Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Bad Things (1)
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The year-end events of 1987 passed by like that, and thus...
The new year of 1988 dawned.
"...I'm 27 now. And even though it's only my third time hearing it, I already resent the sound of that Bosingak bell, really."
Under the dim night sky, we lost ourselves in sentiment as the sound of the Bosingak New Year's bell rang out.
"Hehe. I'm 11, and Si-hyeon, you've gotten so old."
Si-hyeon let out a sigh heavy with emotion.
"No, and twenty-seven isn't old yet, okay? Not even thirty..."
"Old maid."
"It's because of who that I... Hoo..., we'll see when you get older, Miss."
I rubbed my sleepy eyes and shook my head.
"When I'm your age, you'll be in a coffin?"
"...This damn brat."
"What'd you say, lady?"
At those words, Si-hyeon seemed genuinely hurt as she squatted down on the ground and muttered.
"You're too much. I even came on my day off because of you, Miss. Is this how you treat me?"
"...Oh. S-sorry."
Come to think of it, today was her day off.
Si-hyeon was employed by me, after all. It was right to give her time off on vacations, but...
"Ah, it's because of this evil boss that I can't see my family on New Year's. You'll give me plenty of overtime pay, right?"
Ugh.
I fidgeted with my mouth a bit before just patting Si-hyeon's shoulder.
"Yeah, Nanny's off today, so you're filling in for her."
Normally, I'd give her New Year's off, but today was a very special day.
Nanny had taken a vacation.
"...Yeah, I heard about that. But could you tell me why she took it? She's not the type to do that usually."
"She takes time off once a year in winter to tend to her child's grave. This year, it just happened to fall on January 1st."
"..."
Lee Si-hyeon fell silent at that.
"You know, right? For a woman to lactate, she has to get pregnant. So she must've had a child."
"How did it... happen?"
"Just... an accident."
I changed the subject. Talking about my own shame with my own mouth was... a bit much.
How could I say that Nanny's child died because of me?
Nanny didn't seem to think that way, but... I couldn't help but see it that way. Because I knew that child was alive and well in my previous life.
...Because I knew.
It was one of the many debts I owed Nanny. And since there were even heavier ones, even a self-admitted piece-of-shit like me had no choice but to obey her words.
Extremely speaking... if Nanny had told me to marry a man like a normal woman, have kids, and live a normal life, I would've hesitated but nodded.
Thankfully, that never happened.
"Anyway, so you're covering for her."
"Well... I guess I have no choice. Sorry to my siblings, but... I'll have to tell them I can't make it because I'm taking care of our Miss."
Lee Si-hyeon sighed and shook her head.
"Aren't your siblings turning adult today? They'll probably be drinking anyway, so they won't miss you."
"In our family, the rule is no more than one drink a day. Mom set that."
"...Why?"
"You know, right? My dad died because of alcohol... I see how my eating habits and some others eerily match his, so bloodlines scare me. I didn't particularly want to take after him."
She said that with a bitter smile.
"But are your siblings really blood-related? They don't seem connected by blood..."
-Pfft.
Lee Si-hyeon spat out the water she was drinking. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and muttered a small curse.
"Fuck, why do you say it like that?"
"No, you used to run with gangsters, right? So I thought 'siblings' meant the guys under you."
"How do you even know that...? Did you do a background check?"
"You think I wouldn't when hiring a secretary to keep for life? And I didn't do it myself; the Secretary General just told me. I don't know the details."
"Hmm, fair enough. Yeah, I do have blood siblings. There were guys I called siblings, but... that's separate."
Lee Si-hyeon protested vigorously.
"And I'm not a gangster. I was a model student. It was more like a vigilante group. Security was just that bad."
Ah, a vigilante group. They still had those these days.
Forming an 'organization' to handle 'violence'—wasn't that just gangsters?
"Yeah, yeah, got it. Do you still keep in touch?"
She gave me a wary look.
