Free Web NovelWatching Seo Jinju walk toward Han Hyunsoo, I gave an order in a voice low enough that only Manager Ma could hear.
“Manager, if it looks like she’s really going to stab him, stop her.”
“Yes, Boss.”
Manager Ma followed behind Seo Jinju.
Her gaze was fixed solely on Han Hyunsoo. She didn’t seem to notice Manager Ma’s presence at all.
“Make sure Han Hyunsoo can’t resist.”
I raised my voice toward the yakuza pinning him down.
At my words, they tightened their grip from behind so he wouldn’t be able to struggle.
Even though the distance was short, it felt like it took a long time for Seo Jinju to reach him.
Finally, she stood in front of Han Hyunsoo.
He looked at me and screamed at the top of his lungs.
“President Kim Muhyuk! Please spare me! Please! I’m still useful!”
He begged in a groveling voice, but I ignored him and focused on Seo Jinju.
“Why are you doing this to me?! You told me to go back to Korea, and now you’re trying to kill me?! Are you playing with me?!”
Han Hyunsoo kept shouting hysterically.
Seo Jinju stood before him, but she couldn’t bring herself to stab him immediately.
Her body was visibly trembling.
Once fear brands itself into your body, it doesn’t disappear so easily.
Even if the person you hate can’t fight back... even if all you have to do is drive the knife in... she was still paralyzed by fear.
She was afraid of Han Hyunsoo. That was why she couldn’t move.
“Seo Jinju! It’s me. Me. Han Hyunsoo!”
When his pleas to me failed, he turned to the woman standing in front of him.
“What do you want?! You think killing me is revenge? I’ll kill everyone connected to your parents’ deaths. I’ll do it for you. So spare me, huh? I was wrong. I was wrong about everything. Please, let me live.”
Listening to that, it didn’t seem like he had directly killed her parents.
Of course, he was the one who had hired Seo Jinju as his secretary after she had given up everything because of their deaths—and then turned her into a plaything.
“No. You killed them all!”
“I didn’t! That happened long before I took control of Heaven’s Church! It was Father. No— the President. You know that too, don’t you?!”
“N-No...”
She shook her head violently, uncertain. Then she lowered it.
Anyone could see she was wavering.
“So let’s take revenge together. I’ll help you.”
As she hesitated, Han Hyunsoo seized the momentum and continued.
“We loved each other, didn’t we? Was it only me? No, right? You loved me too. You said you did.”
“......”
“Huh? I’ll let you stand beside me—not as a secretary, but as my woman. The lady of Heaven’s Church. Doesn’t that sound good?”
“Shut up. Shut up!”
Seo Jinju suddenly lifted her head and shouted in an icy voice.
“Just die!”
Gripping the knife in both hands, she charged at him.
I couldn’t see her face from behind, but Han Hyunsoo was likely staring into the eyes of a woman who had lost her mind.
“Uaaah!”
He thrashed wildly, but the yakuza had him bound.
They say when death is right in front of you, you gain unnatural strength.
He struggled so violently that one man wasn’t enough—three yakuza clung to him, forcing him down.
Just as Seo Jinju was about to stab his abdomen, Manager Ma, standing behind her, grabbed her wrist.
“Ugh! Ugh!”
The timing was perfect. The knife tip pierced slightly into Han Hyunsoo’s belly.
“Let go! Let go of me!”
Even though it was only a shallow wound, he writhed in pain.
Seeing that, Seo Jinju tried to push harder, but Manager Ma restrained her, preventing the blade from going any deeper.
Still holding her back, Manager Ma glanced at me.
I gave a small nod.
He pried the knife from her hands.
The moment it was taken away, she collapsed to the floor and began to sob uncontrollably.
When it was over, I walked back toward them.
I had orchestrated this entire farce, yet looking at the two of them stirred no emotion in me.
With indifferent eyes, I alternated my gaze between Han Hyunsoo and Seo Jinju, then gave instructions to the yakuza.
