Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Cheolhwa Semiconductor Acquisition Battle (1)
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Inside the SA Group's private jet returning from Guangzhou to Korea, the atmosphere was as frigid as midwinter.
With all his aides and attendants, including his closest confidants, sent to the back and the partition drawn, Vice President Im Jae-ho sat alone.
A heavy mechanical click echoed as the door locked completely. He shook his right wrist, unfastening the metal watch he wore.
And then, a sharp crack that reverberated through the cabin.
*Slap!*
Seo Yun-ji clutched her reddened cheek, her bobbed hair falling messily over her face. She bit her lower lip hard and shot a glare at her husband without a word.
"You've got some nerve. Embarrassing me all the way out in foreign territory? Don't you have any shame, you filthy bitch?"
"Ha, and you're so pure, living with that filthy bitch? That's rich coming from you."
"You trash of a woman, still flapping your mouth...!"
Vice President Im Jae-ho's arm rose again.
But it never reached Seo Yun-ji's cheek this time.
Her dark eyeliner accentuated her eyes. Her slender hand clamped down firmly on his bare wrist.
"You're way too into the act, honey?"
As if flipping a switch, Vice President Im Jae-ho shook off her hand with a furious jerk.
His face twisted into something vicious. In the dark night, the reflection in the plane window showed hands throttling a neck hard enough to leave bruises.
"You bitch... spouting whatever comes out of that gaping hole!"
"Cough! We're supposed to be the perfect show-window couple. You knew that from the start, didn't you?"
Just before her breath gave out, his grip finally loosened.
Seo Yun-ji, seething with rage. Did fear even register with her?
She touched the purple finger marks at the center of her throat and screamed at her husband, who was nothing but a facade.
"Guess you're not too bright. Let me spell it out simple."
She gulped down a glass of red wine to soothe her burning throat.
Whether it was boiling blood or just wine stains on her lips, she wiped her mouth roughly with her sleeve and spoke.
"You want Cheolhwa Semiconductor. My father wants that perfect succession for his second-gen heir. And me..."
She slammed the glass down on the table with force.
Her voice trembled through the small crack that formed in it.
"I'm fighting for survival itself."
*Crash!*
The glass, unable to withstand the jolt, toppled to the floor in an instant.
Shards scattered everywhere.
The attendants, who had been waiting for just such a moment, rushed in between the seats under the pretense of cleaning.
"A-are you... alright?"
"It's nothing. Just clean this up."
The couple turned their heads in opposite directions, avoiding each other's gaze.
In the wake of the storm, only the hum of the plane's engines served as background to the silence.
Did they hate even sitting next to each other that much?
Seo Yun-ji unbuckled her seatbelt and stood. As she walked down the aisle, she turned back once, leaving a final warning before heading to the rear of the plane.
"Focus on the essence of this little game. Don't let some weird Chinese guy ruin your composure."
"...You're desperate to hide that cheap bastard-child vibe. Figures, coming from a mistress's spawn. Low blood can't be helped, huh?"
She brushed off the words from her husband-in-name-only as she moved to the back.
Mistress's spawn.
The disgust bubbling in her chest was enough to furrow her brow.
Lowly half-blood. She knew it down to her bones, and by now it was all too familiar.
But... her half-brother, another mistress's child, had gotten everything. And Han Seo-jun had taken it all already.
"...This sucks."
Every time, those two faces floated in her mind.
In frustration, she pounded the cabin wall repeatedly with her clenched fist like a hammer.
*Attention passengers. This flight will soon be landing at Incheon International Airport in Korea. Please fasten your seatbelts.*
The plane had entered cell range. Seo Yun-ji examined her cheek and neck—still stinging like scars—in the mirror.
As she snapped at the attendant applying medicine, her phone on the table suddenly rang.
*Riiiing.*
It was the secretary office of Cheolhwa Group.
"What is it, Secretary Kim? Why are you calling me? Got more bullshit to spew?"
"Miss, it's urgent."
The man's voice was eerily calm.
A strange premonition crawled up Seo Yun-ji's spine to her scalp from the other end of the line.
And that instinct was spot on. For better or worse.
"About an hour ago... the Chairman suddenly collapsed. He's in surgery now at Cheolhwa Medical Center in Busan."
* * * *
It was like he'd taken a peek at the river of three roads.
Chairman Seo Guk-cheol lay hooked up to an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth, IV lines dangling from both arms pumping unknown drugs.
His heartbeat on the monitor was nearly flat. Was it too early to die?
Squeezing out his last spark of life, he spat out ragged breaths and opened his eyes.
"Cough! H-hey! What the hell are all these?"
"Ch-Chairman? Medical team! The Chairman's awake! Hurry with the checks!"
The medical staff rushed in busily. After several exams, the doctor's verdict came.
