Park Chaeyeon
A smile crept across my face as I realized things were moving faster than I'd planned.
"Y-You... How did you get here...?!"
Geon Daegeon couldn't hide his shock.
Here he was, pointing fingers at me—the person in an overwhelmingly dominant position who could walk away without investing and not lose a damn thing.
"Geon Daegeon! Get your hand down!"
The president's voice cracked like a whip. I held back the urge to snap the finger pointing at me in half.
If things went wrong here—if this investment fell through because of his son—his company and his entire household would collapse. He'd been so sure the investment was locked in that he'd already started expansion plans.
That was how much I poured into the companies I chose to back.
"......"
Whether Geon Daegeon finally grasped the situation or not, he bit his lower lip and lowered his trembling hand.
"Haha. My apologies, Stock Emperor. My son is still immature."
"It's fine. We're actually classmates at the academy, so we're close."
"Oh...! Is that true?!"
Color finally returned to the president's face.
He seemed almost proud of his son—the one who'd only ever caused trouble—thinking he was close enough to me to point fingers without restraint.
"Of course. Isn't that right, Daegeon?"
I stepped beside him and draped an arm over his shoulder. He was slightly shorter than me, but given the circumstances, he just shrunk into himself and nodded.
"Y-Yeah..."
He had no right to refuse. If I said we were close, we were close. If I said we weren't, we weren't.
"Haha. You're the same age too—I was hoping you'd become friends, and you're already close. What a coincidence!"
"I was thinking the same thing."
"Stock Emperor, please look after our Daegeon. He's still immature and too busy playing around..."
"Immature? He's a great friend."
"Hahaha!"
The president's lips were already blooming into a wide smile.
Though I was still young, not yet an adult, but everyone who met me never treated me casually. That was understandable—the story of how I'd utterly destroyed a mid-sized company's chairman, who'd once severely underestimated me and then tried to approach Nayeong aggressively despite our significant age gap, was famous. I'd demolished everything he'd built and taken his company in one fell swoop.
So Daeil Industries' president, who'd been stiff and tense at our first meeting, now looked much more relaxed.
"Come, come. Let's go inside and continue our discussion."
"Yes, let's."
The president led the way into the building. Chaeyeon, Geon Daegeon, and I followed side by side.
"Hey. This is fun, isn't it?"
"......"
Geon Daegeon still seemed confused. He'd left the academy because his father told him an important person was coming today and he should get acquainted.
And that person happened to be me.
Maybe the scene at the academy was flashing vividly through his mind. Maybe he was finally realizing what he'd done to my woman.
His face started turning pale blue.
"Not having fun?"
"N-No... it's fun..."
When I asked again, he nodded vigorously.
"Wow. How does everything work out like this? Still, isn't this lucky for you? I have a good impression of the president—your dad."
As I said, the president didn't seem like a bad person. In fact, he often showed positive influence in society, like donating generously in the future too. That was one reason I didn't hesitate to make such aggressive investments.
The problem was that a piece of shit like his son came out of a good man like that.
"Imagine if your company went under because of trash like you. How would the president feel?"
It wasn't that I hadn't considered pressuring Geon Daegeon's family—or even destroying them entirely. But thinking about it, I felt sorry for the family who'd suffer because of the worthless son. And if I went easy on him, he might crawl back up, so I couldn't easily decide on a method.
But now, there was no need to worry. Geon Daegeon had surely realized: he'd touched a woman belonging to a man he should never, ever cross.
"So. Let me ask you one thing."
Gulp.
My icy voice echoed in his ears, and he swallowed dryly.
"Slut, whore, sugar baby... Who was the bastard who spread those malicious rumors about Chaeyeon?"
I had a guess, but there was always the possibility I was wrong.
"......"
Geon Daegeon couldn't bring himself to answer.
"Going to keep your mouth shut? Should I just leave?"
When I threatened him, his lips finally trembled and parted.
"H-Han Seohyun..."
"Han Seohyun?"
"Th-That's right... Han Seohyun did it."
A name that sounded like a girl's.
"And the rest?"
"Kim Jia and Kwon Doa..."
"Just those three?"