“Take Han Hyunsoo to a nearby hotel. Let him stay the night.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Please take good care of him. He’ll be busy starting tomorrow. And treat the stab wound on his abdomen. It’s not deep, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“It hurts! It hurts!”
“It should. If it had gone just a little deeper, it would’ve hurt far more. So don’t make a mistake next time. If you do, something far worse than that pain will be waiting for you.”
After delivering that warning to Han Hyunsoo, who glared at me, I turned back to the yakuza.
“Take him.”
“W-Wait. Let me see that bitch’s face one more time—”
Even now, he couldn’t grasp the situation.
I shook my head.
As he was dragged away, he spat curses at Seo Jinju until the very end.
When he was gone, I spoke coldly to Seo Jinju, who was still on her knees sobbing.
“Do you think Han Hyunsoo is any different?”
Her swollen eyes glared up at me.
“He’s nothing special. He’s human too. He feels pain. He’s afraid of dying. There’s no reason for you to fear him.”
She said nothing, just kept staring at me.
“Today, you resolved to kill him. That alone will change your life. Why die? If you die with him, what meaning does that have?”
“......You should have let me kill him. Why did you stop me?”
She spoke as if blaming me.
I gave a faint smirk and held out a handkerchief.
“It’s not the right time to kill him. He’s still useful to me.”
“Is it fun, playing with me?”
She threw the handkerchief to the floor.
I shrugged.
“I wasn’t playing with you. I was trying to remove the fear of Han Hyunsoo that’s deeply embedded inside you. Remember clearly what you saw today—the way he begged for his life.”
She lowered her head silently, fists clenched.
“Revenge is something you carry out with your own hands. And to do that, you need to live first.”
“What exactly do you expect me to do...?”
“That’s for you to figure out. I have no obligation to go that far. I only wanted to say this.”
It was a kind of meddling on my part, after I had shattered her original plan.
Who knew? Perhaps awakened by my words, she might cause something interesting again someday.
“When everything is over, we’ll release you. But don’t come to Korea. If you do, there’s no telling what Han Hyunsoo might do to you.”
Would Seo Jinju give up on revenge?
No. Absolutely not.
If anything, today’s incident had chipped away at her fear of him. From now on, she would live with the dream of killing him with her own hands.
The fire burning in her lifted eyes told me as much.
“Grow stronger. By any means necessary, build enough power to stand against Han Hyunsoo. Only then can you push him off a cliff with your own hands—not by relying on someone else, but by your own strength. Until then, don’t even think about returning to Korea. I only wanted to say this.”
She didn’t answer.
It wasn’t something I expected an answer to.
I turned away without hesitation.
“Mr. Yamamoto will inform you when she’s to be released. Until then, make sure she’s not uncomfortable.”
“Understood.”
Seo Jinju said nothing as I left the warehouse.
* * *
After leaving the warehouse at Kobe Port, I headed straight to Tokyo.
I arrived at the hotel where Myungsoo and the delegation from Seoul were staying.
I had long-term access to a suite there as well, so I told him to wait for me inside.
When I entered, Myungsoo was standing by the window, swirling a glass of wine as he looked out at the night view.
“What are you doing? Trying to set a mood? Doesn’t suit you.”
The words came out more curtly than I intended.
“You’re here? What do you mean what am I doing? I’m drinking wine. Want a glass?”
“Since when do you drink wine?”
I grumbled and sat across from him.
Just looking at his face, I could tell he was trying to wash away his worries with alcohol.
“I’ve got a busy day tomorrow. Just one glass.”
“Then just drink it. What’s with the mood lighting?”
“What? Haven’t seen you in a while and you’re already picking a fight. What’s wrong with you, Kim Muhyuk?”
He snapped back, but I ignored him and poured myself a glass.
“You’re not old enough for a midlife crisis yet... What is it? Things not going well?”
