Yoon Jeong-ho glared, caught between disbelief and exasperation, then forced a smile.
“I heard it’s nearly complete, and now you suddenly want to turn a knife on the Association? Just like that?”
Though his expression had soured at Seo Won’s bombshell statement, Jeong-ho still muttered in disbelief, as if trying to convince himself otherwise.
“More than anything, the premise doesn’t make sense. Are you really going to die this year? And by suicide, no less.”
“Why? Do I look like I’ll be doing just fine?”
That was exactly why Yoon Jeong-ho couldn’t bring himself to believe it so easily.
Could someone speak so calmly while assuming they’d die? Seo Won, who had done whatever it took just to survive?
‘No way. He’s just talking shit.’
Jeong-ho scoffed loud enough to be heard.
His composure only lasted a moment—anxiety began to creep in, whether he liked it or not.
Cha Han-gyeom.
He could drive Seo Won to “suicide.”
Completely, and without regard for Seo Won’s emotions or will.
If Cha Han-gyeom actually followed through with what he had suggested and pushed Seo Won to take his own life—and the product commissioned by the Association wasn’t finished by the time Seo Won died?
“Hoo… fuck.”
The sudden realization that his own neck might be on the line made it impossible to hold back the curse.
Seo Won seemed to enjoy the sight of Yoon Jeong-ho unraveling. He snuffed out his cigarette in the ashtray and gave a faint smirk.
“You were all too eager to use Cha Han-gyeom’s ability to get me to kill myself, and now that I actually say I’m going to die, you’re the one getting cold feet?”
Jeong-ho flinched, then let out a hollow, lifeless chuckle.
“You knew everything? No way Cha Han-gyeom told you.”
He didn’t doubt Han-gyeom. When they were with Ha Tae-soo and Seo Won had brought up Song Yeon-woo, Cha Han-gyeom’s eyes had clearly burned with revenge and murderous intent.
Maybe Seo Won didn’t know all the details, but it was clear he had done his own digging. Things Jeong-ho didn’t know. Maybe even more.
Either way, it wasn’t something Jeong-ho was particularly thrilled about.
“Cold feet, my ass. Like hell someone who’s figured all that out is going to die so easily.”
Now that Seo Won knew Jeong-ho had been trying to use Cha Han-gyeom to push him to suicide, there was no way he’d fall for it.
But then came an answer he hadn’t expected—sharp and immediate.
“I will die.”
“…What?”
For a moment, Jeong-ho wondered if he’d misheard. His eyes widened.
Seo Won’s face remained cold, yet calm—unshaken.
As if to make clear he wasn’t joking, Seo Won continued in the same composed tone.
“When I die, Kangsan Group is yours. Whether you want to run it like a proper conglomerate head or break it up and sell it for scraps—do whatever you want.”
“Don’t talk shit.”
The crude words spat from Jeong-ho’s mouth denied Seo Won’s statement.
“You’re saying you’re giving up Kangsan Group that easily? Weren’t you the one who fought tooth and nail to build it up after your grandfather?”
“I was. But now, there’s no reason to anymore.”
The only reason Seo Won had ever tried to help grow Kangsan Group was purely for his own survival—nothing more, nothing less.
Chairman Seo, who came to despise Ability Users because his wife abandoned their family for a Guide, had allowed Seo Won into the mansion for one reason alone.
Because he was the last of the bloodline.
The Chairman had hoped that the other relatives entering and leaving the house would devour Seo Won, so that whoever lasted the longest could be named the rightful heir. That was how cold he had been.
A clueless child had been thrown into a den of countless murderous intents.
Seo Won only learned the full truth much later. Chairman Seo had dispersed “opportunities” among the bloodline under the pretense of fairness and propriety. If not for that, the ignorant child would’ve died on the very first day he set foot in the mansion.
Without knowing anything, Seo Won endured a relentless barrage of hostility, clawing to survive.
Every time he made it past a crisis, someone would sigh in frustration, and someone else would cheer at still having a chance.
He’d wanted so desperately to live that he once clung to Chairman Seo and asked:
“What do I need to do to survive?”
The Chairman had answered him with eyes as cold as if he were looking at a worm.
“Get stronger.”
Simple, yet undeniably correct.
And because he knew that “strength” wasn’t just brute force or abilities, Seo Won set his sights on making Kangsan Group itself his weapon.
That was how he ended up here.
Thanks to Seo Won, both the areas Kangsan Group had wanted to expand into and the ones it hadn’t dared touch had seen significant success. Many ventures had flourished thanks to the advice and precise suggestions Seo Won had offered while assisting the Chairman. Among them, the secondary battery business that Seo Won had spearheaded alone had grown so large that it now threatened to overshadow Kangsan Group’s core operations.
Seo Won was the biggest contributor to the group after the Chairman himself.
No one could deny that.
Which is why none of it made sense.
That he’d even consider throwing all that away and dying.
