Chapter 30
“Se-rang, you’re here?”
“Grandfather! Have you been well while I was gone?” The moment Se-rang saw Chairman Yeon, she ran over affectionately and hugged him.
Inside, she was barely holding back her disgust.
“No, Grandfather. Stop tending your flowers and come to the company sometimes. Aren’t you worried about your granddaughter?”
“Haha. I thought you would handle things well enough on your own.”
“Well, I am doing well.”
Se-rang said that and smiled meaningfully, and Chairman Yeon smiled the same way with the same features.
This sly old snake. He’s been observing everything.
Was it that fun to watch his grandchildren fight from behind the scenes like some voyeur?
Thank goodness I’m not really a child of this family.
“Hello, Chairman.”
Baek Do-gyeong bowed very politely, as though he had left behind every trace of his arrogant attitude from earlier.
Chairman Yeon stamped his cane on the floor as though accepting the greeting reluctantly.
“You worked hard coming here too.”
“Not at all. If you call, Chairman, I must come no matter what.”
What a two-faced bastard. Se-rang clicked her tongue inwardly.
“Where are my brothers?”
“They’re already inside. We were only waiting for you and Representative Baek.”
“Then you should’ve waited inside too, Grandfather. Why come all the way out here when it’s tiring?”
“I should welcome you while I’m still healthy. Later on, I’ll be lying in a sickbed and won’t even be able to get up.”
“Don’t say that. Never.”
Se-rang spoke with a serious face. Of course, inside, her feelings were closer to whether he died or not being none of her concern.
The three of them entered the dining room.
Yeon Sae-byeok and Yeon Si-ho were waiting there with sharp eyes.
“Oh my, Oppas. You must be free. Seeing how easy it is to see your faces.”
“Maybe I have time because I don’t go around acting like a wastrel like someone else.” Yeon Si-ho struck back first, but Se-rang felt no damage whatsoever.
Yeah, anyway, I’m not the one who did all that wastrel nonsense.
“All of you, stop it and sit down.”
“Yes.” Se-rang giggled and immediately sat down. She was extremely displeased that the chair had been pulled out by Baek Do-gyeong, but what could she do?
He had to survive in society too.
As soon as they sat down, the food was served. Judging by Yeon Si-ho and Yeon Sae-byeok’s expressions, they seemed to have waited quite a while, but the food was not cold at all.
What was the secret? Se-rang thought about things like that as she picked up her spoon.
The uncomfortable family meal continued in silence.
For some reason, Chairman Yeon did not say a word, and when Chairman Yeon said nothing, his grandchildren could not speak either.
Se-rang could feel Yeon Si-ho’s dissatisfaction growing from the crease between his brows, but she only held back her laughter.
“Representative Baek.”
It’s starting.
Pretending to know nothing, Se-rang quietly set down her spoon and lowered her eyes.
“Yes, Chairman.”
“Is grabbing a family member’s weakness and shaking it around how you treat family?”
“No, Chairman.”
“Then why do you go around picking up blood relatives’ weaknesses and causing conflict in the family?”
“I never intended to cause conflict, Chairman. That will not happen in the future either.”
This man’s skill at dealing with Chairman Yeon is max level. Se-rang inwardly admired Baek Do-gyeong, who only said exactly what needed to be said.
“Then you do know Si-ho’s weakness?”
“Yes, Chairman.”
Does he really know? Se-rang was not entirely sure, even though she was the one who had made that move.
But seeing Baek Do-gyeong’s eyes now, she could be certain. This man really knows everyone’s weakness here.
“Why do you dig into things like that?”
“As you have always said, Chairman, ‘Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated.’ Even if someone is my ally, I must know their circumstances accurately so that I can deal with an enemy’s attack without being flustered.”
“Ally, you say. You didn’t consider them enemies and do it?”
“Absolutely not. Why would I consider someone who will become my family an enemy?”
Chairman Yeon responded to Baek Do-gyeong’s smooth answer with a cynical smile. A small silence passed between the two men.
This is suffocating. Yeon Se-rang glared at Yeon Si-ho. Is this what you wanted, Yeon Si-ho? You cowardly bastard?
