The dining table was brought in, followed shortly by the food. With the tablecloth and even candlesticks prepared, it was clear that such transformations occurred often enough that they kept everything ready.
Jinhyuk Park watched silently as his office was suddenly converted into a dining room. It felt as though if he hadn’t spoken up first, Junhwan Han would have been the one to suggest they grab a bite to eat.
As Jinhyuk observed the secretaries of Cheongwoo moving busily, Junhwan Han spoke to him.
“The food at Cheongwoo is quite famous among chairmen.”
“It’s famous?”
“Indeed. It feels a bit awkward to boast about my own place, but it truly is. That’s because the number of people who have actually eaten here can be counted on one hand.”
“That sounds as though you are recognizing me to that extent.”
“Hahaha. You’re just like me—you enjoy a bit of self-praise. Usually, people just show gratitude and leave it at that. We shall talk more over the meal.”
Junhwan Han pointed toward the table, which was now fully set. Looking only at the table and ignoring the surrounding office, it appeared to be a table in a top-tier luxury restaurant.
Once Junhwan Han and Jinhyuk Park were seated, the pre-dinner bread was served. This was followed by abalone porridge served in small bowls as an appetizer. Jinhyuk watched the dishes continue to appear, wondering where they were even being cooked, as he waited for Junhwan Han to speak next.
“Aren’t you curious why I’ve been watching you with such interest?”
Junhwan Han finally spoke once Jinhyuk had finished his abalone porridge. Jinhyuk lightly dabbed his mouth with a napkin before answering.
“I assumed you were watching me because there was a reason for me to catch your interest. I am not particularly curious about the reason itself.”
“Coming out like that only makes me more stubborn; now I want to tell you even if you don’t want to hear it.”
“You may do as you wish. I cannot exactly come to Cheongwoo and force my will upon the Chairman, can I?”
Junhwan Han placed his spoon on the table. Like Jinhyuk, he wiped his mouth with a napkin and said, “It’s fascinating. How did a man like Chairman Park produce a son like you? You’re entirely different from what I’ve heard.”
“I hear that a lot. And every time, I say the same thing. Rumors tend to be far more exaggerated than the truth.”
“Is that so? To me, it feels less like exaggeration and more like people are calling yellow green.”
“Simply believe what you see and hear for yourself. Isn’t that enough?”
“Hahaha. Indeed. That is enough.”
Junhwan Han shook his head at Jinhyuk’s remark. He could understand the lack of tension, but the more they spoke, the more he felt himself being drawn into Jinhyuk’s pace. Talking to a young man who was not even thirty—someone young enough to be his son—Junhwan thought the sensation he was feeling for the first time in a long while wasn’t half bad.
“Do you know why I took notice of you? It’s because I have a daughter of marriageable age.”
“I am aware. However, Ji-yeon and I have reached an understanding. We are on good terms as friends.”
“Is there such a thing as friendship between a man and a woman?”
“If there is no friendship between a man and a woman, then they cannot even be friends in the first place.”
“Is that so?”
Junhwan Han narrowed his eyes and looked at Jinhyuk, as if trying to discern his true feelings. However, seeing that Jinhyuk didn’t even change his expression, he let out a low sigh.
“What a shame. I thought someone like you would be the perfect match for Ji-yeon.”
“I have no interest in marriage.”
“It seems that way. That is why Cheongwoo intended to deal with DS in a different manner.”
Upon hearing Junhwan Han’s words, Jinhyuk slowly set down the chopsticks he was holding onto the table.
“A different way of dealing? What do you mean by that?”
“I called you here to confirm one last thing with you. Whether you truly have no intention of marrying Ji-yeon. I heard the two of you were developing a fairly good relationship; was I wrong?”
“We became close while handling several matters recently. But I do not believe it is a level of closeness that would lead to marriage.”
“True. It didn’t look to me like any romantic feelings had developed between you two either. But are you aware that the concept of love being a part of marriage has existed for less than 100 years? Just 100 years ago, a bride and groom chosen by their parents had to hold their ceremony without even seeing each other’s faces. And that wasn’t just in our country. It was the same in China and Europe. Do you really think it’s right to decide on a marriage based on such trivial emotions?”
Jinhyuk smiled faintly at Junhwan Han, who spoke with a stern expression.
“I might feel differently if it were someone else, but hearing that from you, Chairman, feels a bit strange.”
At Jinhyuk’s remark, Junhwan Han’s expression softened instantly, and he laughed while tapping the table.
