By Zephyria 
Kwon Tae-oh did not hesitate and immediately jumped up from his seat. He abandoned his usual calm, calculating, and strategically adept self and moved impulsively and spontaneously. He knew what was in his father’s desk drawer.
Clunk, thud!
It took only a few seconds to push his father aside, open the drawer, and grab the gun. The hand holding the gun barrel was steady and calm.
The afterimage of the lightning, the sound of the rain, he could no longer see or hear anything.
Kwon Tae-oh immediately released the safety and pulled the trigger. As always, the gun his father habitually maintained was fully loaded.
Bang!
The deafening gunshot tore through the sky. Time seemed to stand still.
The Chairman made no sound. The glass in his hand fell, and in the momentary silence, red liquid spread in all directions. His head was completely shattered, scattered everywhere. It was as if a bomb had exploded.
Kwon Tae-oh lowered the gun, and his father’s body slowly tilted forward.
Like a massive fortress collapsing.
The man who had stood firmly at the pinnacle of Gyeongjeong for so long had breathed his last with a simplicity that was almost absurd.
And Kwon Tae-oh thought.
“What is truly the path for Gyeongjeong?”
‘Yes, Father. Are you watching? This is the best choice for Gyeongjeong.’
After that, framing Woo Tae-hwon for the crime was not a difficult agreement to reach. He offered a large sum of money and a fake identity, proposing that he take the blame for killing the Chairman and flee overseas. Woo Tae-hwon accepted the offer, but demanded that Kwon Rae-i be banished from Gyeongjeong and live a completely ordinary life.
For some reason, he also seemed vehemently opposed to his father’s will to designate Kwon Rae-i as the successor of Gyeongjeong. In the urgent situation, he couldn’t ask for the detailed reasons, but Kwon Tae-oh didn’t need to know his intentions anyway.
Since their interests aligned, they could easily manipulate the situation.
No. In fact, even if their interests hadn’t aligned, nothing would have changed. Kwon Tae-oh had a gun in his hand, and whether Woo Tae-hwon was cooperative or uncooperative, he had to be the culprit.
Kwon Tae-oh only needed to buy some time. He planned to create circumstances that made it seem as if Woo Tae-hwon had murdered the Chairman, and then send trackers to kill him. He couldn’t possibly trust Woo Tae-hwon, not knowing his true intentions, and anyone who knew the truth had to be silenced.
That night, it would all be neatly concluded by killing Woo Tae-hwon.
Or, perhaps, that was where it all began.
Kwon Tae-oh would then kill his younger brothers.
He would kill Kwon Rae-i too.
He would eliminate all obstacles… wipe them out completely.
That was how he planned to be reborn as the Chairman of Gyeongjeong after countless murders. He would issue an arrest warrant, capture and kill Woo Tae-hwon, bury the truth completely in the darkness, and then eliminate all his brothers and seize the throne of Gyeongjeong. That was Kwon Tae-oh’s ambition.
However, the fact that Woo Tae-hwon shook off the trackers and desperately survived was just a small crack.
‘Now… there’s not much left.’
The two younger brothers were already dead, leaving only Kwon Rae-i and Woo Tae-hwon. Once they were gone, the rest would be Kwon Tae-oh’s world.
Even though he was cornered, there was still a chance for a comeback. Even though Kwon Rae-i seemed to be dominating the situation right now, his identity was nothing more than the son of a concubine. Kwon Tae-oh, as the eldest son, was the rightful heir. Even if he brought in guys like the Jeun Faction, it would only be a temporary force; the rightful justice of Gyeongjeong was with Kwon Tae-oh.
Moreover, there was no need to say anything more about Woo Tae-hwon. No matter what he did, he wouldn’t be able to shake off the murder charge that had been placed on him. There was no evidence and no witnesses. Woo Tae-hwon had no choice but to be the one who killed the Chairman. It didn’t matter if Woo Tae-hwon came up with some scheme, claiming he had injured his arm or lost his memory. He was a wanted man and a fugitive of Gyeongjeong. Therefore, Kwon Rae-i, who had taken him in, was also a traitor to the organization.
Kwon Rae-i, Woo Tae-hwon. The two of them were clearly enemies of Gyeongjeong.
The one who would ascend the throne was Kwon Tae-oh, himself.
***
The last day of February, the shortest month of the year. The darkness was deep.
