Chapter 56
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: A Scary Older Brother
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[Scene 56. A Scary Older Brother.]
Scene 56
A Scary Older Brother.
“HS in Korea is gathering information on President Kang Man-dong and the Professor.”
At Jamie’s report from Korea, Richard nodded as if it were only to be expected.
“Process it a bit and hand it over. Make it look natural.”
“The part about the Professor is easy since we're thoroughly prepared, but what should we do about the information on Kang Man-dong?”
“There's no need to process his information separately.”
“That's true, but it has a tendency to look like fiction even though it's fact.”
“I suppose there's some truth to that. But is there any reason to hide it? A major Korean conglomerate must have its own intelligence team. They'll be doing their own investigation. They'll naturally figure out what's fact and what's fiction.”
“Yes. I’ll proceed with that.”
*
As Han Mi-ra’s lamentations dragged on, Lee Won-cheol made an excuse and stepped away for a moment.
His chief secretary had arrived with the files on Kang Man-dong and Yu-hyeon.
“We had a branch in Malta?”
“Well, it’s hard to call it a branch. It’s a small agency. We had the staff there investigate Kang Man-dong, and…”
When Chief Hwang paused, Lee Won-cheol looked up expectantly.
“And?”
“He’s quite the celebrity among the locals. There was no need for a secret investigation; most of the information was already public.”
Lee Won-cheol, wearing his glasses, meticulously read through the documents spread across his desk.
“Quite a life. He had every right to boast about his hardships in front of me. You could call this a ‘tragic immigrant's saga.’ Good heavens, he was even stabbed? That must be where the scar on his body came from.”
Lee Won-cheol put down the papers he was holding.
“He has influence not just in Malta, but in Italy as well?”
This was not the kind of power a simple farm owner wielded.
Neither was his ‘do your worst’ attitude.
“So he is with the Mafia.”
At Lee Won-cheol’s words, Chief Hwang shook his head.
“It’s a bit complicated.”
“He’s not? What's written here seems to say he is.”
“In his early days as an immigrant, he clashed with local gangs, and as things escalated, he ended up fighting the Maltese Mafia. But after the fight was over, he reportedly went back to focusing solely on his farm.”
“They call him Don Karman in Malta, don't they?”
“It's a sign of respect.”
“Respect?”
“Yes. He’s heavily involved in community projects and also runs a scholarship foundation.”
“Aren’t schools and hospitals in Malta all free?”
“They are. But as you know, ‘free’ often comes with a certain lack of quality. Kang Man-dong runs a private hospital for his community, for a fee, and spares no expense on the education of the children within that community.”
“Hmm…”
“The children supported by the Kang Man-dong Foundation all attend prestigious universities abroad, not in Malta.”
“He takes care of their children. His support must be immense.”
Somehow, this seemed strangely similar to how conglomerates nurtured their own scholarship students.
*A Mafia-style talent development program?*
“Have you confirmed the scale of his assets?”
At Lee Won-cheol’s question, Chief Secretary Hwang produced another document.
“These are his assets. We obtained this with great difficulty through a Maltese tax official.”
Lee Won-cheol’s eyes widened as he reviewed the list of assets.
“He built all this from scratch in just eleven years?”
“This is only what’s been officially declared. A closer look would likely reveal much more.”
Lee Won-cheol stared at the numbers again in disbelief.
“Based on personal assets alone… he has more than me? How is that possible? Do grapevines grow gold instead of grapes these days?”
“We suspect he may have absorbed the assets of the factions he drove out. It will take more time to look into how his wealth was formed, but the Maltese officials are reportedly not very cooperative. We were lucky to get even this.”
“What about his son?”
“Kang Yu-hyeon. His local name is Camu. As you know, he’s a drama writer, but…”
“But? What?”
“His academic background is rather unusual.”
“Give it here.”
Lee Won-cheol took the file on Yu-hyeon, and his eyes widened once more.
“A research professor in humanities at Stanford at twenty-eight?”
“I found it strange as well, so I inquired directly with Stanford. They confirmed he is affiliated with their Humanities Center and is currently on a break, having returned to Malta.”
