Odysseus
“They say the real thing is better than a photograph.”
Seok-hyeon cut in at once with the answer. Gi-tae collected himself, straightened properly, and offered his trademark smiling eyes.
“Jo Gi-tae. I’m going to marry Na-bin. So that makes us brothers-in-law, doesn’t it? How old are you, by the way?”
Seok-hyeon seemed to catch the intent immediately and smiled softly.
“Thirty-one.”
“Ah, so I’m a year older. Once we get close, we can drop the formalities, yeah?”
Seok-hyeon only smiled without answering. It looked as though he had no intention of getting casual. Gi-tae’s gaze shifted cleanly. The sense that he found Seok-hyeon disagreeable landed at once.
“What do you do?”
“I run a business as well.”
“Ah, I see. These days anyone who sells a little something calls it a business.”
He shortened his speech with quiet presumption and gestured around the banquet hall. The lighting was dazzling enough to make one dizzy; there was even a bar stocked with liquor.
“First time in a place like this, Seok-hyeon? People get bored if you just call it an investment briefing these days. Enjoy yourself and it’ll start to make sense.”
“I see. I’ll make sure to enjoy myself thoroughly today.”
“If you’re in business, you’ll need good investment. I know a lot of people—want me to introduce you? Some Hankuk University alumni among them.”
The intent to place himself above Seok-hyeon was plain. Da-yeon tried to intervene, but Seok-hyeon only smiled calmly.
“Alumni, then. I’m class of XX, so that would make you class of XW?”
Calculating the entrance year from the age, he asked, and Gi-tae’s mouth abruptly closed. Na-bin stepped in.
“…Oppa could have gotten into Hankuk University right after military service, but he studied a little longer to go to medical school. Our grandfather said he’d leave him the hospital—insisted any son-in-law had to have a medical license no matter what…”
“Why bring all that up? Who even cares about senior and junior these days?”
Even though he was older than Seok-hyeon, the junior status seemed to sting; Gi-tae stopped Na-bin with a forced smile. Na-bin’s mouth snapped shut.
“What department were you in? Looking like that at Hankuk University, you must have been famous.”
“I was also in medical school.”
Silence fell. Gi-tae laughed awkwardly.
“Haha… So Da-yeon brought a doctor boyfriend too.”
At Gi-tae’s words, Seok-hyeon laid his own hand over Da-yeon’s where it rested on his arm.
“I have no intention of inheriting any hospital, and I already have my own work, so you needn’t concern yourself.”
Na-bin, who had been wearing a sour face, cut in.
“What kind of business are you in?”
“Aesthetics.”
“Aesthetics? Selling cosmetics? Or skincare? Can I get some too?”
The intent to dig was obvious. Seok-hyeon answered as if it were nothing.
“We do cosmetics as well, but the main focus is skincare. There are multiple branches, so you can go wherever is convenient.”
“Where is it? Somewhere I’d recognize if I heard the name?”
“I’ve run out of business cards, so I’ll give you one next time.”
Seok-hyeon carefully lowered Da-yeon’s arm, slowly drew a card case from his inner pocket, and held a card out only to Gi-tae. Gi-tae read along the letters.
“Sigma One?”
“That’s the company name. The clinic is Se-ah Clinic.”
Na-bin seemed to know the place. Her expression changed completely.
“That’s… yours, Seok-hyeon?”
“I’ll make sure my ‘sister-in-law’ doesn’t feel shortchanged, so come by when you have time.”
At Seok-hyeon’s easy cheek, Na-bin’s face crumpled even further. Gi-tae, still looking at the card, muttered to himself.
“The CEO of a global aesthetic group… is young.”
“I was lucky.”
It seemed to be a well-known name in the industry. While Da-yeon remained bewildered, Seok-hyeon took her hand again.
“And Gi-tae happens to be preparing a business of his own. I’d be glad if I could be of any help.”
Gi-tae’s face brightened at once.
“Of course. We’re all going to be family now. We men should stick together. It’s a house full of women, so it’d be good if the sons-in-law put in a little effort…”
“Yes, that sounds fine. Only…”
For the first time Seok-hyeon cut him off mid-sentence.
“I’m rather old-fashioned, and I dislike anything ambiguous.”
“……?”
“It would be more comfortable if we settled the forms of address.”
He smiled kindly and looked at Da-yeon.
“Da-yeon is the older sister, isn’t she?”
