As Jeong Taeui heard on his first day at the estate, he hardly ever needed to go to the main
building. He had never set foot in Dongik and only had a vague idea of its structure.
The main building managed everything from internal to external affairs and hosted guests
related to the family's business. Except for personal spaces like bedrooms or rest areas,
almost everything was located in the main building.
Dongik and Seik were where people of the same bloodline, regardless of branch, lived and
spent their daily lives. Both were spaces for sleeping, resting, bathing, eating... The only
difference between the two buildings was the age group: one was for the older generation,
and the other was for the younger generation. Their functions were otherwise similar.
When a distinguished guest visited for an extended period, they were accommodated in
Dongik, while other regular guests were housed in Seik. Jeong Taeui had frowned for a
moment at this clear distinction, but since the room in Seik where he stayed was very
comfortable, he had no intention of complaining.
"Living in the same house, yet one person is welcomed like an honored guest in Dongik
while another stays in Seik doing menial tasks. How bitter."
Jeong Taeui sat dazed on the long chair in front of Seik, gazing toward Dongik and muttering
to himself.
At the same time, a few men in suits stepped out of the main door of Dongik. As they walked
toward the waiting car below the steps, talking, Jeong Taeui reflexively leaned over and hid
behind a waist-high potted plant. He had no reason to hide, but among the men was a tall and
muscular figure from afar that looked very much like Ilay. Even though he knew it wasn't
him, his body instinctively hid out of reflex.
"It's really good not to be in Seik. If I were in Dongik in the same building with him, I don't
know if I could even step out."
Jeong Taeui nodded and muttered again.
Chrishtoph was right.
The day Jeong Taeui had to face the nightmare reality in broad daylight, he immediately
braced himself mentally to be ready for any danger at any time. But the next day, and the day
after that, and the days following, Ilay did not come looking for him.
More accurately, they rarely crossed paths. Since that time, he had only seen Ilay from afar a
few times, always at such a distance that even shouting wouldn't have been heard.
Ilay seemed to completely stand in a neutral position, not siding with any faction. He only
observed everyone in Seik and never approached Jeong Taeui, just like Christoph, who wasno longer a successor candidate.
Given the current situation, with Ilay only staying in Dongik and mainly operating around the
eastern part of the main building, it was almost impossible to meet him as Jeong Taeui
wandered around Seik.
Unease was inevitable, but more than that, Jeong Taeui was anxiously anticipating whether
today or tomorrow Ilay would come to see him. And because this anticipation was never met,
he felt strangely sad.
"Even if we met, what good would it do?"
Jeong Taeui spread his arms on the back of the bench and looked up at the sky.
In reality, he didn't know if meeting him would be good. Not just for Jeong Taeui, but for Ilay
as well.
He recalled the moment they met, remembering the brief expression that disappeared from
Ilay's face upon seeing him. His eyebrows slightly furrowed in surprise, as if he had seen
someone who shouldn't be there.
Even after that, when they accidentally made eye contact from a distance, Ilay looked at him,
clearly seeing each other, but showed no reaction, just a cold expression.
"A... I don't know. Besides, how could I ever know what he's thinking?"
Jeong Taeui mumbled, scratching his head.
At the same time,
"What are you doing here?"
A voice came from behind Jeong Taeui, at the left entrance of Seik.
Jeong Taeui, lost in his thoughts, didn't realize someone was approaching and hastily sat up
straight.
The man, still a few steps away, approached and stopped at a suitable distance for
conversation without raising their voices.
"...Ah, yes."
Instead of a polite greeting, Jeong Taeui mumbled meaningless words.
Today, Jeong Taeui saw him return early in perfect attire early in the morning - of course,
when Jeong Taeui woke up still sleepy, he saw Richard return after exercising. But he didn't
expect this man to appear here just before lunch.
He was no longer in his usual suits but wore a light shirt and cotton pants, as if he had never
worn formal clothes that morning."I thought you left early... it seems you came back early today."
Thinking back, Jeong Taeui was the only one who thought he wasn't siding with Christoph -
but even so, this man always treated Jeong Taeui politely and courteously.
As he thought, he was indeed a person of great character. Jeong Taeui smiled and talked to
Richard but quickly his smile froze.
A few steps behind Richard, a man entered from Seik's left door, catching Jeong Taeui's eye.
