The Invitation
Cha Jiyun was handing Nam Doyun an invitation.
“Huh? Why is Nam Doyun getting that?”
“Yeah. Shouldn’t it obviously go to Kim Minseong?”
Every student stared at Kim Minseong, their eyes brimming with confusion. His face burned crimson as he marched straight up to Cha Jiyun.
“Um… Jiyun?”
“....What is it?”
Cha Jiyun regarded him with a frigid expression.
“Don’t you know who my father is?”
“...I am aware. He serves as Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.”
“And yet… you’re not giving the invitation to me.”
Kim Minseong shot Nam Doyun a look of pure contempt before continuing.
“You’re giving it to him? I genuinely cannot understand this.”
“....”
“It’s not as if he possesses any exceptional personal ability. From what I know, his entrance exam scores were the lowest in our class. You’re truly giving it to someone like that?”
“....”
Cha Jiyun shook her head slowly, gazing at him. How pathetic. He could only spout such nonsense because he had no idea what kind of power the other boy was concealing.
“...Grades are nothing more than grades,” Cha Jiyun said. “They cannot reveal a person’s true worth.”
Kim Minseong glanced around. Every student’s attention had locked onto them. If he failed to secure the invitation here, the humiliation would be total.
“Jiyun. My father is a chief prosecutor. Are you really prepared to make an enemy of me?”
“....”
“You know what happens when we set our minds to digging into a company, don’t you? Dust flies everywhere.”
“....”
Cha Jiyun stared at him in silence.
“Not that I’m saying we’d deliberately target the Samhwa Group, of course. It’s merely a possibility. Yes.”
Kim Minseong flashed a smug grin.
This should be enough for her to get the message.
With those words, she would have no choice but to hand the invitation to him. Businesspeople ultimately had to watch their step around the prosecution.
“...You said your father is the Seoul District Chief Prosecutor, correct?”
“Yes. Has your mind changed now?”
Kim Minseong smirked again.
“...His name was Kim Deokbae, wasn’t it?”
“That’s right. You should look up some articles about my father.”
“...”
Without a word, Cha Jiyun began tapping at her phone. Kim Minseong’s smirk widened.
She must be searching for articles about my father right now.
His father was the kind of prosecutor who brought charges against corporations without hesitation—even against major conglomerates. That was why people called him the “Mad Dog.”
Once she realizes how troublesome it would be to cross me, she’ll hand it over.
From a corporate perspective, getting on his father’s bad side meant nothing but headaches.
“...Yes. Prosecutor General. It has been quite some time. This is Cha Jiyun.”
Kim Minseong’s face twisted in shock.
“!!!!”
“Could I see your phone for a moment?”
“...Of course.”
Cha Jiyun showed him the screen. The number saved there was indeed the Prosecutor General’s direct line—the one even his own father would never dare dial casually. Kim Minseong’s body began to tremble.
Cha Jiyun continued the call without pause.
“...The reason for my call is simple. The son of Seoul District Chief Prosecutor Kim Deokbae has just threatened me because he did not receive an invitation to our company’s event.”
“I never threatened you!” Kim Minseong shouted, voice shaking.
Cha Jiyun ignored him completely and kept speaking.
“...Yes. Chief Prosecutor Kim Deokbae’s son attempted to obtain something by leveraging his father’s position.”
“...Understood. I will leave the matter in your hands.”
With that, Cha Jiyun ended the call.
Kim Minseong stared at her, completely stunned. Moments later, his own phone began to ring. It was his father.
“Uh… Dad…”
His voice trembled as he answered.
“You little bastard, what the hell have you been doing?”
“What?”
“What did you do to make the Prosecutor General call me directly?”
“I just—”
“When you get home, you’re dead meat.”
The line went dead.
Kim Minseong looked at Cha Jiyun in disbelief. He had miscalculated completely. Most companies felt crushing pressure at the mere mention of the Seoul District Chief Prosecutor. But not Samhwa Group. For one of Korea’s top conglomerates, that title meant nothing. With direct connections all the way to the Prosecutor General, a district chief prosecutor was irrelevant.
He never imagined it would be this bad…
“I-I’m sorry!”
Kim Minseong bowed deeply.
“...Yes. More importantly.”
Cha Jiyun turned her gaze back toward Nam Doyun.
“...You will come, won’t you?”
“Yes. However—”
Nam Doyun turned his head from side to side, as if searching for someone.
“...Is something wrong?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
He soon locked eyes on the person he was looking for.
“Will she be coming too?”
Cha Jiyun followed his gaze.
“...?”
Jeong Hayeon was standing there.
“...Yes, of course she will be attending.”
The Hunter Association was one of her more valuable connections. It had to be invited.
“...But why do you ask?”
Cha Jiyun seemed puzzled. Why would he care whether Jeong Hayeon was coming?
“...Ah… right. I forgot.”
Cha Jiyun gave Nam Doyun a small, knowing smile.
Nam Doyun liked Jeong Hayeon. That was why he had asked.
“...Yes, Hayeon will be there as well. Will you still be attending?”
“Yes. I’ll go…”
Nam Doyun accepted the invitation.