His gaze turned again to Na-bin and Gi-tae. Grasping the context, Gi-tae followed with an awkward laugh.
“Haha, that’s right. …Hyungnim. I should call you hyungnim. Na-bin, you’ve got yourself a fine brother-in-law.”
Na-bin still could not find her tongue. She even snatched the card from Gi-tae to read it again. Seok-hyeon ignored her existence entirely and smiled at Gi-tae.
“Then, Gi-tae, I look forward to working with you. And with Da-yeon as well.”
“Ah, yes. Of course. I’m always good to my wife’s older sister.”
With Gi-tae’s abrupt about-face, the matter seemed settled. Seok-hyeon drew Da-yeon along by the hand.
“From here on I’ll look around separately with Da-yeon. If I have questions, I’ll ask.”
“I-I’ll explain everything myself. If you’re thinking of investing…”
“Thank you, but seeing it with my own eyes makes a stronger impression. Shall we go, Da-yeon?”
As they left the spot, she felt it clearly. The Shin Seok-hyeon who stood before Kim Da-yeon and the Shin Seok-hyeon who stood before others were different people. The presence radiating from him was sharp and cold—so much so that she could not tell which was the true core.
She had thought they would simply sit, but they kept moving from place to place, listening to explanations one by one. Even as she heard the business pitches, Da-yeon could not grasp the substance and grew weary.
All the walking seemed to stir the alcohol; her head swam.
“Do your legs hurt?”
Seok-hyeon pointed to chairs deeper in the hall. Da-yeon nodded and went with him to sit. He rose again, went somewhere, and returned with a glass, which he handed her. After drinking the water she felt a little better.
“Are you all right, Seok-hyeon?”
She asked with two meanings: whether he was tired, and whether the sparring with her half-sister and prospective brother-in-law had been all right. Seok-hyeon answered with an unbothered face.
“Did I look like I wasn’t?”
He glanced sidelong toward Na-bin.
“The one who doesn’t look all right is Da-yeon’s sister.”
From a distance Na-bin kept darting glances their way. Her eyes glittered with jealousy.
Having noticed something, Seok-hyeon asked Da-yeon,
“You don’t get along with Na-bin?”
Da-yeon hesitated before answering.
“My sister went to study in China when she was in middle school. So… we aren’t particularly close.”
“I see.”
Seok-hyeon seemed to think quietly. Presently he accepted a drink from a passing hall attendant and took a brief sip. It must have been strong; his brow furrowed.
Sensing that Seok-hyeon was more on edge than usual, Da-yeon watched his face.
“You only came because of me… You’re not tired?”
“It’s true I came because of you, but I’m not tired. On the contrary, it’s convenient. I can observe.”
“Observe?”
“You have to observe if you want to know what kind of person someone is.”
Seok-hyeon turned his gaze once more toward Kim Na-bin and Jo Gi-tae.
“What they want… and what they fear.”
She felt she understood Seok-hyeon a little better. When there was work to be done, he seemed to survey the situation calmly. The type who never got excited and thought everything through alone until a conclusion formed. Unlike herself, who avoided conflict, he did not seem the sort to simply leave another’s hostility alone.
Sensing her tense eyes, Seok-hyeon added gently,
“…Since they’re going to be family, I thought it would be good to know.”
“What kind of people do they seem like?”
“Like two of the same kind of human meeting each other.”
Seok-hyeon chose his words more coldly than usual. Hostility was plain in them, yet Da-yeon did not bother to correct him. She recalled the way Jo Gi-tae, while dating Na-bin, had still subtly crossed lines and made advances toward her as well.
Seok-hyeon swept his gaze around the hall and added,
“Odysseus…. What intention was behind that name?”
“He said it was the project name. That it meant the will to conquer the world…”
She answered, recalling what Gi-tae had told them earlier. Just as the Odysseus of myth had built the Trojan horse, Gi-tae seemed to want to become something similar. Seok-hyeon let out a small sigh.
“I see. I thought it might have another meaning.”
“What meaning?”
“The Odysseus I thought of…”
For a moment there was no more speech. A strange feeling rose, and Da-yeon looked at him.
“After being away from home a long time, he returns…”
“…….”
“And destroys those who tormented his wife Penelope or sought to marry her, doesn’t he?”
Looking at the banner, Seok-hyeon’s eyes held a light both melancholy and cold. Unable to grasp the meaning, Da-yeon could not answer.
Seok-hyeon smiled again. The brief, shadowed expression had vanished cleanly.