The Trash Wants to Live

I was the ‘eldest’ grandson, but I wasn’t exactly the eldest of all grandchildren. Originally, that seat would have belonged to Ki Sung Yoon, but his grandfather, Ki Jae Mu, was intentionally ignoring him.

No matter how trashy Ki Yoon Jae was, he didn’t tarnish the Sungwoon name. It was different for Ki Sung Yoon, who was well acquainted with being in the newspaper.

The newspapers would say, "Mr. A," but anyone vaguely in the know would say, "Oh, Ki Sung Yoon did something again."

It was Ki Sung Yoon’s father, Ki Young Woo – who had earned the ire of Ki Jae Mu by constantly overstepping the authority of his first child.

Ki Jae Mu was also the oldest of all his siblings, siblings he had to defeat in order to grasp the chairmanship. Ki Young Woo’s actions might have overlapped with those of his younger brothers.

Anyway, I wasn't feeling well. I was angry at the sight of the annoying Ki Sung Yoon, but I was more angry that he had his eyes on mine.

"Hyung…"

Hyun Seo approached me with tears and hugged me tightly. He tried to protect his sister from a bully, but it must have been hard.

I was proud of him for not using his abilities even when he was agitated- it wouldn’t have ended in just a small scuffle if he had. Jung Yi Joon and Kwon Jae Hyuk stood up and stared at Ki Sung Yoon as if they were waiting for him to make the first move. 

This behaviour from Kwon Jae Hyuk might have been normal, but the fact that Jung Yi Joon didn't rush at Ki Sung Yoon, who clearly had bad blood with me, seemed to be because he was concerned I would be placed into an awkward situation. Thinking that way, I was somehow touched.

"Yoon Jae-gun1. Is this yours?”

"Heut…"

Ki Sung Yoon smiled and grabbed Ha Eun Seo's arm tightly. Whether his grip was actually painful or just scary, Ha Eun Seo was sobbing and shaking.

That was the biggest weakness of stealth. She couldn't hide herself when she was in contact with someone. Ha Eun Seo should have been able to run away from Ki Sung Yoon, but she seemed to have hesitated and failed to get away.

While stroking Ha Hyun Seo’s hair, I got angry at Ki Sung Yoon's following words.

"Can I play with her? I like her, but it seems she doesn’t come cheap. Seeing that your subordinates can’t recognise their superiors, I need to educate them."

Ki Sung Yoon's eyes were wide as he giggled. Ha Eun Seo was too precious to leave in the hands of trash who openly flaunted his bad hobbies. I removed Ha Hyun Seo, who was wrapped around my waist, and walked up to Ki Sung Yoon.

"Hyung."

I grabbed Ki Sung Yoon's wrist which was holding Ha Hyun Seo's arm and, while holding him tight and pushing my face as close as possible, I whispered to him,

"You need to educate them? Why? They are doing great."

"What?"

“Ah, right. This is all mine. I'm the successor. Is there anyone superior to me besides the adults?”

"This…"

"She's not cheap enough to spend time on something worse than me, something not even on my level."

"You fucking asshole?"

While I smiled and looked at him mockingly, Ki Sung Yoon, who was drunk and clearly tipsy, seemed very angry. He let go of Ha Eun Seo's hand and grabbed me by the collar.

But with an inebriated mind, he could only spit out dirty and vulgar swear words, let alone refute what I said. As I listened to him, I decided to end this commotion before it reached Ki Jae Mu’s ears.

“Like father, like son. Are you trying to covet other people’s things without knowing your place? A deadbeat who isn’t satisfied with what he already has.”

"You fucking bastard!"

"Ki Sung Yoon. The article on December 9th is about you, right?"

I visually combined the information that I encountered in a newspaper article with the rumours and whispers surrounding Ki Sung Yoon. After putting the two together, I laughed and continued to mock Ki Sung Yoon.

"My uncle must have had a hard time. That newspaper company is not close to the Sungwoon family. Redacting that information must have cost you a fortune. I'm sure. But what else can he do but spend the money? If grandfather catches wind of this, you'll be dead. Uncle had to splash a lot of money to save his first son, who is eager to steal the successor's position. Am I right?”

"You, you… How did you…"

“What the hell is uncle thinking? If he wanted to take away my position as successor, it’s not enough to oust me with just a dim guy like you. How is he planning to make his kid, who can’t get a grip on the situation and abandon his bad habits even after the article was published, the successor? Huh? Do you know what uncle is thinking?"

Ki Sung Yoon, who was holding my collar, lost his strength. He seemed very surprised. I shook off Ki Sung Yoon's hand and smoothed my clothes. They were wrinkled, but still presentable enough. 

"Get yourself together. How can you act like this in front of grandfather? I'm sure you must be out of your mind.”

