By Zephyria 
Clatter, bang!
The door was torn off along with the locking device and swung open.
‘Jackpot.’
Tae-hwon, who had looked inside, was certain of victory.
Kwon Hyeon-oh was standing in the center, and the five elders were sitting around a wooden round table. They glared at Kwon Rae-i and Woo Tae-hwon, who had stormed into the room, with fierce eyes.
“……”
However, they couldn’t respond to the sudden attack. Kwon Rae-i immediately aimed his gun at Kwon Hyeon-oh’s head.
“Tae-hwon. Please.”
“Got it.”
Following the instructions, Woo Tae-hwon moved his steps. He went deeper into the room and found the traces they had hastily hidden. He was able to easily find several thick files and black bags by opening the closed shelves.
Tae-hwon, who had opened the file, nodded.
“This is it.”
“What about the bags?”
“I’ll check.”
Tae-hwon opened the suitcase. Inside, there were stacks of crisp 50,000 won bills.
It was today.
It was the day Kwon Hyeon-oh was selling the ledger to the five elders.
Kwon Rae-i and Woo Tae-hwon had caught them in the act.
‘Kwon Hyeon-oh must have judged that he couldn’t push out Kwon Tae-oh right away. Realistically, his momentum has declined.’
Then, the only method he could choose was to collect money using the ledger.
He would extort money by threatening the five elders of the Gyeongjeong Faction, and use that as a foundation to plan his comeback. The only method of persuasion Kwon Hyeon-oh knew was ‘providing money.’
‘He must have thought that if he had that much money, his subordinates who had gone over to Kwon Tae-oh, as well as Kwon Tae-oh’s subordinates, would pledge their loyalty to him.’
But the result is as you can see.
Kwon Rae-i, having clearly read Kwon Hyeon-oh’s thoughts, appeared like a ghost at the very moment his grand ambition was about to be realized, overturning him. At the peak of his inflated expectations, when he was arrogant enough to believe everything was going his way, he was brought crashing down.
Moreover, what Kwon Rae-i gained wasn’t just Kwon Hyeon-oh’s frustration.
He tilted his handsome face and let out a laugh.
“Second Brother. Esteemed elders. Thanks to you, I’m taking away a nice gift. I’ll make good use of this dirty ledger and the slush fund.”
Now, all of that had fallen into Kwon Rae-i’s grasp.
“You, you little bastard…!”
Kwon Hyeon-oh gnashed his teeth, his eyes bulging with rage. His bloodshot eyes were wide as if they would tear.
“Kwon Rae-i, you son of a bitch! How, how did you find out about this place, and even Woo Tae-hwon…!”
His face, still half-covered in bandages, was distorted so terribly it was pitiful to see. He was on the verge of a seizure. However, he couldn’t rashly make a move.
Because of the gunshots that had been coming from outside.
Knowing that the pistol in Kwon Rae-i’s hand was real, he couldn’t even twitch like a scared rat in front of that gun barrel.
Of course, Kwon Hyeon-oh wasn’t the only one trembling with humiliation.
The five elders of the Gyeongjeong Faction, having been backstabbed by the illegitimate son, Chairman Kwon’s youngest son, were in the same boat.
They were all about to have everything they had taken from them right where they sat. The huge sum of cash they had brought in exchange for the ledger was about to fall into the hands of Kwon Rae-i and Woo Tae-hwon right before their eyes. Even the ledger that had been the source of the blackmail!
Now that the ledger was in Kwon Rae-i’s hands, the five elders had no choice but to listen to Kwon Rae-i, whether they lived or died. They were no different from dogs on a leash.
“Ahem…”
How could this young one…
‘Could it be that he abandoned his own father and went under Woo Tae-hwon?’
“Is that so. Managing Director Woo… Is this all your doing?”
“Killing Chairman Kwon and then luring his son, such an outrageous act. Tsk tsk.”
“The Chairman’s vengeful spirit will not leave this world. It will return to you as a vengeful ghost!”
The elders sitting around the round table poured out curses. To them, it seemed as if Woo Tae-hwon, a traitor to the Gyeongjeong Faction, had attacked, using the young Kwon Rae-i as a front.
