Even If He Knew, It Was Too Late
The guest of honor at today's dinner in the Pyeongchang-dong residence was Lee Sang-jong.
"Father."
"Call me Chairman."
Lee Mun-jong snapped at him, insisting he correct the form of address.
"What difference does it make what I call him?"
Ordinarily Sang-jong would have fixed it at once, but today was different. He shot Mun-jong a look that said, Why are you nitpicking over something so trivial?, then turned back to Lee Tak-hyeon and continued.
"Father. Get this—Dubo Steel is offering to cut the unit price of the rebar they supply to Ilhyeon Construction by a full twenty percent."
Wearing a look of pure triumph, Sang-jong cast a sidelong glance at Mun-jong. Confirming the fury boiling across his older brother's face, he chuckled as if it were all a great joke and pressed on.
"And they're considering a thirty percent cut next year."
"Twenty percent this year and thirty next year?"
Lee Tak-hyeon asked, spoon still hovering over his soup.
Sang-jong nodded vigorously, having completely forgotten about eating.
"Yes. And that's the absolute minimum. The floor."
He shrugged.
"Didn't I tell you? Investing in Dubo Steel was a guaranteed win."
As Sang-jong burnished his own achievement, his wife Oh Min-yeong chimed in from beside him.
"Father-in-law. Mother-in-law. Please heap some praise on this man. He really worked so hard."
She clutched her husband's arm and kept singing his praises to her in-laws.
"He barely slept for nights on end, worrying and worrying. It was such a huge sum of money, he said nothing could go wrong."
Watching the display in silence, Bang Hyeon-ju—Lee Mun-jong's wife and the eldest daughter-in-law of the Ilhyeon family—tossed out a remark.
"You're talking like it's some monumental feat when it's just work that ought to be done."
As if it were nothing special. At her words, Sang-jong laughed and said,
"Brother. I'll talk to Dubo Steel and get them to look into cutting the prices of steel plate for heavy industry and automobiles next year as well. So don't worry so much. When my brother's having a hard time, shouldn't his younger brother step in to help?"
"You—"
Furious, Mun-jong was about to lash out, but with Lee Tak-hyeon present he forced the anger down into his chest. Sang-jong only grew more puffed up at the sight. He threw his chest out and addressed Lee Tak-hyeon.
"Father. Since things have come this far, how about we buy some Dubo Steel shares off-market? If we go for a proxy fight, taking over Dubo Steel doesn't look all that impossible."
"Take over Dubo Steel?"
"Yes."
Sang-jong leaned slightly toward Lee Tak-hyeon.
"Just from this rebar price cut alone, the benefit to Ilhyeon Construction will exceed thirty billion won in a single year. If it extends to steel plate as well, by my calculations we're looking at easily over a hundred billion won a year."
With the corner of his mouth still curled up, he glanced once more at Mun-jong, then finished his pitch to Lee Tak-hyeon.
"So why not just acquire them outright? We've already put in three hundred billion won, so roughly another two hundred billion should be enough to bring Dubo Steel's management rights our way."
"Why? Did Chairman Jeong tell you to do that?"
"Pardon?"
Lee Tak-hyeon set his spoon down with a sharp clack and fixed his gaze on Sang-jong.
"Ah, Father..."
Sang-jong's voice trembled as he called out to him. That indifferent stare had filled him with fear.
The rest of the family, who had been eating, carefully set down their spoons and chopsticks with tense faces. They folded their hands under the table and waited for Lee Tak-hyeon's next words.
Lee Tak-hyeon looked around at his children as if he had something to say, then settled his gaze on Kim Seong-ho. He stared hard at Seong-ho for a moment before rising from his seat.
"I've finished eating. The rest of you eat and leave as you please."
Without waiting for any reply, he turned away. His children, who had half-risen to follow him, watched in puzzlement as he strode swiftly back to his study.
"What's wrong with him? Is something not to his liking?"
Unlike her brothers, Lee Jeong-eun had not risen from her seat. She looked up at Sang-jong as she spoke.
"Isn't it obvious? Second Brother must have spoiled Father's mood."
"What did I do?!"
Sang-jong protested indignantly, and his wife Oh Min-yeong immediately backed him up.
"Oh my. Sister-in-law, that's a strange thing to say. What could this man possibly have done to upset Father-in-law?"
"How should I know?"
Jeong-eun shrugged as if to say, Why are you asking me?
"I don't know the details, but it has to be because of Second Brother. The moment he finished talking, Father set down his spoon looking displeased and left."
"What about my talk?"
"What else? The Dubo Steel acquisition."
At Jeong-eun's words, Sang-jong closed his mouth. He too was bothered by the fact that Lee Tak-hyeon had left the moment the Dubo Steel takeover was mentioned. But neither Sang-jong nor anyone else at the table understood why that particular topic had soured Lee Tak-hyeon's mood. Only Kim Seong-ho, seated alone at the far end of the table and still calmly eating while the others had stopped, knew the reason.
"How long do you intend to stay in this house?"
Before leaving Pyeongchang-dong, Lee Sang-jong and Oh Min-yeong spoke to Kim Seong-ho, who had come out to see them off, in tones of clear displeasure.
"Brother-in-law Kim. Haven't you been living at Pyeongchang-dong a little too long? Isn't it about time you cleared out?"
"So Sister-in-law plans to move in and live here herself?"
