Free Web NovelCheon Jiyoung arrived at the hotel where Bo Xilai’s inauguration party was being held.
A guard standing at the entrance stopped her.
“Invitation, please.”
Jiyoung took the invitation out of her small handbag and handed it over.
“Confirmed. Bodyguards are not allowed inside.”
At the guard’s words, she made a troubled expression.
“Can’t they come with me? They’re people who aren’t supposed to leave my side...”
“I’m sorry. There are no exceptions.”
At the firm response, Jiyoung had no choice but to nod.
After taking back her invitation and putting it into her bag, she turned to the bodyguards behind her.
“They said bodyguards have to wait outside. Please stay here.”
“We were ordered to stay by your side, miss.”
“But they said there are no exceptions. There’s nothing we can do. And my brother is inside, so it should be fine.”
The bodyguards were already aware that Kim Muhyuk was attending the inauguration party.
As they exchanged glances, Jiyoung moved first.
“I came without telling my brother, so please... And I won’t wander around alone.”
“...Understood. Just this once, miss.”
At the team leader’s words, Jiyoung replied with a bright smile.
“Thank you.”
She took out her phone and made a call.
“Unni, where are you? What? You’re running late, so I should go in first? I don’t even know anyone—what am I supposed to do alone? Ah, fine. Hurry up.”
She ended the call loud enough for them to hear, left the bodyguards waiting outside, and stepped inside.
From the hotel lobby onward, people recognized her and glanced her way.
With large sunglasses covering her face, she headed toward the grand ballroom.
Inside, she looked around for Kim Muhyuk, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Fortunately, she spotted a group of Chinese celebrities she recognized.
She walked toward them.
“Hello.”
At her greeting, the actors turned their heads.
Jiyoung removed her sunglasses and gave an elegant smile.
“I don’t really know anyone here... May I join your conversation?”
“If it’s Cheon Jiyoung, we’d be honored.”
They didn’t reject her—if anything, they welcomed her warmly.
“Are you resuming activities in China?”
“I think I might.”
“It would be great if we ended up in the same project.”
“I’d like that too.”
While chatting with them, Jiyoung waited for her party.
As she sipped wine and continued the conversation, the atmosphere gradually warmed.
Some of the actors she had been talking with found partners and drifted away, leaving only a few behind.
At that moment, a man approached her.
“Well, well. Look who it is.”
Jiyoung turned toward the voice, her brows furrowing.
“I asked you to have a meal with me, and you kept playing hard to get. That’s no fun.”
Ignoring him, she tried speaking to another actor.
But the other person turned their head away, pretending not to see her.
They were afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.
Seeing that, the man grew even more smug.
“Are you ignoring me?”
“I have no intention of eating with you. So don’t talk to me.”
Jiyoung let out a sigh as she said it.
At her response, Wei Zhengcheng’s eyes widened.
“What?! Do you want your life ruined? Do you even know who you’re talking to?”
“It doesn’t matter who you are. If you’re looking for someone to entertain you, find someone else. I’m not interested.”
After finishing her words, she glanced at him once and turned away coldly.
But the contempt in her eyes—like she was looking at trash—and the treatment he had never experienced before made Wei Zhengcheng lose his temper.
He raised his hand.
Then he suddenly grabbed her wrist as she turned, shouting.
“How dare a lowly entertainer act so high and mighty!”
He gripped her slender wrist with such force that the skin quickly reddened.
Unable to endure the pain, Jiyoung cried out.
“Ah!”
“Come with me! I’ll show you who I am today.”
Wei Zhengcheng threatened her and yanked her forward.
“Let go! I said let go!!”
She shouted, but no one stepped in to help.
Those who recognized Wei Zhengcheng only backed away one by one.
“Shut up! Who the hell do you think you are, acting so high and mighty! Don’t you know who I am?”
As she was dragged away, Jiyoung looked at the people turning their backs on her and slowly began to feel fear.
If she were dragged off like this, with no one helping her, she didn’t know what would happen to her.
Just as she was about to scream again—
Someone stepped in.
The man twisted the arm of Wei Zhengcheng—the one holding her wrist.
When Jiyoung saw his face, she barely held back her tears.
“O... oppa.”
* * *
The fact that Cheon Jiyoung—who shouldn’t even be here—was standing right in front of him was only the second problem.
