RB 1

Choi Yoonho is dead.

Accidents always happen at unexpected times.

The news of his nephew’s death was so shocking that Choi Yeorok left an important seat and ran over.

The tires left black skid marks on the asphalt road. Then a sleek sedan ignored the parking lines and stopped wherever it wanted.

The driver’s seat door opened and a tall man stepped out. Yeorok brushed back his messy hair and clenched his teeth at the same time.

“Where is he?”

His low voice showed that he was about to explode.

Hong Namyeong, Yeorok’s closest aide and the head of the secretary’s office, swallowed nervously in front of him.

“I will take you inside.”

There was not even a single signboard hanging on the outer wall of the building. The path leading to the bar was covered with black wallpaper and black marble tiles, making it look like an ant nest.

The deeper they went inside, the more people who could not even keep themselves upright were wandering the hallway. Dressed in luxury brands, they clearly looked like kids from wealthy families. Most of them seemed to be in their early to mid twenties. They were all the kind that would give their parents endless trouble.

A girl leaning crookedly against the wall pointed her finger at Yeorok.

“Wow, what is this oppa? He is damn handsome.”

“……”

“Haven’t we met somewhere before? I am sure I know this face.”

Her drowsy eyes ran up and down over the tall man.

He looked at least 190 cm tall, wearing a perfectly tailored bespoke suit. His formal appearance did not match the place, and he had an unusual aura.

Under his unusually black hair, his fine features were revealed. His cold eyes looked down on others no matter their height.

He looked fierce, but his white skin, straight nose, smooth lips, and jawline softened the cold impression. Even so, he still had an exterior that was hard to approach.

But drunkenness makes people reckless. The drunk girl babbled things she would never normally dare to say to someone like him, asking him to hang out, to buy her drinks, nonsense she could never handle.

Yeorok gave her not the slightest attention and kept walking. After he passed about five more people of the same type, he finally reached the last room. The bodyguards standing firmly in front of the door stepped aside as soon as they saw Yeorok.

The room where the incident happened was sealed off under strict control. When he opened the door and went inside, a sour smell of unknown origin stabbed his nose.

The velvet sofa arranged in a U-shape and the large stone table looked as if they had been bombed, showing how wildly they had played.

Among the toppled whiskey bottles and the fragments of broken glasses, small pills rolled around. Condoms were thrown all over the place, leaking semen that no one knew whose it was. It was not just one or two.

Yeorok looked over the disgusting scene and found Choi Yoonho lying in a corner.

His black leather shoes moved in that direction.

Yeorok tapped his nephew’s forehead with the tip of his shoe.

“……”

The boy had marks of indulgence all over him, his mouth covered in yellow saliva stains and vomit. His face was blue, not looking like someone still alive.

“Witnesses?”

“…The first witness was our security guard. He contacted us right away and locked down the room, so there are no other witnesses.”

“……”

“We assume it is acute drug intoxication. The decisive cause seems to be suffocation from vomit blocking his airway. To know for sure, we will need an autopsy, but…”

Secretary Hong stopped talking.

In any case, this case would be covered up without anyone knowing. Talking about autopsies or anything like that would only annoy Yeorok.

“Ha.”

Yeorok laughed in disbelief. He rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand, then stepped back a few steps and sat on the cleanest spot of the sofa.

He shoved both hands into his pockets and leaned his head back. His face looking up at the ceiling looked calm, but thick veins swelled at his temples.

Choi Yoonho, you son of a bitch….

The curse rolled inside his mouth.

“I did think one day he might cause a big accident… but I did not think he would screw me over like this.”

His neck stretched out from his shirt, the sternocleidomastoid muscle stood out, and his jaw hardened. Yeorok was barely swallowing down the anger boiling inside him.

Everyone around knew his nephew Choi Yoonho was hopeless. The only stain of Haegang, a decadent heir, a model of corruption. The titles that followed him were loud.

As soon as he became an adult, Yoonho threw himself into all kinds of parties and drinking, rolling around like a dog in heat. He was already a celebrity in the upper class.

Of course, it was his uncle Choi Yeorok who had to clean up the messes he caused. Because Choi Yeorok was Yoonho’s guardian.

Yeorok only intended to take care of him until he turned twenty three. He was sick of the endless accidents every day, but he endured it, remembering only Chairman Choi’s will.

Yes, all of this was because of that damned will.

‘Haegang’ had originally already chosen its successor. But the eldest son, who was supposed to inherit the family business, died young, leaving Chairman Choi only with his late child, Choi Yeorok, and grandson, Choi Yoonho.

Since the eldest son had died, it would have been natural for the inheritance to go to Yeorok. That was until Chairman Choi imposed restrictions.

‘I will be straightforward. Take care of your nephew Yoonho for just seven years. If you take responsibility until he turns twenty three, I will hand over all of Haegang to you.’

Chairman Choi attached a condition that sounded absurd, as if he had lost his mind. He pushed his young grandson, who was still in middle school, onto Yeorok.

The problem was that the grandson was a hopeless troublemaker.

Of course, Yeorok had no intention to agree.

‘If you think I cannot handle it, just lock him up in a hospital.’

‘And that is something an uncle would say? Do you not feel sorry for that child?’

Not at all. He was sick of Choi Yoonho.

To Yeorok, his nephew was nothing but a cancer.

‘Why twenty three? Normally guardians only take care of a child until he becomes an adult, don’t they?’

‘The shaman said from the time Yoonho becomes an adult, for three years the misfortune will be beyond words. He said he was fated to die. Even a ritual would not help. The only way is to always watch over him.’

‘…….’

‘If I die too, you will be his only blood relative. Yeorok, think of yourself as his parent and take care of him.’

