Chapter 165
Chapter 165
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 165
Chapter Title: Chaebol? Screw It, I'll Give It a Shot
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Chaebol? Screw that crap. I can do it too.
I left the pork soup joint and headed straight home.
As soon as I opened the door, the rich aroma of soybean paste stew hit me right in the nose.
On the dining table sat a picture-perfect spread: steaming freshly cooked rice, perfectly grilled fish crisped to a golden brown, and neat side dishes arranged just so.
And there was my wife, Yoon Chaewon, apron tied around her waist despite her massive, full-term belly, watching me with a smile.
Ah... shit?
The moment my eyes landed on that idyllic breakfast scene, cold sweat trickled down my spine.
The special-size pork soup and two bottles of soju I'd scarfed down just minutes ago suddenly made their presence known with a vengeance in my gut.
Should've just had some tea. Why the hell did I go and film a pork soup mukbang first thing in the morning?
I hadn't felt a lick of tension in front of Chairman Cheon Myeonghwan, but right now, my heart was shrinking like it was caught in a vise.
Yoon Chaewon's narrowed eyes staring me down sent chills straight through my bones.
"...You drank soju this morning?"
Her voice, cold as ice, pierced my heart.
"Uh... huh? Y-yeah! Work stuff! Had to meet someone out of the blue first thing..."
"What about breakfast?"
"Just some kimchi with the soju. Man, I'm starving! That soybean paste stew smells amazing. Bet it's delicious!"
I rubbed my stomach awkwardly, pretending to dash for the table and grab a spoon.
But Chaewon wasn't buying my lousy acting anymore.
"Kim Cheolsu."
"Y-yeah?"
"Cut the act. Go wash up and get ready for work."
"Yes, ma'am!"
I snapped to attention like a green recruit and saluted.
Chaewon shook her head at me, then let out a soft 'pfft' of laughter.
Only then could I finally exhale the breath I'd been holding.
With her due date less than two weeks away, her word was law—practically divine commandment.
I bolted to the bathroom with the same enthusiasm as my 'Yes, ma'am!', stripped down, and stood under the showerhead.
Whoosh—
Ice-cold water cascaded over my head.
The morning soju buzz and the heavy pork soup haze washed away.
As I ran a hand through my wet hair under the frigid spray, my mind finally replayed my meeting with Chairman Cheon Myeonghwan in cold detail.
'Sure, I spread the rumor that we'd start snapping up shares today for a hostile takeover...'
But that was all bullshit.
The top priority in my head wasn't swallowing Taeseong whole or crushing Cheon Hye-yeon underfoot.
'Chaewon's due any day now.'
At a time like this, I had zero intention of stirring up anything big.
I didn't want a single risk factor anywhere near my wife or the baby about to be born.
No risks—whether money or people. Exclude them perfectly.
That was my one and only rule right now.
That's why I'd filed a one-trillion-won lawsuit against Taeseong's U.S. branch and then deliberately held back on any follow-ups.
A devastating blow to slam their stock to the floor.
But no follow-up punches that could escalate the war beyond control.
I'd just sent a warning: 'You're in my crosshairs.' And waited quietly.
And Chairman Cheon Myeonghwan, that sly old fox, had read my intentions perfectly.
He must've seen me dragging my feet after the lawsuit and figured there was 'room for negotiation.'
That's why he'd come to me himself.
As long as there was 'room for negotiation,' a merchant like him wouldn't go for total annihilation.
His autobiography had hinted at that temperament, and today's meeting confirmed it.
I nodded in satisfaction.
For now, risks were cleared until Chaewon's due date.
That alone more than paid for this morning's pork soup.
All I had to do now was remind the old fox I wasn't some pushover—jab lightly here and there.
Until he accepted my offer... or rejected it and tried something else.
Just keep him in check, lightly,
And the moment Chaewon gives birth, summon the Chart God.
I strode to the closet, pulled out my favorite suit, and slipped it on.
Everything felt perfectly squared away.
I felt utterly refreshed.
As I stepped out of the bedroom in my sharp getup, Chaewon was lounging on the sofa, munching fruit.
I planted a light kiss on her forehead and pulled out my smartphone.
Then I called Choi Yang.
"Choi Yang. Good morning. Got a job for you."
[Yes, sir. What is it?]
"Taeseong Pharma and Taeseong Biosciences. Pull full lists of their key researchers and execs. Start contacting them today. One condition: triple their current salary. Poach 'em all to our side."
[Got it. Any deadline?]
"Take it slow, no rush. Just make sure the action hits—they know we're poaching."
[Yes, sir.]
I hung up, sat beside Chaewon, and popped the apple slice she offered into my mouth.
The picture of domestic bliss, right after issuing the cruelest order imaginable.
The apple tasted sweeter than ever.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Taeseong Group headquarters, in front of the chairman's office.
Cheon Hye-yeon steadied her breath before the massive oak door.
The moment the stock market opened this morning, everything Taeseong had crumbled.
And right after, her father's summons arrived.
She braced for the reprimand—for accountability for her screw-up.
She was ready for anything.
Scolding, demotion, maybe even stripped of all authority in the group.
She swallowed hard and pushed open the door with resolve.
