But lacking even the courage to defy Yeon Haejeong, Munyeong trudged forward with the pale face of a man walking to his own funeral.
Yeon Haejeong followed behind him, listless, letting out a languid yawn.
The building they entered was the Media Digital Complex — an ambitious new construction that Baekil Group had recently completed.
Designed to let visitors experience Korean culture and art all in one place, it had incorporated elements meant to introduce Korea to foreign visitors, eventually becoming one of the country’s tourist attractions.
Thanks to that, it had even received a government award, boosting its fame further.
Perhaps because of the inauguration ceremony today, entry was only permitted through the private entrance.
The lobby was plastered wall to wall with lavish welcome banners bearing the name of Senior Managing Director Yeon Haejeong.
It seemed the entire building had been reserved for the day.
Having only recently opened, the interior was more polished than the main headquarters.
True to its reputation as a building constructed with cutting-edge technology, AI controlled the entry points, and every step felt like crossing into another world.
A waterfall that looked entirely real cascaded down from the ceiling, and at the center of the lobby, a 3D projection of Yeon Haejeong’s face floated in the air.
The moment he saw it, Yeon Haejeong bit back a curse.
“For fuck’s sake, this is embarrassing…”
He muttered under his breath, turned away as if he’d seen something he couldn’t bear to look at, and quickly moved on.
Munyeong, however, found himself staring at the 3D image — the flawless rendering of Yeon Haejeong’s face, without a single blemish, looked so real he couldn’t help but gawk.
“What the hell, are you coming or not?”
Yeon Haejeong shouted roughly at Munyeong, who had stopped and was hovering in place.
The shout rang through the entire building, and Munyeong startled badly before hurrying his steps again.
The corridor leading to the banquet hall was filled with elaborate flower arrangements.
The profusion of blooms brought a wedding venue to mind, and Munyeong found his gaze drawn to them without thinking.
The corridor was wrapped in a soft, delicate floral scent, and a quiet smile formed on his lips on its own.
The fragrance was lovely. They were so beautiful.
Things this extravagant and pretty were rare in his life.
“Are you crawling?”
He had gotten slow again from being distracted, and Haejeong snapped at him once more from up ahead.
Munyeong quickened his pace with short, rapid steps.
“What were you doing.”
He seemed to find Munyeong’s wide-eyed wandering strange, and asked with one eyebrow arched.
“Ah… the flowers are pretty.”
“You like that sort of thing?”
“…I’ve never thought about whether I like it or not.”
“……”
Idiot.
That was exactly what his gaze said.
Yeon Haejeong shot him a silent look of contempt — this person who couldn’t even say clearly whether he liked something or not.
Im Munyeong smiled sheepishly, embarrassed, and quietly followed after him as Haejeong walked briskly ahead.
**
In the banquet hall, Yeon Haejeong was, in every sense of the word, himself.
Not only did he arrive late, he coldly rebuffed every guest who noticed him and came over.
Whether bored into yawning long and deep, or knocking back glass after glass of champagne and whiskey — the only one visibly rattled by the sight was Rep. Chu, watching from a distance and trembling.
Munyeong quietly kept to his shadow.
His head was spinning.
This was his first time in a place so crowded, and his first time at an event so formal.
The thought that every single person here was a notable figure in Korea made him dizzy.
“Stop drinking.”
Yeon Haejeong’s older brother, Yeon Juhyeok, who had been keeping a watchful eye on him, reached out and stopped his arm as he went to grab yet another glass of champagne.
“Hey. Why.”
Haejeong’s brow creased in displeasure at being held back.
“Everyone’s watching, so behave yourself. Did you come here to get drunk?”
Yeon Juhyeok turned his head as far away as he could and lowered his voice, wary of being overheard.
At the sight of his brother anxiously trying to manage appearances, Yeon Haejeong let out a short, scoffing laugh.
“You’re such a nag.”
He had already been drinking whiskey since back at the hotel.
Even after arriving at the banquet hall, he’d already had more than five glasses of champagne and wine combined.
It was more than enough to get a buzz going.
