Chapter 2. The Night Sky Was Blue
“Meow.”
When the cat looked up at him and meowed, Ihun lifted the corners of his lips.
“Horang, have you been well?”
Meow. As if answering him, Horang meowed once more.
Every button fastened all the way up to his neck, a neat tie, and a perfectly tailored suit.
The man who looked as though he would not allow even a single cat hair onto his clothes folded one knee and sat down just as he was. Then he vigorously stroked the cat’s favorite spots, its chin and forehead.
Horang was a cat Ihun had once picked up from the roadside, and his father had given him the name because, as a cat that had entered the ‘Lion’ family, he had to be strong.
“You’re here?”
At the voice from behind him, Ihun withdrew the hand that had been petting Horang and stood up from his seat.
It was his mother, Yeonsook. His stepmother, whom he had met when he was seven years old.
Since Yeonsook was the only mother Ihun had ever known, he followed her as though she were his biological mother.
“Yes, Mother. Everything is well, isn’t it?”
“What could possibly be wrong with me? I’m always worried about our Ion.”
Ion was Ihun’s younger brother, six years his junior.
“Why are you worried about Ion?”
“He’s still working in Fashion, isn’t he?”
Lion Fashion was a subsidiary of Lion Group, and Ion was an executive director there.
His father had sent him there as soon as he returned from studying abroad, saying that he wanted to see his potential.
At the time, Yeonsook had been very dissatisfied that he had not been assigned to the Lion Group headquarters.
“Don’t worry too much. It’s only been ten months since he started. I’ve been receiving reports that he’s doing well.”
“Doing well, my foot. He doesn’t even seem interested in winning his father’s favor. I don’t know if he’ll even be able to perform his duties properly when he goes to headquarters later.”
“Everyone is like that at his age.”
“You weren’t.”
“As for me…….”
The truth was, it was closer to saying that he had never been given the chance to be like that.
At the young age of seven, from the moment he entered this place, he had been told things like, ‘You are a member of Lion Group,’ ‘Always strive to improve yourself,’ ‘Maintain proper conduct,’ ‘Never let others treat you carelessly,’ ‘Don’t associate with just anyone,’ and so on.
He had been thoroughly conditioned like a machine while listening to such words.
“Don’t worry about Ion. He’ll do much better than I did.”
“Hearing you say that puts my mind a little at ease. Go on inside. The Chairman is in his study.”
When Ihun stood in front of the study and knocked, his father’s cold voice telling him to come in could be heard.
“What are you standing around for instead of moving quickly?”
Before the door had even fully opened, Cheolmin scolded Ihun. Ihun approached Cheolmin with quick steps and bowed his head.
“I have returned, Chairman.”
Ra Cheolmin. The chairman of Lion Group.
Though he called him his father, there had never been a single moment when he had felt like a father.
They had lived their lives more like the person transferring management rights and the successor.
Perhaps because of that, the title ‘Chairman’ felt more familiar to him than ‘Father.’
“A businessman should not merely keep his promises; he should be someone who takes the initiative in making promises. To do that, shouldn’t you be coming early?”
Cheolmin spoke without taking his eyes off the newspaper.
Although he was not particularly late, Ihun automatically lowered his head.
“I’m sorry.”
Only then did Cheolmin put down the newspaper.
“Sit.”
A
“Yes.”
“The matter with Dongyeon Group is settled.”
Before Ihun could even settle into the large black sofa, Cheolmin spoke. Ihun looked into his father’s eyes as though trying to discern his intentions.
“I mean the marriage.”
“Ah.”
Only then did Ihun remember that he was engaged.
It had happened six months ago, and since it was something the adults had arranged, Ihun had not expressed any opinion about it. There was no reason for him to.
His life had already been decided for him since he was young. Marriage was the same.
A marriage for the benefit of the family.
It was merely something he had been subjected to several times.
Baek Seorin of Dongyeon Group, the other party, was in the same situation.
The two had met a few times and eaten together, and after the engagement was finalized, they had gone on without any particular contact.