It was the main character in his recent thought, 'Meeting each other isn't good'
Ilay stood on the steps, tapping his shoe and checking its condition. After inspecting for a bit,
he slowly descended the steps.
Jeong Taeui made eye contact with Ilay as he approached Richard, his face cold. Jeong Taeui
met his gaze with a blank expression but inwardly screamed, 'What a wicked demon.'
"It seems you two often go together..."
Jeong Taeui said, shifting his gaze to Richard. He immediately glanced over his shoulder,
then raised an eyebrow and replied in surprise.
"Not really. He has his tasks, and I have mine... we only occasionally have overlapping work
that we need to discuss."
Richard shrugged and said. Meanwhile, Ilay leisurely approached. He seemed to have heard
their conversation but only raised an eyebrow in silence.
Jeong Taeui muttered and nodded, "I see."
Indeed, even in the rare chance meetings like this, it was only the second time he saw them
together.
Today, Ilay was wearing a suit that fit someone working in the stock market. The horn-
rimmed glasses somewhat masked the strange, dazzling light of his black pupils.
'If you dare go out, you're dead.'
Clearly, those were the lips that had said those words, yet now they remained silent.
Jeong Taeui could only remind himself of the lurking danger to stay alert. He tried to look at
Richard, fearing that if he continued facing Ilay, they might engage in a staring contest to the
death.
"But I saw you go out a few hours ago, you came back when, and even changed clothes."
"Ah, because I am about to teach the kids."
"The children - Ah, you're in charge of teaching them something?""Actually, rather than teaching, I just play with them. It's quite fun because they are smart and
adorable."
Seeing Richard say this and smile lightly compared to the young man who entered the main
building a few hours ago with an annoyed and frowning face, Jeong Taeui believed even
more that he was indeed a person of excellent character.
He glanced at the clock; it was almost time for Christoph to return after teaching the kids.
Christoph would probably continue to be in charge of the kids in the next session.
"What do you teach them?"
"Haha, it's nothing significant, just topics like human relationships and negotiation skills."
Indeed, this was a very suitable topic for this man. Whoever chose him for this role certainly
had an excellent eye.
Jeong Taeui stood watching Richard's joyful smile.
Indeed, looking again, the resemblance was striking. The child's face and his face, even their
expressions, were like photocopies.
"? Is there something on my face?"
It seemed Jeong Taeui's gaze was too obvious. Richard slightly widened his eyes, then smiled
awkwardly and touched his face. Jeong Taeui quickly waved his hand.
"No, not at all. I was just thinking that you and your son look very much alike."
"Ah, ah. You've met Oliver, haven't you?"
Richard smiled without a hint of surprise, perhaps having heard similar remarks countless
times and getting used to them. Jeong Taeui recalled the boy he had met not long ago.
While Christoph went to the main building to teach the kids, Jeong Taeui enjoyed the brief
free time he had in his room with a can of beer and a book. But then he unexpectedly
received a call from Christoph asking him to bring some books he needed to Dongik.
They were in a cozy small room at the west end of the second floor of the main building.
When he entered the room Christoph had mentioned, five pairs of eyes - no, six, including
Christoph - all turned to him.
Jeong Taeui paused. He didn't know if it was because they were born into a good family,
eating well and playing happily all day, but every child looked beautiful and bright. The
children sat in a semicircle, while Christoph leaned on the table above, looking at him.
"This scene should belong in an artwork or a painting."
"Ah, no, this is already an artwork."Jeong Taeui mumbled as he looked around the room, then handed the books to Christoph.
The children seemed very curious about the stranger suddenly appearing, but they remained
polite and silent.
Feeling awkward about just delivering the books and leaving immediately, Jeong Tae-eui
decided to compliment the children. He looked at them and then turned to Christoph.
"The children look beautiful and lovely. I guess because they are well-raised."
"Because in a wealthy family, everyone picks beautiful wives, so that's why."
Christoph responded without hesitation with a cold tone. Jeong Taeui frowned at him.
While his words might make sense from a certain perspective, he didn't expect Christoph to
say such things in front of these innocent children.
Christoph was indeed unusual. Both in his thoughts and understanding of the world, he was
abnormal.
Jeong Taeui turned back, frowned at Christoph, and raised his voice, "Ya!!!"
"Saying such things in front of the children, what are you thinking?"
