Are You Avoiding Me?
“So does that mean the Vice President’s out of the running for Electronics?”
“Right? I heard it’s going to be a real nail-biter if he wants to become the largest shareholder.”
“You have no idea how vicious Madam’s been lately because of it. Every time the Chairman brings up the eldest young master, I can feel her eyes on me—my heart starts pounding.”
“Of course. He’s the eldest grandson. They say he looks exactly like Chairman Kwon did when he was still alive.”
“Exactly. Our eldest young master is genuinely gorgeous.”
Word was that Chairman Kwon’s face had nearly split from grinning at the first real glimpse of a proper eldest grandson, and the stories flying around were getting louder by the day.
“When he was still alive they treated him like some lowlife entertainer, wouldn’t even look at him. But look at that face—he’s the spitting image of the late madam.”
People who liked the Kwon family said Hyun-jin took after his father’s side; those who didn’t insisted he took after his mother’s.
“He’s so dignified. Most grandsons are… well, you know, but the Chairman must be over the moon.”
“Exactly. I even heard he remembered Director Hwang’s birthday.”
Director Hwang was the head of the Rihwang Art Center and Kwon Hyun-jin’s paternal grandmother. She and Chairman Kwon had been living separately for years; I had never once run into her.
Apparently the Chairman’s spectacular womanizing years ago had shattered whatever was left between them beyond repair. These days the two of them only appeared together at public events—a pure show-window couple.
“Does Director Hwang still hold stock in Electronics?”
“Of course she does. That’s why they never divorced, isn’t it?”
“Neither of them can. LK isn’t exactly a family you mess with. Until her father passed, even the Chairman couldn’t lift a finger.”
“They still walk around hand-in-hand in front of the cameras. I nearly die laughing every time I see them on the news.”
Something in Kwon Hyun-jin had clearly shifted. Manager Yoon’s influence, no doubt. Relief washed over me, yet anxiety followed right behind it. It felt as though he was drifting farther and farther from me.
We were both still students now, but once we became adults, once we graduated from university… everything that came after would look completely different. The days when we could tease each other in casual speech were numbered.
“Na-hee, you’re taking good care of the eldest young master, aren’t you? Take a taxi when you go. Your arms will hurt.”
Mrs. Jang pressed another envelope of “pocket money” from Madam into my hands. Pocket money was a polite fiction; the sum was closer to a monthly salary.
“I… I do go, but twice a week is a little…”
“Just go when you have time. Madam knows how busy you are. A young person has so much to do.”
But was it really all right to accept this? Getting paid a salary just for delivering side dishes a few times a month felt wrong. Because they were chaebol and money simply overflowed? Because I was the diligent Manager Lee’s daughter?
The thoughts churned so hard I couldn’t bring myself to visit Kwon Hyun-jin’s house. I didn’t realize a full week had already slipped by.
To every one of Kwon Hyun-jin’s nagging texts I threw up excuses—hunting for a studio apartment, orientation I had to attend, helping Mom, simply no time.
“Ugh, what is this smell!”
Madam appeared in the kitchen with her face twisted in disgust. The ladies who had been murmuring scattered like a school of minnows before a shark.
“I told you not to simmer stock and cook things like this in here! My nose is burning!”
Tonight’s dinner was yukgaejang—spicy, salty red broth packed with beef, exactly the kind of food Chairman Kwon loved.
Mrs. Jang latched onto Madam’s side at once, taking her bag and smoothing her ruffled feathers.
“You’re back already? I thought you were going to the country club. Didn’t you play?”
“The greens look like shit—how am I supposed to enjoy a round?”
“Of course. No matter how much they clear the snow in winter…”
“Enough. Forget golf. Just get rid of that first! The whole place reeks!”
Madam’s temper was boiling over. She jabbed a finger at the counter and stormed out of the kitchen.
“I’m sorry, Madam. We’ll clear it right away.”
