Park Jin-hyuk made no move to get out of the car even after it came to a halt in front of his residence in Hannam-dong.
He simply stared up at the main house, his thoughts unreadable.
Kim Jun-woo waited in silence as Park Jin-hyuk gazed at the building for a long time. It was only after about thirty minutes had passed that Park Jin-hyuk finally opened the car door.
As Kim Jun-woo hurried to get out of the passenger side, Park Jin-hyuk placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Usually, I’d tell you to just go home, but I’m a bit tired today. Go grab a meal somewhere with Mr. Park. Then come back and pick me up later. I don’t think I’ll have the energy to get home on my own once I’m done in there.”
“Executive Director, please don’t worry. I will be waiting outside.”
“I won’t be able to leave right away once I’m inside. So, go eat something. You’ll be hungry if you just wait.”
Park Jin-hyuk patted Kim Jun-woo’s shoulder and pressed the doorbell of the Hannam-dong mansion.
The door opened shortly after, and he stepped inside.
Perhaps because he visited twice a week, the place felt very familiar now. However, the thought of the psychological warfare he was about to engage in with Park Jun-man made his footsteps feel heavy.
The butler came out to greet him and opened the inner door.
Park Jin-hyuk stepped through, picturing the face he didn’t want to see behind that door. But contrary to his expectations, the person who welcomed him was someone he was actually glad to see.
“Young Master, you’re here? I heard there was some big trouble today. Even an old woman like me saw the stories on the news. Are you all right?”
Park Jin-hyuk nodded and looked around.
“Where is Mother? Did she go somewhere?”
When he was with people who knew the situation, he called her Director Oh, but in front of others, he referred to Oh Seo-young as Mother. He directed his question to Butler Kim, who bowed his head slightly.
“The director had to go out for some urgent business.”
“Is that so?”
Under normal circumstances, Oh Seo-young would never have left the house on a day like this. In fact, she was the type to cancel any appointment to meet Park Jin-hyuk if it meant she could dig for information. Hearing that she had gone out on business was quite puzzling to him.
Still, his reason for coming today wasn’t to see her, so he strode further into the house.
“I heard you were coming, so I prepared all your favorite foods. Make sure to eat plenty.”
“Mrs. Onsan, when are you coming back to my place? The house is a mess without you.”
“You should move back here, Young Master.”
“Here? Come on. You know me. I don’t vibe with the people in this house. I feel like my energy is being drained just being here. Standing on my own two feet right now is a struggle.”
“Nevertheless, the master of a house does not move just because the people staying with him are uncomfortable. You are the master of this house, Young Master.”
Mrs. Onsan stopped in her tracks and glared at him. Park Jin-hyuk linked his arm with hers and spoke playfully.
“I get it. Now, what are the side dishes for today?”
Realizing he had gained nothing by bringing it up, Park Jin-hyuk rubbed his face against her shoulder and acted cute. Mrs. Onsan stroked his cheek and spoke softly.
“You mustn’t forget. This is the place where you and Madam lived together.”
Park Jin-hyuk nodded and walked toward the dining table with his arm still linked with hers. He sat down and chatted with Mrs. Onsan for a while as the food was served. When he saw Park Jun-man entering, he stood up and greeted him.
“I’m home.”
“I see.”
Park Jun-man accepted the greeting lightly and sat at the table. As soon as he was seated, he picked up his spoon.
“Let’s eat.”
Only then did Park Jin-hyuk notice that there were only two sets of rice and soup on the large table. He had heard that Oh Seo-young was out, but it was strange not to see the other family members. He turned to Mrs. Onsan.
“Are the Chairman and I the only ones dining today?”
“Yes. The other family members are all busy. There’s no need to wait for them,” Park Jun-man answered instead.
When Park Jin-hyuk looked down at him, Park Jun-man was sipping his beef radish soup with a look of suppressed amusement.
