BTAD 4

Chapter 4

Junhyuk openly frowned at the deafening, eardrum-splitting EDM sound.

“I can guide you myself……………….”

The manager in charge of VVIPs at the nightclub tried to block Junhyuk’s path. But he merely waved his hand dismissively, as if swatting away an annoying fly.

“Move. Stop being a nuisance.”

Leaving the flustered manager behind, Junhyuk strode forward.

He figured that he had probably walked this path far more times than that manager, who hadn’t been working here for even a few years.

Climbing up the stairs and passing through several maze-like corridors, the ear-shattering music finally began to mellow out a bit.

“Damn it, making me come here again.”

The root of this problem was, naturally, Madam Kim Sunyoung, his mother.

He should have ignored her calls entirely, but a single unconscious response had dragged him right back into it.

Standing in front of a glittering, flashy door, Junhyuk turned the knob and kicked the door wide open with his foot.

Though he had intentionally announced his arrival with a loud commotion, the people inside were already completely out of it, as if this level of noise wasn’t even worth being startled by.

“Well now……………! Look who it is. If it isn’t Representative Han Junhyuk, a man whose face is as hard to see as plucking a star from the sky.”

It was a misfortune in the midst of a blessing that the only person capable of even a basic conversation among them was the very protagonist he was looking for.

Junhyuk irritably shook back his bangs and swept them over his forehead.

“Get up.”

“You haven’t seen your own older brother in all this time, and you don’t even have a single affectionate greeting?”

“Get out right here, right now.”

The women Han Juntae had sandwiched between himself on either side finally noticed Junhyuk and made a fuss.

“Oppa, that handsome guy is your younger brother? But why do the two of you look so different?”

“Did all the genes get dumped entirely on that side? Oh well.”

Judging by how slurring and drunk they were, the women were just as plastered, giggling away and running their mouths nonstop.

Then, Han Juntae’s grinning face transformed instantly, and he violently grabbed the women by their hair.

The hand movement was so swift and brutal that the women let out sharp screams.

Even until Junhyuk walked over and twisted his wrist, Juntae didn’t loosen his tight grip.

“Let go, little brother. No matter how much I supposedly dote on you, you need to know when to butt in and when not to, don’t you?”

With bulging eyes, Han Juntae ground his teeth as he spoke. Even though a headache was coming on, Junhyuk gave a cold, sharp warning.

“Whew, Vice Chairman Han Juntae. I didn’t come here as your brother today; I’m here representing Shield One upon request. This is a direct call from Chairman Han Dongpyo of H Bio. I’d appreciate it if you realized this is a matter of the utmost urgency.”

Flinched by Junhyuk’s resolute tone, Han Juntae finally released the hair he had been clutching and stood up.

Even so, both of his fists were still gripping handfuls of long hair.

Exhaling lightly, Junhyuk spoke into the in-ear microphone connected to his ear.

“Principal’s personal security secured.”

• Alpha-1, standing by at the entrance.

Only then did Han Juntae cast a glance at the ultra-compact in-ear plugged into Junhyuk’s ear.

“Lead the way.”

Brushing down the lapels of his suit at Junhyuk’s formal, respectful tone, Han Juntae staggered as he walked out.

With no other choice, Junhyuk supported his arm, an annoyed sigh slipping through his teeth.

Another innocent celadon vase had been shattered to pieces today.

“Darling, when you run a business, there are days that are tough like this and days that are fine.”

Even while watching his mother, Madam Kim Sunyoung, cling desperately to the hems of his father Han Dongpyo’s trousers, Junhyuk felt absolutely nothing.

You could call it a completely desensitized reaction.

With an impact level of literally zero……………

As long as the target being smashed was a celadon vase rather than his mother or his younger sister Junhee, it wouldn’t have bothered him even if it broke a thousand times over.

Since the target of his anger was his older brother Han Juntae rather than his mother, walking away right then and there would have been fine.

However, there was a reason he couldn’t do that today.

“A out-of-his-mind bastard abandons an important promise and spends days upon days living in bars?”

Wielding a golf club in one hand, Han Dongpyo pointed a finger angrily at his eldest son, Han Juntae.

“Junhyuk went in my place, didn’t he? Then isn’t that enough?”

“Oh yeah, you bastard phrased that well. What if Junhyuk here hadn’t gone to that place either? What would you have done then?!”

At his father’s roar, Han Juntae turned back to glance at Junhyuk. A lot of things were packed into that single gaze.

Derision, cynicism, contempt, disrespect………………

To Junhyuk, they were meaningless emotions that he no longer needed to bother dealing with individually. Yet, every time he experienced them, feeling utterly filthy inside remained the same.

“As if my loving younger brother would ever let that happen. He knew all of this would happen and went. He knew everything.”

