I Think I've Poked a Sleeping Bear
Chapter 3
Chapter 3
In a Place Unknown Even to Me
- After doing some digging, we confirmed that Kang Hyejeong, Cha Junho, and Ra Cheolmin were college friends. There were rumors at the time that Ra Cheolmin and Kang Hyejeong were dating, but because it was so long ago, it’s difficult to verify the facts.
At the voice coming over the phone, Yi-heon furrowed his brow slightly.
- However, after entering society, Ra Cheolmin had an arranged marriage, and considering that Kang Hyejeong and Cha Junho married, it seems their classmates mistook her relationship with Cha Junho for one with Ra Cheolmin. Ra Cheolmin divorced soon after his marriage, and Kang Hyejeong and Cha Junho had a son named Cha Mojun. But twenty-eight years ago, both parents died in a car accident, leaving behind only their son, Cha Mojun.
Cha Mojun—it was a familiar name to him.
- Young Mojun was four at the time and lived with his grandparents. After they passed away as well, Chairman Ra Cheolmin took him in when he was around seven.
“…….”
- And Cha Mojun’s current name is Ra Iheon……. That would be you, President Ra.
He remembered that day.
The day he entered the household of Saja Group.
Cheolmin had told him he was his father.
That his mother had taken him after the divorce, and having only just learned that other people were raising him instead of his mother, he had finally brought him home.
So never once had he doubted that he was Cheolmin’s biological son.
Yi-heon held the phone, silent for a long moment.
“Are you…… certain?”
At the belated question, the man on the other end responded with a grave voice, as if understanding the weight of the situation.
- Yes. Absolutely certain. Um, and regarding the other matter you asked me to look into, Kang……
Listening to the man speak, Yi-heon pressed his fingertips to his temples.
“I understand. I’ll wire the remaining balance.”
Yi-heon hung up and narrowed his eyes.
Was he truly not a part of this family?
Had he been raised solely to handle the dirty work for Yi-on?
As he struggled to process the unbelievable reality,
there came a knock at the door, and his secretary, Do-hyun, walked in.
“Are you finished with the investigation agency?”
Yi-heon composed his expression back to his usual neutral mask and looked up.
“May I ask what you were looking into……?”
“Who knows. Something that has nothing to do with you, Secretary Kang?”
“……Understood. We should get going now.”
“Where?”
“Did you forget? Today is the family lunch gathering.”
“Ah.”
“You’ve never forgotten a schedule before. Is something…… the matter?”
“No.”
Giving a firm answer to Do-hyun, who was watching him with scrutiny, Yi-heon stood up and put on his jacket.
“Let’s go.”
***
“Hyung!”
The moment he stepped into the private dining room at the restaurant, Yi-on spotted Yi-heon and waved his hand.
Yi-on had been born the year Yi-heon entered the Ra family.
Though they had different mothers, the fact that he had a younger brother had made him so genuinely happy back then.
He was always an endearing kid. Ordinarily, Yi-heon would have welcomed him with an immediate smile, but right now, he simply couldn’t bring himself to do so.
“Hyung, how’ve you been? Why haven’t you stayed in touch? Didn’t you see I called you yesterday?”
“Is that so? I didn’t realize. I’ve been busy. As ‘President,’ you know.”
As he spoke, Yi-heon looked toward Yeon-sook.
Yeon-sook’s lips twitched slightly before settling into a smile.
“Indeed. Our Yi-on will understand someday too. The weight of the ‘President’ position.”
“Why would I ever need to know? Hyung is the President, and I’ll be the Vice President.”
“According to who! Do you think your father would allow that?”
“Why? Is Father not going to make me Vice President?”
“Who said that?”
Yi-heon understood the underlying meaning behind Yeon-sook’s words. She meant she had no intention of leaving him in the President’s seat.
“The Chairman is entering.”
Cheolmin walked leisurely into the room.
Yi-on spoke with mild discontent.
