The door of the vice-chairman’s office burst open, and Sang-jong Lee came running toward Mun-jong Lee.
“Brother! Brother!”
Mun-jong Lee, who’d been seated attending to work, watched Sang-jong Lee come charging in, pen still in hand, as if dumbfounded.
“Can you not come after saying you’re coming? Or at least think to knock before entering, or tell Secretary Kim? This isn’t a house — how can you go flinging doors open like that! What if I’d been in the middle of talking with an important guest?”
“That’s not what’s important.”
Watching Sang-jong Lee let his words go in one ear and out the other, Mun-jong Lee pressed his temple and shook his head.
“What do you intend to do now?”
“Do about what, all of a sudden?”
“Daeguk Fertilizer!”
“Daeguk Fertilizer?”
“Yes. The Daeguk Fertilizer we just won at 200 billion won and 1,000 won — exactly as Kim planned. What do you intend to do about it?”
Letting out a sigh, Mun-jong Lee set the pen he was holding down on the desk and rose from his seat.
Then, gesturing to Sang-jong Lee, he walked over to the reception sofa.
“Sit and talk. Do what about it? Is it that Ilhyeon Construction wants Daeguk Fertilizer too?”
“No, Brother!”
Sang-jong Lee shook his head as if exasperated and sat down.
“What good would it do Ilhyeon Construction to have Daeguk Fertilizer? Above all, you know Ilhyeon Construction doesn’t have that kind of capacity, don’t you?”
“I know Ilhyeon Construction has no capacity, having blown 80 billion won on the Jisan Cement business. But why are you bringing up Daeguk Fertilizer?”
“Brother, why bring up the past… Anyway, do you think I came to you because I want it for myself? I came because things turned out exactly as Kim said.”
Mun-jong Lee just quietly nodded at his words.
“In the end, since we won Daeguk Fertilizer, there’s nothing better than that. It’s a company Grandfather spoke of even as he passed, one Father desperately wanted, so it is a job well done. But… we bought it 1,000 won higher. Not 100 million or a billion — a mere 1,000 won.”
Sang-jong Lee leaned back against the sofa and continued.
“It’s a price anyone would find satisfying, I’ll grant you. It flattened those Homyeong Group fellows’ noses good and proper. But what do we do if Father thinks that way too?”
“Are you doing this because you’re afraid Kim will become a threat? Or is it because of the Jisan Cement business before?”
“Brother. It’s not as though I’m talking nonsense, is it.”
Sang-jong Lee looked at Mun-jong Lee with a gaze that asked whether he was the only one thinking this way.
Mun-jong Lee smiled lightly at his gaze and said,
“Even so, the fellow is of no use whatsoever. Why fret over someone like that?”
“Take a look at me — bitten by that no-use fellow.”
So saying, Sang-jong Lee thrust his arm straight out in front of him.
And, pointing at the outstretched arm, he said,
“Because of that fellow, it feels like one of my arms has been torn clean off.”
Sang-jong Lee lowered his arm and went on.
“The money I blew is 80 billion won. Eighty billion. I can’t say it’s all because of that fellow, but that he was involved — I know it, you know it, and Father surely knows it. And now that fellow has gone and won Daeguk Fertilizer too. How exactly do you think Father is going to regard him?”
“His view of the fellow will certainly change, that’s for sure.”
“That’s exactly my point.”
Thinking Mun-jong Lee had finally understood him, Sang-jong Lee straightened his posture and said,
“So before he grows any bigger, let’s clean it up right around here.”
“Clean it up?”
Mun-jong Lee narrowed his eyes and looked at Sang-jong Lee.
“This ‘cleaning up’ you speak of — what exactly does it mean?”
The voice in which Mun-jong Lee said this carried, unlike until now, a chill.
But as if Sang-jong Lee didn’t sense anything off, he went on as though it were nothing.
“I thought if we made him run into Father often at Pyeongchang-dong, Father would cut him loose — but that’s not how it’s gone, has it? Far from being cast out, he keeps doing nothing but things that suit Father perfectly, so I’m saying let’s remove him from Father’s sight.”