The chairman's office inside was serene and peaceful, untouched by the hell outside.
Her father stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, silently gazing at the Seoul skyline.
Cheon Hye-yeon stopped in the center of the room, waiting for him to speak.
One minute, two... the silence tightened like a cold vise around her heart.
She steeled herself for whatever criticism came.
After a long silence, he slowly turned to face her.
But his face held no anger or disappointment like she'd expected.
Just the same impassive expression as always.
He approached her slowly and asked something utterly out of left field, unrelated to the company crisis or her failure.
"Seeing anyone these days?"
"...Pardon?"
Cheon Hye-yeon doubted her ears for a second.
Not a chairman's rebuke, but a father's question.
And at a moment when the entire group was burning.
She wondered if the man before her was even the father she knew.
Chairman Cheon Myeonghwan continued as if talking to himself, oblivious or not to her confusion.
"I met CEO Kim Cheolsu myself. Seems like a fine young man."
"...What?"
A reflexive retort burst from her lips.
The culprit behind this mess, the bastard who'd dragged Taeseong to hell—he called him a 'fine young man'.
"Only one regrettable thing..."
Cheon Myeonghwan clucked his tongue like he truly pitied it.
"That promising young man's paired with some cheap whore as his 'wife'. Kinda sad."
"..."
"Hye-yeon."
Her father suddenly called her name in a tender voice.
That tenderness made goosebumps erupt all over her.
"Yes, Father..."
"People should pair with their equals and build families, right?"
"..."
In that instant, every puzzle piece clicked into place.
Cheon Hye-yeon's mind went blank white.
"You're a smart girl. I raised you that way."
Her father reverted to his chairman face, voice icy.
It wasn't praise. It was an order: 'You get my intent, so quit whining.'
"You may go."
His eyes no longer saw his daughter.
They appraised a 'product' on the display shelf, priced for maximum value.
Cheon Hye-yeon bowed and stumbled out of the vast office on unsteady legs, barely registering how she moved.
Thud.
As the heavy door shut, she slumped against the hallway wall.
The empty corridor, the chill of the marble floor, her ragged breaths—that was reality.
For a moment, focus returned to her vacant eyes.
Taeseong.
Blue Sky.
Kim Cheolsu.
Father.
And... Yoon Chaewon.
Chewing on those names, something new and cold bloomed amid the defeat and despair in her heart.
Her father saw her as a 'product', a bargaining chip to flip the board.
Kim Cheolsu had insulted her and shaken Taeseong.
Yoon Chaewon had trampled her pride.
A massive chessboard where everyone moved for their own gain.
So why should she be the only 'pawn'?
Cheon Hye-yeon's eyes had become those of a 'merchant', just like her father's.
No sadness, no rage—all emotions evaporated, leaving only cold profit-and-loss calculus.
She rose slowly but steadily.
Smooth out her disheveled clothes with indifference.
A life racing toward Taeseong's pinnacle.
But that path wasn't the only one.
Beyond her father's pointed road and her own, paths to the top existed.
Maybe faster, surer ones.
She was no longer a despairing loser.
The moment she'd been reborn as the coldest merchant, who'd even made herself a transaction item.
Looking every bit the old fox, she sat at her desk with emotionless eyes and called her secretary.
Her voice was chillingly steady, unbelievable for someone who'd just collapsed on the floor.
"Prepare to head straight to the Cheongdam-dong salon, and get personal shopping ready. Style: sophisticated and elegant."
[Understood, Executive Director.]
The secretary on the line sounded relieved, like she'd returned to her usual self.
But that relief shattered with her next words.
"Oh, and lingerie... hmm..."
Cheon Hye-yeon paused, as if choosing her words.
"Pick out the cheap, vulgar kind. Make sure it's ready."
[...Pardon?]
The secretary's voice dripped with shock.
'Cheon Hye-yeon' and 'vulgarity'.
Words she'd spent her life erasing, the ones she despised most.
"Cheap. Vulgar. Lingerie."
She emphasized each syllable, as if the secretary hadn't understood.
Her toneless voice made it all the more menacing.
[U-understood...]
Cheon Hye-yeon hung up, rose, and walked to the massive window.
Reflected against Seoul's skyscrapers was her image: the perfect career woman.
Sophisticated, elegant—Taeseong's princess.
She stared at that illusion in the glass, as if seeing a stranger, for a long time.
Then, low and for her ears only, she murmured to her reflection.
"First kid should be a boy, right?"
It wasn't a question.
It was her declaration, setting the goal for everything to come.
One piece of intel from her background check on Kim Cheolsu surfaced.
His wife, Yoon Chaewon.
The baby in her belly was definitely a girl.
Sure, equality of the sexes in this modern world.
But that was for the rabble down below.
Cheon Hye-yeon sneered inwardly.
In this skyscraper realm, the kingdom's heir was still, by default, male.
A daughter could be a beloved princess, but never inherit the throne.
That monstrous man had built a small kingdom with his own hands.
And now waged a conquest to forge an 'empire'.
But he had no 'prince' yet.
A smile, more beautiful and cruel than ever, curved her lips.
She had finally grasped how to turn her father's insulting game to her advantage.