Uncle Lee Jeonghwan (2)
A few days later, Lee Jaseung visited Chairman Lee Jeonghwan’s mansion.
It was late; the house was empty of people. He walked the corridors, surveying the estate.
This mansion was transferred under Yuseong Steel as well.
The moment Yuseong Steel entered court receivership, the property would fall under the protection of the law. That was why, these days, his uncle kept right on moving assets even while cursing himself blue in the face.
Jaseung recalled the future he had seen before.
Yuseong Group Core Asset Preservation Strategy
That strategy is only complete the moment the Yuseong Group is dismantled. Looking at the big picture, then, I’m moving exactly according to Uncle’s will.
Everything he had done so far was probably not far from the script his uncle had written. The only differences were that the timeline had been accelerated and the pressure had grown heavier.
This is Uncle’s script, not mine.
So he needed the details. Speeding up the schedule would have created variables; if he could identify those variables, he could seize the script for himself.
I have to see that document again.
In the future, of course.
Jaseung opened the study door and stepped inside. His uncle, focused on papers, lifted his head. Jaseung’s gaze flicked across the documents scattered over the desk, then he smiled as if nothing were amiss.
“Uncle.”
“You’re early.”
“I couldn’t sleep. And I was curious why you summoned me at this ungodly hour.”
Jaseung tilted his chin toward the clock.
Friday, 2:30 a.m.
His uncle’s intent was vivid. In a short while it would be the exact hour of his parents’ deaths—quite the sentimental bit of staging.
“Sit down first.”
Fortunately, his uncle did not launch into any crass monologue about the parents. Instead he threw out something unexpected.
“Do you remember when I tried to hand you Yuseong Securities?”
An odd topic. Interest flickered in Jaseung’s eyes.
“The thing you meant to pin on me?”
“So you had already noticed. I imagine that left a wound.”
“A wound.”
“Yes. That’s why you’re putting pressure on Yuseong Steel, isn’t it.”
Jaseung tilted his head slightly. He could not grasp the purpose of this conversation.
“I’ll be stepping down as chairman soon. So I would like you to stop your revenge at this point.”
“Ah…….”
Jaseung murmured the unfamiliar word as if exhaling a sigh.
“Revenge.”
“Jaseung. If Yuseong Steel is sold off, the Yuseong Group will be completely ruined. Your parents would not have wanted it to go that far either.”
Jaseung swallowed the laugh that nearly escaped. What absurd nonsense was this? His uncle had completely missed the mark.
Well. Looking back, there had been times when he had been angry. Jaseung had lived through that exact future, after all—the one where he sat in the chair his uncle now occupied while the entire world pointed fingers at him. That future was still vivid. His pride had been broken, and the rage he felt then had been real.
But in the end nothing had happened; it remained only a possibility. Raging alone over something that never occurred was foolish. His uncle would never even understand why he was so worked up. That did not mean the betrayal and humiliation that had raked across him had simply vanished.
He had asked himself endlessly.
Then how much anger is it appropriate for me to feel?
After fierce deliberation he had reached his own conclusion.
Ignore the emotion. If something is complicated, exhausting, and ultimately unimportant, just ignore it. In the place where complexity vanished, a far clearer world of calculation and transaction settled into place.
And so the goal had been the same from the beginning until now.
Dismantle the Yuseong Group. Take the wreckage as inheritance and build a business of his own.
Jaseung rolled the ball with his fingers and checked the clock.
Three a.m.
Time to enter the future.
I opened my eyes inside the future.
I was still in Uncle’s study. The same sofa, the same tea set, the same uncle. Everything was identical—except one thing. When I unconsciously tried to grip the ball, my palm met only empty void.
This was the future.
Checking the calendar made it certain.
One month later.
Only then did the finer changes become visible. The study’s palette had deepened into autumn, and Uncle’s clothing had grown heavier.
Uncle smiled.
“You rushed over so urgently—you must be quite shaken.”
I was shaken, certainly. For the first time I had begun a future alongside someone else.
I always started in places where I was alone. Why has that changed?
Perhaps because I had been with Uncle until just a moment ago. In any case, Future Uncle looked remarkably at ease.
Why?
Barely a month had passed—what could have shifted so drastically? As I reached for the reason, the memories belonging to the future “me” settled into place inside my head.
— The sale of Yuseong Steel has been decided.
This morning. I had seen the news that Yuseong Steel was being sold and come straight to Uncle.
The moment the headline surfaced clearly, I let out a hollow laugh.
“So you’re selling Yuseong Steel…….”
The sale itself had been expected. The buyer was the problem. It was not Hanyeong Auto.
“And to some no-name Hong Kong fund, no less.”
“Jaseung, you were the one who pressured me to sell. Dumping Yuseong Steel at a fire-sale price doesn’t sit well with me either.”
“Ah. So this was the script.”
I snorted.
“Pour every asset into Yuseong Steel, then buy it back cheaply with the slush funds.”
Moving money from the front pocket to the back—no real loss. Truly, the creativity and tenacity were almost admirable.
“Slush funds? Stop peddling baseless conspiracy theories and leave. I’m busy preparing the sale procedures.”
