“Are you worried I didn’t finish those calculations?”
Looking at Minjae’s face dripping with cold sweat, Ganghyuk smiled with satisfaction. Now he liked him a bit.
“Sit down. Unless you want the other arm wrecked too.”
When he gestured to the sofa with his chin, Minjae looked around with both bloodshot eyes. The space without even a single window was designed so that no matter what happened inside, not a single sound would leak outside.
This was the place Minjae usually brought his toys to play. The place, which was equipped with an expensive air purifier so it didn’t have the musty smell characteristic of basements, had been filled with Minjae’s laughter just an hour ago.
Seeing the omegas trembling with bare bodies in one corner, his teeth ground. He wanted to kill Ganghyuk right now for interrupting his rare amusement, but unfortunately Minjae had no talent for fighting.
Just looking at what had just happened proved that. Far from striking Ganghyuk’s head with the ashtray, only one arm was ruined. Whether it was badly damaged, strength wouldn’t enter the arm that hung drooped.
Having no choice, Minjae sat on the sofa as Ganghyuk ordered. He decided that once he escaped this place, he’d thoroughly repay the humiliation he was receiving now with interest.
“I’m a bit disappointed that you started this without even being prepared for this much.”
Ganghyuk said while holding the half-burned cigarette at the edge of his lips. Because of the drug Minjae fed him, an unexpected rut cycle had burst out, and he slept with Ian.
Things hadn’t progressed as Minjae had hoped, but it was extremely unpleasant. Ian was a child who shouldn’t be treated that way.
Taking him in was never with any other intention. It was to repay the favor he’d received from Yeon Cheolho. He wanted to return the feelings contained in the candy the child had given him when young, even with interest added.
Even knowing the child harbored feelings for him, he’d pushed him away because of that, but everything had gone awry because of Minjae.
Of course, entering that house even while knowing his rut cycle had come was his own choice, but if it hadn’t been for Minjae in the first place, it wouldn’t have happened.
Minjae was the one who crossed the line first. So Ganghyuk was just showing him and those around him. What happens when you touch him.
Crouching his body for a long time as the Chairman’s right arm was because it was bothersome. In the first place, Ganghyuk didn’t have much greed for the huge group called Taehyun Construction.
Reigning over others meant having to take on that much responsibility. Ganghyuk didn’t have that much affection for Taehyun Construction. He was also utterly averse to troublesome things.
Since he also had the favor he’d received from Chairman Tae, he’d hoped they would finish the ranking fight among the children themselves according to his wishes.
But Tae Minjae, who only had greed and was stupid, properly overturned the board. He suspected whether Tae Minsu might have instigated him from behind.
Because with this incident, the board was flowing in a direction completely favorable to Tae Minsu. Since Tae Nayeon had also conspired with Tae Minjae to cause trouble, he could imagine her biting her well-manicured nails right now, trembling, wondering when her turn would come.
Ah, or not. Though she was a daughter, the person who most resembled Chairman Tae’s disposition was precisely her, so was she just clicking her tongue at things not going according to plan?
“Who the hell are you! If you were born a bastard son, you should obey your master’s words like a bastard, fuck, you bite your master? Do you think Father will stay quiet if he knows? All the directors will rise up too. Saying you dare try to swallow up Taehyun Construction.”
I thought he might lose some spirit, but I guess this much won’t do.
Ganghyuk, who had grown tired of Minjae spouting scenarios favorable to himself alone, threw the almost completely burned cigarette on the floor and pressed down firmly with his shoe.
Even after smoking a cigarette, his tautly stretched nerves remained as they were. The cause was precisely Minjae, who was now bringing up the names of directors particularly close to Ganghyuk one by one, making a fuss about getting revenge.
If one arm isn’t enough, I’ll have to crush his mouth.
An ashtray caught Ganghyuk’s view. The thought was short, the action was fast. The ashtray gripped in his large hand cut through the air.
