MHD - 2

Jaehyuk’s gaze shifted from the woman and Donghwan to the group surrounding them.

It was obvious what the atmosphere at today’s drinking party was like. Several women in revealing outfits and friends who seemed to be heavily intoxicated.

This is exactly why I didn’t want to come.

It seemed the raucous party was at its peak.

As always, no doubt Donghwan must have made a “mistake” with one of the women he’d invited. Then again, could it really be called a mistake?

Everyone here knew that intentional missteps disguised as accidents happened all the time in this place.

In fact, some of the women almost seemed to expect it.

That’s why Jaehyuk felt disgusted, over and over again, every time he came to gatherings like this.

The laughter of the women who came to such events and the men who put a price on that laughter—

To Jaehyuk’s eyes, it all seemed dirty and vulgar.

Donghwan noticed Jaehyuk entering the basement and bit his lip, muttering something about being “embarrassing.” Then he turned toward the woman, glaring as he raised his hand.

It was supposed to be a welcome party, yet this is what it had turned into. Jaehyuk felt it was almost absurd to even think about intervening.

This sort of behavior was typical for Baek Donghwan, and he’d slapped and knocked over more than a few women like this before.

Occasionally, there were women who acted as though they were above all this—selling their smiles but pretending to be aloof and expensive.

“What, you little—”

“Donghwan, you said this was a welcome party.”

Jaehyuk sighed as he approached an empty seat. The spacious hall was centered around a U-shaped leather sofa surrounding a massive wine cellar. Thousands of wine bottles lined the glass walls on all sides.

“Ah, sorry. This girl had to ruin the mood at just the right moment. Hey, who do you think you are?”

Donghwan’s hand moved threateningly toward her, but a few other friends nearby stopped him.

“Donghwan, if you act like this the moment Jaehyuk arrives, do you think he’ll stick around?”

Judging by how the others weren’t siding with Donghwan, he must’ve caused quite a scene. While no one openly said it, a few of them were clearly fed up with his antics.

Even so, everyone continued showing up to these gatherings. After all, Jaehyuk, Donghwan, and the rest of the regular attendees were all heirs to the country’s most influential conglomerates, wielding significant economic power in Korea.

Jaehyuk’s life had been meticulously planned by his parents since childhood, and even his friendships were carefully curated networks.

Donghwan was one of those third-generation chaebol connections passed down from their parents’ generation.

Regardless of personal character, he couldn’t be entirely disregarded.

“Damn it. Hey! Look up. Let me slap you once—that’s only fair, isn’t it?”

Donghwan poked the woman’s shoulder with his index finger, pushing her.

“Enough.”

Jaehyuk, now seated, looked at Donghwan and spoke curtly. His piercing gaze made Donghwan flinch and avert his eyes.

Donghwan instinctively felt fear toward Jaehyuk.

It was a story from their rebellious teenage years, but Donghwan had once been beaten half to death by Jaehyuk. The memory of that fear, etched into his brain, continued to define the dynamic between them.

“Ugh. Unbelievable.”

Donghwan let out a long sigh, loudly grumbling about letting it go out of respect for Jaehyuk before sitting down. Jaehyuk smirked at Donghwan’s antics and raised his glass.

“Jaehyuk, congratulations on returning to Korea.”

After everyone toasted and took a sip, the woman still stood with her head bowed.

“How long are you planning to stand there?”

The woman standing across from him was bothering him so much that Jaehyuk finally said something. In a low voice, he added, “You’re distracting,” and her shoulders trembled slightly as if she’d heard him.

“Why act like that, even after coming to a place like this? You’d get what you want if you were more upfront about it.”

Jaehyuk threw in another remark, thinking her feigned arrogance wouldn’t do anything to raise her worth.

If she kept acting like that and got hit by Donghwan again, all Jaehyuk would do was frown. His patience, which had already been stretched thin, would likely snap completely at that point.

Hearing Jaehyuk’s words, the woman slowly sat down.

Although she still didn’t lift her head, making it far from a pleasant sight, Jaehyuk didn’t care. If she ended up getting her hair grabbed by Donghwan, perhaps then she’d finally understand her place. To Jaehyuk, it was simply pathetic.

One of Donghwan’s more twisted hobbies was humiliating once-famous actresses.

It went beyond a mere hobby; the bastard even set up a production company called KY Entertainment or something.

Jaehyuk had no intention of sitting around and watching Baek Donghwan’s trashy antics escalate. At most, he gave himself 30 minutes. He began timing his exit.

“Jaehyuk, you know Seo Heesoo, right?”

At Donghwan’s words, Jaehyuk’s eyes sharpened instantly. Hearing that name from the lips of such filth felt like being covered in sewage.

“Why?”

Jaehyuk lifted his gaze from his glass to glare at Donghwan. His murderous expression chilled the air, silencing everyone in the room.

Seo Heesoo was a name none of Jaehyuk’s friends dared to utter.

They knew exactly what she meant to him.

“Do you even know how much effort I put in? It was really tough.”

“What was?”

The quieter Jaehyuk’s voice became, the faster Donghwan, seemingly out of his mind, spoke. Two empty bottles of whiskey stood in front of him.

“Bringing Seo Heesoo here, I mean.”

The moment Donghwan said that, Jaehyuk’s eyes darted quickly. His gaze locked onto the woman across from him, as if nailed in place.

A split second of stillness.

