They All Belong to Our Jeonghyeok!
I waved my hand to see Grandfather off.
“Grandfather, take care! Please visit again soon!”
“Alright.”
Grandfather turned away with a smile.
But there was no trace of laughter in his figure as he walked away.
I let out a small sigh.
‘The way Grandfather turns his back like that… he must be hurting inside.’
It left a bitter taste.
These were adult affairs, things children didn’t need to know.
Leaving the Jotaek in Hannam-dong, President Cha walked lightly towards the parked car.
Director Go took the wheel.
President Cha sat in the back seat and smiled contentedly.
“Seongjun, that rascal, really got himself an amazing son!”
President Cha basked in the warm air from the heater, gazing out the window.
The stone walls, stacked imposingly with pebbles, boasted grand magnificence.
The iron gates, like a fortress, the splendid garden, the expensive ornamental bonsai and stonework, the layout and size of the house, and even the interior design—
It was all carefully crafted, the very picture of a wealthy family’s mansion.
“How in the world did our Jeonghyeok buy a house like this? The budget was only ten million won, wasn’t it? That rascal’s got real talent! Hahaha!”
If he could pull off something like this at just seven years old…
‘Just how big will he grow the company when he’s older? Just imagining it fills my heart with excitement.’
This must be why they call raising children and grandchildren “farming.”
To be called the son of a good-for-nothing in this business was the worst kind of insult.
‘No matter how hard you build up a company, the moment an incompetent child starts to ruin things, it can all go under in a flash.’
President Cha had seen countless rises and falls.
How many new companies were founded every year, and how many collapsed again.
This place was a battlefield without swords or guns.
‘Lee Sujin, that girl really raised her child right.’
President Cha’s opinion of Lee Sujin rose another notch.
It was all thanks to her raising his precious grandson so well.
‘Honestly, before I met Jeonghyeok, I used to think women were all the same, and that the best support was just to match my sons with women from good families.’
Maybe that’s why.
None of my grandsons can compare to Jeonghyeok.
President Cha took out the sheet of paper his grandson had handed him.
‘Where does he even get things like this? And his negotiation skills? No matter how I look at it, the kid’s got a real knack for business.’
He unfolded the neatly folded paper and found a handwritten statement.
The more President Cha read, the more his brow furrowed.
“This damn brat!”
President Cha crumpled the paper in his hand.
His anger surged to the top of his head.
“Cha Yun seong!”
He was President Cha’s youngest brother.
“Even that useless fool who couldn’t even manage Taeseong Lumber properly—just because he begged for a respectable position in front of his own kids, I let him sit as the president of Taeseong Construction for a while! And what does he do? That damned bastard!”
A stream of curses poured out without pause.
“Why do you think I kept indulging a talentless fool who only drained money? Why did I pretend not to notice as he quietly siphoned off the construction funds that my own son earned with his blood, sweat, and tears!”
President Cha had known all along.
“He’s got a family, he’s got his own people to take care of, and employees to look after, so I turned a blind eye. But this guy just doesn’t know when to stop!”
“If you’re going to siphon money, then use it to start your own business! Or at least prepare to transfer to another affiliate! From the start, I made it clear that Taeseong Construction belonged to Seongjun!”
President Cha fumed with rage.
“How dare he covet my son’s rightful place? Stabbing his own brother in the back? And now, teaming up with Ukwang too?”
That was why President Cha was so furious.
“I kept forgiving him because he’s blood, but now this bastard has gone too far! Fine, since you turned your back on me first, don’t you dare resent me for being cold-hearted!”
Betrayal boiled inside him.
His hands trembled as he held the crumpled paper.
“I need a drink.”
A bitter taste filled his mouth, his throat clogged up.
“We’re going to Taeseong Hotel. Tonight, I’ll put everything aside and have a drink. After all, he’s still my real brother.”
He let out a long sigh.
“I’ve looked after that guy for 55 years, since he was a baby. Tonight, we’ll drink till our noses are crooked and settle everything between brothers.”
“President…….”
“It was something that needed to be done sooner or later. Ever since Yun seong started parading around his own incompetent cronies as executives and throwing parties with company money, this was inevitable.”
President Cha slapped the leather seat.
“Director Go, why are you still sitting here? Start the car!”
“Kim Secretary hasn’t gotten in yet, sir.”
Clunk.
Just then, Kim Secretary stepped out the front gate.
“Hurry up and get in! I’m about to go grab Yun seong by the collar!”
“President, please accept this. Young master Jeonghyeok said it was a gift for you.”
“My kid sent me a present?”
President Cha quickly opened the paper bag.
“Ginseng Wine? This is top grade, hard to find even on the market. Huh…!!”
A small note was attached to the bottle.
It was written in the wobbly handwriting of a child.
President Cha’s face, which had been red with anger over the Taeseong Construction president, softened considerably.
His furrowed brow smoothed, and his clenched lips curved into a smile.
“In the end, the only one who truly understands me is my precious child.”
“Young master Jeonghyeok specifically said not to give even a single glass of Ginseng Wine to the Taeseong Construction president.”
“He even predicted I’d drink with that brat Yun seong? Hahaha!”
How could this not make him proud and pleased?
“I’ve never received such a heartfelt gift from my own children.”
His beloved grandson was already weighing heavily on his heart.
The memory of him smiling brightly while making a snowman lingered in his mind.
“All my kids ever do is hold out their hands, asking for money! Not one of them ever thinks about how I feel. All I hear is them whining that I don’t understand what’s in their hearts. Hmph!”
But there was one child who never complained about not being understood.
Quiet, sincere, always steady.