The eviction order had dropped. I crossed my legs and tapped my toes.
A slush-fund investigation takes time. Even if evidence is found and an inquiry begins, Yuseong Steel will already have been sold. But……
If solid proof existed here, it would be different.
I really do need to see the details of that script.
I locked eyes with Uncle. His brow furrowed slightly.
“Do you still have something left to say?”
“Yuseong Group Core Asset Preservation Strategy.”
“……What are you talking about?”
“There’s no need to play dumb. One of your close aides showed it to me. In fact, I’ve been quite indebted to him all this time. How else do you think I was able to pressure you so precisely? Right?”
Uncle ground his teeth.
“That damned chief of staff…….”
So the scriptwriter had been the chief of staff. I immediately patched in the updated information.
“The chief told me that if that document reached the prosecution, they could launch a slush-fund investigation immediately.”
I watched Uncle carefully as I continued.
“And he said the document is in your study.”
The fingers gripping his pen stood out white.
So the study is correct. But where in the study?
From here I had to guess.
Safe? Or drawer?
Valuable documents are usually kept in a safe. But in the previous future I had seen that document on the desk. Meaning Uncle reviewed it often.
He’s keeping it somewhere easy to reach.
I took a step toward the desk. Uncle shot to his feet.
“This—has this bastard gone mad? Now you’re even touching my desk!”
In that instant the world began to shake. The future seemed to have sensed an alien presence and was trying to fling me out. It was always like this. Whenever I attempted something excessive, whenever the other person found me strange, I was forcibly returned to reality.
Only a few seconds remained.
While the study warped like a kaleidoscope, I did not lose my target. I seized the handle and yanked. A thick sheaf of papers hundreds of pages long was revealed.
Yuseong Group Core Asset Preservation Strategy
“……Found it.”
At the same moment I was ejected from the future.
Back to reality.
Lee Jaseung opened his eyes. The first thing he felt was the ball packed tightly in his hand.
Reality.
The commotion that had just occurred in this study had vanished like a lie; only the quiet of late dawn remained. He spared only a moment of regret for not having properly read the document, then rapidly organized the information he had gained.
One: the document was written by the chief of staff.
Two: its contents were sensitive enough that merely mentioning the title sent Uncle into a fit. Evidence useful for a slush-fund investigation was almost certainly included.
Three: the document was neatly stored in the first drawer of the desk.
And finally, the most important discovery.
This time I entered a future where I was with Uncle. If someone is with me at three a.m., do I enter a future where I’m with that person?
Until now he had always been alone when he saw the future. After all, three in the morning was not a time one usually spent with company. From now on he would need to test the new hypothesis.
I’ll have to visit again next week.
Jaseung rose from his seat. Uncle frowned in displeasure.
“What kind of rude behavior is that in the middle of a conversation.”
“I’ll come again next week.”
“……What?”
Week two, Friday.
At three a.m. Lee Jaseung arrived at his uncle’s mansion.
Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong…….
He mashed the doorbell until Uncle, who had clearly been asleep, appeared.
“What in the world at this hour of night…….”
“I told you I would come.”
“This madman?”
That dawn, Jaseung confirmed it.
The hypothesis was correct.
Once again he went to a future where he was with Uncle. Thanks to that, he was able to verify things properly this time.
The slush-fund particulars began on page 211.
He hadn’t examined the contents in detail, but simply identifying the page was a major harvest.
“I’ll come again next week.”
Week three, Friday.
Uncle refused the meeting. Left with no choice, Jaseung dangled important information as bait.
“Someone told me your plans. How else do you think I was able to pressure you so accurately?”
“……What? Who?”
“I’ll tell you once we’re inside.”
Unable to ignore the power of the word “traitor,” Uncle immediately granted the meeting. Unfortunately, this time he went to the wrong future.
A future where Uncle is in custody, of all things.
Jaseung thought in disbelief. Because Uncle happened to be locked in detention, he couldn’t even enter the house.
Pity. I’ll have to look forward to next time.
Barely ten minutes after entering the mansion, Jaseung stood up. Uncle blocked his path.
“What about the conversation we were having earlier? Why are you getting up?”
“Pardon?”
“I asked who the bastard that betrayed me was.”
Ah. Right. They had been talking about that. He had forgotten.
“I’ll tell you at this same time next week.”
Uncle clutched the back of his neck.
Week four, Friday.
Today was the final meeting. As Jaseung stepped out the front door of the mansion, Uncle shouted at his back.
“That bastard—never let him into my house again!”
My, he seemed quite angry.
But Jaseung no longer needed to come here. He had obtained every piece of information he wanted.
He started the car and contacted Han Juhyeong.
“Yuseong Steel will be sold next week. Finish preparing the acquisition.”
And that day arrived quickly.
One morning, news alerts stacked up one after another on his smartphone screen.
Once. Twice. Three times.
All three at once.
This work is a work of fiction. All characters, groups, place names, and events appearing in the work are entirely fictitious and have no connection to anything that exists in reality. Specialized knowledge described herein has also been restructured and adapted to fit the story and may differ from actual information.