"Father."
Kin didn't dare to turn and look at who had just entered and lightened the atmosphere in the room. But when his father saw him, he immediately got up from his seat and walked towards the newcomer.
"Kisch, is something wrong, son?" His father's voice quickly softened. Khin slowly turned to look at the newcomer and was stunned by the man's beauty. He was tall and elegant; anyone who saw him would surely be mesmerized by his beauty.
"I heard a loud noise from outside... Are you two fighting again?" The man asked politely.
"It's your little brother's fault. He just got married, and now he suddenly comes and says he wants to divorce Phupha!" The father's voice changed instantly when he had to talk about his youngest son.
The young man who heard the name 'Kisch' was silent for a while, thinking, and then said calmly, "Father... can I talk to Kin, please?"
The father's face showed discomfort, and his brows knotted tightly, as if he was unhappy with his son's request. But in the end, he could only sigh and agree.
"Sigh... Fine."
"Kin, come over here." Kisch didn't hesitate to grab his arm and pull him out of the room. He led him a short distance away from the door and moved his hand from Kin's arm to hold both of his shoulders.
"Why? Tell me what happened." He looked at the handsome man in front of him. When he glanced down at the man's neck, he saw that there was no collar, before looking back at his face. Keer was a little taller than him. From what he'd heard, he was another one of his father's sons, but their faces didn't look very similar. Compared to the other man who came and was angry from the moment he stepped into the house, they didn't look alike at all.
Maybe this brother looked more like their mother?
"I just want a divorce from Phupha," Kin said honestly.
"What do you mean?"
Kin didn't understand why everyone reacted as if the world was ending when he brought up the topic of divorce. It wasn't a big deal at all. He was the one who got married, and he was the one who wanted to get divorced. Shouldn't he or Phupha be the one with the biggest problem?
"Why? Are you unhappy? Or did he make you sad?" The surprise on the other man's face seemed a little different from everyone else's. His face showed worry, and he asked in a voice that showed concern instead of scolding or raising his voice.
"...Not really. It's just not right."
"Are you sure? Maybe it's just temporary? You don't have to divorce him right now. Phupha just doesn't realize it yet..."
"That's not it at all. We just don't love each other." He quickly cut in before the other man misunderstood any further, but the man in front of him looked even more confused.
"Don't love each other?" Kisch repeated his words.
"Did he hurt you physically? Why do you suddenly..."
"Brother..." He raised his hand to stop him before his thoughts went too far.
"...Brother?" The word was muttered with his brows tightly knotted.
"...Never mind. We just don't love each other anymore. I've changed my mind. If it's just a business issue, can't we just shake hands and stay as friends or something?" The reaction from the other man made him quickly change the subject, even though he didn't know if he had said something wrong. Was he not supposed to call him brother?
"It's not that simple." His brother sighed. Kin felt a little better that it wasn't a shout or a tired expression like his father or the other brother. It made him feel like this brother might be the only one who was kind to him.
At least, knowing that not everyone was cruel made him feel a little better. Did the life of a villain have to be this difficult? Acting like a bad person and being hated. Hated even by his own family. Looked at as a problem all the time.
"Just wait for a while. For Father, those shares aren't as important as losing face." Kisch released his hands, and a gentle smile appeared on his face.
"But still, our family has more power than Phupha's family, you understand, right? If anything really happens, you can just tell me. Don't be afraid." The other man replied with a smile, but the words that came from his beautiful lips were clearly a contradiction. Because of this, it was clearly written in the novel and was something he remembered: 'Kin used his family's power to pressure Phupha into marrying him.'
"Okay..." Seeing that he couldn't do anything for now but wait, he could only agree and accept it for the time being.
"...But nothing really happened, right? Why do you seem so strange?" After the other man looked at his face for a while, he finally spoke. Kisch squinted at him, noticing the strangeness in his brother's demeanor.
"Huh? Nothing..."
"Are you done talking?"
"Father."
Both of them turned to face the authoritative man who had interrupted. The father stood there with an unhappy look on his face. It was as if his being in the house made his father annoyed. Kin didn't understand at all why this old man had to act that way when he was his son.
"Since Kisch has made it clear that a divorce is not possible, it's not going to happen."
"...Yes." He nodded and replied, before looking down because he didn't dare to look him in the eye and felt scared of the powerful man in front of him.
"Now go home. If you have any problems, solve them yourselves. I've helped you, and I won't help you again."
"Father... Why are you talking like that?" His brother complained about what their father had just said, but the other man didn't care at all. And he himself thought he shouldn't care either.
"In that case, I'll be going now." Kin felt uncomfortable talking to his father from the very first sentence the man had spoken. Even at the very end, he was told to leave uncaringly and without a reason. He quickly left that spot because he didn't want to feel any more annoyed. It was what he always did when he felt bad—he walked away from a place that wasn't right.
"Kin."
