Chapter 165
Chapter 165
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 165
Chapter Title: A Dog That Wants to Become a Tiger (6)
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Sunlight filtered through the church's stained glass, casting a particularly mournful glow on the wooden casket today.
Im Gye-hyeon, the chairman and a devout Christian, was having his funeral not in a hospital mortuary like ordinary folk, but in a massive cathedral.
"Now embraced in the Lord's arms, the departed spent his life walking his own quiet path for this nation and society!"
"Amen!"
"May he find peace in the Lord at last! Hallelujah!"
"Hallelujah!"
The prayers of a man who looked like a clergyman echoed out. I slipped into the separate visitation room set aside for non-religious guests, placed a single chrysanthemum before the altar, and bowed lightly.
"Tch. Chairman Im Gye-hyeon, that old-timer's gone and passed too. Time waits for no business, after all."
Kim Won-cheol sidled up beside me, having apparently circled the entire funeral hall.
"Sigh. Being there when that old man kicked the bucket must've left our chairman feeling a bit off, huh?"
"That's not it. If anything... I'm glad I was there."
I'd witnessed Chairman Im Gye-hyeon's final moments with my own eyes.
The end of a towering giant of his era, brought low to the earth... It wasn't grand or steeped in profound historical spirit.
Just raw emotion. A man, a father, clinging to feelings he couldn't let go of until the very end.
'What I could give you... I've given it all. I just hope my faith in you wasn't misplaced....'
His unofficial last words still rang vividly in my ears.
His son, visibly limited in capability. Chairman Im Gye-hyeon's final choice was a bitter trade-off: preventing his son's downfall while denying the SA Group its path to prosperity.
"Leaving me both homework and a gift before he goes."
The portrait photo showed not his warm smile, but the stern face of a CEO.
My quiet mutter must have carried. Kim Won-cheol placed a hand on my back and spoke.
"Sigh, the dead don't talk back. Your head's probably spinning, so let's head back to HQ and sort it out slow-like... Ahem."
He trailed off awkwardly, followed by an embarrassed cough. Standing there at the end of it was a man.
He'd just returned from the main hall with the congregation. Vice President Im Jae-ho, glaring at me from right in front of the altar.
"......"
"......"
His expression held some complicated mix of emotions. I knew he wasn't fond of me usually, but today, in this place, it went beyond simple like or dislike.
Still, he offered condolences with decorum.
"My deepest condolences. Sincerely."
"He valued you more than his own son, so it'd be inhuman not to wish him peace from the heart."
A faint tremble ran over his black mourning suit. The fists clenched tight betrayed fury and resentment.
Self-reproach for not being at his father's deathbed. And whatever unspoken feelings toward me being there instead—it was enough to make blood vessels bulge in his eyes.
"...Seems there's some misunderstanding here."
"Is it? More like facts I'm supposed to misunderstand for your sake?"
"I can guess what you're thinking right now, Vice President Im. Sigh...."
No point talking. This already messy situation didn't need complicating further. Best to back off for now.
But.
"I hope we can send him off peacefully, without any noise on his way."
"Ha! Acting like some secret son he hid away. Chairman Han's bloodline is a mess—Ammunition side or SA side? Hard to tell."
"......!"
"Of course, half-baked mongrel either way."
Vice President Im Jae-ho crossed the line.
That inferiority complex, never acknowledged as a son until the end, now spilled out as pathetic tears.
"Hey now, Vice President Im! Words like that ain't right to spit out in the first place. Embarrassing to take 'em back later."
"Hey, Kim Won-cheol. Is this a place for the likes of you to butt in?"
"What's there to butt or not? Let's wrap this up. Got to send your father off proper. Keep this up, what're we gonna do?"
Kim Won-cheol finally stepped in to mediate. Eyes from around us were starting to gather. Not just business figures—politicians and officials too.
"Oh, Vice President Im Jae-ho? What's going on?"
"Looks like trouble with Chairman Han Seo-jun. Flip on the recorders, cameras ready just in case."
Even reporters sniffing blood in the water. Time to end this. While leaving behind what absolutely needed saying.
