Divorce Contract C54

Chapter 54

The meeting dragged on unusually long. Seo Dohyeon knew it couldn’t be helped since it was a midterm briefing with multiple departments combined, but he couldn’t hide his irritation. Even as he occasionally posed questions while looking over the materials prepared by Planning Team 1—the final presenters—he couldn’t remember a single thing they said.

All throughout the meeting, Seo Dohyeon thought of Go Igyeol. No matter how much he tried to focus, Igyeol forced his way into his thoughts. Every so often, Seo Jeongjae’s sharp gaze stabbed into him, but it passed quickly.

“That concludes our presentation.”

When the Q&A session ended, the presenters’ shoulders dropped as their tension finally eased. The Chairman offered perfunctory words of encouragement for their hard work before leaving the conference room. Seo Dohyeon followed right behind him, side by side with Seo Taehyeok.

“Executive Director Seo, come see me for a moment before you leave.”

“…Yes, Chairman.”

It was a request he had no desire to accept, but there was no way to refuse. Reading the Chairman’s foul mood of late, Seo Taehyeok lightly patted his son’s back as if to encourage him to do well. Seo Dohyeon, bowing slightly, observed his father’s expression. His face was bright—it was clear he knew nothing. Of course, his mother never shared these matters with her husband.

Seo Dohyeon accompanied Seo Jeongjae to the Executive Director’s office. After letting his grandfather enter first, he instructed the secretary to prepare some green tea.

“Sit down.”

“……”

As soon as Seo Dohyeon sat, his grandfather handed over a document envelope he had received from the secretary before entering the office.

“I found a suitable place. Send Igyeol there for the time being. Yeonhui said she would take care of the rumors. It will be said that he went away to recuperate due to poor health, and the divorce will be explained away as one of those common cases these days.”

When Seo Dohyeon checked the pamphlet, his expression hardened. Not domestic, but abroad. The excuse they had thought up was “recuperation,” and the destination was a far-off, unfamiliar country—half a world away.

“I already told you I’d handle this myself.”

“What good is it keeping him here in Korea? That boy is nothing but a sore festering on you. The sooner you cut him off and rid yourself of him, the better.”

“Grandfather.”

“He’s still in the hospital, isn’t he? It’s already been over a week since the birth? How could you possibly have thought to hide it for so long…? Thinking back, you must have known he was pregnant even then, didn’t you?”

Seo Jeongjae’s eyes narrowed. Stroking his chin, he regarded his grandson, sitting before him like a painted figure.

“Yes, I know you’d never have laid a hand on him. If you had been honest when the traces on his body first appeared, things would have been easier.”

“What are you….”

“There was no childbirth in Korea, do you understand me!”

A knock at the door cut him off. Exhaustion washed over Seo Dohyeon as he permitted entry. The secretary set the prepared green tea in front of them and departed. Seo Jeongjae spoke again.

“There are no eternal secrets in this world. Nothing can be hidden forever! Least of all something shameful. So while few people know, it’s best to send him away. That way, it’s easier to deal with.”

“I thought you were rather fond of him.”

“Yes, I was. But that was only while he was your spouse.”

“Our Chairman is far more frightening than I thought. Igyeol would be hurt if he knew.”

Even at his sarcasm, Seo Jeongjae remained unyielding. Treating him like a wayward child, he warned him to leave it alone and let him take care of it, before rising from his seat.

“That child is mine.”

Seo Dohyeon couldn’t hide the bitterness on his face as he spoke. His grandfather froze mid-step, turning back with eyes that said he had never seen a crazier fool in his life.

“You think it becomes your child just because you say so?”

“Didn’t the DNA test results make it into your hands? A pity. Seems even Manager Im is getting old, Grandfather.”

“…What?”

Seo Jeongjae’s expression stiffened. The discreet investigation he had ordered had contained no such information. So then—what, why, how—broken fragments of questions that never fully formed spilled from his lips. Seo Dohyeon didn’t look like he was lying. Meeting his insolent grandson’s gaze, who said nothing more but stared him down, Seo Jeongjae realized that if he was invoking DNA test results, this wasn’t some lie to wriggle out of a crisis.

“Igyeol will not be sent away. Our issues are ours to resolve. Don’t you dare think of doing anything to him. I’ll take my leave.”

