By Zephyria 
Kwon Rae-i’s proposal was simple.
He would leave Gyeongjeong immediately, never return to this world again, and cut ties with the Jeun Faction as of this moment. And as proof, he would hand over the business and list of organization members that Kwon Rae-i had built, as well as the information about Kwon Tae-oh and Kwon Sang-oh that he had obtained through his subordinates planted in Gyeongjeong.
Kwon Tae-oh couldn’t help but be tempted.
He was suspicious, but Kwon Rae-i seemed to be really giving up everything, so he thought it was a trap. Otherwise, how could he hand over everything he had worked so hard to achieve? He also watched President Hwang of the Jeun Faction, but President Hwang seemed quite embarrassed. He heard reports that he had broken up with Kwon Rae-i and was raging, and it seemed that he was really planning to leave this world completely.
‘But I wasn’t relieved…’
It couldn’t be helped. Right now, it was right to secure the vacant Chairman position and take control of Gyeongjeong. To do that, he had to find Woo Tae-hwon first and take care of him for sure. Considering the severity of the aftermath, Kwon Rae-i was also Kwon Rae-i, but in the current situation, Woo Tae-hwon was the most dangerous existence to Kwon Tae-oh.
It would be funny to hold on to Kwon Rae-i when he said he would leave on his own. But if he made a move first and the guy went crazy and tried to kill him, it would be difficult to deal with. First, he would find Woo Tae-hwon, then get rid of his second and third brothers, and then finally eliminate Kwon Rae-i.
Of course, he had no intention of letting him live until the end. He just finished it off in a plausible way, saying that he was leaving Gyeongjeong, so go ahead and become independent, you’re an adult, you’re old enough. But.
‘In the end, this guy is revealing his claws first.’
How dare he kill Kwon Sang-oh?
Even though he knew it was bait to catch Kwon Hyeon-oh?
He was furious that he had read his mind, but he was even more annoyed by his attitude, as if he knew all about the succession struggle in Gyeongjeong. He said he had given up everything, but he suspected that he was still planting his subordinates everywhere and making them act as spies.
And most of all, what made him most disgusted was that his plans were clearly read by Kwon Rae-i, but he couldn’t read Kwon Rae-i’s inner thoughts at all.
‘What on earth is he up to?’
Daring to covet the Chairman position was just the sorrow of a concubine’s son, he wanted to be recognized by his father, he could understand it with that much motivation, but suddenly killing Kwon Sang-oh? And even at this point? Why take the risk?
‘He must have broken up with President Hwang of Jeun by now. He doesn’t have anything else to rely on.’
He really didn’t know what he was up to.
The face of his deceased father flickered in his mind. The stubborn old man, his unwavering demeanor and authority even in old age were truly impressive.
That day, the words he had heard when he was summoned by his father seemed to echo in his ears again.
Not powerful, but stable.
That was his father’s assessment of him. A more cruel consolation than the blade of a guillotine.
That sense of inferiority was an indescribable hellfire.
That’s why Kwon Tae-oh had been burning ever since that day. His innate nature was cold and calculating, so he always stepped back and focused on strategy, but when Kwon Rae-i was involved, the plans became meaningless. Perhaps that was his father’s intention.
He wanted to warn him that if he was too thoughtful and only waited for the right time, he would be swallowed up by Kwon Rae-i…
‘I can’t stay still this time.’
Kwon Tae-oh, gritting his teeth and sweeping back his black hair, dropped his displeased gaze to the floor. There, a broken smartphone was lying around. He didn’t want to, but he couldn’t afford to be picky right now.
Kwon Rae-i had declared war. And he had to face it.
Kwon Tae-oh crossed the room to the fallen smartphone, bent down, and picked it up. When he turned it on again, it seemed that the screen wasn’t completely broken, and he could still use it even though it was flickering. Kwon Tae-oh slowly took a breath full of anger and coldly shone his black eyes.
Then, he found his brother in the address book and called him.
