Chapter 24 –The Brother of Fire
Haneul didn't text Jaewan.
Didn’t do anything civilized or premeditated. He simply appeared in Jaewan’s private office at Yeol Holdings like a froststorm in boots and eyeliner, sopping wet from a sudden drizzle, hair pinned with too many silver clips, braid frizzed and half-undone like he’d wrestled a raccoon and lost.
“I need information,” he said, dripping onto the carpet.
Jaewan didn't flinch. He didn’t even look up from his tablet. “On the stock market?”
“On your king.”
At that, Jaewan sighed, leaned back in his chair, and raised a single brow. “You stormed through four layers of corporate security to interrogate me about Seungho?”
“No. I climbed the fire escape and hijacked a printer cart. Pay attention.”
“You could’ve just called.”
“You would’ve said no.”
“…Correct.”
“I rest my case.”
Jaewan stared for a long moment, gaze flicking from the sopping hem of Haneul’s mesh hoodie to the plastic container of half-eaten kimchi pancakes he’d apparently brought as a bribe. “And what exactly are you trying to find out?”
“Who’s the one person,” Haneul said, settling cross-legged on the edge of the desk like a very aggressive shrine spirit, “who knows all his dirty secrets? Childhood fears. Sleepwalking incidents. Emotional weaknesses. Ex-girlfriends he cried over. Whether he wets the bed. Or likes musicals. I want the real dirt, not the CEO's public broadcast.”
“…You're unbelievable.”
“I try.”
Jaewan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why?”
Haneul’s grin glinted sharp. “Because I want to beat him at his own game.”
Jaewan blinked. “That’s… not an answer.”
“I’m not here to cry, or beg, or confess,” Haneul said, tone flipping, sudden and silver. “I’m here to study. I’m fighting someone who doesn’t fight back. It’s terrifying. So I’m going to learn how.”
Jaewan tilted his head. “You think you’re at war with him?”
“No. But I think he thinks he’s not at war. Which means I’m losing.”
There was a pause. Then a long exhale. Jaewan stood, moved to the liquor cabinet behind his desk, and poured himself two fingers of something old and golden. Sipped. Then poured another shot, and handed it to Haneul.
“I shouldn’t encourage you,” he muttered. “But I like chaos more than balance sheets.”
“Spoken like someone who still knows how to live.”
“Don’t quote me to myself, please.”
Haneul downed the drink like it was water, coughed, and licked his lips. “So. Who’s my target?”
Jaewan hesitated, then smirked like a man realizing he was about to throw gasoline on an already flaming building. “Ji Ho.”
“Is that a bar?”
“Seungho’s younger brother.”