“Father, couldn’t you hurry up a bit? You always tell me not just to keep appointments, but to be the one who commands them.”
“Yi-on, watch your manners in front of your father…….”
“Leave him be. A man should have enough backbone to speak his mind in front of his father.”
“Well, that is true, isn’t it?”
Yeon-sook quickly smiled at Cheolmin’s remark.
Soon after, the dishes were served and the meal began.
“Hyung, I heard you’re getting married? Is it really okay to get married so suddenly like this?”
Yi-heon quietly looked at Yi-on, who had his mouth full of food.
“You must have a woman you like, too, Hyung. Or an ideal type. How can you just go through with it just because Father told you to?”
How could he?
Because none of that mattered.
Because until now, nothing had mattered to him except work.
Because that was his role.
“I was abroad, so I couldn’t even attend your engagement ceremony. I really should have been there. What kind of woman is she? Come to think of it, I have no clue what kind of women you’re into. Who have you dated all this time?”
Dating……? Aside from that, had he ever had anything he actually liked?
“Do you honestly think the President of Saja Group has the luxury of choice?”
At Cheolmin’s words, Yi-on frowned deeply.
“Come on, Father. What era are we living in to arrange a marriage like that? You dated Mom before getting married too.”
“Your father’s first marriage was an arranged one, you know. Though it ended in divorce.”
“Then what about Hyung? Hyung could end up divorced after an arranged marriage too. Is that fine with you?”
“Ahem! Why is this food so cold? Manager Kim.”
At Cheolmin’s call, the restaurant manager standing on standby in the back quickly approached.
“I will have it replaced immediately, sir.”
Yi-heon looked at Cheolmin and Yeon-sook.
In all the twenty-five years they had spent together, had there ever been a single day when they truly thought of him as their son?
“I’ll take my leave first. I have some urgent matters to attend to.”
Without having touched a single bite of food, Yi-heon stood up from the table.
“Even if you’re busy, make sure to see Seo-rin often. Get some media exposure, too.”
Giving a short bow to Cheolmin, who didn’t even try to hold him back, Yi-heon walked out of the room.
His secretary, Do-hyun, stepped up beside him.
“Set up a meeting with Dongyeon for me.”
“Do you mean with your fiancée? What time should I schedule it for?”
“Whenever there’s an open slot.”
Who meets their fiancée like that?
Do-hyun swallowed the words resting on the tip of his tongue and followed behind Yi-heon.
***
Arriving at the company, Yi-heon paused to look up at the lobby.
It was certainly grand. Was it all because of this?
Did they deceive an orphan and turn him into a machine just to protect all this?
Just to guard your household?
Phew. A suffocating tightness gripped his chest. Yi-heon loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt.
As the cool air brushed against his taut skin, he finally felt like he could breathe, if only a little.
Bypassing the executive elevator, he headed straight for the emergency staircase.
Do-hyun asked in bewilderment,
“Where are you going, sir?”
“For a walk?”
Excuse me? That’s the emergency exit. People don’t just go for walks in the stairwell, you know.
“……Do you happen to forget that your office is on the twentieth floor?”
Since I’m always the one pressing the button, maybe he really doesn’t know.
Wearing a tearful grimace, Do-hyun had no choice but to trail after him.
No, is he crazy?
How can someone climb these stairs with such steady posture and unyielding pace without missing a beat?
Gasping for breath, Do-hyun barely managed to keep up.
Debating whether or not to pull the letter of resignation from his breast pocket, as they climbed what felt like an endless flight of stairs—
“It’s the President! The person I like!”
What is that noise?
“Ra Iheon! I like President Ra! Ever since the very first moment I saw him after joining the company, I liked him so much!”
Yi-heon pushed open the door leading toward the voice.
“……I felt like I was going to go crazy if I didn’t tell someone. That’s why I’m telling you guys. If I ever truly get married, I want it to be with the President! Because I like him that much!”
Yi-heon froze right in his tracks.
