Just Twilight-Chapter 82

Beomjin tilted his head slightly.

"I might not have taken the job. It was a massive headache, after all."

Junyoung gaped at him, breath hitching.

"Wow. That’s some next-level jealousy."

"So? Do you hate it?"

"No."

Junyoung blinked playfully.

"I welcome this kind of constructive jealousy."

Beomjin let out a short laugh, inhaling deeply before sliding down slightly. Resting his head against Junyoung’s shoulder, he finally let go of the tension he had been holding onto, his eyes drifting shut. His voice, now soft and settled, flowed out.

"Once I wrap up a few more things, it’ll be over completely. Let’s take a trip when that happens."

"I don’t have the luxury for that. I need to job hunt. I’ll be unemployed soon."

Junyoung widened her eyes, glancing down at him. A crease formed on Beomjin’s forehead as he kept his eyes closed. His well-defined lips moved slowly.

"Do you have a company in mind?"

"Not yet. Why?"

"So I can pull some strings and get you into an executive position."

Junyoung burst into laughter at his casual remark.

"When you say things like that, it doesn’t sound like a joke. And I’m not into that kind of thing. Don’t you trust me?"

"If it’s going to happen anyway, might as well make it happen faster."

Junyoung twisted his lips between her fingers, pinching hard. Beomjin immediately caught her hand, interlacing his fingers through hers as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Junyoung, still smiling, leaned her head against his.

Yeah. Maybe taking a break wouldn’t be so bad. I’ve never really had one, so I don’t even know how to relax.

It didn’t matter where they went or what they did. As long as they could stay like this, leaning on each other.

Her lips curved into a soft smile as her eyes fluttered shut.

***

Hong Inseop was undeniably a master strategist. Under his command, Hong Mihyang’s downfall happened in the blink of an eye. By the time she realized what was happening, the blade was already pressed against her throat—there was nothing she could do.

Yet, he never played the card Beomjin had handed him. Thanks to Junyoung’s skillful manipulation of the media, the company’s stock had been rising steadily for days. Rather than let it become a public spectacle, Inseop chose to handle things quietly from within.

Mihyang stared at the evidence and the plane ticket in front of her, unable to utter a word.

"If you choose to serve time, I won’t stop you. But as your brother and the head of Hangeong, I would advise this alternative. Tarnishing the name Hong Mihyang would be an insult to our late father."

Inseop gestured toward the plane ticket as he spoke. Mihyang clenched her trembling hands into fists. The question she asked was pointless, but inevitable.

"How did you even get all of this…?"

"Mihyang." Inseop’s voice was calm, almost gentle, as he continued. "One last piece of advice. Father always said that the longer you keep someone around, the more carefully you must watch them. The moment you start taking things for granted is the moment you should be most wary.

"Tell me, how could someone who knows nothing about me ever harm me? The closer a person is, the easier it is to be wounded by even the smallest of things. And those wounds… they accumulate. They fester, piling up until they come rolling back like an avalanche."

His words pointed to an undeniable truth. Mihyang’s lips parted, but no rebuttal came. Inseop delivered his final ultimatum.

"You leave at dawn in three days. If you don’t board that flight, Seungwoon will be summoned first. Find a place with good weather, somewhere comfortable. The vice president enjoys golf—think of it as an early retirement. You’re old enough to start thinking about grandchildren, aren’t you?"

There wasn’t enough time to prepare a counterattack, and the evidence in Inseop’s hands was irrefutable. The next day, the company held an emergency board meeting and a shareholders' assembly to appoint a new director. Inseop had already arranged everything, setting up the dominoes before casually tipping the first piece.

His precision was evident even in how he handled Myeongin Daily. He discreetly informed them of the situation, not as a warning, but as a request: if a broken engagement was inevitable, at least let the media coverage minimize any collateral damage to Hangeong.

Overnight.

Hong Inseop’s cold blade had cut everything down in a single night.

The news struck Seungwoon like a bolt from the blue. He had been called back home by his mother, only to be met with a reality too surreal to accept. It felt like a dream.