The air was chillingly still, and the Gyeongjeong residence was quiet as if everyone was asleep. The Hanok tiles shone coldly in the moonlight, and the stone lanterns along the garden path quietly scattered a dim light. It was peaceful. Like the calm before a storm.
The uneasy peace did not last long.
Bang!
The iron gate of the main entrance shook violently. The sound of someone forcefully pushing against it. No, the sound of someone trying to break in. Following that, rough footsteps trampled the ground. Several pairs of shoes ran across the asphalt, approaching. A heavy air pressed down like pressure.
“What, what is it?”
The organization members on patrol raised their heads in unison. A cold feeling swept over them. And, as the ominous premonition came true, blackened shadows burst through the gate.
Dozens of figures charged in all at once.
“It’s an ambush!”
A commotion of confusion spread. No matter how much of an ambush it was, this was too reckless. Without the strategy and calculation that were Kwon Tae-oh’s strengths, they were just pushing in with brute force. They were like beasts who had lost their minds. This reckless charge was not Kwon Tae-oh’s style.
“R-Report it first! Go to the main building!”
“Block them! Hey, block them!”
In the chaos, the sound of weapons clashing rang out. Sparks flew in the darkness as blades collided, and dull thuds and screams were mixed together. In the blink of an eye, the battlefield became a scene of carnage. Sharp knives cut through the air, and bodies collided and tumbled.
Just then, a red shadow flickered along the wall of the Hanok. A faint, fishy smell pricked the tip of his nose nearby. At the same time as a bad feeling arose, flames soared up.
“Fire! They set a fire!”
Someone shouted. Flames engulfed the dry leaves as Molotov cocktails exploded in various places, and the fire spread throughout the garden. Kwon Tae-oh’s men continued to pour oil, and the fierce flames soared into the air.
“Now’s the time, stab them!”
“Kill them! You bastards!”
“Yiaaaaaah!”
A fierce battle broke out in the chaos. But this fight was not meant to determine victory or defeat from the beginning. Their purpose from the start was to create chaos with the fire.
At the moment when the garden was burning and a commotion broke out, a shadow appeared at the back gate as well.
Kwon Tae-oh. He was moving with a small number of subordinates.
Sharp shouts, the sound of fire spreading, and the sound of swords clashing were heard, and most of the organization members ran out to the center of the battle, so the security at the back gate became lax. By now, they would all be blinded by the commotion at the main building. Kwon Rae-i would also be too busy stopping the attack.
Kwon Tae-oh checked that the people around him had disappeared and led his subordinates. He slowly passed through the back gate and headed straight for the Separate House, which was isolated in a secluded area. He held his breath and moved in the darkness. One step, then another.
“…Park Chan. This is reliable information this time, right?”
“Yes, Brother. The guys who even cut off their fingers to get under Kwon Rae-i have reported it. There’s no mistake. Woo Tae-hwon is in that Separate House.”
“Okay. Let’s go.”
This time for sure.
‘I’ll cut off that tenacious bastard’s lifeline.’
The targeted Separate House was dark with the lights off. The unique smell of Hanok wood faintly wafted. Kwon Tae-oh sent hand signals to his subordinates following him and carefully approached the door, sticking to the wall. He carefully opened the paper door, which opened as a sliding door, as little as possible and without making a sound, and entered.
One of the subordinates naturally took his place and began to watch, and the others scattered to find the target. In the meantime, a door was seen at the end of the long corridor along the wall.
All the other doors were closed, but only that door was slightly open. And at that very moment, he felt the sensation of a hem of clothing fluttering slightly. The wind was blowing from there.
‘That’s the one.’
Feeling certain, Kwon Tae-oh held his breath and moved in the darkness. He slowly moved his steps and approached the door. Just as he was about to grab the half-open door and pull it open.
Clunk!
The door was suddenly flung open, and a black shadow jumped out from within.
“Ugh…!”
Kwon Tae-oh, who had been hit hard in the torso, quickly raised his head.
A human shadow stood in the dark corridor. It was impossible to distinguish his features because there was no light source. But even without seeing his face, he could recognize his presence.
Kwon Tae-oh frowned slightly and muttered.
“Executive Woo…?”
Woo Tae-hwon, is it Woo Tae-hwon?
Years of hardship flashed by, and emotions surged.
Ambition and resentment churned.
Kwon Tae-oh took out a knife from his pocket and gripped it tightly in his hand. At the same time, the man who had been standing quietly in the darkness moved.