“It's okay. I'll figure something out.”
His mother still didn't know that her bank accounts were under provisional seizure as well. Ian didn't want to shock her unnecessarily, so he tried to brush the matter aside, but he had never been good at lying. Sure enough, his mother's expression darkened.
“Is something wrong?”
She glanced toward her card as she asked. Ian lowered his head without answering. That alone was enough for her to realize that things were not all right, and she picked up her phone as though to call their lawyer.
“We just can't use it right now, that's all. Once I start the renunciation-of-inheritance process soon…”
“Renunciation of inheritance?”
He had only been trying to stop her before she called the lawyer and learned everything, but he'd let the wrong thing slip. The moment he saw her eyes widen, Ian knew he'd made a mistake, but it was too late to take the words back.
“Why would you renounce the inheritance? Come to think of it, those people were saying strange things to you earlier… Asking how you had the nerve to show your face at the company. Don't tell me you've been…?”
Her voice trailed off as her eyes began to tremble. She swayed on her feet, and Ian quickly caught her and helped her back onto the bed.
“Don't worry. It's really nothing serious. I'll take care of it. So please, just focus on getting better.”
He made his voice as casual as possible, trying to reassure her.
His mother stared at him without saying a word. Her face crumpled as though she might cry, and all she did was gently pat the back of his hand.
Knock, knock.
At the sound, Yudam, who had been sitting by the window, turned toward the door with a cold expression.
A bodyguard nearly one and a half times his size entered carrying a tray of food. He was even wearing pitch-black sunglasses.
“Madam said you're to finish everything and leave nothing behind. She also said that if you keep up this hunger strike, she'll have Mr. Seo Ian's mother removed from the hospital.”
Yudam's face twisted at the last part.
Using someone else's life as leverage—was that really something his own mother would do? No matter how badly she wanted Sanha Group, he was appalled that she could be this cruel to Ian of all people. His disappointment in her was beginning to curdle into disgust.
The threat involving Ian's mother irritated him too.
Truthfully, Yudam didn't care what happened to anyone other than Seo Ian. He had never been particularly interested in other people to begin with.
Ian was the sole exception.
And because the woman in question happened to be Ian's mother, he couldn't simply say he didn't care. If it were up to him, he wanted to tell them to throw her out of the hospital for all he cared. But if something happened to her because of him, Ian would almost certainly refuse to see him ever again.
Seo Ian was endlessly gentle and kind to Han Yudam.
Unfortunately, he wasn't a good person only to Yudam.
Anyone could see that Ian had a soft nature. That was part of why Yudam loved him, but sometimes it was also what made him so infuriating.
Even so, Yudam had always been special to him. Whenever Ian was forced to choose, Yudam had always been the one he chose. That had been enough.
His parents, however, were different.
His mother in particular held a special place in Ian's heart. Her heart had been weak from birth, and perhaps because she had been in and out of hospitals since Ian was young, he treated her like a delicate piece of glass.
His father's constant refrain had played a part as well.
Take good care of your mother. You have to protect her.
As long as Ian's mother remained hospitalized like this, Ian would never leave her behind and run away with him.
Yudam had gone to the hospital that dawn clinging to the smallest hope that he might, but in the end, Ian had never said he would come.
It had hurt terribly.
But this was also the Seo Ian Yudam had fallen in love with.
Because if Yudam became part of Ian's family, Ian would treasure him just as deeply as he treasured his mother.
Of that, Yudam had no doubt.
When he refrained from overturning the tray like before after hearing the warning about Ian's mother being thrown out of the hospital, the bodyguard watched him for a moment, then quietly closed the door and left.
Yudam let out a long breath, his chest heaving with the force of it.
He picked up the tray and carried it into the bathroom.
Then he dumped every bit of food from the plates into the toilet and flushed.
He couldn't leave anything behind when he had no idea what his mother might do, but he had no desire to eat either.
If I keep starving myself like this, maybe I'll collapse.
Then, whether they liked it or not, they'd have no choice but to take him to a hospital.
“CEO, today's reports.”
The secretary placed two folders on Yunhui's desk.
