I heard everything.
I heard that your brothers came to visit you.
Beomwoo came to the house that evening.
He had met his brothers on his way back from giving his statement at the police station.
He heard their strange proposal, and had been racking his brains over it before finally falling asleep.
It seemed he had heard from somewhere that his brothers had visited the temple in the meantime.
Even thinking about it again made his head hurt.
As Haejin felt another headache coming on, he nodded weakly.
Beomwoo, wearing a serious expression as if things had become complicated, continued speaking.
“It seems they all pretended to have finished things back then, but were still holding out hope that they might get a chance from you.”
“I’m no different myself, but…”
“……”
“While they were looking into things from afar, they must have found out that Haejin-ssi left that house.”
“Haejin-ssi’s adoptive parents seem to have told my brothers that I was the one who took him for a final meeting.”
“I thought it would be enough to just keep an eye on the adoptive parents’ side; I didn’t expect my brothers to come looking for you.”
“This is my oversight.”
“I’m sorry.”
He explained through what channels his brothers had found out that Haejin was living in this house and had come to visit.
He apologized to Haejin that it had become known due to his own mistake.
But it wasn’t something he needed to apologize for.
After all, Haejin was the one who had been locked in the basement and had asked Beomwoo for help to get him out.
If anything, Haejin was the one who should be grateful.
Haejin shook his head dismissively, saying there was no need to apologize.
“You haven’t done anything wrong, Beomwoo-ssi…”
“This happened because you were helping me.”
“Even so.”
“More importantly, what should we do?”
“I told them it was a misunderstanding, that I’m staying here because I’m receiving help from you, but they didn’t believe me.”
“They said if that’s the case, I should either not meet any of you at all, or meet all three with marriage as the premise…”
“Haah…”
While Beomwoo was concerned it was his own oversight, for Haejin, that wasn’t the problem right now.
The problem was how to resolve this situation.
As he relayed what they had said when they came to see him, the feeling he had when those people had approached right up to his feet, protesting and arguing, came back.
This made his head ache again.
Haejin understood the reason they couldn’t help but get emotional.
Even with an ordinary inheritance at stake, family fights break out.
So with one of Korea’s top companies on the line, it was only natural they’d be sensitive.
However, understanding them was separate from finding their proposal uncomfortable.
When he had stood his ground before and said he had no intention of getting married, and Beomwoo had stubbornly appeared before him, he had only felt awkward, not displeased.
But today was different.
When he heard them demand to meet, asking for equal opportunities fairly, he thought, ‘What nonsense is this?’
He felt not just absurdity but outright displeasure.
Was it because he knew the eldest was a divorcee and the second was a drug addict?
But that didn’t seem to be it, considering his past life experience with Beomwoo, who had been so cold…
In fact, regardless of who said such a thing, the very premise of meeting all three simultaneously with marriage in mind was not a normal proposal to begin with.
As Haejin furrowed his brow and pressed his hand to his forehead, Beomwoo asked him.
“What does Haejin-ssi want to do?”
“Of course, I don’t want to meet them.”
“But… I don’t know if I can refuse.”
“I am receiving help from you, Beomwoo-ssi.”
“The legal proceedings are underway, so I can’t cut off contact…”
“What am I supposed to do?”
Haejin wanted to refuse without a second thought, but he couldn’t.
He was in the middle of receiving help, and the lawsuit had just been filed.
In the current situation, cutting off contact with all the brothers, including Beomwoo, was practically impossible.
However, continuing to contact only Beomwoo separately, as they had been doing, also weighed on his mind.
While it was true his brothers were misunderstanding their relationship, he couldn’t exactly say the implication that he was only giving Beomwoo a chance was completely wrong.
Even though he was receiving help, Haejin had no intention of marrying Beomwoo as in his past life.
However, Beomwoo had a purpose in helping him: to win his favor.
Haejin had warned him that even if he helped, he might not get what he wanted.
But ultimately, Haejin was aware of that intent and had accepted the help.
Moreover, Beomwoo had already helped this much.
If Haejin were to pull out now, saying it wouldn’t work due to fairness with the other brothers and asking him to stop helping, Beomwoo likely wouldn’t accept that either.
