The Knife in the Bosom
Every weekend, the Pyeongchang-dong residence of Ilhyeon Group Chairman Lee Tak-hyeon bustled with life.
It was because the chairman insisted that the entire family gather there every Sunday morning for a shared meal. The daughters-in-law clustered in the kitchen preparing the food while the children spilled out into the yard to run and play. The adults settled into the living room, trading talk of company affairs, the surrounding political climate, and the state of the markets.
That familiar weekend scene took a slightly unusual turn today.
“Father. There’s something I need to discuss with you.”
Lee Sang-jong, President of Ilhyeon Construction, turned fully toward Lee Tak-hyeon as he spoke. The chairman rested both arms along the sofa’s armrests and gave a slight nod.
“What is it you want to say?”
“Jisan Cement.”
Sang-jong cast a quick glance toward Kim Seong-ho, who was seated at the far end. The moment their eyes met, Seong-ho understood exactly what was coming.
This was the period when Lee Mun-jong and Lee Sang-jong were locked in a fierce war of nerves over the succession to the chairmanship. Behind them, Lee Chang-jong and the eldest daughter, Lee Jeong-eun, watched every opening with sharp eyes, waiting for their own chance. Only Seong-ho’s wife—the youngest daughter, Lee Gyeong-eun—stood completely outside the succession struggle. Any opportunity that appeared, no matter how small, was something they would claw for. To Sang-jong, Jisan Cement was precisely such an opportunity.
At the mention of Jisan Cement, Lee Tak-hyeon gave a brief nod.
“All right. Speak.”
Permission granted, Sang-jong edged farther forward on the sofa.
“I want to acquire Jisan Cement.”
“Acquire it? Negotiations are already underway, are they not?”
The chairman looked toward Seong-ho as he asked. Seong-ho glanced once at Sang-jong, then answered the chairman directly.
“Yes. Matters related to the acquisition of Jisan Cement are still in progress.”
After hearing the reply, Lee Tak-hyeon turned back to Sang-jong with a faintly puzzled expression.
“If the deal is already moving forward, why are you saying you want to acquire it all over again?”
Sang-jong lifted his chin toward his father.
“What I mean is that I don’t want the group to acquire it. I want Ilhyeon Construction to acquire it.”
“Ilhyeon Construction… wants to take it over?”
“Yes. We want to buy it and make it a subsidiary of Ilhyeon Construction. Please give your permission, Chairman.”
The way he bowed his head while calling his own father “Chairman” made the depth of his hunger for the deal unmistakably clear.
Seong-ho watched Sang-jong waiting for an answer and thought to himself, Of course. Lagging a step behind Mun-jong, Sang-jong would see Jisan Cement as his chance. Locking down the cement business would only make Ilhyeon Construction’s profit structure that much more solid.
Seong-ho shifted his gaze to Lee Mun-jong. Sang-jong’s attempt to climb higher was, by definition, a crisis for Mun-jong. Seong-ho did not believe for a second that Mun-jong would simply allow an opportunity for his younger brother to materialize. And exactly as Seong-ho expected, Mun-jong moved.
“Chairman. The acquisition of Jisan Cement is already being handled at the group level. And now, out of nowhere, Ilhyeon Construction wants to take it over? This is something that must not be accepted.”
“Hyung-nim. Isn’t Ilhyeon Construction part of the Ilhyeon Group family? Whether we acquire Jisan Cement or the group does, the end result is the same. Why are you opposing it?”
“How can folding Jisan Cement in as a group subsidiary be the same as having Ilhyeon Construction acquire it and turn it into a second-tier subsidiary?”
Mun-jong fought the proposal with everything he had.
“I believe any decision regarding the acquisition belongs to the group. Whether we proceed or abandon it is a group decision, and the rest of the companies should move according to that decision.”
Sang-jong opened his mouth to fire back, but Lee Tak-hyeon raised a hand and cut them both off.
“It’s already noisy enough for a Sunday morning.”
The chairman ended the argument and rose from his seat. Looking down at the two sons still seated on the sofa, he said,
“Whether the group acquires it, Ilhyeon Construction acquires it, or we drop the deal entirely—that is something the two of you should discuss and decide. I’m not a judge. Why are you asking me to rule on everything? Do you think I’ll sit here forever handing down decisions for you?”
Having drawn a clear line that he would not decide the matter himself, Lee Tak-hyeon turned away, declaring he had no desire to listen to any more noise on a Sunday morning, and disappeared into his study.
The moment the door closed behind him, Mun-jong whirled on Sang-jong and roared.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing? Negotiations are already underway at the group level, and now you announce that Ilhyeon Construction will take over? By your logic, is Ilhyeon Construction not even part of the Ilhyeon Group?”
“You’re the one dragging your feet and stalling, so of course I’m saying something!”
Sang-jong raised his voice just as loudly. Seong-ho watched the two of them without a word and allowed himself a quiet smile.
They’re still a long way off. This is only the beginning. It was the same back then.
He recalled his previous life. Back then he had been so busy simply trying to adapt to his wife’s family that he had never truly understood the currents swirling around him. Having lived through it once, however, he could see the picture with perfect clarity now: the eldest and second sons locked in competition, the third and fourth children watching for any opening, and the father-in-law looking down on all of it from above.