“That’s the problem. There’s nothing going wrong. I’ve never seen the Japanese cooperate like this during negotiations. Even the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Industry were surprised. They keep saying, ‘They’re not the type to be this accommodating. Are they planning something?’”
So the warning to Koizumi had worked. Things were moving smoothly.
“It’s already settled behind the scenes. There’s no need for power games anymore. There’s no hidden agenda. Just proceed as planned. The government has nothing to lose.”
“That’s true. Still... with the Chief Cabinet Secretary dead, everyone’s on edge. They’re cooperating, but the atmosphere feels... off.”
He shared what he’d sensed during the talks.
I listened, slowly rotating my wine glass.
“This is just the beginning. Hiroyuki’s death is only the start. Heaven’s Church is connected to the Chief Cabinet Secretary’s death.”
“What? Heaven’s Church?”
Myungsoo’s eyes widened.
“What does Heaven’s Church have to do with this?”
“It’ll be over soon anyway, but Korea will get noisy. The Japanese branch tried to break away from the Korean headquarters and go independent. That went wrong. That’s how this escalated.”
“Heaven’s Church... that’s the religion founded by Han Sungjin, right? The one in prison? Now that you mention it, I saw the news saying Han Hyunsoo, the second leader, went missing in Japan. Is that connected?”
I nodded.
“Yes. He’s alive. He nearly died, but I kept him alive. He’ll sneak back into Korea tomorrow.”
“What? He’s alive?”
“Hiroyuki tried to have him killed through the yakuza. The yakuza took the money but kept him alive. Han Hyunsoo plans to clean up Heaven’s Church internally. Korea will get very loud.”
“Religion is messy...”
Myungsoo muttered uneasily.
“Do you know how many cult types come to see me? There are so many I’ve never even heard of.”
“It’s because there’s money in it. Everything comes down to money. They exploit people’s faith to make it. They drag lives into hell—and no one takes responsibility.”
Korea had seen its share of cult scandals.
There were even times when cult members stormed and occupied broadcasting stations for reporting on them.
When someone ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) is consumed by religion, there’s no cure.
For them, religion is everything. They don’t believe in God—they believe in their leader.
“I’m telling you this so you’re aware. Don’t get involved. Religion is best left untouched. Ignore it.”
He nodded.
“I’ll prepare, at least.”
“Prepare only enough to keep yourself out of the blast radius. That’s it. There’ll be noise. People will die.”
“What? People will die?”
“Do you know how much wealth Heaven’s Church holds? Trillions. The founder Han Sungjin is in prison. The current leader Han Hyunsoo disappeared. It’s already split into two factions fighting for control. Now imagine Han Hyunsoo suddenly reappears. Do you think they’ll step aside peacefully? No. It’ll be a bloodbath. And in the end, only one will survive.”
Myungsoo’s face turned grave. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
“This isn’t something that can just be ignored.”
“I’ll tighten media control... but some will catch the scent. Ignore it. Don’t try to fix it. I’m telling you in advance so you’re mentally prepared.”
I emphasized it again.
“You stay out of dirty arenas like this. Understood? Anything that threatens your future—I’ll handle it.”
“Damn, you’re cold, Kim Muhyuk.”
He raised his glass.
I clinked mine lightly against it.
“I’ll finish this and go to bed. Breakfast with LDP lawmakers tomorrow.”
“Yeah. Handle it well and get back safe. I’ll stay a bit longer.”
We hadn’t seen each other in a while, but our time together was brief.
Both of us were too busy.
After he left the suite, I remained alone, lost in thought deep into the night.
While Myungsoo continued negotiating over Seven-Gwanggu in Japan—
Heaven’s Church in Korea was thrown into complete chaos.
The reappearance of Han Hyunsoo, who had been believed dead, plunged everyone into confusion.
From Kim Sunja, who had ordered his assassination...
to his siblings...
to the faithful believers of Heaven’s Church—
Everyone.
