24.
“No, how am I supposed to do this?”
Choi Minchul grumbled as he shuffled through documents. Looking at the routes taken by the housekeeper working at Choi Mujin’s house, there were hardly any places where he could make contact. Just the mart or the hospital at best.
Since the mart was right next to where Director Choi lived, which made him uneasy, the only place left was the hospital where the grandmother was hospitalized. So he had been camping out at the hospital afterward, but the results weren’t very good. This was because he saw with his own eyes that Park Dongsu was sticking close to Lee Haseo.
“Wow, Director Choi has assigned Park Dongsu to him?”
Park Dongsu was Choi Mujin’s closest aide. He was a man who maintained his loyalty even when Choi Mujin’s position was in danger due to problems at Isaac Finance. It was obvious that bribing or threatening him wouldn’t work.
That left only one option. He had to make contact through someone else that Haseo might know. And fortunately, Choi Minchul knew just the right person for that.
A young man who wore a name tag saying “Sion” at the store. He easily went on second rounds and clung to anyone, but looking deeper, he was surprisingly romantic at heart. Usually, he kept his mouth shut like a clam, but when you got him properly drunk, he would talk endlessly about Choi Mujin.
Thanks to that, Choi Minchul inadvertently learned about Sion’s feelings. At first, he found it annoying, but later he used it to his advantage in various ways. Not knowing about their relationship, Sion initially moved along quite well with his plans. By the time he seemed to have figured out the situation after becoming familiar with the store, it was already too late.
In the meantime, Choi Minchul had caught several of Sion’s weaknesses.
“Ah, why are you calling me in the middle of the day?”
Choi Minchul was satisfied with how Sion grumbled yet cautiously rolled his eyes. There was something you learn after manipulating people to a certain extent: how much the other person is submitting to you. He smiled and put his arm around Sion’s shoulder.
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“You know that kid, what’s his name, Lee Haseo?”
“Lee Haseo? I don’t know him.”
“Ah, maybe you don’t know him by that name. That guy called Deokbae or something. The one who looked a lot like you.”
“If it’s him, I know him. But why?”
Choi Minchul turned his body to face Sion directly. At least he had the basic guts to stand his ground without avoiding eye contact.
“I need you to meet him.”
“…And what should I do when I meet him?”
“Persuasion is good, intimidation is good too. Do whatever you want, just bring him to our side.”
“Me? How can I do something like that!”
“I believe in you. You can do it. I’ll give you the information.”
The documents he had received earlier from Ryu Jiho were passed on to Sion.
“Let’s see. The money is about 300 million won. Say you can give up to 300 million won.”
“You want me to offer 300 million won to persuade this kid?”
Sion’s expression turned vicious. All this time, he’d been dragged around by Choi Minchul without ever seeing that kind of money. What’s the difference between that kid and me? Without realizing it, he gritted his teeth.
“He’s not just any kid. Look. He’s living with Director Choi now, right? And who’s my friend? The son of Toho Construction. This is all money being thrown out because it’s necessary. And you can always seduce him first and then take the money back later.”
A thick hand patted Sion’s head as he lowered it to hide his expression.
“I know exactly what you’re thinking. Let’s not do anything foolish, okay? Just do as you’re told and you live well like this. If you were just serving at the store, could you be wearing what you’re wearing now? Designer brands.”
Choi Minchul tapped the jacket Sion was wearing. Then he similarly touched his pants and watch.
“Designer brands, designer brands. Isn’t this all thanks to me?”
Even when he made him do trashy things, he always gave proper compensation. That’s why Sion, despite being dragged around by his weaknesses, couldn’t think of breaking free.
“Let’s do well, okay?”
Sion reluctantly nodded.
“I’ll give you two weeks, to be generous. If you finish quickly, there’s a bonus too, so fighting!”
With those words, Choi Minchul left Sion behind. After standing blankly for a while, Sion finally looked down at the documents that Choi Minchul had pressed against his chest.
* * *
Haseo was sitting quietly by his grandmother’s side, basking in the sunlight coming through the window. Until just now, he had been excitedly telling his grandmother about everything that had happened, but now he had finally quieted down. Thanks to Choi Mujin’s consideration, he could meet his grandmother more often and take proper care of her. How could he ever repay this kindness?
