Chapter 12
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: The Chairman's Decree
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Finally wrapping up my assignment, I glanced at the clock. It was 2 a.m.
My entire body ached like I'd been pummeled from head to toe.
I needed to shower and crash soon, but the wine shopping bag by the entrance kept nagging at me.
It was the one Sis had left earlier.
I peered at the label, but it was crammed with nothing but squiggly foreign script.
Couldn't make heads or tails of it.
Whatever.
Right now, I just craved a little buzz.
I rummaged through the drawer and dug out the corkscrew I'd bought ages ago.
I skillfully screwed it into the cork and gave it a yank.
Pop.
A cheerful sound rang out, and the heavy grape aroma flooded the cramped room.
I poured some into my mug and was just about to take a sip.
Ding-dong—
The bell cut through the still dawn air.
I froze with the cup to my lips.
"...At this hour?"
I wondered if it was Sea, but she would've punched in the code and come right in.
Who the hell, then?
A chill ran down my spine.
I tiptoed to the door.
I hooked the safety chain and cracked it open.
"Who is it...?"
The words caught in my throat.
It wasn't Han Sea visible through the gap.
A hulking figure filled the doorway under the sensor light.
Whoosh.
The man slowly removed his sunglasses.
Eyes eerily like Sea's, but far sharper, looked down at me.
Then he spoke.
"Yoon Dojin?"
"Yes?"
"I'm Sea's father."
"Ah..."
I'd guessed from the eyes, but hearing it straight made my mind go blank.
It was like my brain just seized up.
A little later.
A bizarre scene unfolded in the middle of my studio apartment.
A $5 folding table from Daiso.
Anju was a single bag of honey-roasted peanuts from the convenience store.
Two mugs emblazoned with "I ♥ Jeju," each filled with wine.
And sitting cross-legged in front of it was a middle-aged man in an expensive suit.
I'd offered him some out of courtesy while drinking, but I never expected him to accept.
"..."
"..."
The silence was suffocating.
The man silently lifted his mug and sipped the wine.
The picture was beyond weird.
Hanul Group Chairman. Han Hyun-soo.
One of the top three titans in Korea's business world.
Why was a guy like that slurping wine and munching peanuts in my dingy studio?
He silently sipped the wine, observing the young man before him.
When Sea was in her first year of high school, my wife—Sea's mother—passed away.
That vast mansion turned tomb-silent.
I had no clue how to comfort a crying child, so I fled to work.
The kid left alone barricaded herself in her room.
Silence blanketed the house, conversations severed.
Soon after, vulgar curses I'd never repeat started leaking from her room.
"Argh, you fucking bitch, get in there! Are you retarded?"
"No, you bastard. Can't you land that? You walk around with eyes just for show? Chop off your fingers!"
Every time I heard it from outside the door, my heart sank.
Too buried in work, I'd neglected her, and she'd turned into a foul-mouthed gaming addict thug.
I blamed myself and let time slip away helplessly.
Then recently, during a business trip to the U.S., the graphics card I'd gotten from Chairman Hwang as a gift vanished.
World-limited 100 units: RTX 6090 Ti Founders Edition.
The priceless thing I'd stashed in the safe was gone without a trace.
The culprit was Sea.
And the stolen goods were now humming away inside that PC tower, wildly out of place in this rundown studio.
Not content with that, she'd lured this guy with lies about a forced engagement.
'The household's a mess.'
He began slowly scanning every corner of the room.
Poor as dirt.
Mold bloomed on the walls, the floor vinyl was peeling.
But Han Hyun-soo didn't care about that.
'People call me a chaebol heir, but I don't see it that way.'
During the IMF crisis, all my father left was a mountain of debt.
While everyone pointed fingers saying it was done for, I clawed tooth and nail.
Ditched manufacturing, pivoted to IT, built from the ground up.
That's Hanul Soft today.
That's why he despised anyone lacking that 'hungry spirit.'
And Han Hyun-soo made it his life's work to seek out such people.
He was obsessed with it, and his instincts for spotting them were razor-sharp.
A monster that stayed ravenous no matter how much it devoured.
So when he started tailing the two recently, he spotted eyes with that spirit for the first time in ages.
Even now, Dojin was frozen stiff, not even touching the peanuts from tension, but his gaze burned alive.
That unique venom of someone who'd crawled the gutters like him.
'He passes.'
I didn't want Sea to ever hit the rock bottom I'd known.
But this guy? Even if my company tanked, I was sure he wouldn't let her starve—hell, he'd hawk fish-shaped buns on the street with her if needed.
The one to entrust Sea to after I'm gone shouldn't be some smart aleck.
It had to be a tenacious bastard like this.
Before some other girl snagged him, I had to tie him to my daughter.
But from reports and seeing for myself, these two? Progress was glacial, rotting slow.
Frustrating as hell.
"Um... Father-in-law? What brings you here...?"
I mustered courage to break the silence.
The Chairman set down his mug and spoke gravely.
"Sorry for the late hour. Just back from the U.S. trip."
"N-No, it's fine..."
"I came because I have something important to tell you."
