Chapter 33 - Plot Twist

Myung was wary of his elder brother who had popped up at school. They were not on bad terms but were not the loving siblings either. Jonghyun's relationship with the Lee family was quite complicated since he was an adopted child and was never considered as good as the legitimate ones. 

But then again, Prime Minister Lee was too busy to look after his children so all of them kind of ended up doing their own things. Myung's elder sister, Lee Hyeri, was the CEO of their family mining company while Jonghyun handled LN Partners. Myung was still in high school so he was carefree. 

All the children lived separately. Hyeri was in an apartment uptown. Myung lived on his own at a posh hotel owned by his mother, Kim Sana, but he occasionally went back to the PM's mansion. Their mother had passed away years ago so the children pretty much were left to their own accord. Jonghyun lived at a penthouse which was not far from LN Partners but he, too, went to the mansion during weekends.

"Hello brother," Jonghyun smiled. "Long time no see."

"What do you want?" Myung asked, feeling wary. He was not fond of the family reunions and quite frankly, bored by the drama.

"I just wanted to see you," Jonghyun shrugged. 

"We both know that you're here to gloat about the Finance Minister being arrested," Myung sulked. "We know, brother. He was a scum. Everyone knew but turned a blind eye."

"Is father going to address this issue tonight?" Jonghyun asked. "What's his reaction?"

The silence from the PM's side was alarming. Why was he not making a public announcement denouncing the Finance Minister? What was he planning?

"You know very well that the old man won't just stay put," Myung stated. "But why are you so interested? I thought you had no interest in what he's up to? Didn't you refuse to become a part of his upcoming election campaign?"

"The Finance Minister was running a drug syndicate right under the PM's nose and he had no idea about it?" Jonghyun pointed out. "Come one! Gimme a break! He knew everything and yet covered it up. As the owner of a law firm, it's my duty to-"

"Mete out justice?" Myung asked, raising an eyebrow. "Are you seriously gonna think that I'll buy that? I know you very well brother. This isn't about justice. This is a personal vendetta! You're still bitter about how your birthright was snatched by you because of the coup. But the PM was loyal to your real family! He raised you and also took back the country! The only reason you're not the prince anymore is because the people don't want a monarchy!"

It was a well known secret in the family that Jonghyun was Kim San. The Prime Minister made no attempts to hide it from his own family but kept the Crown Prince a secret from the world. He went out of his way to protect Kim San, even changing his name to Jonghyun. The latter had always kept his distance from the Lee's but was well taken care of. The PM had sent him abroad for a few years before bringing him back as an adult

Lee had hoped that Jonghyun would enter politics and take back the country which was rightfully his but to his disappointment, Jonghyun never took up politics as a career. Instead, he went off to open his own law firm and operated it. 

"I don't want the country," Jonghyun claimed. "I only want the people involved with the coup dead."

There was a visible bitterness in his tone as he recalled that night. The palace was not just burnt to the ground but the Emperor and Empress were murdered in a brutal way. Kim San escaped thanks to a secret passageway and was taken in by the Prime Minister.

"Well, I don't know what the hold man is up to and frankly, I don't care," Myung said flatly. "I don't want anything to do with the past and whatever shit you guys have between yourselves."

Jonghyun did not press him any further. He did not have any hope of Myung telling him anything but the kid did not know much either. There were rumors in the media that the PM would address the nation that night. People were already protesting against the government and Jonghyun had heard that protestors were gearing up to stage a demonstration in front of the parliament building. 

But all that would not faze the popularity of the PM. One word of denouncement and the public would love him again. The man had completely turned the country's economy around and brought money into the nation. People were rejoicing at his success, happy to have homes, jobs and security. They were happy in their facade.

What are you planning, father? Jonghyun wondered.

"If you're done, then I'm going back to my class," Myung said. "Please don't visit my school again. It's annoying."

"I was just saying hello to my younger brother," Jonghyun shrugged.

"Don't," Myung ordered. "There's nothing brotherly between us. Might as well skip the formalities. Besides, no one here knows I'm the PM's son because I stay away from media and any picture taking session. My classmates don't know I'm PM Les's son and I like it this way."

"Dad won't be pleased."

"Who cares?" Myung scoffed. "It's time for my class. I'm leaving."

With that, he turned on his heel and walked away. Jonghyun only shook his head and left the hallway. Guess I will have to wait for the speech tonight, he decided.

Myung entered the class and rejoined his friends. He was talking to them when he noticed the nerdy girl sitting across them. She was no longer observing him but was watching something on her cell phone. There was a frown on her face as she watched whatever it was on her phone.

He was about to look away when he noticed that her frown was turning into a sly smile. Her coyness was gone and it was momentarily replaced with a mischievous grin. But it was gone within a blink as she kept the phone back into her bag. She slightly glanced his way and their eyes locked for a moment before she looked away. Myung did not think much about it and resumed talking to his friends.

Unbeknownst to him, Orea had access to all the CCTV cameras in the school and could see the footage on her phone. When she had glanced outside of the window earlier, she noticed that Jonghyun was heading for their building. It struck her odd that the CEO of LN Partners would visit a high school at that time of the day so she used her access to the cameras to find out what his purpose was.

To her shock, he was meeting up with Lee Myung and they were brothers. 

"What a plot twist," she sighed. "Poor fools! Tsk tsk!"

She did not look at Myung again but her mind was already planning how to use the guy for their mission. She had already texted the video footage to SD and was waiting for his call but he was probably busy with his little lawyer.

I'll need to get access to the PM's mansion, she decided. But how do I approach the rich brat?"

She looked at Myung who was chatting with his friends. What other secrets is he hiding? She wondered