Seong-ho took in the entire vortex churning through the Pyeongchang-dong house at a glance and calmly calculated how he himself needed to move within it. While the rest of the house seethed on a Sunday morning, only Kim Seong-ho remained utterly still, seated in the living room, quietly observing the verbal duel between Mun-jong and Sang-jong.
“I’ll be going.”
After the heated clash left him thoroughly foul-tempered, Lee Sang-jong was the first to leave Pyeongchang-dong. Lee Chang-jong and Lee Jeong-eun soon followed with their own families. When Lee Mun-jong, last of all, finished paying his respects to Chairman Lee Tak-hyeon and prepared to depart, Kim Seong-ho approached him.
Of every member of the Ilhyeon Group family in that house, Seong-ho hated Mun-jong the most. This was the man who had drained him to the marrow for years and, at the end, had even ordered his death. That hatred was carved deep into his bones. Yet Seong-ho never allowed a trace of it to show. He knew perfectly well that if he meant to drag Mun-jong into the deepest pit, he had to bury that hatred and thirst for revenge deep inside his chest for now.
And so he began the work of drawing close to Mun-jong.
“Hyung-nim. There’s something I need to tell you.”
At the sight of Seong-ho claiming he had something to say, Mun-jong stopped in place and scowled.
“What could you possibly have to say to me?”
The look he gave Seong-ho was pure contempt. Seong-ho spoke as though that look did not exist.
“It’s about Jisan Cement. If you can spare a moment, I have information that could be useful to you.”
“You think you have something useful for me? You?”
Mun-jong snorted, told his family to wait a moment, and then turned back to Seong-ho with open mockery.
“Fine. Whatever someone like you has to say couldn’t be that helpful… but listening won’t wear my ears out. Go on, spit it out.”
Unmoved by the continued scorn, Seong-ho led Mun-jong toward a quiet corner of the yard. Mun-jong scoffed at being guided somewhere no one else could overhear.
“Looking like you’ve seen something special… All right, this is far enough. Let’s hear it.”
Arms folded, Mun-jong muttered under his breath about how impressive Seong-ho thought he was and stared down at him with open disdain. Seong-ho delivered a single sentence designed to wipe that expression clean away.
“I’m the one who delayed the Jisan Cement acquisition.”
“What?”
“I discovered a problem with the Jisan Group, so I deliberately stalled the deal.”
“There’s a problem with the Jisan Group?”
Mun-jong’s folded arms dropped. The sneer vanished from his face as he looked at Seong-ho.
“Explain properly. What kind of problem?”
Seeing that Mun-jong was finally ready to listen, Seong-ho stepped closer and lowered his voice. He recounted everything he had already discussed with Lee Tak-hyeon and Sang-jong, including how the Jisan Group had suddenly slashed the price by twenty billion won. Then he offered the one detail he had shared with no one else.
“I suspect their loans from the financial sector have been cut off.”
Mun-jong’s eyes moved rapidly.
“So they’re trying to raise cash by selling Jisan Cement?”
“Yes. The problem is that they’re already at the limit…”
“Which means we could lose the entire deposit.”
A look of genuine alarm crossed Mun-jong’s face. He turned sharply to Seong-ho.
“Have you reported this to the chairman?”
“Not yet.”
“What do you mean, not yet?”
Mun-jong spun toward the house.
“Come with me right now and report it to him.”
“Hyung-nim. Just a moment.”
Seong-ho caught Mun-jong’s arm before he could start walking. Mun-jong frowned down at the hand that had dared to touch him. On any ordinary day he would have exploded at the insolence, but the valuable information he had just received made him swallow his temper and simply turn his head.
“What is it now?”
“Didn’t you see Second Brother’s face earlier?”
“What about Sang-jong?”
“Second Brother is desperate to get his hands on Jisan Cement.”
“So? If that idiot acquires it and Ilhyeon Construction ends up holding a bomb—”
He had been about to say the damage could reach the entire group when the words died in his throat. Seong-ho gave him a faint smile.
“Tell him that as long as Ilhyeon Construction raises the funds itself without asking the group for help, you won’t oppose the acquisition. Then, when that bomb called Jisan Cement detonates inside Ilhyeon Construction…”
“…the one who takes the biggest hit will be Sang-jong.”
The corner of Mun-jong’s mouth curled upward. He pointed a finger at Seong-ho.
“You…”
Still smiling, he clapped Seong-ho on the shoulder.
“You’re not as useless as I thought. Looks like you figured out pretty quickly whose side you should be on. Well done.”
The mockery from earlier was gone; Mun-jong’s face now brimmed with amusement.
“Keep this up and I’ll look after both you and the youngest. You did very well.”
“Thank you, Hyung-nim.”
Seong-ho bowed his head, the corner of his own mouth lifting in a private smile.
He intended to slip into Mun-jong’s bosom. A knife held openly across the table, no matter how sharp, was less dangerous than a knife tucked close against the heart where no one thought to guard. And if he could wound Sang-jong through Mun-jong as well, that was two birds with one stone. Passing the chairman’s unspoken test was merely a bonus.
Standing in the yard, Seong-ho watched with quiet satisfaction as Mun-jong—now full of praise—walked away.