Handsome Trash - 9

“You can’t reach me by phone, so I’ll come over. By the weekend.”

Hyewon is only twenty-one.

She was still full of dreams and things she wanted to do.

It’s not easy to trust a man and follow him to Seoul, so he understood.

He has been there himself, walking into his grandfather’s house after his parents left overnight.

Confusion and grief will cloud her mind, and it will be difficult to think rationally.

Hyewon said that she was going to move as soon as she had cleaned up her grandmother’s residence, so it shouldn’t be too long.

“Is that okay?”

Eunhyuk checked in with her again, and Hyewon slightly nodded to confirm.

She still wore a difficult face and her emotions were hard to read, but he couldn’t postpone his return to Seoul again.

There were things he needed to take care of back home, and he couldn’t stay here any longer.

“Bye.”

“Goodbye, Eunhyuk.”

He asked her to call him “oppa,” but she said it was difficult because she was unfamiliar with him.

Eunhyuk’s mood sank as he walked back from her home.

It was a shitty day when he first got there, but in retrospect, it felt like a beautiful day.

The small home didn’t feel cramped even though it was only a single room.

The woman who had easily opened herself up to him didn’t feel vulgar.

The time, space, and even the smell were all too good to him. It was an unforgettable moment like he had tasted heaven.

As he was treading up the hill, he came down with a sense of excitement and responsibility like he was a married man.

Who would’ve known?

That Cha Eunhyuk would take pity on a woman living in the middle of nowhere.

*.*.*.*.*

Shortly after returning to Seoul, Eunhyuk informed Woongyu of Soonok’s passing.

After giving him her letter, he burst into tears, unable to hide his complex emotions.

It was the first time in his life that his grandfather showed tears in front of Eunhyuk.

They felt like tears of deep regret to him, not just sadness over a lost love.

Eunhyuk didn’t know what was going on, but he realized that tears weren’t enough to express the feelings his grandpa only realized after the death of someone he once so passionately loved.

Eunhyuk finally understood why Hyewon had insisted on stopping him and making sure to deliver the letter. He also realized that perhaps that thought was only possible due to the time he spent with Hyewon.

If he hadn’t met Hyewon, he would have remained the same immature person he was before, unable to know love.

In the heavy, sinking atmosphere, Eunhyuk didn’t dare tell about what happened with Hyewon.

Due to Woongyu’s age, Eunhyuk joined Samwoo group’s administrative support team straight out of college.

Even though he was a low-level employee, it was no secret to half the population of South Korea that Eunhyuk was in line for succession.

Eunhyuk himself admitted it. He had the privilege of being the grandson of the chairman, so he was treated like an executive and was learning the ropes.

In his defense, Chairman Cha’s health wasn’t good enough for him to work his way up the ladder in the old-fashioned way.

He had to learn the ins and outs of the company as quickly as possible to lay the groundwork for the inevitable.

There was a lot of talk in the company about how unfair it was that he was the only employee who worked under Chairman Cha as a secretary in a private office.

But that was all.

No one could say anything about Eunhyuk’s ability to get things done. There was no hiding his natural ability to lead, his bloodline, and his grit.

“This was a message posted on the bulletin board last night.”

The message denounced parachuting and nepotism.

“Delete it.”

Every day he received the same warning and along came the occasional, threatening post.

He could only guess that it was one of the shareholders who were worried about the stock price plummeting, but he never went out of his way to find out who it was.

For now, it was important to keep an eye on Chairman Cha’s health and learn as much as possible.

“I did take it down as soon as I found it, but there is a lot of back and forth. Moreover, the rumors about the chairman’s health spread quickly, and the stock price continued to fluctuate.”

Cha was the second chairman of Samwoo Group and the man who built the business from a small textile factory into a conglomerate.

He was widely admired for keeping the company strong after losing his only son and his wife in a freak accident.

There were many opponents to his retirement as well as supporters, but at the time, Eunhyuk was too young to lead the company, so he was unable to step down from the front lines and kept his job.

Even after he fell ill, he didn’t completely withdraw from the company.

It is said that those who have wealth and power are lonely.

On his deathbed, Woongyu began to organize his affairs. Unfortunately, it was up to Eunhyuk, his only remaining blood relative, to help him.

“Report on what I requested you to find out.”

After his trip to Bonjuri, Eunhyuk instructed Secretary Cho to investigate Soonok and Hyewon.

“According to the records, Ms. Kim had no marriages during her lifetime, and she didn’t have any children. Just in case, I checked for adoption records, but there were no children listed there, either.”

“So you’re saying she’s not Kang Hyewon’s grandmother?”

“Yes. Technically, she is unrelated, so I don’t know why she said she is her granddaughter.”

“Kang Hyewon is…”

Hyewon introduced herself as Soonok’s granddaughter.

“They aren’t distant relatives, so I looked to see if there was any relevant contact between them. I looked it up and found some connection between Kim Soonok and Kang Hyewon’s mother.”

He didn’t understand what was going on.

“She grew up with a single mother, but after her mother died of illness, she became an orphan. Miss Kim Soonok took her in and raised her.”

“And the chairman doesn’t know about this?”

“Well, we haven’t reported it. Even if we did, I don’t think he would mind too much.”

The assistant slightly trailed off.

“I see.”

“Do you want me to dig further on Ms. Kang’s side?”

“No.”

It wouldn’t make any difference if they did.

For now, he wanted to get back on the road so he could ask her in person.

Kofi