Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Become My Dog
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“Uncle... haha.”
A hollow laugh burst from Park Joo-seung's mouth.
Smack-!
He rejected the handshake and swatted away Lee Dae-hyuk's right hand.
“Calling me uncle? You filthy-blooded bastard, who the hell are you calling uncle?”
Lee Dae-hyuk shrugged as he pulled his hand back.
He'd only extended it as a half-hearted provocation without much expectation...
‘Feels disgustingly off somehow.’
The emotion Lee Dae-hyuk felt right now was less 'anger' and more 'contempt.'
Like the feeling you get watching a criminal on the news.
But.
‘You find me repulsive?’
From the brief contact with Park Joo-seung moments ago, he'd read the man's emotions via psychometry.
Park Joo-seung despised him too.
Not just simple contempt, but the kind of revulsion you'd feel toward a disgusting bug.
The spying scheme with Cha Woo-jin was something he already knew about.
He could crush it the way he'd planned, so it didn't stir much emotion.
But...
‘Who is this guy—who knocked up his mistress through an affair—calling whose blood filthy?’
Hoo...
For some reason, his blood boiled.
It was probably 'Lee Dae-hyuk's' instincts getting pissed off.
The instincts of the boy who'd endured countless slaps and humiliation from this man in his childhood, swallowing his rage every time.
In that case.
‘Time to blow off some steam.’
A sinister smile crept across Lee Dae-hyuk's lips.
“I didn't come all this way just because I wanted to see you, Uncle.”
“...What?”
Park Joo-seung's eyes blazed at Lee Dae-hyuk's provocation.
It was like the mangy mutt he kept at home was baring its fangs.
“Grown some balls, have you?”
Park Joo-seung shot up from the sofa and raised his right hand.
Just like over a decade ago, to slap Lee Dae-hyuk across the face.
But the Lee Dae-hyuk of today was no longer that frail kid from back then.
Grab-!
Lee Dae-hyuk seized Park Joo-seung's wrist.
“You still see me as that snot-nosed brat you used to beat?”
“You little shit! Let go!”
“Get a grip, Mr. Park Joo-seung.”
Lee Dae-hyuk flung Park Joo-seung's hand away and called him by name.
“What? Mr. Park Joo-seung?”
Hearing his own name from Lee Dae-hyuk made Park Joo-seung's face flush with rage.
“You're dead today! Anyone out there?!”
Contrary to his bold words, Park Joo-seung desperately called for the bodyguard outside the door.
“......”
Lee Dae-hyuk watched him with disbelief before speaking.
“Is it a girl? Or a boy?”
“......!!! ”
“Ah, don't make me ask twice since I already know everything. We're not exactly in a position for long chats, right?”
Park Joo-seung's eyes widened as he was about to call for the guard again.
“You... you investigated me?”
“Kind of happened that way.”
Lee Dae-hyuk kept his responses curt on purpose.
To seize control of the conversation, he doled out provocations along with the cards he held, one by one.
“I get selling info for pocket money. Losing one subsidiary probably didn't weigh on your conscience much. It wasn't yours anyway, right?”
Park Joo-seung could only gape at Lee Dae-hyuk's taunts.
‘How much does he know? No, when did he start digging into me?’
Not just the affair, but even selling info to Seo-jin Construction.
Lee Dae-hyuk had him by the throat.
But there was still hope.
“Evidence?”
It was a stupid question.
To find a way out, he needed to uncover the opponent's real weapon first.
Lee Dae-hyuk smirked lazily and answered leisurely.
“The affair proof's in Kim Joo-ran's womb, and the spying proof's in the call recordings.”
Conveniently, Cha Woo-jin had recorded all his conversations with Park Joo-seung and stored them on his computer.
It was like life insurance for him.
Even if the spying got exposed, it wouldn't hit Park Joo-seung too hard.
At worst, he'd get fired.
With the chairman's wife as his own sister, would he face worse?
So, thinking he had to stick with Park Joo-seung no matter what, Cha Woo-jin had kept all those recordings.
And perfectly timed.
Right before Lee Dae-hyuk's meeting, the hackers hired by Kim Min-gyu had extracted the files from Park Joo-seung's computer.
Kim Min-gyu said he'd have them soon and bring them to the hideout, so he'd listen then.
Everything was moving in Lee Dae-hyuk's favor.
Park Joo-seung realized the board was stacked against him.
‘That moron Cha Woo-jin. Talking about riding this out for life, and he made shit like that?’
He cursed inwardly.
But the real problem now wasn't Cha Woo-jin—it was the man in front of him.
“What do you want?”
No choice but to negotiate.
Even if his sister took his side, a tiger like Lee Myung-guk wouldn't let it slide.
It wouldn't end at firing; legal consequences were certain.
Huge financial reparations, maybe even prison.
And on top of that.
‘Divorce too.’
He didn't love his current wife.
Still, he couldn't afford divorce over his little fling.
If Daehan Group kicked him out, he'd have to leech off Gosan Group.
Having quickly calculated in his head, Park Joo-seung continued.
“Money? Stocks? Whatever you want, name it. Just keep your mouth shut.”
“Whatever I want?”
“Yeah. I don't know how you dug this up... but you know it too. Snitching to your brother-in-law won't change your standing in the group or your life.”
Park Joo-seung trusted his sister, Park Ji-sook.
A fierce woman who shook Daehan Group with charisma rivaling Lee Myung-guk's.
She'd built her position through savvy lobbying and threats, cleanly removing anyone she saw as an obstacle.
Some met with accidents, others pinned with fabricated crimes and vanished from the company.
