Even though Park Sanghyuk had prepared a car and asked him to ride together to Samseong-dong, Park Jinhyeok refused and took the subway home on his own.
This was a habit left over from when he lived as Yoo Jeonggeol, whenever things didn’t go well or he needed to think, he would opt for public transportation instead of a car.
‘It seems I just can’t live comfortably. Even if I say I don’t want to, they won’t leave me alone.’
He began to worry that his plan to give up all management rights, keep his shares, and live it up from behind the scenes might fall apart.
It was bad enough to be accused of drugs he hadn’t even touched, but hearing that he was addicted and needed treatment sent a chill down his spine.
They called it a Rehabilitation Center, but in Korea, rehab was practically on par with a mental hospital, at least in his mind.
Even if they tried to send him to America under the guise of “proper care,” it seemed more like exile than treatment.
And for Park Jinhyeok, who wasn’t even addicted to drugs in the first place, there was no way any of this would end well for him.
Park Jinhyeok let his body sway with the crowded subway and drifted into thought.
‘Yesterday, they gave me a card and told me to go out and have fun, that was probably all Oh Seoyoung’s doing… Wasn’t it all planned from the start, with that Oh Seoyoung and those uncles or whoever? Then, even if I say I have no interest in management rights, won’t they still try to lock me up in a hospital no matter what?’
In power struggles, the only destination for those who lost was exile.
Some, like Yangnyeong, gave up everything and went on to live peaceful lives, but that was a rare exception.
And to achieve even that, a prerequisite was necessary.
Namely, one had to have been born from the same mother as Chungnyeong, like Yangnyeong.
However, Park Sanghyuk and Park Jinhyeok were born to different mothers.
Things might be fine for now, but there was no guarantee it would last.
On top of that, with Oh Seoyoung still going strong, even if Park Sanghyuk followed his brother, it was hard to believe Oh Seoyoung would just stand by and do nothing.
Park Jinhyeok felt a wave of emptiness as he realized he had enjoyed waking up in a wealthy household for only about a month.
He was already worried, seeing the traps being set for him and people shoving him from behind, all intent on devouring him.
‘What a headache this has become.’
Thinking about what to do from here, Park Jinhyeok got off the subway and headed home.
As soon as he opened the front door, Housekeeper Onsandae, who had been pacing nervously, rushed over and looked him up and down.
“Master, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Why? Did someone tell you something weird again, granny?”
“I heard you got severely scolded by the Chairman in Pyeongchang-dong, and my heart was pounding ever since. They even said there were sounds of things breaking in the study—are you really alright?”
“Turns out, even though you’re here, you see right through everything in Pyeongchang-dong, huh?”
“Of course. I worked there for thirty years! Just because I’m out now, doesn’t mean I don’t know what’s going on. Master, you weren’t scolded too badly, right?”
“It wasn’t that bad. And even if it was, so what?”
Park Jinhyeok was long past the age of being afraid of being scolded by his parents.
He spoke casually and, sitting on the living room sofa with the TV remote in hand, Housekeeper Onsandae approached and took his hand.
“Master, don’t do this, let’s go to the elders.”
“Elders… you mean my maternal grandfather?”
“Yes. I think it’d be better to go to him than stay here. If you stay, who knows when you’ll get dragged away and locked up.”
“So you knew, too.”
Park Jinhyeok looked at the anxious Onsandae with a gentle gaze.
Even without her saying it, she was expressing her concern with her whole body.
Onsandae gripped Jinhyeok’s hand, worry filling her eyes.
“That wicked woman won’t leave you alone, Master. It took me twenty years to see through her vicious mask. Twenty years! She hid her true intentions for all those years, how can that be called human?”
“It took you twenty years?”
Jinhyeok looked at Onsandae in disbelief.
He’d been confused at first, but after today in the study, it was obvious at a glance that she harbored ulterior motives. He couldn’t understand how it took twenty years to notice, especially since Onsandae didn’t seem like a fool.
