A Table Full of Vipers

Everyone at this table was out of their mind.

To Chaeyoon, not one of them looked the least bit sane. They had never been a normal family to begin with, but somehow tonight they all seemed like outright lunatics.

"I'm just saying, if the little sister-in-law had done her job properly, none of this would've happened. Or maybe the problem is Moon Taejun—that bastard. Could be, honestly. I always figured the guy was a eunuch. Does he even get it up at night?"

Moon Taemin cackled at his own vulgarity, tossing out the filthy words as casually as commenting on the weather. His wife, Jiyoung, smacked his thigh and shot him a warning look.

Filthy pig. The retort caught in the back of Chaeyoon's throat.

As if he knew anything.

She and Taejun had been meticulous about birth control.

"That's enough. What kind of behavior is this at the dinner table? What's the point of dredging it up now anyway?"

Jang Hyun-ah put on the airs of a peacemaker, but the mockery glinting in her eyes was plain as day.

Something in Chaeyoon snapped. It was one bridge too far. Even the monkeys at the zoo weren't toyed with this cruelly.

She had never once liked their attitude, not in the entire year she'd been part of this family—but tonight, she couldn't summon a shred of courtesy for any of them.

"Well, then doesn't that mean you have a problem too, big brother? There's been no news from you, after all."

Taemin and Jiyoung had been stuffing themselves with herbal tonics for months on end, yet there was still no pregnancy to show for it.

"Excuse me? Why are you suddenly dragging us into this? That's really strange, Chaeyoon."

Jiyoung's face flushed crimson as she flared up at the unexpected counterattack, her voice pitching high.

"Enough, all of you. What on earth are you doing at the dinner table?"

Moon Daeshik slammed his spoon down and barked.

"Calm yourself, darling. Your blood pressure. Please, eat. This is bokjiritang today—your favorite. Ajumma, bring some more broth, warmed up this time."

Jang Hyun-ah smoothed over the chaos at the table with practiced speed. Still huffing, unable to fully swallow his anger, Moon Daeshik yielded to her honeyed voice and pulled his gaze away from Chaeyoon.

The moment the atmosphere seemed to ease, Moon Taesoo threw in a casual remark.

"Well, it's still a bit of a shame. Our little sister-in-law was quite the mood-maker around here. So bright and guileless."

"Oh, please. You think that was being guileless? That's called having no sense at all."

Minjung chided her husband lightly.

"That's right—the eldest is correct. Every house has its family traditions. This is exactly why people should live among their own kind, matched in breeding and class."

At Jang Hyun-ah's words, the two daughters-in-law hunched their shoulders and nodded along.

"Well, since it's come to this, she should at least demand a generous settlement. She married straight out of college—she doesn't have a single day of work experience. A girl's got to eat."

"Ah, and let me say this upfront—don't go submitting your resume to any of our subsidiaries or affiliates for some retail sales job. It would just make things awkward for everyone."

Moon Taemin sneered.

"Of course. That won't be happening. What a disgrace that would be to the family."

"As if anyone can just waltz into a sales position. With no experience, no less."

Chaeyoon hadn't said a single word, yet they snickered among themselves, tossing the barbs back and forth like a ball.

"Still, you have to admit it's a blessing in disguise for the little sister-in-law. She's free of that cold-blooded son of a bitch at last. Personally, I've never been able to see that bastard as human."

"……"

Chaeyoon glared at Moon Taesoo with every ounce of strength she had, watching him casually flay his own brother alive.

The word "brotherly love" had never fit this household, but she hadn't realized the hostility ran this naked, this open.

All this time she had heard words like these and never once opened her mouth. She'd told herself it was for Taejun's sake as much as her own.

"In any case—congratulations."

"And what, exactly, are you congratulating?"

Moon Taemin, who had been smirking until the very end, suddenly twisted around at the voice behind him. Still in his work clothes, Taejun was standing directly behind him.

"Well, well. What brings you here—actually joining us for a meal. They say a person who changes overnight must be dying. Go on, be yourself."

"Anyone who collapses once gets scared they might die, I suppose. Khekhek."

Moon Taemin snickered, picking up where Taesoo left off.

"Or maybe he came to show off how much better he is than the rest of us."

Taemin had heard that just this afternoon, Taejun had demanded the accounting ledgers for the outlets and the duty-free business. What he intended to do was obvious.

