Seo Hahyun slightly narrowed one eye as though searching through his memories.
“There’s a saying in high society.”
“I don’t particularly want to know—”
“Corpse Seo Hahyun.”
Eungil instinctively glanced at Mina. She was already deathly pale and could only shake her head again.
“Whenever someone crosses paths with me, something strangely always happens to them.”
“……”
“They say one part of them—body or mind—always ends up completely ruined.”
His voice was the sort of tone that would have suited lovers whispering sweetly to each other.
“So when I announce my marriage…”
“……”
“Our youngest, who has neither reputation nor recognition in high society, will immediately become boring. Everyone will be dying to gossip about whose life I’ll ruin next.”
He wet his lips once, as though his throat had gone dry.
Just then, Mina staggered and cried out desperately.
“N-no!”
Her cute cheeks trembled as though she had just heard the most horrifying thing in the world.
“P-Player-nim! M-my eldest brother really is crazy! C-completely crazy!”
Seo Hahyun raised the corner of an eyebrow.
“That’s a rather harsh assessment.”
“Th-that…”
“To the brother who’s trying to bring your love above the bounds of illegality.”
But Mina wasn’t fooled. She already knew all about her half-brother’s terrible past.
“I-I didn’t spend nine years supporting Player Gong Eungil so you could marry her off to my brother! My brother is the worst, and that p-proposal is even worse! Of course, I-I’m the absolute worst for letting my player-nim be treated like this!”
Tears welled up in Mina’s eyes. From the beginning, she never should have dragged her precious favorite player into such a muddy mess.
She would never hand Gong Eungil over to Jekyung, nor to her eldest brother.
Just as she was making that firm resolution—
“Fine.”
Eungil calmly accepted.
“W-wha… What did you say, Player-nim?!”
Mina practically jumped, but Eungil remained frustratingly composed.
“Why? It’s not a bad deal. This is a winning stock.”
Eungil had spent nine years working under loan sharks. And that wasn’t all. To make a living, she had done security work, worked as a tout, waited tables, and occasionally even done jobs for gangsters.
Compared to those days, this was an extraordinarily respectable option.
No, rather…
Eungil smelled it.
The smell of money.
No—the smell of a chance to score.
A scoring opportunity capable of changing her entire life.
She didn’t regret coming this far for Mina. But if there was something to be gained, she believed she had to reach out and take it herself.
“What do I get in exchange for sharing your family registry? And what exactly do you gain by committing fraud through a fake marriage? And who exactly are you trying to deceive?”
Sahyun couldn’t help being surprised. She had seen straight through to the heart of the matter with remarkable sharpness.
“No comment.”
His mechanical smile was strangely radiant.
“I proposed that we use each other openly. I never proposed that we become bound together by fate. Am I wrong?”
The man drew a clear line between them.
“You two just hide behind my family registry and enjoy your pretty little love story. Don’t make me regret showing you this much generosity.”
Had she struck a nerve?
His voice became noticeably gentler, despite the fact that his eyes barely concealed their chill.
“Mina, should we arrange another blind date? There’s an illegitimate son of the Samhu Group who’s been stationed at the Sri Lankan branch and has just returned to Korea for a while.”
His gaze remained fixed on Eungil while he deliberately brought Mina into the conversation.
What a sly bastard.
Threatening people seemed to be second nature to him.
But Eungil immediately backed down. She couldn’t give away a point through a careless net touch.
“I have a condition instead of asking questions.”
“Yes. I’m listening.”
“Spread one rumor.”
Seo Hahyun focused on her voice.
“Say that the person who was supposed to be found to catch the bouquet was deliberately never arranged for. That Mina’s new sister-in-law did it.”
Mina stared at Eungil with wide eyes.
“Make it seem like the woman who barged into the ceremony as Mina’s lover was actually an employee mistakenly hired by her new sister-in-law. Say there was a communication error while arranging for someone.”
Seo Hahyun immediately understood her intention.
She wanted to screw over Heo Seulyoon.
If the rumor spread properly, Heo Seulyoon would become the culprit who ruined her sister-in-law’s wedding through her own mistake. And if she tried to clear up the rumor by admitting that she had intentionally failed to hire anyone, she would only prove herself to be petty.
“As it happens, that sister-in-law has been going around telling people she was going to humiliate Mina.”
“……”
“Do I need to spoon-feed you the rest?”
This time, Eungil snapped her fingers right in front of the man’s eyes.
Seo Hahyun covered his mouth with his large hand, hiding the corners of his lips that were trying to curl upward.
“Is this really enough for Gong Eungil? You don’t need anything besides becoming family with Mina?”
“I’ve already got what I need. Something that never runs dry no matter how much I use it—”
Eungil gave him an openly shameless grin and jerked her chin toward him.
“A money line.”
“……”
“You.”
It was blatant.
“I’m an athlete who’s already past her prime. Doing this with another team’s owner probably goes against sportsmanship. But who knows?”
This was a once-in-a-lifetime windfall for a twenty-nine-year-old third-rate player.
“Maybe I can lease the court for the rest of my life.”
In the end, Seo Hahyun let out a laugh resembling a sigh.