I stepped toward Vice President Im Jae-ho, lowering my voice.
"You're grieving hard, so I'll pretend I didn't hear that. But."
"......?"
A grown man still trapped in his father's shadow, aging without escape.
No fear or annoyance toward Vice President Im Jae-ho, who vomited his feelings unfiltered.
Of course... I'd honor the deal not to sink my teeth into this pitiful old man's neck.
Chrysanthemums piled high by the altar. I picked the one on top and gently set it down again before the portrait.
Speaking not to the son, but to that father.
"Please don't cross the line again, so I can keep my promise to the late Chairman Im."
* * * *
Ammunition Group HQ, Chairman's office.
"Man, our chairman took some real crap today."
"Crap? Nah, nothing like that. I get where that guy's head's at anyway."
Kim Won-cheol stuffed his mourning tie haphazardly into his pocket.
He handed me a drink as I sat on the sofa, pinching the bridge of my nose between thumb and forefinger.
"Vice President Im Jae-ho—or that dimwit Jae-ho—is always like that."
"Dimwit?"
"Kid's a bit slow. You know he went to the same uni, same department as our late chairman and me?"
My father and Kim Won-cheol had shared school from middle-high through college.
He wasn't one to dwell on old stories usually, so when I showed interest, he lit up and kept going.
"That fool Jae-ho was a junior there."
No wonder their clash at the funeral felt more personal than business.
"Well, back then that department drew a lot of chaebol kids."
"Ah...."
"Anyway, Im Jae-ho's dim. Way too dim to helm a massive conglomerate. Can't bear the crown's weight, you know?"
Can't bear the crown's weight. Ironically... to avoid the same judgment as Vice President Im Jae-ho, I'd have to endure it myself.
Click. I popped the drink can and downed it all.
"Ahh, better."
"You earned it."
"Time to get back to work. Sinking like Vice President Im Jae-ho ain't my style."
I crushed the can in my hand and stood.
No more time for sentiment. I'd just do what needed doing.
"First up... the Commerce Department issue."
"Urgent. Looks like only a month's grace till final stamp."
The U.S. Commerce Department's strategic export control review committee.
An agency laser-focused on U.S. interests wouldn't let a top IT firm slip to a virtual adversary. Normally, anyway.
"I poked around, and get this—the review chair's Dick Johnson's cousin."
"No wonder it veered so far off predictions. Didn't know family was in the mix."
Reapplication wouldn't change a thing. They'd weighed the risks already.
Straight paths blocked. Time for off-the-books moves.
'Insider. Touch their insider, and that shaky sandcastle crumbles fast.'
I knew the playbook. Chairman Im Gye-hyeon had handed it to me. Rubbing my chin, I muttered.
"Insider...."
Insider.
That seemingly solid sandcastle rotten inside. Resolved, I pulled a USB from the desk drawer.
"Stuck? Time to shake the board from outside."
"Shake the board?"
"Won't fly through official Commerce channels. Gotta hit 'em externally."
Click. USB in, file window popped up. Mouse wheel down a few scrolls—there, the name: Dick Johnson.
"Best way: cook up a juicy scandal to grab all eyes."
The USB from Seo-hee noona wasn't just CEO basics.
Key players' ties at those firms. Secretaries especially—detailed dossiers.
"This...."
"Huh? What? Don't smirk alone—spill."
Pause. Scroll locked far down.
There... a familiar Korean face I'd noted before.
Dick Johnson's punching bag, handling key internal ops despite the chokehold from his and his sister's green cards.
"Yeah, something like this. To quote a wise line."
A chuckle slipped out.
Ironically... tied to the late Chairman Im Gye-hyeon too.
At the cathedral exit, mini Bibles handed out like candy to condolence guests.
Each marked with Post-its on key verses he deemed pointed.
"A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings trouble on himself."
"What? You getting ordained or something...?"
Proverbs, Post-it flagged. Coincidence maybe... but it fit now perfectly.
Looked like the late Chairman Im Gye-hyeon hoped I'd deliver what he couldn't.
"Let's move. Gotta show that departed soul quick results for the help."