Chapter 41

Nestled in an affluent neighborhood along the mountain foothills, Lee Shin’s family estate directly overlooked the breathtaking scenery of Mount Inwang’s Chima Rock.

Passing through the wrought-iron gate and stepping onto the granite path, a lavish garden welcomed visitors with impeccably manicured landscaping.

Flanking both sides of the stone steps, two pine trees formed an extraordinary, mirror-like symmetry. Judging by their stature and immaculate form, they were the product of exorbitant time and labor. Anyone visiting this estate invariably praised the trees, some lingering at length simply to admire the view.

People claimed to discern the resolute fortitude of ancient pines in their branches. Yet to Shin, having grown up watching them his entire life, the magnificent sight represented nothing more than the cold aftermath of abuse. The two trees, forced into flawless symmetry, remained tightly bound by rusted wires. His father’s declaration that these trees symbolized his two children made the spectacle all the more abhorrent.

Tonight was the dinner where the family was scheduled to gather for Lee Myung-heon’s birthday.

Deliberately averting his eyes from the pines, Shin climbed the stone steps with brisk, long strides, opening the front door without making a sound. The first person he encountered in the living room was none other than Cha Se-gyeom.

“You arrived early. Did my sister not come with you?” Shin asked, unbuttoning his jacket.

Se-gyeom offered a calm smile. “She mentioned meeting friends nearby, so she should be arriving shortly. We’ve been seeing each other quite often lately, brother-in-law.”

Chiming in from the hallway, So-hwa scolded, “Prosecutor Cha, do you still speak so formally to Shin? Addressing your junior that way for so long doesn’t look good. Settle into the habit quickly. By the way, is Young really nearby? She isn’t answering her phone.”

Having materialized from the kitchen, So-hwa affectionately patted the shoulders of her son and son-in-law in turn.

“And Shin,” So-hwa chided, shaking her head, “you could have at least changed your clothes before coming. I’m utterly sick of that military uniform. I endured your father wearing it for a lifetime until it made me nauseous; do I really have to look at my son in one too?”

“It’s convenient, and it saves me from agonizing over what to wear,” Shin countered with an easy shrug.

“Why not wear it straight down the wedding aisle then?”

Shin gave a sly, teasing grin. “Not a bad idea at all.”

So-hwa shot her shameless son a playful glare. Although she had just emerged from the kitchen, there was zero indication that she had prepared any food herself; she had likely done nothing more than select the porcelain dinnerware and instruct the staff on the serving order. It was a familiar ritual to Shin.

Smoothing her apron, So-hwa added, “You should have brought our youngest in-law along. I heard you two are working together on some emergency task force right now.”

“To Father’s birthday? It would only make him uncomfortable,” Shin dismissed flatly.

“It’s a family gathering,” she pressed, “so what does it matter? The youngest in-law is practically family now. Bring him next time, all right? Prosecutor Cha, don’t forget either.”

With a polite bow, Se-gyeom replied, “Yes, Mother.”

So-hwa clicked her tongue in exasperation. “I really don’t understand why men are so indifferent. At times like this, he should come and foster affection with your father. Since he’ll be staying in the military anyway, do you think Father merely knowing him in abstract as an in-law compares to seeing his face and looking after him out of genuine fondness?”

Despite claiming she despised living as a soldier’s wife, So-hwa was inescapably a military spouse to the bone. Having lived a lifetime where every single daily routine revolved around her husband’s promotions, these ingrained instincts slipped out involuntarily. Yet the moment she caught herself, she gritted her teeth in disgust and shuddered.

“No, forget it. Tell him not to come. In fact, both you and our in-law should just discharge immediately. I can’t stand the sight of soldiers.”

Waving her hands dismissively, she breezed back into the kitchen as swiftly as she had appeared.

The wall clock in the hushed living room ticked past seven and moved steadily toward eight. It was already late for dinner, yet neither the birthday celebrant, Lee Myung-heon, nor his daughter showed any signs of arriving.

“Care for a smoke?” Shin offered, catching Se-gyeom as the prosecutor prepared to sit on the sofa.

Shin recalled seeing him smoking in the alley in front of Se-woong’s apartment. Having watched him chain-smoke that day, he estimated the prosecutor was quite the heavy smoker. Oddly enough, Se-gyeom carried virtually no lingering odor of tobacco. Cha Se-woong had also never carried a scent of sweat no matter how hard he trained; the brothers exhibited family traits in the most peculiar ways.

Gesturing toward the deck, Shin added, “Our garden terrace happens to be prime smoking real estate. More than a few people have been awarded plum military appointments while smoking out there.”

Se-gyeom gave a quiet chuckle. “Wouldn’t that only apply if Father-in-Law were present as well?”

“Well, there’s an auspicious aura to the spot. Shall we head out?” Shin asked with an amused smirk.

As Shin led the way through the glass door connected to the living room, Se-gyeom quietly followed behind.

Though dubbed prime real estate, it was technically a terrace rather than an open yard. Two canvas camping chairs rested on the spacious deck, appearing oddly mismatched yet strangely at home. Given that no other outdoor furniture accompanied them, they seemed placed there simply for functional comfort.

“Ah, these are the chairs I used to share with Se-woong back in Paju,” Shin remarked with a nostalgic glance, “we were assigned to the same division, so we shared an officer residence. I wondered where they had gone; Mother must have brought them out here.”

Hearing the mention of Se-woong’s early military service, Se-gyeom’s eyes narrowed slightly in recollection.

