Chapter 274: Father
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 274: Father
Screeeech!
“Wait a minute!”
“Who are you?! You can’t do this here!”
From outside came the harsh sound of brakes, the kind you’d only hear in a racing game.
The moment the commotion from the bodyguards reached us, Senior Ju-hee, who had been in the living room, dashed outside.
“I wonder what’s happening?”
“It sounds like someone’s arrived.”
Listening to the conversation between Choi Jin-ah and my second sister-in-law, I felt a sudden chill.
Without knowing exactly what was going on, I bolted upright and headed outside.
“Move!”
There, surrounded and being restrained by the bodyguards, was a woman with red hair—Oh Yun-ji.
My eyes widened in shock.
The moment I saw her being handled forcefully by the swarm of guards, I lost it.
“Back off!”
I screamed without realizing it and rushed forward. Pushing the bodyguards aside, I pulled Oh Yun-ji toward me.
“She’s the Chairman’s guest!”
The bodyguards were taken aback.
Since they couldn’t treat me, the Chairman’s son, recklessly, they all hesitated and stepped back, some immediately bowing their heads in apology. However...
“Young Master.”
Only Senior Ju-hee remained, staring at me with a frigid gaze as she spoke.
“As far as I am aware, the Chairman has no scheduled guests for today.”
“……”
“The Chairman’s instructions to us were absolute: do not let anyone in without a prior appointment, even if it were the President himself.”
Senior Ju-hee’s voice, calm yet icy, felt foreign to me, yet it suited her perfectly.
This was the Senior I knew as Captain Ju.
No, she was even more resolute than that.
“This is not merely the Chairman’s personal preference; it is the prestige and the weight of the man who leads a global enterprise. No matter if it is you, Young Master, it is unacceptable to ignore that and act as you please.”
As expected of Senior Ju-hee.
Her back was straight, her shoulders unyielding. Her logic, cold as it was, was undeniably sharp.
But I had no intention of backing down.
“This girl is a responsibility the Chairman must bear. If we send her away now, it will only look like the Chairman is trying to hide his own shame.”
A leader must never retreat.
Because that is the responsibility one owes to those who look at their back.
Those were the words my father had told me long ago.
“I will take full responsibility. Everyone, return to your posts.”
I declared firmly, signaling that I would hear no more, and led Yun-ji inside.
Senior Ju-hee bowed slowly without a change in expression, and the conversation ended there.
Seeing her like that made me wonder if I should have ever asked her to be a bodyguard. I hadn't expected our relationship to become strained like this.
But the die was cast.
First, I had to take care of Yun-ji.
“Why did you come?” I asked as we headed inside.
Yun-ji shook off my hand and snapped back.
“To demand answers.”
“Sigh... I-seo told you, didn't she?”
“The Chairman is here, right?”
“Yun-ji, I...”
“Stop. I’m going to talk to the Chairman first.”
I thought I’d heard recently that Yun-ji had lost her spark.
I had no idea where people got that impression.
Right now, she looked ready to tear apart anything she could get her hands on.
Seeing her old self again brought a slight sense of nostalgia, but for now, I led her toward my father’s study.
On the way, my mother, Choi Jin-ah, and my second sister-in-law approached us, but we passed them by without a word.
Click.
When I opened the door and stepped inside, my father was already waiting, his book closed.
“It has been a long time.”
“You know why I’m here, Chairman.”
“Hmm. It seems that girl finally told you.”
I knew my father’s image of Choi I-seo wasn't great, but I worried this incident might have made it even worse.
“Chairman, I accepted the bet we made.”
“……”
“In the end, I was wrong, and I accepted defeat and stepped away. But Chairman, if the game was rigged from the start, wouldn't it be foolish of me to just let it go quietly?”
If the gambling table itself was a setup, it was only natural to flip it over.
Yun-ji was pressing him, but my father replied with eyes that showed he had already lost all interest.
“So, what is it you want to do?”
“What?”
His response was so firm and heavy that Yun-ji’s blazing momentum began to falter.
“Are you asking for another chance even now? I believe that is something you should be saying to my son, not me.”
“……”
“Whether the game was rigged or I cheated—what does it matter? It is already over. My son is no longer looking at you, but at someone else.”
“That’s—!”
Yun-ji tried to argue, but her words were choked back as she stood there, huffing with her fists clenched tight.
“I am aware that Un-i is running a business jointly with you. I hope you realize that alone is an act of mercy.”
“…!”
“A woman with nothing. No, a girl who has nothing but flaws—I allowed her to sit in the position of CEO. Give up now and be satisfied with what you have.”
“Did you think I’d forget my purpose for the sake of a position?! Why do you think I’m sitting in that chair?!”
“You were greedy for something far too great.”
“Do you feel not even a shred of guilt for playing with people’s lives? You know how hard it was for us back then!”
“Guilt?”
For the first time, my father slowly stood up from his seat.
With his hands behind his back, he strode toward her and spoke as he stood face-to-face with Yun-ji.
