She hadn’t thought from the start that a private meeting with Tae Gwanghyun would be possible. However, it wasn’t as if she’d gained nothing at all. Lee Misook was now facing his closest aide, his secretary.
Just having this opportunity was lucky. It must mean that Tae Shinwoo was that important. Lee Misook didn’t bother hiding the smile blooming on her face.
“……”
The secretary didn’t bother rushing Lee Misook, who was leisurely killing time. He seemed to think it should be Lee Misook who looked impatient, not himself.
In fact, that was correct. She didn’t know whether the cards she held would work on none other than Taesung Group. She’d have to play them to find out. Still, she had nothing to lose. After taking a sip of tea, Lee Misook slowly parted her lips.
“You don’t seem to have much time, so I’ll get straight to the point. The Chairman is very worried about his grandson, isn’t he?”
“……”
“Eunho isn’t a bad kid. But still… no matter what, he doesn’t match up to being suitable company for the grandson of Taesung Group’s Chairman. Even though Eunho is my son, he should know his pla—”
“He’s someone who will handle things well on his own. If you’re going to talk nonsense, please leave.”
The secretary cut off sharply the absurd story she was drawing out at length, making her words about getting straight to the point meaningless. However, Lee Misook wasn’t flustered at all.
“If you thought he’d handle things well on his own, you wouldn’t have met with me like this.”
Silence flowed for a moment. The corners of Lee Misook’s lips curved gently.
It had already been over ten years since she’d started running scams. It was fundamentally work you couldn’t do without being perceptive. Of course, dealing with a big fish like Taesung Group was burdensome, but at least she was fairly confident in reading the psychology of the man before her eyes.
If he could handle it on his own, why would they bother meeting with her? When they couldn’t have time to spare either.
“The two of them are too close, aren’t they? Anyone who sees them would misunderstand. Wondering if they’re not friends but lovers…”
“Watch your words.”
“Oh my, that was a slip.”
Lee Misook grinned. Why was it so satisfying to see cracks form in the leisurely secretary’s brow? Lee Misook shrugged her shoulders and leaned back against the sofa. Seeing signs that her cards would work, even the faint tension that remained seemed to dissolve.
“But everyone who knows, knows, right? That Taesung Group’s Chairman has a temperament where he absolutely must have what he wants. Whether it’s a company, or whatever… That’s what the rumors say. And it doesn’t seem to be just groundless rumors either.”
The secretary’s lips twitched as if to say something, but Lee Misook didn’t give even a moment’s gap. Besides the fact that Tae Gwanghyun had swallowed up Taesung Group, there was another story that everyone who knew, knew. That he showed the same level of obsession toward people. Not just women, but that he had a temperament of absolutely never letting go of those he’d determined were his people.
Well… to the point where if he couldn’t have them, he’d just kill them.
“Is it a family trait? Ah, I didn’t mean that with the intention of putting down Taesung Group. Haha, I’m scared I might ruin things by saying the wrong thing. Let me say this in advance—I’m not trying to threaten you either. Just, from my perspective, I’m wondering if Shinwoo hasn’t inherited this family trait exactly as is.”
The secretary seemed displeased with Lee Misook’s rambling words. In fact, it made sense since she was talking as if putting down Taesung Group.
However, since it was about none other than Tae Shinwoo, he couldn’t ignore it and was just watching quietly. There would be something to gain from it anyway.
Lee Misook wasn’t rushing in without judgment either. She was just trying to make him certain that she was a necessary person in this situation by letting him know she knew Tae Shinwoo well.
“Shinwoo won’t let Eunho go. No matter how hard the Chairman tries, it’ll only be temporary, and anyway Shinwoo will find Eunho again. In the end, he’d have to hide so thoroughly that he couldn’t be found again… But you’re not going to kill Eunho, are you? What kind of backlash would you face if you did that?”
“Just get to the point simply. Don’t rattle on as if you know everything.”