“She treated you so well at first! I remember… Oh, sorry, my old mind is forgetting things again.”
“No, it’s okay. Please tell me. The more you share, the sooner I can figure things out, right?”
Encouraged by Jinhyeok’s words, Onsandae began to reminisce.
“When the Lady of Pyeongchang-dong first came to the house, you have no idea how much she doted on you. I was thinking of taking you to Seongbuk-dong since a stepmother was coming, but she cared for you even more tenderly than your real parents, so even I was fooled. If she had continued acting as before, never showing her ill intentions, I’d probably still be deceived.”
Only now did Jinhyeok understand why Onsandae said she’d been fooled.
“So, is Seongbuk-dong where my maternal grandfather lives?”
“Yes, that’s right. Since the Chairman remarried, your grandfather asked for you to be sent to him. But the Chairman insisted that DS follows the Firstborn Succession Principle and wouldn’t let you go, since you were to be the next chairman, and there was nothing your grandfather could do.”
“DS follows the Firstborn Succession Principle?”
“Yes. In DS, the eldest son succeeds, and after that, the elders all retire from management. That’s the family tradition.”
Jinhyeok quietly pondered Onsandae’s words.
‘Right, there was quite a buzz that DS Group followed the Firstborn Succession Principle. People debated whether it was outdated or a good way to prevent internal strife. So, even if the Chairman hates me and that woman meddles, I’m still the frontrunner to be the successor.’
A family tradition was not easily changed.
Especially someone who rose to the chairman’s seat under the Firstborn Succession Principle couldn’t just overturn it to set a new rule for their own successor.
Moreover, the very fact of being the eldest son allowed one to reign over others with authority.
The reason even the ministers trembled before Sukjong, despite his notorious behavior, was due to his legitimacy as the true-blooded heir, and the same logic explained their loyalty to Danjong.
In that sense, Park Jinhyeok was undoubtedly DS Group’s true-blooded heir.
If he simply avoided making any major mistakes, inheriting DS Group was practically guaranteed.
Even if he threw a fit and refused, those around him would probably lift him up and seat him on the throne anyway.
‘So that’s why they won’t leave me alone.’
Now he finally understood what had happened that morning in Pyeongchang-dong.
Not only had they falsely accused him of drug addiction, but the plan to use rehab as an excuse to lock him away had clearly been devised by Oh Seoyoung.
Then there were the uncles, worried about their own positions.
Even they wouldn’t leave him alone.
Just as Sejo had tormented and ultimately killed the abdicated Danjong, even if Jinhyeok had no interest in management, they’d still try to lock him up somewhere he couldn’t escape.
Maybe they’d even hire someone to take his life.
In that case, running to his maternal grandfather, as Onsandae suggested, might actually be a good idea.
“What does my maternal grandfather do?”
“I wonder when your memory will come back,” Onsandae sighed deeply, gently stroking the back of Jinhyeok’s hand.
“He leads Dongjeong Industries.”
Dongjeong Industries… that construction company, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Birds of a feather, indeed.
Jinhyeok had assumed his late mother was from a well-off family, but he hadn’t expected she was the daughter of Dongjeong Industries.
“If I remember right, the current chairman is a woman, isn’t she?”
“Yes, the second daughter. She’s your aunt. If Madam had lived… no, forgive me, I almost said something unnecessary.”
He recalled the story of the previous chairman recalling his only daughter, who’d married a doctor and been a housewife for over twenty years to inherit the company, as there were no sons.
There had been much concern about a middle-aged woman with no experience taking the helm of a construction company with annual contracts exceeding 10 trillion won.
As expected, since she became chairman, Dongjeong Industries had steadily declined.
‘If she’s the second daughter, then my late mother must’ve been the first? By that logic, even here, I’d be the eldest grandson and heir, right?’
It was a company that had maintained a rank between 3rd and 5th among construction firms.
Most companies in the top 20 were subsidiaries of major conglomerates.
But Dongjeong Industries was built purely on construction.