With such thoughts, he gently caressed his grandmother’s wrinkled hand. After spending time like that, he stood up when it was time to prepare dinner. Choi Mujin had said that he didn’t need to prepare meals on days when he visited his grandmother, but Haseo wanted to do it.
For someone like him who had nothing, this was all he could do.
“Grandmother, I’ll come again.”
After saying that, he got up and walked out the door, and Park Dongsu rose from his chair.
“You could have stayed longer.”
“It’s okay. I’ll come again.”
Saying that with a smile, Haseo took the elevator down with Park Dongsu. As they were about to leave through the crowded area, someone approached Haseo and called out.
“Deokbae, Deokbae!”
At first, he didn’t even know he was being called. Deokbae was an alias he only used at the store, and even then, not many people called him that. So it took him a moment to realize.
“Yes?”
When he finally turned around, he saw a familiar face approaching with small steps. The pretty young man with brown permed hair was someone Haseo knew.
“Sion.”
“So you remember my name?”
How could I forget after the way you acted last time? When Haseo sighed softly, Park Dongsu stepped between them and asked.
“Do you know each other?”
“Yes. I know him, but…”
“If you don’t want to meet him, we can just go.”
When Park Dongsu said that, Sion hastily blurted out.
“No, wait! I have something to say! I won’t act like last time, so could you please listen?”
“What do you want to say?”
“It’s not something I can say here.”
The three grown men standing like this was drawing people’s attention. It certainly seemed difficult to continue the conversation here.
“Then let’s move somewhere else.”
The place they moved to was the parking lot.
“There’s a café inside too.”
“We’re not on coffee-sharing terms, are we?”
When Haseo spoke bluntly, the corners of Sion’s eyes drooped.
“I know I was wrong back then. I’ll apologize now.”
“I accept your apology.”
Haseo took out his phone to check the time. If he delayed any longer, he wouldn’t be able to make what he had been planning for today.
“Is that all? I’ll be going now.”
As he was about to turn around saying that, Sion grabbed Haseo’s clothes.
“No, we’re not finished yet. Can’t you give me a little more time?”
“How much is ‘a little’?”
“10 minutes! Or even 5 minutes. This is important for you too.”
He was making such a pitiful expression that it was hard to completely ignore him.
“Go ahead and speak.”
“Before that, can you ask your bodyguard to step aside? This isn’t something I want others to hear. It’s about Cheolsu.”
Haseo looked back at Park Dongsu with a troubled expression. He stared at Sion stiffly before nodding.
“5 minutes should be fine.”
Then he stepped away on his own. Park Dongsu walked with long strides and positioned himself where he could still see Haseo. After confirming his position, Sion smiled with a strange expression.
“Deokbae. No, Lee Haseo.”
His voice was low, not loud enough to reach where Park Dongsu was standing. But the words were definitely audible to Haseo.
“I heard you’re living at Director Choi’s house now?”
He said he would talk about Cheolsu, but what came out of Sion’s mouth was completely different.
“So?”
“Do you think Director Choi will like you?”
“No.”
When Haseo answered firmly, Sion, who was about to continue, opened his eyes wide.
“He has someone else he likes. So how could he like me?”
“That may be true, but people usually still have hope, don’t they?”
“You can only hope when there’s something worth hoping for.”
“Hmm.”
“Is that all you wanted to say?”
“No, no. Actually, what I was going to say wasn’t this.”
Sion twirled his finger in his hair and sighed.
“To tell the truth, there have been people like you before. I was one, and others too. But in the end, we all just learned that Director Choi has someone else he likes, and he won’t change his heart. Even if he treats you well now, who knows when he might change his mind.”
“And?”
“So people like us should prepare for such times, shouldn’t we?”
Sion naturally grouped Haseo with himself using “us.”
“It would be terrible to be thrown out without a penny. Especially for you.”
“…I’ve been wondering, where did you get my information from?”
“There are many sources. Director Choi has a lot of enemies, you know.”
So he was saying that one of Choi Mujin’s enemies had sent Sion. Haseo found it both fascinating and absurd that such things actually happened in real life.
“Didn’t you say you liked Director Choi?”
“I do like him. But he’s not going to be mine anyway, right? And I have my circumstances too. You’ll soon have circumstances of your own.”
“Me too?”
“Yes, since it’s come to this, I’ll tell you simply. I’ll give you 300 million won to betray Director Choi.”
At Sion’s words, Haseo scoffed.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
