Over dessert after the meal, Mun-jong turned to Tak-hyeon with a beaming face.

“You wouldn’t believe it — our Seon-myeong got into that famous Boston University, if you can imagine that!”

At Mun-jong’s words, it was Suk-ja, not Tak-hyeon, who reacted first.

“Really? Our eldest grandson got into Boston University?”

Hyeon-ju Bang, Mun-jong’s wife and the eldest daughter-in-law, smiled and answered Suk-ja. “Mother, it’s one of the most famous universities in all of America, ranked right up there among the best.”

“Is that so? Who does he take after, being that clever? He must have suffered so much, all alone in a foreign country.”

Tears welled up in Suk-ja’s eyes.

Watching her, Jeong-eun snorted at Hyeon-ju and let out a scornful laugh.

“Let’s be honest, Sister-in-law. You think Seon-myeong did that himself? A consultant put together his whole application and sent along assistants to handle everything — did he even sit the exams himself, I wonder? Someone I know had a proxy sit the test for their kid, and Seon-myeong probably…”

“What are you saying, Jeong-eun?”

“Jeong-eun! That’s going too far.”

Hyeon-ju and Mun-jong, who’d been smiling a moment ago, shot sharp looks at her. But undeterred, Jeong-eun kept saying exactly what was on her mind.

“Let’s just be honest with each other, since it’s only family here. Is there anyone at this table who got into their university on their own merit? Ah — well, there’s the one sitting right there who probably did get in on his own.” Jeong-eun pointed a finger at Seong-ho and looked around at everyone else. “But the rest of us didn’t. Am I wrong?”

At Jeong-eun’s words, no one at the table said a thing. Because it was true — every one of them had gotten into university through irregular means.

Seeing no one able to respond, Jeong-eun sneered again and went on. “None of us can speak up with confidence, so there’s no way Seon-myeong got in through proper channels either. Mom, don’t worry. That boy’s probably living it up in America — chasing girls, drinking at parties… let’s just hope he’s not doing drugs.”

“Jeong-eun!”

“Sister-in-law, congratulations are all well and good, but keep a close eye on Seon-myeong. Don’t let him end up in the crime section of the papers down the road.”

“You — what did you just say!”

At Jeong-eun’s sarcastic remark, Mun-jong shot to his feet and shouted at her. But Jeong-eun didn’t back down, and the commotion continued for some time.

Watching this quietly, Seong-ho was mildly startled by Jeong-eun’s words — because in that former life, he’d seen for himself that what she said wasn’t wrong.

It’s a little unnerving how she sometimes talks as though she knows. Well, my sister-in-law’s never once been wrong. But this time, I won’t be around to cover for Seon-myeong.

In that former life, Seong-ho had personally handled and cleaned up after every incident Seon-myeong caused. So he knew better than anyone what kind of person Seon-myeong was and what kind of trouble he’d get into. And the same was true, in that former life, for the children of Sang-jong, Jeong-eun, and Chang-jong alike — all of them now sitting quietly in one corner of the kitchen, listening in on the adults’ conversation.

Amid the escalating argument between Mun-jong and Jeong-eun, Seong-ho watched Tak-hyeon, who simply sat there picking at fruit in silence.

Father-in-law has proven quite thoroughly that raising a company and raising children are not the same thing at all.

Seong-ho couldn’t help feeling a touch of pity for Tak-hyeon, who’d reaped such a poor harvest not only with his own children but with his grandchildren as well.

As if sensing Seong-ho’s gaze, Tak-hyeon, mid-bite, looked up and met his eyes. After holding his gaze a moment, Tak-hyeon set down his fork and spoke.

“Are you all done with your after-dinner exercise now?”

At Tak-hyeon’s words, Mun-jong and Jeong-eun’s mouths snapped shut at once.

Snorting at his children — always the same, no matter how many times — Tak-hyeon turned to Suk-ja and said, “From now on, give those two a double serving of rice. Seems like one bowl isn’t enough to fuel all this shouting, so they must be running low on energy fast.”

At Tak-hyeon’s words, Mun-jong bowed his head and sat back down, while Jeong-eun turned her face away to hide her embarrassment.

With the room finally quiet, Tak-hyeon looked around at his seated children and slowly began.