“Don’t you think you are the one who should feel guilt?”
“What did you say?”
“If I were to accept you, the very roots of our enterprise could be shaken. Do you have any idea how many wolves would tear us apart just for the fact that we brought the daughter of a death row convict into our home?!”
“Th-that’s—!”
“You wouldn't know! Because you are still young! Because you can only see an inch in front of your face! When you are at the top, there are countless people trying to pull you down! Do you have any idea how much damage it causes just to give those people a single flaw to exploit?!”
My father’s voice thundered.
No, it wasn't just a father’s voice; it was the roar of a Chairman.
“That you have done nothing wrong? That you have never even met your father? Do you think I don’t know that? Do you think I don’t know how much you suffer because of a father whose face you’ve never even properly seen?!”
“…!”
“It must feel unfair. It must be painful. He must have been the only person you could rely on when you had nothing!”
Back then, we were leaning on each other.
That was how we survived, and as long as we had each other, we were fine.
“Even so, I would take him away a hundred times over. If a single tear from you means the employees of my company can have a normal day! I will always make that choice!”
“……”
“You asked about guilt? I have none. I protected my son, my company, and my people. That is enough.”
Having said his piece, my father turned around and returned to his seat.
“That is what guilt by association looks like in the modern era. Instead of simply taking a head, it twists everything around you.”
Reporters would never let such prey escape. Even if they did, competing companies would find a way to drag it into the light.
That was why my father had cast Yun-ji aside, even though he knew she was innocent.
“If there is one thing the two of you have in common...”
My father sat down in his chair.
“It is that you both were cursed with poor fathers.”
He closed his eyes and let out a long breath, signaling our dismissal.
“Now, get out.”
But Yun-ji didn't move.
She stood there, teeth gritted, barely managing to keep her spark alive.
“At least... shouldn't you at least apologize?!”
“To ask for forgiveness implies regret. Even if the same situation arose again, I would do the exact same thing.”
That was the end of it.
My father didn't allow Yun-ji even the slightest opening.
* * *
“Ha.”
Once outside, Yun-ji clutched her forehead and let out a bitter laugh.
“I came here full of fire only to get beaten down.”
“Yun-ji.”
“Don’t comfort me. I know there wasn't a single lie in what he said.”
The fact that she couldn't offer a single rebuttal to my father’s words meant she understood them all too well.
She also knew exactly what he had to do as a Chairman.
Well, I suppose that’s how he reached that position in the first place.
“Let’s go outside. This place... isn't very pleasant.”
I led Yun-ji out of the house.
Under the watchful eyes of the household staff and the bodyguards, we made our way out.
I sat in the passenger seat of the sports car Yun-ji had driven and stared at her.
She was still catching her breath, trying to organize her thoughts. Sensing my gaze, she glanced sideways and spoke.
“Go back inside. I don’t want you seeing me looking pathetic.”
“How can I just leave you after you came here and got wrecked?”
“Do you want to die?”
“I’ve been 'beaten' by my father like that plenty of times. If you stay alone with your thoughts, it’ll only get harder.”
Yun-ji let out a deep sigh and replied irritably.
“I’m telling you not to give me hope.”
“……”
When I still didn't move, Yun-ji thudded her head against the steering wheel and began to vent.
“Phew... I worked and made money so that even if you left your family, you could live without any problems.”
“Ahem.”
“Now that you’re actually gone, I wonder what the point of all that work was.”
“Don’t you think... you’re being a bit too consumed by me?”
I tried to offer a clumsy bit of comfort, but Yun-ji just gave a hollow laugh and covered her eyes with her hand.
“Because you were all I had.”
“……”
“I’m not blaming you, though. If a girlfriend suddenly vanishes, it’s only natural for the feelings to fade.”
I remembered that time.
The summer break of our freshman year, first semester.
The day Yun-ji, who had been doing so well, suddenly disappeared.
She said she’d left a letter, but because my father’s side had intercepted it, I was left all alone, knowing nothing.
“I loved you so much, so I think the sense of betrayal felt that much greater.”
As I laughed self-deprecatingly, Yun-ji glanced at me and asked.
“Did you cry?”
“…A lot.”
Probably more than you think.
“I’m sorry. I hoped you wouldn't cry.”
“What are you sorry for? I’m the one who’s sorry.”
A brief silence followed.
I could see Yun-ji’s hand trembling slightly. It looked as though she was suppressing the urge to reach out to me.
“Woo-jin, can you do me one favor?”
With her heart thus restrained, Yun-ji took a long, deep breath.
In a voice laced with tremors, she spoke very carefully.
“I’m going to go meet that man—my father.”
“Yun-ji.”
“I just want to go and hear what the problem was. I want to know what happened that made me have to suffer like this.”
“……”
“Can you come with me?”
To hide the tears that had welled up, Yun-ji closed her eyes tightly.
Struggling to mask her trembling voice, she made her request.
“It’s our last date.”