Her rising lips were full of confidence. It wasn’t a made-up story. If all she had was just one card that the two were in that kind of relationship, she wouldn’t have even come here.
Right now, because of his young age, Tae Shinwoo had no power. But what if time passed? Tae Shinwoo was someone who would have Taesung Group. Meaning he was someone who would grasp power as time passed.
When he found out that it was actually his grandfather who had gotten rid of Seo Eunho, would he really stay still? No one would be safe. She could tell what would happen without thinking deeply. Tae Shinwoo was the spitting image of Tae Gwanghyun. No, if she dared to guess… Tae Shinwoo was even more so and then some. She could tell enough just from the atmosphere he gave off and his actions. Would they not know this fact that even she knew?
“I was just getting to the point. What’s the rush? And you’re already anticipating it. What cards I’ve brought.”
“……”
“I’ll tear the two of them apart. To be precise, I’ll make Eunho hide on his own. The Chairman has nothing to do with it, I’ll just make it so Eunho abandons Shinwoo.”
“That’s excessive confidence. How can you be certain?”
“Originally, an unhappy child…”
Lee Misook’s eyebrows twitched as she thought of Seo Eunho. A child who struggled and grew up alone resenting his father, yet still came running at his father’s call, who on the surface wanted to escape but in the end recognized better than anyone that this was his place, who seemed mature but wasn’t.
“Can’t easily believe in suddenly arriving good fortune.”
At the words full of conviction, Kim Seongyeong, secretary to Taesung Group’s Chairman, shut his mouth tight.
Whether he believed Lee Misook right now or not wasn’t important. However, if she could be a means to separate Tae Shinwoo and Seo Eunho, he could use her as much as needed.
In fact, most of what Lee Misook had rattled off was close to the truth. Especially the fact that if Tae Shinwoo found out later that it was the Chairman who had separated him from Seo Eunho, not only the Chairman but himself wouldn’t be safe either—that was something he’d anticipated. The moment Tae Shinwoo took hold of the power that would naturally be given to him someday, it would all be over.
That’s why, even knowing it would be easy to tear them apart, he’d just left it alone. It would take time until Tae Shinwoo properly took hold of Taesung Group and made people his own, but from the moment he accomplished that, a literal bloody wind would blow.
Even if the opponent was his grandfather, nothing would change. Tae Gwanghyun had been exactly like that. No matter how much time passed and no matter how close the opponent was, once they became a target of revenge, it was over. As Lee Misook predicted, Tae Shinwoo was the spitting image of Tae Gwanghyun. Both Kim Seongyeong and Tae Gwanghyun knew this well. That’s why he had come out here. Following Tae Gwanghyun’s orders that if there was a way to handle Seo Eunho without any aftermath, it didn’t matter how much he paid.
Tae Shinwoo was someone who would become the owner of Taesung Group. Being loved by everyone and controlling people with an appearance lacking nothing was nothing less than a kind of preparation for the future. Tae Gwanghyun was more satisfied with Tae Shinwoo’s appearance than anyone. He was all the more so because he was enraged that Taesung Group couldn’t shed its image as a company stolen by gangsters.
For such a Tae Shinwoo to be absorbed in someone insignificant and unable to come to his senses. He had no choice but to even meet with a woman like this to devise countermeasures. If only that child named Seo Eunho was at least not a boy.
“So exactly what are you going to do and how?”
Kim Seongyeong asked, swallowing a sigh. No, even if it had been a girl, it wouldn’t have been any different. It was Tae Shinwoo’s father who had kicked out the woman they’d forcibly attached to him through an unwanted marriage and ran away from home saying he’d live with the woman he liked.
“I’ll take Eunho. All it needs is just one tiny seed of doubt. For instance… that Shinwoo’s feelings might not be sincere, or something like that. Eunho will be afraid. Of the day when Shinwoo will abandon him someday.”
“……”
“I can move Eunho’s father. If I tell him to secure his son as insurance thinking of the future, he’ll be pleased, right? Not knowing that, Eunho will trust his father more. Because he’s family, even if he’s someone who neglected him his whole life. He’s young. Blood would be more trustworthy than feelings you can’t see.”
