I Think I've Poked a Sleeping Bear
Chapter 2
The Night Sky Is Blue
“Meow.”
As the cat looked up at him and cried, the corners of Lee Heon’s lips curved upward.
“Horang-ah, have you been good?”
Meow. Horang-i cried once more, as if answering.
A collar buttoned tight to the throat, a neat tie, an immaculate suit.
A man who looked as though he wouldn't tolerate a single stray cat hair on his clothes dropped down on one knee without hesitation. Then, he thoroughly stroked the cat’s favorite spots—beneath its chin and along its forehead.
Horang-i was a cat Lee Heon had picked up off the street long ago. His father had given it that name, saying that any cat entering the ‘Lion’ household needed to be strong.
“Are you here?”
At the voice coming from behind him, Lee Heon pulled back the hand petting Horang-i and rose to his feet.
It was his mother, Yeon-sook. The stepmother he had met when he was seven years old.
To Lee Heon, Yeon-sook was the only mother he had ever known, and so he had always followed and respected her like his birth mother.
“Yes, Mother. Has everything been well?”
“What could possibly happen to me? I’m always just worried about our Yi-on.”
Yi-on was Lee Heon’s younger brother, six years his junior.
“What’s wrong with Yi-on?”
“He’s still working at Fashion, isn’t he?”
Saja Fashion was a subsidiary of Saja Group, and Yi-on was serving as its Executive Director.
Claiming he wanted to test his potential, their father had sent him there the moment he returned from studying abroad.
At the time, Yeon-sook had voiced plenty of dissatisfaction over the fact that he hadn't been assigned to the Saja Group headquarters.
“Don’t worry too much. It’s only been ten months since he started. I’m receiving reports that he’s doing well.”
“Doing well, my foot. He doesn’t even think to get on his father’s good side. I don't know if he’ll even pull his own weight once he eventually moves to headquarters.”
“Everyone’s like that at his age.”
“You weren't.”
“Well, in my case…”
In truth, it was closer to the fact that he hadn't had the luxury to be.
From the tender age of seven, the moment he entered this house: ‘You belong to Saja Group.’ ‘Always strive forward.’ ‘Mind your conduct.’ ‘Never let others treat you lightly.’ ‘Do not associate with just anyone.’
Listening to those words, he had been thoroughly conditioned like a machine.
“Don’t worry about Yi-on. He’ll do far better than me.”
“Hearing you say that puts my mind at ease a bit. Go on in. The Chairman is in his study.”
Standing before the study, Lee Heon knocked, and his father’s cold voice called for him to enter.
“What took you so long instead of moving quickly?”
Before the door had even opened completely, Cheolmin rebuked Lee Heon. Walking briskly over to Cheolmin, Lee Heon bowed respectfully.
“I have arrived, Chairman.”
Ra Cheolmin. Chairman of Saja Group.
Nominally his father, but there had never been a single moment when the man felt like one.
They had lived in a relationship akin to a transferor of management rights and a successor.
Perhaps that was why the title ‘Chairman’ felt far more natural than ‘Father.’
“As a business leader, going beyond keeping promises, you must become someone who dictates terms. To do that, shouldn't you be moving ahead of schedule?”
Cheolmin spoke without lifting his eyes from the newspaper.
Lee Heon hadn't particularly been late, but he lowered his head automatically.
“I apologize.”
Only then did Cheolmin set the newspaper down.
“Sit.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Matters with Dongyeon Group have been settled.”
Cheolmin spoke before Lee Heon could even settle into the large black sofa. Lee Heon looked into his father’s eyes, attempting to read his intentions.
“The marriage, that is.”
“Ah.”
Only then did Lee Heon recall that he was engaged.
It had happened six months ago, and because it was arranged entirely by the elders, Lee Heon had never voiced an opinion. Nor did he have any reason to.
His life had already been decided since childhood. Marriage was no different.
A marriage for the family's benefit.
It was simply something he had heard countless times before.
The situation was the same for the other party, Baek Seorin of Dongyeon Group.
The two had shared a few meals, and after the engagement was finalized, they had gone on without keeping in any particular contact.