What truly drove him into a blinding rage was Wei Zhengcheng’s behavior, trying to drag her away—and the fact that no one had stopped him.
“How should I kill you so that people say you died well, Wei Zhengcheng?”
“What? You bastard! You want to die? Public Security! Public Security, what are you doing! This bastard is threatening me!”
At his shouting, officers guarding the venue approached.
“What seems to be the problem?”
“Arrest this bastard immediately!”
But after seeing my face, the officers didn’t move.
With both the central government and Bo Xilai guaranteeing my safety, they couldn’t lay a hand on me.
“What are you doing?! Didn’t you hear me?!”
“I’m sorry, Chairman. This doesn’t seem to be something we can intervene in.”
At their awkward reply, Wei Zhengcheng looked at me.
I glared back at him without backing down.
“Is that all? If you’ve got more, go ahead.”
I stepped toward him.
At the same time, the security personnel nearby also moved closer to me.
“Wei Zhengcheng. To me, it doesn’t matter at all who you are. Even if you were the son of President Hu Jintao, it wouldn’t matter.”
“...Are you insane?”
I walked right up to him and grabbed him by the collar.
Choking, he struggled, but I paid him no mind.
I lifted the arm that had grabbed Jiyoung’s wrist.
“This hand, right? The one that dared to grab my sister’s wrist.” ƒrēewebnovel.com
At my cold voice and the ominous atmosphere, Wei Zhengcheng flinched.
“What should I do? Should I cut this hand off? Or...”
I deliberately trailed off and lowered my gaze to his crotch with emotionless eyes.
Cutting off something unnecessary would be more appropriate. So he’d never dare do something like this again.
Reading the meaning in my eyes, Wei Zhengcheng nearly screamed as he called for the officers.
“Y-you crazy bastard! Public Security! Public Security!”
But the one who arrived wasn’t the police.
It was Bo Xilai.
Having just seen Wen Jiabao off at the hotel entrance, he returned and called out to me with a troubled expression.
“President Kim Muhyuk.”
Without letting go, I turned my head slightly toward him.
“There are many eyes watching.”
“Secretary. Did you know my sister would be attending today?”
Bo Xilai nodded.
“Yes. I was aware.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me? Did you invite her?”
“No. I only found out today myself. If anything, I should be asking you. Weren’t you aware?”
Bo Xilai didn’t invite her?
Glancing at Jiyoung, I noticed even the bodyguards who were always with her were absent.
Who the hell brought her here—and made her come without protection?
“...For now, please let go and resolve this through conversation.”
At Bo Xilai’s request, I released Wei Zhengcheng’s collar roughly.
The moment he was free, Wei Zhengcheng raised his voice.
“Bo Xilai! What are you doing?! I’m being humiliated like this, and what the hell are you doing?!”
“Wei Zhengcheng. Do you have some kind of grudge against me?”
But instead of calming him, Bo Xilai glared at him coldly.
“What the hell are you talking about? You know how much I’ve done for you.”
“And yet you cause a scene like this on a day like today?”
“...Are you scolding me because of that guy?”
“Just go back for now. We’ll talk later.”
Oh?
Who gave you the authority to send him away?
I cut into their conversation.
“Secretary. Who gave you the right to send him away? When did I say he could leave?”
Bo Xilai turned his head toward me at my words.
“President Kim Muhyuk!”
“Lower your voice. When it comes to my family, I don’t make concessions. You should know that. If it were something else, I would respect your position, Secretary—but this is not up for discussion.”
“Oppa. I’m fine.”
As the atmosphere grew sharper, Cheon Jiyoung quickly grabbed my arm.
“Where are your bodyguards? Why are you here alone?”
“They said bodyguards aren’t allowed inside, so I told them to wait outside. But Manager Ma and...”
Jiyoung looked at Manager Ma and my security team with a puzzled expression.
Then she shook her head and spoke again.
“That’s not important. I’m really fine.”
Fine? What nonsense.
I checked her wrist—dark bruises had already formed where he had grabbed her.
“I’m not fine. Stay still.”
I turned back to Bo Xilai.
“Until I say he can leave, that man isn’t going anywhere.”
“President Kim Muhyuk, no matter who you are, you cannot just—”
“Bo Xilai.”