This way and that, it wasn’t a problem he could decide on his own.
So when Haejin asked Beomwoo what he thought would be best, Beomwoo pondered deeply for a moment before slowly speaking.
“Considering my brothers might inform Haejin-ssi’s adoptive parents of your whereabouts, that could cause you trouble.”
“Ah…”
His brothers didn’t know why he was living here.
But if they found out the reason, they might deliberately leak the information to force him out of this place.
Then his aunt and uncle would come looking.
His escape here would become meaningless.
As Haejin’s expression grew serious, Beomwoo continued, as if to say that wasn’t what he meant to worry him about.
“Well, even if that happens, it’s not like there’s no solution; it would just be a bit more troublesome.”
“Personally, I think it’s fine if you ignore my brothers’ words and continue as we are now.”
“……”
“And if anything happens that could cause you harm, I’ll handle it somehow.”
“So I’d prefer if you didn’t worry about that.”
Beomwoo had mentioned a negative possibility but said there were ways to deal with it.
He implied Haejin didn’t need to be concerned.
However, hearing this only made Haejin’s expression grow more severe.
Beomwoo spoke as if handling things was no big deal.
But at this point, all three brothers stood in the same position as heirs.
Now that Beomwoo was a thorn in their eyes, they would likely team up against him.
It wouldn’t be easy for Beomwoo to withstand the attacks from both of them alone.
He had gone to all this trouble to escape here.
If he were discovered, wouldn’t he have to move again, as if being chased?
Beomwoo had gone to the trouble of preparing this house for him.
It would be rude to move to another place.
And since he had been stripped of his money and was penniless, finding another place to live would inevitably require Beomwoo’s help again.
Beomwoo said he would ensure Haejin wouldn’t suffer any harm.
He said he could just ignore his brothers and meet only him.
But ironically, that made Haejin even more unable to ignore the situation.
Due to a past life unrelated to this one, he had acted coldly and harshly toward Beomwoo.
Yet Beomwoo was the one who had helped him, albeit in a stubborn way.
This house, the lawsuit matters…
It wasn’t something he had asked for, but he had already received so much.
The thought of causing Beomwoo more worry made him feel sorry.
That concern was precisely why he had asked before if there was anything he could do himself.
Beomwoo would surely tell him not to worry if he knew Haejin was thinking this way…
But Haejin couldn’t help it.
He bowed his head and picked at his fingernails resting on his knees.
“Maybe it’s right for me to meet them as well…”
“I’ll have to tell them I have no thoughts of marriage and not to expect anything…”
“But it’s true that I’ve been meeting only you, Beomwoo-ssi, as an exception.”
“They’ll feel it’s only fair if we meet equally.”
“Fair?”
“There’s no reason for things to be fair from the start.”
“It’s not like a marriage has been arranged.”
“There’s no reason for you to choose any of them.”
“Nor is there a reason to be ‘fair’ if you agree to meet.”
“That may be true…”
“But I’m partly responsible for the situation because of what I said…”
Everything Beomwoo said was correct.
There was no reason he had to comply with their demands.
But he had told his brothers he wouldn’t meet any of them.
To them, that might look like he had lied.
In a way, he was the one who had created this situation.
He couldn’t definitively say it was anyone’s fault.
But he didn’t want to impose more of a burden.
Ultimately, if all they wanted was an equal number of meetings, perhaps the issue could be resolved without escalating things.
It wasn’t like he met Beomwoo frequently anyway.
After some thought, Haejin spoke.
Beomwoo listened seriously and opened his mouth after a moment.
“I don’t understand why you feel you have to, but if that’s what Haejin-ssi thinks, I understand.”
“I can’t force my opinion on you.”
“But…”
“…?”
Beomwoo seemed to be saying it couldn’t be helped, then trailed off.
What is it?
Why did he stop?
As Haejin looked at him curiously, Beomwoo’s expression hardened as if he’d had a unpleasant thought.
He finally spoke.
“The idea of you meeting other men doesn’t sit well with me.”
He said, exuding clear displeasure, almost as if he were jealous.