Chapter 66 – The Reason Choi Ju-Ri Married Park Cheol-Gwan

Choe Ju-ri and I ordered three more beers each and drank them.
Choi Ju-ri looked like something she was holding back had burst, and I kept drinking to keep pace with her.

After drinking four glasses of beer, Choi Ju-ri’s face turned red.
I found out that she was a pretty good drinker.

However, she seemed dissatisfied with me because her face didn’t change at all.

“Too bad. Hunter really doesn’t get drunk.”
“Sorry. Some beer…”

He was probably right about his drinking after he became a hunter.
It’s not a personal experience because I woke up when I was in my teens.
According to my other experience, the higher the rank of the hunter, the better she drank.

This is also something that differs from person to person. For example, a hunter with detoxification skill could drink alcohol endlessly.

“I have nothing to apologize for.”

Choi Ju-ri smiled.

“However…”

She glanced at me and spoke her words.
Her smiling face darkened in an instant.

“Do you have something to say about Dyne?”
“Yes…”

I thought that what was to come has come.
How far would you like to talk?

I’ve been thinking about this for quite some time.

The conclusion was to say everything without hiding it.

Anyway, Choi Ju-ri cannot continue to be with the family.
Although I had only been through her day, I could see that she was a very nice person.

I don’t know what the story was, but it was a very wasteful and unfortunate thing for Choi Ju-ri to be with Park Da-in’s family all the time.

In my previous life, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it, but this life is different.
Even if I didn’t know what to do right now, there was an unfounded belief that I could find the answer.

“Perhaps… Is it a man’s problem?”

Choi Joo-ri also seemed to know about Park Da-in’s private life to some extent.
If it’s simply dating a lot of men, there won’t be a problem.

However, Park Da-in was a sex addict.
Besides, he had sociopath tendencies, so he considered men like toys.
She was the one who behaved unconcerned even after committing her murder.

I thought about how to answer, but suddenly brought up the main topic.

“It’s more serious. Your daughter killed a man.”
“What?!”

Choe Ju-ri was surprised at how surprised she was. Involuntarily, she grabbed the tablecloth and pulled it.
She made a raucous sound as her beer glass fell in the wind.

Chaeng-Geurang!

“Are you okay?”

I got up quickly and went to her.
Her floor was full of shards of broken glass.

I checked Choi Ju-ri’s calf, which stretched out under her skirt.
The stockings were wet, but fortunately they didn’t seem to be hurt.

Soon there was a knock on her door.

I returned to my seat and answered.

“Yes.”

An employee opened the door and asked.

“I heard the sound of breaking glass, but I wonder if something happened…”
“The cup is broken. Could you please clean it up and bring me a new beer?”
“All right.”

Choi Ju-ri was dazed the whole time until her staff cleaned up the broken glass and brought her a new beer.
I felt sorry for her, wondering if she had brought up her shocking story too suddenly.

I asked her after her staff had left.

“Are you okay?”
“Huh? Ah, yes…”

Contrary to her answer, Choi Ju-ri’s face was still pale.

“Did Dyin really… Kill a person?”
“Yes, I killed a man in a hotel. There are eyewitnesses.”
“Ah…”

Choi Ju-ri lowered her gaze as she let out a desperate voice.

“I hesitated, but I told you because I thought you should know.”
“Yeah, thank you. I know you are not a liar. How did you know Does anyone else know about this other than you?”
“I also found out by accident. It looks like Dain called someone to clean up the mess. Probably few people know.”
“…”

Choi Ju-ri’s eyebrows narrowed.
She seemed to be disillusioned with something in her, judging by the wriggling of her face.

I thought that Park Da-in’s father would already know about this.
It would have been difficult for Park Da-in to deal with the problem alone.

A man who beats his own wife while being infinitely lenient with her daughter.
I didn’t know how to interpret this person.

“It’s Sunggyu.”

Choi Ju-ri reached out onto her table and took her hand in mine.

“You should never tell anyone about this. Forget you too I am speaking for you.”