It was typical of Chairman Choi, who obsessed over fortune telling and superstition. Over the years, the money he gave to shamans had to be at least billions.

The reason he came to depend entirely on shamans was because his beloved eldest son and daughter in law lost their lives in a yacht accident. Even a tycoon in business loses sight of everything when he sends his child to the grave first. That is why he blindly believed in sorcerers and shamans, throwing them bundles of cash.

‘This is not a request, it is my will. I do not have much time left. They say it is stage 3 pancreatic cancer.’

Even when he heard his father’s terminal diagnosis, Yeorok did not blink. Chairman Choi also seemed to have expected that, his reaction was calm.

‘At least pretend. That is enough for me.’

Chairman Choi left a will, handing over all decision-making power of Haegang to Yeorok.

Not only that, together with the lawyer who was present, he began to set up the details of a trust. The condition was what he had said before, that Choi Yeorok must act as guardian until Choi Yoonho turned twenty three.

If by any chance Yeorok neglected him or anything happened to his safety, then all of Chairman Choi’s shares placed in the trust would be returned to society.

The trust was a kind of safety device. Even if Yeorok could not care for his nephew like a parent, he had to take responsibility for the promised period in order to inherit the shares in full.

Chairman Choi passed away a few months after leaving his will.

Six years went by like that.

For Choi Yeorok, who was always thorough and calculating, Choi Yoonho was like shackles he could not shake off.

He had long since given up on discipline. He left him alone even if he destroyed his own reputation. Instead, he cleaned up every little incident and waited only for the day Yoonho turned twenty three safely.

Now only one year was left. But he died before even reaching that.

How could Yeorok not be enraged?

“The shaman was indeed accurate.”

Yeorok straightened his head and glanced at the nephew’s body lying on the floor. His gaze was indifferent, like looking at a worm dried up in the sun. There had never been any family affection between Yeorok and Choi Yoonho.

“…What should we do?”

Secretary Hong bent one knee by the corpse and asked.

It was not only Choi Yoonho who had died. A man who seemed to have done drugs and indulged in pleasure together with him was sprawled out on a sofa in the distance, eyes rolled back.

There were not one but two bodies. The cleanup became troublesome.

Yeorok silently touched his heated forehead. His straight eyebrows furrowed and the space between them narrowed. He pressed his temple with his thumb, showing how much of a headache this was.

For now, dealing with the current situation came first.

“Call Opo and have them free up a space in the morgue. Send Choi Yoonho there for now. As for the other one, make up a fitting story and take care of it.”

“Yes.”

Yeorok’s eyes swept over every corner of the ceiling. Fortunately there was no CCTV visible inside the room. But that did not mean he could feel relieved.

“Collect all the CCTV from inside and outside the place, and check every single video on the phones of the people in the bar.”

“Understood.”

Once he gave the order, Secretary Hong immediately pulled a phone from the inside pocket of his jacket. He made calls here and there was quick, like a person following a set manual.

In the meantime, Yeorok picked up a clean glass and an unopened bottle of whiskey. He poured a drink and swallowed it to settle his churning stomach.

His dark eyes stared persistently at his nephew’s body. His head felt like it would split from the headache.

After some time, people dressed like paramedics carried out Choi Yoonho’s body. The men under Yeorok were professional and handled things cleanly. They even cleared away the scattered glass shards, condoms, drugs, and vomit until the place was spotless.

Once the bodies were taken away, the bar owner showed his face. Reading the unusual atmosphere, his forehead was drenched in sweat. He put his gold-ringed hands together politely and rolled his eyes nervously.

Yeorok pulled up the corner of his lips. For someone who had just covered up his nephew’s death, his smile was relaxed.

“How do you manage this establishment?”

“I am sorry. I have no excuse.”

“It is nothing new that Choi Yoonho’s conduct is filthy, but at least you should have kept him from doing drugs. Look, even that man is dead.”

Yeorok pointed with his chin at the man still lying sprawled on the sofa.

The corners of the bar owner’s eyes twitched. All sorts of things happened inside these rooms, but this was the first time someone died from taking drugs. And of all things, it had to be tied to Haegang. His mouth dried up thinking about how to handle the accident.

“Chairman, w… what should I do? If there is anything you need, please tell me. I will help in every way.”

Yeorok moved his shoe slightly. Under his crossed legs, the clean sole of his shoe showed for a moment.

“Keep your mouth shut thoroughly. If rumors leak, it will be troublesome for both sides.”

“Do not worry about that. I will make sure no gossip leaks out at all.”

Yeorok rolled his glass.

Rumors would spread anyway. Instead, it would be known that Choi Yoonho had not died here, but that he had been taken to the hospital due to drug side effects.

As if he were still alive even now.

The cleanup was thorough and complete, but Yeorok’s stiff expression showed no sign of easing. He covered his mouth with the square glass and swallowed all the remaining liquor.

Yeorok looked briefly around the room, then left. His way of leaving was as indifferent as when he first entered.

But once he got into the car, his real feelings started showing.

The moment he closed the rear door, he pulled his tie loose and rubbed his stifled neck. The anger he had held down rose to his chin and boiled like lava. His clenched his molars and even his breathing trembled.

Secretary Hong watched him through the rearview mirror, quietly waiting for orders.

The car, not even started, was silent.

Only after a long time did Yeorok barely regain his composure.

“Secretary Hong.”

“Yes.”

“Is Choi Yoonho’s spare still valid?”

After hearing the news of Choi Yoonho’s death, Yeorok had already thought to himself that maybe he would need to use that card.

“Yes. Shall I prepare it?”

Yeorok covered his eyes with his palm and sighed

“Bring him to me.”