Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Yoo Kyung-su's Fury
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Twilight was settling over the peaceful mansion in Jangchung-dong.
"What the hell is going on here!"
Yoo Kyung-su hurled whatever he could grab at the object in his hand.
His nerves were already frayed from recent business setbacks, and now some unheard-of bastard had blown everything up big time.
Every newspaper in front of him and every article on the portal sites exposed the corruption at Future Distribution.
"Sir, please calm down first."
"Do I look like I can calm down? Who the hell wrote these articles!"
"……"
He had hoped time would make it better, but it was already spilling over into politics. The government, with its sagging approval ratings, was eager for a new issue to bury their own scandals, and this had landed right in their laps.
"Who is it…."
Lee Dong-wook, the reporter?"
"That's right. That bastard! Bring him to me right now!"
"But there are eyes on us. If we drag him here by force…."
"I don't care! Bring him! When has Yoo Kyung-su, the tiger of the business world, ever given a damn about what those insignificant pests think!"
Crash!
He finally snatched the phone from the table and flung it too.
The report brought by Moon Tae-young, head of the strategic planning office, was a sight to behold.
A boycott was underway against every product produced by Future Distribution.
The internet was abuzz already, and it was the top gossip among people on the streets— all about his granddaughter, Yoo So-geum.
No, weren't drug and sex scandals by chaebol heirs a tradition passed down through generations?
Wasn't it human nature to want to use money and power freely if you had them?
Yoo Kyung-su trembled with rage.
The culprit behind all this.
One reporter who wrote these absurd articles.
He wanted to swing a golf club at Lee Dong-wook right then and there.
"Urgh…."
He rummaged in his pocket for his blood pressure pills.
Whether it was hereditary or from stress, the back of his neck was throbbing.
"Ahem!"
The medicine worked quickly, calming him down before long.
How had he built Future Distribution to this point? He wanted to show them. Even if he'd been kicked out of the group, Yoo Kyung-su still had this kind of ability.
'Where did it all go wrong?'
Sitting quietly and thinking, everything had started going sideways after he met that man named 'Kim Do-jun'. It was 'Kim Do-jun' who had humiliated his granddaughter at the Ilsung Hotel, and the same 'Kim Do-jun' who dared to hold his head high during their meeting despite being so much his junior.
His instincts, honed from facing countless rivals, told him something was seriously off.
An uneasy feeling crept in.
This wasn't the end.
Something bigger was coming.
The problem was he couldn't pinpoint what it was. What was Kim Do-jun's real identity? He had to be connected somehow to Lee Dong-wook, the reporter who exposed Future Distribution.
'I'm too anxious to even sleep.'
Yoo Kyung-su prayed to the heavens.
Please, let it end here.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Meanwhile, in the leisurely Hannam-dong mansion, oblivious to the world's clamor.
Despite causing a massive stir, I was enjoying a relaxed downtime. Sitting at my computer desk, I was having a deep conversation with the girl on my monitor screen.
"Hehe, what do you usually do, Uncle Do-jun?"
The girl's name was Jin Seol-young.
Jin Seol-hwa's little sister, the CEO of Selig.
Jin Seol-young was smarter than she looked.
No, she was a genius.
Curious, I'd given her some math problems I'd bought from a bookstore, and she solved them in no time.
Math has always been my Achilles' heel.
Back in school, just hearing the word "math" made me want to die.
Exams never stuck to textbook problems; they always threw in weird applications.
"Me? I work and watch internet broadcasts."
"Wow, internet broadcasts? I want to watch too…."
"Really? They don't let you at the hospital?"
"Yeah… They say electromagnetic waves aren't good. But these days, they let me use the TV and phone. After taking the medicine my sister gave me, I feel so much better."
A case where the drugs worked wonders, huh.
Selig's new leukemia drug must be having a surprisingly positive effect on patients. Thanks to it, the company's reputation has spread worldwide.
The new ALS treatment they'd developed this time showed overwhelming efficacy in clinical trials too. It'd be another blockbuster product.
"Right! When I come to Korea, where do you live?"
Hm?
Didn't Seol-hwa tell her?
She must be swamped since arriving in Korea. She skipped breakfast this morning, left at dawn, and hasn't come back even by evening.
"You'll stay with me, of course."
"For real?"
For some reason, Jin Seol-young's eyes seemed to sparkle.
That exciting?
Well, she'd been cooped up in a hospital room staring at white ceilings and walls, so even living with an uncle like me was enough to make tears well up.
"Ahem! Once you're here, Seol-young can do whatever she wants."
"R-Really?"
"Of course! Go to school, eat yummy food with friends, and when we have time, head to Haeundae in Busan to see the ocean, stay at a nice hotel for a vacation… that kind of thing!"
She'd been through so much; this was the least I could do.
Jin Seol-young folded her fingers one by one, her mouth hanging open as if she couldn't stop listing wishes.