Looking at her swaying pupils, I knew what she was worried about.
I’m sure I’m in danger if I talk about this carelessly.

I asked her on the contrary.

“I have a question.”
“What?”
“Why did you marry Park Da-in’s father?”

There was no guarantee that another opportunity to ask this would come.
In order to accomplish the quest, it seemed essential to know the hidden story in order to narrow the distance with Choi Ju-ri.

As if answering my question wasn’t easy, Choi Ju-ri returned her hand and buried herself in her chair.
She silently raised her glass and drank her beer.
Gulp, the beer in the glass quickly dwindled.

Under normal circumstances, this would be a difficult question to ask during a second meeting.
However, I already knew that her crush on me was high.
That number still hasn’t changed.

Besides, her ‘current state of mind’…

It was ‘I feel lonely and confused because I have nowhere to put my mind.’

After being assaulted by her husband, even though she is not her biological daughter, Da-in Park went beyond common misconduct and even committed her murder.
It was natural to be confused.

If only she had someone she could turn to at a time like this.
If she had someone who could listen to her, she would definitely be a force to be reckoned with.

“You can speak slowly. I’m just curious. Why did someone like you marry Park Cheol-gwan?”

It was somewhat crossing the line to directly mention the expression ‘a person like you’ and the name of ‘Park Cheol-gwan’.

But Choi Ju-ri didn’t seem to care much about that.

“I am…”

She began to tell her own story.

“GP is the company my father founded. My father was an A-rank hunter and he had his own dreams. He started making equipment and weapons instead of entering dungeons using his hunter abilities. The clothing business has been a family business since my great-grandfather. Perhaps, as a father, it was a natural idea and choice. He lamented the fact that all high-end equipment and weapons were imported from abroad. The ambition was great, but the business was not easy. Hunters still preferred foreign equipment over domestic equipment. However, as a result of 10 or 15 years of steady development and achievements, it gradually began to be recognized. It was a chance to win several grand prix in competitions held abroad. Business started to get back on track, but trouble arose at that point. A long-standing financial problem is no longer irreversible. Oddly enough, loans weren’t easy from that point on. I was also turned away from those who helped me. The heartbroken father got sick. He was a strange disease that didn’t work with any items. Then, like a savior, a man appeared…”

A deep sadness appeared on Choi Ju-ri’s face.
Tears seemed to flow from her eyes any minute.

“Park Cheol-gwan. Dyne was the father. When an incumbent member of the National Assembly came forward, problems that had no answer were beginning to be resolved. The money line was opened, and the business prospered further with it. But his father’s illness didn’t get better, it got worse. I had been helping my father with his work before, so I took over the whole business. Dain’s father started to show a crush on me from that point on. At that time, Dyne’s mother was still alive, so I couldn’t accept Dyne’s father’s heart. But he was getting too much help in business, and he couldn’t even refuse it coldly, knowing that without him he would have no choice but to go back to the way he was. Then, Dain’s mother suddenly passed away… A few days later, my father passed away in the hospital…”

Eventually, thick tears flowed from Choi Ju-ri’s eyes.

“I couldn’t keep my father’s deathbed. It was because I was so busy with work, but I still felt very guilty. My father spent so much time in vain, but he promised to take responsibility for the business he left behind and make it successful. Even after Dyne’s mother passed away, Dyne’s father’s courtship did not stop. Rather, it became more obsessive than before. He even threatened to stay unless I married him. I couldn’t help it. In order to protect the business that was barely starting… To carry on the will of my father…”

Choi Ju-ri covered her own face with both hands.
The sound of her sobs carried her mournfully across the table.

‘I see…’

It was to some extent expected.
I thought that the success of the GP and Park Cheol-gwan had something to do with it.

However, I did not think that the deaths of Choi Joo-ri’s father and Park Da-in’s mother would be connected to this.

I felt uneasy.
Knowing what kind of person Park Cheol-gwan was, it was difficult to dismiss the successive deaths of the two as coincidences.