Nokhyun’s words that they wouldn’t be able to go to the swimming pool again were true. Taeein’s body was filled with his traces. Instead, Taeein thoroughly enjoyed the long-awaited vacation. As planned, he went shopping, returned to the room, watched a movie, and even had some wine.

So, this is why people go on vacation. He felt it anew.

What might have seemed ordinary daily life to others was incredibly precious to Taeein.

If he had died at that time, he wouldn’t have known such a world existed.

He was thankful to Nokhyun, who had given him a second life.

He felt a bit resentful too. After feeding him well and letting him rest, Nokhyun inevitably troubled him again.

The two who had spent a gift-like vacation for two nights and three days returned to their busy daily lives. After enjoying a sweet vacation, a pile of work awaited them.

Taeein, who finished three meetings in the morning, returned to his office, kicked off his shoes, and lay down on the sofa without any dignity.

The sun was scorching, but he had no strength to lower the blinds.

“Boss, please take a look at this.”

Quiety entering, Jeong-ri handed a tablet to Taeein. He checked the tablet with half-closed eyes.

“What is it?”

“Seo Hong-gyu confessed to the crime and committed suicide.”

Upon Jeong-ri’s words, Taeein stared blankly at the ceiling.

Taeein knew that Young-gab’s subordinates were imprisoned in the same prison. He also knew that Young-gab wanted to kill Hong-gyu for them.

Hong-gyu received only 20 years of imprisonment. And Young-gab and Se-ji each received five years of imprisonment.

Despite the light sentences compared to their crimes, it was still too light. They had to pay the price for ruining a family.

The fact that Young-gab would kill Hong-gyu and reverse the blame was as clear as day.

So, Taeein had visited Hong-gyu in advance. Hong-gyu had lost so much weight that he almost didn’t recognize him. Taeein had always thought of him as a father, but now he felt nothing but sorry for him. He didn’t even feel a shred of sympathy for the man who had been like a father.

Taeein didn’t ask Hong-gyu why he did such a thing, or if he knew how miserable he had become because of him.

He didn’t want to hear the motives of a murderer. An evildoer is just an evildoer. No excuse could be tolerated.

‘Jo Young-gab is going to kill you, disguising it as suicide.’

‘Kill someone here? Why me? That’s ridiculous.’

‘To cover up the crime. After that, he’ll say it was something he had to do because he couldn’t resist the threat, and if you catch him, that’s it.’

‘…After all these years of blindly following that bastard’s words, he wants to throw me away like this?’

Seo Hong-gyu was angry with betrayal. Watching him, Taeein felt cold anger. If it weren’t for his father’s face, he might have killed him by now.

‘Prepare a will. And hide it well so that it won’t be found by Jo Young-gab and his subordinates.’

That was all Taeein could say. Even his voice pleading for him to live rang exactly like his father’s.
In the end, Hong-gyu died, and Taeein managed to remove Hong-gyu without a drop of blood on his hands. Taeein imagined Young-gab’s next move in his head.

“He’ll appeal, right? Hong-gyu’s will needs to be discovered before Jo Young-gab comes out.”

Taeein, awakened by a rattling sound, rose from the sofa.

Jeong-ri placed a lunchbox on the table.

“What are you doing?”

“President Kang Nokhyun insisted, saying you should take care of your meals.”

“…My husband?”

“He added a joke. He said if you don’t take care of yourself and focus only on work, he’ll buy Taekang for sure.”

Ha… When did he send this again?

Taeein chuckled as if in disbelief.

“That doesn’t sound like a joke. Anyway, let’s eat together; there’s too much.”

“I’m good.”

“Don’t fill up on triangular kimbap. Why do you buy that kind of thing when you get a good salary?”

Taeein recalled Jeong-ri, who had just graduated from high school. Jeong-ri was still modest and immature. That made him even more uneasy. Ever since he found out she was Nokhyun’s sister, it felt worse.

“I like triangular kimbap…”

Jeong-ri hesitated in her reply. Realizing how unreasonable it sounded, she closed her mouth. Taeein looked at Jeong-ri with a look of disbelief.

“It’s really a lot.”

It wasn’t just a casual remark. The lunchbox contained more than enough for two people.

Reluctantly, Jeong-ri, who was mumbling, sat in front of Taeein.

When Jeong-ri opened the lunchbox, she exclaimed at the sight of galbi, abalone, and grilled rockfish beautifully arranged.

Unable to eat readily, Taeein moved the chopsticks first. Despite the lack of appetite due to a busy schedule, he did it this way because he thought Jeong-ri wouldn’t eat otherwise.

Taeein picked up the abalone and put it in his mouth.

Suddenly, he wondered if Nokhyun had thought this far and sent two servings of food.

Looking at Taeein, Jeong-ri, too, put a piece of meat in her mouth and chewed with a surprised expression. Even though she didn’t chew much, the meat melted away, making Jeong-ri’s eyes widen.