TIN 30

Yuna left Joo Do-hwa’s house as soon as she finished her meal. She had cleaned up the remaining food off her plate during the course of our conversation and even finished off the entire bottle of wine. Her neatly groomed appearance no longer resembled the person who had been laughing maniacally earlier.

As soon as Yuna left, I immediately went up to the third floor. I still hadn’t fully regained my strength, and there was nowhere else for me to go wandering off to.

If I lay down again, I could probably sleep until dinner. With that thought, I opened the door to my room, only to find a familiar uninvited guest waiting inside.

“You’re back?”

Joo Do-hwa, sitting on the bed, glanced at me. The once-crisp suit he was wearing earlier had become a disheveled mess, with the tie loosened and a few buttons undone. He was even holding a storybook, seemingly having read it while I was busy entertaining Yuna.

“Why are you here?”

“I was waiting for you.”

“For me?”

I left the door half-opened as I walked up to him. I hadn’t expected him to be waiting in the room, but it seemed like he had something to say to me. After all, he had left Yuna and me alone, presumably for a good reason.

“What did you and Yuna talk about?”

True to form, he went straight to the point without any preamble. It didn’t seem like he was impatient, but rather that he saw no need to be cautious in front of me. Perhaps he felt he didn’t have to beat around the bush in my presence.

“We didn’t really talk about much.”

“Is that so?”

Joo Do-hwa responded flatly, putting down the storybook. A faint smile played on his lips.

“I thought she would’ve broken at least one plate the moment I left.”

“It was a fork, not a plate.”

“…”

“She threw the fork?”

The burst of laughter that followed sounded delightful. Joo Do-hwa seemed pleased that his prediction had come true, grinning from ear to ear with amusement. His hand covering his mouth and the crinkle of his eyes made him look almost cheerful.

“So you knew she’d do that?”

“Of course. She didn’t seem to be trying to hide it.”

Well, if she were trying to maintain a perfect facade, she wouldn’t have shown that side of herself right before she left. This was Joo Do-hwa’s house, and all the staff were his eyes and ears. The initial warm greeting was likely just a formality, nothing more.

“It’s obvious she hates me.”

“But why doesn’t she just call off the engagement?”

I asked the question before I could stop myself. This seemed like a rather strange query. Joo Do-hwa continued to watch me with crinkled eyes.

“Would you want that?”

“No, it has nothing to do with me.”

I had no connection to Joo Do-hwa, so whether he had a fiancée or not was irrelevant to me. Even if I did have some relationship with him, I had no intention of pressuring him to call off the engagement. As much as I felt bad for Yuna, that kind of pure, idealistic kind of romance wasn’t something that I was looking for.

“I just thought if she has no intention of getting married, it would be better to call off the engagement sooner.”

Judging from the meal today, it seemed the occasion was not just a formal gathering. Given what I knew of Joo Do-hwa’s personality, it would probably end up just being a nuisance to him. In that case, it might be better for him to do as Yuna wishes.

“Why bother? Really.”

The extremely subjective question received an equally apathetic response. Joo Do-hwa shrugged his shoulders and crossed one leg over the other.

“It was an engagement I had no say in to begin with. I don’t particularly want to get married, but I don’t really care either.”

Yuna’s words flashed through my mind right at that moment. ‘That annoying brat. He has nothing to do with me.’

“Yuna’s just pestering me because if I keep dragging it out, she’ll lose the shipping route. So she wants me to make a decision quickly.”

“…”

“But it’s not like she’ll actually lose it.”

The upturned corner of his lips looked relaxed. Joo Do-hwa chuckled, wiggling his finger.

“My father wouldn’t give something to an in-law when he won’t even give it to his own son. Once he passes away, it’ll all be mine anyway.”

He had claimed that his father had merely “opened” the shipping route, and did not actually have the power to give it away. But Joo Do-hwa refuted everything Yuna had said. Knowing Joo Do-hwa, his words were likely the truth. A “silver-spoon” child, as Yuna had so aptly described.

“Why would I do Yuna a good turn? I have no need for that.”

So he was just content to maintain the status quo, huh? Though to break off the engagement, compensation would have to be paid, and 4HAE Group probably didn’t want to suffer that kind of loss.

“Anything else you’re curious about?”

Joo Do-hwa kindly offered, as if ready to answer any of my other questions. When I continued to remain silent, he spoke first.

