to shoulder all the debts incurred because of his father.
As part of that pressure, a seizure order was placed on the family home before his father’s funeral had even fully concluded.
“This is insane! Who do they think Haemyeong Industries belongs to? Your grandfather founded that company! If he were still alive, he’d fire every last one of those bastards! They’re nothing but thieves!”
Yudam was even angrier than Ian.
Ian said nothing and simply listened.
Yudam was right. Haemyeong Industries had been founded by Ian’s maternal grandfather. He had recognized Ian’s father’s talent early on and arranged for him to marry his daughter. Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he had eventually handed the company over to Ian’s father.
That transition hadn’t happened without friction.
Ian’s relatives on his mother’s side had deeply resented the fact that the company had gone not to Ian’s mother, but to her husband. Ever since, they had watched for any opportunity to take the CEO position away from him.
But Ian’s father had always kept them skillfully in check, and the company had continued without any serious problems.
That was another reason Ian had started as an entry-level employee.
He hadn’t wanted to give his maternal relatives an excuse to accuse him of being a privileged heir parachuted into a position he hadn’t earned. He had believed he was perfectly capable of proving himself and eventually succeeding his father on merit alone.
He had never imagined everything could change so suddenly.
The moment his father fell, his relatives descended on him as if they had been waiting for the opportunity. They busied themselves tearing apart his father’s reputation and drove Ian out of the company as well.
His mother, meanwhile, had collapsed several times during the funeral and was now hospitalized altogether.
The doctor said the shock had placed severe strain on her heart.
His home. His company. His mother.
Everything Ian treasured was shattering around him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
The realization of just how powerless he was came as a shock in itself.
“Keep your head up. Forget that company. Even if you never get it back, you’ll be fine. Someone like you could start over somewhere else and still succeed.”
Yudam had stayed beside Ian the entire time.
Whenever Ian sank into despair or grief, Yudam comforted him and gave him something to lean on.
Without Yudam, Ian might already have fallen apart completely.
“And what the hell is wrong with Kang Yunhui? How could that bastard not even come to the funeral?”
Yudam grumbled, his face full of resentment.
They hadn’t seen Kang Yunhui again since running into him at the hospital that day.
Things had spiraled so quickly at home that Ian had barely had the time or energy to think about Yunhui.
Yudam, however, was clearly hurt by it.
He complained that even if they hadn’t seen each other for ten years, they had practically grown up as brothers. How could Yunhui simply turn his back on them at a time like this?
It was misplaced resentment.
The destruction of Ian’s family had nothing to do with Kang Yunhui.
Even if Yunhui had happened to return to Korea at almost the exact same time, he had no obligation to comfort Ian.
And yet, despite telling himself that, Ian couldn’t completely suppress his own disappointment.
Does it bother you that much? It’s just a grade. So what? You can come first next time.
Ian must have been around fourteen or fifteen.
Once, a careless mistake on an exam had caused him to drop in rank.
Even then, he hadn’t let his disappointment show in front of his friends. He had smiled, said it was a shame, and brushed it off.
But Kang Yunhui had noticed.
Ian had been sitting alone in an empty park, trying to get his emotions under control, when Yunhui appeared from nowhere, sat down beside him, and tossed out those words as if they were nothing.
Yunhui had never been an especially affectionate person.
Even so, whenever Ian was discouraged—whenever he was trying not to let anyone else see it—Yunhui somehow always knew.
And without making a fuss, he would quietly stay by Ian’s side.
Ten years was enough time for entire landscapes to change.
They hadn’t even seen each other once in all that time. Expecting Yunhui to still be exactly the same person he had been back then was selfish.
So Yudam’s complaints were nothing more than wounded sulking.
“Sanha Group sent a funeral wreath. And Yunhui sent condolence money in his own name.”
Ian found himself defending Yunhui.
Yudam clicked his tongue in disbelief.
“So sending money makes everything okay? What kind of friend does that?”
For all his complaining, Yudam was still calling Yunhui a friend.
There might have been a ten-year gap between them, but they had also spent nearly ten years growing up together.
