BYB 19

Chapter 19

Even their father, Song Dongyoung, showed no interest in Song Juho’s misdeeds. Rather, Eunho was scolded more severely for framing his brother. The few memories Eunho had with his father were mostly of being reprimanded.

*—You became family late, so it’s natural you don’t get along. But you should at least try to make it work—how dare you speak ill of your brother? I’ll have to have a word with your birth mother who raised you like this.*

Eunho’s birth mother, Han Yeojin, had lived her whole life as a woman in the shadows, and for Eunho’s happiness, she’d given up everything and left for Canada. For the sake of his mother’s sacrifice, he had to somehow become a part of the Songhwa family. Eunho had no choice but to endure his brother’s harassment.

Yes, I’ll endure it until I become the head of Songhwa Foods.

With that firm resolve, he’d gone years without making friends or dating, and now he’d been completely swept away by a female employee at the worn-out beer house <Bravo Youth Beer>, unable to think straight. How ridiculous was that?

So much for firm resolve.

At this point, he even suspected that he’d simply been abstinent all this time because there hadn’t been a woman he liked.

Eunho continued his thoughts, quietly drinking his beer. Then he let out a self-deprecating laugh.

The moment he recalled Cha Jiwoo with her swollen lips and trembling eyes, a heavy reaction came from below. Yeah, cursing is a waste now. Get hard and swell up all you want. It’s a body I can’t control anyway, so there’s no helping it.

Was it a side effect?

Had living too ascetically to avoid giving Song Juho ammunition caused this? Or had he gone crazy over the first woman he’d ever tasted, unable to control his body?

His curiosity had failed to find its proper limit and had ultimately overflowed. Just thinking about a woman made his body uncontrollable.

Because of that, his thoughts circled back to the beginning. What answer had he wanted to hear from Cha Jiwoo?

Staring blankly at the white, small wall, Eunho slowly crushed his beer can. Many things were still confusing, but one thing was certain—this wasn’t a one-time desire he wanted to play with briefly.

Every nerve in his body was on high alert, focused solely on that one woman. He was so consumed by thoughts of her that the back of his neck tingled—it was driving him crazy. These feelings could never be a joke.

I hope she feels the same way.

As for his brother—yes, it was a concern, but surely nothing would happen. There was no way Song Juho, who’d just been appointed executive director and was busy, would come all the way here. He’d be too busy managing his own affairs to pay attention to Eunho out in the provinces.

Long-term negotiations were common for Eunho. Last time, the Chuncheon dakgalbi contract had taken a month to secure, and the Damyang tteokgalbi deal before that had been similar. So he figured Juho would just laugh it off, thinking it was more of the same. That’s what Eunho chose to believe.

Did he really have the mental capacity to discern whether what he was doing here was dating or work? No matter how much Juho hated him, wouldn’t that be going too far? So it would probably be fine.

After all, he was no longer the high schooler who’d been helpless against his brother’s bullying. He had the strength to protect at least one woman. So rather than worrying about an uncertain future, he wanted to be more faithful to his feelings in this moment.

If only she would come to him.

Then he could.

He wanted to share even more with her. Thinking that, his heart beat a little faster.

It was the beginning of his first love.

Several more days passed after the kissing incident, and the weekend arrived.

Eunho stepped outside for work. The landlord grandfather was standing at the first-floor entrance.

“Hello, sir.”

Eunho greeted him. But the grandfather didn’t return the greeting—he just stared intently at Eunho. Then, just as Eunho, who’d been silently gazing back, was about to give an awkward smile and turn away—

“Young man from 201.”

The old man called out quietly.

“Yes.”

“The more I think about it, the more likely you’re the prime suspect.”

“Huh?”

“Suspect!”

As the sharp, stern voice cut through the air, Eunho frowned.

Suspect for what? Without any explanation, just suddenly…

Eunho absolutely hated this kind of conversation. The selfish way of speaking—throwing out something the other person wouldn’t understand first, then forcing them to imagine all sorts of things.

“Speak properly, sir.”

Eunho’s voice sharpened.

The arrogant Managing Director Song, who’d thrown harsh words at his staff during strategy meetings, suddenly surfaced. Eunho put one hand in his pocket, furrowed his brow, and approached the grandfather.