Since he never grumbled, President Cha just assumed everything was fine.
Maybe that’s why.
He never thought to consider what was really going on in his heart first.
“I never knew Seongjun had a woman.”
President Cha looked out the window.
Heavy snow was falling.
“You could tell just by looking at Seongjun’s eyes. The guy who treats Ukwang’s daughter like a pebble can’t stop the honey from dripping from his eyes when he looks at Lee Sujin. He loves deeply.”
A long sigh escaped naturally.
“Whew…….”
Today, President Cha’s face looked more troubled than ever.
“Now I’ve got one more reason to drink tonight.”
President Cha gazed at the Ginseng Wine.
The golden liquor shimmered.
“Kim Secretary, about Tae-seong Chemical.”
“Yes, President.”
“Calculate how much loss we’d have to take if we liquidate our shares.”
“Do you mean you want to call off the marriage alliance with Ukwang?”
“There’s always a possibility.”
President Cha’s eyes were cold.
“I know we’d take heavy losses if we pulled out of Tae-seong Chemical right now. There’d be endless rumors, a lot of pushback, and we’d have to restructure. Our relationship with Ukwang would suffer too.”
President Cha crossed his arms.
He closed his eyes and sank deep into the back seat.
“But what can I do? My son says he’s happy. He wants to marry the woman he loves.”
He’d already seen the determined look on his son’s face.
“What kind of parent can beat their child? He says he can’t give up his own wife and child. He says he’ll take responsibility for his actions. I might not be able to cheer him on, but how could I stop him?”
Before he knew it, his youngest son had the face of a father.
So President Cha, too, decided to steel himself as a father.
“Rather than seeing tears of blood in my son’s and grandson’s eyes, I’d rather suffer the losses myself.”
Director Go, gripping the steering wheel, turned back in surprise.
“President, do you really mean it?”
Instead of saying, ‘I was the one who buttoned things wrong from the very start.’
President Cha just turned his head toward the passenger seat.
“Kim Secretary, how many shares of Taeseong Construction does Yun seong have?”
“You gave him 4%, sir. On top of that, he’s probably bought another 3% or so secretly under borrowed names.”
“My son worked himself to the bone earning those construction funds, and Yun seong siphoned them off to the point of selling even Taeseong Construction’s apartment land! And with all that, he only managed to get 3% more shares? There’s a limit to incompetence!”
President Cha ground his teeth.
“This won’t do! From now on, everything I take back from Yun seong—transfer it all to Jeonghyeok!”
“Yes, President.”
Kim Secretary nodded.
But Director Go was dumbstruck.
“Not to your son, Seongjun, but to your grandson, Jeonghyeok?”
“That’s right. If you’ve earned the merit, you deserve the reward.”
President Cha tapped the paper and the Ginseng Wine.
“Life is give and take!”
He didn’t stop there.
“How much total money has Yun seong siphoned off?”
“We haven’t checked all the books yet, but it should be about one billion won.”
“One billion?”
The more he heard, the more his insides boiled.
“We need to make him cough up that money too!”
Director Go was aghast.
“You don’t mean you’re going to give all of that to…?”
But Kim Secretary nodded in satisfaction, as if it were obvious.
“Then shall I investigate all of Taeseong Construction’s executive staff while we’re at it?”
“Of course! Fire all those incompetent and shameless bastards, and recover every embezzled cent!”
It was a purge.
“Tell Yun seong to come up to the Taeseong Hotel bar right now! If he refuses, drag him up!”
President Cha’s eyes flashed with cold resolve.
He was prepared for blood.
“Still, he’s my brother. I’ll at least let him make a last excuse and pour him a farewell drink!”
President Cha glanced at the Ginseng Wine his grandson had given him.
“But not even a single drop of Ginseng Wine for him. For that brat, just prepare the cheapest soju!”
President Cha’s car headed for Taeseong Hotel.
I stepped out of the baby bathtub, where the warm water was still gently sloshing.
I dried off nice and soft, and put on a set of high-quality new clothes.
As I stepped out of the bathroom, the Taeseong Group bodyguards waiting outside held out a pile of things.
“Young master, please have some sweet cocoa.”
“There are cookies and candy too.”
“You said you like chocolate, right? So we also brought you a chocolate cake.”
They were all the kind of snacks that would drive any child wild.
Just looking at them could give you diabetes.
That’s how sweet and warm their hospitality was.
I put my hands together and bowed politely, a deep belly-button bow.
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
The Taeseong Group bodyguards smiled with pride.
Behind them, Cheolgu ajusshi kept winking with one eye.
He was clearly the ringleader of this spectacle.
“Oh, my, my. Young master, the things I prepared are a little different from what these guys have.”
On the other hand, the quick-witted Taeseong bodyguard, self-proclaimed number two, was special.
“I brought Ssanghwa Tea with two eggs floating in it. For snacks, puffed rice. And for a palate cleanser, of course, silver-dan candy.”
“As expected!”
I gave him a thumbs up.
The Taeseong Group bodyguards couldn’t hide their shock.
“What, it wasn’t cocoa, but Ssanghwa Tea?”
“To choose puffed rice over cookies!”
“Silver-dan instead of cake!”
The quick-witted bodyguard, self-proclaimed number two, Yujongtae, who had sworn to be my right hand, grinned triumphantly.
“I knew it! As expected of the President’s bloodline!”
“No way!”
Cheolgu ajusshi looked as if the sky had fallen.
The lollipops he was holding tumbled to the floor.
But I just turned my head.
Father, with his hands in his pants pockets, was lost in thought, gazing at the Christmas Tree.