# Chapter 101
“What can I do? I said I can’t live without that person. They say there’s no business that can beat your child. I thought that saying wouldn’t apply to our parents, but even our parents eventually told me to do what I want, as if they had no choice.”
“……”
“Dad did suggest that even a contract marriage would be fine, that I could formally marry a woman and just live with that person, but Mom got really angry. Asking why I would get married in that case. Saying it would only divide property and asking who would benefit from such a thing. Honestly, the atmosphere hasn’t been good since then. I didn’t visit the family home often to begin with, so I’m not paying much attention to it.”
I nodded.
This made things somewhat certain.
Grandfather had clearly spoken to both of them.
Telling them not to interfere with Hyung’s matters.
Somehow, Hyung had unexpectedly found a savior in Grandfather, but the problem was that his intentions weren’t pure.
I didn’t feel good thinking that he was doing this to make me the successor and solidify that succession structure.
“What does Noona say?”
“What would she say? Even Mother and Father have accepted it.”
“No contact from Director Won?”
“No. Noona said she would resolve that issue, and I don’t know what she said, but there’s been no contact. I just wish I could continue living like this. I don’t ask for much, so I don’t understand why such troublesome matters continue for so long. Whenever this happens, I feel terribly sorry to Hyunshin.”
I thought about Noona’s position.
If things went this way, Noona’s role would grow, and there would be no losses for her.
Perhaps Noona was watching how things were unfolding and thinking that she could become the successor?
Noona perfectly matched Grandfather’s ideal successor profile.
Talented, capable, and also of Grandfather’s bloodline.
Her devotion to Seyoung would be incomparable to that of professional managers, and her abilities weren’t inferior to theirs.
And she had appropriate ambition and a competitive spirit.
I thought that her knowing who to consider an enemy, who to be wary of, and which battles to abandon made Noona stand out even more.
“But why are you telling me this? You’re not the type to suddenly come and talk about such things out of nowhere.”
I hesitated for a moment, then told him what I had heard from Grandfather.
Hyung looked at me as if surprised.
He didn’t seem to have thought such conversations had taken place.
It couldn’t have felt good to know he was excluded from the succession structure.
“Has Father been out already? Because of what he did to you?”
I hadn’t thought about it that way, but hearing it now, it seemed right.
“I think you should be careful from now on, Seomin.”
“What do you mean?”
Hyung just blurted that out and then was silent for a while.
“What is it?”
It was the same even after I asked several times.
After a long silence, Hyung quietly looked at me.
“Let’s postpone Crop Five’s activities for a bit.”
“Why? We were going to perform at Grandfather’s birthday. Are you saying we shouldn’t?”
And then a strange thought occurred to me.
Why did I suddenly recall the accident that happened to Father at that moment?
“Do you think someone might attack Sijin?”
“It’s better to be safe.”
Hyung also seemed to be worried about what I was thinking, but he didn’t give a definite answer to what I was saying.
He seemed to think the risk was too great to make a definitive statement.
I just stared at Hyung in a daze.
I was stunned, wondering if he thought Grandfather would go that far.
‘Surely not like Father too? Grandfather? No. That definitely can’t be. But what is Hyung saying now?’
My mind was extremely confused.
“Hyung. Do you know something I don’t?”
“No. I think I know what you’re thinking, but that’s not the issue. I don’t think your father’s death was carried out on Grandfather’s orders. But this time, it does seem like something to worry about and be cautious of.”
“You think Grandfather wouldn’t order it, but someone else might do such a thing thinking that’s what Grandfather wants?”
When I first started speaking, I didn’t know the sentence would end that way.
Hyung also seemed surprised by what I was saying.
After talking to Hyung, I remembered the time when Uncle was summoned while I was with Grandfather.
The people who appeared there.
People who came out from places other than the door and handled matters.
I knew they were people who secretly carried out Grandfather’s orders, but I didn’t know to what extent they were involved.
But as I listened to Hyung, that series of scenes suddenly came to mind.
Hyung looked at me, puzzled about what I was thinking.
“When I was with Grandfather.”
I told him about what happened then, and Hyung looked quite surprised.
“Father also has people around him who work for him in that way. But from what you’re telling me, the people around Grandfather seem much more professional.”
They seemed like they could casually handle serious matters, and overlapping with what Hyung had said, it worried me.
“I don’t think we should let Crop Five perform on that stage.”
“But if that’s the issue, couldn’t they do something elsewhere too? Shouldn’t we report this to the police?”
“What would you say? That Grandfather has people who might attack Han Sijin? That Grandfather is considering you as his successor, and because you won’t marry and want to live with that guy, they’re trying to kill Han Sijin?”
Listening to Hyung’s words made my mind even more tangled.
“I need to tell Han Sijin first. He should know. Don’t let him go around alone, assign security personnel. That’s not something to postpone. You talk to Han Sijin.”
After saying that, Hyung stood up and made a call somewhere.
I hoped we were overreacting.
I wanted to think this was just a happening, nothing more.
However, I also agreed that we needed to tell Sijin about it, and I gestured to Hyung as I left the CEO’s office and called Sijin.
Fortunately, he was at the company, and I would be able to see him soon.
* * *
When I brought it up to Sijin, he looked at me as if it didn’t feel real.
“Then isn’t it dangerous to talk about this in a place like this?”
“I think it’s probably fine here.”
And I also told him why I thought so, but Sijin didn’t seem reassured.
“I think it would be better to talk outside.”
“If you want to, then let’s do that.”
“I’ll drive.”
I nodded, and I was curious about what Sijin would think after hearing my story.
After leaving the building, he didn’t go home.
“Where are we going?”
“To my mother.”
“Yes. Your mom should know about this too.”
I wondered why I hadn’t thought of that first.
Sijin held my hand several times on the way.
“Don’t worry too much, Hyung. But are you really not interested in that? Becoming the head of Seyoung. It seems like it would be really cool.”
Sijin smiled, and I thought it was strange that he could smile while saying such things.
“Aren’t you worried? Aren’t you scared? That’s because you haven’t seen those people. That day, Uncle…”
I vividly told him about the fear I felt that day, and Sijin looked at me with concerned eyes.
“Hyung. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. How about I meet the Chairman?”
I thought about his suggestion for a moment.
But somehow it didn’t seem like a good idea.
Not knowing who to trust, whether I could continue to trust Grandfather, made my head feel like it would explode.
Before arriving at his mother’s house, I called her, and she was delighted, asking where we were. She was quite surprised when I said we were in front of her house.
When I said I was coming with Sijin, she was happy at first, but then asked if something bad had happened.
My voice must have sounded different than usual.
“I just wanted to discuss something with you.”
“Alright. If you’re in front of the house, come in quickly.”
We parked the car in the parking lot and entered the house together.
Mom was already out there to greet us.
She must have been surprised by the sudden visit, but she didn’t show it and served us tea.
I found it strange that the housekeepers weren’t visible, so I asked, and she said they only come twice a week, adding that she had been doing some housework herself for quite some time because it wasn’t tiring and was actually fun.
While drinking tea, I brought up the topic first, and Mom looked back and forth between Sijin and me.
Sometimes Mom showed a much more composed demeanor than expected, and this was one of those times.
She couldn’t be completely unbothered, but it seemed she had steeled herself, thinking that if she showed surprise, I would worry more.
