A Steadying Hand
“I heard there’s a collaboration with S Group.”
“Yes.”
“I’d like you to arrange a meeting. Preferably in your capacity as the executive director’s father-in-law.”
It was a brazen demand, delivered as if the favor had already been promised. She had seen this side of him often enough, but the problem was that this was the first time he had laid his true intentions bare in front of anyone other than her brother and herself.
Because I’m young, he thinks he can look down on me and use me openly?
What reason would a prosecutor have to meet with a corporation? And as the father-in-law of another company’s next chairman, no less.
Even without knowing the full situation, a bad feeling settled over her. No matter how little Yuju still knew about the working world as a student, she was not completely ignorant of how things worked.
Can an executive just casually arrange deals between a third party and another company like that? If something goes wrong…
In an instant, Yuju’s thoughts spiraled into a terrible hypothetical.
She did not want that.
She had decided to use Seo-won for her brother’s freedom, yet the thought that it might end up harming Seo-won himself filled her with fear. It was truly ironic.
“I think it would be more appropriate for you to secure that with your own power, Father.”
The words slipped out before she knew it—an act driven solely by the wish that no harm would come to Seo-won.
It was the first time she had raised her voice in front of her father. The room, which had been filled with warm conversation until then, fell silent.
Beom-su, whom she had expected to roar in fury at once, was strangely quiet. As if he were dreaming, given that his daughter had never done such a thing before.
Then, as if realizing this was reality, a weak sigh escaped through Beom-su’s teeth.
“You’ve lost your mind.”
Beom-su muttered lowly. He was not even raising his voice, yet to Yuju the sound felt like a growl.
The scars of the past rose up. Yuju’s shoulders began to tremble, as if she had never boldly stood up to her father at all.
Even so, she refused to yield so easily this time. Just as before, she was about to firmly meet her father’s gaze when—
“……!”
She felt a hand gently wrap around hers beneath the table. Seo-won had noticed her tension and taken her hand.
It was just like that time. The same action he had taken when their marriage was first reported to her father, when she had been terrified that her act of rebellion would be exposed.
And that was not the only similarity. Seo-won calmly navigated the situation in place of the flustered, restless Yuju.
“If you have anything to discuss regarding the company, contact me through myself.”
“Huh?”
“From now on, I would prefer that you not call my wife separately.”
He was speaking politely, yet somehow it felt as if he were issuing a command.
It seemed as if he were pointing out that he knew everything—that Beom-su had been trying to persuade him through Yuju because he could not approach him directly.
Yuju had always thought of Seo-won as polite. Yet now an arrogance she never expected to see from him colored his demeanor.
As if facing someone who had no right to speak to him this way.
His calm tone made it feel as though he were addressing a subordinate.
“If that ends up souring my mood, then rather than helping, it would have the opposite effect, wouldn’t it?”
Though he used honorifics, this was a threat. Spoken without so much as a blink, without any rise or fall in his voice, so that at a glance it sounded like everyday conversation.
Yuju’s senses turned toward Seo-won as if she had never been afraid at all. She was surprised to discover that he was someone who knew how to raise his voice when it was needed.
Moreover, she finally understood why he had suddenly appeared here. He had come to warn her father not to torment her any longer.
At that thought, Yuju’s heart trembled.
It’s okay.
His eyes, which gently met hers, seemed to be saying exactly that, and it made her feel it all the more.
Yuju’s convulsing shoulders gradually found stability. In their wake, a pounding spread through her chest.
She had lived her whole life protected by her mother and brother. But they, too, were people who had to bow to their father, and they could not protect Yuju completely.
But Seo-won was different.
He was someone who had the power to do so. The proof was her father’s current attitude—unable to utter a single word even as he revealed his anger at the unexpected situation.
“…….”
Having reached her conclusion, Yuju found that her trembling had completely stopped. And yet Seo-won’s hand, which still held hers tightly without letting go, felt incredibly warm to her.
Warm enough to make her heart race.
The moment they stepped out of the restaurant, the strength left Yuju’s legs. Seo-won did not miss that instant; he wrapped an arm around her staggering shoulders and steadied her body.
A relationship where they could casually share physical contact.
At that fact, Yuju once again felt an inexplicable pounding in her chest. Though Seo-won did not seem to have the leisure for such thoughts.
“Are you okay?”
Seo-won casually reached out and brushed Yuju’s disheveled hair back. The man who had been so rude in front of Beom-su earlier had vanished, and the careful person had returned.
There was not a trace of color in her fully exposed face. It was only natural, given that she had not even been able to breathe easily until Beom-su received a call and left first.
“Want to go to the hospital?”
“…It’s not that bad.”
Yuju thought it would be ridiculous to go to the hospital just from being tense. And that Seo-won was making a fuss simply because her complexion looked a bit off.
On the other hand, she also felt a strange sensation as she assigned meaning to each of his small actions. Yuju forcibly calmed her trembling heart.
“How did you… here…”
Yuju started to speak but could not finish. The point that had been weighing on her mind the whole time finally exploded.
How he had known she was meeting her father, and why he had come all the way here.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
Not knowing what to say first, Yuju pressed her lips tightly shut. Then a calm voice flowed from Seo-won’s mouth, as if he had seen right through her inner thoughts.
Yuju’s insides churned for a moment. Because this was the first time anyone had ever said something like that to her.
The thought that she now had a guardian who actually had the power to protect her—and that it was none other than Seo-won—made a feeling bloom that was a little different from the guilt and gratitude she felt toward her brother.
She was idly curling her fingers, choosing her words, when—
“Choi Seo-won. Han Yuju.”
Suddenly a familiar voice reached her ears. A man could be seen looking at them, having parked his car in the lot in front of the restaurant. It was Tae-ju, for reasons she could not understand.
At a glance, he looked as if he had come running. Yet his breathing was somewhat settled. As if he had arrived quite some time ago.
Did he see everything just now?
Having unintentionally gotten goosebumps, Yuju made an awkward expression. Then Tae-ju, who had been maintaining a certain distance, strode over to the two of them. With a very scary face.
Yuju tensed up, afraid their fake relationship would be exposed. Contrary to her worries, however, something else seemed more important to Tae-ju.
“You—are you okay?”
“Huh?”
“I stopped by Father’s office for work, and they said he’d gone out to meet his daughter.”
“Ah. So it was you who told Seo-won, Oppa.”
She had thought it was strange. The reaction her father had shown when Seo-won appeared had been odd for someone who had called him directly.
Probably her brother had informed Seo-won the moment he learned of this. Since he was a public servant, he would not have been able to rush over during work hours.
Of course, Seo-won Oppa wasn’t in a position to come right away either…
That was why Yuju found it strange. Even though he was not a free man, he had set everything aside and run all the way here.
Though she was his legal wife, she did not think she was someone of enough value to Seo-won for that.
Even as she felt doubt, the image of Seo-won protecting her in front of her father flickered before her eyes. Her cheeks grew hot.
But then the words that came out next shifted both of their gazes, which had been on each other, toward Tae-ju.
“At first I honestly couldn’t believe it…”
Before she knew it, Tae-ju’s expression had turned serious. Unlike when he had come running in shock at the news that their father had gone to meet his younger sister, he had regained his composure. An inscrutable emotion beyond that had settled in.
“You two really like each other, don’t you?”