Sponsorship Stigma
Chapter 44
Dropping the Bomb
As the server stepped back, Jeheon came into view.
Walking with measured strides, Jeheon took off his suit jacket and hung it over the chair.
Then he took a seat beside Yoeun.
At Myeonghee’s voice, Yoeun’s gaze—which had followed him until he sat down—finally broke away.
“You’re a bit late, son.”
Only then did Yoeun realize she had been staring at Jeheon, and she picked up her water glass.
“Traffic was heavy.”
“Well, I was stuck too. This country really has a problem. Does it make any sense to waste this much time on the road during rush hour?”
Myeonghee spoke in an unusually warm tone as she filled Jeheon’s glass with water.
“Wasted time isn’t only found on the road, though.”
As if sensing the subtle thorns in his words, Myeonghee’s neatly shaped brows twitched.
Her lips, which had begun moving before her thoughts could catch up, abruptly stilled.
“Listen to you.”
“……”
“I’ll eat a little and leave early. You young people should enjoy your meal and get to know each other better.”
Yoeun and Myeonghee exchanged a few words, but that did not last long either.
Soon, the server returned to begin the course, and the meal proceeded in silence.
Except for the occasional clinking of cutlery, all was quiet.
“You two go ahead and keep eating.”
Myeonghee was the first to excuse herself.
Wearing a displeased expression, she followed Minyoung, who had stepped in saying she had something brief to report.
The moment Myeonghee left the private dining room, Jeheon loosened his stifling tie.
Then he picked up his ringing phone. Though Yoeun assumed he would decline the call, Jeheon brought the phone to his ear.
“You were worried about sales?”
A smile touched Jeheon’s lips as he brushed his mouth with his fingers.
“A hobby? That wouldn’t be wrong either.”
“……”
“Handle that as you see fit, and give me the rest of the report in person tomorrow.”
Because he had maintained a cold, detached face throughout the meal, Yoeun’s eyes turned subtly curious.
“Ah. It’s for a new business venture.”
Jeheon gave the phone a slight wave before setting it back down.
Having finished the call, Jeheon radiated an aura completely different from the one he had displayed throughout dinner.
“Is Guil pushing forward with a new project?”
“Not Guil. Just something fun I’ve been working on lately.”
As if recalling something, the corner of Jeheon’s mouth curved up subtly.
Watching him, Yoeun set her utensils down.
“I know you’re busy. But what must be done has to be done. Mother brought back some dates.”
With that, she picked up the envelope she had placed beside her and pushed it toward Jeheon.
“Even if I am younger, I really don’t care to keep an engagement dragging on for years.”
Leaving to study abroad had been a form of rebellion.
A defiance aimed at Jeheon, who had remained consistently indifferent from their very first meeting all the way through their engagement ceremony.
Unlike her, who was young, with every passing year he was getting closer to the typical age for marriage.
How long can you hold out without getting married?
It’s not like you could find a woman as good as me anyway.
Thinking that after five years, he would finally yield and bring up marriage first, Yoeun smiled.
“I’ll choose a suitable date from these. As for the hotel, you know the one owned by my family, right? Let’s have an outdoor wedding. Everyone’s scrambling just to book a slot there anyway, so that’s fine, isn’t it?”
“……”
“I know you’re busy, Gu Jeheon-ssi, so I’ll prepare the wedding. Just show up when you’re needed.”
Yoeun went on talking as if doing him a tremendous favor.
Sitting across from her, he lowered his gaze to check his wristwatch.
It had been more than ten minutes since Myeonghee left. Concluding that whatever it was wouldn’t be resolved quickly, Jeheon fixed his gaze on Yoeun.
“Since it happens to be just the two of us, let’s talk.”
At the sound of his voice reaching her ears, Yoeun met Jeheon’s eyes.
“Let’s break off our engagement, Ahn Yoeun-ssi.”
And within her eyes, where a glimmer of anticipation had just been shining, a storm erupted.
It was no small shock; bewilderment was laid bare on the face looking back at Jeheon.
“……Why?”
After hovering open and closed for a long time, Yoeun’s lips finally parted with difficulty.
“Because it would be a waste of you.”
Unlike Yoeun, whose large eyes trembled wildly, Jeheon was completely calm.
As if holding the depths of the ocean, not a single ripple stirred within his pitch-black eyes.
“You’re young, pretty, and have a good family background, Ahn Yoeun-ssi. You lack nothing, so what would you gain from marrying me?”
Jeheon recited facts about Yoeun in a flat, uninflected voice.
On the surface, his words seemed to flatter her, but the conclusion was a broken engagement and rejection.
Clearing her voice before it cracked, Yoeun spoke.
