BHB 8

“Oh, Han Yeowon is buying beef!”

After finishing his afternoon classes, Yeowon headed to a meat restaurant in the university area with Do Youngjae, Lim Yuna, and Jo Suchan. He lured the guys who said they were tired from drinking until dawn yesterday with the promise of buying them meat. He didn’t want to go home alone like this. He thought about contacting Lee Taegang but felt that if he did in this mood, he might end up confronting him.

Asking what he did with Jeon Chaemin. Saying things like eating together or whatever were all lies, and if he actually went to hook up again.

He could ask, but knowing well that he wasn’t in a position to get angry, Yeowon was forcing himself to hold back.

What good would it do to ask? Who cares who Lee Taegang hooks up with or sleeps with? Why would that make him angry?

Yeowon swallowed his temper, repeating the same thoughts over and over in his mind like a mantra. Thinking that if he went home and met Lee Taegang now, he might lash out at him, he deliberately bribed his friends with the promise of meat to share a drink and distract himself.

“Can I, can I have sirloin?”

Do Youngjae’s eyes sparkled as he held the menu. Yeowon nodded indifferently and turned to speak to Lim Yuna sitting next to him.

“Order whatever you want too.”

“Wow, isn’t this place really expensive? Is it really okay to order?”

Lim Yuna asked carefully while looking around the restaurant interior.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay to order. He’s got lots of money.”

Do Youngjae, who seemed about to be sucked into the menu, answered instead.

“I know that. But it’s my first time getting treated to Hanwoo(Korean) beef.”

“Can I have some rib eye, Yeowon hyung?”

Jo Suchan asked politely with wide eyes, sitting up straight. Yeowon chuckled and gestured for him to do as he pleased.

Yeowon’s parents didn’t give him attention, but they certainly gave him money. It would be correct to say they raised him with money. While others say they grew up in their parents’ embrace and with their parents’ concern, he grew up only with his parents’ money. Though not as lavish as children from chaebol families, he lived well enough to make others envious. A credit card from his father with no limit, and a card from his mother with an unknown limit. And pocket money that came in regularly every month. The good thing about his parents’ divorce was that allowance came in from both sides.

He didn’t spend money extravagantly, but he didn’t live frugally either. To Yeowon, money was just something nice to have but not essential.

“Order some alcohol too.”

When he told Do Youngjae who was about to order, he immediately and skillfully ordered soju and beer.

“What, did we come to drink?”

“Yeah.”

“If I drink today, I feel like I’ll die.”

“Then just raise your glass.”

When Yeowon replied indifferently, Do Youngjae nodded willingly.

Soon, a good-looking grill was brought out and colorful meat was placed on it. As soon as it was placed, an appetizing sizzling sound filled the air.

“Ah, the smell is killer.”

Do Youngjae and Jo Suchan were holding their chopsticks combatively. Yeowon poured beer that the staff had brought into Lim Yuna’s glass.

“I’ll enjoy it, sunbae.”

“Good. Order more if there’s anything else you want.”

Speaking like a generous senior, Lim Yuna asked curiously:

“But senior, do you really have that much money?”

“Not that much.”

Yeowon replied indifferently, but Do Youngjae, who had already stuffed two pieces of meat into his mouth, interrupted.

“Hey, he’s got a black card. You know what a black card is, right? No limit.”

“Wow, daebak(awesome).”

“Didn’t you say your dad is the president of some food company?”

Yeowon’s father, who had successfully opened several businesses, went on to establish his own brand company. His father owned thousands of franchise restaurants across the country. Meanwhile, his divorced mother started a cosmetics business with the alimony she received, and thanks to good word of mouth, it had been running successfully for several years. Plus, she still held shares in his father’s company, so there was no shortage of money coming in from various directions.

Thanks to both parents being CEOs, he, as the only child, never had to worry about money.

“Why are you making such a big deal out of it? It’s not even mine.”

Feeling uncomfortable with Do Youngjae’s flattering tone, Yeowon threw in a casual remark, and Do Youngjae immediately shut his mouth.

“I knew you were rich, but you’re really rich…”

Lim Yuna stared at Yeowon anew. Feeling uncomfortable with the sparkling, wide-eyed gaze, Yeowon changed the subject for no reason.

“Lee Taegang has more money.”

“Oh, I know. Lee Taegang is the son of that super famous law firm, right? My brother’s preparing for law school, so I know well.”

Jo Suchan, who had been focused on his food, chimed in mid-bite, earning a scolding from Do Youngjae for talking with his mouth full. But Jo Suchan continued, undeterred.