Jeong Hayeon buried her face in her book.
“Hey! That was huge—did you hear what Nam Doyun just said?”
Kim Minseo whispered excitedly into her ear.
“...”
“He said he’d go because you’re going. What is that? Doesn’t it mean he likes you way more than we thought?”
“There are three invitations. He might’ve just been curious who else was coming.”
Jeong Hayeon spoke while still face-down on her desk.
“Didn’t you hear? He specifically asked if you were coming, and the moment you said yes, he said he’d go too.”
“....”
“If it weren’t for you, I don’t think he would’ve accepted at all.”
Jeong Hayeon’s head shot up.
“D-don’t say weird stuff. He might’ve just been genuinely curious.”
“Hmm~ You really think so?”
Kim Minseo smirked at her.
“Hayeon. Be honest. How do you feel?”
“About what?”
“About Nam Doyun, obviously.”
I accepted the invitation and glanced over at Jeong Hayeon. Our eyes met for a split second before she hurriedly looked away. Kim Minseo, sitting beside her, burst into quiet giggles at the sight.
In the original story, Jeong Hayeon also receives an invitation to Samhwa Bio. If she somehow missed out on it now, the plot could twist in unexpected ways and deviate from its proper course. From my perspective, that would introduce variables I didn’t want. All the preparations I had made could lose their meaning.
So it was a relief to hear she would be coming.
“What? Say that again.”
A man scowled, his face twisting in displeasure.
“It appears Samhwa Bio has successfully developed a new drug.”
“Source?”
“Obtained from an insider at Samhwa Bio. It should be reliable.”
“Haa…”
The man let out a heavy sigh. He was Lee Mingi, president of Hain Bio.
“So the upcoming new drug announcement isn’t just empty bravado.”
Lee Mingi bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.
“It would seem not.”
“...If that drug is successfully commercialized, what happens to our market share?”
“...I will show you the data.”
Current Market Share
1st — Hain Bio — 80.6%
2nd — Myungil Bio — 5.6%
3rd — Hein Bio — 3.4%
Projected After Commercialization
1st — Hain Bio — 50.6%
2nd — Samhwa Bio — 30.4%
“Our share would drop by thirty percent?”
Lee Mingi’s scowl deepened.
“Yes.”
“What exactly is this new drug?”
“As you know, sir, existing diabetes medications have clear limitations.”
“Right. The half-life of GLP-1 is only about two minutes.”
“However, Samhwa Bio claims to have extended that half-life to three hours.”
“...They managed that?”
Even Hain Bio, the undisputed leader in the bio sector, had failed to increase the half-life. And now a fledgling company like Samhwa Bio had succeeded?
“I was under the impression Samhwa Bio didn’t have any talent capable of that.”
Lee Mingi ground his teeth.
“Correct. We have secured most of the top bio researchers in the field.”
“Exactly. So how did Samhwa Bio pull off something we couldn’t? Was it Kim Hein?”
The one genius Lee Mingi had never been able to recruit—Kim Hein.
“I should have offered him even more money…”
“No, sir. It was not Kim Hein.”
“It wasn’t?”
“According to our source, the person who solved the half-life issue was an external advisor they invited.”
“...Who the hell is this external advisor?”
“I was unable to obtain that information. It appears to be highly classified.”
“...”
Lee Mingi squeezed his eyes shut.
“If this drug is successfully commercialized, how much damage are we looking at exactly?”
“...Please review the report I prepared.”
The secretary handed over the documents. As Lee Mingi read, his expression grew darker and darker. The projected losses were astronomical.
Crash—!
“Fuck!”
He hurled the glass cup at the wall.
“Listen. This drug can never be allowed to reach the market. It would destroy the company. Understand?”
“...However, the patent has already been registered. There is little we can do.”
Lee Mingi fell into deep thought. Then a idea flashed across his mind.
“No… there is a way.”
“Sir?”
“They’re holding a new drug announcement event, correct?”
“Yes.”
“All we have to do is completely destroy Samhwa Bio’s image at that event. Make it so repulsive that no one would even consider buying from them.”
“Is that possible?”
“Of course. What do you think would happen if the venue turned into complete chaos on the day of the announcement?”
“You can’t mean… you intend to attack the event? That would be far too dangerous.”
“Dangerous?”
“Yes. Samhwa Bio will have invited numerous high-profile figures. If we attack and somehow leave a trace—”
“That’s exactly why we should attack on that day. It makes it even more meaningful.”
“Pardon?”
“Imagine the headlines: VIPs attacked at Samhwa Bio’s new drug announcement. What would that do to their corporate image?”
“It would be utterly ruined.”
“Precisely. That’s what I’m aiming for.”
“...”
The secretary tilted his head.
“But sir, with so many important people gathered, the security will be extreme.”
“...”
“No matter how much money we offer, who would have the nerve to attack such a place? And even if they did, could they actually succeed?”
“There is one group.”
“...Pardon?”
“Contact Cain.”
“But that group is far too dangerous.”
“We have no other options right now. Call them immediately. Tell them I want to meet.”
“But, sir…”
“Stop talking and make the call.”