CTL 29

On January 20th, a summons from the prosecutor’s office was issued for Shinhyun Motors Vice President, Ko Yoonchul. The summons date was Thursday, January 23rd. It was just a few days before the Lunar New Year holiday. He had managed to slither his way out of the first summons by mobilizing every means possible, but it seemed he could not block the second one.

Chairman Ko protested, saying that it was a holiday after all, and that it might be the last day he could spend with his family, so how could they do this. However, unlike usual, his words had no effect at all. Everyone bowed their heads as they normally did, but they only replied that they were troubled and there was nothing they could do.

The reason these people, who would usually try to get on his good side one way or another, were now taking a step back was because of Park Dongju. True to his word that he would help, he had perfectly fulfilled his role.

Not only that, but there were still many eyes watching. Talk began to circulate that Vice President Ko Yoonchul did not fit the benevolent image that Shinhyun Group, and by extension Shinhyun Motors, had built up over the years. Public opinion boiled over, questioning whether it was right for a criminal to sit in the vice president’s seat while the company espoused itself as a benevolent enterprise. Eventually, the matter began to be cautiously raised among the board of directors as well.

In the end, Chairman Ko summoned Yoongeon to the chairman’s office. He had avoided seeing his son, fearful after the boy had strangled him, but now he truly had no other choice. Chairman Ko intended to appease Yoongeon one way or another. It would be a problem if Ko Yoonchul were to fall now. He had no intention of sharing power just yet.

✧ ✧ ✧

“You called for me.”

Yoongeon offered a greeting to Chairman Ko, whom he had not seen in a long time. At the casual greeting, the seated Chairman Ko flinched in surprise.

“Why are you so surprised to see your son?”

“Ah, no. I was just happy to see you.”

“Is that so? Yes, I’m happy to see you too.”

Yoongeon approached him. Chairman Ko forced a smile on his face and kept his eyes fixed on Yoongeon’s hands. Only when his son sat down across from him without any particular expression did he finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Why did you call for me.”

Yoongeon used to play along to some extent before revealing his true colors, but not anymore. He leaned deep into the sofa, crossed his legs, and asked the question.

“……”

He was still polite, but that was all; a ruler’s characteristic arrogance was laced in Yoongeon’s tone. Chairman Ko’s brow furrowed for a moment as he looked at Yoongeon, but it was only for a moment. Unable to erase his resentful expression, he tried to act nonchalant.

“It’s about your hyung.”

“My hyung?”

As if to ask if such a person even existed, Yoongeon openly scoffed at him, but Chairman Ko did not give up and put on a good-natured smile.

“You should at least spend the holiday together. It might be the last time.”

“Ahhh…”

Yoongeon fumbled in his clothes and took out a pack of cigarettes. He took one out, lit it, and took a drag so deep his cheeks hollowed. Then, he exhaled the smoke toward Chairman Ko and spoke.

“Is there any meaning in that?”

“……”

Yoongeon said nonchalantly. Chairman Ko, hit by the smoke, grimaced fiercely.

“It’s been quite a while since Ko Yoonchul has come to this house for holidays, or events, or anything of the sort. Last Chuseok, last Lunar New Year… I believe he missed them all because he was high on drugs.”

“……”

“And it’s not as if you don’t know that he’ll get off with something like a suspended sentence, so why are you suddenly acting like this.”

“Geon, you’ll understand when you become a father yourself.”

“Cut the worthless crap. Not even the most pathetic lowlifes would say something like that.”

“……”

If his own mother had said the same thing, Yoongeon would have understood. He knew that her sleepless nights worrying about her only son, and her anxiety over possibly never being with him again, were sincere. But Chairman Ko was a bastard blinded by his own power. There was no reason to believe a word that bastard said.

“Sigh, right…. I admit, it’s an embarrassing thing for me to say. I get it, I get it. You insolent brat…”

Perhaps deciding that there was no need for any more pointless talk between two people who already knew each other’s circumstances, down to their very core, Chairman Ko gave up surprisingly quickly. He rubbed his forehead with his hand, looking utterly annoyed.

“Still, it wasn’t a complete lie. It wasn’t like I had zero feelings of that sort.”

“Yes.”

Yoongeon replied curtly and put the cigarette to his lips again. At that, Chairman Ko looked at him with a frustrated expression.

“Is what you want this seat your father is sitting in?”