“A break? You mean that one-year leave professors take?”
“Yes. It's also called a sabbatical.”
“Wait a minute. I thought you had to work for seven or eight years before you could take one of those.”
“It seems Kang Yu-hyeon became a research professor seven years ago.”
“Ha! So you're saying he was already a university professor at twenty-one? At Stanford, no less?”
“Yes, Chairman.”
*No wonder.* His manner of speaking, the look in his eyes—it was the attitude of someone who had nothing to be ashamed of. This kid was incredibly sharp.
-Elder. Did you run away? It's against the rules to leave a drinking session for this long.
As he fumbled with the documents, a dazed expression on his face, he heard Kang Man-dong’s voice calling for him.
“We should stop the investigation here.”
“Sir? But… why? We should investigate further…”
“Man, you said it yourself. Kang Man-dong is a celebrity in Malta. What do you think will happen if we keep asking around about him? Rumors will spread like wildfire in that small community. We need to take our time with this. Rushing in will only cause friction.”
“Yes, Chairman. I’ll give the order.”
“And bring some more soju. It looks like this is going to be a long night.”
Since things had come to this, it was better to be friendly than to turn red in the face.
*
Lee Ha-na fled with a flushed face, and Han Mi-ra’s venting session continued for over an hour afterward.
Chairman Lee Won-cheol and Lee Jae-yoon looked completely worn out.
Chairman Lee Won-cheol had managed to mitigate the mental damage by periodically escaping from the screen, but Lee Jae-yoon was stuck in place like a fixture, his eardrums under assault.
“Enough! It was all my fault.”
Even Kang Man-dong, who had initially taken her side and nodded along, eventually began to slip away, thinking his ears would start bleeding.
Heeding Chairman Lee Won-cheol’s desperate gaze, he picked up his smartphone and moved to the restaurant’s outer courtyard.
-I know she's furious, but I didn't expect her to go on for over an hour.
They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. An unbridled Han Mi-ra was truly terrifying. As if there were no tomorrow, she had unleashed all the anger she had suppressed for so long.
Kang Man-dong crunched on a dried anchovy and replied nonchalantly to Lee Won-cheol’s comment.
“Elder, for that woman… that's all she can do. You shouldn't speak of it like that.”
Speechless, Lee Won-cheol sighed and downed his soju.
*Because of my foolish son.*
*Because of some unknown member of a Middle Eastern royal family.*
He had been forced into this bizarre drinking session, but it wasn’t as unpleasant or offensive as he had expected.
After being surrounded by people who did nothing but watch his every move and repeat, “Yes, Chairman,” it was refreshing to be with Kang Man-dong, who spoke his mind without hesitation.
It brought back all sorts of old memories and, for a brief moment, made him feel free from the heavy burden of being a chairman.
Lee Won-cheol said that while they couldn’t do this often, he’d like to have a drink like this once in a while, and Kang Man-dong nodded, saying it wouldn’t be difficult.
Han Mi-ra’s seemingly endless tirade began to subside after about two hours.
She had reached her physical and mental limits, and she had said almost everything that was on her mind.
As time passed, Kang Man-dong and Lee Won-cheol began sharing stories of their own past hardships, competing over who had it tougher. Lee Jae-yoon, meanwhile, had a separate prayer session with Bishop Duan.
At first, Lee Jae-yoon had nodded along, admitting his faults, but his face soon turned pale.
‘Let us pray, my brother. If not for seventeen years, should we not at least have a repentance period of seventeen days?’
Lee Jae-eun took it upon herself to apologize and offer comfort on her brother’s behalf. Though she hadn’t done anything wrong, she felt a sense of responsibility as a family member and as a woman.
This strange drinking session, which would have been unthinkable anywhere else, seemed to be winding down without any major incidents, until Chairman Lee Won-cheol made a sudden remark.
-Look here, President Kang.
“Yes, Elder.”
-Today's events. Would it be alright to think of it as an older brother scolding his misbehaving younger brother?
“Aigoo, what are you saying? He's the president of HS Energy and the heir to the group. How could he be my younger brother?”
