SMW 94

By the time I stepped out of the annex, the sky had grown completely overcast. It had been clear until this morning; the weather was fickle. I could feel a damp humidity in the scent of earth rising from the ground. It seemed as though the atmosphere was trying to replenish the moisture in the parched air. The nostalgic scent of rain stirred my emotions for the first time in a while.

“Do you like it?”

As I walked through the rear garden, I stopped absentmindedly and stood still for a long time, only to realize that a tail had been following me.

“Like what?”

“I recently brought in landscapers to overhaul the entire rear garden. Perhaps it’s because the climate in Korea has changed so much lately, but many plants that grew well until a few years ago have been wasting away and dying. I weeded those out and decorated the place with species suited to the current climate.”

“Is that so.”

Just as the man said, the landscaping trees and plants surrounding the artificial pond and pavilion were harmonized, boasting a perfect sense of order and beauty.

“It’s well-done. The Chairman will be pleased when he wakes up.”

“I take it it’s not to your liking, President.”

“I prefer things a bit more disheveled. Nature in its raw form, barely touched by human hands.”

To be honest, it didn’t really matter. I liked nature. But whether it was artificial or wild was of little interest to me. Normally, that is.

“Still, looking at this, I finally feel as though I’ve returned to reality.”

The sight of trees with wildly overgrown branches, nameless grasses intertwining to bloom, fruits ripening within them, and the act of casually picking and eating those fruits… perhaps that had been a dream as sweet as those fruits were back then. Perhaps it was a fantasy I could never see again.

“If there are any landscaping trees or plants you particularly like, please let me know. I will try to source them.”

“I would like to try growing a jujube tree.”

“Pardon? A jujube tree?”

“Not here, of course.”

I turned my head to look at the man before me. With a firm physique that showed no sign of aging and dressed in a perfectly fitted luxury suit, he was looking straight at me with an impeccable posture. Kang Gyu-sik, who had long been Chairman Baek Han-gu’s Chief of Staff. He was a power player within H.S. Group, a fact already known through the media.

“Executive Director Kang, you seem to be living a comfortable life these days. I felt sorry for piling so much work on you recently, but seeing you now, I feel I could have worked you even harder.”

When I brought up a topic more pleasant than the tedious scenery of the garden, Executive Director Kang’s eyes curved as if he were troubled.

“I hope you stop working an old man to death. My stolen contentwife is already mentioning divorce, saying that the time we spend together visit our siteis dwindling, so I’m in a difficult spot.”

“Oh dear. I should send a gift to Mrs. Hwang soon so that our Executive Director Kang doesn’t end up spending his twilight years in solitude.”

“Haha, that would truly be a disaster. With the trend of solitary deaths increasing these days, there’s no guarantee I won’t end up that way. Instead of a gift, why don’t you have a meal with my wife and me? My wife would likely be in a better mood just by seeing your handsome face, President.”

“I’ll think about it. The Chairman’s pleasure was watching Executive Director Kang be distressed, wasn’t it? If I make you too peaceful, I feel as though I’m being an undutiful child.”

With those words, I began walking through the garden again. The tail continued to follow.

“Would you like to stop by the main house?”

“I’ve finished my business, so I intend to head back immediately.”

I heard a hint of regret in Executive Director Kang’s voice.

“It might be good to stop by at least once.”

“Is there someone there for me to meet?”

“Since Baek Seol-ha will now become the owner of this house, I thought it would be good for you to get used to it.”

My steps stopped. I looked back at Executive Director Kang.

“You mustn’t forget that even if he is unconscious, his heart is still beating.”

“Even so, that shouldn’t be a problem. He is his son, after all, is he not?”

“As a child, how can I steal my father’s house?”

“I see you intend to leave him at least one thing.”

“I do. After all, the thing I truly wanted is something I’ll never be able to have in my lifetime.”

The first thing Chairman Baek Han-gu did when he became independent from Yuseon Group was to build his own palace. The residence, built in the traditional Hanok style, was grand and opulent, as if recreating a place where a king once resided. However, the place he actually wanted to recreate was likely somewhere else.

This place resembled the main house of the Yuseon family, which I had visited for the first time after becoming President. It seemed the late-born child, whom the first Chairman of Yuseon Group adored, missed the home he had left behind. Or perhaps he simply wanted it.

“How absurd. That man never had the right to eye Yuseon Group in the first place. Neither in terms of ability nor lineage.”

I gave a smile to Executive Director Kang, who spoke of lineage so casually in front of me.

“You’ve served him for nearly twenty years, yet your evaluation is far too harsh.”

“It has to be. I am someone who would have given my life to Yuseon Group if I could have.”

Kang Gyu-sik, who had experienced an unusually rapid promotion immediately upon joining Yuseon Group, rose to the position of General Manager of the Chairman’s Secretariat in about twenty years. However, shortly thereafter, he moved to H.S. Group, which had become independent from Yuseon.