“They must be very busy. I’m sure their skin is crawling with anxiety. One wrong move and everything they have might vanish. I can understand him taking Sang-hyuk, since he’s the one involved, but he even took Seo-eun, who doesn’t know a thing. I wonder if he took his daughter out to sell her off to someone who can help… Hahaha. He’s lost his mind.”
“Did something happen?”
“You must have been so focused on Su-man that you didn’t look elsewhere. You mustn’t do that. Even when you’re working, you must keep both your eyes and ears open.”
Park Jin-hyuk frowned at those words.
He began to reflect on himself. Just as Park Su-man had failed to see Jin-hyuk’s schemes because he was too focused on DS Telecom, Jin-hyuk realized he might have been negligent in observing his surroundings.
Park Jun-man glanced at him and chuckled.
“It’s fine. Everyone learns this way. You’ll improve over time.”
Park Jin-hyuk felt a chill run down his spine at those words. He realized that if someone had been aiming for the back of his head, he might have been caught completely off guard. Although Park Jun-man was speaking with a smile, Jin-hyuk felt as if he were standing on thin ice where a single mistake could cost him everything. He vowed that “improving” wouldn’t be enough.
As if he were reading Jin-hyuk’s mind, Park Jun-man smiled faintly and continued.
“Good. I like that attitude of wanting to learn.”
To Park Jun-man, it might have looked like a desire to learn, but for Park Jin-hyuk, it was a matter of survival. This wasn’t like failing a test and promising to do better next time.
However, he didn’t let those feelings show. Even though the man was his biological father, Park Jin-hyuk couldn’t reveal his inner thoughts to the person who was currently his greatest threat.
“I must have missed quite a lot. What is going on?”
“It seems your brother’s company is having a hard time because people aren’t traveling due to the Paris Flu or whatever it’s called. They say they only have enough capital to operate for two or maybe three months… but who knows? They might not even last a month.”
Only then did Park Jin-hyuk realize why Oh Seo-young had to go out on a day like today.
“I heard about that. I heard the LCC industry is being hit particularly hard.”
“Indeed. Large airlines have cargo businesses tied to long-term contracts, so they can offset their losses and wait for things to settle down. But that’s not the case for LCCs, is it? An LCC that focuses only on passengers is bound to suffer in a situation like this. To make matters worse, they invested aggressively to expand their size, and now the planes they bought and leased can’t even take off. The blow must feel much more severe.”
Park Jin-hyuk watched Park Jun-man, who seemed almost delighted, and asked, “Are you not planning to help them?”
“Help? Me? Why?”
“They haven’t officially become a subsidiary yet, but isn’t that the company Sang-hyuk is in charge of? It’s certain to be incorporated into our group in the future. I haven’t looked into it in detail, but considering the director is running around personally, it must be very difficult for them.”
Park Jun-man shook his head at Park Jin-hyuk’s words.
“I didn’t tell him to do it; he’s the one who said he wanted to build that place. It was your mother who pushed to recruit Daekwang, and it was her doing to join forces with them to create an LCC. So why should I help?”
“Isn’t Sang-hyuk’s future at stake?”
“You’re saying strange things.”
Park Jun-man looked at Park Jin-hyuk as if he couldn’t understand his logic. He placed his spoon down on the table.
“What does Sang-hyuk’s struggle have to do with me? Why should I be the one to help?”
Park Jin-hyuk didn’t reply; he simply stared into Park Jun-man’s eyes. He wanted to see if the man truly believed what he was saying, or if he was just mocking or testing him. But no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t tell what Park Jun-man was thinking.
Park Jun-man smiled at him and picked up his spoon again. He took another taste of the soup and spoke.
“Don’t waste your time thinking about useless things. Your job is to organize your surroundings, just like you handled your uncle. Sang-hyuk will survive if he’s meant to survive. If he’s meant to die, he’ll just collapse again later even if people spend all day trying to save him. Helping someone just because they’re your child or your sibling… leave that for the dramas and movies.”
Park Jun-man paused to put some food in his mouth. Until then, Park Jin-hyuk remained silent, simply observing him. Feeling as though he was finally hearing the man’s true feelings, Jin-hyuk listened intently.
