“Yes. So, Min Yujin, the mud-fighting you’ve started, I have no intention of avoiding it. I’m not afraid because you’re scary.”

Arin walked past Min Yujin, who was glaring at her as if she wanted to kill her.

“Don’t provoke me. I’m already venomous enough. If you don’t want to create a situation where you have to go to Ban Jaehyuk right away and talk about this, it’s better to quit your business.”

Min Yujin glared at Arin.

“Does it sound like a threat? Then wait and see what happens tomorrow.”

The next day, the store next to Memoria managed by Min Yujin was closed.

A few days later.

Arin, accompanied by Jaehyuk, visited the chairman. When they stood in front of the door to the VVIP room, Arin felt sweat in her hands.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.”
I was a little nervous, but I didn’t feel bad.

“Whatever Father says, you can let it pass.”

Jaehyuk’s large hand enveloped Arin’s hand.

Her heart fluttered. A different tension than a little while ago filled the air.

‘Am… I really okay?’

Arin entered the hospital room without calming the conflicting emotions in her heart.

“We’re here.”

When Jaehyuk spoke, Chairman Ban turned his head. Arin, who met the eyes of Chairman Ban lying in the hospital bed beside the large window, was captivated by a strange feeling.

The imposing figure was gone, and Chairman Ban Hojun was weakened to an unimaginable extent, unable to speak.

Arin felt mixed emotions for some reason.

“Hello.”

“Thank you for coming.”

If emotions toward Chairman Ban had to be defined, he was once the subject of fear. He was the object of devotion when Choi used to call him father and later became a stepfather.

‘Why did you ask to see me? I can’t understand why you said that to my brother. Why now? I didn’t want to meet you if possible. No, I wanted to continue not meeting you.’

Arin clenched her fist while looking at Chairman Ban. Chairman Ban, with a resentful gaze, silently stared at her.

Arin had to endure the blurry gaze of Chairman Ban, who seemed to be looking at and not looking at herself for a long time.

“Come here.”

At the end of the short silence, Chairman Ban Hojun spoke.

As Arin hesitated, Jaehyuk tightened the hand he was holding. Startled, she turned to look at him. When their eyes met, he nodded toward Chairman Ban.

With Jaehyuk’s hand in hers, Arin stood in front of Chairman Ban. Chairman Ban’s gaze reached the hand he held.

The hand was already wet with sweat due to tension. Chairman Ban fixed his gaze on the held hand and said,

“Was it hard to come all the way here?”

“No.”

Certainly, the person in front of her didn’t seem like the Chairman Ban Hojun she knew.

Chairman Ban was not the affectionate person overflowing with intimidation. He had a good figure and was tall. He was a towering presence in the overwhelming atmosphere of a large company chairman.

The person in front of her didn’t look like that now, with a body so frail that the bones were visible and numerous acupuncture needles stuck in him. Arin once again felt how unpredictable life could be.

“I want to ask why you wanted to see me.”

Arin brought out the prepared words.

Even after thinking about it since Jaehyuk’s proposal, she couldn’t come to a conclusion. Of course, in dramas, the rich chairman loved his daughter-in-law too much and used the company as a condition to force a reunion with the son and daughter-in-law after divorce.

It was a cliché, a threat using the pretext of a will.

However, that cliché did not apply to her.
Chairman Ban Hojun had been somewhat indifferent to the events that had unfolded so far, and at the same time, he was almost like an accomplice because he implicitly condoned Madame Jung’s misdeeds.

Resentment towards Chairman Ban Hojun was also intense within the grudges.

So, Chairman Ban’s sudden plea for help was more resentful and incomprehensible as he had been tacitly allowing Madame Jung’s misdeeds.

“Jaehyuk, go out for a moment.”

“Father!”

“Go out, I have something to say to Arin.”

Jaehyuk strongly refused Chairman Ban’s order. It was because he could only leave his father and Arin alone.

Inside Jaehyuk, anxiety had already taken deep root. He was afraid that Arin, who had unintentionally decided to be with Chairman Ban, might shake Jaehyuk’s resolve.

“You have nothing to worry about, so go out.”

“If you can’t say it in front of me, don’t say it at all.”

“Ban Jaehyuk.”

Arin’s large eyes, who had been watching the conversation between the wealthy, widened even more. It was because Jaehyuk talked back to Chairman Ban.

Ban Jaehyuk was an obedient son. Chairman Ban had raised his son strictly, and the methods were quite drastic. Arin, who had lived as a freeloader in Jaehyuk’s house, had watched that scene closely, wondering how he could endure it to that extent.

There were times when the difference continued even after becoming an adult.

But!

“Do it in front of me.”

Seeing Jaehyuk standing up against Chairman Ban for her sake shook Arin’s heart.

At first, her heart shook little by little, but now it shook too easily.

‘Why does this person make me so shaken?’

Well, this isn’t important.

Arin quickly organized her thoughts and dissuaded Jaehyuk.

“Mr. Ban Jaehyuk, I’m okay.”

Arin held his hand and pulled him to make him look at her.

“But still…”

Almost a smile almost escaped at the sight of his eyes looking at her.

‘Is this like…’

It’s like a dog trying to protect its owner when a stranger approaches!

Despite thinking it was absurd, Arin thought of Jaehyuk while looking at him.

“Arin.”

“I’m okay.”

“…Okay. I got it.”

Arin nodded and looked at Jaehyuk. His unwilling emotions were evident on his face.

In the end, Jaehyuk was the one who lost in this fight. He made a disapproving expression, turned around several times, and finally left the hospital room.