Under that scolding, Mom and I carried the heavy cast-iron pot over to the Building B kitchen.
“Careful, it’s hot, puppy.”
“Okay.”
While Mom shredded the hanwoo brisket along the grain, I watched the broth full of fernbrake and taro stems. I was carefully skimming the red foam that kept bubbling up when—
“Oh my goodness. Who do we have here!”
The scrape of a chair being shoved back was loud. Mom’s voice jumped higher than usual.
“You leave without even eating, and every time you come I never get to see your face! Disappearing like the wind—I was really starting to feel hurt, eldest young master.”
“I’ve been well.”
It was Kwon Hyun-jin. He was standing in the Building B kitchen, smiling with unexpected warmth.
“He’s so handsome it isn’t fair. Our eldest young master was such a beautiful child. Everyone who visited used to marvel that a boy could be that pretty, remember?”
Mom looked as proud as if the fully grown Kwon Hyun-jin were her own son. If Chan-hee had seen this, he would have sulked for a month.
“How did he grow up so tall and striking? Seung-ju’s big, but the eldest young master looks just as tall. I honestly wouldn’t recognize him on the street.”
“You look exactly the same, Manager.”
“Oh my, the same? How could I possibly look the same!”
Mom waved her hands in embarrassment, yet she laughed brightly.
“You’ve gotten sly in your old age. Completely different from before. So—did you come to see the Chairman?”
“No. I came for the side dishes.”
Kwon Hyun-jin’s eyes found me standing blankly by the stove like an outsider.
“They suit my taste. Really well.”
“Really? Hearing that makes me happier than anything. Wait right here. I’ve got some marinated meat in the fridge over there. And you eat kimchi, right? I’ll pack some kkakdugi I made with the kimjang radishes.”
Mom left the kitchen in high spirits.
Only Kwon Hyun-jin and I remained in the Building B kitchen. The silence was so stifling I couldn’t even turn to look at him.
“Finally get to see Your Highness.”
The sarcastic tone sent a chill down my spine. Alone with me, Kwon Hyun-jin dropped the mask and showed his true colors.
“It’s fucking hard to get a look at your face.”
When other people were around versus when it was just the two of us—Kwon Hyun-jin’s expression and even the tone of his voice changed so completely it was almost like dual personalities.
“Having fun, Lee Na-hee?”
As if the smile had never existed, a cold gaze fixed on me without a shred of warmth.
“I said, are you having fun. Playing with me.”
“……I told you not to talk to me here.”
“Then come outside.”
Side dishes were clearly the last thing on his mind. Kwon Hyun-jin simply walked out of Building B and delivered his order.
“I’ll be waiting outside.”
I knew exactly which spot he meant.
Mom, completely unaware, came bustling back loaded with containers of food. Only after I made up some excuse for the boy who had vanished without a word was I able to step out through the main gate.
Outside the main gate, in the CCTV’s blind spot.
The closer I drew to Kwon Hyun-jin’s back, the fainter acrid smell of smoke drifted toward me. Had he actually smoked a cigarette here…? At the house where the elders of the family lived?
I froze in surprise the same instant he turned and our eyes met.
Without warning he grabbed my arm and pulled me sideways. My head dropped like a guilty criminal’s of its own accord. Facing that relentless stare was terrifying… and I felt sorry.
Kwon Hyun-jin looked down at me for a long moment, then let out a deep sigh. Where I was too cowardly to speak, he broke the eternity of silence.
“Are you avoiding me?”
The fact that this was a blind spot where no one could see us was the only thing that kept me from panicking completely.
“Lee Na-hee. What the hell are you doing right now.”
“…….”
“You kissed me first. And now you’re acting like this.”
“That wasn’t a kiss!”
It had been a peck on the cheek. No—my lips had barely brushed his face. The contact had been so pathetic I could almost claim it was an accident.
I blurted the protest out of sheer injustice, and Kwon Hyun-jin gave a crooked little smile.
“Finally looking at me. Fuck.”