“Ah~ that kind of cleaning up.”
Mun-jong Lee, back to his usual self at some point, leaned back against the sofa like Sang-jong Lee.
“Right. As you say, it’d be best to remove him from Father’s sight.”
“Brother. Isn’t there some good way to remove him from Pyeongchang-dong?”
Sang-jong Lee had only thought about removing Seong-ho Kim from Pyeongchang-dong; he hadn’t thought as far as the method.
Mun-jong Lee smiled lightly and looked at Sang-jong Lee.
“A perfectly suitable method just so happens to have come to mind. So don’t worry. I’ll handle it myself.”
At Mun-jong Lee’s words, Sang-jong Lee finally let out a sigh of relief.
Because he felt he might be able to dissolve the grudge against Seong-ho Kim that had lingered from the Jisan Cement business.
The two men in the vice-chairman’s office spent a satisfying time — for a reason other than the fact that they’d won Daeguk Fertilizer.
Gyeong-eun Lee came out all the way to the door to welcome Seong-ho Kim home from work.
“Welcome back. You worked hard.”
“Hardly. But what did you come out to the door and wait for? Aren’t you cold?”
“Cold? As if. After hearing your news, how could I just sit and wait at home? I came out to wait because I wanted to see you even a little sooner. I heard you won Daeguk Fertilizer today? And in quite the satisfying fashion, at that.”
“What did I tell you? I said I could do it, didn’t I?”
At his words, Gyeong-eun Lee broke into a wide smile and asked, with the face of a child anticipating a present,
“What was Byeong-mu Choi’s expression like? Did he look like he’d bitten into something foul?”
Gyeong-eun Lee asked as if curious about Byeong-mu Choi’s face, and Seong-ho Kim recounted it to her in detail, as if he’d captured the scene and brought it home.
At his account, Gyeong-eun Lee wore a delighted expression, as if the scene at the time were playing out before her very eyes.
When they arrived at the front of the house like that, Gyeong-eun Lee tugged at Seong-ho Kim’s arm for a moment.
When Seong-ho Kim stopped and looked at her with a what-is-it gaze, Gyeong-eun Lee said in a small voice,
“My brothers are here at the house.”
“Your brothers?”
“The eldest and the second came saying they’d congratulate you on winning the Daeguk Fertilizer bid, but… the mood really doesn’t feel good.”
Seong-ho Kim smiled and reassured her.
“If they came because of that, it’s fine. It’s nothing, so you don’t need to worry.”
“How can I not worry…”
Gyeong-eun Lee looked at Seong-ho Kim with a face full of worry and said in a low voice,
“Father and my brothers are more frightening people than you think, Seong-ho.”
Seong-ho Kim quietly took Gyeong-eun Lee’s hand and said, inwardly,
‘That, I know better than you do. Which is why I’m going to try to become no less frightening a person than they are.’
Seong-ho Kim knew better than anyone just how frightening the people of the Ilhyeon Group were.
And he thought that he, too, had to become as frightening a person as they were.
‘That’s the only way I’ll be able to return, in full, what I received from them.’
Having reassured Gyeong-eun Lee, Seong-ho Kim pointed at the house and said,
“Gyeong-eun, shouldn’t we go in now? We can’t keep the chairman waiting too long.”
“Yes…”
Gripping tightly the hand of Gyeong-eun Lee, who still looked at him with worried eyes, Seong-ho Kim went into the house.
When the door opened, a tall man came into Seong-ho Kim’s view.
Ung-hyeon Lee, who managed the Pyeongchang-dong household’s affairs great and small, stood at the door waiting for Seong-ho Kim to come in.
“The master said to come straight to the study once you’re in.”
Ung-hyeon Lee spoke with a blunt expression.
“He said the youngest miss is to come in together as well.”
“Yes. Understood, mister.”
At Gyeong-eun Lee’s reply, Ung-hyeon Lee bowed his head, turned, and left.
