Misunderstanding True Intentions
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Ding-dong! Ding-dong!
“Kim Seong-ho. I know you’re in there. Open the door! Open the damn door, you bastard!”
Lee Chang-jong’s rough voice came from outside the door.
Lee Gyeong-eun looked at Kim Seong-ho with worried eyes at the sound of her brother’s voice. At the furious tone, she hunched her shoulders and spoke to Seong-ho with concern.
“My brother sounds really angry.”
“It sounds that way to me as well.”
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. I have no idea what this is about, but…”
Seong-ho had a rough idea, yet he held his tongue.
Gyeong-eun grew more flustered as Chang-jong’s voice rose. Seong-ho offered her a light smile and reassured her.
“There’s no need to worry so much. It’s fine. Just relax.”
“Seong-ho, are you sure? If it comes to it, I can call the security guard…”
“I’m truly fine. You don’t really think Brother came here to eat us alive, do you?”
He tossed out the joke and rested a hand on her shoulder, easing the tension from her body.
“You’re all right, Gyeong-eun. Why don’t you put some coffee on? It would be nice to sit down and talk things over calmly with him over a cup.”
Nothing about the situation suggested a calm conversation over coffee, yet Gyeong-eun decided not to press her worry any further. Continuing to fret would only mean she didn’t trust him. She chose to believe in Seong-ho and do as he asked.
“All right. I’ll go put the water on.”
She turned and headed for the kitchen. Seong-ho walked toward the door where Chang-jong’s voice was still hammering.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
“You bastard! Open the door!”
When no one answered, the voice grew louder and the pounding harder.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
As the knocks came again, Seong-ho opened the door and stood face-to-face with Lee Chang-jong.
“Brother. What brings you here without even calling first?”
“You little…”
The moment Chang-jong saw Seong-ho, he grabbed him by the collar without another word.
“You little…”
Yet once he had Seong-ho by the shirt, the words deserted him. Seong-ho looked at the suddenly silent man, smiled, gently lowered the hand gripping his collar, and invited him inside.
“Brother, why don’t we go in and talk? If we keep this up out here, everyone knows who I am—pointless rumors might start flying.”
That finally brought Chang-jong back to his senses. The thought that word of this scene might travel through other people’s mouths and do him no good settled over him.
“Fine. Let’s talk inside.”
Seong-ho smiled and guided him in.
“This is your first visit since we moved in, isn’t it? I’m sorry. I should have called first. I made you go to the trouble of coming all the way here. Please, have a seat. Gyeong-eun~ Brother’s here.”
Seong-ho never once asked why Chang-jong had come, not even after the man had stepped inside and settled onto the sofa. Chang-jong stared at him steadily. Only when he sat down did Gyeong-eun approach with a tray of coffee cups.
“Oppa. What are you doing here?”
Chang-jong set the coffee cup in front of himself and cleared his throat under his sister’s puzzled gaze.
“Ahem. Just… I had something to say to Kim.”
“Something to say? You looked furious earlier. You didn’t come here to fight with Seong-ho, did you?”
“Fight?”
Once he was inside, seated on the sofa, and looking at Gyeong-eun’s face, Chang-jong found it hard to keep his anger burning. Unlike Lee Sang-jong, his rage always chose its place and time carefully.
Seong-ho watched Chang-jong fumble in front of Gyeong-eun and let the corner of his mouth lift.
This is exactly the kind of man Third Brother is.
Like the rest of Lee Tak-hyeon’s children, Chang-jong was aggressive and rarely minded the people around him. Yet he always had to watch his older brothers’ faces, and with the even more violent Lee Jeong-eun as his older sister, he could never simply unleash his temper whenever he felt like it. He swallowed it, read the room, and only then let it show.
Seong-ho knew this side of him well. Chang-jong had ambition for the group, yet if something were spun off and handed to him, he would abandon the larger fight and simply take his share. Unlike Sang-jong, who only needed to topple one rival, Chang-jong knew full well he would have to climb over two older brothers and one older sister. And when it benefited him, he could endure.
Watching that nature, Seong-ho already began calculating how best to use the man in the coming storm that would engulf the Lee Tak-hyeon family.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“Brother, what do you mean?”
“You know I’m Vice President of Ilhyeon Distribution, yet you still ignore me this much? You waltz into my company and fire people however you please—what does that make me look like?”
With the coffee cup sitting in front of him, Chang-jong finally stated the reason he had come. His tone was sharp and still angry, but far milder than when he had been pounding on the door. Because of that, Gyeong-eun no longer worried much; she simply sat beside Seong-ho and listened.
Seong-ho looked at the man full of grievances yet never lost his calm.
“Brother, I was swinging the sword in your place.”
“In my place? How is that for my sake?”
“Because you couldn’t cut them yourself.”
At those words Chang-jong clenched his fists.
“Why couldn’t I? I can fire people too. But…”
He claimed he could do it, yet the force steadily drained from his voice. Seong-ho caught the change and answered in a way that propped Chang-jong up.
“Ah—so you were waiting for the right moment to clean house without causing the Chairman any trouble?”
“Th-that’s right. If I forced the issue and cleaned them out, people might say I was purging Father’s men. I was waiting for the right chance.”
“I’m sorry. It seems I ruined your plan. Please forgive me.”
When Seong-ho bowed his head, Chang-jong could no longer keep his anger. The man had already admitted fault and apologized; Chang-jong’s rage simply wasn’t solid enough to keep raging at that.
