Ganghyuk had the power to make what he’d just said a reality. In Minjae’s case, he was the type who wouldn’t be easily intimidated.
Even now, his spirit had quickly diminished because he was in an unfavorable situation, but if even one person on his side remained around him, he’d be the type to rage until the very end.
His abilities were insignificant, yet his temperament was uniquely vile. Exceptionally so among the three siblings. Moreover, he was increasingly spending more time in a drug-induced haze, making him no different from a ticking time bomb.
“Bring the contract.”
Naturally, Ganghyuk had no intention of just letting this matter pass with words alone. When he gave instructions to Jaehyun standing behind him, Jaehyun came forward carrying a document bag.
Ganghyuk took out a contract stored in a transparent case from inside the bag. He tossed it onto the table so Minjae could see it clearly.
When Ganghyuk signaled with his eyes, Minjae grabbed the contract in his hand. The blood on his hands stained the paper red.
The contents of the contract were simple.
「Shareholder Tae Minjae, in accordance with this contract, relinquishes all rights to his 5% stake in Taehyun Construction and transfers and conveys this to Tae Minsu.」
It was transferring Minjae’s entire stake to the eldest son, Tae Minsu. Minsu currently held 6% of total shares.
Adding Minjae’s stake to that would put him far ahead of the 4% held by Nayeon. And if Chairman Tae died without leaving any particular will, the shares he held would be evenly distributed among the siblings.
Unless Minjae could win over all the shareholders and directors who held stakes, including Ganghyuk, it was as good as certain that Minsu would become chairman.
“I’ll make sure the compensation isn’t disappointing. Though I’ll need to discuss it a bit more with the president.”
Ganghyuk hadn’t told Minsu about this matter yet. He planned to contact him once the contract was concluded. After firmly establishing safeguards so that even after he ascended to the chairman position, he himself could remain as just a director.
The Tae siblings wouldn’t know, but the stake in Taehyun Construction that Ganghyuk actually owned approached nearly 30%. This was more than the shares Chairman Tae currently held.
Even Chairman Tae didn’t know about this part. Ganghyuk’s power extended more thoroughly throughout Taehyun Construction than he thought. Enough that he could move real power at any time without needing to ascend to the conspicuous chairman position.
“You don’t actually think I’m going to sign this, do you?”
Minjae glared at Ganghyuk, his hands trembling. Even though his pronunciation was slurred, his eyes came back to life. As the contract’s contents stirred his anger, even the pain held its breath.
“Of course.”
Ganghyuk met Minjae’s eyes and smiled thinly. He took out a fountain pen from inside his jacket. Jaehyun placed an ink pad for stamping fingerprints on the table right on cue.
“You won’t do it obediently. That’s why I’m going to give you the drug you love, Vice President.”
“What?”
At the word ‘drug,’ Minjae’s eyes widened. Ganghyuk turned the top part of the jewel-encrusted fountain pen cap clockwise.
Then a small plastic packet that had been rolled up inside came out. Several small chunks that looked like red quartz were contained within it.
“You know what this is, right?”
“You……”
Minjae’s eyes wavered. The drug in Ganghyuk’s hand was a synthetic narcotic that Minjae had been deeply addicted to for the past few months. After obtaining it with difficulty from his usual drug dealer, he’d used it sparingly, but it had run out a few days ago.
Even though he’d contacted them to buy more, the dealer only kept replying that they had no product.
As withdrawal symptoms set in, he’d bought a bunch of the drugs he’d used before as a stopgap measure, but the more he did so, the more his craving for the drug he couldn’t get his hands on grew. The previous drug he could easily obtain couldn’t match the intense pleasure that drug had given.
And now that drug was in Ganghyuk’s hand. Minjae’s face gradually twisted as he looked back and forth between the drug and Ganghyuk.
“Don’t tell me your bastard self was the one who gave me that drug?”
Sucheol and Jaehyun’s eyes sank coldly. Every time Minjae acted carelessly toward Ganghyuk, murderous impulses boiled up.