Hearing this, Christoph looked at Jeong Taeui with a puzzled expression. He sighed and
replied calmly, as if tired of explaining about these children.
"Jeong Taeui. You have a serious misunderstanding about these children. Look, how old are
they? They are twelve or thirteen years old. At this age, children trained early in such special
fields, are they still 'children' as you think?"
Christoph calmly said as if fed up with explaining about these children. It sounded
reasonable, but even so, Jeong Taeui glanced at the kids and signaled him to keep quiet.
However, when Jeong Taeui looked at their cute faces smiling at each other behind him, he
realized Christoph was right. Though these children might have slight differences, they were
extremely intelligent. They knew how to make themselves acceptable to others, and even
when the other party realized the truth, they knew how to smooth things over without any
problem.
Maybe that was the survival technique of children who could only live when receiving adult
love.
"Are you Christoph's friend?"
A girl with a sweet voice spoke up after observing Jeong Taeui closely.
Her voice was as sweet as a delicious butter cake. Jeong Taeui nodded. Then Christoph next
to him looked at him strangely. Jeong Taeui responded with a question mark. Christoph
turned back with a blank expression after receiving the question 'What's up?' from him."It's the first time I've met Christoph's friend."
"Me too, me too."
"If it's someone who doesn't get along with Christoph, I know a lot."
"I know too! Oliver's dad!"
"Oliver's dad? It's Richard."
Like fireworks exploding, the children who had been silent and staring at Jeong Taeui with
bright eyes all chattered.
"Don't pretend to be curious. No matter what, your study time won't decrease. Play as much
as you want, but study just as much."
As soon as Christoph spoke in a low voice, the children immediately fell silent.
Jeong Taeui once again looked around the children with an unpleasant feeling. Suddenly, his
eyes stopped at the face of a child with a vaguely familiar feeling. That face looked exactly
like someone?
Ah, right. Oliver's father, Richard. Oliver. The boy was Richard's son.
The boy who looked just like Richard was sitting there obediently.
It might have been the expression or the atmosphere around the boy, or even the personality
that made even the hand holding the book look the same. Jeong Taeui thought Richard might
have looked like this at that age.
'Wow…"
Jeong Taeui unintentionally exclaimed.
Indeed, sharing the same bloodline was unmistakable, but if the boy looked so much like
Richard, he wondered where the mother's blood had gone.
The child seemed to understand why Jeong Taeui was surprised and smiled calmly. At that
moment, his face looked just like his father's.
"Their personalities are completely different. That kid is unfortunate, but still better."
Christoph probably also realized why Jeong Taeui exclaimed. He said indifferently. Those
indifferent words were quite surprising.
Because the boy looked just like Richard, was he scolded? What Christoph said sounded a bit
different, but the meaning was the same. But since Christoph was the one who said it, it
seemed quite mild.If Christoph said it and Richard's son heard it, the phrase "but still better" could be
understood as the boy being "very kind."
However, Jeong Taeui still scolded Christoph for saying such things in front of the boy and
glanced at Oliver, then patted his head.
"It's okay, I still like your dad."
Jeong Taeui added to himself – 'No matter how much that mean kid curses me'
Oliver smiled lightly and responded in an adult-like tone: "Thank you."
But Christoph, standing next to him and hearing their conversation, frowned coldly.
"Did you switch sides?"
"I'm not siding with you or Richard, I just like to keep my neutrality."
Jeong Taeui frowned and replied to Christoph, who maintained his cold demeanor.
At that moment, the boy suddenly bowed his head and laughed loudly. Jeong Taeui didn't
know what was funny. He wondered, seeing the boy's embarrassed image.
"What's so funny?"
"If you like my dad, then I think you also like Christoph."
It seemed the boy was familiar with the symmetrical structure of his father and Christoph.
Jeong Taeui fell silent when the boy spoke softly. Christoph next to him was also silent.
Jeong Taeui glanced at Christoph.
"Of course, I do."
Though it was a bit unfair to say those words, Jeong Taeui could only respond gently to the
boy.
Then Christoph suddenly frowned and lightly patted Jeong Taeui on the shoulder.
"I don't like you. Stop hanging around here. You're wasting my time. Get lost."
Replying to the cold words with no room for discussion, Jeong Taeui muttered - "What a
grumpy person…" - and walked out. However, his mood quickly improved when he received
the children's gentle farewells.