Crack!
With a tremendous sound, Minjae’s mouth, which had been noisily chattering, was blocked. Thick blood flowed down along the ashtray that was jammed into his mouth, crushing all his teeth.
Minjae’s pupils, distorted with pain and shock, looked at Ganghyuk standing right in front and gradually became paralyzed with fear.
“My ears hurt a little.”
Even after crushing a person’s face completely, Ganghyuk’s face was calm. Ganghyuk wiped off the blood droplets that had splattered on his cheek with the back of his hand. A bloodstain continued lengthily over the smooth skin without a single bump.
“Do you have more to say?”
Though his tone was polite, the pupils looking at Minjae were dry like withered leaves. Feeling the momentum that he wouldn’t even blink an eye even if he died right before his eyes, Minjae unconsciously shook his head.
A crushed tooth mixed with blood was pushed into his throat. Cough cough, after coughing roughly and pulling out the ashtray, the broken debris fell with a clatter to the floor.
Anger and fear, the two emotions mixed messily and colored Minjae’s mind with confusion. He should say something, but fear came first that he didn’t know where and how he would be hit if he did that.
It was the moment when the leash of fear of violence was finally placed on Minjae, just as Ganghyuk wanted.
“Then sit down again. Now I’d like Vice President-nim to listen to what I have to say.”
Ganghyuk, who checked the time on his wristwatch, deeply buried his back into the sofa again. For a moment, Ian flashed through his mind.
I wonder if he’s fallen asleep by now. I bet he’s turned on all the lights in the house again, scared he might have nightmares.
He received reports every hour from the subordinates he’d sent near the soup restaurant. The last report was that Ian had closed the store and gone up to his home.
I wanted him to rest one more day, but seeing how he stubbornly opened the store, he was definitely right to have inherited Yeon Cheolho’s blood. Their diligence was exactly alike, grandfather and grandson.
“Ugh…”
Minjae sat on the sofa covering his mouth with both hands. He couldn’t even gauge how many teeth had been broken. When he moved his tongue, only his flesh was torn on the sharp cross-section.
“It seems Vice President-nim still hasn’t grasped the situation, so I’m going to kindly inform you.”
Looking at such a Minjae, Ganghyuk raised one arm on the armrest and began to speak in a bored voice while supporting his temple with his fingertips.
“First, Chairman-nim is very likely to pass away within a month.”
“What do you mean…”
Flustered, Minjae asked back, but with his teeth broken, his pronunciation all leaked out. The Chairman’s condition showed no signs of improvement at all. Even now, he was barely prolonging his life day by day through the latest medical equipment.
Even that was reaching its limit, and the Chairman’s attending physician had tipped off Ganghyuk that his death was not far off. It was information that the Chairman’s children and other directors didn’t know yet.
“Second, I have no greed for the company. Especially the Chairman’s position, I’d dislike it even if someone gave it to me. Because I’m utterly averse to troublesome things.”
Minjae glared, telling him not to talk nonsense, but shrank his shoulders at Ganghyuk’s calm pupils. It was because of the fear that if he resisted again, the ashtray would smash his skull.
“Third, that said, I don’t feel like putting someone who will continue to bother me as Chairman. Which means Vice President-nim’s possibility of becoming the next Chairman is close to zero.”
Minjae trembled and muttered small curses. That couldn’t be. Just thinking about the amount of bribes he’d fed to get this company, it exceeded tens of billions.
In that process, he’d used up a considerable amount of the assets he’d received from his father in advance. If he didn’t ascend to the Chairman’s position, he would have blown clean money.
“I’ll give you two choices.”
Seeing the embers still not extinguished in Minjae’s eyes, Ganghyuk made an offer in an indifferent voice.
“Either be satisfied with the Vice President position now, or suffer an unfortunate accident and fall into a coma. Ah, if you’re unlucky, you might just die. Let’s leave that part up to fate.”