In Seo Jeongjae’s mind, belief and doubt stood locked in equal measure. Seo Dohyeon clamped his mouth shut, bowed curtly to his grandfather’s dissatisfied glare, and walked out of the Executive Director’s office. The voice behind him, calling him an insolent brat, was easy enough to ignore.

He signaled to the secretary following him that there was no need for escort and checked the time. Things had been delayed more than expected. He had hurried, but it seemed he would collide with rush hour after all—a bad feeling settled in his chest.

And that premonition proved true. The roads were packed with cars.

Though there had been no word from Yoon Jaeseon, Seo Dohyeon worried because of Go Igyeol’s fragile condition. Or was it only when Igyeol was with him that he became dangerous and unstable? The tighter he gripped the steering wheel, the worse the traffic grew, and the deeper his thoughts sank.

While Go Igyeol slept, Yoon Jaeseon ordered a few items often used by mothers and newborns after childbirth. He wondered if he’d even get the chance to hand them over, or if he’d just get scolded by his boss for meddling. Still, it felt wrong that there wasn’t a single thing for postnatal care. He could understand Director Seo’s mindset, but even so….

“Sigh.”

Yoon knew well enough that he was only able to meddle like this because it wasn’t really his business. Watching Go Igyeol’s bare feet sticking out of the blanket as he continued sleeping soundly, Yoon perked up at the sudden sound of the door opening.

“Executive Director, you’re bac—oh, good evening.”

He had assumed it was Seo Dohyeon, but it wasn’t. Of all times, why now, when he was the only one present? He couldn’t hide his dismay as he bowed deeply.

“Manager Yoon? What’s with that face? As if I’ve come where I shouldn’t. No, this is better. It’s better with you here than with Dohyeon. Now, him.”

Without even waiting for a response, Im Yeonhui strode in, someone in tow. She glanced at Go Igyeol, asleep on the bed, and scoffed. She complained to the man beside her, sneering that while she had spent sleepless nights in turmoil, he slept soundly without a care.

“So, as Mother said, it’s true that Mr. Go Igyeol gave birth? And not to Dohyeon’s child, but to another’s….”

“Yes, he had another man’s child. How sly.”

“Goodness. He never seemed like the type….”

The handsome man, whose sharp features always reminded people of a wicked cat, was someone Yoon Jaeseon recognized well. Lawyer Na Seunghui, his superior’s longtime friend, seemed oblivious as he continually stoked Im Yeonhui’s anger.

“It’s always the ones who don’t know their place who cause trouble. Anyway, hand me those documents we prepared, will you? And you, Manager Yoon, wake him up.”

“Pardon? Ah… if you’ll just wait a moment—”

“Manager Yoon, am I really in a situation where I should stand around waiting for him to wake up?”

Im Yeonhui’s voice rose. Though Na Seunghui looked as if he were trying to calm her, he did nothing to actually stop her. Yoon Jaeseon’s face hardened as he turned toward the bed, just as Go Igyeol blinked groggily awake. Seeing his confusion at the situation, Yoon frowned and quickly adjusted the angle of his bed as he tried to sit up.

“Quite the little lord, aren’t you. Must be nice, sleeping so well.”

“…You’re here.”

“Yes, I’m here. Honestly, your manners are appalling. Seeing an elder, you should be leaping up to bow, yet you lie there? Shameless, utterly shameless. Or do you think we’re past the stage of observing courtesy with each other?”

“That’s not it, I’m sorry.”

As Go Igyeol lowered his head in apology, Im Yeonhui smirked. Noticing the raw scratches across his exposed skin, her eyes narrowed. The gauze on his ear, the unsightly scars—it all looked to her like a pathetic ploy to stir her son’s pity.

“Did you make those wounds yourself?”

“……”

“Do you think hurting yourself makes your actions any less disgraceful? Or do you think showing up like that will make our Dohyeon pity you? You really are hopeless.”

Struggling to straighten his gown, Go Igyeol finally got himself out of bed. His body, weakened from lack of food, swayed dangerously as soon as his feet touched the ground, dizziness threatening to topple him. If Yoon Jaeseon hadn’t caught him, he would have fallen. But to Im Yeonhui, who watched without a flicker of sympathy, his fragile state meant nothing at all.