“If you just throw out the main point without explaining the situation, who’s supposed to understand?”

“Wh, what? You little—!”

“If you have something to say, say it specifically. So I can understand.”

“What? Understand? Under-staaand?”

At that, the landlord, who’d been glaring, huffed and raised his finger. Looking ready to unleash a tirade, Eunho narrowed his eyes further. But then, the grandfather seemed to think for a moment, closed his mouth, and lowered his finger.

“?”

Eunho’s eyes widened in confusion.

“Fine. I’ll do as you wish, young man!”

“Huh?”

“You’ll have no choice but to understand! I’ll review that CCTV! Let’s see if you’re still so talkative then!”

With that, the old man disappeared into the building without another word. Eunho let out a bewildered laugh, watching his retreating figure briefly before turning away.

Quite a character. Why was he acting like that?

Eunho was sure that no single-person household lived as properly and neatly as he did. He laughed in bewilderment and turned his head. Then his parked car suddenly caught his eye.

Right, the car.

I had a car.

He’d almost forgotten since he had no reason to drive. Nearly a month had passed since he’d arrived, and he’d been so busy he hadn’t even started the engine once.

“Hmm.”

Eunho walked around the car, admiring its form. The well-designed silhouette was amazing. They said there were only a handful of these in the country, but he didn’t care about that kind of talk—it was simply his favorite car among those he owned.

Having to leave it like this stung a little.

“Come to think of it, has the tire pressure gone down a bit?”

As he strolled around looking at it, the front tire seemed a bit low, so Eunho gently lifted his foot and pressed on the tire. Checking air pressure was basic—if something was wrong, he needed to fix it before it was too late. He was worried that leaving it neglected might cause a breakdown.

But.

“Hyung! Are you crazy!”

The moment he put his foot on the tire, Minhyuk shot out from somewhere and shoved Eunho away. Eunho, who’d had his foot on the tire, lost his balance in an instant and staggered, barely regaining his footing.

This kid?

“What?”

Eunho shouted, frowning.

“Are you crazy?”

“You’re the crazy one!”

Minhyuk yelled back even louder, glaring at Eunho. Did everyone make a pact to glare at me today? Eunho stared back at Minhyuk in disbelief. What had this kid eaten?

“Hyung! Do you know how much this car costs! If the owner finds out, you’re dead! Probably worth more than your life! Have you lost your mind? Where are you putting your dirty foot! How dare you!”

“…What?”

“If the owner finds out, you’re a dead man! There aren’t even ten of these in the country! I wouldn’t even dare to look at it!”

What is he talking about.

“Get away! You pathetic body!”

Pa… pathetic what?

Minhyuk, who’d shoved Eunho, carefully wiped the footprint off the tire while glaring at him. Then he rattled off words like childish, clueless, thoughtless, loud enough for Eunho to hear, before standing up abruptly.

“I wiped your footprint off, hyung. Don’t ever touch it again. Got it? Hyung, seriously… You should know I just saved your life!”

At first Eunho had glared back, but Minhyuk’s dead-serious expression was so funny that he ended up laughing. Ahahahaha…

“Hyung…? Are you actually crazy…?”

Watching Eunho, who couldn’t stop laughing, Minhyuk backed away as if frightened.

“Minhyuk.”

Still chuckling, Eunho spoke.

“No matter how expensive a car is, it’s still just a car. It can’t be more valuable than a human life. Whether it’s my life or yours—it’s worth more than a car.”

“What are you talking about? This isn’t just any car!”

“Hey, and what part of my body looks pathetic?”

Ah…

Minhyuk looked Eunho up and down and sent an admiring gaze. From head to toe, there wasn’t a single spot where the word ‘pathetic’ could be applied—it was an impressive physique.

“I’ll admit your body, hyung. Sorry.”

Unlike his rather pretty face, Eunho’s body was sculpted and solid, with incredible proportions. Minhyuk nodded in acknowledgment. Thanks to the muscles perfectly placed in all the right spots, this hyung looked overly sexy in any situation.

Whatever he wore, the clothes just looked good on him.

Even as a man, it was a body that drew admiration.

Seeing Minhyuk like that, Eunho chuckled and continued.

“Have you been standing here looking at the car every day? Why?”