Woo Tae-hwon was behind everything, and this was his attempt to devour the Gyeongjeong Faction with his ambition.
“Puh-ha, I suppose it might look that way for now.”
Kwon Rae-i tilted the gun barrel. As if counting their heads while tilting it, he suddenly fired the pistol at one of the balding, senile elders. The entire process, from aiming to firing, took less than a second.
Taang-!
The gun barrel roared. Immediately afterward, a fountain of blood splattered.
The blood sprayed in a fan shape, splattering on the elders at the round table and Kwon Hyeon-oh, who was standing. The elder who had been shot collapsed to the floor. There was a thud, and a pool of blood began to form around him.
A hole had been drilled precisely in the center of his forehead.
“Elder Park is a petty man with the guts of a soy sauce dish. He also has a loose tongue and carries tales here and there, yes?”
Even after killing one of the elders who had been treated with the most respect in the Gyeongjeong Faction after the Chairman, Kwon Rae-i chuckled nonchalantly. The expressions of the five elders, no, the four elders who remained, hardened.
“W-Wait a…”
Tang!
Before anyone could even finish speaking, another gunshot rang out.
This time, it was the white-haired, gaunt old man sitting to Kwon Hyeon-oh’s right who collapsed. He, too, who had been leaning on a fancy gold cane, fell while spraying blood.
“Elder Kim, unfortunately, his judgment has become quite clouded. To think that someone who once commanded respect in his younger days… Tsk, no one can beat the passage of time, I suppose.”
“…!”
The complexions of those who remained turned pale.
The elders tightly shut their mouths and busily rolled their eyes, trying to grasp the situation, while Kwon Hyeon-oh trembled, losing his mind.
“S-Stop it.”
Kwon Hyeon-oh, clenching his teeth so hard he felt like they would break, raised both hands and declared his defeat.
He was in a panic.
However, he was able to gain one clear realization.
Once again, Kwon Hyeon-oh chose to beg for his life in the end.
“But, Kwon Rae-i. Rae-i-ah. We still have brotherly affection, don’t we? You and I share the same blood… While we’re sitting here fighting, Kwon Tae-oh is planning to take over the entire Gyeongjeong Faction all by himself. Huh? This isn’t the time for us, for the two of us, to be doing this. Isn’t that right?”
The way he was scheming to survive was pathetic, yet tenacious.
Either way, it was typical of Kwon Hyeon-oh.
Rolling his eyes, he looked at Woo Tae-hwon and this time pleaded with Tae-hwon as well.
“Managing Director Woo. About that offer from before… I, I was arrogant. The position of Chairman of the Gyeongjeong Faction isn’t something I can meddle with. I’m done. This is enough! I’ll cleanly withdraw from the succession battle, so, just spare my life and let me go, and I’ll repay that kindness… Heok.”
Tae-hwon was dumbfounded.
Had he already forgotten that he was the one who had given him his sunken face?
How long had it been since the day they had tried to kill each other, and yet he was changing his attitude as if he had forgotten everything that had happened? Was the end of those driven to the edge of a cliff always so miserable? Pathetic?
He had harbored the ambition to become the Chairman of the Gyeongjeong Faction.
He had been prepared to commit any ruthless act for that purpose.
If so, shouldn’t he have maintained a dignified attitude without regret until the very end?
Was that why?
The reason Kwon Rae-i had said that to Woo Tae-hwon.
His mouth felt bitter.
He had been worried about what would happen if he faced Kwon Hyeon-oh again and his memories returned, what if he lost himself and acted on instinct with murderous intent like before, but those worries were almost laughable.
It was different when he had been at odds with Kwon Hyeon-oh at the crossroads of life and death. Watching his end from a step away, he seemed even more insignificant and ugly as he lost his light and fell. In a way, he even felt sorry for him.
“Rae-i! Kwon Rae-i…! I can give you everything you want. Yes, I’ll hand over the ledger, I’ll hand over the money, and, this building, the casino, I’ll hand it all over to you. Huh…? Just tell me if it’s not enough. There’s still my father’s inheritance left. I’ll transfer all of that to you too. How about it?”