“What?”
“I showed up, didn’t I. Isn’t that enough?”
“You haven’t even given your inauguration speech yet.”
“For fuck’s sake. Why is there so much to do.”
Not bothering to hide his irritation, Yeon Haejeong snatched the envelope Yeon Juhyeok held out — the one containing the inauguration speech.
Yeon Juhyeok pinched the bridge of his nose, head aching at the sight of his younger brother acting out without a single care for the people around them.
At that moment, his eyes landed squarely on Munyeong, who was standing blankly behind them.
Munyeong startled and bent at the waist in a bow.
“…Who is this?”
Yeon Juhyeok asked, looking puzzled and mildly put off.
“An employee.”
Yeon Haejeong answered for him, still skimming over the inauguration speech.
“An employee?”
“Yeah.”
“What kind of employee comes to something like this.”
“Someone I put to use. That’s what.”
“Secretary Kang was supposed to be handling your support today — what are you talking about.”
“Can’t I even bring whoever I want with me?”
“No, I — seriously. Did you even do a proper interview before hiring them?”
“They’re a Baekil Group employee.”
Baekil Group was well known for being exceptionally selective when it came to choosing those in their inner circle.
The late chairman had been an infamous womanizer who had kept two mistresses.
Because of that, he had sired several children outside the direct line, and both Yeon Haejeong and Yeon Juhyeok had suffered greatly as a result of the succession struggles.
Yeon Juhyeok had once been poisoned as a child, and Yeon Haejeong had nearly been in a serious accident arranged by a relative.
After those incidents, the direct line of Baekil Group became especially vigilant about their personal safety and took great care with the people they kept around them.
It wasn’t only a matter of reviewing credentials — there was even a separate process to verify identities and check whether someone might be concealing their true background.
So to Yeon Juhyeok, employing a staff member he had never seen or heard of was simply out of the question.
On top of that, there was an internal rule that the direct-line members were to keep only people who had been with Baekil for at least five years close to them.
“Which department. Did the head of the secretariat place them?”
“No.”
“So then —”
“Oh my, if it isn’t our Vice Chairman — it’s been ages. Haven’t you gotten even more distinguished-looking.”
An elderly gentleman approached, opening the floor for conversation with effortless ease.
Yeon Juhyeok, who had been in the middle of pressing his brother, smiled graciously and gave a brief bow of his head.
“I trust you’ve been well, sir.”
“Of course, of course. Kept well, thanks to you. All the same — you must feel reassured now. What with your younger brother joining to support you from behind.”
“He still has much to learn. I hope you’ll look after him well, sir.”
The distinguished middle-aged man referred to as “sir” was Chairman Shin — a man who had once made a name for himself as the wealthiest cash holder in all of Korea.
In the old days it would have been called a loan shark business, but now it was a proper enterprise — and he was one of the largest shareholders of Baekil Group, which controlled the biggest financial business in the country.
Excluding direct family, he held the greatest share of stock.
“I think the last time I saw you, you were still a child. You’ve really grown up well.”
Chairman Shin smiled warmly at Yeon Haejeong, standing alongside Yeon Juhyeok.
“Isn’t your granddaughter around the same age?”
“Are you referring to the granddaughter who was studying abroad?”
“She’ll be coming back soon. She’s had her fun abroad — now it’s time to get married and settle down.”
Chairman Shin clasped his hands behind his back and nodded.
The 50-don gold necklace around his neck caught Munyeong’s eye — ostentatious enough to look heavy just to look at.
“Our Senior Managing Director Yeon is awfully quiet.”
Rather than staying silent out of decorum, Yeon Haejeong had simply been standing there with no interest whatsoever — he sipped his champagne and smiled at a slight angle.
“He was quite nervous today, you see—”
“Is your granddaughter pretty?”
Just as Yeon Juhyeok tried to step in on Haejeong’s behalf, Haejeong blurted it out point-blank.
A faint crack appeared in Chairman Shin’s wrinkled face.
“Ha ha… well, she’s my girl, of course she’s a beauty. Shall I introduce her to you?”