Yoongeon did not bother to answer his question. In truth, he had no interest in things like the chairman’s position, but even if he were to say so honestly, that sly old man would not believe him so readily.

“Haaa…”

As expected, at his silence, Chairman Ko chewed on his lips as if to say, ‘I knew it.’

“You’re going to take it all when your father dies anyway, so why are you so greedy?”

What a ridiculous thing to say. The name written on Chairman Ko’s will was not Ko Yoongeon. It was this family’s ‘eldest son,’ ‘Ko Yoonchul.’

“Power isn’t something that can be shared, is it, Chairman-nim.”

But that position was not one he was interested in anyway. The seat Chairman Ko occupied was his younger sister’s, and the position Yoongeon actually wanted was the one next to Seohwi.

“……There is something I’d like to propose.”

But because it was unattainable, Yoongeon crushed the useless thought to death.

At Chairman Ko’s obsequious voice, Yoongeon tilted his head as if to say, ‘go on.’ What kind of card was he trying to pull now? It was probably nothing special, but since he was curious, he figured he should at least listen. At Yoongeon’s permission, Chairman Ko arrogantly lifted his chin as if he were bestowing a great favor.

“Geon, as you know, the company’s stock price is in a complete mess right now. The best thing to do at a time like this is to divert attention.”

Yoongeon agreed with that. After all, when a big problem erupts, the best card to divert people’s attention is to cause an even bigger incident to shift their focus.

“I won’t beat around the bush. Get married. If you do, my subordinates will fall in line and be on your side, Geon, without a single complaint. How about it? Everything your father has, you will take it all. That’s what this is.”

“Marriage?”

“That’s right. To sit in this position, you can’t do it alone. You need to receive help from the woman’s side as well.”

When Yoongeon asked back without much resistance, Chairman Ko began to chatter, thoroughly excited.

“I have no intention of setting you up with just any nobody. You’re my son, so of course, I have to match you with someone of the same class. Here.”

When he gestured, the secretary who had been standing at attention in the corner approached and handed him a file. Taking it, he saw it contained information about the eldest daughter of the T-Corporation group.

“They said they were very much in favor of it.”

“……”

“As you know, nothing gets done these days without AI. It’s absolutely essential for autonomous driving. If their family becomes part of our family, it will be a great help. It will be good for solidifying your position too, Geon.”

Yoongeon looked at the document containing the other party’s personal information with a serious face. Taking that as a positive sign, Chairman Ko’s voice became noticeably softer.

“How about it. It’s a good match, right?”

“……Yes. It seems fine.”

“That family has a son too, but I don’t know what that chairman is thinking, he apparently plans to pass the company on to his daughter, not his son. My, my, the world really has changed. A woman as the head leading a company, good grief…”

“Good for us, though,” Chairman Ko said, smacking his lips with a ‘smack.’ He seemed to think that since a woman was inheriting the company, it would become his.

“So, shall I set up a meeting?”

“No.”

Chairman Ko, who had been lost in a sweet fantasy, looked at Yoongeon with a puzzled expression at his answer.

“What? You just said it seemed fine?”

“I have no intention of getting married.”

It was impossible for him, who did nothing even with Seohwi right in front of him, to go through with a marriage he did not even want. Chairman Ko saw Yoongeon’s behavior and, thinking he was just being fickle, scrunched up his face, but he could not raise a hand to him carelessly like in the old days.

“You’re already thirty years old. No, the year has changed, so you’re thirty-one. But why are you still not married, huh? What do you lack!”

Then and now, Yoongeon had no thoughts of getting married, let alone living a long life. Unaware of this, Chairman Ko was blabbering on for his own benefit. Yoongeon casually stubbed out his nearly finished cigarette on the table and stood up from his seat.

“W-wait, is it because you have a young lady in your heart? Huh?!”

Realizing he had no intention of continuing the conversation, Chairman Ko grabbed him urgently.

“People like us, we all get married like that. If there’s a young lady you like, you make that young lady your lover and get married to someone else. Or, you get married first to form some ties, and then you can just get a divorce!”

“The fact that they said they were in favor of it, was that said by the person in question?”

“What?”

“You said they were in favor of it. I’m asking who said that.”

“Ah, that was of course that chairman, who else!”

Yoongeon nodded his head.

“Yes, I thought so. She’s not the type of person to do that.”

“What?”