Lee Mun-jong appeared behind Seong-ho and directed the question at Oh Min-yeong, who had been telling Seong-ho to leave Pyeongchang-dong in a roundabout way. Oh Min-yeong looked past Seong-ho's shoulder at the approaching Mun-jong and answered.
"Of course. I can move in."
"As if you would."
"Brother-in-law, isn't that a bit harsh?"
"Sister-in-law, harsh? How is it harsh? Let's be honest—you didn't want to live here either, which is why you moved out the moment you got married, right?"
"Brother."
"I still lived here and served my parents-in-law for a full year after marrying. But you? You ran off in less than a week, and now you want to move back in? I hope you'll say the same thing in front of Mother. I'm curious what she'd have to say about that."
"Why is Sister-in-law jumping in too?"
In front of the Pyeongchang-dong house, the departing couples—Mun-jong and his wife, Sang-jong and his—clustered around Seong-ho in the middle and hurled sharp words at one another.
At this rate, they're still getting along relatively well.
To any outsider the relationship looked thoroughly hostile, but to Seong-ho, who knew the full history, their tone still retained a veneer of mutual face-saving. He knew all too well that as time passed, even that would vanish and they would grind their teeth solely to tear into one another. And to bring that situation about even faster than in his previous life, Seong-ho was deliberately inserting himself into the middle and managing the dynamics.
"We're leaving."
Sang-jong, deciding that lingering any longer would only sour his mood further, got into the car with Oh Min-yeong and left Pyeongchang-dong. Mun-jong watched their car disappear, then approached Seong-ho.
"Don't forget. If Second Brother profits from this..."
He raised a finger and held it right in front of Seong-ho's eyes.
"You and the youngest are finished."
"Brother."
Yet Seong-ho didn't so much as twitch an eyebrow. He carefully took Mun-jong's hand and lowered it as he spoke.
"Think about why the Chairman got angry today."
"Are you saying you know why Father got angry?"
"If you wait, there will be good results. However..."
Mun-jong looked at Seong-ho oddly as he trailed off and asked,
"However what? Why start talking and then stop?"
Seong-ho seemed about to say something, then shook his head.
"Never mind. It may be getting ahead of myself, so you needn't concern yourself."
"What is that supposed to mean? Spit it out. Don't leave a man hanging."
Mun-jong shoved his face right up to Seong-ho's nose and barked. Even so, Seong-ho didn't retreat. He wore a look of regret as he spoke.
"If a shock even greater than expected hits... I'm worried that the storm might sweep you up as well, Brother. Why on earth did you raise the investment all the way to three hundred billion?"
At Seong-ho's concern about the amount having been raised to three hundred billion, Mun-jong waved a dismissive hand as if he didn't want to hear it.
"I thought you were going to say something... Forget it. Save that kind of worry for after things go wrong."
"Brother. Still..."
"I should be going myself."
Mun-jong opened the car door as if he had no more time for conversation. Looking at Seong-ho standing by the door, he said,
"In any case, if this goes wrong, everything will be your responsibility, so prepare yourself."
Having declared he would pin every sin on Seong-ho, Mun-jong waited only long enough for Bang Hyeon-ju to get in before speeding away from Pyeongchang-dong.
"Brother-in-law Kim. You'd better pick your side carefully."
Once Mun-jong had left, Lee Jeong-eun emerged from the house next and spoke to Seong-ho.
"If you're not going to pick a side, then make absolutely sure you stay neutral and step back."
She looked Seong-ho up and down with open dislike.
"If I may offer one piece of advice—don't get too greedy."
She looked him over once more, then opened the door of the car that had stopped in front of her.
"Finish with the Ilhyeon Hotel. That's the path for you, and for the youngest."
With that, she climbed into the car. Her husband Cha Yeong-su cast Seong-ho a look that said, Please understand.
"Aren't you getting in?"
From inside the car, Lee Jeong-eun bellowed at Cha Yeong-su for not getting in at once. Cha Yeong-su frowned at her voice and answered,
"I'm getting in, I'm getting in."
He patted Seong-ho on the shoulder and climbed into the car where Jeong-eun was already waiting.
Alone on the road after everyone including Jeong-eun had gone, Seong-ho recalled the words she had just thrown at him and laughed under his breath.
"Don't get greedy? Hahaha. The ones who will get greedy aren't me—it'll be all of you."
He knew full well that once Mun-jong and Sang-jong started bleeding, not only Jeong-eun but even Chang-jong—who hadn't been present today—would begin openly displaying their greed. And he had designed this entire affair precisely to induce that situation.
"Go ahead and tear each other apart. It's the role that suits you best."
Lee Mun-jong stood farthest ahead in the succession race. Unlike him and Sang-jong, who was chasing hard on his heels, Chang-jong and Jeong-eun occupied positions where they couldn't yet afford major ambitions. That was why Jeong-eun's digs amounted to little more than a child throwing a tantrum, begging for attention because she was falling behind, and the others treated them as such. But before long, a seismic upheaval would arrive that would transform the entire landscape. Jeong-eun's tantrums would become razor-sharp daggers, and Chang-jong would draw much closer as well. Seong-ho had laid that board himself.
He turned, recalling Lee Tak-hyeon who had grown angry at the dinner table moments earlier, and a smile touched his lips.
"My father-in-law seems to have roughly figured it out. Well, of course—the Chairman of the mighty Ilhyeon Group couldn't possibly not know. But it's already too late."
Thinking of the date written in the leather diary that was now only a few days away, Seong-ho stepped across the threshold and went inside.