He was no longer the head of Hangeong’s Business Planning Team. He was no longer a director.

He was no longer Myeongin Daily’s future son-in-law.

He was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"I don’t understand. How did the president—how did Uncle even get his hands on all that evidence?!"

"Your mother was reckless," his father, Na Hyun-sik, replied. "She got too greedy, running wild without knowing when to stop. Did you really think the president was someone you could cross without consequences?"

Seungwoon scoffed, his voice filled with venom. "I don’t need advice from a pathetic loser who’s spent his life groveling for scraps. Just shut up and let me think."

"Once we leave, we’ll find separate places to live. No need to stay together."

Hyun-sik shook his head, his face worn with exhaustion, and walked out. He was barely around to begin with.

Silence filled the room, thick and suffocating. Mihyang couldn’t even think properly. Seungwoon, on the other hand, was seething, his voice rising uncontrollably.

"This is insane. Absolutely insane! Why the hell is this happening to me?! Who—who the hell—?!"

Then, realization dawned.

"Aha. That bastard. That son of a bitch. Kwon Beomjin."

"What?" Mihyang barely had the strength to react.

"He got close to you from the start with this in mind. From the start! He set this up to ruin me. He was planning to take everything from me all along. That bastard must have had a complex about me. He never had what I did—so now he’s taking revenge!

"It wasn’t enough to take Junyoung—he had to take everything."

His mother. His career. His future.

And Mihyang had let it happen.

"You—you fell for his tricks, Mother! How could you be so stupid?!"

The crack of her slap cut through the air. Mihyang’s hand trembled violently.

Seungwoon had always been prone to outbursts, but even at his worst, he had never crossed a certain line with her.

Now, he wasn’t even looking at her. His eyes held nothing but rage.

"Get a grip, Na Seungwoon. How dare you raise your voice at your mother?"

His head snapped to the side from the force of the slap, but for a moment, he said nothing. His thoughts were spinning, his mind on the verge of collapse. Mihyang struggled to remain composed, but she couldn’t.

Who had set this trap? Who was behind it? How could she find out? What was her next move?

She had always made decisions with grace, poise. But not this time.

"Kwon Beomjin did all this out of jealousy?" she muttered to herself. But something about Inseop’s words earlier…

He had called the perpetrator someone close. Very close.

A chilling realization gripped her.

There were two people who fit that description.

One was Team Leader Han, the man who had managed her finances for years.

The other…

"I need to call Chief Kim. I have to call him."

Han had no reason to betray her. She had disciplined him, yes, but she had paid him well for it. Besides, his eldest daughter was set to study abroad next year—he wouldn’t want any disruptions in his stable life.

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But Chief Kim…

He had always been loyal. But lately, Mihyang had sensed something. A growing rift. He had shown discomfort with how Han handled financial matters, but would that be enough to push him to this?

Would he, after all these years?

If it was one of them, what would she do?

Did it even matter anymore?

As she reached for her phone, she heard a voice.

"So this is all you were."

Seungwoon’s voice was low, thick with something damp and rotting, like the mud at the bottom of a swamp.

She turned.

Her son stood there, staring at her with eyes she had never seen before.

Bloodshot, unfocused. Fixed on her, but not really seeing her.

His lips moved stiffly.

"You treated me like I was nothing. Like my thoughts and opinions weren’t even worth considering."

"Seungwoon—"

"Like I was too stupid to understand what you were doing."

"St—"

"Like I was just some idiot who didn’t need to know anything."

His breath hitched. His entire body trembled.

And then, he laughed.

A scratchy, grating sound. The kind that made nails on a chalkboard seem pleasant. A sound that curdled the air.

When he spoke again, his voice was lower, dragged along the ground like something broken.

"From the beginning, all you ever cared about was Hangeong. Never your family. Never your son.

"Never me."

Seungwoon watched her, his expression unreadable.

"Now let’s see what’s left in those hands of yours."

Before she could even call his name, he turned and walked out.

Mihyang stood frozen, staring at his retreating back.

In the cold, heavy silence, she swore she could hear it.

The sound of walls crumbling.