Chapter 26: 2 Billion Won

At the Yoon family home.

Yoon Nam-woo, dressed in classic orange Hermès silk pajamas, was pacing frantically in his bedroom. He picked up and put down the mixture of two spoonfuls of honey in 350ml of hot milk that he drank every day before his afternoon nap, finally slamming his favorite gold Hermès porcelain cup back onto its matching pony-themed tray with a clatter.

At nearly thirty years old, Yoon Nam-woo was somewhat pudgy from excessive indulgence in food and wine. He bore no resemblance to Yoon Nam-hyuk’s handsome, princely appearance, sharing only a height just over 170cm and a portly build with Chairman Yoon Tae-min.

“Two billion won! Damn brat, where did this audacious lion come from? Shibal! Shibal! Shibal!”

Yoon Nam-woo’s voice grew louder as he cursed. His wife, Goo Ah-ra, quickly put down her matching Hermès porcelain cup and got up to soothe her husband. “Honey~ darling~ keep your voice down. It won’t be good if Father hears.”

“Hmph!” Yoon Nam-woo huffed and puffed with anger. He had just sat back down on the sofa when he started stomping his feet again, his Hermès gold velvet slippers making a slapping sound. “Honey! Do you think two billion is reasonable? He wants twenty hundred million for just this little bit? What kind of robber is this! He must be desperate for money! That’s our entire quarterly allowance! If Father finds out I spent so much at once, he’ll cut my allowance again!”

Goo Ah-ra covered her mouth as she looked at the photo on her phone. “Two billion! Omo… he wants that much for just a few photos?”

Yoon Nam-woo gritted his teeth. “…He said there are videos and stuff too, but who knows if that’s true or not. Shibal. That Choi Min-jun is a complete waste of space. I told him to get dirt on Yoon Nam-hyuk, and he couldn’t do it for so long. Now some brat I’ve never even heard of has beaten him to it and is using it to threaten us. Seriously, when I inherit the family business, that Choi Min-jun won’t last another day in the Yoon family! Useless!”

He had been more than generous in his treatment of this “talented” Choi Min-jun, who was at least efficient. But since they started working together, he had managed to get dirt on plenty of celebrities, but never on Yoon Nam-hyuk. And now, some anonymous person had beaten him to it!

All that money and all those promises were a complete waste!

He could have just hired some reporters to get dirt on celebrities!

Shibal, damn brat!

Goo Ah-ra said, “Honey, calm down first. My dear husband, calm down. What happens with Choi Min-jun isn’t important right now. He’s just a little guy who works for a living. Let’s talk about this video first… Does he really have to have two billion?”

Yoon Nam-woo snorted. “He said if we don’t come up with the two billion, he’ll send the same text to Yoon Nam-hyuk in an hour. If Yoon Nam-hyuk agrees to pay, we’ll never get our hands on this video! The despicable bastard!”

“An hour!?”

Goo Ah-ra nervously glanced at the diamond-studded Hermès clock on the wall and realized that ten minutes had already passed since they received the text.

Their father always gave them their allowance quarterly—two billion each quarter. Although they had just received the money at the beginning of January, their dermatology treatments, car maintenance, golf club fees… a whole host of expenses were also deducted at the beginning of the year!

How were they supposed to come up with two billion in fifty minutes? Even calling around to borrow money would take time! God… these blackmailers nowadays were so inhumane!

Goo Ah-ra wracked her brain, her beautiful eyes darting around. “Honey…”

She leaned close to Yoon Nam-woo’s ear. “Why don’t we ask that person for help?”

“Hmm?” Yoon Nam-woo paused. “You mean…”

“This is what I’m thinking, honey. This isn’t just our problem, right? Doesn’t that person also want to take down Yoon Nam-hyuk? We’re already partners sharing information. Now that we’re in a tight spot, he should help out too. It’s a collaboration, after all. We can’t be the only ones taking all the risks and racking our brains, right?”

“Mmm! Honey, you’re right!” Yoon Nam-woo smiled, his chubby face crinkling into two squinting eyes. He happily planted a loud, smacking kiss on Goo Ah-ra’s lips. “My darling wife is the smartest!”

“As long as my husband is happy, I’m satisfied~”

Goo Ah-ra stretched her lips into a perfect, elegant, and noble smile, but wiped her mouth twice after Yoon Nam-woo turned to make the call.

Yoon Nam-woo didn’t notice at all. He dialed the number in his phone that had no name attached to it and waited for the other party to pick up.

