“The article will probably be published like this.”
“Oh, thank you, Elder. May I take a look?”
“Of course, of course. Kim Seung-jun, you’ve prepared the whole meal, what do you mean?”
Kang Bu-nam chuckled and slurped his coffee, looking as frivolous as could be. But who cared? Kim Seung-jun wouldn’t have minded even if he looked uglier than that.
Thanks to this old man, who didn’t hesitate to tarnish the reputation of his own kin for a bigger share, his plan was going smoothly.
“By the way, Kim Seung-jun, do you think this will work? No matter how much I write, the higher-ups keep cutting it off.”
“That’s because there hasn’t been any decisive evidence until now.”
Kim Seung-jun took out a few neatly folded papers from his pocket, and Kang Bu-nam reluctantly accepted them. He was grateful that Kim Seung-jun was stirring things up about Joo Tae-hyun, but if this didn’t produce any significant results, he would just discard him. He was probably plotting something like that in his head.
“Oh? What’s all this? Looks like house photos… Let’s see, a warehouse? Is that right?”
“Yes. It’s the house where Joo Tae-hyun stayed when he lived in Washington. That bastard received Dirty Switches at this address, and in large quantities, too. He’s got some nerve.”
“Hmm. Even so, Tae-hyun’s face isn’t in any of these, so will this go our way?”
“We have a copy of the house contract, photos taken by the maid who visited regularly… and other miscellaneous supporting documents. But the most important thing is…”
Kim Seung-jun tapped the screen of his phone to activate it and handed it to Kang Bu-nam.
“It’s this photo, of course.”
“Oh, that’s Tae-hyun.”
“Yes, do you see this? Joo Tae-hyun is directly handling the items in the carrier.”
This time, there was no mistaking it was Joo Tae-hyun.
He looked much younger than he did now, and he was washing something with a hose in the yard. It was dark when the photo was taken, so it wasn’t very clear, but it was easy to tell that the object next to Joo Tae-hyun was the carrier that was in the warehouse.
“Damn it! You should have shown me this sooner! I’ve been wasting my time!”
“No, Elder. If this article breaks, you said you would hold a press conference immediately, right? If you say that you appealed to the media several times but no one met with you and the articles weren’t published, it will attract even more attention.”
Kang Bu-nam’s face, which had been shaking his chubby cheeks fiercely, instantly softened.
“Oh, that’s not a bad idea. The records of my appeals to reporters via phone and text are still there.”
“Yes. After that, you can push forward with your plan, Elder. We can’t entrust the fate of DH Group to a guy who’s been popping pills since he was a kid.”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
Kim Seung-jun swallowed his laughter and took back his phone.
“Wow. Kim Seung-jun, you’re really amazing. How did you get your hands on such evidence? I wish my grandson was even half as good as you.”
“Haha, you can praise me more. I really went through a lot.”
Yeah, he went through a lot. He had to frequent drug dens to get this one photo.
After Joo Tae-hyun got older, it was impossible to find any suspicious traces. But Kim Seung-jun didn’t give up. It was strange for an Alpha to not be using Switches when he was chasing after another Alpha and even succeeded in marrying him. It was a reasonable suspicion.
Well, even if it wasn’t Switches, it was fine. As long as he could find Joo Tae-hyun’s weakness, it didn’t matter what it was.
While Kim Seung-jun was rummaging through the neighborhood where Joo Tae-hyun lived when he first came to America, he stumbled upon an unexpected find at a shabby store where he had gone to buy some marijuana gum.
‘Hey. You don’t need any Switches?’
Damn it, who do you think I am, looking for those Heat-inducing things? Kim Seung-jun, enraged, was about to unleash all the curses he knew, but his eyes widened at the employee’s next words.
‘Aww, damn. No one’s been looking for Switches since that Korean guy. I ordered a bunch for nothing.’
‘Wait a minute.’
‘Huh?’
‘Tell me more about that.’
As with all drug dealers, the store clerk easily opened his mouth for the wad of dollars Kim Seung-jun offered.
After cutting out his long-winded biography and heroic tales, it turned out that the clerk was curious about the Korean customer who had suddenly thrown a large sum of money, so he hung around the area.
‘He seemed like he was from a wealthy family. That’s probably why he ordered that much without fear… Anyway, he was definitely a perverted Alpha. Just looking at the types of drugs he ordered.’
‘What kind of drugs were they?’
‘…What? Why do you keep asking if you’re not going to buy anything?’
‘I think I know him. So, um, yeah. I was his partner.’
‘You were his partner? It doesn’t seem like it… Besides, there weren’t many people going in and out of that house?’
