Feeling uneasy, thinking not only about the chairman’s secretary’s office but also about the atmosphere within the group, Chaeyoon sent the article link to Jae-oh.

“Saw it?”

Jae-oh’s lips curled up upon reading Chaeyoon’s message.

“Yeah, saw it. But why send a text instead of coming in?”

If she went in, he wouldn’t let her off easily. Chaeyoon, feeling troubled as she anticipated this, moistened her lips and moved her fingers.

As she entered the words indicating she wouldn’t go in easily and pressed the send button, Jae-oh’s message arrived first.

“Come in.”

Chaeyoon deleted the words she had entered and sent an emoji.

Looking at the resolute expression in the emoji, along with the X drawn with the arms, Jae-oh’s lips lengthened even more.

Without responding, Jae-oh silently admired the cute emoji.

“Anyway, your brother won’t get into trouble, right?”
Jae-oh did not respond this time either. Earlier, he had imagined Chaeyoon’s appearance, but this time, he deliberately refrained from doing so. If she is curious about his response, she can call or come in.

While waiting for Chaeyoon’s reply without responding, a somewhat sassy message arrived.

“None, got it.”

A small laugh escaped from Jae-oh’s lips.

“You’ve grown up a lot.”

Jae-oh scrolled up through the recent messages he had exchanged with Chaeyoon, reading them in reverse order. Suddenly, he became curious about the first conversation he had with Chaeyoon. Pressing the date on which the conversation first started, the initial dialogue appeared.

“Oppa.”

Starting with Chaeyoon’s words, the conversation that followed could only be seen as one-sided. There were countless messages he had read and ignored, and even when he did respond, they were mostly brief.

[It was tough to keep being ignored, but I don’t remember how difficult it was once our eyes accidentally met, or when we had a conversation.]

Unintentionally encountering their past, Jae-oh carefully read through the conversation with Chaeyoon, pondering her words.

“Are you busy these days?”

“I saw this and thought of Oppa, so I reached out.”

With that statement, she sent a photo, displaying only a caption indicating the expiration date; the actual content of the picture was unclear. Curious about what the photo was, Jae-oh captured the screen to ask Chaeyoon later. As he continued scrolling, he noticed similar text content, even with expired photos.

How much more of this is there?

Jae-oh swiftly wiped the screen from bottom to top with his thumb. His impression of the conversation, which was quickly scrolling up, became wrinkled.

“What’s… a lot.”

With this frequency, he might not even remember what photos were sent at this point.

Feeling irritation and disappointment, Jae-oh sighed and carefully absorbed the conversation with Chaeyoon.

At that moment, a message notification appeared at the top.

“I’m going to meet the chairman now.”

[Star Icon]

After checking the message, Jae-oh’s eyes blinked indifferently.

Upon receiving Ji-pil’s contact, Kyung-hee went straight to his house. After taking a deep breath, she opened the front door.

Passing through the long corridor, she reached the reception room where Secretary Yoon was waiting for her.

“He’s waiting for you in the study.”

Guided by Secretary Yoon, Kyung-hee headed to the study.

Knocking and opening the door, she saw Ji-pil, who had just stood up from his desk.

“Father. I’m here.”

Seeing Kyung-hee greeting with a gentle voice, Ji-pil nodded his head and gestured with his eyes toward the wooden table in the center of the room.

“Yes. Have a seat.”

Kyung-hee sat down, and soon, a refreshment table for two was brought out.

Until the tea was poured into the teacup, and the fruit was neatly arranged in the dish with a fork in front of each, Ji-pil remained silent. In that silence, Kyung-hee speculated about why Ji-pil had summoned her.

Perhaps it’s because of the article that came out today.
“Today’s article. Does it have anything to do with Jung-woong?”

The anticipated question came. Kyung-hee, with a light smile, responded.

“No, it’s not related to him.”

“Really? Then Jae-oh shouldn’t be involved either…”

While Jung-woong was suspicious, Jae-oh’s appearance showed no sign of doubt. Although he felt uneasy beneath the surface, it didn’t show outwardly.

“By any chance, do you have any guesses?”

“Well, I don’t know.”

As if unaware of the matter, Kyung-hee slightly extended her smile, lifted the teacup to her lips, and took a sip.

Ji-pil, after gazing at Kyung-hee for a while, changed the subject.

“Oh, by the way.”

Seemingly realizing something, Ji-pil sighed, stood up from his seat, and headed to the desk.

Holding a small envelope on the desk, Ji-pil returned to his seat and placed the envelope on the center of the table.

Clearly, it was a size suitable for containing photographs.

Kyung-hee immediately recalled the pictures of Chaeyoon and Hyun-min. Reaching out, she checked the contents of the envelope, confirming that, indeed, there were pictures of Chaeyoon and Hyun-min waiting for her.

“Is this a photo I gave you?”

Curious, Kyung-hee asked, and Ji-pil nodded.

“Why?”

“To find out where this spread from.”

“Oh… I had already investigated it, but it wasn’t easy to find out.”

“Really? Then give me the contact information of that acquaintance who gave this to you.”

Kyung-hee’s expression subtly narrowed.

As Ji-pil persistently delved into the matter that had easily been overlooked when she received the photos, Kyung-hee speculated that there had been conversations related to the photos between Chaeyoon, Jae-oh, and Ji-pil.

Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to bring up this topic again.

If so, the key would be whether Ji-pil had listened to the voice file of the man’s testimony. Kyung-hee, eyeing Ji-pil’s reaction, spoke.

“Why do you need the contact information? Is Father going to investigate?”

Ji-pil nodded in response.

“It’s not common for people to know that Chaeyoon married Jae-oh. But with these photos spreading, even such rumors have circulated, and it’s making me uncomfortable.”

Kyung-hee nodded in agreement, subtly shaking her head. But inside, it was different.

‘It’s not that it’s making him uncomfortable, he just wants to see my reaction.’

Thinking about how to handle this, Kyung-hee decided to maintain her stance for now.

“It’s uncomfortable, but there’s nothing we can do about rumors that have already spread.”

“…”

“And such rumors will naturally die down if Jae-oh and Chaeyoon get along well, so don’t worry too much.”

Ji-pil, as if trying to reassure her, silently stared at Kyung-hee.

Kyung-hee felt Ji-pil’s gaze, seemingly gauging her inner thoughts, but she pretended not to notice and pricked a grape with a fork.

Observing Kyung-hee, who appeared no different from usual, Ji-pil moved his lips that had been closed.

“All right. Let’s not talk any further about these photos and the rumors.”

With that, Ji-pil decided to drop the subject.
The unexpected reaction from Kyung-hee, different from her anticipation to press on further, made her wonder if Jipil hadn’t listened to the man’s voice file. If he had, she should have asked him about the file and what had happened by now.

While Kyung-hee was trying to gauge Jipil’s inner thoughts, he added, “Instead.”

Kyung-hee stared sharply at Jipil.

In response to her expression, Jipil said, “Kyung-hee, stop Jung-woong.”

Kyung-hee didn’t understand that statement for a very brief moment.

“To stop Jung-woong? What do you mean by that?”

Jipil calmly continued, “Instead of persuading the shareholders, persuade Jung-woong to stay quiet for a while.”

Ah, this…

It was something unexpected.

“Father.”

“The relationship between Congressman Kwon and Jung-woong.”

As Jipil mentioned Congressman Kwon, Kyung-hee’s words were cut off.

“Do you think I would really not know?”

The low, firm tone in Kyung-hee’s voice indicated her tension.