MWFL 25

Chapter 25

Weakness

Shinwoo’s car approached the area near Harin’s company.

“Please don’t go inside the company. Drop me off near that traffic light.”

Donggu gave a small nod and smoothly turned the steering wheel.

Harin unfastened her seat belt before the car had even stopped. Once the car came to a complete stop, she turned toward the back seat.

“You’ve worked hard today. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Shinwoo, who had been looking out the window, glanced at her and gave a brief nod before turning his attention back outside.

What on earth is wrong with him?

Shinwoo’s suspicious attitude and expression were starting to bother her.

“Manager, you worked hard too.”

“Yes. You did a great job as well, Director!”

But since this wasn’t the first or second time she had experienced his strange behavior, Harin let it go and got out of the car.

Click.

The moment the door closed, Shinwoo turned his head and watched Harin walking away with her back to the car.

“Hyung. We’re going to Cheongdam-dong, right?”

Donggu waited for an answer while keeping his eyes on the rearview mirror.

But Shinwoo only stared persistently out the window without saying anything.

“Hyung.”

“…Huh?”

Startled, Shinwoo finally looked at Donggu.

“I asked if you wanted to go to the main house.”

“Ah. Yeah. Let’s go to the main house.”

His father had returned from a business trip to Australia that morning. After hearing that Shinwoo had agreed to sign with Daol, his father had been delighted and summoned his son home.

Donggu nodded quickly and immediately started driving.

Shinwoo looked once more in the direction Harin had gone.

But the woman was nowhere to be seen.

He sank deeply into his seat and slowly closed his eyes before opening them again.

“Donggu.”

“Yes.”

“For the time being, tell Manager Joo not to come for my morning schedule.”

“You mean morning training? I was actually going to mention that. There isn’t really anywhere for her to wait at the stadium while you’re training, so I think it would be better if she didn’t come.”

Donggu eagerly offered his own opinion as though he had been waiting for the opportunity.

“Morning training or whatever. Unless it’s something the agent absolutely has to attend, tell her not to come.”

“Yes. I’ll tell her that.”

“And tell her to go to the hospital if she’s feeling sick during that time.”

Donggu’s gaze shifted from the road to the rearview mirror.

“Is Manager Joo sick?”

“How would I know?”

Shinwoo answered indifferently, sitting at an angle.

“Then why are you telling her to go to the hospital?”

“People can get sick, can’t they? Tell her to go if she’s sick. If she’s sick.”

People don’t usually think like that for no reason, do they?

There had to be some reason behind it. But since Shinwoo clearly wasn’t going to provide one, Donggu decided not to pry any further.

“And since she can’t drive, if she has a schedule somewhere far away, you drive her there.”

This time, Donggu didn’t answer immediately. Instead, a smile formed around his lips.

The famously prickly Cha Shinwoo secretly took care of people once he considered them his people. And every now and then, he even showed unexpected kindness.

Of course, those days numbered fewer than ten a year, and even then, his brusque way of speaking made it difficult to tell whether he was being kind or simply annoyed.

“Didn’t you hear me? Why aren’t you answering?”

“Yes. I heard you. I’ll do that.”

Only after Donggu answered did Shinwoo finally tear his persistent gaze away from the direction Harin had disappeared.

Shinwoo opened the front door of his family’s home in Cheongdam-dong.

“Young master. Welcome home.”

The first person to greet him was his father’s personal secretary.

“Secretary Park. It’s been a while. Where’s my father?”

“He’s on the second floor.”

Shinwoo gave a slight nod and walked toward the living room.

“Is that you?”

As he approached the staircase leading to the second floor, he heard the voice of his stepmother, Na Yoon-joo.

Shinwoo stopped and turned toward her as she came out of the kitchen.

“Mrs. Na. Have you been well?”

Shinwoo had never once called her Mother. She had never forced him to, either.

“Of course. I’ve been well. You look good.”

Yoon-joo gently lifted the corners of her lips. She was smiling, but as always, her eyes remained indifferent.

Even on the day Shinwoo had first entered this house after his mother passed away, she had faced him with exactly the same expression.

She wasn’t hostile, but neither was she particularly warm. It was an expression and gaze that made it impossible to know what she was thinking.

“I’m glad I look that way. I’ll go see Father.”

“All right. I’ll send something up for you to drink.”

“No, thank you. I won’t be staying long.”

“All right. Your grandfather is here too, so go see him before you leave.”

“Yes.”

Shinwoo gave Yoon-joo a slight bow before heading straight upstairs.

“My son. You’re here.”

His father, Hyun Chan, was sitting on the living-room sofa on the second floor watching TV. He greeted his son with a warm smile.

