Chapter 92
“Yes, our cute Oseon pulled this stunt. Good thing I caught it halfway and cut it off, otherwise what would have happened if it reached that prosecutor? I heard he’s a complete hardhead who would even try to strip a fellow prosecutor of their position.”
Yoo Seongil shook his head, saying getting entangled with prosecutors was a headache.
“What should we do? Should I handle Oseon? Should I do it? Hmm? Shouldn’t you do it? This is your job. You need to clean up my messes well so I can pull you up too. Siwoon, what do you think?”
Seongil sneered with a disgusting, artificial smile.
“I never thought Yoo Oseon would go this far. If the Council of Elders found out he did this to you, they wouldn’t stand by. I don’t understand how Yoo Oseon dared to attempt this.”
For some reason, the Seongha family had difficulty producing offspring, and throughout generations, there were never more than five family members qualified to produce the seed of the “God Who Came by the Side Path.” This generation had only three. Since male bloodlines were rare, the Council of Elders strictly prohibited harming the breeders.
They were competitors to each other but also political enemies who had to be eliminated. Therefore, if anyone attempted to arbitrarily eliminate another, the Council would confiscate all herbs that “open spiritual eyes” and revoke breeding qualifications, making them ineligible for inheritance.
Seongil was all the more outraged that Oseon had attacked him despite such risks. He was frustrated that Oseon had beaten him to it when he himself had wanted to kill and dispose of him first.
“Why involve the Council of Elders? We can handle it ourselves. If just you and I keep quiet, nobody will know anyway. What, don’t you like that? It’s your job, but should I clean it up for you?”
Seongil moved exactly as Siwoon had predicted, without the slightest deviation. Things were flowing as Siwoon had intended, but when he just stared without answering, Seongil frowned with displeasure.
“Should I do it? Huh?”
“That’s not it, I just think we should follow procedure. Formally reporting to the Council of Elders…”
“Since when did you care so much about procedure? What, are you afraid of losing your breeder qualifications too? Someone told me you don’t care about that. Said you’re heterosexual and would never be aroused by men?”
“…”
Seongil must have already completed his investigation of Siwoon and monitored him for a long time. Siwoon was also one of the breeders. Seongil was examining every detail of Siwoon’s expression as if testing him. He stared so intensely that his eyeballs seemed about to pop out.
Until meeting Eunseong, Siwoon had no particular interest in being one of the few bloodline candidates and only grew red pills out of obligation. Before that, he truly was heterosexual who couldn’t understand feeling sexual attraction toward men.
“In the end, this is all natural law—you have to stand to do your business.”
Seongil made an explicit gesture of grabbing and shaking his genitals.
“If it’s awkward for you, should I do it?”
Seongil’s expression, which had been ambiguous and unreadable, was now clearly showing displeasure at Siwoon’s hesitation.
“No. I’ll handle it. I’m sorry for causing you concern.”
Seongil’s face became much more satisfied with Siwoon’s answer, promising to be an obedient hunting dog following his words.
“Good, let’s handle it between us. It’s better for you too if Oseon disappears. Your shares will increase as well. Although I will inherit the group, of course.”
Seongil said let’s do that and rose with the envelope containing documents of his wrongdoings. He moved a large frame hanging on the wall, revealing a safe. Seongil opened the safe with his fingerprint and casually tossed the envelope inside.
“But what I still don’t understand is that Oseon isn’t usually this well-informed. Where did all this come from?”
“Since these are all new to me too, I’m not sure. Should I look into it?”
“I’ve already done that.”
Siwoon, who had been pretending not to know despite being the one behind it all, flinched involuntarily at Seongil’s words. He slowly raised his gaze to look at Seongil’s back as he turned from the safe. However, a completely unexpected name came from his mouth, contrary to Siwoon’s expectations.
“While you’re taking care of things, handle that Manpo or whatever too. That monk bastard is so greedy for money, it’s unsettling. I think he’s the source.”