“The reason I put a stop to your entertaining little show is that I have something to tell all of you today.”

“Did something happen?”

Sang-jong — who normally would have joined in tearing at one side or the other of the Mun-jong-Jeong-eun fight — had been sitting quietly, and now responded to Tak-hyeon’s words. He glanced at Seong-ho and gave him a knowing smile.

At Sang-jong’s question, Tak-hyeon slowly raised a hand, pointed at Seong-ho, and began. “I’m putting Kim here into the new slate of presidents.”

“President?”

“You mean you’re appointing Head Kim as president?”

“Not even managing director, but straight to president?”

Hearing Tak-hyeon’s words, Mun-jong, Chang-jong, and Jeong-eun all wore startled expressions. Unlike the three of them, Sang-jong and Gyeong-eun took the news calmly.

Gyeong-eun looked at Sang-jong with wonder. She herself could take it calmly because she’d already known through Seong-ho beforehand, but she couldn’t understand why Sang-jong seemed equally unbothered.

And Sang-jong’s incomprehensible behavior continued.

“Well, that’s good news.”

Sang-jong chimed in agreement with Tak-hyeon’s words. “It always seemed strange that the head of a headquarters-level unit only held managing-director treatment. But if you’re raising him to president, I suppose you mean to take it out from under the secretariat and put it directly under you, Father?”

“That’s right. I mean to place the Restructuring Headquarters directly under the chairman’s authority.”

“That’s good news too. Restructuring needs to keep going forward, and having it sit under the secretariat always looked a bit off.”

Sang-jong showed his agreement with Tak-hyeon once again, then turned to Seong-ho. “Congratulations. You’ve finally made it into Ilhyeon Group’s presidential ranks.”

“Thank you, Brother. All thanks to you.”

“What?”

Jeong-eun looked between Sang-jong and Seong-ho with a dumbfounded expression.

“Are you two putting on some kind of skit together?”

She looked at the two of them with contempt, then turned to Tak-hyeon. “Father, what is this? President? Even Cha here isn’t president, and neither am I. So why is Kim — who’s barely been at the company any time at all — being made president?”

Jeong-eun spoke even louder than she had during her fight with Mun-jong, jabbing a finger at Seong-ho.

“It’s absurd enough that he jumped straight from some assistant-manager nobody to an executive in one leap, and now president? What has he even done to deserve president?”

“You think Head Kim hasn’t done anything?”

Tak-hyeon narrowed his eyes at Jeong-eun. Under his gaze, Jeong-eun’s voice shrank, unable to keep raising it.

“No, well — he’s done things, plenty of things, but still…”

“If you think Head Kim hasn’t done anything, then Ilhyeon has no need for someone like you — don’t even think about coming back to the company.”

“Father.”

Jeong-eun looked at Tak-hyeon with an aggrieved expression. But ignoring her look, Tak-hyeon turned to the others.

“Anyone else object?”

“As I said a moment ago, I’m firmly in favor.”

Sang-jong spoke up in Seong-ho’s support. “What the Restructuring Headquarters has accomplished is beyond words, and those results are only going to grow larger from here. So I think Head Kim rising to president is an entirely fitting decision.”

Mun-jong looked at Sang-jong strangely for a moment. Then he quickly followed Sang-jong’s lead, voicing his own approval to Tak-hyeon.

“As you well know, Father, I was the one who first argued that Seong-ho should be made president, back when the Restructuring Headquarters was first set up. There’s no reason for me to oppose that view now.”

Having made sure to point out that he’d said it first, Mun-jong turned to Seong-ho. “Going forward, you need to assist the chairman well and lead our group properly. I’ll help you a great deal too.”

“Yes. I’ll do my utmost to live up to your expectations.”

With Mun-jong now on board as well, Chang-jong’s eyes darted about quickly. The two who were always at each other’s throats suddenly agreeing on something concerning Seong-ho of all things made him scramble to figure out what was going on. Chang-jong said nothing until his thoughts settled, and Jeong-eun stepped in again in his place.

“Father, are you really doing this?”

“Doing what, exactly?”

“What about Cha? Why is he still only vice-president? What am I supposed to say when I go to my in-laws!”

Failing to get anywhere on her own, Jeong-eun dragged her husband, Ilhyeon Electronics Vice-President Yeong-su Cha, into it.