Seo Won stared silently at the dumbstruck Jeong-ho, then rose to his feet. As his height rose, Jeong-ho instinctively looked up to meet his gaze.
“If you want to survive, cooperate with me. If you do that, you can have Kangsan Group or whatever spoils you want—I’ll hand them over as much as you like.”
Seo Won extended his hand toward Jeong-ho, offering a handshake.
“So? What’ll it be?”
Jeong-ho stared at the cold hand held out to him.
He knew exactly what would happen if he took it. And he could more or less guess what would happen if he didn’t.
“Ha… it’s always like this, isn’t it.”
Yoon Jeong-ho let out a low chuckle as he stood up.
“Every time I think I might finally get to grab you by the throat, it always ends up with my hair in your hands.”
He sighed the words like a breath and took Seo Won’s outstretched hand, as if to seal the deal.
“I’m about to die here. Surviving comes first, right?”
Like anyone else, Yoon Jeong-ho didn’t exactly have a fondness for death.
He wanted to live.
That was all there was to it.
Before he entered Chairman Seo’s household, after he entered it, and even now.
He only ever chose what seemed like the best option for survival at any given moment.
“Fine, I’ll cooperate.”
Once Seo Won was dead, Chairman Seo would soon follow and turn to ash. With both gone, there’d be no one left to protect him from the Association.
And that would mean certain death.
‘No way I’m going out like a dog.’
Gritting his teeth, Jeong-ho stared at Seo Won.
That’s when Seo Won suddenly tightened his grip around Jeong-ho’s hand. Jeong-ho was strong, but his strength was nothing compared to Seo Won’s. His brow furrowed instinctively from the pressure.
Just as he was about to ask what the hell?, he caught a flash of something terrifying in Seo Won’s cold, blue eyes.
“That aside…”
Seo Won’s voice carried an icy chill.
“You still need to pay for goading Cha Han-gyeom.”
“What the—?!”
A sickening crack sounded from their clasped hands—like bone grinding against bone.
“I’ll let it slide with just one arm today.”
The look in Seo Won’s eyes as he stared down at Jeong-ho was colder than ever before.
“Remember this, Yoon Jeong-ho.”
Pain twisted Jeong-ho’s face into a grimace, fear creeping into his eyes.
“Next time, I’ll gouge out your eyes so you can’t even look at Cha Han-gyeom.”
***
Yoon Jeong-ho refused treatment for his arm, which had not only broken but been crushed beyond recognition.
Like someone desperate to escape the mansion, he teleported away with that ruined arm. By now, he was probably holed up in some VIP suite at a major hospital where no stray words could leak out.
After sending Jeong-ho away, Seo Won stood for a moment, staring out the window that had grown dark without him noticing, then quietly made his way to the bedroom.
He was worried about Han-gyeom’s condition. Though the blackout had been caused by excessive Guiding and rough, stamina-draining sex, he still wanted to make sure there were no other complications.
But what concerned him the most was Han-gyeom’s mental state.
If the psychological trauma ran deep, another seizure or panic attack could follow. He might even end up feverish and hallucinating again, just like last time.
And yet, a part of Seo Won couldn’t understand why Han-gyeom was so shaken in the first place.
It was Kang Woo-chan who had driven the final nail in.
Even before that, Cha Han-gyeom had likely already believed that Seo Won was the root of it all. Woo-chan’s report had merely confirmed what he had already suspected was true.
Which meant there was no reason for him to be this mentally shaken.
As he walked down the hallway toward the bedroom, Seo Won let slip a faint smile—one no one would see.
‘Now you’re giving yourself hope.’
That maybe Han-gyeom had wanted Seo Won not to be the culprit. That maybe, just maybe, he’d cared enough to be hurt by the truth…
Seo Won was afraid of himself—afraid of thinking such presumptuous things.
Even when he knew better.
Swallowing the bitterness swirling in his mouth, Seo Won stopped in front of the bedroom door.
He passed by Ah-young, who was quietly watching from the shadows, and stepped inside. He assumed Han-gyeom would still be asleep, so he didn’t bother turning on the lights before closing the door behind him.
That’s when a black shadow lunged out from beside the door.
A sharp sting struck his arm.
Seo Won flinched from the sudden pain but didn’t dodge or fight back.
“Haa… haa…”
In the darkness, ragged breathing echoed.
The shadow, like a cat with its fur on end, pointed a blade at him, radiating hostility.
Seo Won reached out and gently grabbed the figure’s trembling wrist. He pulled it toward himself with a soft but steady touch.
“You need to aim better.”
Guiding the tip of the blade to his own throat, Seo Won continued in a calm voice.
“Now, draw it diagonally. If your grip’s too weak, use both hands. If that doesn’t do it, I’ll line it up again—cut as many times as you need.”
His face was nearly impossible to make out in the dark, but even then, Seo Won offered the other person a gentle smile.
“You can do it, Han-gyeom.”
Han-gyeom’s breathing, with the blade still at Seo Won’s throat, grew even more ragged.