Watching him still not come to his senses, not even knowing what situation he was in right now, they strongly wished Ganghyuk would just give the order to dispose of this bastard without anyone knowing.
“Who knows. Think whatever you want about that part, Vice President.”
Ganghyuk lightly shook the drug packet between his index and middle fingers. Minjae’s two eyes followed the drug packet.
“If you want it, I can keep supplying you with this drug. If you get tired of this one, there are stronger ones too.”
“Fuck, what is this. Did you deal drugs too?”
Though he was trying hard to act tough, Minjae’s one leg trembled. Seeing the drug, the ecstatic sensations he’d felt in the past came back to life, driving him crazy.
He wanted to crush that drug right now and inhale it through his nose, but he couldn’t, so his heart pounded wildly. If only he could do the drug, the pain he was feeling right now would be converted into pleasure.
“As if. I hate drugs.”
Drugs were something Ganghyuk deliberately didn’t touch. That’s why he’d been even more enraged when Minjae had messed with him using drugs.
But he knew a few guys who distributed drugs. Drug dealers had vicious sides, and there was no need to go out of his way to make enemies of them. The losses would far outweigh the gains.
Making sure this drug reached Minjae had been to prepare for any contingencies after the chairman collapsed.
He’d already touched drugs anyway, and since it looked like things would only get worse, it was nothing more than creating a safeguard he could control. Though he hadn’t known he’d end up using it this quickly.
“If you sign, this drug is yours, Vice President.”
At the voice whispering secretly, Minjae broke out in cold sweat like rain. Seeing the drug, the pain he felt in his face grew even greater.
His mouth burned, knowing that just inhaling a tiny bit would make this terrible pain disappear immediately. Severe withdrawal symptoms also appeared, bad enough that he wanted to go to the bathroom right away.
But he couldn’t sign the contract either. It would mean completely giving up the chairman position.
A fierce battle broke out in Minjae’s mind between the drug and the chairman position. The pleasure the drug gave was that powerful—enough to crush all rational thought. It was the fundamental reason Ganghyuk avoided drugs.
No matter how smart and cold-blooded a person was, once they started doing drugs, their destruction was instantaneous.
“I’ll give you some time to think.”
Ganghyuk put the drug back inside the fountain pen cap. Click. The sound of the minute groove fitting together sounded louder than thunder to Minjae’s ears.
Tick-tock, tick-tock. The sound of a clock’s second hand was coming from somewhere. As if to let him know that his patience was wearing away moment by moment.
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“Oh.”
Ian, who was opening the front door and entering the house, widened his eyes. There was a pair of shoes neatly placed by the door that he hadn’t seen when he’d left in the morning.
The shoes, so smooth that not a speck of dust could be seen, were as large as two of Ian’s sneakers combined.
Could it be……
With a strange anticipation, Ian’s heart beat at a pleasant speed. He hurriedly took off his sneakers and entered the house. The floor was toasty warm. Even though he’d definitely turned off the boiler when he’d left at dawn.
Which meant the person he’d been waiting for had returned.
“Executive Director-nim!”
Ian called for Ganghyuk as he walked around various places in the house. He’d been disappointed that there’d been no reply to his text asking when he’d be getting off work today, but to think he’d come without saying anything like this.
But Ganghyuk’s figure was nowhere to be seen. He wasn’t in the room, wasn’t in the kitchen, and the sofa was naturally empty.
There was only one place he hadn’t checked yet. Ian’s gaze reached the closed bathroom door. As he approached, he seemed to hear sounds of movement from inside.
It was when he was about to knock on the door with his clenched fist. The door opened forward and steamy vapor poured out first.
Among the body wash scent, a subtle musk fragrance could be felt. The scent that made his body heat up the moment he smelled it was welcome.
“When did you arrive? You should’ve contacted me. Then I would’ve closed the store early and come up.”
Water droplets dangled from the tips of his jet-black hair. The man who’d come out with just a towel wrapped around his waist today looked at Ian with an inscrutable expression for a moment before brushing past him.