"It's a miracle. Even with that grueling schedule weakening your organs to the brink, they held on. Incredible luck."
"Hey, Doc. So that means... I'm stuck like a living corpse from now on? Me, Seo Guk-cheol!"
"If you keep pushing like this, collapsing anytime wouldn't be surprising. And..."
Chairman Seo Guk-cheol scowled stubbornly, like a kid throwing a tantrum.
But the doctor's follow-up made even him slump his shoulders like any ordinary old man.
"Next time, I can't guarantee that same luck."
"...Enough. Get out."
Alone in the empty hospital room, Chairman Seo Guk-cheol's gaze drifted to the bare branches outside.
Dry leaves still clinging on. They looked just like him—ready to scatter at the first strong gust.
"......"
Hating the sight, he pressed the button to draw the curtains over the window.
After pondering alone for a bit, he summoned his attendant. His most trusted secretary chief.
"Chairman, you really must take better care of your health now."
"Hey, Im. You nagging too? Why not go back to med school?"
"But if you keep overdoing it..."
"I know, I get it. So... since it's come to this, I might as well accelerate the schedule."
The schedule.
His resolve to quickly wrap up succession to his late-blooming son.
Now, any explosions within the Seo family of Cheolhwa Group were irrelevant.
He just wanted to finish everything before he died—before this old body reached its expiration and crumbled.
"What did those bitches Yun-ah and Yun-mi say when I collapsed?"
"Same as always. Just scheming to expand their influence..."
"Enough! No need to hear more from those bitches. Black widow spiders, just like their damn mother!"
Rage surged, making Chairman Seo Guk-cheol cough up blood.
Only after pumping in several bottles of strong antibiotics did he calm down. He resumed discussion with the secretary chief.
"Everything to Yun-seok. If I go before he turns adult... you'll be his guardian."
"Chairman, please don't say that..."
"Take it on. No one else I trust. Your loyalty won't go unrewarded. But first..."
Habitually reaching for a cigarette, Chairman Seo Guk-cheol realized he couldn't even handle one puff anymore. He continued in a hollow voice.
"Sigh, Yun-ji. That stray bitch is finally out of uses."
"She's coming straight from the airport upon arrival."
"Figured. That one's tougher than her sisters—knows exactly how things stand."
Chairman Seo Guk-cheol gestured to the secretary chief. Clutching succession documents with trembling hands, the old man thought silently.
Finally, he seemed resolved and slowly parted his lips.
"Contact the Industrial Bank. Cheolhwa Semiconductor. We're looking for an acquisition candidate."
* * * *
Cheolhwa Semiconductor.
A tragic company that changed hands many times.
Yet its potential had always run deep, so Chairman Seo Guk-cheol, its last owner, only let it go at the very end of his life.
All for succession within the Seo family bloodline.
"Whew, you're something else. How'd our Chairman figure this out?"
Just as I'd said, with Cheolhwa Semiconductor—the big fish—now on the market, Uncle Kim Won-cheol didn't hold back his admiration.
A total black swan out of nowhere—he was clearly shocked.
"Buy me a mat?"
"What mat?"
"Seems like our Chairman would make more as a fortune-teller or shaman than a conglomerate boss. Heh heh heh."
Uncle Kim Won-cheol was jumping to all sorts of weird conclusions. To keep strange rumors from spreading in the group, I smoothly fed him an excuse.
"Nah, it's not like that. I mentioned it after seeing the lay of the land at the last Federation of Korean Industries meeting."
"That too... what insight. Anyway, so we pull investment from Prince Bin Salman and scoop it up?"
Uncle Kim Won-cheol's forehead gleamed as bright as the hopeful circuits firing in his head.
Of course, crushing those empty hopes was half the fun.
"Nope. Can't buy it with just money."
"What? Why? Why?"
Like some Westerner, Uncle Kim Won-cheol shrugged into a W shape, demanding answers.
He'd gone fishing at Yangpyeong with President Michel and picked up all sorts of odd gestures.
"The Industrial Bank is the major shareholder and acting as broker, right? Fairness in the acquisition talks is inevitable then."
"There's deeper reasons. Thicker than water—family and bloodline."
I delved into my pre-regression memories, methodically explaining the ties between Cheolhwa Group's Seo family and SA Group's Vice President Im Jae-ho.
Only after canceling all the less urgent schedule items did Uncle Kim Won-cheol finally nod in understanding.
"Whew... so the acquisition terms themselves will be super vague then. What's the plan?"
"There's ways. First off..."
I pulled out my phone from my pocket and scanned the packed contacts, finding the one I wanted.
Worlds where yesterday's enemy becomes today's ally, despite a rocky start.
Without hesitation, I smiled and hit call.
"Yes, it's been a while. President Kim Han-seong of the Industrial Bank. Got time this week by any chance?"