.
I perceived the intended meaning of ‘the brighter the light, the darker the shadow;’ that was why my concern about him grew bigger whenever he was giving out his flashing charms like that. I was afraid he wouldn’t be able to find me buried in the shade to the bitter end. My best wishes were always with him, but the more he seized the opportunities, the more I felt agitated and uneased.
Then I found Yoo Chun Young staring at me and blenched for a second, but I soon cast a question that just popped up in my head.
“You know, now I come to think of it…”
“Uh-huh.”
“Why did you suddenly show up there?”
“Oh…”
Staring blankly in the air, Yoo Chun Young replied, “I heard you were there.”
“…”
His response sounded so natural that I just turned my head away without any words. Touching my hair, I smiled quietly and nodded my head as an agreement. I looked up at Yoo Chun Young again and fell into thought.
‘Among these crowds of people, you are the first to locate where I am. Whenever I feel anxious about you, you always build a solid bridge between us with those actions. It only happens at a very delicate moment that I’m not sure whether it’s from your instinct or intention. Still, I can’t help feeling so delighted from it.’
* * *
“Shit!”
A group of boys standing near the outdoor terrace blurted in a low voice. They were just approaching a new girl with a rather unsound purpose. The reason why they came nearer to her was very simple.
She was the girl whom Eun Jiho was interested in.
If assuming that this party venue was the heart of a food chain, no one could deny that Eun Jiho lied on the uppermost class in here. That Eun Jiho showed up with a girl whom they have never seen before.
A girl with brown hair, white dress, and a run-of-the-mill appearance didn’t suit well to Eun Jiho at all. She even displayed a naïve and stupid look for the whole time, but for them, those were rather an opportunity.
Okay, so there was this girl whom Eun Jiho seemed to have a crush on for the first time. If we stole her heart ahead of him, wouldn’t that prove we’re better than Eun Jiho as a man?
In their heads, the conclusion seemed very simple, clear, and firm.
Thus, they wandered around Ham Donnie while seeking for a chance to approach her like a hyena. Then, at last, the time has come. Leaving her fancy friends all aside, Ham Donnie was heading to the terrace alone; however, there was another group who took the initiative in the sudden plan. They were a group of leading girls with Na Yeri at the head of them. The boys then, instead, thought about lending a hand to Ham Donnie to arouse her interest, but surprisingly Ham Donnie pushed the six girls out of her way just by herself.
‘She isn’t as easy as we think,’ having that premonition, they understood the reason why Eun Jiho chose that girl. Still, there seemed to be an opportunity for them to attract her. Pulling themselves together, the boys waited for a better chance then, at last, moved their steps toward the outdoor terrace determinedly.
Ham Donnie, at first, didn’t care about them at all. A moment after, as if she sensed that they had something to do with her, she turned pale and tried to go back inside the party hall. The boys then blocked her way while exchanging eye contact with mischievous smiles. They thought things were already cleared out.
And that was when something happened out of the blue.
Throwing a glance behind her unconsciously, they became disconcerted to find someone had suddenly appeared and was scowling in their direction. A pair of shivering cold, blue eyes were bent on this side in the darkness as if giving an alert. The person then stretched out his hand and grabbed Ham Donnie’s wrist which made them startled by the sight.
Compared to them being dumbstruck, Ham Donnie didn’t look surprised at all. Instead, she stood still as if feeling used to it and remained like nothing was happening to her even until his hand went up to grab her shoulders. When the guy behind her suddenly turned herself around to him, she just followed his hands without resistance. The boys then heard Yoo Chun Young’s voice which made them hold their breaths.
Oh my god!
“Hi.”
He said to the girl with a tender smile. It looked too faint and subtle in a certain sense; however, since they have known Yoo Chun Young from childhood, they all learned how difficult it was to pull a grin from his stash.
Ham Donnie didn’t seem to understand how striking it was for Yoo Chun Young to give out a smile that he usually saved up. She just replied, “Hi,” to him in a nonchalant voice. They both then shared a short and friendly conversation.
