RB - 8

Chapter 8: Two Ruthless Beasts

Seoyeon had stated all the conditions she had prepared, and Jeonghyeok remained silent at her offer.

‘Is the allowance and tuition too much? What if he refuses?’ Seoyeon swallowed nervously, and before despair could wash over her, she urged Jeonghyeok.

“This is a reasonable amount for the mental labor. You know I’ve been going home over the flower bed to avoid seeing your face, right? Seeing you is a painful experience for me.”

At Seoyeon’s harsh words, Jeonghyeok finally opened his mouth leisurely.

He wasn’t dissatisfied with the money, but with something else, and he narrowed his brow, cornering her.

“Mental labor? Why do you assume there will be no physical labor? You should know what adult men and women do when they date.”

Seoyeon frowned fiercely. She straightened her back as if about to get up from her seat at any moment. She seemed ready to explode, yet she also looked fragile, as if she would crumble if grasped, a gesture that only provoked Jeonghyeok further.

“I’m warning you in advance, if you lay a hand on me, I have no intention of playing around with you in bed. I clearly said earlier it wasn’t payment.”

Seoyeon’s white nape was visible through her black hair. Reflected in the cafe’s lighting, her nape was particularly pale. She desperately tried to appear strong, but her vulnerable side was exposed.

Jeonghyeok teased her with a relaxed smile. He was like a well-fed predator toying with its captured prey.

“What are you thinking? When the cafe is busy on weekends, I could help with making coffee. Can’t a girlfriend do that much?”

Seoyeon snapped at Jeonghyeok’s words. It was utter nonsense.

“Don’t talk nonsense. It’s going to be a secret at the company.”

“Why necessarily? I’m not a keychain you’d be ashamed to show off anywhere.”

Jeonghyeok unbuttoned a few of his shirt buttons and smirked, a faint scent of musk wafting over.

Damn it, Seoyeon gulped down the ice water. Regardless of thirst or anything else, it felt like she was simply drinking a lubricant to compromise with reality.

“The good-looking owner of Café L’amant is extremely popular with the female employees in this building. I don’t want to receive unnecessary attention, so keep it a secret.”

“That’s a bit difficult. Have you seen a rather young-looking guy among the part-timers here? The one with silver hair?”

Seoyeon easily recalled him. A fairy-like guy who attracted attention no less than Jeonghyeok, a white, idol-like kid. The one that Finance Team Manager Kim raved about as being her type.

“I’ve seen him. People say he looks like a fairy.”

Jeonghyeok chuckled. He said with an incredulous expression.

“A fairy? That bastard is a mole. A spy my father planted.”

Seoyeon narrowed her brows as if she roughly understood what he meant.

The building owner, playing cafe owner as a hobby in this prime location, must be receiving pressure to get married, quite predictably.

“I’m being watched by a mole in the cafe, and I go on arranged dates on weekends. Please solve my pitiful life for me.”

“What am I supposed to solve?”

“Why do you keep being so disappointing? I clearly heard you’re JB Company’s ace. Can’t you grasp what you can do as a girlfriend?”

Of course, she understood, but Seoyeon hesitated for a while before speaking.

“Let’s do this. I’ll pretend to be a regular customer who frequents the cafe, and act like we’ve hit it off. Since we only need to deceive the mole, be careful in front of the people at the company.”

“And on weekends, come to my arranged dates and ruin them.”

“What? You want me to work on weekends?”

Jeonghyeok stared intently at the flaring Seoyeon. Their gazes met in the air for a long time.

At his enigmatic smile, Seoyeon stopped what she was about to say.

Jeonghyeok’s sadistic words, “Why do I feel good when you get angry?” came to mind, and she ended up avoiding his gaze.

Perhaps because her cold hadn’t completely healed? Seoyeon didn’t want to reveal the chill that was washing over her entire body. As they say, the best defense is a good offense. A sharp attack aimed at him.

“For six months, change your perfume. You smell disgusting.”

But Jeonghyeok played above her, and the attack failed weakly. He retorted in a smooth tone.

“Stop lying. You used to like this perfume.”

That night, in the deep of night when even the neon signs of the downtown area were turned off.

Junghyeok, having finished his shower, came out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel.

His choice to relieve stress by swimming was a good one. The curves created by his tall height and broad shoulders were beautiful, and the sculpted muscles beneath them rippled with every step he took. The dripping water was the epitome of decadent beauty.

The vast living room was desolate, with only a sofa and a table placed sparsely, without a TV. It was an unfurnished space, as if someone was about to leave at any moment. Silence flowed in the living room, reflecting the owner’s disposition.

As Junghyeok entered the living room, a familiar figure came into his view. His younger brother, Jinhyeok, was sitting on the sofa.

Junghyeok, even seeing the uninvited guest, asked naturally without any sign of surprise.

“How did you get in? What’s wrong with this building’s security?”

Jinhyeok, fixing his gaze on a vase placed on the table, replied dryly.

“I pressed the password.”

“How do you know the password? I never told you.”

“It was simple. Han Seoyeon’s six-digit birthday.”

Junghyeok’s expression turned coldly. What instantly filled the quiet living room was a distinct murderous intent. However, it wasn’t clear whether it belonged to Junghyeok or Jinhyeok.