“You’ve seen Ilhyeon Electronics’ numbers, haven’t you? People say the restructuring produced great results, but Cha’s done just as well. In fact, considering Ilhyeon Electronics posted its best results ever, Cha’s achievement might be even greater.”

Having built Yeong-su Cha up, Jeong-eun turned to arguing that Seong-ho’s appointment as president was unfair.

“And yet he still hasn’t made president — so how can you put Kim above him? At the very least — what about the fourth child? What does he get?”

Having drawn in her husband Yeong-su Cha, Jeong-eun now pulled in Chang-jong, still quietly darting his eyes about.

She shot Chang-jong a look urging him to speak up too and said, “Chang-jong. Say something too. Do you really think it’s right for Kim to become president?”

“Well, I…”

Chang-jong looked between Mun-jong, Sang-jong, and Seong-ho in turn, then smiled at Tak-hyeon.

“I’ll follow Father’s wishes.”

“What?”

Pleased with Chang-jong’s decision, Tak-hyeon nodded firmly. “Right. That’s how it should be.”

Seeing Tak-hyeon’s reaction, Chang-jong realized his choice hadn’t been wrong. Tak-hyeon, wearing a satisfied expression, looked at Chang-jong, then turned back to Jeong-eun.

“So. You’re the one who objects, then?”

“No, I… I mean, I…”

With every one of her siblings except herself now in favor of Seong-ho’s appointment, Jeong-eun broke into a sweat and looked around the room. But no one came to her aid. Even her own husband, Yeong-su Cha, looked away from her, indirectly making clear he wouldn’t back her up.

In the car heading back to Apgujeong, Gyeong-eun asked Seong-ho with a look of wonder.

“How did that happen?”

“How did what happen?”

“Second brother. How did he end up going that far to support you?”

“I asked him to.”

“You asked him to?”

Gyeong-eun, recalling that Sang-jong wasn’t the type to simply grant a favor because someone asked, said to Seong-ho, “He’s not exactly the kind of person who does what he’s asked without a fight.”

“That’s true.”

Hands on the wheel, Seong-ho laughed lightly and nodded, then said to her, “So I told him what he wanted most.”

“What he wanted most?”

Gyeong-eun cocked her head and asked, “What is it that he wants most?”

“To get back into the company.”

At Seong-ho’s words, Gyeong-eun clapped her hands, agreeing at once. Because she already knew that the whole reason Sang-jong had moved into Pyeongchang-dong in the first place was to find his way back to the company.

Seong-ho had gone to Pyeongchang-dong an hour early precisely to tell Sang-jong what he wanted most to hear. It had worked out well that Gyeong-eun had wanted to bring the japchae she’d made to Pyeongchang-dong early, which meant they’d left the house earlier than usual anyway. Using that as his excuse, Seong-ho had arrived at Pyeongchang-dong a full hour ahead of schedule, and while Gyeong-eun was busy talking with Suk-ja and Min-yeong, he’d told Sang-jong how he could find his way back to the company.

“So what exactly is this way back to the company?”

“Bringing Ilhyeon Group’s scattered control towers together into one place. That’s what I told him.”

“Bringing the control towers together into one place?”

Gyeong-eun looked as though she didn’t quite follow. “But we already have group headquarters, don’t we?”

“The key is forming a single town where all the affiliate headquarters — not just the group headquarters — come together in one place.”

“Gathering all the affiliate headquarters in one place?”

Gyeong-eun looked thoroughly surprised at his words. She’d never once considered the idea of gathering the affiliate headquarters into a single town. Still wearing a startled expression, she looked at Seong-ho and asked, “Gathering all the affiliate headquarters together would be nice, sure, but where would you even put it? Just Ilhyeon Electronics alone would need a massive building, and construction, chemicals, life sciences — each of those needs room for thousands of employees. Where would you even build all that?”

“Doesn’t a good piece of land happen to have fallen into our hands recently?”

“A good piece of land?”

“Yes. The Seocho land Homyeong Construction holds. We can develop that land, centered around Gangnam Station.”

“Homyeong Construction’s Seocho land…”

Hearing this, Gyeong-eun pictured the roughly 50,000-pyeong stretch of vacant land around Gangnam Station, currently sitting empty.

(End of Chapter 102)