"Wow! That one, I want to do that!"
"Which?"
"My sister's birthday party."
"……"
She must feel bad for not being there for her sister, stuck in the hospital.
Come to think of it, when was Jin Seol-hwa's birthday?
That's when I realized no one had celebrated mine either. I'd been so buried in work, my life a blur. A pang of sadness hit me.
What's the point of making tons of money?
If you can't even celebrate your own birthday….
Jin Seol-hwa's birthday was right around the corner.
About two months away.
Once the war with Future Distribution ended, she'd bring Seol-young over. Then we'd scout schools, decorate a cute little room…
'Gonna be busy. Ten bodies wouldn't be enough.'
After that, we played word chain.
My record: 37 games, 37 losses.
Damn kid, how does she know so many words….
"Aluminum!"
"Titanium!"
"Germanium!"
"Magnesium!"
"Calcium!"
"……"
Do middle schoolers these days know element names like that?
Whatever I say, she counters with some advanced term….
"Seol-young, you're really good at word chain."
"Hehe, I have nothing to do, so I read the dictionary sometimes."
"Korean dictionary?"
"Yeah. Korean… English… classical Chinese too."
"I-Impressive!"
"Hehe~"
There was this story once.
A man imprisoned for ten years or so.
With nothing to do, he bribed the guards to bring dictionaries in various languages every day. Who knew that habit would help him land a job after release.
He ended up succeeding as a translator.
'Like a dream.'
Jin Seol-young's face lit up with longing for things she'd never done. She perked up so much at the mention of school.
"You gotta take the doctor's medicine and get better quick, okay?"
"Yes! My sister said the same."
"Good. Uncle was really sick once too."
"Huh? Where?"
Where else.
My heart.
"H-Heart…."
"Uncle's heart hurt a lot?"
"Y-Yeah. Haha!"
I'd been heartbroken for a while after my first love, Kang So-yeon, dumped me.
Couldn't tell her that, though.
"Right!"
Jin Seol-young clapped her hands and looked at me.
"Uncle, what are you to my sister?"
"Huh? W-What do you mean?"
"My sister only talks about you when we chat. And her face always turns red!"
"H-Her face turns red?"
"Yeah. Are you my sister's boyfriend?"
"!"
Her straight ball caught me off guard, and I toppled off my chair.
Cold sweat poured down my forehead.
"Hahaha, misunderstanding. Seol-hwa… is uncle's best friend."
"Best friend?"
The girl's eyes drooped sadly.
"I wish you were my sister's boyfriend…."
"Uh, huh?"
I was still dazed when Im Yun-ah later asked, 'Representative, what are you doing on the floor?'
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Upon hearing Olivia was coming to Korea, preparations began.
Three weeks had passed since Lee Dong-wook's exposé.
Apparently, James from Security Team 2, who was with Park Seong-ho, fended off some mysterious men targeting Lee Dong-wook unscathed.
Well, who'd mess with James, a vet with real combat experience from the States?
Heh….
That's why ex-military make reliable bodyguards.
The attackers' identity was obvious.
Probably sent by Yoo Kyung-su of Future Distribution.
Exactly as expected.
He must've been furious, ordering them to drag the reporter to him.
But street thugs with tattoos couldn't beat Selig's world-class security.
It'd be like an egg smashing against a rock.
'Having HQ in the land of the free has its perks….'
James must've laughed his ass off chasing those fleeing like moths to a flame.
"Representative, it's almost time."
Im Yun-ah was fully geared up, preparations complete.
Heading to war or what?
But after they sent thugs after Lee Dong-wook, it was normal for my secretary-cum-bodyguard to gear up like this.
"Shall we go?"
"Yes."
"What about Seol-hwa?"
"She has work today, so she can't make it. She said to pass on her regards."
"Yeah, she's swamped right now."
Right after the scandal broke.
Future Distribution's stock plunged daily. Market cap losses topped hundreds of billions. Already reports of a shareholders' meeting over owner risk.
Yoo Kyung-su was on the verge of being ousted.
That's when Olivia, working in the Philippines, bought up everything available.
Enough to be called a major shareholder.
"Let's go!"
"Yes, Representative."
We headed to Incheon International Airport in the Rolls-Royce Cullinan.
Her first meeting with Im Yun-ah months ago flashed back. That was shocking enough, but Olivia would top it.
"Hi?"
"……"
Holy shit.
This was a busy airport.
Her outfit was like strolling a beach in scorching summer.
Where the hell do I look?
"Y-You must be cool."
"You think?"
As expected of Wall Street's most famous, her mindset was worlds apart.
And her Korean was flawless.
You'd think she was native.
She shrugged, loaded her bags in the trunk, and hopped in the back seat.
"Let's go."
"Huh? Where to?"
She scanned me up and down, then smirked.
"The house where the 'real' representative lives, obviously?"