“Did you forget?”
“How could I? Has the date been set?”
“Yes. Two months from now.”
Was his schedule two months from now manageable?
Ihun briefly recalled the schedule chart reported by the secretary’s office, then straightened his posture at Cheolmin’s voice.
“Dongyeon Group has a firm grip on transportation, not only in aviation but also in railways. In other words, they possess the one thing we lack. The benefits we will gain from this marriage will approach trillions of won. When you think about it, it will become the biggest project among the businesses you are handling.”
“Yes. I know.”
“Good. Don’t forget that this is the task you must prioritize above all else.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Are you free?”
“No.”
Ihun stood up from his seat.
It meant that, since the main matter was finished, he should leave.
“They say the wedding date has been set?”
As Ihun finished greeting him and came outside, Yeonsook immediately approached him.
“Yes. They said it would be two months from now.”
“That’s good. It will be good news for our Ion, too. Please make sure everything goes smoothly through to the end. It’s dark, so drive carefully.”
“Yes.”
After coming out into the outdoor parking lot, he got into his car without even looking up at the sky.
Then he took out his phone to check his schedule for two months later.
“…….”
He suddenly realized that he had not given Horang the treats he had brought for him.
They were handmade treats that his secretary, Dohyun, had specially ordered.
After thinking for a moment, Ihun went back inside the house.
Horang approached him and rubbed his body against his leg.
At that moment, voices could be heard from the direction of Cheolmin’s study.
The voices were tinged with tension, too tense to be considered a simple conversation.
Without realizing it, Ihun cautiously approached the study.
“Anyway, you’re so impatient. Why are you pressuring people like that when you couldn’t even wait?”
“Does it look like I can just leave it alone? When exactly is our Ion going to become the president of Lion Group?”
It was Cheolmin and Yeonsook.
Thinking it was merely a quarrel between a married couple, he was about to turn away, but strangely, the word ‘president’ lingered in his ears and stopped him in his tracks.
“If you’re going to keep whining like that, get out and tend to your own business.”
“Whining? Do you think I’m doing this for no reason? Why did we bring Ihun here? So that our Ion could inherit the group comfortably, having him take care of all the miscellaneous work instead. Marrying him to Baek Seorin of Dongyeon Group was for the same reason.”
“Why are you being so nagging today? Will you stop?”
“We’re getting distribution, real estate, and electronic finance in exchange for taking care of a girl no one would take because she’s sick, so why did you even give Ihun the position of president? Our Ion only gets that insignificant executive director position at Fashion.”
What…… what does that…… mean……?
Ihun held his breath, wondering what exactly he had just heard.
“Even if that Seorin girl is sick, how can we establish a relationship with Dongyeon Group without giving her the title of president? Once the business is finished, we’ll change the position gradually. Don’t worry. It’s already been settled with Dongyeon.”
“You’re not going to change your mind after saying that, are you?”
“Does a man say one thing and then another?”
“You still love Ihun’s mother, don’t you?”
“Love? What is that? Besides, why would I love my subordinate’s wife? Especially a dead woman. You know what I’m like, so why do you keep probing me unnecessarily? Are you free?”
“If you even think about doing something else, just you wait. I’ll make you live with a child who doesn’t share a single drop of your blood, and I’ll run away with Ion.”
Ihun quietly slipped outside.
He could not understand a single thing they had said, yet he had already understood everything perfectly in his mind.
That he was not related to this family by blood.
At the very least, he had lived believing he was his father’s child, but in fact, he had no connection whatsoever to Lion Group.
‘So that our Ion could inherit the group comfortably, having him take care of all the miscellaneous work instead.’
His mind was blank. He could not think of anything.
Perhaps that was why.
With his vision darkening before him, Ihun suddenly looked up at the sky.
At a sky he had never once thought to look at.
He had always thought that at night, it was simply black.
But the night sky he saw for the first time was blue.
In a black-and-white world, it was overwhelmingly blue.
