Savior

4.

At my words, silence descended over the room once again.

As expected, neither Father nor my eldest brother seemed particularly shaken. Only my second brother made a fuss, his eyes widening until they looked ready to pop out.

“W-what!? Father? Hey, miss, are you sure you haven't got the wrong room?”

My eldest brother, Jeong Ju-won, said as he pushed up his sleek silver-rimmed glasses with a finger.

“Jeong Min-hyeok. Don't make a scene in front of Father. This is a private room that only our family is allowed into. Which means that young lady either knows about us, or else...”

My eldest brother slowly turned his head toward Father.

Father, who had been meeting my gaze as if we were locked in a staring contest, shifted his eyes slightly toward empty space.

“I have no children beyond the ones I know about.”

There was an inexplicable force in his deep, resonant voice. An intangible force no one could possibly defy.

I swallowed involuntarily.

It had seemed easy enough in theory, but now that I was facing him, my body felt frozen all the same.

‘I don't want to come to this damn gathering...’

I'd tried telling Father that a few times, but he'd dismissed me every time.

My half-brothers always treated me like an outcast, and even when I showed up, they barely spoke to me.

I just had to eat in an uncomfortable setting while listening to my brothers sneer at me.

It was a wonder I never got indigestion.

I could never figure out what Father was thinking.

“Um... It's Ha-won. Jeong Ha-won.”

I barely managed to force out the words that had caught in my throat.

My heart pounded even harder. I had no idea how they would react to what I said next.

“Hmm?”

“W-what did you say!?”

My two brothers reacted differently, but both of them clearly looked bewildered.

I didn't care much about their reactions.

What mattered was Father.

Father merely narrowed his eyes slightly and watched me, without saying anything in particular.

‘Damn it, say something... anything...’

Only a few seconds had passed, but they felt like hours to me.

Sweat gathered in my clenched fists, and my legs began to tremble.

‘I wasn't this bad before. Is this another side effect of my body changing?’

Had not only my body, but my mind, grown weak too?

Damn it all.

At last, Father spoke.

“Are you going to keep standing there? Come and sit down.”

His reaction was completely unexpected.

I'd clearly become a completely different person from who I used to be—and even changed sexes.

But Father spoke as though it were no big deal.

I wasn't the only one taken aback.

My brothers looked at Father in confusion, too.

As though answering their unspoken questions, Father continued.

“As Ju-won said, this isn't a place someone can simply wander into. And since I have no children other than Ha-won, I think the young woman before us must be Ha-won, transformed.”

My eldest brother, Jeong Ju-won, immediately challenged Father.

“But, Father, I don't think this is something we can take so lightly. It doesn't make sense for someone's sex and appearance to suddenly change.”

Father turned his head toward Jeong Ju-won.

His gaze was firm.

“Do you have a problem with my decision, eldest son?”

My eldest brother flinched at Father's words and bowed his head.

“I-I'm sorry.”

Father's gaze returned to me.

“What are you waiting for? Sit down.”

“O-okay...”

I cautiously sat beside my second brother, leaving a little space between us.

“Now that we're all here, let's have the meal served.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jeong Ju-won replied, then snapped his fingers.

A few seconds later, the door opened and the dishes began to arrive.

‘Even so, something's strange. This isn't something I can just accept without question. How can he be so calm about it...?’

Thinking that, I glanced discreetly at Father.

He was calmly cutting the steak in front of him, without sparing me a glance.

As expected, his face was stern and impossible to read.

‘Does Father know something?’

I couldn't help but let my thoughts drift in that direction.

As the meal continued, Father naturally began talking about the company.

Most of the conversation was with my eldest brother, Jeong Ju-won, who headed the Future Strategy Planning Division.

My second brother, Jeong Min-hyeok, was in charge of the Media Business Division. He might have had the title of division head, but in reality he was a layabout who didn't do much of anything at the company.

It felt like they'd simply made up a position for him because he was the chairman's son.

I had no role at Father's company.

I didn't want one, and Father never forced me to take one.

If I had to guess, it was largely because he didn't want to show his illegitimate son to the public.

So I was free, and I liked having that freedom.

Father had made sure I had enough money to spend as much as I wanted without ever running short, and even provided me with a penthouse in a luxury apartment building in Hunam-dong.

It was only thanks to all that support that I could live so decadently, indulging in nothing but alcohol and women.

But things were a little different now.

No, perhaps I should say they were very different.

I'd become an entirely different person.

I couldn't keep living the way I had until now. And I didn't want to stay a woman, either.

If I went outside looking like this, men's gazes would swarm around me like bees.

I knew that all too well, having been a man myself.

Just seeing Jeong Min-hyeok, sitting beside me, sneak glances at me was enough to show me what to expect.

‘This is such bullshit.’

The lechery in Jeong Min-hyeok's gaze was unmistakable.

I couldn't swallow a bite. I felt like I might throw up at any moment.

“Um, Father.”

I slipped my words into a brief lull in the conversation.

Father set down his fork and knife for a moment and looked at me.

“Yes? Is there something you want to say?”

“Well, I mean... do you really believe me? It doesn't make sense, logically...”

A faint smile appeared at the corner of Father's mouth, which had been stern throughout the meal.