After a couple of bites, Park Jun-man looked up again.
“Before you started your work today, you came to see me and told me not to get involved in whatever happened between you and your uncle. I felt very good when I heard that. I had no intention of interfering in the first place, but the fact that you came and demanded it of me changed the way I look at you.”
“You had no intention of getting involved from the start?”
“That’s right. There is only one seat on the throne of DS. That is why my father, the founder and your grandfather, established the principle of eldest son succession. He didn’t want useless disputes to break out. But that was the founder’s thought. His younger brothers, nephews, and other siblings couldn’t accept it. They thought they should have their own share because they helped build DS… Well, I don’t 100% disagree with that. I acknowledge that they have a stake. However, that stake is only valid within DS; they cannot take it and leave.”
Park Jun-man’s tone grew sharper. His brow furrowed as if he were reminiscing about the past.
“In the end, I had to fight a fierce battle against my uncles, and that was how I secured my position. After I sat on the throne, I realized why my father didn’t cast my uncles out himself before passing the position to me.”
Park Jin-hyuk closed his eyes. This was a question he had asked himself several times while aiming his blade at Park Su-man. He had wondered if Park Su-man was only able to dream of the throne because he had been left in an ambiguous position. He should have either had his hands and feet tied so he couldn’t think of anything else or been given a fair chance to compete. He felt that Park Jun-man’s stance had been unclear.
The same applied to Oh Seo-young. If Park Jun-man had stepped in and drawn a clear line in the relationship between Oh Seo-young and Park Jin-hyuk, there would have been no reason for her to target him, and no reason for the two of them to growl at each other. Because he hadn’t, Park Jin-hyuk had honestly felt that Park Jun-man was indecisive.
“I was a bit surprised when you were the first to step up and say you would fight your uncle. I was even curious as to why you, who had only been on the receiving end, were suddenly taking the lead. And seeing the news today, I am very satisfied and pleased. Well? Are you satisfied as well?”
“My uncles might spend a long time in prison.”
“What does that matter? If they lost, they should naturally face the appropriate punishment.”
“I see.”
Park Jin-hyuk nodded and fell silent. He realized there was no point in discussing it further with him.
“That is why I intend to give you a gift.”
“A gift?”
“Yes. It’s only natural to be congratulated when you win.”
He seemed completely indifferent to the fact that his brothers were being arrested and that the company had suffered a great blow. It almost seemed as if he was relieved that it had ended there.
‘Come to think of it…’
Park Jun-man had mentioned having a similar experience with his own uncles. Yet Park Jin-hyuk realized he had never seen or even heard of anyone who would be his great-uncles. It occurred to him that Park Jun-man’s uncles might have met an end far more severe than Park Su-man’s.
But that thought didn’t last long. With an excited look, as if he were about to give a child a large toy, Park Jun-man snapped his fingers and ordered a document to be brought to him. When the folder was placed in his hands, he slid it toward Park Jin-hyuk.
“It’s a gift. Open it.”
He could have given it after dinner while they were having tea. The fact that he was presenting it in the middle of a meal suggested that the giver was even more excited than the receiver. Park Jin-hyuk looked at Park Jun-man, who was watching him with high expectations, and then turned his gaze to the document.
The content of the document wasn’t particularly long. However, the name of the party involved caught his attention.
Cheongwoo Chemical.
Park Jin-hyuk looked back up at Park Jun-man. Park Jun-man clasped his hands together and gave him a broad smile.
“It’s a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the sharing of patent rights between Cheongwoo Chemical and DS Chemical.”
“How is this a gift?”
“Because this will be the first step toward a merger between Cheongwoo Chemical and DS Chemical. That makes it a gift for you.”
The deal, which was thought to have collapsed along with the fall of Hanseong Group, had finally come full circle to bear fruit.
damn, it really looks like he’s going to marry that cheongwoo girl. unfortunate, but i see why.