The instigators were probably just those three. But there had to be others who helped spread the rumors.
For example...
"You didn't do anything, Daegeon?"
I asked, using a friendly tone.
"Put your hand on your heart and answer honestly. You're completely innocent?"
His pupils darted back and forth uncontrollably. Under the silent pressure, he finally broke down and let out a groan.
"I'm sorry... no, I was wrong..."
We stopped walking.
Geon Daegeon, who always thought he was above everyone else, was swallowing his pride and apologizing.
"Not to me. Right?"
He caught on immediately and shifted his gaze to Chaeyeon, who was walking beside me.
"I'm sorry. For the harm I caused because of what I did. I sincerely apologize. I'm sorry."
He stopped walking and bowed deeply with a genuine apology. He was surprisingly good at apologizing. Other guys would've held back out of fear their father might see and then taken it out somewhere else.
"Huh? Is something going on...?"
The president, who'd been walking ahead, turned around when he didn't hear our footsteps. Seeing his son bowing all the way down to apologize to Chaeyeon, he frowned.
"Oh, it's nothing serious. We played a game together before, and since Daegeon came in last, he agreed to treat my girlfriend Chaeyeon like a superior for a while."
"Ah... I see. Daegeon. A promise is a promise—you have to keep it, right?"
"Yes... I understand."
I figured I'd wrap things up here. Geon Daegeon was completely under our control. He might try to look for a way out later, but he wouldn't find one—there wasn't one to begin with.
So for a while, he'd obediently listen to what we said. Even if it meant humiliating himself in ways he'd never shown others. Even if he had to do the grunt work he usually made his underlings do.
"Fix the rumors first, Daegeon."
"Yes..."
Judging by Chaeyeon's expression, she seemed somewhat relieved. But it still didn't seem like enough, so I decided to give her full control over Geon Daegeon and focus on the meeting for now.
The meeting—naturally—concluded well, with me continuing my aggressive investment. But I slipped a word to Daegeon behind his father's back. A warning that my mind could change depending on what he did, even though his father was charging ahead with expansion, trusting my investment blindly.
Geon Daegeon's tightly clenched fists trembled. His bitten lip split open and blood dripped down.
The next day.
We headed to the academy as usual. Despite my order to kill the rumors yesterday, they still hadn't been suppressed—the place was full of kids whispering when they saw us. Well, since the rumors were contained within the academy, he could probably sort them out today.
Not that I gave a damn.
I grabbed Chaeyeon's arm as she tried to head to her usual seat near the entrance, just like yesterday.
"Huh...?"
Her expression was full of confusion—why was I stopping her? I grinned and walked toward the window-side back seats where Geon Daegeon's gang, who hadn't all arrived yet, usually sat.
"What the fuck do you want?"
"Hey. Daegeon told us to leave you alone, so piss off."
So he'd warned his friends in advance. But there was no way thugs like them would meekly obey without any explanation—just being told not to touch me and to stop everything they'd been doing.
They were just going along with it on the surface for now.
"Is that so."
Unfazed, I set my bag down on Geon Daegeon's seat.
"What the hell are you doing?"
One of the thugs, who looked far from our age with his vicious face, frowned.
"He must've lost his mind."
"Oh. Maybe he snapped after finding out his girlfriend does sugar dating yesterday?"
"Kyaa~! That makes total sense!"
Three girls cackled.
The instigators who spread the rumor that Chaeyeon sold her body for money—their names were Han Seohyun, Kim Jia, and Kwon Doa, right?
"Hey. You wanna get fucked up?"
"J-Jihoon...!"
As I stood up and clenched my fist, Chaeyeon trembled with fear.
"It's okay. It's okay. He'll be here soon."
I looked at my smartphone. On the screen was a message I'd sent to Geon Daegeon.
A single concise sentence. Geon Daegeon freaked out the moment he saw it.
His replies were riddled with typos, but I didn't care. If I got hit even once here, yesterday's meeting deal would be voided.
"If you're going to hit me, then hit me."
"Tch... Crazy bastard."
He raised his fist as I confidently told him to go ahead.
And then.
Bang!
The door burst open violently as Geon Daegeon walked in.