“How do you know Han Seoyeon’s birthday?”

“It’s on the company intranet. I told you I’m on the same team as Han Seoyeon.”

“Why did you come here? What kind of good relationship do you have?”

Jinhyeok calmly stated the purpose of his visit. It was a raw voice that didn’t hide his beastly hostility.

“Hyung, what did you say to Han Seoyeon?”

Junghyeok smiled cruelly. A contemptuous sneer towards his younger brother flowed out.

“So you quit your well-paying job in New York and even got a new identity? As a new employee, at that.”

“Don’t change the subject. I’m asking you what you said to Han Seoyeon.”

“Why are you so rude? Are you going to keep talking to your hyung like that?”

Jinhyeok growled in a low voice. A parched, metallic sound scraped his throat.

“I stayed quiet even when hyung was putting on a ridiculous act as Daniel God. I pretended not to know even when you set up a cafe on the first floor and pretended to be the owner. Don’t cross the line anymore, Shin Junghyeok.”

Thump.

Junghyeok threw the towel he was using to dry his hair onto the table in front of the sofa. Water droplets falling from his hair soaked into the carpet. Jinhyeok remained still.

“You’re the one crossing the line, Shin Jinhyeok. I’m Han Seoyeon’s ex-boyfriend who broke her heart, and even my appearance makes her daily life miserable. That’s what influence is, you bastard.”

Junghyeok coldly added to his unresponsive brother. It was a fiercely arrogant confidence.

“Can you make Han Seoyeon cry? I can send her to rock bottom with just one word.”

“...I can make Han Seoyeon smile.”

Junghyeok frowned, looking at his brother as if he were a bug.

“Shin Jinhyeok, don’t pretend to be normal. It’s creepy.”

“Hyung, please, at least try to live pretending to be normal like me. We received treatment together when we were young. Try to live while remembering what we learned back then.”

Junghyeok smiled bitterly. A meanness was added to his handsome face.

A sadistic pleasure that wouldn’t fall behind any of the world’s worst villains was revealed in his expression.

Jinhyeok, looking at his brother’s face, spoke sharply as if disgusted.

“Hyung, you can’t marry Han Seoyeon anyway, you’re the great successor. So just leave her alone.”

This ridiculous farce of brothers fighting over one woman had to stop here.

Junghyeok carefully chose words to provoke his younger brother. This was a lie intended to completely break his brother’s will to fight.

“You provincial fool. Knowing how your uncles live, you haven’t learned a thing. Look at our father, for crying out loud. I heard the woman he recently took as a mistress is younger than you.”

In Junghyeok and Jinhyeok’s family, womanizing wasn’t a flaw. Rather, it was something to be proud of.

If you had the ability, it was natural to enjoy the company of many women, and to give the mistresses generous compensation. The more children, the better, regardless of whether they were direct or collateral descendants.

The anachronistic idea that “it is natural for heroes to enjoy wine and women” flowed like a family tradition in the brothers’ home.

“Hyung, no way...”

“I can play with her for six months and if we get attached, I can set her up in a separate household. It’s not a bad choice for Han Seoyeon either.”

Jinhyeok’s reason and patience reached their limit. Because it was something that was entirely possible.

Whatever the brothers both wanted always ended up belonging to the older brother.

Clang! A sudden shattering sound echoed in the quiet space.

A glass vase narrowly missed Junghyeok’s profile. Jinhyeok threw it, and it shattered mercilessly against the wall.

Broken shards of glass were scattered at Junghyeok’s feet.

Jinhyeok’s eyes were empty. The abyss beyond his dark pupils was immeasurably deep. His younger brother’s determination not to be deprived this time was vivid.

“Hyung, I think you’ve forgotten. I’m the villain the hospital warned was dangerous. I’m barely living while pretending to be normal, so don’t drive me crazy. It wouldn’t be good for us to be on the 9 o’clock news for something other than a property dispute. We have a social standing to maintain.”

Having finished speaking, Jinhyeok rose from the sofa. He headed to the front door without hesitation. If he stayed here any longer, one of them, or perhaps both, would be in danger.

It was a sharp closing to the brothers’ farce.

Humans who have to learn emotions.

Emotionally impaired individuals who can be mitigated, treated, or socialized through education.

When the two brothers were young, they underwent a desperate education that forcibly instilled emotions into them based on other people’s actions and expressions.

When both sons in the family were diagnosed with having below-average empathy, Chairman Shin Tae-myung was rather pleased. The doctor was rather embarrassed, saying that it wasn’t a serious level.

Chairman Shin Tae-myung shouted so loudly that the entire mansion echoed.

“Difficulty empathizing with emotions? Ruthlessness is a quality of a great businessman that you can’t buy with money.”

Moreover, since both Junghyeok and Jinhyeok had extraordinary IQs, this was a blessing from heaven.

Chairman Shin Tae-myung brought a subsidiary establishment proposal to the board of directors, which everyone opposed. The momentum of the subsidiary established at that time is overwhelming the holding company, Taesung Group.

“My ruthless, beast-like sons will grow Taesung Group.”

The expectations Chairman Shin Tae-myung had for Junghyeok and Jinhyeok were as firm as a religion.