“You came back from your business trip safely after turning my peaceful life upside down?”

“Why are you being so prickly the moment you see me? Sit down first.”

Hyun Chan pressed the remote to turn off the TV. Then he stared affectionately at his son as Shinwoo dropped heavily onto the sofa.

“I don’t even remember how long it’s been since I last saw my son’s face.”

“A year.”

“If I asked for a hug, you’d reject me, right?”

“Yes. I’m not in the mood. Just look at my face.”

Hyun Chan threw his head back and laughed loudly before looking affectionately at his son again.

Like Shinwoo’s mother, he hadn’t been a particularly good husband, but he had been a warm father to Shinwoo.

Even after remarrying, he faithfully sent the child support he had promised and came to see Shinwoo whenever the time came.

Shinwoo liked his father too.

It had been the same when he quit baseball. He had lost his way and become confused, allowing his cynicism and rebelliousness toward the world to explode, but he had never hated his father.

“Why did you do this?”

Still, the matter of signing with Daol Agency made him angrier the more he thought about it.

“What do you mean, why? I told you about it beforehand.”

“You mean what you said a year ago when you dragged me somewhere I didn’t want to go and mentioned it as though it were a joke while drinking?”

“Why would you call it a joke? Chairman Han and I were both serious that day.”

A year ago, his father had suddenly come to the United States without warning and summoned Shinwoo. When Shinwoo hurried to the meeting, Chairman Han Hae-shik was there as well.

That day, Chairman Han proposed that Shinwoo sign with Daol Agency. He also subtly brought up the possibility of Shinwoo marrying Han Soo-hee.

Naturally, Shinwoo had let it go in one ear and out the other.

“And haven’t I talked about the marriage every time I called you? The Han family is seriously considering taking you as their son-in-law.”

“My opinion as the person involved matters. Is Chairman Han’s opinion the only one that matters?”

That day a year ago wasn’t Shinwoo’s first meeting with Chairman Han.

After Shinwoo began his career in the United States, his father would occasionally visit America with Chairman Han and Han Soo-hee to see him.

At first, his father introduced Chairman Han as someone who had provided significant business assistance to him. He also said that Han Soo-hee was a longtime fan of Shinwoo’s.

Dealing with people he had no particular reason to meet was annoying, but Shinwoo never refused outright for his father’s sake.

“Don’t you know there’s a line of families trying to get their daughters married to Chairman Han’s son-in-law? Why are you trying to kick away a blessing that practically fell into your lap?”

“You want me to marry that stalker-like woman and live with her for the rest of my life?”

“Shinwoo. I explained all of that to you. She was upset because you kept refusing to see her, so she drank and did those things.”

For some time beginning around two years ago, Han Soo-hee had stayed in the United States and appeared in front of Shinwoo whenever and wherever she pleased.

She came to the stadium where his games were held, as well as team events. At that point, Shinwoo didn’t pay much attention because she was no different from his other fans.

But one day, she somehow obtained his phone number and began calling him dozens of times a day.

Most of the calls were requests for him to meet her privately outside.

He repeatedly refused her politely, but it was useless.

Eventually, Shinwoo changed his phone number. For a while, he didn’t give the new number to anyone except Donggu—not even his father.

Then she came all the way to his house and waited for him outside.

Even his patience had limits when it came to tolerating her for his father’s sake.

Shinwoo finally exploded and sternly warned her that he would call the police if she came again.

Han Soo-hee left in tears and remained quiet for some time.

He thought she had finally given up completely.

He was wrong.

After an away game, Shinwoo stayed at a nearby hotel with the other players. He was sleeping when he sensed someone in the room and opened his eyes.

In the dimly lit room, Han Soo-hee was standing in front of his bed, staring at him.

“You call trespassing and an outright crime something cute like that?”

“Shinwoo. You don’t have to go as far as calling it a crime.”

“Even my father thinks this way, so I suppose Chairman Han felt comfortable bringing up marriage despite his daughter doing something like that.”

Hyun Chan slowly inhaled as he looked at his son’s irritated expression.

“I hear there are plenty of fans even more extreme than Soo-hee. And she’s only twenty-five. What does she really know?”

“You talk about a fully grown adult like she’s a kindergartener.”

Shinwoo gave a hollow laugh and straightened his posture.

“Father. Tell me honestly.”

“Tell you what?”

“Chairman Han invested in your company like he was an obvious sucker. And now he wants to put me in the son-in-law position that everyone is apparently desperate to obtain. Doesn’t that seem strange?”

He watched his father’s expression, which had remained calm the entire time, before speaking again.

“What kind of weakness does he have on you that Chairman Han is acting like a man so desperate to give everything away himself?”