“Well… fine. Now that you know you were wrong, don’t do it again. Or at least tell me beforehand next time.”
“Yes. I’ll be more careful from now on. Brother, more importantly…”
Sensing the edge had largely left Chang-jong’s voice, Seong-ho shifted the topic.
“Who do you think will inherit the group, Brother?”
“What? What’s that supposed to mean all of a sudden?”
“It’s just the three of us here, so I’d like to hear your honest thoughts.”
“Seong-ho, what are you talking about? Inherit the group all of a sudden?”
Gyeong-eun, who had been quietly drinking her coffee and listening, turned to him with a startled face. Seong-ho simply smiled at her reaction and asked Chang-jong again.
“Brother, I truly want to hear your honest opinion.”
“Why do you want to know what I think? Did Father tell you to ask? Or did my brothers tell you to ask so I’d know not to challenge them?”
Chang-jong shot back with an irritated expression. The original reason for his visit no longer seemed to matter; he reacted sharply to Seong-ho’s words.
“I have no intention of fighting my brothers over the group. Same for you, Gyeong-eun, right?”
“Oppa, of course not. I have zero interest in the group. If Dad told me to leave the company right now, I could. Sitting as president of Ilhyeon Hotel…”
Gyeong-eun glanced at Seong-ho, then continued.
“…isn’t because I want a piece of the group. I don’t care whether it’s you, Unni, or anyone else. I’ll just follow whatever Dad decides.”
She even waved her hands as if proving her innocence. Chang-jong nodded in agreement.
“Same here. I have no thought of going against Father’s decision. And I certainly have no intention of fighting my brothers for succession… Kim, make sure you tell Father clearly. I’ll follow his will no matter who he chooses.”
Convinced that Seong-ho had come to probe him on Lee Tak-hyeon’s orders, Chang-jong declared in a firm tone that he had no interest in the succession fight.
“The Chairman did not ask me to find out your intentions. I asked for the sake of the future.”
“The future? What are you talking about?”
“Exactly what I said—the future. I was curious about the future you’re picturing for yourself.”
Chang-jong still failed to grasp his meaning. Seong-ho smiled faintly and lifted his coffee cup. Chang-jong watched him drink, then, unable to bear the frustration, spoke first.
“Just say it so I can understand. What’s this about the future?”
Even under the man’s urging, Seong-ho took his time with the coffee. Then, in a voice as unhurried as his actions, he addressed Chang-jong, whose face was already flushing with impatience.
“If you have no intention of fighting Eldest Brother, Second Brother, and my sister-in-law, then how exactly are you thinking about your own future?”
“Don’t tell me…”
Chang-jong narrowed his eyes at Seong-ho, looking as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Are you telling me to fight my brothers and sister?”
“No. The opposite, actually.”
“The opposite?”
“If you have no intention of fighting, I want you to step out cleanly and take real benefit from it. That’s why I asked for your true feelings.”
The fog around Seong-ho’s question cleared at last. Chang-jong’s eyes went wide.
“Right now, Eldest Brother, Second Brother, and my sister-in-law are almost certainly misunderstanding your true intentions.”
“Misunderstanding? What is there to misunderstand about me?”
Seong-ho drew on the experience of his previous life and laid out what had once happened.
“Eldest Brother, Second Brother, and my sister-in-law will definitely believe that you, too, are coveting the group.”
“What… Did Eldest Brother say that to you?”
Seong-ho quickly waved a hand.
“Please don’t misunderstand. Everything I’m saying right now is purely my own thought—I haven’t heard a word from the Chairman, Eldest Brother, Second Brother, or my sister-in-law.”
“Then how do you know they’re misunderstanding me?”
“How could they not think that? You’ve kept such an ambiguous attitude all this time.”
“What’s ambiguous about my attitude?”
“Look at right now.”
Seong-ho’s voice grew steadily stronger, seizing full control of the conversation. Chang-jong, listening, never even realized that control had already passed from him to Seong-ho. He was simply being led by the words.
Seong-ho pointed a finger downward.
“Even now, you came looking for me because I failed to protect your face. If Eldest Brother and Second Brother saw this, what do you think they would conclude?”
“…What would they think?”
“That you’re going against the Chairman’s will. After all, you’ve already been told that when I move, it is the Chairman’s will.”
As he listened, Chang-jong’s face gradually turned white. He knew Lee Tak-hyeon himself would never make an issue of something this small—might even be amused and call it gutsy. But Lee Mun-jong and Lee Sang-jong were different. If they decided Chang-jong was showing ambition, the two of them would bare their teeth at him at the same time and tear into him first, before they ever turned on each other.
No one knew his brothers’ natures better than Chang-jong. Pale, he spoke to Seong-ho.
“Should I go tell my brothers my true intentions right now…?”
“No. That would only make things worse.”
“What do you mean by that? You said they’re misunderstanding me because I haven’t properly stated my intentions. So I’m going to state them—why would that make things worse?”
Chang-jong was completely at the mercy of Seong-ho’s words. Watching from the side, Gyeong-eun looked at her husband with fresh eyes.
Has Seong-ho always been this eloquent?
She glanced back and forth between the flustered Chang-jong and Seong-ho, then watched with quiet amazement as the same man who had been shouting and pounding on the door ten minutes earlier now hung on every word Seong-ho spoke.