Damn it. Insufferable bastard.

"That's enough. And you—sit down."

At Moon Daeshik's low growl, the two jeering brothers fell silent.

Chaeyoon stared at Taejun as he took the seat beside her. In that instant, an ache she couldn't name twisted through her chest. She had always known that Taesoo and Taemin disliked Taejun. But what she had witnessed tonight bordered on outright contempt. It dawned on her that Taejun must have endured, year after year, the very same treatment she herself had suffered through. The moment that thought took hold, something hot began to writhe at the edge of her chest.

It's infuriating.

The words she couldn't bring herself to say rolled around in her mouth like grains of sand.

"What were we talking about, just now?"

He should have been furious. Instead, Taejun settled into his seat as if nothing had happened—and asked about the conversation he'd just interrupted.

Not a single person pretended to hear him.

"Taemin, you tell him."

"'Hyung' to you. I was born six months earlier."

"Shut up and eat your rice."

Moon Daeshik roared.

"Yes, Taemin, you stop too. A man should eat his dinner properly."

Jang Hyun-ah rounded her eyes with aggravating sweetness and soothed her son. Taemin, reading the room, pressed his lips into a sulky line and began eating.

The excruciating dinner—so awkward it was hard to tell whether the rice went in through the nose or the mouth—finally came to an end.

That night.

Moon Taesoo and Moon Taemin gathered quietly at their mother's summons.

"But seriously, Mom. Are you sure Taejun's really lost his memory?"

"What are you getting at?"

"It's just—think about it. If he can't remember the year he spent living with his wife, then he shouldn't know anything about what happened in the last year and a half either. Except apparently he does."

"Why?"

Jang Hyun-ah asked.

"Because he asked for the accounting records—last year's total sales, first half of this year, and last month's numbers."

"So what?"

"Damn it. Back in the spring, that bastard told me straight to my face: if he checked this year's books and found them a disaster, the Chairman's orders be damned, he was taking the outlets and the duty-free business back. Who the hell does he think he is?"

"When did he ask for them?"

"Today."

Taemin ground his teeth until it seemed they might crack.

"And are they a disaster?"

Jang Hyun-ah asked, as if the answer were obvious.

"Ugh, Mom. Have you seen the economy lately? We're not even at rock bottom—we're below it. And when people are strapped for cash, what do you think they cut first? Shopping. Shopping, Mom."

Taemin whined.

"Don't say idiotic things. So what, the economy was raining gold from the sky and that's why Taejun's sales went up?"

"Well… that's… aish, I don't know. Look, the outlet and duty-free markets are in the gutter either way. And I'm not handing anything over. Why should he get to take what Father gave me to prove myself? The nerve of that guy. A bastard born on the wrong side of the sheets, throwing his weight around."

Taemin fumed, unable to contain his rage.

"And what do you think, Mother?"

"Dr. Kang would have no reason to lie. It's genuine. Taejun's been coming home early these past couple of days, fussing over his wife. He's never done that, not once. As if he'd always been that way."

"Figures. He nearly dies, wakes up, and suddenly realizes his wife is gorgeous. She's more than easy on the eyes, after all."

At Taesoo's remark, Taemin smirked.

"She does look like the type you used to parade around, Hyung."

"Shut your mouth. Watch where that mouth goes."

Taesoo's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I'm not wrong, am I?"

"Enough. Is that the issue right now?"

"Just saying."

Taemin pressed his lips together and fell silent.

"So what are you going to do? The Chairman cherishes the Group above even his own children. You know he throws out anyone who damages it, without a second's hesitation."

Jang Hyun-ah heaved a long sigh. Only then did Taemin grasp how dire his situation was, and he began glancing nervously between the two of them.

"Pathetic boy. With no one to push you out of the way, you're still getting shoved aside by that bastard Taejun."

Taesoo clicked his tongue in disgust.

"Don't just stand there watching. Come up with a plan. We can't let him take it from you like this."

"Easier said than done."

"Think anyway. I'll manage the Chairman somehow and buy you time. Just get this year's numbers to last year's level."

"Fine. Hey—hand over those account books, then."

"All right."

"And as for you two—why is there still no news from either of you? Make me a grandchild, and quickly."

Jang Hyun-ah could not shake her irritation that neither of her sons had produced a child yet.