Believing in his sister's power, Park Joo-seung glared at Lee Dae-hyuk with smug defiance.
“But I'm a man with a conscience. I'm sorry for treating you harshly when you were a kid, as your maternal uncle. So I'll make it up to you now. Name a reasonable price.”
Park Joo-seung's tone was measured, almost gentle.
Probably trying to stroke Lee Dae-hyuk's ego as much as possible.
But his eyes were icy cold, and his lips trembled.
He was barely holding back his boiling fury.
Sneer-!
Lee Dae-hyuk scoffed at Park Joo-seung's fake act and spoke.
“Fine. Here's what I want. From now on, Park Joo-seung, you're my dog. Bark when I say bark, roll over when I say roll.”
“......!”
“How's that? Reasonable?”
Unable to contain his rage at Lee Dae-hyuk's words, Park Joo-seung grabbed the glass on the table.
He wanted to smash it into Lee Dae-hyuk's face right then.
Tremble-!
But Park Joo-seung still had enough sense.
Smashing the glass into Lee Dae-hyuk's face now wouldn't change a thing.
It would only corner him further.
Clunk-!
Lee Dae-hyuk sneered as Park Joo-seung weakly set the glass down.
“It'll only get more fun from here, so look forward to it, Un. cle.”
Lee Dae-hyuk patted Park Joo-seung's shoulder deliberately before leaving the room.
Psychometry success, and he'd scratched the man's nerves raw— no need to stick around.
To thwart Park Joo-seung's vile plan, he needed to move fast.
The man planned to harm Kim Joo-ran through his sister's shadowy operatives.
He delusionally thought eliminating the fetus would keep him safe.
‘Disgusting trash.’
Part of him wanted to pulverize Park Joo-seung's face right now, but he held back.
To land a proper blow on Seo-jin Construction.
And to exact the young Lee Dae-hyuk's revenge properly, he needed a bigger stage.
Step, step-!
Lee Dae-hyuk strode out, ignoring Park Joo-seung's piercing glare.
***
And back to the present.
Lee Dae-hyuk briefly explained Park Joo-seung's plan that he'd uncovered via psychometry.
“...To that man, my child isn't his offspring— just evidence of the affair.”
Kim Joo-ran, listening, unconsciously stroked her belly.
A child more precious than life itself.
She'd do anything to protect it.
Clench-!
Her nails dug into her palm as she gripped her fist hard.
“What do I need to do?”
Her eyes gleamed with vengeance as she looked at Lee Dae-hyuk.
He felt pity.
In what should be her happiest moment.
This woman had to destroy the man she'd loved to protect the child in her womb.
“Ms. Kim Joo-ran, just focus on giving birth. We'll handle the rest.”
Lee Dae-hyuk's gaze and tone were gentle.
Yet that gentleness stirred an inexplicable anger in Kim Joo-ran.
“...Is my child just a tool to you too, Mr. Lee Dae-hyuk?”
He pressed his lips tight at her question.
It was true.
To him, she and the child were both mere 'tools.'
No flowery words could change that fact.
“I won't lie. To me, the child is a tool too.”
Kim Joo-ran's face hardened at his words.
If he saw the child as a tool?
Who knew what he'd do after revenge.
She and the child would be a disgrace to the Daehan Group family.
‘What do I do? Should I run from this man?’
As faint anxiety crept in.
Lee Dae-hyuk slowly shook his head, as if reading her thoughts.
“But once revenge is done, you and the child can live normally. I'll make sure of it.”
“Make sure? How?”
“The day everything ends, that child will have a distant relative uncle with overflowing money as a sponsor by their side.”
By blood, they'd be first cousins once removed, but Lee Dae-hyuk called it distant relative.
Signaling the 'distance' between him and Park Joo-seung.
On top of that, he offered a firm condition.
“Help with this, and I'll cover the child's tuition through college and grad school.”
Strength laced Lee Dae-hyuk's voice.
He truly pitied Kim Joo-ran and her child.
'Lee Dae-hyuk' and his mother had gone through similar hell.
His mother had died amid finger-pointing, despair, and loneliness.
The young Lee Dae-hyuk had lived a life worse than hell.
Was it those memories?
Lee Dae-hyuk didn't see Kim Joo-ran and her unborn child as strangers.
“If you've heard the rumors about me, you'll know my words are sincere. Nothing scares people more than shared pain.”
Had she sensed the sincerity in his voice?
Kim Joo-ran fell silent for a moment.
“......”
Her eyes stung, her chest trembled.
It was the emotion and comfort she'd felt in so long.
Maybe because she'd shed too many tears already?
A smile came instead of tears.
With that smile, Kim Joo-ran bowed deeply with all her heart.
“Thank... you.”
“Save the thanks until it's over. There's still a slightly risky bit left.”
“A risky bit?”
Her eyes widened.
Lee Dae-hyuk corrected himself.
“More precisely, pretending it's risky.”
***
Park Ji-sook considered herself 'nobility.'
Daughter of a chief justice who'd upheld 'justice.'
Graduated from Seoul Law, passed the bar, but married strategically for the family.
For 35 years, she'd toiled to make Daehan Group, ranked 10th in business, its undisputed 'number two.'
She hadn't surpassed Seo-jin Group, but Daehan had become a massive kingdom too.
Park Ji-sook was proud of a life and achievements worthy of the title 'noble,' if not quite royal.
But.
“What?”
Now her worthless brother was trying to spit on her kingdom.
“An affair? And a kid?”
“S-Sis. That's...”
Park Ji-sook slapped her excuses right off her brother's face.
Smack-!