“True. You’re right. Out of everyone, I shouldn’t be the one saying such things.”
He was a man living with three women. Including his legal wife, he lived with two other women who would have been called concubines in the past. Since such a man was lecturing him on marriage, Jinhyuk found it almost laughable. Ordinarily, one wouldn’t express such a thought in front of the person in question, but Jinhyuk expressed it without hesitation.
Junhwan Han, however, seemed to find Jinhyuk’s attitude amusing.
“Well, I am a man with too much love to give. I couldn’t give all that love to just one woman, so I’m sharing it with others. But to tell you the truth—and I’m only saying this to you—I don’t live with these women because I want to. I brought them in because they bore me sons.”
“It seems other people usually just bring in the sons, but you seem to be excessively kind, Chairman.”
“Yes. In fact, there are more than a few people who have children outside and bring them in. Usually, they only take the child and leave the woman behind. But I don’t think that looks very good. If you’ve done something you need to take responsibility for, you should take responsibility until the end.”
“Because of that, other people might suffer.”
Junhwan Han’s smiling face hardened at Jinhyuk’s comment.
“Is that why I took notice of you? But since you say you don’t want to, there’s nothing I can do.”
Junhwan Han stared at Jinhyuk again with a stiff face.
“Ji-yeon currently holds no shares in Cheongwoo. However, if she were to marry, I was planning to hand over Cheongwoo Chemical as a wedding gift. Of course, the shares would be vested in Ji-yeon. If your marriage were to end, I couldn’t exactly have Ji-yeon return home while leaving Cheongwoo Chemical at DS.”
It was a proposal he had heard countless times through Junman Park. And it was a proposal he had rejected every single time he heard it.
“I appreciate the offer, but I must repeat what I said earlier. I have no intention of getting married.”
“Yes. I said it knowing that, so don’t worry about it. I just said it because I was disappointed. I heard the story from Chairman Park, but I wanted to ask the person involved one more time, which is why I called you.”
Junhwan Han’s face was much more relaxed than before. His expression revealed that he cared for Han Ji-yeon more deeply than expected. Having finished speaking, Junhwan Han calmed himself by tasting a large piece of fish. Once he felt composed, he placed his chopsticks back on the table.
“You’ve heard about the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport leaving for South America, haven’t you?”
Jinhyuk also placed his chopsticks on the table at the sudden shift in topic. Hearing about the Ministry from Junhwan Han’s mouth made his appetite vanish instantly.
“Yes. I have. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that story today. It made me wonder if I was actually at a celebration for DS Telecom.”
“Of course. It makes sense. The amount of money involved isn’t small, after all.”
Junhwan Han nodded as he spoke.
“And you must be puzzled. Right? Aren’t you curious as well?”
” I won’t hide it. I don’t understand how DS Heavy Industries plans to participate in the power plant business.”
Junhwan Han did not stop nodding. Jinhyuk noticed a different kind of sharpness flashing in the older man’s eyes as he looked up. Junhwan’s gaze was so sharp it felt like it could cut, making Jinhyuk’s skin tingle.
“Chairman Park expressed his regret that the marriage between you and Ji-yeon wouldn’t happen, and he made a proposal to me not long ago.”
“A proposal?”
“Yes. He said he hoped DS and Cheongwoo could have a better relationship. I didn’t find the idea bad. Your group has shown decent results even in a poor economy and has been growing day by day. It would have been better to tie it together with a marriage, but since that wasn’t possible, I was disappointed too. Then the Chairman made his proposal, and I couldn’t find a reason to refuse. In fact, he brought up something that I should have been the one to ask for. So, we signed a contract. A contract to hand over Cheongwoo Energy to DS.”
“What? You’re handing Cheongwoo Energy over to our DS?”
“Yes. In exchange for receiving DS Technology.”
At Junhwan Han’s words, a calculator began to run rapidly in Jinhyuk’s head. Cheongwoo Energy and DS Technology. Content regarding who would profit, who would lose, and the potential synergies started spinning quickly through Jinhyuk’s mind.
“But with the sudden news of the South American power plant, we were just as flustered. We haven’t signed the main contract yet, but the provisional contract is finished. It seems Chairman Park secured the Brazil power plant project with our Cheongwoo Energy in mind… By any chance, did you refuse the marriage with Ji-yeon because of this?”
Jinhyuk’s rapidly spinning mind came to a sudden halt. The drawing of pictures regarding who would profit and how the market landscape would shift stopped instantly.