“Yes. To be honest, it's hard to believe even when I'm seeing it with my own eyes. But, looking at it another way, I have no choice but to believe you, because you can only be Ha-won.”

Father's tone softened a little.

He'd always been like that.

Unlike when he spoke to my eldest and second brothers, he was a little gentler with me, even when he said just one word.

That might have rubbed my half-brothers the wrong way. I wished he wouldn't treat me that way, too, but it was difficult to say so outright.

“When you say you have no choice but to believe me...”

“I mean exactly what I said. Not just anyone can come here, and if someone were a spy or had come sniffing around for whatever scraps they could get, we'd find out soon enough.”

“I see...”

“Of course, since this situation makes no sense, I'll look into it a little. But if I trust my instincts, you are Jeong Ha-won.”

A little investigation would probably mean looking into my movements or comparing our DNA.

If Father set his mind to it, there wasn't much he couldn't do in this country.

He had that much power and money.

Father was a man with enough influence to make even government officials and politicians defer to him.

Even if I hadn't been his son, if he declared me his son, then that would make me his biological son.

I'd never seen anyone dare to contradict or disobey Father.

Still, hearing him say that put me at ease.

It almost seemed silly that I'd been worrying so much about how to convince him.

After a brief pause, I cautiously asked what I'd been meaning to ask Father since I arrived.

“Would you happen to know... who did this to me?”

Father's face stiffened slightly.

He didn't look angry, but I felt an inexplicable pressure from him.

“I wonder. Do you think someone did this to you?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. I can't think of anyone offhand, either. If there's anything you need, I'll support you.”

“Oh, thank you. I'll talk to you about that later.”

“All right. It may be inconvenient, but it can't hurt to be certain. Before you leave today, give Secretary Shin a few strands of your hair.”

“O-okay.”

We exchanged a few more words as I carefully watched for any change in Father's expression, but I still couldn't glean anything.

‘I thought Father might know something, but from the way he acted, it really seems like he doesn't know anything...’

When the meal was over, just as Father had said, Secretary Shin, his personal secretary, was waiting for me outside the restaurant entrance.

I plucked out a few strands of hair and handed them to Secretary Shin, who looked as cold as ice.

“Please take care on your way home.”

Even her farewell sounded tinged with a chill.

I stepped outside the hotel and let out a long breath I'd been holding. Now that the tension had eased, exhaustion washed over me.

Just as I was about to call Seo Geon-woo, a voice behind me called out.

“Hey! You, the self-proclaimed Jeong Ha-won!”

I turned slightly.

As expected, it was my second brother, Jeong Min-hyeok.

“What?”

As always, a curt tone slipped out automatically.

“Are you really Jeong Ha-won?”

“Could you stand a little farther away when you talk? Your breath stinks.”

“Ha... Judging by the way you talk, you might really be the trashy Jeong Ha-won, but you've changed so much on the outside that I can't exactly believe it.”

That's what he said, but his gaze was roaming over my chest and legs.

Anger boiled up in me, along with a wave of nausea.

‘I never thought I'd have to deal with a man looking at me like that.’

That was something my values could never tolerate.

Even though my body had changed into a woman's, I'd lived my whole life as a man. And not just any man—I was better than most of the guys out there.

I hadn't lived my life just to be ogled by some perverted psychopath like him.

“You'll find out once the investigation's done. Why don't you mind your own business and get lost?”

“Ah, this is something else. If it turns out you're really Jeong Ha-won, what am I supposed to do now? I wouldn't mind having a little sister, but would you call me ‘oppa’?”

“You fucking piece of shit...”

“Heh heh heh... That temper's definitely Jeong Ha-won's. You can't imitate that kind of thing! Pwahahaha!”

I wanted to smash his face in.

Before, he hadn't even dared to sneer at me so openly.

The guy standing right in front of me was Jeong Min-hyeok, who'd been unable to meet my eyes properly ever since I'd beaten him up once.

Whatever the case, it seemed that now I looked like a woman, he thought he could push me around.

‘My strength may be weaker, but I still have all my fighting techniques memorized.’

I quickly threw a straight punch aimed at his solar plexus.

But, contrary to my expectations, my punch was far too slow, and he caught me by the wrist.

“Your body's changed, so why don't you tone down your temper and try acting a little more feminine?”

Watching his sneering face made my insides twist.

“Want your big brother—or should I say, your oppa—to check if you've changed properly?”

A situation I'd never even wanted to imagine was about to unfold.

His hand was reaching toward my chest.

Damn it all.

To a perverted lecher like him, I was nothing but an appetizing woman.

I tried to pull my wrist free, but I couldn't break his grip by force.

I couldn't believe I had to endure this humiliation helplessly.

I gritted my teeth, indignation rising in me until tears welled in my eyes.

“You son of a bitch!”

I shouted, but he had no intention of stopping. Just before his filthy hand touched my chest, something grabbed it and stopped him.

Min-hyeok and I reflexively turned our heads toward the same side.

“That doesn't seem like a very decent thing to do, hyung.”

The one who stopped him by grabbing his wrist was none other than Seo Geon-woo.

For a moment, Seo Geon-woo looked like my savior.

Even his bear-like, blockheaded face seemed to glow.