When Mun-jong and the others averted their eyes and gave no answer at all to Seong-ho's request to participate in the rights offering, silence hung over the living room for a while.

Then Gyeong-eun, feeling frustrated at the sight, broke the silence.

"What is this? Have you all gone mute?"

Ordinarily Gyeong-eun would have quietly waited for Seong-ho to speak, but today of all days she couldn't hold back.

"Why the silence? Eldest brother. When you need to ask a favor it's fine, but when someone asks you to grant one, you don't like it?"

"Me...?"

"Then who else here is the eldest brother but you?"

Mun-jong briefly watched for Tak-hyeon's reaction.

Tak-hyeon showed no reaction at all, only wearing a gaze that seemed to find the situation amusing.

"That's... haah..."

"What? You don't want to take part in the rights offering?"

When Gyeong-eun persistently threw out the question, Mun-jong finally opened his mouth with difficulty.

"As you know, I don't have a company I manage, do I? I'm merely the general Vice-Chairman. So ask the second son first. Ask what the second son is thinking."

Gyeong-eun's gaze shifted to Sang-jong.

Sang-jong glared once at Mun-jong for dragging him in, then opened his mouth.

"Ilhyeon Construction is... currently in the thick of the Seocho Town development, so we're short on spare funds. If anything, I'd been thinking of borrowing money from Ilhyeon Securities... and hearing its condition is poor, it only leaves me in a bind."

When Sang-jong shook his head, saying it couldn't be done, Jeong-eun gave her reasons for refusing before she was even asked.

"It's the same for us. Right now is an investment period, so we don't have the capacity to participate in a hundreds-of-billions rights offering that Ilhyeon Securities is carrying out."

Gyeong-eun turned her gaze to Chang-jong with a face that said she hadn't expected anything.

Chang-jong raised his hand and said,

"I'm not a president, so there's no use telling me. Talk to the person above me."

At Chang-jong's brief remark, Gyeong-eun let out a sigh.

"Are you all going to be like…