"...Why do you ask? Just so you know, if you're thinking of using them as thugs under you, I'll refuse. They're all good kids. They all went to college with the money you gave me..."
Tsk, too bad.
In Korea, mobilizing thugs to quietly 'take out' competitors is way harder than you'd think. Only real chaebol chairmen can pull that off...
I thought I might get some reliable disposable blades, but from Si-hyeon's attitude, no dice.
"Guess they're more precious than I thought."
"Yeah. I trust your abilities, Miss, but not your personality... A girl who fears sleeping alone casually talks about burying people."
"...Sleeping alone isn't scary?"
"Should I go then?"
Eh.
"Th-that's... Well, since you're here, just stay and sleep."
With Nanny gone, I needed Si-hyeon at least. If there was no one around, I'd have nightmares...
I could endure it, but I didn't want to deal with nightmares if I didn't have to. My mood was the most important thing in the world.
'Ha, how many points did past-life me rack up from mental issues? Couldn't I have just lowered intelligence a bit or maxed out mental clarity?'
Utterly oblivious to my thoughts, Lee Si-hyeon looked down at me like I was a kid.
"Yes, yes, understood. You're in fourth grade elementary now... but if you miss an adult's embrace, what can I do? If that's what you want, Miss."
Tch.
"...Just you wait."
Lee Si-hyeon scooped me up and carried me into the room. I dangled from one of her arms, watching her prepare the bedding.
'I could sleep in the next room, really...'
As long as I knew someone was nearby, it was fine, so I didn't need to sleep together.
...But since I'd already lost face, might as well indulge a bit.
Haa.
So unfair. Just bad character stats, and look at the suffering. What sin did past-life me commit—
'Hm.'
A lot, actually...
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Around Black Monday, Ha Young-il's hedge fund began making waves on Wall Street.
'Alpha Fund.'
A name I came up with myself. After much deliberation, I picked it from several candidates.
It meant maximizing alpha among hedge fund returns, and indeed, during Black Monday, I cranked up this Alpha Fund's 'alpha' to the extreme.
For reference, other candidates included Elixir, Marionette, Immortal, Midas, and such.
A bit chuuni, but whatever. Once it's famous, it's fine.
Tiger, Renaissance, Millennium—those famous funds don't get mocked for their names.
Unless the fund tanks, that is.
"Oh, Happy New Year, Miss. Long time no see."
The day after New Year's, President Ha Joo-seong greeted me warmly.
"Yeah, you too, Uncle. Happy New Year."
A department store is a department store, and securities are securities.
Hobbies and main business must be kept separate.
"We threw up some smoke about the department store, and everyone's busy these days, so luckily the family hasn't noticed. Hmm, wonder how long we can hide it?"
This was why I hesitated when first hearing about recruiting Ha Young-il.
The connection to me was too strong.
"We're using a fake name and just 'Young' for now... but if they dig into documents, it'll come out. Won't last long."
"...Then we're good."
"Pardon?"
"They won't bother checking documents. No one except a few cares what happens abroad."
Grandfather might know, but no reason to attack me, and Yoo Jin-seok, who checks me most, lacks the ability.
Yoo Jin-ha, having lived abroad, is a bit of an issue... but he's targeting Yoo Jin-seok more than me, so he might even ally with me.
"Let's do some bad things. As long as Alpha Fund doesn't get famous in Korea, we're fine."
"How, exactly?"
Ha Joo-seong asked innocently. He probably knew the answer.
He just didn't want to do it.
"You know. Set up a paper company, disperse funds, run it that way—Ha Young-il won't surface. Put a white face as the frontman to dodge Korean media too."
"...Returns get dispersed, fine, but is there really a need? The risks outweigh the gains."
Ha Joo-seong was negative. Daeha Group wasn't like Mirae Group; he probably thought family wouldn't slaughter each other. In fact, even Yoo Jin-ha, who split the group in my past life, did it mildly compared to Mirae.
From his perspective, his opinion was perfectly reasonable.
Because he didn't know I planned to stab my family in the back myself.