“Serving the first Chairman closely was a long-time dream of mine. I believed without a doubt that if I were with a legendary figure who led a small company to become Korea’s top enterprise, I too would be able to fully unfold my abilities. But just before that dream was realized, the Chairman sent me away to the third son, whom he loved.”

As Baek Han had said, Chairman Baek Han-gu of H.S. Group did not possess the qualities to manage a company that had already grown so large. He simply nibbled away at what others had achieved, like dipping into a piggy bank, and the resulting problems began to surface within five years. Therefore, he needed a competent person to perfectly clean up the messes he made. In fact, that man, Kang Gyu-sik, had done that job brilliantly until now.

There were quite a few such competent people at H.S. Group. The ‘person whose absence for a year wouldn’t even be noticed,’ as Baek Han described, was Chairman Baek Han-gu himself. And I was destined to become like that as well.

When that happened, people would naturally yearn for a savior. A competent being who would properly utilize their own competence.

“As I told you before, I don’t care whose side Executive Director Kang is on or what he wants. So there is no need to justify your betrayal in front of me any further. In fact, things have become easier because someone like you exists.”

“Baek Seol-ha, I…”

“Anyway, congratulations. You’ll be able to give your life to Yuseon Group in your old age, just as you wished.”

Once H.S. Group was re-absorbed into Yuseon Group under Baek Han’s direction, Executive Director Kang was scheduled to serve as the president of a subsidiary that had belonged to H.S. After that, he would be given good positions for his next appointments, making it a better place to showcase his abilities than where he had been. Of course, since he was already old, I didn’t know how much longer he could hold on, but that was for him to figure out.

Other higher-ups whom Baek Han and I had bought over had also agreed to join us under similar conditions. The preparations were nearly complete. Now, all that remained was for Chairman Baek Han-gu to wake up.

“Do you truly have no intention of moving into the main house?”

I frowned in annoyance at the proposal he brought up again.

“Didn’t I tell you? I absolutely hate repeating myself.”

“If the President continues to lead H.S. Group, I might think about it differently.”

I let out a short laugh.

“I have no idea what on earth makes you trust me enough to say such a thing. Me, who has neither ability nor lineage.”

“That… I misspoke earlier. I apologize. But what I just said is sincere.”

“What is?”

“One of the reasons I chose Yuseon Group is that I want to serve a competent owner. In that regard, Baek Seol-ha, you possess sufficient qualities of an owner. Watching you from the side, I almost had the illusion of seeing Young Master Baek Han in his twenties. Since you are still young, in the future you will be even more…”

“I don’t want it,” I said flatly.

“Just eat it all up, Executive Director Kang. Along with that psycho you like so much—no, Vice Chairman Baek Han. I absolutely loathe this family and that family. And you are no different. Surely I don’t have to tell you the reason why?”

At that moment, Executive Director Kang’s expression froze. He was one of [Read on Read BL Novels]the few people who knew ‘Choi Seol.’ He was one of those who had perfectly disguised me as Baek visit our siteSeol-ha on paper. Then, I wonder how it was with my grandmother?

I stared silently at this man who had handed a contract to my seventeen-year-old self with an indifferent face.

“Do you know what threat Chairman Baek Han-gu made after my grandmother passed away?”

He would know. He was the one who handled all of Chairman Baek Han-gu’s clean-up work.

“Even Vice Chairman Baek Han eventually used that threat.”

Who do you think you are to hold my precious things hostage twice and shake me? I didn’t even have the right to do that to myself, so with what authority did you?

“That is why I refuse. If I continue to live like this in a place like this, in a household like this, it’s certain that my precious person will suffer for the rest of my life.”

And I was afraid that at some point, I too would end up holding someone’s precious thing and shaking them, just like these people.

“Then you just need to build your power. If you do, no one will be able to touch what is precious to you.”

It was a line so tedious it was predictable. It was consistent in how it was treated like a family motto in their world. At one time, I thought that was the answer. That’s why I tried desperately to build my power. But at some point, I realized something.

“Is that power eternal?”

I knew two old men who were struggling desperately to protect that power. But in the [stolen content]end, one was collapsing, and the other would have to step down from that throne before long. [stolen content]No [stolen content]one would ever remain by the side of a toothless predator.

“There is only one thing I desire.”

I caught my breath.

“I don’t want to long for anything anymore.”

I knew the smell of old trees, holding the summer sunlight and humidity. I knew how peaceful the sound of birds chirping in the early morning was, and how the kicking of stray cats crying for food could easily bring down a stone wall that withstood typhoons. I knew how crisp the jujube fruits from the mountains were, and how sweet the makgeolli tasted when drunk with chestnuts roasted in a cauldron while listening to the sound of a bonfire. And I knew how lovely Yeo-reum was, who had been with me through all those moments.

That is why I no longer missed Yeo-reum. No, I didn’t want to miss him.