Though the words were utterly cruel, Kim Seongyeong wasn’t surprised. Naturally, he had no sympathy for Seo Eunho either.
“To pull off a scam, you need to coordinate well. Even if I take Eunho, if Shinwoo comes looking for him, it’s all for nothing.”
“……”
“What will you do? Let’s say I take Eunho. Can you deceive Shinwoo well?”
Kim Seongyeong’s finger twitched. The silence was brief.
***
Kim Junseong’s shoulders trembled noticeably. The men standing before him were all big and threatening. It was only natural for Kim Junseong, who had been dragged here out of nowhere by these men, to be terrified.
“We’re not going to do anything, so don’t shake so much.”
The man who appeared to be the boss-level spoke to Kim Junseong like that. Though it was a relatively gentle voice, to Kim Junseong it only sounded all the more terrifying.
Kim Junseong glanced at his cell phone in the man’s hand, then quickly turned his head away. Perhaps because his hands were big, his cell phone looked incredibly small. His mouth went completely dry. The thought bloomed without fail that one swing of that hand would send him straight to his grave.
“Here.”
“Gulp, y-yes?”
However, with the hand he’d thought might kill him at any moment, the man suddenly held out money. Kim Junseong kept hiccupping as he looked back and forth between the man and the money.
“Take it.”
But at the following urging, Kim Junseong had no choice but to quickly extend his hand. What he held in his hand was money, but he wasn’t particularly happy. His legs were trembling to the point where he was on the verge of collapsing right there.
“Money to buy a new phone.”
In a situation where he couldn’t even process what was being said, Kim Junseong just nodded his head first. Only belatedly understanding that they meant they’d take his phone so he should buy a new one, Kim Junseong’s head nodded even more vigorously.
“Don’t tell anyone about what happened today.”
“Yes! I’ll do that. I’m sorry. I won’t, I won’t do it again.”
His voice was as small as a mosquito buzzing. However, it wasn’t important. Kim Junseong felt like he could do anything if only he could escape from here right now.
“Don’t do this kind of shit again either.”
“Yes! Yes! I, I won’t do it!”
Fuck. What the hell was going on? He’d just taken a few photos because they said they’d give him money. How did it come to this?
Kim Junseong nodded his head like a machine, firmly vowing that as soon as he got out of here, he would never do anything like this again.
The man looked at Kim Junseong with a quite satisfied face. The terrified look was amusing. What had he trusted to dare take photos of Tae Shinwoo when he had no guts?
Well, it wasn’t something he needed to know. Though he hadn’t even scared him much, the man turned away from Kim Junseong, who looked ready to piss himself any moment, and checked his wristwatch. Fortunately, there was still plenty of time.
“Handle him roughly and send him off.”
“Yes.”
After the man gave a brief order to his subordinate, he left first. Though “handling” would probably just be threatening him not to mention this incident or what he’d been doing until now, at those words Kim Junseong’s complexion turned deathly pale.
You need to get scared a bit to learn to size up your opponent before attacking. The man thought indifferently and clicked his tongue. Though he was letting it slide today, something not very pleasant would happen before long anyway.
He mulled over the order he’d received today.
‘I’d like it if Shinwoo was busy for a bit.’
Currently, the man was handling all the work Tae Shinwoo assigned. So on the surface he was Tae Shinwoo’s person, but regrettably, until now he was still closer to being Tae Gwanghyun’s person. Therefore, the order he should listen to first was Tae Gwanghyun’s.
Even without distinguishing whose person he was, the man intended to listen to Tae Gwanghyun’s words. Because he believed Tae Shinwoo and Seo Eunho’s relationship was abnormal. Tae Shinwoo was someone he would continue to serve. He absolutely didn’t want to see such a person absorbed in a man and unable to exercise good judgment.
The man quickened his pace. It seemed like things would get busy until Seo Eunho disappeared.