“Hello?” Yoon Nam-woo cleared his throat. “Something urgent has come up. Do you have time right now?”

The voice on the other end was placid. “Go ahead.”

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At a five-star hotel’s Korean restaurant.

Having eaten his fill, Qi Huai finally felt alive again. Yoon Nam-hyuk sat across from him, his arms crossed, an indescribable expression on his face.

Yoon Nam-hyuk couldn’t figure out why he had ditched work to eat a bland bowl of seaweed soup with this guy.

“You’re not eating?” Qi Huai asked, mixing the beef and seaweed into his rice.

“I’m not hungry.” Yoon Nam-hyuk glared, squeezing the words out through his teeth. “…What’s so good about seaweed soup anyway?”

He had never eaten seaweed in his life. The strange, soft texture and the peculiar fishy smell made him want to gag just thinking about it.

“?” Qi Huai looked at the other’s barely touched bowl of seaweed soup and rice, raising an eyebrow. “You don’t like seaweed?”

Picky eater?

“None of your business,” Yoon Nam-hyuk said, turning his head away.

Definitely a picky eater.

Qi Huai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Then why did you order the same thing as me?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk sneered, “How was I supposed to know you were eating this stuff?”

Of course, the real reason was that Yoon Nam-hyuk had been secretly glancing at Qi Huai while ordering. His eyes had been too busy for his ears to work, so he hadn’t heard what the other had said, only catching the word “set meal.”

A set meal should have a bit of everything, right? I can just pick at a few things, Yoon Nam-hyuk had thought. Who knew the other would order the seaweed soup set meal, which only came with rice, soup, and a bunch of overly salty side dishes.

There wasn’t a single thing he liked to eat.

Qi Huai was speechless. “I said, right in front of you, in a loud, clear voice, ‘I’ll have the seaweed soup set meal, thank you.’ Did you not hear me? Don’t be unreasonable.”

How dare he call me unreasonable!?

Yoon Nam-hyuk started to get worked up. “Hey! Do I have to listen to every single word you say? You narcissist, just eat your food!”

Me? A narcissist?

Qi Huai found the idea absurd.

Did Yoon Nam-hyuk, as the president of Wushan Entertainment, not know about the guy named Park Seok-jin in his own company?

Qi Huai almost laughed in disbelief. But as a rookie junior who wasn’t supposed to know Park Seok-jin’s true nature, he couldn’t say anything. So he just picked at his rice and sighed. “Then just order something else. I’ll eat yours.”

An elegant restaurant, a table for two, sharing food, and that resigned tone of voice—it all screamed of something a couple would do.

Yoon Nam-hyuk’s ears instantly turned red. He glared at Qi Huai. “Who said you could eat my food! Are we that close!”

The moment the words left his mouth, he picked up his spoon, fished out a few pieces of beef from the soup, rinsed them in his water glass, mixed them into his rice, and quickly finished half the bowl in a few bites.

“I’ve already eaten this. You order a new one!” He put down his spoon, turned to look at the scenery, and then popped a mint into his mouth two seconds later.

Why make things so difficult for yourself…

Qi Huai was perplexed. “…Didn’t you say you weren’t going to eat it?”

Why is he so protective of his food?

The System whispered in Qi Huai’s ear: 

[He’s already eaten it, but you can still eat it. You two have already fought, bathed together, and touched each other. One bowl of rice isn’t a big deal, right? Host Oppa~]

Qi Huai glanced at the System.

The System immediately cowered: 

[I just mean it would be nice if Host Oppa and Attack Dog Number One became a certain kind of chingu,¹ that’s all~ Hehehe~]

“Are you going back to the set later?” Qi Huai asked, finishing the last sip of his soup.

Yoon Nam-hyuk glanced at the time. “No, some other time.”

His set visit was only scheduled for two hours, and it was almost over. He had other meetings in the afternoon.

Qi Huai: “I’ll walk you out?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk looked down. “Assistant Yoo is already waiting for me in the car.”

Qi Huai nodded in understanding.

Yoon Nam-hyuk: “You…”

Qi Huai: “Next time…”

They both stopped at the same time. Yoon Nam-hyuk pressed his lips together, seemingly unwilling to say more. Qi Huai chuckled. “Next time, I’ll cook for you.” He opened his phone and placed it on the table. “You can tell me what you like and don’t like on KKT.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk stared at his hands, then added Qi Huai on KKT.

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¹Chingu (친구): The Korean word for “friend.”