-No. I'm not just saying that. I'm being sincere.
“Elder, I'm letting this go because President Lee Jae-yoon is part of the HS chaebol family and has little to do with me. If he were my younger brother… I would've snapped his legs and thrown him out.”
-That's my point.
“Pardon?”
-If he had a scary older brother, wouldn't he at least think twice before doing something stupid?
Kang Man-dong paused for a moment before asking.
“Are you serious?”
-I am.
Lee Jae-yoon, who was eavesdropping on the conversation between his father and Kang Man-dong even while listening to Bishop Duan’s prayers, instantly turned pale.
-I'm asking you. We may be separated by an ocean, but at the end of the day, we're of the same people, from the same country. If this is fate, then it's fate. I hope we can maintain a long and friendly relationship.
Kang Man-dong turned his gaze to Lee Jae-yoon.
“A younger brother…”
As Kang Man-dong muttered about a younger brother, Lee Jae-yoon looked desperately at his father.
*Father! This man, Kang Man-dong, is Mafia! The kind that threatens, kills, and steals from people! And you're talking about brothers?!*
Kang Man-dong then looked at Han Mi-ra.
She widened her eyes with a ‘What is this all about?’ expression, but then she saw Lee Jae-yoon’s horrified face and nodded with a smile.
Her expression said that anything Lee Jae-yoon disliked was fine with her.
*Is my Yu-hyeon getting a Korean chaebol grandfather?*
He wouldn't be a paternal grandfather, but thinking about the distant future, it wasn't a bad thing.
If he played this relationship right, it could be of considerable help in finding Yu-hyeon’s mother when he eventually went to Korea.
*And if something were to happen to me, it wouldn't be a bad idea to set up a place for Yu-hyeon to fall back on.*
Here in Malta, he could brush off chaebols and the like, but outside of Malta, especially in Korea, the power of large corporations and chaebols was absolute.
Kang Man-dong turned his head back to the video screen.
“Elder.”
-Yes, President Kang.
“From now on, I'll call you Uncle. And you, Elder, should treat me as you would a nephew.”
-A nephew? Bwahahahaha!
Lee Won-cheol burst out laughing as if he’d heard the funniest thing in the world. Then, his laughter stopped abruptly, and he looked at Kang Man-dong with a serious expression.
-Let's do that. I'll be in your care from now on, Nephew!
“Yes, Uncle. I’ll be in your care as well. Ah, and please look after my Yu-hyeon, too. He’s a proud grand-nephew you won't be ashamed of anywhere.”
-Of course, I will. I could tell right away, he's a real talent! A talent!
As Lee Won-cheol cemented the family tree by calling Kang Man-dong ‘Nephew,’ Kang Man-dong immediately slung an arm over Lee Jae-yoon’s shoulder.
“Jae-yoon.”
“.....”
When Lee Jae-yoon hesitated to speak, Man-dong’s hand on his shoulder began to knead it like a massage. He called out to him again.
“Jae-yoon?”
“Ugh! Yes.”
“Call me your big brother. And from now on, you get it, right?”
Kang Man-dong gestured toward Han Mi-ra, his eyes screaming, *Touch her and you die.*
With a look of utter disgust, Lee Jae-yoon barely managed to answer, “Yes…”
It was only because his father was glaring at him from the screen as if he would eat him alive, roaring, ‘What are you doing? Answer him!’
*Damn it! This isn't why I came here.*
*Why do things keep turning out like this!*
As if on cue, Bishop Duan snatched Jae-yoon and began a prayer, this time on the theme of righteous brothers.
“Brother Jae-yoon, congratulations. You have found your long-lost brother in a distant foreign land. Let us offer a prayer of thanks together.”
Jae-yoon’s face contorted in disgust at Bishop Duan’s suggestion to pray.
“Ugh… B-Bishop. I think I’ve prayed enough…”
“Not at all. That prayer was one of repentance, to lessen even a fraction of your sins, while this one is a prayer of blessing for the brothers' future. It is a completely different kind of prayer. Now, this way. As brothers are born of one womb, so are these two as one body…”