Peninsula: The young master is poor and doesn't want to date.

Chapter 34 Bae Joo-hyun meets CJ Chairman

Bae Joo-hyun took her phone out of her coat pocket.

There were no missed calls.

No new messages.

She scrolled to Kakao Talk and looked at the newly added friend. The profile picture was an orange cat's butt, and the nickname was "Tool Person Li Zhengyi".

There was no movement.

She tried sending a message: Where are you?

Unread.

She waited ten minutes and then sent another message: Don't scare me.

Still unread.

She stared at the orange cat's butt for a very long time.

The screen blurred for a moment.

It's not a screen problem.

She roughly wiped the phone with the back of her hand and threw it on the sofa.

"Liar, if you don't want to talk to me anymore, just say you want to break up. You're not replying to my messages anymore, what's the meaning of this?"

It was almost dark when Bae Joo-hyun was asked to get into the car again.

This time, a different group of people were involved.

Two cars, four people, all wearing CJ Group Secretariat work permits.

They weren't the towering, imposing bodyguards, but rather elite office workers in dark gray suits and thin-rimmed glasses.

This kind of person is a million times more terrifying than a bodyguard.

Bodyguards might kick down the door, but they can make you realize you've sold yourself out after you've signed the contract.

Bae Joo-hyun was sandwiched in the middle, sitting in the innermost part of the back seat.

The phone was politely taken away.

The same politeness, but one that doesn't allow for refusal.

The car drove into Hannandong.

We entered through a huge iron gate.

Drive through a private driveway lined with sycamore trees.

We stopped in front of a silent mansion.

It's not like the extravagant penthouse apartments that Lee Woo-bin owns.

It's a true chaebol mansion.

Blue bricks, sloping roof, and pine and bamboo trees planted in the courtyard.

The ground lights on both sides of the driveway emitted a warm yellow glow, but most of the windows of the house were dark, like an old beast hibernating.

Bae Joo-hyun's legs went weak when she walked in.

It's not a metaphor.

It was genuinely shaking.

The living room was large, but no one was there.

The corridor was long, but there was no one there.

He was eventually led to a double oak door.

The door handle is made of brass, polished to a shine, and shows its age.

The door opened.

study.

Three of the four walls are lined with books.

These books have creases on their spines, are faded, and have been read repeatedly.

Not the kind of decorative, hardcover bookshelf wall.

The fireplace was real, and the firewood burned quietly inside, occasionally crackling.

The air was filled with the scents of old books, sandalwood, and a faint medicinal aroma.

Lee Jae-hyun sat behind his desk.

He wasn't lying in a hospital bed, wasn't on an IV drip, and wasn't being supported by anyone.

He was wearing a shirt and cardigan, his hair was neatly combed, and his face showed obvious signs of illness.

Sallow complexion, thin, with sunken eyes.

But those eyes weren't the patient's eyes.

Bae Joo-hyun had seen him on television.

Financial news, CJ Group annual meeting, wide shot.

At that time, she thought this person was just a rich old man.

Like all chaebol chairmen, he sat in the front row watching the reports, nodding occasionally.

This person is now sitting less than three meters away from her.

There were no cameras, no reporters, no teammates, and no agents.

She found herself barely able to stand.

"sit."

Lee Jae-hyun's voice was very soft.

But Bae Joo-hyun felt she had never been so obedient in her life.

She sat down in the chair opposite her.

This was also the most proper sitting posture she had ever had in her life.

Knees together, hands on knees, upper body upright, not daring to lean against the chair back.

Her legs, encased in black stockings, trembled slightly by the chair leg; she couldn't control it herself.

"Don't be afraid. I don't eat people."

Bae Joo-hyun nodded.

I tried hard to show even a tiny bit of a smile.

But my knees were still shaking.

Lee Jae-hyun picked up a tablet computer from the table, turned on the screen, and placed it on the edge of the table in front of her.

The screen displays a photograph.

The filming took place three days ago, in the early morning.

The location is in front of a convenience store in Kowloon Village.

A figure in the video has just gotten out of a car.

The black van, with masks and hats on, didn't lie about its size.

Bae Joo-hyun looked at herself in the photo, her throat went dry.

"It's you, isn't it?"

"……yes."

"That's where my son works. What are you doing there?"

Bae Joo-hyun clenched her fingers.

The fingernails dug into the palm.

She wanted to lie, to make up an excuse, to say she went shopping, to say it was just a coincidence.

But under the watchful eye of this business tycoon, she followed her heart.

"I'm going to find him."

"Looking for Zheng Yi?"

"Yes."

Why?

silence.

Then she heard her own voice, as light as a feather falling: "...I need help. Young Master Woo-bin has been...pursuing me. The company told me to be flexible, I...I have no other choice."

Lee Jae-hyun's eyebrows twitched slightly, but the movement was minimal.

"So you're using Zheng Yi as your shield."

It's not a question.

Bae Joo-hyun closed her eyes, then opened them.

"……yes."

"Then what."

"Then last night, Young Master Yu Bin's men came and took both of us away."

"What happened on the plane?"

"Young Master Yu Bin opened the hatch and gave Young Master Zheng Yi a choice: either agree to stay away from me, or jump."

"What did Zheng Yi choose?"

"...He pulled Lee Woo-bin down with him and jumped."

After saying those words, Bae Joo-hyun finally burst into tears.

From the moment she was brought to the study until now, she has been tense, as tense as a fully drawn bowstring.

The string is broken now.

Tears fell one by one onto the back of her hand.

"I didn't want them to jump. I really didn't want them to jump. I just... I just wanted to get away from that wolf. I never thought it would turn out like this."

Lee Jae-hyun watched her cry.

There was no interruption, nor was a tissue offered.

He was just watching.

Look at her crying, look at her clenched fingers, look at her trembling shoulders.

He wasn't trying to figure out whether she was telling the truth or lying.

He already knows the answer.

He was looking at something else.

"Are you afraid Zheng Yi is dead?"

Bae Joo-hyun looked up, her face streaked with tears and her eyes red.

She wasn't prepared for this question.

She didn't even ask herself.

Is she actually afraid of Li Zhengyi dying?

All she knew was that she had been waiting on the sofa all day and had sent two messages.

One message unread.

The other one was also unread.

Then I was brought here.

Then I realized that the sentence I feared most was: "The body has been found."

But she couldn't bring herself to say it.

She simply nodded.

Lee Jae-hyun stared at her for a long time.

Then he looked away.

"Alright. Let's go."

Bae Joo-hyun paused for a moment.

go?

that's it?

"Chairman Li, I..."

"You want to ask me what I should do with you?"

Bae Joo-hyun lowered her head.

I dare not say yes, nor dare I say no.

"You're trying to use my son, but you didn't force him to jump the plane."

"My two sons, one was a lawless child, and the other, even after being kicked out of the house for two years, still managed to cause a huge mess. Their choices have nothing to do with you. You're just an excuse for them in this contest. Without you, they would have found another excuse."

He paused.

"You should be glad you didn't actually do anything outrageous. You only used Zheng Yi's identity, not his feelings. If you had used his feelings, you wouldn't be sitting here listening to me just now."

Bae Joo-hyun broke out in a cold sweat after hearing those words.

But she did take advantage of his feelings.

Pretend to confess your feelings, pretend to like someone, pretend to fall in love at first sight.

However, Lee Jae-hyun probably doesn't know these things.

Or he knows, but he doesn't care.

Because in the world of conglomerates, this level of activity doesn't even qualify as borderline.