“He’s probably busy. Didn’t he come back as vice chairman of Sanha Group?”
“So? Being vice chairman means he personally does every single job in the entire group?”
“Don’t be so hard on him. He probably has his reasons.”
“You’re unbelievable. Who are you worrying about right now? I’m the one who’s so upset I could die.”
Yudam’s eyes grew wet.
It was Ian whose home and career had been destroyed.
It was Ian whose mother was lying in a hospital bed.
And yet somehow, Yudam seemed even more heartbroken than he was.
“I’ll talk to my father. Come work for our company. He’d welcome you anytime.”
Yudam didn’t want Ian going back to Haemyeong Industries at all.
He said that even if Ian forced his way back in and tried to endure it, his mother’s relatives would only make his life miserable. If that was the alternative, he would be better off joining Yudam’s father’s company.
“We were going to get married anyway. What’s mine is yours.”
At the mention of marriage, Ian could only give a weary smile.
He was grateful that Yudam was trying so hard to give him something to hold on to.
“Marriage isn’t possible right now.”
Yudam’s expression immediately hardened.
“You’re not going to use all this as an excuse to break up with me, are you?”
Anxiety flooded his voice at once.
Ian hesitated, then shook his head.
The truth was, he didn’t know.
Was it really right to keep Yudam beside him in his current situation?
The debts his father had left behind, his mother’s health, everything else hanging over him—it all weighed heavily on Ian.
He was afraid he would only drag Yudam down with him.
“I’m never breaking up with you,” Yudam said firmly. “So don’t even think about breaking up with me either.”
“Okay.”
In the end, Ian gave him the answer he wanted.
Besides, ever since he and Yudam had started dating, Ian had never imagined anyone else as his partner.
“But not now. I need some time.”
Time to sort out the chaos his life had become.
Time until, at the very least, he was capable of supporting Yudam by his own strength.
“Mr. Han.”
Two men in black suits approached them.
They were bodyguards assigned to Yudam by his family.
“Your mother has instructed us to bring you home immediately.”
Yudam frowned at the sudden order.
“I’m not going right now. Tell her I might not be home for a few days.”
“She instructed us to bring you back without listening to any excuses.”
Ignoring Yudam’s protest, the two bodyguards took hold of him from either side and practically lifted him off the ground.
Yudam struggled and shouted for them to let go, but the difference in size made his resistance pointless.
“I’ll call you! Make sure you eat properly and on time, okay?”
Even as they dragged him away, Yudam continued worrying about Ian until the very end.
“Mr. Seo.”
No sooner had Yudam disappeared from sight than a middle-aged woman approached Ian.
He knew her well.
She was Yudam’s mother’s personal secretary.
“Madam asked me to deliver a message.”
A bad feeling immediately settled over him.
“There are currently discussions concerning Mr. Han’s marriage. As of today, she asks that you refrain from contacting him privately.”
Ian’s eyes widened.
For a moment, he couldn’t speak.
The words struck like a bolt from the blue.
And then, almost immediately, Ian understood why Yudam’s parents had made that decision.
Because Seo Ian had nothing now.
No matter that he was an alpha. To them, that alone was no longer enough to make him worthy of becoming Yudam’s partner.
“Who… is it?”
It was a pointless question.
Knowing the answer wouldn’t change anything.
But perhaps, if he knew, he could argue that there had to be something he had that the other man didn’t.
Perhaps he could promise that even if he wasn’t better than the other man now, someday he would be.
That was why he asked.
“Vice Chairman Kang Yunhui of Sanha Group.”
A deafening thud seemed to reverberate inside Ian’s skull.
“Kang… Yunhui?”
Maybe he had heard wrong.
Anyone else could have been named.
Anyone except Kang Yunhui.
Because Yunhui, more than anyone, knew exactly what Ian and Yudam had meant to each other since childhood.
“Yes. Sanha Group approached the family today with a proposal for an engagement.”
“Hah…”
A hollow breath escaped Ian.
Kang Yunhui.
Even when Ian had seen the news of his father’s suicide, even when his maternal relatives had driven him out of the company, he had never felt the ground give way beneath his feet quite like this.