“Yuna, right? You know how much of a weirdo she is. She probably said, ‘Go seduce that guy for me and get him to call off the engagement.’”

“…”

“Guess that’s how it went.”

I had no intention of tattling, but Joo Do-hwa’s keen gaze was too intense to hide anything. Or perhaps Yuna herself had no plans to keep this a secret in the first place.

“So, how are you, hyung?”

Joo Do-hwa subtly broached the topic, blinking his eyes. He deliberately wore a smile and lowered his voice.

“So you were told to seduce me?”

“…”

Right now, it seems like you’re the one trying to seduce me. I had not the slightest intention of falling for any schemes, but his smile was disturbingly sweet. Like a snake becoming more dazzling the more venomous it was, all of this made me wary once again.

“Answer me.”

His soft-spoken voice sounded as alluring as a siren’s song. The air permeated with pheromones was making my throat go dry.

I instinctively realized that Joo Do-hwa was enjoying this situation. Regardless of how I responded, this was all just mere entertainment to him.

“…Your fiancée said that.”

That was why, instead of directly answering, I turned the topic elsewhere. I knew it was just stubborn defiance, but I didn’t want to indulge him the way he wanted. Feeling slightly annoyed, I secretly wished his smile would disappear.

“The brother you’re looking for.”

“…”

Joo Do-hwa’s smile faded at the casual remark. Even though I knew it was a warning sign, I continued nonchalantly.

“The one who died, right?”

‘That child died when they were young.’

Yuna had clearly stated that earlier. The brother who grew up with Joo Do-hwa, the person Joo Do-hwa was supposed to imitate, was already dead.

‘They must have even seen the corpse with their own eyes.’

How could that be possible? That was what I had initially thought. I was here now, breathing normally and conversing with Yuna. Even if they had seen a corpse, they couldn’t have mistaken it for me.

‘The chairman must be so cruel. Showing that dead brother’s body to the poor child.’

‘…The chairman showed it to them?’

‘It was the chairman who pulled them out of the sea. Apparently, the child drowned and died.’

Hearing that, I realized that Chairman Joo, Joo Do-hwa’s father, had orchestrated everything behind the scenes. He must have used another child’s body to impersonate me and deceive Joo Do-hwa. If they drowned, the decomposed face would have been unrecognizable.

‘Thinking about it, that child is pitiful too. How traumatic it must have been for them.’

Yuna said that as she fiddled with the ring on her right pinky finger. Her downcast gaze seemed to genuinely empathize with Joo Do-hwa. Of course, that empathy didn’t last long.

‘Maybe that’s why his personality is like that…No, no. He was lacking in manners even as a child.’

Tsk, Yuna clicked her tongue, pulling out another cigarette to put in her mouth. This time, she didn’t light it, simply chewing on the filter and tapping the end.

‘Anyway, that bastard is setting up a stand-in, even though he knows that child is dead. If this isn’t an obsession, what is?’

The shiver in her shoulders seemed to genuinely express her disgust for Joo Do-hwa. An obsession with the deceased, how pitiful. But it seemed like fear was her first reaction, despite the tragic circumstances.

‘So you too, don’t get too full of yourself just because he’s being nice to you. If you mess up, you’re screwed.’

‘You told me to seduce him.’

‘Well said. Don’t get seduced, just seduce him.’

It was useless advice, but I thought I understood why Yuna was saying this. She must be sick and tired of seeing Joo Do-hwa manipulate people.

‘Do you know how many people have been in your place?’

I didn’t think I was the first. Joo Do-hwa had already referred to “the people who came before” in a vague manner. The middle-aged man who had met his end at Joo Do-hwa’s hands was also described as “this one’s turn.”

The problem was what happened to those previous ones…

‘They’re all dead.’

‘…’

My brow furrowed slightly. Yuna let out a bitter laugh, removing the cigarette from her mouth.

‘Don’t misunderstand. Joo Do-hwa didn’t kill all of them himself.’

Not all of them, so some of them were?

‘About 80% of them probably just got lost in that guy and couldn’t snap out of it.’

Her tone sounded dismissive, yet there was no hint of pity. Speaking in a more serious manner than before, she stared straight at me and continued.

‘Don’t fall in love.’

‘…’

‘And don’t trust him too much either.’

Did he even realize the contradiction in her own words? Telling me to seduce Joo Do-hwa, and then warning me not to fall for him.

‘The affection he shows you, it’s not for you.’