Ki Sung Yoon's face turned red while I mocked him until the end. I pulled Ha Eun Seo far away from Ki Sung Yoon with a smiling face and waved my hand at Ki Hyun Joo, who was watching the scene from afar. At my gesture, Ki Hyun Joo sighed, greeted the people around her, and came to me.

"I'm going home."

"Already? Okay."

When I told Ki Hyun Joo that I was going home, she obediently said okay. She seemed to have decided that I might create a scene with Ki Sung Yoon if I continued to stay. 

I could see that Ha Eun Seo had stopped trembling as if she had calmed down. As I walked out of the hall, I beckoned to Jung Yi Joon.

"What?"

"Hey, knock it over."

Jung Yi Joon understood my words perfectly. A few seconds later, Jung Yi Joon, who smiled, waved his hand. A huge noise occurred.

"Ouch! Fuck! What's this!"

Ki Sung Yoon's angry voice followed. Looking back, I could see Ki Sung Yoon collapsing against the champagne tower piled up by Ki Jae Mu, who liked to show off.

Naturally, Ki Jae Mu's face was stiff, and Ki Young Woo's complexion became pale when he saw what his son had done.

Thanks to that, Jung Yi Joon and I left the hall with a giggle.

The attendants had the car on standby after Ki Hyun Joo contacted them. After getting in the car, I asked Jung Yi Joon,

"What happened earlier?"

"Oh, that? Hmm… It's nothing."

"What is it?"

Jung Yi Joon thought about what to say for a while and opened his mouth after organising it in his head.

"It's nothing. Just… Ki Sung Yoon, that crazy guy was passing by and flirted with Ha Eun Seo. Well… Because of Ha Eun Seo's shy personality, she couldn’t say anything. So, Ki Sung Yoon got angry because it seemed as if she ignored him."

"And then?"

"When the kid confronted him about not bothering his sister, the crazy guy told him to get lost and pushed his forehead with a finger. Ha Eun Seo covered Ha Hyun Seo before Kwon Jae Hyuk and I told him not to bother the kids."

Since then, Ki Sung Yoon had been flirting with Ha Eun Seo again, asking her why she ignored him when she knew how to speak, and it was said that Ha Eun Seo pushed away Ki Sung Yoon's hand trying to hold her. After that, it's as I saw…

“Huh, really…”

“Ah, before that, when Kwon Jae Hyuk tried to run interference, Ki Sung Yoon said that a dirty lowborn shouldn't butt in."

"What?"

I heard something absurd. How dare he insult my people? 

Earlier, I was angry that he didn’t treat a girl properly, and gave Ki Sung Yoon the treatment he deserved.

How dare he attempt to claim the superiority of his background when he couldn't even keep sober? I was so angry.

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

"Didn't you hear anything from him?"

"Uh? me… I was fine because Kwon Jae Hyuk dragged me around."

Jung Yi Joon also seemed to have heard something from Ki Sung Yoon, but he didn't seem to want to say anything, so I couldn't push it. I just let it go, but the more I thought about it, the more I hated that jerk Ki Sung Yoon.

I was just dealt a bad hand earlier…

I regretted that I solved it quietly because I was conscious of Ki Jae Mu. But why was Ha Eun Seo scared of people?

It isn’t that she’s scared of a single person,but that she’s afraid of men…

Seeing that she spoke well with Ki Hyun Joo, a woman, it seemed to be androphobia, a phobia of men. Ha Hyun Seo was the only man she could talk to without shaking.

In fact, it was difficult to consider Ha Hyun Seo a man around his age. That could be why Ha Eun Seo was not afraid. It seemed that I should find out what happened in the past.

When the original Ki Yun Jae died… Ha Eun Seo's stabbing may have had something to do with her androphobia.

If fear gradually builds up and continues to be suppressed, eventually, it would burst out, consequences be damned. 

There was no content suggesting that Ki Yoon Jae saw Ha Eun Seo as member of the opposite sex or did anything, but… it was hard to be sure because such things had simply not been described in the novel. 

In addition, even if he didn't do anything, her hatred would have accumulated because he forced Ha Eun Seo, who was weak, to steal secrets from a rival company.

Ha Eun Seo's phobia of men and everything that Ki Yoon Jae did may have contributed to his death…

Should I find out from Ki Hyun Joo?

Ki Hyun Joo was very cooperative right now, but… I wasn't sure if I could trust her yet.

But who else should I ask if not Ki Hyun Joo?

T/N: Next chapter will probably delay but hopefully not, depending on my editor circumstances. Thank you and have a great day! Also if anyone is confused about the story, do comment below and I will do my best to try helping answering your questions. Thanks!

1. Gun (군) is used similarly to Ssi but applied to unmarried men/male minors only. Usually used by old people when addressing teenagers or young adults, such as when professors address their students, or when referring to the groom in weddings.