“Ah. Paju.”

In truth, Se-gyeom knew very little about Se-woong’s days in Paju. When his youngest brother graduated from the academy, Se-gyeom had enlisted belatedly while simultaneously studying for law school, leaving him little bandwidth to monitor his sibling. Knowing Se-woong always managed flawlessly on his own, his only concrete memory was receiving a necktie bought with his brother’s first officer paycheck.

Pulling over a chair that could be lifted with a single finger, Se-gyeom eased into the seat, and Shin settled into the adjacent one.

Settling back into the canvas seat, Se-gyeom noted, “I remember our youngest being delighted to receive his assignment alongside a close friend. I suppose that friend was you, Shin-ssi.”

Shin gave an amused smirk. “He was delighted? How cute.”

Se-gyeom stared blankly at his brother-in-law as a broad smirk curled Shin’s lips. Was ‘cute’ a descriptor men in their thirties commonly tossed around regarding peers? Certainly neither he nor his colleagues would ever utter such an embarrassing term, yet he reasoned that among younger men of his brother’s age group, perhaps it was permissible.

Pulling a cigarette pack from his pocket, Se-gyeom extended it toward Shin. Though Shin didn’t look like a smoker, he offered out of courtesy. True to prediction, Shin declined, and Se-gyeom sparked a flame for himself.

Had the mountain ridge been visible, the smoke might have tasted even finer, yet Mount Inwang revealed only a dark silhouette in the gloom. Nevertheless, the warm evening breeze carried away the gray plumes nicely. Disregarding promises of career promotions, it truly was prime territory for a quiet smoke.

Se-gyeom blew a fine plume of smoke into the darkness. “Our youngest seems to have been exceptionally close with you, brother-in-law.”

“I believe we still are,” Shin replied without hesitation.

“Ah. Even now.”

Inhaling deeply until his cheeks hollowed, Se-gyeom parted his lips slightly and exhaled the smoke into the night air, watching the pale ribbon trace a fleeting trajectory across the dark.

Hesitation tinting his tone, Se-gyeom asked, “I’m not sure if I should ask this, but is Se-woong doing well? The military really isn’t his natural calling.”

For an older brother inquiring after his sibling’s welfare, Se-gyeom looked surprisingly awkward, as if whispering a bashful secret he had never uttered before. It revealed the posture of a man unaccustomed to entrusting personal affairs to outsiders; even an ordinary inquiry felt like imposing a request.

In truth, Shin despised this touching brotherly devotion—the way they forced themselves to utter uncomfortable words simply to verify the welfare of their beloved sibling.

“To say it isn’t his calling,” Shin countered smoothly, “Se-woong performs far too outstandingly.”

Se-gyeom gave a quiet sigh. “Obedience is his second nature, and hating to lose, he undoubtedly pushes himself to the limit.”

His elder brother’s gaze softened, reflecting an affectionate warmth that Shin found subtly grating.

Shin knew that better than anyone. He was the one who had spent years observing Se-woong gritting his teeth in private to master every demand placed upon him.

“Are you worried about him?” Shin asked in a mild voice.

Tapping the ash from his cigarette, Se-gyeom admitted, “As an older brother, it’s only natural. He keeps things bottled up too much.”

Shin remained silent, his gaze fixed on the glowing embers in the darkness.

The elder Cha brother possessed an uncanny ability to dissect people with razor precision, yet when it came to his own brother, his objective clarity was clouded by protective bias.

Since when had interrogating people become a soldier’s routine task? With 330 already filling his days with endless question marks, trying to decipher Cha Se-gyeom’s inner workings made fatigue surge to the crown of Shin’s head.

“How long,” Shin asked, bypassing pleasantries, “do you intend to maintain this arrangement with my sister?”

Polite circumlocution required energy he currently lacked; after all, etiquette was born of physical stamina.

Se-gyeom tilted his head in mild surprise. “How long? Why? Do you suspect our marriage won’t last?”

Leaning against the railing, Shin pressed, “Have you established clear boundaries, or are you simply leaving things to drift? Living recklessly is Lee Young’s default state, after all.”

Keeping his eyes locked on Shin, Se-gyeom turned his head slightly to vent a stream of smoke into the shadows.

“Well, living like this isn’t particularly terrible. Both Young-ssi and I required this marriage, and experiencing it firsthand has revealed its conveniences. Harmonious couples aren’t the only ones who thrive; our partnership works reasonably well,” Se-gyeom replied evenly.

Shin wondered what cement held that partnership together, yet he refrained from probing further; Se-gyeom was hardly the sort to yield answers under casual interrogation.

He had always trusted his instincts in reading people, but his brother-in-law proved difficult to decipher. And knowing this impenetrable prosecutor treasured Cha Se-woong like precious jade only made Shin more displeased.

“You know my sister purchased an apartment in Paris under my name,” Shin noted, “don’t you? A woman who never does anything swiftly was in a frantic hurry. The partner she intends to live with there is someone quite easily identified with a quick internet search.”

Se-gyeom tapped another cigarette from his pack. Flicking his lighter, he held the flame to the tip and took a slow, measured drag.

Shin watched the smoke drift away into the chill air. “I’ve never seen her settle down with anyone for long, but this relationship has persisted. Hardly a promising signal. She isn’t the type to exercise caution to preserve her husband’s reputation, so if an incident occurs, you may find this necessary. Though ideally, an incident shouldn’t happen at all.”