"Brother?" The voice called out before he could step out the door. When he turned, he saw his brother walking closely behind him, which made him look past him and sigh in relief when he didn't see their father following them. The other man stopped in front of him and said directly, "...We don't have each other's contact number yet, right?" Kin took out his phone and scrolled through the contacts. He didn't even have to scroll. There were only a few numbers, and his brother's wasn't one of them.
"You're right, there isn't one."
"Then let me have your phone." He handed it to the other man without thinking. It was a little strange that he didn't have anyone's number but Phupha's. But the other man didn't seem surprised at all to see that he didn't have his brother Kisch's personal phone number.
"If you need anything, you can contact me anytime, okay?"
"Brother."
"Yes?"
"We weren't close before, were we?"
"It doesn't matter. Get home safe." Kisch avoided answering his question. He smiled and reached out to gently touch his arm before saying goodbye. Khin watched his brother walk away and looked down at the contact list on his phone again. He had checked it once before but had never wondered why there were no personal contact numbers for his parents, or the brother he had just found out about.
There was no one except Phupha's number, his beautiful secretary's number, and Kiryu's number, which he had just added recently. And now there was his brother's number, clearly written as 'Brother Kisch.'
His old life, no matter how sad it was, at least had his mother's number, a few friends, and a senior at work. Even though they weren't close, they didn't hate each other. Even though he only contacted his family once in a while, it seemed less sad than a phone with nothing on it but Phupha and work. Did Kin have any friends?
When he asked himself that question, he felt a wave of sadness. Wasn't this worse than his old life?
Kin wasn't in the mood to go back to work, so the only thing he could do was tell his secretary that he wouldn't be coming in today, which she understood perfectly. He didn't want to think about how much the old Kin must have troubled her.
Even though he had only been in this new body for a few days, his life was already full of headaches. He was getting so much new information that he had never known before that his brain was full. He wondered why he had to be in this body. Usually, in isekai stories, they end up in the body of the male or female lead, right?
But a villain that no one loves? It takes time to change people's perceptions, and he didn't have the strength to do something like that.
Kin sighed wearily. He had decided that he would stay quiet and act normal, just the way he was. He wouldn't do anything at all! And doing nothing meant he wouldn't have to get involved in the chaos of the main storyline.
That way, he wouldn't die. With this, all of his problems were solved. Anything was fine! He just wanted to not die like in the novel. He didn't want to die. Who would want to die? If it was possible, he wanted to get a divorce as soon as possible, and then run away to a faraway place. With so much money, he could even live in another country. He would live a life he had never lived before.
But he knew it was just wishful thinking. Even rich people have responsibilities. How could he just leave Natcha to work herself to death alone? If he did, he would be no different from a spoiled boss, right?
"Where have you been?"
Kin didn't understand why everyone had so many questions for him lately. The moment his feet touched the ground and he stepped into the house with his right foot, which might not be a good omen, he saw Phupha in front of him.
"And where are you going?" He chose to ask back instead of answering the question. It might be because of the feeling of being disgraced that had arisen because he had said so confidently that he could do it, but now he had to come back with nothing.
"How was your talk with Father?"
"You already know, don't you?!" When he yelled, the other man only let out a chuckle and returned to his normal expression. It made him feel more than a little irritated that the other man was secretly laughing at him without trying to hide it.
"I told you a divorce wasn't possible."
"Why is it so difficult?"
"Why? Was it harder than forcing me to marry you?" Kin looked at the man in front of him with empty eyes and asked himself why. He wasn't the one who forced the marriage, but he was the one who had to be sarcastic about it. It wasn't fair at all. But as the current Kin, there must be something he could do, right?
"I'm sorry."
"...What did you just say?" The apology that came from his mouth made Phupha's eyes widen. He couldn't control his expression and asked again, clearly not believing what he had heard. Kin didn't want to apologize at all, but he couldn't deny that what happened in the past was his doing.
"My brother told me to wait for a while, and then we'll get a divorce. Is that okay?"
"You're really going to get a divorce?" The simple but clear answer from him made Phupha ask again about a desire he never thought would come from Kin's mouth. But no matter how many times he asked, it wouldn't make him change his mind.
"Of course. I already told you I would get a divorce."
"...Did you finally realize it?"
"What's the big deal?" The other man kept asking, and it finally annoyed him. Kin sighed and crossed his arms, frowning at the man who wouldn't stop asking about the divorce. The other man then changed his demeanor and agreed.
"In that case, it's settled. We'll get a divorce after some time has passed."
"Okay."
"I'm leaving now."
"Okay." The other man didn't leave him immediately and even stopped to look at him for a while, making it awkward. Kin was the one who walked away from that spot while Phupha continued to stand there for a while before turning and walking in the direction he wanted to go.
The look in Phupha's eyes at the end was a little strange, making him worried and hoping it wouldn't make things any more complicated.