Cha said nothing for a moment, only looking down at Seon-myeong in silence.

"Brother."

"Hm?"

Only when Seong-ho called out to him a second time did Cha come to himself and look up at him.

"What did you say?"

"Brother. I asked what you intend to do now."

"This… right… what should I do…"

Cha looked down at Seon-myeong again.

And Seong-ho, in a level tone, laid out for him what had happened here.

"He was on drugs? No, more than that… he was with a man?"

Cha nearly jumped at Seong-ho's explanation.

"It's bad enough if he'd been with a woman at barely twenty, but a man?"

Cha clutched his head and slumped back against the chair.

"It's fortunate this happened at our own hotel, at least, so my people found him first."

"That's true. If this had happened somewhere else… hah… what about the others who were here besides Seon-myeong? Are they all right?"

"They've been handled so nothing gets out."

"Phew… well, that's a relief at least."

Cha, who had straightened up in his tension, sank back into the chair again.

"Vice-Chairman Bang of Mirae Group's son was here too, and so was the son of Chairman of Juheung Merchant Bank."

"Mirae and Juheung both? Ha."

Cha gave a hollow laugh.

"Send him abroad to study and he only comes back having learned the wrong things."

"Brother."

Seong-ho spoke to the dispirited Cha in a careful voice.

"I couldn't possibly bring this to Big Brother or Second Brother, so I contacted you first. If the Chairman were to learn of this…"

"That can't happen."

Cha jumped up from the chair again.

"Absolutely not. An Ilhyeon child… drugs… a man… no. Absolutely not."

Cha shook his head hurriedly, insisting this must never get out to anyone.

"You really did well. Contacting me first was the right call."

Then he let out a deep sigh.

"Never mind the Chairman finding out—if Big Brother learns of this, he won't sit still for it. And since this could even shake up Ilhyeon's whole succession structure, it can absolutely never leak outside."