One concerned a project at Sanha Electronics, where Yunhui served as CEO.
The other had nothing written on its cover.
Yunhui opened the unmarked folder first.
That report mattered more to him than Sanha Electronics' main project.
The first page contained a complete record of Seo Ian's and Han Yudam's movements throughout the day.
There was little to report about Yudam. He had been confined to the house for days, so there was hardly anything he could have done.
Ian's movements had also gone exactly as expected. He had traveled between home and the hospital, with the only unusual stop being Haemyeong Industries headquarters.
He had remained there for less than thirty minutes.
Whatever had passed between him and the Haemyeong Industries executives, it apparently had not been pleasant.
The next page covered Ian's mother's condition.
Her current state, the treatment she required, and even the hospital bill that remained unpaid were all documented in meticulous detail.
“Get me Seo Ian's call records too.”
All assets under Seo Ian's name were under provisional seizure, so there was no way he could have paid the hospital bill himself.
Han Yudam had had his phone confiscated, so he couldn't have helped either.
Who else was there to help Seo Ian?
During the ten years Yunhui had been away from Korea, Ian's social circle had barely changed.
Ironically, Han Yudam was the reason.
Like a hedgehog bristling with spines, Yudam had guarded Ian against anyone who approached him with even the slightest hint of interest. And because Ian had always indulged such childish behavior as simply part of who Yudam was, even after a ten-year absence, his relationships had not strayed far beyond what Yunhui already knew.
The secretary had barely left when another man entered.
“I could've sworn I just heard something terrifying.”
Walking toward Yunhui, he frowned and gestured toward the secretary who had just gone out.
“Tell me I heard that wrong.”
Apparently, he'd overheard Yunhui ordering the secretary to obtain Ian's call records.
Yunhui made no attempt to deny it. He simply lowered his gaze back to the documents stacked on his desk.
“What are you going to do when Seo Ian finds out?”
At the concern in the man's voice, Yunhui lifted only his eyes.
“Watch your mouth, Choi Jubin.”
At the icy warning, Choi Jubin shrugged.
“I'm not going to stop you. It's your business. I'm just saying you should think this through. You might regret it later.”
He offered the advice sincerely, then handed Yunhui the documents he'd brought with him.
“Though I guess I'm not exactly in a position to say that when I'm helping you do this. If Seo Ian ever catches us, don't drag me into it.”
What Jubin had given him was a list of Seo Ian's assets.
Most entries were marked as being under provisional seizure.
“Seo Ian will definitely file to renounce the inheritance. It's the only way he'll be able to protect what belongs to him and his mother. Delay the lifting of the provisional seizures for as long as possible.”
Jubin frowned.
“Hey. Do you seriously have to go this far? Seo Ian's mother is in the hospital, isn't she? He needs money for her bills right now. What if something happens to her because of this?”
Yunhui's eyes sharpened.
“Stop worrying about things that don't concern you and do your job.”
Something in his gaze and tone sent a chill through Jubin, who immediately raised both hands and took a step back.
“Just so we're clear, I don't have any feelings for Seo Ian, okay? I'm saying this because I'm worried about you. You know that, right?”
Only after Jubin drew that line between himself and Ian did the murderous edge disappear from Yunhui's eyes.
God, what a sick bastard.
Jubin clicked his tongue inwardly but made sure none of it showed on his face.
“I'm genuinely worried, though. Isn't there another way? Why don't you just confess like a normal person? You and Seo Ian were incredibly close back in high school. Sure, Han Yudam was always hanging around too, but from where I stood, you and Ian seemed closer.”
Jubin had gone to the same high school.
Kang Yunhui had suddenly left to study abroad at seventeen and had not graduated with them, so they could hardly be called alumni in the strictest sense, but even during the little over a year Yunhui had attended, he, Seo Ian, and Han Yudam had been famous throughout the school.
“Back then, everyone only noticed that Han Yudam came from that famous omega family and had two alphas protecting him. But that's not how it looked to me. You even kept track of his heat cycles down to the day, but the truth is, you were doing it because you wanted to protect Seo Ian, weren't you?”