Free Web NovelThe hardened expression on Seo Jaehun’s face lost all trace of emotion.
“Do you think I brought you here as some kind of joke?”
“President Kim, what on earth are you saying...”
When I heard from Koizumi that Seo Jaehun was behind all of this, rage surged up inside me.
“I can’t even imagine what you promised those Yakuza bastards or how you incited them. What the hell were you thinking?”
As if his hardened face had been a lie, a small smile reappeared on Seo Jaehun’s lips.
He ignored my informal tone and spoke.
“You caught me.”
Crossing his legs with an even thicker smile, Seo Jaehun shamelessly continued.
“So what? Did anyone die?”
Even Manager Ma, who was guarding the door, furrowed his brow at his casual attitude.
“No one died, Representative Eva returned safely to Korea, and besides, Ilseong Trading fell into your hands. I honestly don’t see what the problem is.”
I already knew he couldn’t empathize with other people’s feelings.
But this was beyond anything I imagined. To call Seo Jaehun a madman wasn’t enough.
“Why? What do you want me to do about it?”
Seo Jaehun’s eyes as he glared at me were as cold as a snake’s.
“Shall I just die then? I don’t really care. What, if I strangle myself to death, will that cool President Kim’s anger?”
Seo Jaehun raised both hands and mimed strangling his own neck.
It was too natural, too genuine for me to believe he was just bluffing because he thought I wouldn’t kill him. It was downright unsettling.
“What the hell is your reason?”
Seo Jaehun’s expression clouded with doubt, as if my question made no sense to him.
“Reason? A reason... it’s nothing big. You annoyed me. You rudely stuck your spoon into the table I set, and then you went and took the table away altogether. That’s why I did it. Was that wrong?”
He spoke casually, still using formal speech, but that only stoked my anger even more.
“Did that upset President Kim’s mood? If so, I apologize. I’ve committed a grave sin.”
He bowed his head as he finished. But when he lifted it again, his words dripped with shamelessness, not the slightest bit of remorse.
“But it’s annoying. All this over trying to squash a mere bug. Isn’t President Kim the same kind of man as me?”
The fact that he felt kinship with me, lumping me into his own category, was so absurd I had to ask again.
“Me?”
“For the sake of your goals, you don’t care about people’s lives at all. I know many shed blood for you to get where you are now. So why this reaction? I don’t understand.”
He was someone with whom words simply didn’t work.
I found myself shaking my head at his selfishness, caring nothing for others’ feelings, thinking only of himself.
How could a man like this hide his true self and run a massive company like Ilseong?
Looking back, perhaps it was possible only because Ilseong was such a vast empire, too big for anyone to find fault.
But not anymore. Seo Jaehun’s actions only solidified my resolve to destroy Ilseong.
“Fine. You’re right. I’m no saint. But Eva is someone I care about. You laid hands on my person.”
After a pause for thought, Seo Jaehun muttered softly.
“Like a pet?”
“What?”
At first I thought I’d misheard. But what followed told me I hadn’t.
“But dogs can be discarded and bought anew at any time. President Kim, you’re more sentimental than I expected.”
I couldn’t even follow his line of thought. I didn’t want to exchange another word.
Just then, the phone on the table buzzed. Checking the caller, it was Chairman Seo Yonggeon.
“Chairman Seo Yonggeon.”
— President Kim, what the hell are you doing!
The roar of his voice came the moment I answered.
“I only return what I’ve been given.”
— What do you mean! Never mind, just send my son back at once. Do that, and I’ll let this go.
His threat only struck me as laughable.
“And if I don’t?”
I replied flatly, beckoning Manager Ma with my hand.
— Then prepare yourself. No matter what it takes, I’ll drag you to ruin.
“Chairman, I think you’re mistaken...”
Manager Ma walked over from the door. I gave a small nod, and he immediately understood—then slapped Seo Jaehun across the face.
I held the receiver close so Seo Yonggeon could hear the sound clearly.
A loud smack echoed through the room. Seo Jaehun merely rubbed his cheek, showing no real reaction.
— What was that? What was that sound!
“Your only son is in my hands. Do you think it wise to threaten me like that?”
— Don’t be foolish. You can’t kill him. If he’s harmed in the slightest, I won’t stand still.
“Do you really think so? That I can’t kill Vice Chairman Seo Jaehun?”
My voice turned icy. Over the receiver, I heard him swallow dryly.
“Well, I hadn’t planned to kill him. But seeing Vice Chairman Seo right here in front of me changes things. Chairman, did you know your son is a madman? The press would have a field day with this. You really didn’t know?”
— ...
Chairman Seo Yonggeon only gave a heavy silence.
“You said I needn’t explain my reasons, but I’ll gladly tell you why I brought him here. It was Vice Chairman Seo who orchestrated the attack on Eva in Japan.”
— What...
He started to protest, but I cut him off.
“Listen before you speak. I heard it straight from the Japanese government. By tomorrow, the story will hit the Japanese press. Don’t worry, they won’t mention Vice Chairman Seo.”
If his name appeared in Japanese papers, I’d lose my chance at personal revenge.
Anyone who touched my people, I would deal with myself.
“Didn’t I warn you? To act only within the bounds of the law? That if you resorted to violence or illegality, you’d face consequences? Do you remember?”