“Had you forgotten?”
“How could I? Has a date been set?”
“Yes. In two months.”
Would his schedule allow it in two months?
As Lee Heon briefly recalled the schedule submitted by the secretarial office, he straightened his posture at Cheolmin’s voice.
“Dongyeon Group has a tight grip on transportation—not just aviation, but railways as well. In essence, they possess the one thing we lack. The profits we stand to gain from this marriage reach nearly trillions of won. Looked at closely, it will be the largest project among all the businesses you handle.”
“Yes. I am aware.”
“Right. Do not forget that this is the task you must prioritize above all else.”
“Yes, I understand clearly.”
“Do you have free time to waste?”
“No, sir.”
Lee Heon rose from his seat.
It was a dismissal, signaling that business was concluded.
“Did he give you the wedding date?”
As Lee Heon gave his farewell and stepped outside, Yeon-sook approached him immediately.
“Yes. He said it would be in two months.”
“That’s wonderful. It will be good for our Yi-on, too. Please make sure to handle everything smoothly right through to the end. It’s dark outside, so drive carefully.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Stepping out into the outdoor parking lot, he got into his car without so much as glancing at the sky.
He then pulled out his phone to check his schedule for two months from now.
“…”
Suddenly, he realized he hadn't given Horang-i the treats he brought along.
They were handmade treats that his secretary, Do-hyun, had specially ordered.
After a brief hesitation, Lee Heon went back inside the house.
At once, Horang-i padded over and rubbed against his leg.
Just then, voices drifted out from the direction of Cheolmin’s study.
Voices laced with a tension far too heavy to be ordinary conversation.
Without even realizing it, Lee Heon quietly approached the front of the study.
“Honestly, you’re always so impatient. What’s the rush that you have to badger me like this?”
“How could I not be? Just when is our Yi-on going to become the President of Saja Group?”
It was Cheolmin and Yeon-sook.
Thinking it was merely a marital squabble, he turned to leave, but oddly enough, the word ‘President’ lingered in his ears, holding his feet in place.
“If you’re going to keep whining like that, go outside and attend to your own business.”
“Whining? Do you think I'm doing this for no reason? What was the reason we brought Lee Heon in in the first place? It was so our Yi-on could take over the group comfortably, to have him do all the dirty work instead! Marrying him off to Dongyeon Group’s Baek Seorin was for that very reason, too!”
“Listen to this woman! Why are you squawking so much today? Will you stop it?!”
“In exchange for taking a sickly girl off their hands that no one else would marry, we’re securing distribution, real estate, and electronic finance! So why on earth did you install Lee Heon in the President’s seat? While giving our Yi-on a petty position like Executive Director of Fashion!”
What… was this…?
Lee Heon stopped breathing, wondering if he had truly heard what he just heard.
“Sickly or not, how could we form ties with Dongyeon Group without him holding the President title? Once the business is finished, I will switch their positions step by step. Don't worry. It’s already settled with Dongyeon as well.”
“You’re not going to change your mind after all that, are you?”
“Would a man go back on his word?”
“You still love Lee Heon’s mother, don't you?”
“Love? What is that? Besides, why would I love a subordinate’s wife? A dead one at that. You know my personality full well, yet you always probe pointlessly. Are you that idle?”
“Just don’t you dare entertain any other ideas. If you do, I’ll leave you to live with a kid who doesn't share a single drop of your blood, and I’ll run away with Yi-on.”
Lee Heon quietly slipped out of the house.
He couldn't make sense of any of it, yet in his mind, he understood completely.
The fact that he did not share this family’s blood.
He had lived believing he was at least his father’s child, but he had no connection to Saja Group whatsoever.
‘It was so our Yi-on could take over the group comfortably, to have him do all the dirty work instead!’
His mind went blank. Not a single thought formed.
Was that why?
With his vision turning pitch-black, Lee Heon suddenly looked up at the sky.
A sky he had never once thought to look at.
He had assumed it was merely black at night.
The night sky, seen for the first time, was blue.
Amidst a world of black and white, it was an overwhelming shade of blue.
