By Zephyria 
“If things continue like this, Kwon Hyeon-oh’s position will disappear. But he’s not the kind of guy to just sit back and watch. So what will he do as a last resort?”
“Ah. I see.”
President Hwang nodded as if he understood. Jeon Ho-chang and Kim Woo-shik exchanged glances, as if they had an idea as well.
Not only them, but Tae-hwon also knew the answer.
“Blackmail.”
“Exactly.”
A cornered rat will bite.
“How much has he been paying in kickbacks all this time? Of course, he’d have a ledger recording it all.”
“He’s threatening to expose it and take everyone down with him. Or… was he aiming for that from the start, volunteering to be the money man?”
“He just wasn’t a foolish ambitious guy. He left a minimal fuse, at least.”
“So, he’s going to use the ledger to threaten them, saying if they don’t want to spend their twilight years in jail, they should behave themselves? Hmm…”
“As long as Kwon Hyeon-oh has the ledger, the old geezers can’t completely ignore him. At least not until they take the ledger from Kwon Hyeon-oh or Kwon Hyeon-oh dies.”
This was a very interesting situation. Since the ledger was their weakness, the old geezers were in checkmate.
The most interesting thing was that the old geezers couldn’t run to Kwon Tae-oh, the next chairman, and whine for him to get rid of the second son.
‘Because the ledger might end up in Kwon Tae-oh’s hands.’
Having Kwon Tae-oh seize the lifeline would be even more terrifying.
They had originally planned to act dignified behind the scenes and manipulate the young chairman as they pleased, but if the ledger fell into Kwon Tae-oh’s hands, the power dynamic would be completely reversed. The moment Kwon Tae-oh got his hands on the ledger, the old geezers would be trembling in fear, handing over all their accumulated wealth.
“Therefore.”
Kwon Rae-i picked up the piece of white porcelain he had placed on the table. It was a shard with a sharp, pointed edge. The eyes of those present gathered on his hand, and at that moment, Kwon Rae-i mercilessly threw the shard against the wall, shattering it.
“Kwon Hyeon-oh is bait.”
Crash!
With a loud crash, the white porcelain shard symbolizing Kwon Hyeon-oh shattered spectacularly. Kwon Rae-i stared at the broken pieces with murderous eyes, as if he would never forgive Kwon Hyeon-oh, who had hurt Woo Tae-hwon, even in death.
“We’ll use that bastard’s petty ambition to break open their money bags.”
Silence fell instantly.
Everyone closed their mouths and looked at Kwon Rae-i. Kwon Rae-i scanned the silent room one by one, then dusted off his hands and sat back in his chair. He picked up the largest remaining shard and tapped it on the table. He looked like a feline predator playing with a useful toy.
The round table remained silent until the teacups had cooled. Everyone seemed lost in thought, without a word. Then Jeon Ho-chang, as if taking the lead, raised his head and asked with a determined face.
“When?”
“Four days from now, at midnight.”
“The location…?”
“Don’t be so hasty. I’ll tell you on the day, of course.”
Kwon Rae-i scoffed as if he couldn’t believe it.
“No matter how desperate Kwon Hyeon-oh is, he’s still capable of taking care of security, Ho-chang.”
“Then is that internal information about four days from now also uncertain?”
“Who knows? It’s more certain than your Dick, at least.”
“That son of a bitch… Yeah, your Dick is big.”
Ho-chang grumbled loud enough for everyone to hear. He sighed deeply and glanced sideways at Tae-hwon. Then he briefly met Tae-hwon’s eyes.
It was just a fleeting glance, but Jeon Ho-chang immediately turned his head away. Then he reluctantly clicked his tongue. His eyes made him look like a slightly restless dog.
‘Hmm?’
What is it? Is he trying not to make eye contact?
Even as Tae-hwon watched, Jeon Ho-chang kept turning his gaze away and avoiding him. Puzzled, Tae-hwon kept staring, and Kwon Rae-i leaned closer, placing his hand under the table and taking Tae-hwon’s hand. He called out to Jeon Ho-chang in that state.
“Ho-chang.”
“What.”
“Jeon Ho-chang.”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s make sure we go our separate ways nicely.”
“…Okay.”
Then Jeon Ho-chang shut his mouth tightly. Then the sparks flew to the side. To Kim Woo-shik, who had been sitting silently without saying a word.
“Kim Woo-shik. How about you?”
“…”
“Are you upset about having your arm broken?”
Woo-shik glanced at President Hwang, then immediately shook his head.