Han Juntae smiled brightly as he looked at his stepmother, Kim Sunyoung, who was still clinging to his father’s legs.

Meeting that smile, Kim Sunyoung shuddered and averted her gaze.

“A guy turning forty tomorrow, and every time, the stuff he pulls is……. Tsk tsk.”

As if utterly sick of it, Han Dongpyo hurled the golf club away. Upon that, Han Juntae, who had been kneeling half-forcibly, brushed off his trouser hems and stood up, saying,

“I heard the story, and they said there wasn’t any problem at all, right? Why are you only picking on your kids? Calm down that temper of yours and live a little.”

“This bastard still doesn’t get it!”

The only person sitting composedly in the drawing room amidst the echoing shouts was Junhyuk.

It was a scene so boring it was enough to make him yawn. Deciding that this was quite enough, Junhyuk opened his mouth.

“Since the defective-goods disposal unit is right here, stop picking on your useless older brother and just send him off.”

Sensing an opportunity now that Han Juntae’s furrowed brow had relaxed slightly, Juntae puffed and vanished.

Peace finally came to the living room.

Stealthily reading her husband’s expression, Kim Sunyoung hurried away toward the kitchen, muttering that she would quickly brew some Ssanghwatang tea.

Still huffing with residual rage, Han Dongpyo slumped heavily onto the sofa and grumbled.

“To think the sons I have are all, without exception………………”

“Please leave me out of those ‘sons’.”

As Junhyuk stood up, straightening his long, straight legs, his father’s gaze followed him upward.

Seeing Han Dongpyo let out an awkward, dry cough, Junhyuk spoke indifferently.

“Judging by how things look, it seems I’m the only one who can bring you what you want.”

Seeing Han Dongpyo finally tamp down his anger and belatedly put on a dignified front, Junhyuk broached the subject.

“The Yoon assemblyman’s child is young, so I think it’d be best to hold the engagement ceremony first. What do you think?”

Junhyuk barely managed to swallow back a snort of utter disbelief.

“You realize she’s young. It’s quite impressive that you even thought of pairing up a twenty-four-year-old girl with a thirty-nine-year-old brother.”

“You pathetic fool, what’s a little over a dozen years age gap? Tch!”

Conjuring a clear face in his mind, Junhyuk closed his eyes.

If Yoon Seohah hadn’t had a disability…………………

Just the mere assumption was terrifying.

The reason Han Juntae, who never turned down a young woman, rejected her was obvious.

It was because he believed she couldn’t see, just as those pathetic worms had been blabbering about on the surface.

Recalling Yoon Seohah’s proposal on top of that made Junhyuk feel dizzy all over again.

Ever since they were kids, Han Juntae was an exceptionally transparent person.

The older brother, reigning like a king in this household, detested anything with a flaw.

He always had to have brand-new, flawless things.

Because of that, broken toys or flawed animals always ended up falling to Junhyuk.

Thanks to that, it had been a somewhat lonely-free childhood. Yet, ironically, he had to try his hardest not to lavish deep affection on anything.

Whenever Han Juntae saw Junhyuk looking happy, he was the type of person to get thorns turning in his mouth.

And vicious spite was always directed at the innocent things that had received Junhyuk’s love.

Opening his eyes to clear away his stray thoughts, Junhyuk continued.

“Forget the engagement ceremony. However……………….”

“Let’s hear it.”

Eagerly seizing the unexpected positivity from Junhyuk just as his wife had predicted, Han Dongpyo urged him on.

“I intend to pull her out of that household quickly. Seeing how things were that day, she was left unattended without even a bodyguard, and a pretty dangerous incident almost happened. I’m just letting you know you should be aware of this.”

“Is that so………………?”

News that the son of K Construction had been booked at that event venue had already spread under the table.

He judged that his father, who was sharp about these things, wouldn’t be unaware of it.

“Besides, if you’re going to spread words later, it’s better to make it look real rather than just pretending to mimic it.”

“H-Hem, well if you are willing to do that much for me, then……………….”

“Wasn’t that always my role to begin with? Flawed items, inventory disposal unit, and so on.”

The words those guys had called him at the venue—”lackey”—weren’t all that far off.

Mocking his father, who couldn’t hide his outright expression of joy, Junhyuk smoothly curved the corners of his lips.

“Good. Then let’s discuss the ‘price’ I’ll be getting from this transaction. You weren’t planning on having me take this on for free, were you?”

Even as he stepped into the party hall, Junhyuk hadn’t expected things to roll out quite like this.

All of this ignition started from Yoon Seohah, that woman.

Now that the board had been set, he intended to reap everything he could get without leaving a single thing behind.

He was sick and tired of a life where he always drew the short straw.

Using this as an excuse, Junhyuk intended to pull forward the plans he had been preparing beneath the surface.