Chairman Ko asked back at his words, which sounded like he was talking about someone he knew well, but Yoongeon only said he was leaving, picked up the file, and walked out. Trying to sit face to face and talk any longer was giving him a headache, which was annoying.

“Executive Director, are you not getting married?”

As soon as he stepped out of the chairman’s office, Secretary Lim stuck close to him and asked. This guy really is clever. Even with his boss inside, he manages to eavesdrop on conversations without a second thought. Looking around, he saw the secretarial staff in front of the chairman’s office glaring at Secretary Lim with disgusted looks on their faces. It seemed this guy had been causing a real scene again.

“I’m not.”

Yoongeon answered as they reached the front of the executive director’s office. He gave a light greeting to the team members and handed the document to Secretary Lim, who opened it and muttered.

“Huh? T-Corporation? If it’s T-Corporation, isn’t something like marriage worth trying at least once?”

“Be quiet.”

Yoongeon was already getting annoyed with Secretary Lim, who started chattering away as he opened the door to the executive director’s office. But as always, his mouth did not shut easily.

“Why aren’t you doing it? It’s a total jackpot. There’s no company in our country that’s this big in AI. Or are you perhaps considering joining hands with an overseas company?”

“It’s under review.”

“Hmm, that’s not bad. Still, you have to be careful with overseas companies. They’re too heavily influenced every time the government changes. You never know what kind of crazy person might show up…”

The era where the world pretended to get along peacefully while showing off their good relations was already over. It was not that Yoongeon did not know this, but in any case, a company needed to know how to take risks. Otherwise, it could not make money.

“That face. What do you think when you see it?”

Yoongeon turned around and asked Secretary Lim, who had been chattering on for a while.

“Yes?”

“What do you think? Doesn’t it look familiar?”

“Yes? No, of course it’s familiar.”

Secretary Lim shrugged his shoulders as if to ask what he was talking about.

“There’s no way a secretary wouldn’t know the person who is rumored to be the next chairman… You’re underestimating me too much…”

“……”

Yoongeon observed Secretary Lim carefully. Judging by his reaction, he did not seem to recognize him.

“Right, …I get it.”

“Anyway, please think positively about the marriage. In my opinion, it doesn’t seem like a bad choice.”

“I’m not doing a marriage arranged by someone else anymore.”

“You’re not doing it anymore……? Did you get married behind my back before?”

When he asked back blankly, Yoongeon did not respond. Secretary Lim tilted his head for a moment, then answered an incoming call. “Yes, I understand,” he said, ending the call, then approached Yoongeon and spoke.

“Executive Director, they say Ko Yoonchul will be released soon.”

“Hmm…”

“These guys are doing this even after going through the trouble of summoning him. Sigh, so frustrating. Should I just go and investigate him myself? I think that would be fine. What should I do? Should I give the order to hold him a little longer for now?”

Yoongeon shook his head. There was no need to place any expectations on those guys who, despite sitting there in suits calling themselves prosecutors, were on the verge of letting him go because they found it difficult to deal with the law firm lawyers.

“They can’t get a grip even when we secure the evidence and hand it to them on a silver platter.”

“We already expected this.”

The goal was not to make him serve a prison sentence. Not only that, but he had now also abandoned the plan to make it socially impossible for him to recover. Yoongeon was going to kill him for sure. Only for Seohwi. Yoongeon stroked his chin.

“Contact Park Jinhoon. Let’s have it break around next week.”

In any case, he had achieved his initial goal of making him anxious. What a pathetic sight, trembling over a mere bag of money and even brandishing a knife. After that day’s events, he must have surely realized that he was cornered, and he might have even found out that his mother, Park Dongju, was a rotten rope to cling to. So, how would a cornered rat move?

“Yes.”

At his command, Secretary Lim said he would go make a call and went outside, but then he opened the door again and peeked his head in.

“Executive Director, it’s almost time for lunch. What will you be doing?”

Yoongeon looked at his watch. When had the time passed so quickly?

He waved his hand dismissively, indicating that he would take care of it himself. Seeing Chairman Ko’s face since the morning had completely ruined his appetite.

“Then, just in case, I’ll buy a sandwich on my way in. You can have it if you change your mind.”

As he closed the door and left, Yoongeon took out headache medicine from a drawer and poured a cascade of pills onto his hand. He had built up a tolerance to headache medicine by now, so one or two pills were not nearly enough. Yoongeon counted them for a moment, confirmed there were more than five, and was about to toss them into his mouth when Seohwi came in.