“Do you not like me?”
Asking Jeheon, Yoeun’s lips quivered as if seized by a spasm.
“Rather than that… it’s more that I’ve never once felt interested in you.”
Five years ago or now.
Even after meeting several times, her face grew dim in his memory the moment he turned around.
Despite having striking features that were not easily forgotten, it was always the same.
“And above all, you’ll regret it if you marry me.”
“Me?”
Looking at the silent Jeheon, Yoeun added another word.
“I’m not so young that I can’t judge that for myself.”
“Because what you see isn’t everything.”
Watching her calmly, the corners of Jeheon’s mouth curved.
“You’ll thank me later. Because you won’t be marrying me, Ahn Yoeun-ssi.”
Leaving those cryptic words behind, he rose from his seat.
Just then, Myeonghee returned. Stepping into the room, she saw Jeheon leaving and asked:
“Are you leaving already? We aren’t even halfway through the course.”
“The meal doesn’t suit my taste at all. I’ll settle the bill on my way out.”
Putting down the napkin with which he had wiped his mouth, Jeheon walked away.
“Mom, can’t you sleep with me?”
“Mom hasn’t finished work yet. I think Jiwoo should go to sleep first.”
Jiwoo buried his head in the pillow.
“Tosuni will stay with you, so don’t worry.”
Yeonjae said as she turned on the rabbit-shaped mood lamp she had brought from Daejeon.
It was a nightlight for Jiwoo, who was afraid of the dark.
As long as Tosuni cast a soft glow, he usually fell asleep easily on his own.
“Mmh, okay.”
In the end, Jiwoo nodded and closed his eyes.
Brushing the boy’s hair back, Yeonjae quietly closed the door and stepped out.
Though he always whined before bedtime, it never took even thirty minutes for Jiwoo to fall into a deep sleep.
He was at the age where he should start sleeping in his own room, but until now, they hadn’t had the space for it.
Since they had started staying at the Residence anyway, Yeonjae thought she might give it a try.
Conveniently, there were plenty of bedrooms here.
Yeonjae and Jiwoo were using two of the guest rooms.
To refresh her memory on roasting methods after so long, Yeonjae was browsing through various things on the internet.
I’ll look around a bit and go to bed by midnight.
Thinking that, she scanned the browser window on her laptop.
At the sound of a vibration coming from the edge of the table, Yeonjae raised her head.
The dark screen of her phone was glowing brightly.
Yeonjae swallowed hard at the name displayed on the screen. It was Jeheon.
―You’re not sleeping?
Even before she could say hello, a languid voice came through the receiver.
―I thought you wouldn’t answer.
“I probably shouldn’t have.”
Yeonjae’s typing hands paused.
Leaning deeply back into her chair, Yeonjae stared into empty space. Then she closed her laptop.
She figured it would be difficult to concentrate on work now that he had called.
―You would’ve answered eventually anyway.
“On what basis?”
―Because I’m in front of the Residence.
“What?”
Startled, Yeonjae sprang to her feet.
She hurried over to check the intercom, but fortunately, no one was outside the front door.
“Don’t joke around.”
―I’m not joking.
A quiet chuckle from across the line wrapped around her ear.
It wasn’t a video call, and he hadn’t caught her checking the intercom, yet her cheeks flushed crimson.
Turning her head, she saw the clock on the wall pointing to midnight.
To be sure, there was no reason for him to come all the way to the Residence at this late hour.
She tried to swallow a sigh of relief.
―Come down. I’m in the lobby.
Even that relief vanished with his next words.
Yeonjae touched her lips.
Countless thoughts tangled together as she rode the elevator down.
“Jiwoo is asleep. I can’t come down.”
―Then should I come up?
A man who wouldn’t yield even an inch at the mention of Jiwoo being asleep.
“……Wait there.”
After a sigh, it was Yeonjae who gave in and moved.
Perhaps because of the dream she had a few days ago, she flinched in surprise whenever a call or message arrived.
And naturally, those memories would surface unbidden, flustering her.
I really didn’t want to see him today.
Before she knew it, the elevator stopped on the first floor and the doors slid open.
Passing the communal entrance, Yeonjae stepped into the lobby. And after walking just a short distance, she spotted a familiar figure leaning against a pillar.
“What is it, at this hour?”
Just what did he have to say that he called her down so late?
Jeheon uncrossed his arms.
He walked toward Yeonjae, then came to a halt.
“I’m hungry.”
Yeonjae’s delicate brows furrowed.
Just as doubt surfaced in her eyes, wondering if her ears had deceived her…
“I thought I’d grab something to eat before I go.”
With a nonchalant face, Jeheon drove the point home.