The moment I called him by name instead of his title, he flinched as if struck by lightning.
“I said no.”
“....”
“You were the one who personally asked me to come. Is this how you treat a guest—inviting them only to let this kind of behavior happen?”
“I will apologize on his behalf. Wei Zhengcheng didn’t know any better—”
Sensing something was off, Wei Zhengcheng stepped closer to Bo Xilai.
“Who the hell is he that you’re acting like this? He’s just some Korean, isn’t he?”
“Just shut up already.”
“What? You think becoming Shanghai Party Secretary means you can’t see straight anymore? Shut up? Who do you think you’re ordering around!”
Wei Zhengcheng was also a member of the princeling faction, and his father was among the top ranks of the Chinese Communist Party.
Backed by his father’s influence, he had built a business empire, receiving countless privileges, and now owned one of China’s leading construction companies.
He also funded Bo Xilai’s political activities with his immense wealth.
“Wei Zhengcheng!”
The two looked ready to argue again.
But I had no intention of watching this pathetic farce drag on.
“Bo Xilai. I’ll handle this.”
“....”
“Even if I ask you directly, will you still refuse?”
“Then... let’s move somewhere else first.”
Bo Xilai let out a deep sigh as he looked around the banquet hall.
I followed his gaze.
There were far too many eyes watching.
When I nodded, he took Wei Zhengcheng and led him toward the room where he had been speaking with the Premier.
The people who had been watching us also returned to their own conversations once the two disappeared.
“What is this? How did you even get here?”
“Surprise! You’re shocked, right?”
“...Do you want to get scolded?”
“Ah, relax your face. You’re starting to scare me.”
Jiyoung said playfully, smiling brightly.
Even though her wrist must have been hurting, she was clearly enduring °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° it.
She was doing that because of my mood—trying to ease the tension.
I let out a deep sigh.
“Ha... How did you get in here? Bo Xilai says he didn’t invite you.”
“An unni I know asked me to come with her. I was going to refuse, but since you were coming too, I figured why not.”
“...An unni? Which unni?”
“Ah, now you’re going to manage even my friends? I have one! An unni who does business in China.”
“Then where is she? Why are you alone?”
“She’s not here yet. She should be here soon...”
As she spoke, Jiyoung looked around.
Then, spotting someone, her face lit up.
“Unni! Over here, over here!”
She waved behind me.
I turned to look in that direction—
And my expression froze.
“Unni! Why are you so late?”
“Sorry. Something came up. So this is him? Your oppa?”
“Yeah! Handsome, right?”
“Hm... he’s passable.”
She looked at me as if evaluating me.
I stared straight back at her.
“What is it? Oppa?”
When I didn’t say anything, Jiyoung spoke in confusion.
“Hello. I’m Ye Xiaotong.”
She introduced herself in slightly awkward Korean.
I kept staring at her without responding.
At my silence, she tilted her head.
“Do you know me?”
“Ah, sorry. I was just thinking about something else. I’m Kim Muhyuk.”
When I replied in Chinese, she switched to Chinese as well.
“Hehe. Jiyoung kept bragging about you, so I wanted to see for myself.”
The illegitimate daughter of Senior Secretary Wu.
Ye Xiaotong was standing in front of me—as Cheon Jiyoung’s friend.
There was no way she didn’t know who I was.
And yet, she was pretending not to.
“I see. I didn’t know Jiyoung had such a beautiful and close unni.”
It was a hollow compliment, but she smiled with a charming curve of her eyes.
“That was a compliment, right?”
“Of course.”
Why did Ye Xiaotong approach Jiyoung?
Since when had they been in contact?
My thoughts became complicated, but I didn’t show it.
“Sorry to leave right after meeting, but I have something to take care of. I’ll be back.”
“Oppa!”
“Keep talking. I’ll be back soon.”
Jiyoung stomped her foot behind me, but I left her there and headed toward the room Bo Xilai had entered.
Once we were far enough away, I gave an order to Manager Ma.
“Send someone immediately. Find out from Jiyoung’s bodyguards when and how she met Ye Xiaotong.”
“Yes, boss.”
Manager Ma bowed and turned away.
He would bring me the information.
I pushed open the door in front of me to deal with what I could handle first.