‘So, there were guys going to his house, damn it. Hey. I’m jealous, so do you have any records left? If he ordered through the app, there must be credit card payment details or something.’
‘Well… It’s too long ago. But I might have taken some pictures just in case.’
That’s how Kim Seung-jun and Thomas’s ill-fated relationship began. The guy, who instinctively knew that the photos he had secretly taken could be sold for a high price, exploited Kim Seung-jun relentlessly.
“…Kim Seung-jun?”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment.”
Kim Seung-jun, who was unknowingly scratching his forearm, forced a smile and pretended to listen to Kang Bu-nam’s passionate speech.
From then on, that bastard Thomas stuck a straw in his back and sucked him dry. He not only provided money but also obtained dangerous drugs for him at his request, and in order not to arouse suspicion, he ended up dabbling in drugs while associating with them. Of course, what he touched was not a dirty aphrodisiac like Switch, but a very common, light drug.
“By the way, where is the person who gave you this evidence? I’d like to meet them. To thank them and ask for their help at the press conference.”
“Ah, they made it clear that they didn’t want to… I’m sorry. I got this photo on the condition that I keep that promise.”
Yeah, the dead Thomas wouldn’t want his alias to be mentioned in the news in a foreign country.
The more he thought about it, the more regretful he felt. He should have killed that bastard sooner and fled to Korea. No one would care how a drug addict like that died.
Well, Kim Seung-jun also had an excuse. It wasn’t an intentional murder. It was an accidental accident caused by being intoxicated, an unavoidable event caused by diminished capacity.
“Good. I won’t waste the opportunity you’ve provided. I promise.”
“No. As a citizen of the Great Korean Empire, I just thought that we shouldn’t tolerate things that disrupt our society any longer. An aphrodisiac for Shifters? That doesn’t make any sense, Elder.”
“Yes! As a family elder, I’m ashamed just thinking about Joo Tae-hyun. I apologize on his behalf to you, Kim Seung-jun, for showing you such an unsightly sight.”
Kim Seung-jun’s goal was also that. For Joo Tae-hyun to live a life where he couldn’t even lift his head in this country.
Anyway, Joo Tae-hyun was still young, so even if some malicious articles were published, he would live well for the rest of his life. Even if old men like Kang Bu-nam gossiped about him, the hierarchy of DH Group wouldn’t be overturned? That would never happen.
However, Joo Tae-hyun would have a dirty label attached to him for the rest of his life.
At first… Yeah, he was jealous of Joo Tae-hyun. It wasn’t because he liked Seo Baek-han, as the others had said. Wouldn’t it be a lie if he didn’t feel jealous of someone who was born with a silver spoon in their mouth?
‘Watch your words. Don’t gossip about Tae-hyun, who’s not even here, just because you’re jealous that he’s an Alpha.’
Damn, that scholarship foundation launch ceremony was awful…
Seo Baek-han and Joo Tae-hyun didn’t even seem to remember that incident, but Kim Seung-jun’s life was turned upside down after that.
His father, who was obsessed with expanding his business, kicked out his troublemaker son to keep sucking up to the Crown Prince.
He gave him a credit card behind his back so he wouldn’t have trouble making a living, but unlike what others envied, Kim Seung-jun couldn’t inherit Poongjin Industries under his own name. At least while the Crown Prince was alive, he wouldn’t have the opportunity to present his business card with the title of ‘so-and-so’s son’ like Seo Baek-han or Joo Tae-hyun. Even though he had only said a few words at the event. And what he said wasn’t even wrong!
“Oh, Kim Seung-jun. I’m really getting calls from reporters! It seems like it’s different this time.”
“Yes, I’ll diligently knock on the doors of the media companies I know.”
“Okay, let’s fight to the end.”
“Thank you for seeing me in a positive light, Elder.”
Just one step left.
After this Friday, Joo Tae-hyun’s modifier would be a drug addict, not the youngest Young Master of DH. Just searching Joo Tae-hyun’s name would bring up the well-deserved insults of a perverted slut who was crazy about sex and getting his ass reamed by another Alpha. Until he died, even after Joo Tae-hyun died.
Kim Seung-jun scratched his forearm until blood showed through the fabric, chuckling to himself. Who told him to chase after the same Alpha and get his hands on Dirty Switches? This is what you call reaping what you sow.
* * *
“Is this the new Director’s office?”
It’s already Friday, even though he hasn’t done anything in particular.
When Joo Tae-hyun said he thought he could go out if it was somewhere not far from the hospital, he asked to see the Royal Hospital. Even if he could go anywhere, he probably would have chosen the Royal Hospital without even thinking about it.