“And you know what else?”

“What?”

“He’s the son of that congressman.”

Lee Seung-kwon. Lee Taegang’s father was a 4-term politician from Seoul, currently the opposition party leader.

“Whoa, no way. I didn’t know that.”

“It’s well-known. They say he’s the son that the well-respected Lee Seung-kwon gave up on.”

Lee Taegang was notorious, widely known as the only weak spot in Lee Seungkwon’s otherwise spotless reputation. It was hard for a politician, whose image was everything, to have a son with tattoos covering half his upper body. And no matter how much they tried to cover it up, rumors of Lee Taegang beating up multiple classmates during his school days still leaked. In an age where social media, online forums, and the internet were everywhere, there was no way to keep a public figure’s family drama under wraps forever.

“Is that senior’s reputation bad?”

Lim Yuna asked, her eyes sparkling with even more interest than before.

“Just look at those tattoos. You think he was normal?”

“But isn’t Lee Taegang sunbae quiet at school?”

“He is now, but I heard he was a bit of a problem in high school. Right, Yeowon?”

Jo Soo-chan started the sentence, but Do Youngjae took over, and finally directed it at Yeowon. Everyone in the department knew that Yeowon was an old friend of Lee Taegang and they were high school classmates.

“I said Taegang has a lot of money, not that he has a lot of problems. If you’re curious, ask him yourself.”

Yeowon hadn’t expected the conversation to go in this direction when he started talking. He abruptly cut off the conversation as it kept veering towards gossip.

“Who’s saying anything? I’m just saying he’s famous. You always clam up when we talk about Lee Taegang.”

“I don’t like talking about people behind their backs. Just eat your meat.”

Yeowon replied indifferently, piling up the fully cooked meat on Do Youngjae’s plate, almost throwing it.

“Yes, boss.”

Do Youngjae playfully saluted and focused back on eating. Soon after, the topic of conversation shifted naturally. While they continued talking about couples in the department and the upcoming MT, Yeowon quietly drank his alcohol.

**

Lee Taegang was the youngest son in a family of prestigious legal professionals. His father was a judge, his mother a lawyer, and his brother, ten years older, was a prosecutor. Being part of such a renowned legal family, Taegang was also expected to follow the same path, but at some point, he began to stray from it.

At the age of 15, he declared to Yeowon that he would no longer study, distancing himself from academics entirely. He spent his days playing, going to PC rooms, and gaming. Since Yeowon had also long given up on studying, the two spent their time hanging out together. Naturally, this led to Taegang falling out of favor with his parents, who even went so far as to separate the two for a while, forbidding them from spending time together.

Such oppression only made Lee Taegang more rebellious.

As Lee Taegang went through puberty and grew bigger, his parents’ discipline grew harsher. When he was in middle school, they would hit him with a wooden baseball bat; by the time he was in high school, they had switched to a golf club. Sometimes, they hit him hard enough to leave bloodied bruises on his face. The more time passed, the angrier Yeowon became. To the outside world, Lee Taegang’s father was known as a compassionate politician, but it was a farce. He was a violent man who would beat his youngest son without hesitation.

Throughout his school years, Taegang constantly clashed with his parents, and though he eventually “won” those battles, but he couldn’t escape being their son. As the son of a politician with such high approval ratings that people talked about him as the next presidential candidate, he had to attend social gatherings when needed and participate in superficial family gatherings every time. To gain some freedom from this, Taegang struck a deal with his parents: independence. The moment he turned 20, he declared he would leave home, and his parents agreed—but with conditions.

Though they had given up on turning him into a legal professional, they insisted that he at least attend a respectable university. It didn’t have to be the absolute top-tier, but it had to be prestigious enough not to bring shame to the family—a four-year university in Seoul, at the very least. Knowing this was a big concession from them, Lee Taegang accepted. He was naturally smart enough that even without studying, he could easily meet this condition without relying on private education. It was actually an easy condition, but it was a special measure his parents took, fearing that without any conditions, he might not even go to college given his behavior.

Lee Taegang probably could have gotten into one of the top three most prestigious universities in Seoul with just the regular admissions exam if he wanted to, but he applied to a slightly lower-ranked school to match Yeowon’s grades. Of course, Yeowon also studied extremely hard during his senior year to match universities with Lee Taegang. Obviously, he was far from catching up to Taegang, but he barely managed to get into a school in Seoul. It was all thanks to Lee Taegang’s pinpoint tutoring.