Chapter 291: A BIT ABOUT TAEYANG

EUNJI pulled her son into a tight hug, holding him close. She didn’t want to leave, at least not this soon. But the PD had told her the ship where Boys Odyssey was filming would be sailing today. It’s not like she could go with them. She pulled back just enough to look at him, her hands still resting on his shoulders. Haneul was wearing a hat and mask to avoid being recognized, but she could still see his eyes clearly.

"Look after yourself, Haneul-ah. Eat well, get your rest when you can, don’t overdo it. And if anything doesn’t feel right, you say something. Don’t keep it bottled up inside. Promise me that."

"Yes, Mom," Haneul said, his own voice thick with emotion. "Thank you for coming here without a second’s hesitation.

"Hey, we don’t say thanks between family." Eunji playfully scolded. "I’m your mother. If you’re in trouble, no matter where you are, of course I’ll come."

That made Haneul smile. He really was lucky to have the kind of family he did. He hugged his mother one last time before watching her head toward the departure gates. She glanced back once and waved, and he waved back. Then she disappeared into the flow of passengers.

He stayed there until he could no longer see his mother’s back. Then he turned to where Taeyang was standing. Taeyang was also wearing a hat and mask, just like him. He had accompanied them inside while the PD and the staff driver waited in the parking lot.

The PD was supposed to come with them, but Taeyang had insisted on going instead. Reluctantly, the PD had agreed. He must really trust them to let them go off on their own like this without any staff tagging along.

"Are you alright?" Taeyang asked as they made their way to the airport’s exit.

"Yeah," Haneul said with a small sigh, his gaze still lingering in the direction his mother had gone. "I’m already lucky I got to see her in the middle of the competition like this. Complaining would feel wrong."

"It’s fine to complain about wanting her to stay longer," Taeyang said quietly. "If I had a mom like yours, I’d feel the same way."

Hearing the last part of what Taeyang said, Haneul glanced at the other. Even with the mask and hat covering most of his face, Haneul could hear the faint bitterness in Taeyang’s voice. Did Taeyang not get along with his mother? Haneul tried to recall what he knew about Taeyang’s family, but all that came to mind were the rumors about him being from a chaebol family. Even up until his death in his previous world, he never found out which one.

Haneul wanted to ask, not about the chaebol rumors, but about Taeyang’s relationship with his mother. But he felt like that would be crossing a line. While he was still debating whether to say anything, Taeyang spoke up again, steering the conversation elsewhere.

"Ahem, by the way, about that bas— Jeon Hyunsik, you don’t have to worry about him. JH Entertainment will make sure he pays for what he did." Taeyang paused and lowered his voice, obviously not wanting the people passing by to hear him. "You probably don’t know this, but JH Entertainment is connected to Taesung Group. A lawyer from Taesung will handle Jeon Hyunsik’s case. No matter how influential his family might be, they can’t be more influential than Taesung."

Haneul was surprised to hear that. Of course, he already knew about the connection between JH Entertainment and Taesung Group, but as far as the public knew, that wasn’t common knowledge yet. So he figured he should act like he was hearing it for the first time. That wasn’t hard, though, because he genuinely hadn’t expected Taesung to actually get involved. He never thought they’d bother with something like this.

He glanced at Taeyang. But the real question was, how did Taeyang know about this?

"I didn’t realize JH Entertainment had that kind of reach," Haneul said, keeping his voice careful as he probed.

Taeyang was quiet for a moment, weighing whether or not to tell Haneul about his connection to Taesung. But the hesitation didn’t last long. He decided to just be honest. If he couldn’t share this part of himself with Haneul, how could he expect their relationship to move forward?

"Actually, the owner of JH Entertainment is the grandson of the Taesung Group chairman," Taeyang said, still keeping his voice low. "Jaehyun hyung isn’t the type to let anyone damage his company’s reputation, especially not his first one."

Jaehyun might seem carefree most of the time, but he hated when things threatened to ruin his fun. Since JH Entertainment was still new, the company was still his main focus. That was why Taeyang knew his cousin would act quickly if something put the company at risk.

It was surprising enough to learn that JH Entertainment was owned by the grandson of Taesung Group’s chairman. But what caught Haneul off guard even more was how casually Taeyang referred to him, like they were familiar with each other. He knew it shouldn’t be his main focus, but he couldn’t help asking, "You’re... close with the owner of JH?"

Taeyang paused again, but this time he didn’t hesitate before answering. "He’s my cousin."

Haneul nearly tripped over his own feet. "Y-Your cousin? Then that means you’re—"

From Taesung, he finished the words in his mind. He couldn’t believe it. He’d known Taeyang might come from a chaebol family, but he never expected him to be part of the country’s most powerful one.

"Technically, yes. But in the grand scheme of things, not really," Taeyang said. He had easily guessed what Haneul had been about to ask. "The woman who gave birth to me is the only daughter of Chairman Lee Chul-hwan. She divorced my father, and I ended up in his custody. But then my father just... disappeared one day, and I was sent back to her care. If you could even call it that. Anyway, I don’t have the Lee surname, so I barely count."

Haneul swallowed hard. There was a lot to take in from what Taeyang had just shared.