“No, sir.”
“Huh?”
“No, sir.”
He seemed older than Kwon Rae-i, but he was using very polite language. Well, judging by the state of his arm, he had no choice. Kwon Rae-i openly badmouthed them to Tae-hwon, as if wanting the two of them to hear.
“See? Do you know why Jeun has always been pushed around by Gyeongjeong? As you can see, the Jeun guys have no spirit. Both of them are soft.”
Then Ho-chang raised his eyes, looking somewhat wronged.
He moved his lips as if he was about to shout something, but in the end, he couldn’t make any protest and seemed to be holding back. Eventually, President Hwang spoke up for Jeon Ho-chang.
“You talk so shamelessly. You’ve killed everyone who’s challenged you.”
“Oh, was that so?”
“Min-shik and Ju-tae. Seong-woon! That guy was really quick-witted.”
“Haha. Was he the guy who stabbed me in the back, or the guy who came in a mob? There wasn’t a single quick-witted guy among them.”
“Ugh… That’s enough. Just kill that temper of yours. Please.”
Oh, I wonder what happened to Min-shik, Ju-tae, and Seong-woon.
I want to know. No, actually, I don’t want to know.
Tae-hwon silently stared at Kwon Rae-i with troubled eyes. Perhaps Kwon Rae-i had been engaging in much more violent and cruel acts in the Jeun Faction than Woo Tae-hwon had imagined. Judging by this reaction, it seemed like there had been quite a bloodbath.
‘Well… since the illegitimate son of the Gyeongjeong Faction chairman had settled down in the Jeun Faction and become a freeloader, he must have been a thorn in their side.’
A nail that sticks out gets hammered down.
Moreover, Kwon Rae-i wasn’t just any nail, but a nail that stuck out very conspicuously. He must have looked almost like a giant blade.
His white hair and skin, easily distinguishable from afar due to his albinism, his beautiful appearance like a delicate sculpture, his background and bloodline, even his very young age. There were many, many reasons to pick a fight with him. Perhaps he had suffered even worse treatment than the bullying he had endured from Kwon Sang-oh and others at the Gyeongjeong Faction’s main house.
‘Yeah, it must have been tough.’
It couldn’t have been easy. To get to this position.
He had known about the path he had actually walked and how he had lived before, but he hadn’t recalled it in detail. Now that he was carefully thinking it over, the path seemed so brutal and terrible. How could a teenage boy survive alone in an organization where he had no allies? No matter how much he was a vessel of the dragon born from Chairman Kwon’s bloodline, it wouldn’t have been easy.
‘How lonely he must have been.’
Just as Woo Tae-hwon had been lonely, wouldn’t Kwon Rae-i have been the same? He wouldn’t have had anyone to trust and rely on, no one to open his heart to and share his feelings with. He would have had to endure and overcome everything on his own. Woo Tae-hwon knew that feeling all too well.
Tae-hwon tightly grasped Kwon Rae-i’s hand, which was holding his.
And he opened his mouth, exhaling a sigh.
“For someone who snuck in late at night to cut off my arm, you shouldn’t be telling anyone to kill their temper.”
Perhaps he was just saying something unnecessary right now.
He knew that this wasn’t Woo Tae-hwon’s stage to step onto. Tae-hwon would be an eternal outcast to them, a mere foreigner accepted only because of Kwon Rae-i’s stubbornness. A risk factor. Nothing more, nothing less. There was no need to open his mouth unnecessarily and attract glares in such a situation.
But…
“Isn’t it the fault of the one who attacked first in the first place? It’s only natural for the one who was attacked to retaliate… I don’t know if it’s something to be criticized.”
Still, he wanted to take Kwon Rae-i’s side.
Even if everyone else turned away. At least Woo Tae-hwon. He didn’t want to leave Kwon Rae-i lonely. So even if it stirred up trouble, he had to say what he had to say.
“In this world, the weak are the ones who are wrong.”
As Tae-hwon finished speaking firmly, everyone in the room showed surprised reactions. Jeon Ho-chang and Kim Woo-shik tensed up and seemed to be wary of him, President Hwang began to observe Tae-hwon to understand his intentions. And Kwon Rae-i, his expression brightened as if the first sunlight was shining on a frozen lake in the middle of winter.
“Tae-hwon.”
His eyes, which had been flashing with murderous intent just a moment ago, sparkled with emotion. They were shining smoothly like a glass of moonlight. Tae-hwon added a word in a blunt tone.
“…I overstepped.”