Bring It On! - Chapter 85

Chapter 85.

Cha Seonghwan’s escape hadn’t been unexpected, but hearing that he had actually tucked his tail and gone into hiding irritated him all the same.

A fool who blundered into trouble without the guts or the brains to handle it. The thought that he was related to such a man by blood made his skin crawl.

Cha Seonghwan had always been like that since childhood. Hollow at the core, yet pathologically obsessed with appearances. If he wasn’t perfectly dressed in a crisp three-piece suit, complete with garter belts, he wouldn’t even go near the company grounds that day. 

On top of that, he filled every day with unnecessary press conferences and meetings over trivial issues within the firm.

And his self-pity was boundless. He had run several businesses into the ground, yet instead of reflecting on his mistakes, he wandered around cloaked in excuses, pretending to be some tragic hero.

What was laughable was how well this act worked on the elders of the family. To their conservative, soft-hearted parents, Cha Seonghwan was a particularly tender spot. 

Born the eldest son, but falling behind his younger brother Cha Yoon in every respect, he lacked the maturity to conceal his jealousy.

At home he was the cherished firstborn, but in the media it was always Cha Yoon who drew the attention. 

His striking looks, his musical talent, his unpolished, rough-edged charm that was so unlike the typical scion of a conglomerate family. Everything about Cha Yoon captivated the public.

Standing next to his brother, Cha Seonghwan was doomed to play the extra, and from early on he sank into severe depression. For the first time in his life, he harbored an inferiority complex toward his sibling. It was a clinging, frightening emotion.

“Yoon-ah! Yoon-ah…! Why is everyone just standing there, help him!”

He was eleven when Cha Yoon’s paddle boat overturned. Their mother’s sharp, desperate cries tore through the air. Lifeguards on standby leapt into the sea, and in an instant the crowd rushed toward the beach.

As he sank into the ocean depths, Cha Yoon could not forget the face of Cha Seonghwan looking down at him from above the water. His brother’s eyes were distorted as though about to burst into tears, yet within them gleamed a strange satisfaction, a sick thrill.

Cha Yoon swore over and over that it was Cha Seonghwan who had lured him into the open water and capsized the boat. But whether the elders simply wanted to look the other way or truly believed it impossible, they never rebuked Cha Seonghwan.

Disgusted with his brother, and with the entire family, Cha Yoon chose music over the family business. The two brothers ended up living in separate households. 

Yet even with the distance, the bullying born of Cha Seonghwan’s inferiority complex never ceased. He fabricated malicious scandals about Cha Yoon, sabotaged his piano on recital days, and even spread rumors that Cha Yoon had bribed his way into school with illicit money.

But Cha Yoon wasn’t one to sit back and endure his brother’s tyranny.

From the time he almost drowned, he had learned that telling the truth changed nothing. So he sought his own form of retribution. 

No matter the place, no matter the witnesses, he would find Cha Seonghwan and beat him mercilessly. Cha Seonghwan, powerless to fight back, could only take the blows. 

The consequence was that Cha Yoon’s reputation grew increasingly tarnished, but he didn’t care. What mattered was that, cowed by repeated thrashings, Cha Seonghwan finally stopped provoking him.

For three years it seemed nothing happened. Until…

“Die. Just die already. I’m begging you, please, Cha Yoon!”

Cha Yoon could still hear Cha Seonghwan’s voice, the one that rang in his ears right before he lost consciousness on the cruise ship. Not content with trying to kill him after discovering Yoo Gayoung’s existence, he had even intended to dispose of his body.

“You son of a bitch.”

Cha Yoon’s face hardened to stone. He would use every means at his disposal to see that bastard locked behind bars. A man so obsessed with empty honor. 

If he had to stand before the press line, he might well take his own life the night before.

“Is there a warrant out yet?”

At his question, Park Jonghoo gave a troubled shake of his head.

“The radioactive sheet case never got to the point of actual sales, so without victims, it probably won’t lead to an arrest…”

“And Yoo Gayoung?”

“They’re denying all charges. At this rate, it’s likely to end in non-prosecution for lack of evidence.”

“Fuck. Who’s their lawyer?”

“Yeongrim. Looks like Chairman Cha personally assigned them.”

“…Ha.”