“…What, no, what is it? Mr. Yoon Seohwi, aren’t you having lunch?”

He glanced outside and saw the team members gathered together, getting ready to go out. Among them, Secretary Lim looked the most excited. But he wondered why someone who should be going to lunch with the team members had suddenly come to the executive director’s office. He had almost let slip informal speech without realizing it for a moment, but Yoongeon reminded himself that this was the office.

“Are you getting married?”

“……No?”

Wondering what this sudden and random question was, Yoongeon answered, bewildered.

“I heard what Mr. Lim Sunwoong was saying.”

“Ahhh…”

Realizing he must have heard their earlier conversation, Yoongeon casually smoothed his furrowed brow with his fingers. His head was splitting as if it would break even after taking the headache medicine. When would the medicine take effect?

“Chairman Ko proposed it, but I refused.”

As he answered and opened his eyes, Seohwi picked up the document lying on the desk.

“If it’s T-Corporation, it’s certainly something to feel regretful about.”

Yoongeon nodded his head at Seohwi’s words as he looked at the other party’s information.

“Well, that’s true.”

It was certainly an offer that was hard to refuse. But wasn’t Yoongeon someone who did not have much attachment to life? He had nothing to regret.

“She probably wouldn’t want to get any more involved with me now either.”

“This person right here?”

“Yes.”

“Han Seol…”

He muttered as he looked at the name written on the document.

“Do you know this person?”

“No.”

Yoongeon answered cleanly. If his guess was correct, that person would surely become a clear ally this time as well, but he knew the sacrifice she had made in his past life for that to happen. So, in this life, he had decided to let his connection with Han Seol just flow by. That was the last gift and act of loyalty Yoongeon could give to Han Seol, and also an apology.

“I thought all chaebols knew each other, but I guess that’s not the case.”

Hearing his answer, Seohwi readily nodded. Yoongeon 괜히 stole a glance at him. He was wondering why he accepted it so easily.

“Aren’t you going to question me further?”

“I wasn’t questioning you.”

“You asked if I was getting married.”

“Because you were talking about marriage.”

“Then why did you ask?”

“Because I was curious.”

As if that was really all there was to it, Seohwi just shrugged his shoulders and said nothing more.

“……”

He could not for the life of him understand his standard for ‘caring.’

When he asked if he was getting married, he thought he would at least argue, telling him not to do such a thing. He thought he would say, ‘what do you mean marriage when you’re showing so obviously that you like me, don’t talk nonsense.’ So, in fact, he had been willing to apologize if Seohwi got angry. But far from it, at Yoongeon’s single phrase that he was not getting married, Seohwi extinguished even the faint interest he had.

“…What were you going to do if I said I was getting married?”

He had gone so far as to interfere just because he hated the sight of him with Kim Jia. When he asked, his stomach 괜히 twisting at the indifferent look, Seohwi replied nonchalantly.

“I was going to tell you to reconsider.”

“But you said you’re not,” Seohwi added, suggesting they just eat.

“Ha…”

His coolness was so great it was beyond words. He 괜히 felt drained of his energy.

“Fine. Where should we go?”

Right. I was a fool for having expectations in the first place.

Wondering if there was something he wanted to eat, he asked, but Seohwi shook his head and said he had already ordered delivery. He had even told the team members that he would be having lunch with the Executive Director today.

“But even so, Mr. Sunwoong said he’d buy a sandwich.”

Seohwi said he did not know why, but Yoongeon actually knew the reason. It was because Secretary Lim did not trust Seohwi. Either he did not hear what he was going to order, or he did hear but it was not something Yoongeon ate well. One of the two.

“It should be about time for it to arrive…”

He opened his phone to check where the food was, then went outside and came back holding a bag. The bag had the logo of a nearby Japanese restaurant printed largely on it.

“You don’t seem very interested in eating, so I just ordered something simple.”

When he opened the bag and took it out, it was a sushi set. Seeing that the set was composed of sushi and a mini udon, it seemed to have been made for office workers’ lunch delivery. Yoongeon picked up a pair of chopsticks and said.

“I’m not a picky eater, I eat everything well.”

It was just that the act of eating had become tedious; he was not a picky eater. Because he made sure to eat regularly when necessary.