“Why?”
“You really look like a model.”
The boys were appalled at the scene in front of them, thinking, ‘Ham Donnie… doesn’t she really know how sensational that is right now?’
Calming down their pounding hearts, they murmured, ‘Well, maybe that’s a good sign. It may be the evidence that Yoo Chun Young is, as from the rumors, actually inconsequential and mediocre than he looks.’
Yoo Chun Young, the third heir of Balhae Group, was surrounded by mystique. So to speak, he was the only person who could rival Eun Jiho at the top of the food chain, but he seldom showed up in these events; therefore, they didn’t have a chance to understand his character well. Only some rumors existed, which commonly gossiped about him as a relatively thickheaded boy, unlike his seemingly cold and aloof appearance.
“That’s why they say Yoo Gun and Yoo Shin are shielding their little brother in every meticulous way.”
“Oh, really?”
“I heard he doesn’t even vent his anger.”
“What a waste of that gorgeous look.”
They shared those conversations when the party was about to start. Reviewing what they said to each other, the boys smoothed down their strained chests, thinking, ‘Yeah, he’s probably not as big as we think.’
That was when they bent their steps while promising to themselves, ‘No matter how Yoo Chun Young reacts, we will take Ham Donnie away from him.’
Yoo Chun Young suddenly stretched out his hand to Ham Donnie and pulled her into his arms, so that she couldn’t look back.
‘Why the hell is he acting like that?’ Wondering for a second, the boys then quickly moved their steps to get away from the spot.
While embracing Ham Donnie, Yoo Chun Young threw a penetrating glance at them that they felt too panic-stricken to just stand there.
Someone then asked, “… Doesn’t even vent his anger? Who the hell said that, huh?”
No one could answer the question.
Article 21. How Can Chaebol Heirs Be So Common? (Part 3)
“Hey, you’re back.”
Putting his hand up slightly in the air, Eun Jiho replied with a nonchalant face. I looked around in surprise.
Yoon Jung In and the Kim twins were still here, but they didn’t look awkward at all. Perhaps, they became close unexpectedly.
Well, Yoon Jung In wouldn’t let any uncomfortable air hanging among them. Before I left the spot, I also had that in mind in the first place. I turned my head to Yoo Chun Young.
Looking at him, finally, in the bright space, I found him wearing a short sleeve shirt that had an enigmatic color which was somewhere among sky blue, navy, and turquoise. On the bottom, he wore jet-black trousers and, simply, a metal watch on his left hand. He touched his watch with his long white finger and put it down. He then turned around to look at me.
Suddenly, he squinted his eyes.
Eh? I felt confused for a moment but soon looked down at the floor. Yoo Chun Young then diverted his eyes onto Eun Jiho.
“Eun Jiho, why did you dress her like this?”
Flickering my eyes for the whole time, I turned my head. Eun Jiho then tossed a question with a look of perplexity.
“What do you mean?”
Looking down at me still with a furrow, Yoo Chun Young suddenly raised his hand and began to unbutton his shirt from the top. I became speechless.
His eccentric behavior bewildered not only me but also the Kim twins as well as Yoon Jung In who approached Yoo Chun Young to say hi. While Yoon Jung In took a step back out of confusion, I shrieked at Yoo Chun Young.
“Why are you taking off your shirt out of the blue?!”
Yoo Chun Young then blurted, “Oh,” and stopped what he was doing. He buttoned up his collar back and mumbled composedly.
“Oh, I didn’t wear anything inside…”
Covering my forehead with my palm, I answered back.
“Of course, you didn’t… Do you think that’s a jacket?”
With my face turned pale, I stammered, ‘So, why did you try to… take off your shirt…?’
He then responded in a dreadfully tranquil tone.
“To cover your legs.”
“Oh…”
I shoved my face onto my palms.
“But that doesn’t make anyone take off their shirt…”
