Thunk.
Crash.
The mouse that fell down after hitting the chief secretary broke into pieces with the battery and small parts separating. At least it was fortunate it wasn’t the paperweight or glass nameplate that boasted enormous weight.
“How the hell did that bastard Taesu raise his kid? Every time he turns people’s insides out saying his son is perfectly fine, and now what? Drunk hit-and-run with a death? Abandoning a corpse? Crazy psycho bastard.”
Taeho, who was fuming, shouted at the chief secretary who was bowing his head as if dead.
“Tell Taesu to get in here right now, and tell all the Chemical executives to gather. Does it make sense that no one knew when he caused an accident in a company car?”
“Yes, understood.”
Before the chief secretary who’d greeted him could leave, Taeho gestured again.
“Whose work is this? Which son of a bitch sold it?”
At those words, the chief secretary made an expression like a corpse dying.
“It’s Prosecutor Seo Jaeha.”
For a moment, Taeho thought he’d heard wrong. But the chief secretary confirmed the kill with “It’s that prosecutor who was demoted before.”
“That bastard who boiled and ate dragon meat? What the hell kind of bastard is he? How did Kyungrok handle that bastard… No, never mind all that, I need to see him myself. Drag him here right now.”
“Yes.”
After the chief secretary left, Taeho picked up the phone.
—Yes, Chairman.
“Tell Kyungrok to get in here right now. Kyungwoo too!”
—Yes.
Kyungwoo, who received the call from the chairman’s office, headed straight from Taeryoung Holdings headquarters to Taeryoung headquarters. As soon as he entered the magnificent lobby, he saw Kyungrok standing in front of the executive-only elevator.
“You came too.”
“Yes.”
Surprisingly, Kyungrok was calm. Rather, she seemed to enjoy it, showing a slight smile. When the two boarded the elevator, other people didn’t get on.
“Your boyfriend caused trouble.”
“I also just heard a little while ago.”
“You didn’t tell him in advance?”
“We don’t talk about work with each other.”
“Really? I thought it was something you did together since you’re even taking time off work to chase after him.”
As expected, Kyungrok saw through Kyungwoo’s every move.
“Are you going to talk about Seo Jaeha?”
“Why would I?”
Kyungrok’s reaction was unexpected. Kyungrok, who smirked, looked at Kyungwoo and opened her mouth.
“Father will step in anyway. Seo Jaeha has left my hands. It’s good if he’s eliminated without knowing the situation. Even if he’s not eliminated, it’s not my immediate loss. For Dad, who’s the chairman, Taeryoung itself will be the problem, but I’m the president of F&C.”
“You’ll stay still until the Chemical side purge is finished.”
“Of course. What could be better than the enemy eliminating the enemy on their own? I feel like praising Prosecutor Seo.”
“Then shall I arrange a reconciliation meeting?”
At Kyungwoo’s words, Kyungrok met his gaze as if incredulous. Just then, the elevator arrived at the top floor.
When they entered the chairman’s office, Vice Chairman Jung Taesu had already arrived. Even seeing Kyungrok and Kyungwoo, Taeho, whose anger had risen to the limit, didn’t stop talking.
“Get your hands off Chemical right now! I’m going to purge all the executives. Where does a company stop an assistant manager from causing an accident at the company level? Does that even make sense in today’s world? You crazy bastard. Do you want to see the company collapse?”
“Hyung.”
“Don’t even call me hyung! Put that murderer bastard away right now. Don’t send him abroad, make him voluntarily turn himself in. That’s the only way to live. If you have any other ideas, I’ll beat that bastard up myself and drag him to the police station, so if you don’t want to see your kid’s blood, nicely put him in prison. If you understand, get out!”
Vice Chairman Jung Taesu couldn’t say a word in protest and stood up from his seat. When Kyungrok and Kyungwoo bowed their heads, he sighed deeply and left the chairman’s office.
“Uncle knew too?”
“No way. No matter what, he’s not someone who goes that far. Your aunt stopped him. The president bastard systematically covered it up.”
“How could they cover up a hit-and-run death case? They’re crazy.”
“I knew it from when they’d cover for him at the drop of a hat since childhood. That’s why they raise criminal bastards.”
“Will the two of them continue living together?”
Kyungrok asked while sitting on the sofa. Kyungwoo took a seat across from her.
“They had a huge fight about it. We’ll have to see if they divorce. Your mother went to meet your aunt. She’s trying to hear what she was thinking doing that. What can be done about an accident that’s already happened?”
“This is serious.”
As she said that, Kyungrok looked at Kyungwoo. Since Mother had stepped into this matter, there seemed to be no need to give further shock with unnecessary talk.
“How much will the stock price fall? We should start with social contribution projects. If we do discounts or advertisements for no reason, we could face backlash, so I’m coming from instructing the PR team to refrain.”
“Our side is also urgently forming an image improvement project. We’re prioritizing the area where the victim is.”
“We blocked the major media, but it’ll take some time to take down all the small internet articles. It’s spread centered on internet communities. We’ll start pushing it out with other posts.”
“The network response team is handling it urgently. We’re monitoring major communities and talking closely with portals. An employee just visited the newspaper that posted the article. There won’t be any more article spread.”
Taeho sat in the head seat of the sofa set and listened to his two children’s talk. While staring into space thinking about something, he suddenly glared at Kyungrok.