“He secured the Brazil power plant project with Cheongwoo Energy in mind?”
“Seeing you ask the same question even after hearing it, it seems you weren’t aware of this story either.”
Junhwan Han appeared to cast aside his suspicions. He had spent the conversation before the main topic trying to figure Jinhyuk out. Jinhyuk, who had been confident and un-intimidated, was now showing signs of being flustered. Junhwan thought that even if Jinhyuk were a natural-born actor, he wouldn’t be able to show such a natural reaction.
However, unlike Junhwan Han, who had cleared his suspicions, Jinhyuk’s head was now filled with questions. And he felt all those questions converging into a single conclusion.
‘In the end, the Himalayan monkey was my marriage. I was worrying about the wrong things.’
He had been suspicious when Junman Park kept bringing up the topic of marriage. Seeing him mention it constantly to provoke him, Jinhyuk had noticed that Junman didn’t actually want the marriage. That was why he had told him to look at Cheongwoo Chemical, but the place Junman Park was aiming for was somewhere else entirely.
Jinhyuk had been on high alert to avoid being played by Junman Park, but as a result, he ended up being played anyway. Jinhyuk became the person who refused the marriage and rejected the proposal from Cheongwoo. Meanwhile, Junman Park became the one who proposed a new contract to strengthen the relationship with Cheongwoo. It felt as though a father had used his son to build his own reputation.
Looking at Jinhyuk, who was lost in complicated thoughts, Junhwan Han wore a meaningful smile. And he intended to use Jinhyuk in this state.
“If you say even now that you will marry Ji-yeon, I intend to change the contract terms.”
“What do you mean, change the contract terms?”
“I mean I’m thinking of offering Cheongwoo Chemical instead of the exchange for DS Technology. As you know, Cheongwoo Chemical is larger than Energy. So, it will be plenty as a wedding gift.”
Jinhyuk could easily grasp what Junhwan Han wanted from his words. And no matter how distracted he was, he wanted to show that he wasn’t someone who would be easily shaken by such simple words.
“That doesn’t seem right. DS acquired the power plant business rights thinking it would get its hands on Cheongwoo Energy. If you offer Cheongwoo Chemical instead of Energy just because it’s larger, isn’t that an outright intention to sabotage the Brazil power plant project?”
“Why would I have any reason to do that?”
“I don’t know the reason right now, but I’m sure there is one. Isn’t that right?”
A smile began to play on Junhwan Han’s face again. He was finding the conversation with Jinhyuk enjoyable.
“Then do you agree to the handover of Cheongwoo Energy?”
“If we can only do the Brazil power plant project by taking over Cheongwoo Energy, then we should take it over a hundred times over.”
“Even if you have to let go of Cheongwoo Chemical?”
“What changes for me if I get my hands on Cheongwoo Chemical? Didn’t you say the shares would belong to Ji-yeon anyway? If so, there is no profit in it for me.”
“No profit, you say…”
Junhwan Han tilted his chin up slightly. He looked down at Jinhyuk and spoke with a lowered gaze.
“Then if it is something that yields a profit, do you intend to change your mind?”
“I don’t understand why you are so obsessed with me.”
“It is only natural for a father to try and secure a good groom for his daughter.”
Through Junhwan Han’s words, Jinhyuk realized that Junman Park had been blinding him until now. The one who wanted the marriage wasn’t DS. Jinhyuk had assumed that Cheongwoo wouldn’t want him because of his past reputation among people. He had thought Junman Park had made the request to Cheongwoo out of a desire for Cheongwoo Chemical.
But he found out the reality was different. Junhwan Han of Cheongwoo had chosen Jinhyuk as a match for Han Ji-yeon, and he had actually been the one trying to make the marriage happen even at a great cost.
However, Junman Park had used Jinhyuk to get his hands on more. He had used Jinhyuk’s constant refusals as an excuse, and because of that, he was now in a position where he had nearly grasped what he wanted.
Jinhyuk wasn’t angry at Junman Park for playing him. This was because he fundamentally agreed with the ideology that even between a father and son, one should use the other to the fullest if there is something to be gained. Furthermore, while the current Jinhyuk and Junman Park were related by blood, they were effectively strangers mentally. If Junman Park hadn’t used him first, Jinhyuk might have been the one to try and use him.
‘I can’t just let myself be played like this.’
Though he had fallen behind in the sequence of events, Jinhyuk made up his mind to use the current situation to his advantage.