“Hey, Hyeon-oh. It’s your brother. Let’s meet up and talk for a while.”
***
After that, Kwon Rae-i took Tae-hwon to the bed, laid him down, and released the Ankle shackles. He even called Han-seon to treat him. Kwon Rae-i’s injuries were more severe than Tae-hwon’s. After removing all the glass shards and finishing the treatment, another subordinate had come and cleaned up the first floor living room.
As if nothing had happened from the beginning, the corpse had disappeared and the bloodstains had been wiped clean. Perhaps because they had been wiped off before they dried, it was just clean. The smell of blood in the air had also disappeared, and the shards and broken cabinets scattered in the living room had been removed as if they had never been there.
Tae-hwon didn’t ask where Kwon Sang-oh had gone, the disappeared corpse.
He just washed off the blood, changed his clothes, and lay down on the bed as usual. Kwon Rae-i, who was lying down hugging Tae-hwon tightly, stuck close to him as always. The room was quiet and the lights were bright. The north wind was blowing outside the window and cold air was seeping in, but it was warm because they were lying in the same bed, sharing each other’s body temperature under the thick blanket.
The blanket was cozy and his slow breathing calmed Tae-hwon down.
He must have been surprised all along.
He didn’t want to admit it, but it was true. Tae-hwon was somewhat panicked, so he accepted his efforts to stay calm.
He had seen someone get shot and killed in front of his eyes. Moreover, it was someone Tae-hwon knew, and the person who shot him was Kwon Rae-i. There was no way he could maintain his composure in that situation. The more he thought about it, the more Tae-hwon was upset and struggling. Kwon Rae-i seemed to know that, so he just hugged Tae-hwon and stroked his back. He didn’t grope or try to take off his clothes.
“It was a long time ago. When I was still short and foolish. When I didn’t know how to be meticulous.”
After some time, Kwon Rae-i began to speak in a low voice. His low and sweet voice immediately captivated Tae-hwon, and Tae-hwon was instantly immersed in his story.
“After Tae-hwon left me, I was lonely for a long time. I was alone. I knew that Tae-hwon was succeeding and rising in the main house, but I couldn’t purely rejoice because of what a young heart is. I guess I wanted Tae-hwon to fall with me to the bottom of Gyeongjeong, the most trampled place. With that kind of heart, I naturally thought of Tae-hwon even after several years. Then… I met Hwang Jin-soo, the president of the Jeun Faction.”
“…Are you talking about President Hwang? The one who has a long-standing bad relationship with Chairman Kwon?”
“Yes, that Hwang Jin-soo. He was once my father’s close friend, but they had a big fight decades ago and broke up. Anyway, President Hwang didn’t have a son.”
Hwang Jin-soo of the Jeun Faction. Tae-hwon knew that name too.
He was good at business, but compared to Chairman Kwon Jung-il of the Gyeongjeong Faction, who seized power with violence and prestige regardless of right or wrong, he had a mild temperament. Of course, even if an organization is mild, it’s still an organization, but he was said to only manage the lending and construction businesses that had been passed down for generations without walking the path of hegemony.
“And I didn’t have a father. I had a biological father, but he was the chairman of the Gyeongjeong Faction and the father of my brothers, not my father.”
“Yes, young master.”
“I don’t know what kind of courage I had, but I remembered the story of Tae-hwon coming to Gyeongjeong and kneeling down. So, when I was about fourteen, I went to Hwang Jin-soo alone. To the Jeun Faction base.”
“Oh my god. They wouldn’t have let you in at that young age.”
“Well, there were twists and turns, but it’s all in the past. I was so out of my mind that I ended up getting in touch. I stabbed a few guys who were blocking me, broke into the building and stabbed a few more, made a mess, anyway, that’s how I was able to meet President Hwang.”
“What did you stab… No, never mind. Please continue.”
“Haha, do you know what President Hwang did when he saw me? He told my father. He scolded him as if he were a thirty-year friend, even though they had a big fight and broke up. I was dumbfounded. I thought they were mortal enemies.”