Here it comes.
Probably gonna toss an envelope of cash and tell me to beat it.
My mouth went dry.
"I'll allow your marriage to Sea."
"...Pardon?"
I must've misheard.
"M-Marriage? We're just dating, and we're still students!"
"Doesn't matter. Get engaged first. Ceremony after graduation."
The Chairman casually cracked a peanut shell.
My mind blanked white.
This was too absurd; it wasn't even on my bingo card.
I gripped my mug tighter.
No more lies. Time to come clean.
"Father-in-law, actually, there's something I need to tell you."
"What."
"We're... not really dating."
"..."
"Sea didn't want the engagement, so I pretended to be her fake boyfriend. I'm sorry."
I squeezed my eyes shut and bowed my head.
Bracing for the wrath.
But what came was a scoffing chuckle.
"I know."
"...Pardon?"
"Contract dating, right? Sea's script was pretty sloppy."
"Ah..."
Cold sweat trickled down my back.
He knew all along and just watched?
"But I like you more than that other guy."
The Chairman stared straight into my eyes.
"That fiancé's a greenhouse flower. He'd bolt at the first crisis. But your eyes have bite."
"..."
"Sounds random, I know. But I trust my gut. You're my kind."
That's when it happened.
A vibration buzzed from the Chairman's suit pocket.
He checked the screen and shoved it in my face.
"Perfect timing. From the Secretary Chief."
[Breaking] Hanul Group Only Daughter Confirms Premarital Romance with Ordinary Boyfriend.
[Exclusive] Han Sea's Man Revealed as Average Engineering Student... "Continuing Sincere Relationship."
My face plastered the screen.
Photo at the school gate, one eating tteokbokki with Sea.
My jaw dropped.
"Wh-What the...?"
"Too late to back out now. Press release is out."
"No, Father-in-law! Without even consulting me?!"
"Don't like it? Hold a press conference now and call it fake."
A titan of Korean business coming at me full force—no escape came to mind.
Even if I did out it as fake, what then? No background, just me?
And I didn't want to burden Sea anyway.
The Chairman stood.
"Sorry about this. But when I like something, I get it—no matter what it takes."
He smirked, eyeing me.
"So go ahead, run. Korea's a small pond—you know that."
Chills crawled up my spine.
No chance to argue; he headed for the door.
"To dodge the press, stay somewhere secure. Pack up and come out. Car's waiting."
"Pardon? Where to?"
"Where else? Sea's place."
An hour later.
In the vast living room overlooking panoramic nighttime Seoul.
I stood dazed, a ratty duffel at my feet.
From my 5-pyeong studio,
to a clandestine showdown with the Chairman,
and now this penthouse living room the size of a playground.
Zero reality check.
The Chairman had basically dumped me here and peaced out coolly.
Just me and Sea left.
Awkward air hung in the expansive space.
Sea stared at me in disbelief.
"Dojin, why are you here...? No, what the hell happened?"
"Beats me. I got dragged. Check your phone—news is probably blowing up."
At my words, Sea snatched her smartphone, scrolling frantically.
Her eyes soon bulged.
"What? Premarital?!"
Her voice pitched high.
"Dad's lost it! Dropped the press bomb without a word to me?!"
"Tell me about it. Blinked, and here I was."
"But why are you here?"
"Your dad said... stay here."
"He... did?"
Sea's pupils quivered slightly.
I sighed, raking my hair.
"You're shocked too, right? Don't worry. I'll scout a separate place. Just need to check how many reporters are camped out..."
"N-No! I'm fine!"
"What's fine? I'm the uncomfortable one."
"I said I'm good! No need to look! Just stay!"
Her sudden yell left my ears ringing.
Sea flinched, surprised herself, then coughed awkwardly and looked away.
"A-Anyway. Dad's a bit overbearing. Sorry."
"What now? We're in it deep."
"Yeah."
Our fake dating had ballooned into the engagement of the century.
I'd begged in the car it was a misunderstanding, but he wouldn't hear it.
Then Sea eyed me slyly.
"Dad didn't say anything weird to you? Like bad stuff about you."
"Weird?"
"No, just... nothing negative."
"Just the marriage bit. Nearly passed out, otherwise nothing."
For some reason, he praised my 'venom' or whatever—seemed to like me.
"Oh, good... Relieved."
Sea exhaled in relief, patting her chest.
Why so worried?
I gazed at Seoul's sky lightening through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
From a booger-sized studio to a luxury high-rise penthouse.
Overnight, my life genre-swapped from thriller to trashy drama.
Tension eased, and fatigue crashed in waves.
Sea sidled up to me.
"But Dojin."
"Yeah?"
"Dad sending you here means... he okayed us living together, right?"
Her eyes sparkled oddly.
Bad vibes.
Two grown adults sharing this massive house.
No clue what the Chairman was thinking.
"...Gonna crash first. Afternoon classes later—can I borrow an empty room till then?"
Sea curled her lips up.
"Plenty of spare rooms in our house."
She lightly grabbed my wrist.
Her fingertips tickled.
"Any room you want, it's yours. Pick one?"