The woman still had her head lowered. All the other women seated between the men and Jaehyuk’s friends were silently rolling their eyes, avoiding any comment.

Only Baek Donghwan, like a lunatic, kept running his mouth.

“There’s this new movie I’m investing in.”

Donghwan drained his glass and made a circle with his thumb and index finger, shaking it.

“Everything in this world is about money, don’t you think? Even someone like Seo Heesoo—the almighty Seo Heesoo—comes when she’s called, goes when she’s told. Isn’t that just how it is? Washed-up actress, bad rumors, struggling to land roles. How hard must it be?”

Donghwan jabbed at the woman seated next to him, who still had her head lowered, with his finger.

“Heesoo, didn’t you say you used to do ballet? If you came for an audition, you should at least dance or something to show your enthusiasm, shouldn’t you?”

When Donghwan jabbed her sharply again, the woman flinched away and raised her head—and in that moment, her eyes met Jaehyuk’s across the room.

Seo Heesoo.

Jaehyuk froze, unable to utter a word.

Was it because he had longed for her for so many years? Or was it the disbelief that someone he had assumed was doing well had been dragged to a place like this? Maybe it was both.

As their eyes locked, Heesoo quickly averted her gaze but then slowly raised her head again to meet his.

Jaehyuk couldn’t tell if her expression was pleading for help or asking him to stay silent about their past.

What he did know was that a storm of emotions was erupting inside him, and his unbearable anger was growing stronger by the second.

Why, in the first place, had she even come to a place like this?

“It’s such a long time ago. I barely even remember.”

At Donghwan’s gesture, Heesoo, unable to endure any longer, shielded her side with one hand and replied quietly.

But Jaehyuk, hearing her words, felt his stomach churn as if the world was spinning. Was she saying it for him to hear? He found himself stunned.

“Is that so? Well, it’s all in the past anyway,” Donghwan said with a sly grin, placing a hand on Heesoo’s shoulder. A vein bulged on Jaehyuk’s forehead. It was as if Donghwan was determined to settle an old score from ten years ago.

“If you’re coming to places like this, you know exactly what to expect, don’t you? So, how does it feel to have a reunion like this?”

A cheap provocation.

Jaehyuk had no intention of falling for Donghwan’s transparent tricks. To think that, at his age, Donghwan’s idea of a grand scheme was humiliating a friend who had just returned after ten years. Maintaining their relationship no longer seemed worth it.

“Boring.”

Jaehyuk gave a short reply, deliberately dropping his gaze to his glass with an air of indifference.

The Gwangwoon Group, where Donghwan hailed from, was a lawless zone overflowing with children from legal wives, mistresses, and even illegitimate affairs.

Even if it wasn’t Baek Donghwan, there were plenty of alternatives for networking. Jaehyuk had always considered Donghwan beneath him, tolerating him only out of necessity, but now he felt it was time to draw a clear line.

And then there was Seo Heesoo.

The girl he had grown up with but could never call family.

His first love, who had broken his heart into pieces as she bid him goodbye.

Someone he thought of now and then, hoping she was doing well somewhere out there—a figure locked in the past.

“So, you left to live independently, declaring you’d make a life for yourself, and this is where it’s led you?”

Jaehyuk stood up abruptly. His gaze, full of disdain, settled on Heesoo, who still kept her head down.

Her continued refusal to meet his eyes felt like a plea for him to pretend not to know her. Jaehyuk had to suppress the storm brewing inside him, repeating to himself that she was no longer his concern.

Whatever had brought her here, Seo Heesoo was no longer the woman he had once known. This might not even have been her first time in such a setting.

“Jaehyuk, I went to so much trouble to set this up, and you’re leaving? The fun part hasn’t even started yet. Why don’t you stick around and join in?” Donghwan taunted.

“Forget it.”

As Jaehyuk turned to leave, a soft cry escaped Heesoo’s lips behind him. Voices rose as his friends tried to intervene.

“Donghwan, you’ve had too much to drink.”

“Someone stop Donghwan already!”

Jaehyuk instinctively turned his head, and what he saw froze him in his tracks.

“Hey, you bitch! Do as you’re told before I beat the crap out of you!” Donghwan snarled, yanking at Heesoo’s clothes by the shoulder.

“Let go,” Heesoo muttered, clutching at her torn shirt.

Her face, pale with fear, contorted as she bit her lip. Her delicate arm suddenly swung through the air, striking Donghwan hard across the face.

Slap!

For a moment, the shock of being slapped twice rendered Donghwan speechless, but then he erupted, spewing curses as he lunged at Heesoo. At the same time, Jaehyuk’s fist flew toward Donghwan.

“You bastard, there are limits to what you can touch.”

The room descended into chaos.

Women screamed and scrambled to get away. Friends rushed to pull Jaehyuk and Donghwan apart. Donghwan laughed maniacally even as he got hit, while Jaehyuk, his eyes blazing, kept throwing punches.

The scene that was on the verge of turning into a full-blown brawl was finally stopped by Heesoo. She clung to Jaehyuk’s arm as he continued to throw his fists.

“Oppa, stop it.”

Letting go of Donghwan’s collar, which he had been gripping tightly, Jaehyuk threw him to the floor and cracked his neck with a sharp motion.

“Don’t get cocky, Baek Donghwan. Don’t ever show up in front of me again.”

While Donghwan smirked and wiped away the blood trickling from his split lip, Jaehyuk grabbed Heesoo, who stood nearby, and pulled her outside.