“Yes, as you said, someone who will become family. That means you are not family yet. In other words, identification of friend or foe is not yet complete.”
“Even if I do not become family, I have no intention of becoming a cowardly bastard who stabs someone in the back while eating from the same pot. We share the same parent called Imperial, after all.”
(Translator’s Note: Eating from the same pot — Korean idiomatic expression meaning people belong to the same group, workplace, household, or side.)
“Imperial is your parent? Do you sincerely think so?”
“Of course. As you know, Chairman, even the parents who gave birth to me abandoned me, so I think of Imperial, which raised me, as my parent.”
Even Se-rang was surprised by those words.
Wait, his parents abandoned him? What does that mean?
But judging by the fact that no one else seemed surprised, it appeared to be public knowledge. At least within this family.
“What do you mean we raised you? You forced your way in on your own and sprouted.”
“Even so, Imperial gave that weed water and soil, didn’t it? That much is enough for a weed from someone else’s house.”
“If you know that so well, why did you scheme behind the scenes? Do you even know that because of you, Se-rang and Si-ho ended up fighting with their fists?”
“If Se-rang did something, I believe she must have had a sufficient reason.”
After saying that, Baek Do-gyeong placed a hand on Se-rang’s shoulder with eyes full of affection.
Wow. This guy would’ve succeeded even if he became a swindler. He can even act with his eyes.
“Yes, as you say, Se-rang must have had a sufficient reason. The problem is that it would have been enough if they had simply exchanged blows, but because you clumsily interfered, the family bond is about to be damaged. There are lines you may touch and lines you must not touch. Do you not know that?”
“I apologize. I acted because I wanted to help, but it seems my judgment was wrong.”
“Yes, very wrong.”
Se-rang sensed that now was the timing for her to step in.
“Grandfather. May I say something now?”
“Se-rang, you stay quiet.”
The one who answered Se-rang was not Chairman Yeon, but Yeon Sae-byeok. Not even Yeon Si-ho, but Yeon Sae-byeok was joining this conversation?
Yeon Se-rang stared at him with cold eyes. “I asked Grandfather, so why are you interfering?”
“Both of you, stop. Se-rang, if you have something to say, say it.”
When Chairman Yeon finally mediated because he could no longer watch, the two accepted it while grinding their teeth.
“Grandfather. Do-gyeong did nothing wrong. Yeon Si-ho stirred up so much trouble in my business that he only warned him to protect what had to be protected. I understand Oppa wanting to keep me in check, but he still shouldn’t drag private feelings into work. If I responded the same way, I’d just become the same kind of person as him. So I only said it to tell him to behave himself a little. I didn’t know he’d run straight here and tattle, despite being this old.”
“Hey!”
“See? Even now, all he knows how to say is ‘Hey!’ Do you think someone like that can work properly? He can’t even refute my words, so would he even speak properly in a meeting? All that man knows how to do is serve drinks.”
“That’s your specialty. You don’t even have proper connections, so you’re clinging to some rookie dance crew.”
Ha.
Se-rang let out a hollow laugh. To think he saw <Burning Bunny> as nothing more than some rookie dance crew.
“Did you even check that dance crew’s history? You don’t even know what crew they came from, do you? You want to interfere? Then at least know something before doing it. It’s embarrassing that we come from the same company. Your skill is sabotaging the head office’s program because you don’t have the confidence to win with ability, Yeon Si-ho?”
“You really… How dare you say that to your older brother—!”
“You want to be treated as an elder? Then act like an elder. Show that you’re better in at least some way. Don’t act pathetic. I’m saying you should resolve your own work on your own. I guess you can’t solve anything unless you lean on someone older than you?”
“You’re leaning on your fiancé too. The way you threatened me was nothing more than your fiancé despicably digging up dirt through a background check—!”
“Enough!”
Crash.
Chairman Yeon’s shout overlapped with the sound of the cup he threw shattering, and the two siblings shut their mouths.
Then Se-rang stood from her seat with a face stiffer than ever before.
“Did you just… throw a cup at my fiancé, Grandfather?”
Because the person that cup had hit was Baek Do-gyeong.