Cha Yoon gave a bitter smile, as if he had expected it. This rotten family would never stand by and let the eldest son go to prison, no matter what crime he committed. 

It wasn’t that they didn’t care about Cha Yoon, but since he had already come back alive, they just wanted to quietly wrap things up.

“Tell them I’ll testify in court myself.”

“That’s… your testimony won’t hold up. Since you were diagnosed with amnesia, they’ve already made sure your words won’t be considered reliable.”

There was no evidence anywhere that Cha Seong-hwan had harmed Cha Yoon and Yoo Ga-young.

“For now, you should focus on recovering. I heard you haven’t even been eating properly. Do you sleep? It’s times like this when you need to rest well so your head works.”

Cha Yoon swept his hair back in irritation and let out a breath. Maybe it was because he was in such bad condition, but even listening to Park Jong-hoo’s worried nagging was torture. 

With just a flick of his hand, Cha Yoon gestured for him to leave.

“You’re damn rude. Fine, I’m going,” Park muttered, turning off the light himself before shutting the door behind him.

As Park said, what Cha Yoon needed most right now was rest. Yet, for some reason, he simply couldn’t fall asleep.

The accumulated fatigue weighed down on his body, and the continuous insomnia made his nerves rawer with each passing day. 

He had gone through all kinds of tests several times, but the only result was the vague diagnosis of stress-induced sleep disorder. In the end, he relied on medication to barely fall asleep, but even then…

“Hhhhk, ha… haa…”

He would wake up over and over, as if in a seizure, for no reason. Each time he woke, his whole body was drenched in sweat as though he had been caught in a downpour, and his heart pounded like it was going to explode from his chest. 

An inexplicable emptiness and almost terrifying anxiety wrapped around his entire being.

At that moment, the door opened. It was Park Jong-hoo. His pupils widened, his face grim.

“Cha Yoon! Are you sick?”

Cha Yoon wiped his face, trying to shake off the unpleasant sensations crawling under his skin.

“…Pft. Why the fuss? I’m in a hospital because I’m a patient, aren’t I?”

“First of all, wipe your tears.”

Park hurriedly pulled out a few tissues and handed them to him.

Cha Yoon stared blankly at the white tissues pushed before him. Crying? Me? 

Only when he belatedly rubbed his cheek with the back of his hand did he see the dampness there. And once he realized it, tears began to pour out like a broken faucet.

“Ha, fuck. What the hell is this? Am I losing it?”

Cha Yoon rubbed his eyes roughly. A strange, piercing ache spread from his chest through his veins all the way to his fingertips and toes, but his head couldn’t find the reason, only confusion. It was a truly maddening feeling.

As this repeated again and again, Cha Yoon eventually stopped taking the sleeping pills. It was better to just stay awake with open eyes for days than to go through that.

***

One week later.

The nights of terrible insomnia continued. Cha Yoon’s face had grown thinner, sharper, and the aura around him had become so tense and raw that even speaking to him felt impossible.

“Cha Yoon.”

After two whole hours of hesitation, Park Jong-hoo finally spoke. He knew that, for his own survival, it would be safest to leave Cha Yoon alone, sharp as a starved predator, but there was something he absolutely had to say.

Cha Yoon jerked his chin, signaling him to continue.

“I’ve cleared out all the reporters. But the chairman is planning to visit the hospital tomorrow. I think he’s coming to persuade you to drop the charges against CEO Cha Seong-hwan.”

Cha Yoon’s gaze was so sharp it looked like it could stab Park to death on the spot.

Park felt the sweat running slowly down his temple as he watched him. And he thought grimly that this glare would no doubt be turned just as mercilessly on the chairman himself. He let out a sigh inwardly.

“The chairman collapsed when you went missing… He’s only just gotten better. I get that you’re upset, but don’t push too far. I’ll talk to him for you….”

A vein was about to pop out on Cha Yoon’s forehead when a commotion outside interrupted.

“…Really, just for a moment! Three minutes! No, even just one minute…!”

It was a young woman’s voice.

“You said you sent the reporters away.”

“She’s not a reporter. She’s the one who was rescued with you. She’s been coming here constantly, begging to see you….”

From the sound of her voice alone, Park seemed to know exactly who the woman outside was.

“Fuck. People just won’t stop bothering me.”