Its subsidiaries were all construction-related, and instead of expanding into other fields, it found success by focusing on overseas ventures.
Its only weakness was having no son to inherit the business.
For now, the family name continued, but in the next generation, someone with a different surname would have to take over.
“Granny, if I go to Dongjeong Industries, do you think my aunt would accept me? I’d have… cousins too, right?”
“That’s true… but as long as your grandfather is there, it should be okay, shouldn’t it?”
“What was my relationship like with my cousins?”
Onsandae just lowered her head, unable to give a proper answer.
Her expression said it all.
‘Looks like it won’t be easy there, either.’
Maybe if he were the tenth grandson, they’d welcome him.
But as the eldest grandson returning, his grandfather might be pleased, but the aunt who now held the chairman’s seat surely wouldn’t be.
He might be her poor nephew who lost his mother early, but he was still just a nephew.
No one wants to risk the company going to a nephew instead of their own son or daughter.
“Granny, I think it’s better to stay here than go there.”
“Master…”
“Think about it. This is my home ground. But at Dongjeong Industries… even if my grandfather is there, he’s still my cousins’ grandfather too, right? Maybe he’d dote on his pitiful, long-lost grandson, but there’s a big difference between a grandchild who lived far away and one he raised himself. And I’d rather stay where I know the lay of the land than in an unfamiliar place.”
“Master… how did things turn out like this? For someone like you to have to weigh your options on where to go… sob, sob…”
Onsandae gripped Jinhyeok’s hand, tears streaming down her face.
If his mother had lived, he’d never have been treated like this.
He was the legitimate heir of DS Group and the eldest grandson of Dongjeong Industries.
His status was impeccable anywhere he went, and yet, now, there was no place that welcomed him.
And worse, even his own family was burning with desire to get rid of him.
Nothing was easy.
“Granny, let’s try to think positively. In DS, there’s no one who can mess with me openly. The Chairman? No matter how much power he has, he can’t just do whatever he wants to me. Otherwise, the very roots of DS Group would be shaken. And Dongjeong Industries? I’m not interested, but unless I try to take over, they have no reason to push me out. It’s not like my grandfather would hand the company to a grandson he’s barely met in his life. So don’t worry. I don’t think the situation is all that bad.”
“If you think so, Master, this old woman can finally breathe easy. Master, never let yourself feel small, no matter where you go. You are the eldest son of both DS Group and Dongjeong Industries. No one can change that.”
“I know. So stop worrying… I’m going to get some rest, so don’t bother about my dinner and head home early.”
With that, Park Jinhyeok stood up, comforted Onsandae once more, and went to his dressing room to change.
After changing into comfortable clothes, he entered the study, sat down, and spun the chair around as he thought.
‘This is a whole new level of trouble compared to worrying about food and bills as Yoo Jeonggeol. Damn it. Am I supposed to be worried about my very survival now?’
Back when he was Yoo Jeonggeol, survival meant worrying about hunger, utility bills, and the road ahead.
But now, survival literally meant worrying about his life.
One slip-up, and he might end up locked in a white room for the rest of his life.
If his father, the Chairman, were in his right mind, this wouldn’t have been allowed to go this far, but seeing how things had been left alone, it was clear he didn’t intend to intervene.
That meant Jinhyeok would have to survive on his own.
He sat cross-legged on the chair, spinning slowly in place.
He had the advantage of being valued for his status and having an identity no one could ignore, but there was the drawback of having entered the body of Park Jinhyeok, a man about to be embroiled in fierce family strife after living as an outsider.
‘Well, if the advantages cancel out the disadvantages, I guess it’s a zero-sum game. Let’s think positively. If I were still Yoo Jeonggeol, I’d probably be eating ramen to save money while worrying about reemployment. At least now, I’m not starving. And if I win this fight? Then DS Group will be mine. If I can just survive, everything will be mine—so maybe this isn’t such a bad fight after all.’
Now that his comfortable life had gone up in smoke, Park Jinhyeok resolved to steel his heart and leaned back in the chair.