Gyeong-eun Lee gazed for a moment at Ung-hyeon Lee’s retreating figure, then said to Seong-ho Kim,
“It’s not that mister acts that way because he dislikes you, Seong-ho. He’s just a bit blunt and doesn’t talk much by nature.”
“I know. Isn’t that exactly why my father-in-law trusts him and entrusts him with the household?”
“That’s true, I suppose. It’s why he can handle the affairs of a house as full of talk and trouble as ours.”
Gyeong-eun Lee wore a bitter expression.
Because Gyeong-eun Lee knew better than anyone that her family was unlike other places.
“Let’s hurry over. Everyone’s surely waiting.”
Seong-ho Kim smiled at Gyeong-eun Lee, took her hand, and headed for the study where Ilhyeon Group Chairman Tak-hyeon Lee stayed.
When they entered the study, Mun-jong Lee and Sang-jong Lee were seated side by side, waiting for Seong-ho Kim together with Tak-hyeon Lee.
Seong-ho Kim gave Mun-jong Lee and Sang-jong Lee a quick once-over, then greeted Tak-hyeon Lee.
“Chairman. I’ve returned.”
“At home, you may call me father-in-law.”
Wearing a smile so wide it nearly reached his ears, Tak-hyeon Lee walked over to Seong-ho Kim, clapped him on the shoulder, and said,
“You did very well winning the Daeguk Fertilizer bid. You saved 50 billion won — 50 billion, you saved.”
“Thank you. Fortunately, thanks to the Homyeong Group putting in 200 billion, we were able to win it by a hair’s breadth.”
“No, no. Wasn’t it all as expected? Hahaha. Very well done. Very well done indeed.”
When Tak-hyeon Lee praised him with satisfaction any number of times, Sang-jong Lee’s face crumpled.
Mun-jong Lee, worried Sang-jong Lee might do something rash, quietly pressed his hand down on Sang-jong Lee’s thigh.
When Tak-hyeon Lee returned to his seat, Mun-jong Lee gestured to Seong-ho Kim and Gyeong-eun Lee.
“Kim, you worked hard. Come sit over here with Gyeong-eun.”
Seong-ho Kim bowed his head slightly to convey his assent and sat on the sofa with Gyeong-eun Lee.
‘Making your move the very first day I win the bid? Well, that suits me fine too.’
Seong-ho Kim smiled without a word at Mun-jong Lee and Sang-jong Lee, whose true intentions were plain to see.
Mun-jong Lee gazed quietly at Seong-ho Kim, who was smiling as if delighted, then said to Tak-hyeon Lee,
“I don’t know how fortunate it is that you didn’t do as I said and did as Kim said, Father. Had you done as I insisted, we’d have blown 50 billion won.”
Mun-jong Lee turned to look at Seong-ho Kim and went on.
“On top of that, he flattened the Homyeong Group’s nose — what could be more satisfying than this? I think it’s all because heaven is on your side, Father.”
“Hahaha. Right. It must be because heaven is on the side of me, Tak-hyeon Lee, that it sent down a son-in-law like that.”
At Mun-jong Lee’s and Tak-hyeon Lee’s words, a smile bloomed on Gyeong-eun Lee’s face.
She took Seong-ho Kim’s hand and said to Tak-hyeon Lee,
“Father. What did I say? I told you he’d suit you perfectly.”
“Right. As expected, our youngest daughter has an eye for people. You brought home a proper piece of goods.”
At Tak-hyeon Lee’s praise, Seong-ho Kim waved a hand in modesty while quietly studying Mun-jong Lee’s and Sang-jong Lee’s expressions.
Mun-jong Lee maintained a perfect poker face, trying not to reveal his true intentions.
But Sang-jong Lee couldn’t manage it, plainly displaying his displeasure with a reddened face.
‘Well then, let’s begin, shall we.’
Seong-ho Kim knew that Mun-jong Lee and Sang-jong Lee had come to Pyeongchang-dong with a scheme hidden away.
So he’d been waiting for them to reveal that scheme, and as if he’d heard Seong-ho Kim’s wish, Mun-jong Lee slowly began to reveal his scheme aimed at Seong-ho Kim.
(End of Chapter 20)