I had warned him at Grandfather’s funeral. Don’t even think [N O V E L I G H T] of using other methods.
“And yet here we are.”
— If that’s true, then I apologize. I truly didn’t know. It’s just...
“Not knowing doesn’t excuse you.”
His voice trembled now through the receiver.
— President Kim. Please, just this once, let it go. It’s not good for you either. If anything happens to Jaehun, it won’t be good for you.
He knew.
He knew what happened to Cheongpunghoe, who had been reported as “missing,” and to Cheon Sooman, who had harmed my people.
That’s why his tone was so different now from when he first called.
— Please, just this once. I’ll make sure it never happens again.
“Chairman, Vice Chairman Seo is an adult. He must take responsibility for his actions. Besides, this is far too big to brush off with such a promise. If you want your son alive, give something up. Think of it as his ransom.”
I looked at Seo Jaehun. He was stroking his slapped cheek with a strange smile.
— President Kim, nothing compares to my son’s life. Just send him back, and we’ll talk after.
But his smile drowned out Seo Yonggeon’s words.
The smug certainty that I would never harm him made my blood boil.
“...Manager. A finger first.”
“Yes, President.”
Without hesitation, Manager Ma moved.
— President Kim!
Seo Yonggeon’s shout went ignored.
“Aaaagh!”
Even if he had no emotion, he still felt pain. A desperate scream burst from Seo Jaehun.
His right index finger bent completely backward, left dangling.
— You... you really want to die!
“Chairman, do you still think I can’t kill him?”
— President Kim, you...
Suddenly, raucous laughter filled the study.
“Ha ha ha!”
It was Seo Jaehun. Eyes bulging like a lunatic, he laughed wildly.
“Just kill me then! What, can’t do it? Should I do it myself?”
He started choking himself for real. The veins in his hands bulged.
I was frozen, watching, speechless.
“Boss!”
The shout snapped me back.
“Stop him! Fast! He can’t die!”
No matter my money, my ties in politics and the prosecution, if he died here, there’d be no escape.
Manager Ma forced his hands off his neck.
“Khak! Khegh...!”
Seo Jaehun really was insane. No—worse than insane.
His face, red from lack of air, slowly regained color as he coughed and gasped harshly.
He lifted his head again, eyes gleaming as he laughed.
“What? Weren’t you going to kill me? You threatened Father. But you’re scared I might actually die, aren’t you?”
His mad laughter shook the study, chilling me.
Manager Ma’s face twisted as he gripped Seo Jaehun’s hands tightly.
— President Kim! Kim Muhyuk! What the hell is happening! freēwebnovel.com
“Chairman... Vice Chairman Seo just tried to strangle himself. Didn’t you know he’s a lunatic? If you let him loose, this will happen again...”
— What?! Jaehun! Is Jaehun alive?
“For now. Chairman, can you control him? This whole mess happened because you couldn’t.”
In my past life, Ilseong was plagued by countless rumors.
Most were dismissed as gossip, but they were so shocking I remembered them clearly.
In those rumors, Seo Jaehun was less than human. But reality was even worse.
Today, I learned it was possible for a man to strangle himself to death. I had underestimated him.
— ...Just send him back. I’ll give you anything.
So he knew. He knew his son wasn’t sane.
Yet Seo Jaehun was his only son. That was why he couldn’t cast him aside.
“Chairman, you don’t even know what I’ll ask for. To say that...”
— Anything, as long as it’s not Ilseong Group. Just send him back.
At that, a memory struck me.
The news of Seo Yonggeon collapsing from a heart attack, kept alive in intensive care for nearly ten years, neither dead nor alive.
What if it hadn’t been a heart attack? What if this lunatic had arranged it?
If Seo Yonggeon was kept barely alive until the foundation was ready for him to inherit?
Then I finally saw it in Seo Jaehun’s eyes.
The eyes of a beast that would kill even family without hesitation if they stood in his way.
“...Chairman. Can you really handle him?”
— I’ll take care of it. I truly didn’t know about Japan. I apologize. How can I make it up to you?
His sunken voice, and Seo Jaehun’s smiling face, set my mind turning.
I couldn’t kill him today. So what should I take instead? Nothing came readily to mind.
After some thought, I spoke.
“Give me Ilseong Electronics’ semiconductor technology.”
— ...
“Then I’ll send him back. As long as he doesn’t pull another stunt, I’ll leave you alone.”
— ...I’ll do it.
Even though my demand was outrageous, he agreed instantly.
Whether for the company or for his son, I didn’t know. But still—it was a parent’s heart.
“If you break this promise, it will be war. Not a financial war—a real war with bloodshed.”
I no longer felt like touching Seo Jaehun again.
Left unchecked, Seo Yonggeon would surely taste the same pain my grandfather had felt before his death.
Watching Seo Jaehun rub the hand-mark on his neck with a twisted grin, I sneered.
“Do you promise?”
— I promise. Send him back.
“His finger is dangling. Consider that cheap. Take him straight to the hospital, and it’ll be fine.”
— ...Fine.
“Send someone to Pyeongchang-dong.”
Without waiting for his reply, I hung up. Sliding the phone into my pocket, I sneered at Seo Jaehun.
“You’ve got yourself a good father.”