“…”
“I’m annoyed because I wasted money and time barking up the wrong tree because of that Manpo Sanpo monk. I ended up finding my property in a completely different place.”
“…Yes, I understand.”
Siwoon rose without touching the teacup that was still faintly steaming. As he was about to bow and leave, Seongil hung the frame back on the wall and called him to stop.
“Siwoon.”
“Yes.”
Siwoon turned toward him. Seongil’s face, which had been irritated until now, wore the brightest smile. As if eager to boast to Siwoon, he spoke impatiently.
“Do you know how it feels to meet your wife?”
“…Pardon?”
“I’m asking how it feels to meet your wife, you dense fellow.”
“…No. I don’t know.”
Siwoon was a non-believer who didn’t believe in the prophecy passed down through generations in the family, and they knew well that he was actually disgusted by everything the Chairman Yoo’s family and the Council of Elders did, only reluctantly obeying. They trusted him more because of this fact. There were non-believers who couldn’t believe and remained doubtful no matter how much they were made to believe, and Siwoon was one of them. Siwoon was the type who wouldn’t believe in the “Great Gap” even if shown one right in front of him, and would secretly scoff.
“Let me tell you how it feels. You feel full even without eating.”
“…”
“We’re always empty inside. Because we might end our lives without ever meeting our mate.”
“…”
“But when you meet your wife, that emptiness that could never be filled, it gets filled here, completely filled, that’s how it feels.”
“…”
“You know the word ‘paradise,’ right?”
“…”
“Paradise is right here. Heaven is right here. That’s what a wife feels like. Like heaven.”
Seongil was smiling innocently. Siwoon felt a chill. The sensation of goosebumps rising clearly on the surface of his arms was eerie. Seongil had said he discovered the “Great Gap” and now he truly believed it.
Chairman Yoo was trying to deceive even his foolish son and make a fake into something real. The real “Great Gap” was in Siwoon’s house, in his fortress-like home, and his name was Seo Eunseong.
“So I think I’d be really angry if someone ruined this. Let’s do well, shall we? I really want to have beautiful children with my wife and live happily.”
“I’ll be going now.”
Siwoon turned away after a brief farewell, as if he didn’t want to hear any more of these absurd delusions. Although he had been carrying out the work of betraying him for a very long time, his heart suddenly raced as if he hadn’t been aware of it.
∞ ∞ ∞
Director Nam, who had been waiting for Siwoon at the company, got up and hurried over when he saw him enter through the door. He quickly took the coat Siwoon was removing, hung it on a rack, and asked.
“Why did he call you? I heard Chairman Yoo didn’t even come to work today. Was it Senior Managing Director Seongil who called?”
“It seems Seongil is acting in the chairman’s place now. The interior décor has even changed.”
“He hasn’t caught on to anything, has he?”
“He has no idea it was my doing. It went according to plan. I expected that, but still, what can I say…”
Siwoon sat down at his desk. He started to talk about the emotions he felt watching Seongil move according to his plan, but stopped.
May you be blessed for that simplicity alone.
Before, he had scoffed at Seongil’s blind faith in the “Great Gap,” wondering how anyone could believe in that prophecy and act accordingly, unable to distinguish whether it was naivety or stupidity. Now he was in no position to laugh at him. After meeting Eunseong, he understood Seongil’s obsessive emotions. Siwoon could relate to that obsession more than anyone.
As Seongil said, Siwoon had always felt empty. He didn’t even know where that emptiness, which couldn’t be filled no matter what he did, originated from. He had thought it might be due to the constitutional depression he’d had since birth. Or perhaps it was due to self-loathing from being born into a family pursuing such unrealistic things, unable to live as a normal person pursuing the studies and ideals he wanted. But that wasn’t it.
The anxiety of possibly ending life without ever meeting a mate, and the emptiness of being eternally alone.
As someone who didn’t believe in the Great Gap, he had unconsciously known that he couldn’t meet his companion in his lifetime. That was the root cause of the emptiness he felt.
“We’re always empty inside. Because we might end our lives without ever meeting our mate.”