“How did you handle that prosecutor bastard?”
At those words, Kyungrok unconsciously glanced at Kyungwoo once and threw her gaze to Taeho.
“I had him demoted, but I didn’t know it was him. It wasn’t something I did. Appointments are made by the Ministry of Justice.”
“Then how did that bastard find out and sell this? Something even I didn’t know? Isn’t there someone inside?”
Then Kyungrok’s gaze turned to Kyungwoo again.
“A while ago, a video related to the case was uploaded to an anonymous site. I received a report from the internal media team that the vehicle and car model were the same as a vehicle registered to Chemical. I didn’t know at the time, but anyway, since it could get involved in disgrace, I ordered it deleted. But another person using the site reported it directly, and the person in charge happened to be Seo Jaeha…”
At those words, Taeho glared at Kyungwoo.
“Why didn’t you report such a thing?”
“Vice Chairman manages the Chemical side, and I thought there was no need to report something that wasn’t even certain.”
“Are you sure it’s not your work?”
It was a question full of suspicion. Kyungrok also observed Kyungwoo with an interested gaze.
“No. If I’d been certain it was Jung Kyunghyun, I would have reported directly to the Chairman. Without making such a fuss.”
“Hmm.”
Taeho looked Kyungwoo up and down. He didn’t seem entirely distrustful and didn’t bring up any more words.
“I’m taking Chemical back. I’ll convene the board soon. You two stay quiet. Don’t act out unnecessarily and get sparks flying at you too. Know that.”
“Yes.”
“I understand, Dad.”
Taeho, who’d caught his breath for a moment, suddenly turned to the two.
“Are you secretly hiding anything? Like things that could cause gossip?”
“No.”
“Nothing.”
“Really? You don’t have any issues with Professor Kim? You haven’t been coming to eat lately. Professor Kim is well-behaved, but that family is… Is Professor Kim still causing trouble these days?”
At those words, Kyungrok became serious.
“I told you he’s busy with research in the provinces. He’s busy with no time to spare writing papers.”
“What about you? Your mother was making a fuss about some woman. Do you play around dirty and messy like kids these days?”
“There’s nothing like that.”
Kyungwoo became serious no less than Kyungrok. Taeho examined his two children very closely and then leaned back leisurely.
“Right. You two aren’t the type to cause trouble like that.”
At those words, Kyungrok and Kyungwoo simultaneously exchanged glances.
“Go on. Take good care of the company as reported. It’ll be handled at the group level, but tell me if you need any support.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll stop by home in the evening.”
“You come a little less, and you come a little more.”
Taeho, who said different things to his daughter and son respectively, gestured again.
As soon as they left the chairman’s office, the two boarded the elevator that was waiting in advance.
“Give my regards to Professor Kim.”
When Kyungwoo spoke first, Kyungrok smiled faintly.
“We’re tied. But don’t think I’ll back down on the Mother issue because of that.”
“I know. I’ll tell Mother myself.”
Kyungrok suddenly widened her eyes and looked at Kyungwoo.
“Are you crazy?”
“We can’t hide it forever, can we? In the current situation, she might think it’s better than a crazy murderer and corpse abandoner.”
“No, that might make sense. But still.”
Seeing Kyungrok flustered was not an easy thing. It was that unexpected a means, and perhaps proof that it might be the most correct path.
“Wouldn’t it be more of a problem if she finds out through another route before I tell her?”
“That’s true, but.”
“Or should I start by talking about Noona’s separation?”
At those words, Kyungrok’s eyes blazed.
“The story of an affectionate daughter might touch her more than the story of a blunt son.”
He’d firmly grabbed her weak point. Then Kyungrok shut her mouth.
“If Mom calls me crying, I’ll bury you myself.”
“That won’t happen.”
The elevator arrived on the first floor. Then Kyungrok pressed the close button.
“What sudden change of heart is this? You really hated talking with Mom. Even when eating, I deliberately sat you next to her but you wouldn’t say a word.”
“But we can’t live like this forever.”
He answered calmly. Kyungrok stared into her younger brother’s eyes and opened her mouth.
“Is it because of Seo Jaeha?”
Instead of answering, he slightly raised the corners of his mouth.
“How much do you love him to death… No, what did Seo Jaeha say?”
“I don’t want to talk about personal matters. Let’s just say it’s thanks to Seo Jaeha eating abalone intestines well.”
Then Kyungwoo pressed the open button and left the elevator first.
“Then. I’ll see you in the evening.”
After greeting with a bright smile, Kyungwoo crossed the lobby, leaving behind Kyungrok who was staring at him blankly.
“He’s finally gone crazy. He’s smiling at me?”
Surprised, Kyungrok took out her phone and called Jungok. From the crying sounds in the background, it seemed she was meeting with her aunt. She was curious about her aunt and cousin’s story, but Kyungrok brought up what she was most curious about first.
“Mom, did you put medicine in the abalone intestines?”
—…What kind of nonsense is that?
“Kyungwoo, no, it looks like Kyungwoo will come to dinner later too. Let’s meet later and talk. You have to see it to believe it. Yeah, talk well with Aunt. See you at dinner.”
After hanging up, Kyungrok walked toward the driver secretary waiting for her.