She’s greedy and shameless.
And yet, he didn’t dislike it.
It was merely amusing, like those occasions when cameras caught Gong Eungil silently mouthing a curse during a match.
“So I like it. I’ll share affection with Mina and marry you. I’ll do it.”
Seo Hahyun loosened his tie further as he grew slightly heated.
“P-Player-nim!”
Mina’s mouth fell open.
Eungil whispered to her, clearly aware that Mina had a lot to say.
“…Shut up. This is the best offering you’ve ever given me.”
Mina stared at her with unfocused eyes, completely speechless.
Eungil approached the man with a much lighter expression.
Seo Hahyun decided to watch a little longer and see just how far this cunning woman would go.
“Corpse Seo Hahyun.”
Look at her.
Her eyes were practically overflowing with greed.
“I have no intention of lying beside your family registry like a mummy.”
Seo Hahyun suddenly found himself craving a cigarette.
The harsh, pure smoke that used to fill and tighten his lungs.
“I’m going to suck your money dry like a leech, and I’m going to crush your team. So learn properly from your sister how to sponsor someone and come back.”
She gave him a little nod, effectively dismissing him.
The moment Seo Hahyun got into the car, he tore off his tie and even undid the buttons of his shirt before finally leaning back against the seat. His head lolled languidly, revealing his Adam’s apple.
“Did everything go well, sir?”
“……”
“Sir…?”
Secretary Nam glanced cautiously toward the back seat.
The atmosphere was unusual.
“Do you have a cigarette?”
“Sir, do you smoke?”
“I used to.”
“What? Then why are you asking for one now if you quit?”
“My appetite is coming back.”
Seo Hahyun absentmindedly rubbed his collar.
“Your appetite?! Has your sense of taste returned? Should I arrange an appointment with Professor Jang?”
Secretary Nam became flustered.
“Don’t make such a fuss. It’s not certain.”
“But…”
“More importantly, we’ve finished recruiting her. Prepare the contract.”
Seo Hahyun’s habitual smile disappeared.
The fatigue from the sleepless night finally caught up with him.
“Are you really sure this is okay?”
The secretary carefully spoke as he skillfully drove out of the alley.
“What wouldn’t be okay?”
His voice was low and slightly hoarse.
“I mean marrying your younger sister’s lover.”
“If you summarize it like that, I sound like I have no conscience.”
“Don’t you?”
Hahyun gave a derisive snort.
“Ah, fine. It is a little pitiful.”
His lips curled into a sweetly sarcastic smile.
“Our brother-in-law.”
Secretary Nam shook his head at his boss’s teasing.
His boss loved captivating and manipulating people with his handsome face, but that was merely the irritation of a thousand-year-old male gumiho.
The real Seo Hahyun was frighteningly persistent, and sometimes displayed utterly absurd levels of madness.
In that sense, Mina’s history was certainly unexpected—
There’s an old saying: there’s no younger brother who can surpass his older brother.
Compared with his boss, she wasn’t even remotely on the same level yet.
Gong Eungil really is the unfortunate one…
Of all things, she had an anti-team owner on one side and a stalker-like lover on the other.
“What’s Windmarker doing?”
“The front office is quietly being replaced.”
“Good. So ‘that person’ really is returning to Korea.”
At the ominous mutter, Secretary Nam gripped the steering wheel unnecessarily tightly.
The moment his boss learned that that person would be taking over as Windmarker’s new owner next year, he had begun working quietly and meticulously.
「Windmarker Acquisition & Sale Plan」
So much for his sister’s happiness.
So much for supporting love.
He simply wanted to destroy Windmarker.
Seo Hahyun was thoroughly excited at the thought of sabotaging the new Windmarker that that person would manage.
Whenever his normally well-trained elegant face suddenly twisted into a scowl, or he licked and even bit his lips with an impatient smile, Secretary Nam sometimes wondered whether his boss had secretly gone somewhere to indulge himself, despite knowing perfectly well about his boss’s physical condition.
The ultimate goal was simple.
Drive Windmarker into even greater financial difficulties than it was already suffering from, then, once selling became its only option, damage it so thoroughly that no one would be willing to buy it—ultimately making 20 billion won disappear into thin air.
It was nothing more than an elaborate game of manipulation.
The first piece of this plan was the players.
The idea was to provoke conflicts among the players and create chaos from within. But the way he approached it purely for his own amusement, almost as though he were playing a game, was unmistakably devious.
Things had taken an unexpected turn because of the sudden revelation of the relationship between Seo Mina and Player Gong, followed by the bizarre love triangle marriage.
But sooner or later, Gong Eungil would have fallen into Seo Hahyun’s hands anyway.
The more someone gets on the chairman’s nerves, the more carefully he seduces them before draining them to the bone.
In that sense, the wedding incident had been an exceptionally delicious opportunity.
Along with a weakness, he had practically been handed the team captain herself.
And not just any captain—a disliked captain who had failed to earn the trust of her own team had fallen straight into the hands of their sworn rival, Black Fury.
A long-term piece that could destroy Windmarker’s roster faster than anything else.
