Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Cheolhwa Semiconductor Acquisition Battle (4)
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Chaos.
How else could one describe this scene if not chaos?
Empty bottles rolling around haphazardly. Unidentifiable powdery substances scattered across the table.
The hazy, sweet gray smoke wafting from the hookah pipe seemed to gnaw at Yoo Se-na aide's mind with every breath she took.
"I'm going crazy... This is the kind of thing you only see on the news."
She apparently hadn't even considered that the evidence she was collecting might end up there.
Yoo Se-na aide turned on the recorder in a daze, fumbling hurriedly.
Disguised as a cleaner, she pretended to tidy up the scattered tools of revelry—the ones that would serve as precious evidence.
"Ah, right. Camcorder, camcorder."
She rummaged through her pocket for the camcorder.
At that moment, as she bowed her head, a shadow that wasn't hers loomed thick and dark before her.
'Caught... have I been caught?'
Gulp. The gulp echoed loudly through the room as saliva roughly slid down her throat.
Slowly, she raised her head. There stood two people in states of near undress.
It was Seo Yun-ji and Kim Beom-ho.
"Hey, you bitch! Put that back right now! Hurry up!"
Eyes half-lidded and bloodshot red.
Seo Yun-ji looked like something inside her had snapped somewhere.
Suddenly snapping to, she charged barefoot toward Yoo Se-na aide.
"Y-Yes? What do you...?"
"You're asking me what? You disgusting bitch, this won't do!"
-Slap!
Seo Yun-ji slapped Yoo Se-na aide across the cheek without warning.
Her flushed cheek burned hot from the pain in an instant, her heart pounding wildly out of control.
Had she really been caught? Now... what was she supposed to do?
But...
"That white powder on the cart. I told you not to touch it recklessly! Why can't you follow simple instructions!"
"Ah... S-Sorry. It's my first shift today, so I just..."
She let out a sigh of relief along with her excuse.
Cold sweat trickling from the crown of her head had already soaked her entire body.
And then, unbidden, a single piece of advice from the Chairman himself came to mind.
'Seo Yun-ji and Kim Beom-ho. Neither of them will be in their right minds. At least not while they're at Yeouido K Hotel.'
It was spot on.
Just not out of their minds for the usual reasons.
By the time the sleeve of her blue work uniform was soaked from wiping sweat off her forehead, Kim Beom-ho came ambling over with a robe in hand.
He wrapped his arms around the stark-naked Seo Yun-ji from behind and opened his mouth.
Maybe even drunker than before, as he let out a giggling laugh.
"Ey, our pretty cleaning sis, enough eye candy—put this on. Heh heh heh."
"You crazy bastard. Listen to yourself. Whatever, I'm beat. You handle cleanup, Kim Beom-ho!"
After grabbing only the problematic white powder, Seo Yun-ji headed straight for the sofa with the hookah pipe.
An eerie silence approached with her thudding footsteps. Soon after, Kim Beom-ho shook his head and placed a hand on Yoo Se-na aide's shoulder.
"Kuh... Cleaning sis, you saw that temper, right? It's a masterpiece. Don't get slapped again—be careful next time. Got it?"
"Ah, yes. Y-Yes... Thank you, Young Master."
Kim Beom-ho crammed a few crumpled ten-thousand-won bills into the front pocket of her cleaning uniform.
As he turned and walked away, a carefree remark drifted back between his receding footsteps.
"You're cute. Make some time after you're done. Keep at the cleaning. Good work!"
* * * *
In the SA Group headquarters vice president's office in Gangnam, a clumsy game of house was in full swing.
Seo Guk-cheol, Im Jae-ho, Seo Yun-ji.
Three people like water and oil, never meant to mix. But the catalyst of perfectly aligned interests propelled their fake family play toward its climax.
"For starters, Yun-ji, your SA-Cheolhwa Techwin—where you're CEO—will play the middleman."
A massive sheet of paper covering half the desk laid out the Cheolhwa Semiconductor acquisition plan.
Seo Guk-cheol, the chairman, traced the tangled web of shares with trembling fingers.
His eyes gleamed like a candle's final flicker before dying out.
"Think of it as SA Group's stake in Cheolhwa Group's holding company—and Cheolhwa Group's stake in Cheolhwa Semiconductor—flowing through your company."
"......"
Seo Guk-cheol had revealed everything to Seo Yun-ji, including his secret bastard son.
Her hands, clasped behind her back, clenched until blood flow stopped.
The discrimination she'd endured as an illegitimate child. And now, the fresh discrimination because, illegitimate or not, she could carry the bloodline.
And then, as if none of that mattered a damn, her father's attitude of using her outright as a succession tool.
"Do your job right, and you'll get a seat at the table. I'll hand over the Cheolhwa Foundation and my personal real estate holdings."
Like an act of charity. Like telling her to stuff herself with the fat stack of cash and scram.
Just like always—then, now, and forever. She would never be truly accepted as his daughter.
"Hoo..."
Was it the afterglow of pleasure with Kim Beom-ho before coming here?
Rage boiled hot enough to burst, but Seo Yun-ji swallowed her surging emotions.
A dutiful daughter's mask now delicately veiled her face.
A thin mask, barely hiding her viciously twisted features.
"...Market value-wise, it'll be substantial, won't it?"
"Nothing compared to what you've enjoyed so far. Keep enjoying it, and the fortune won't take a hit."
"Then... I'll do it. The middleman role."
Seo Yun-ji feigned a radiant smile.
She dipped a brush in pink paint and added family affection petals to the mask.
"You said his name is Yun-seok? He has to carry on the Seo line... so of course I'll cooperate."
Tears of blood streamed behind the mask.
Spitting out words she didn't mean—didn't even want to think—she vowed to herself.
Those wads of cash tossed at her like table scraps. Even if she had to retreat now, someday she'd swallow Cheolhwa Group whole.
Just like... that man perched in the Ammunition Group's chairman seat, the one she despised above all.
* * * *
Kim Beom-ho's breezy attitude after hitting on Yoo Se-na aide didn't last.
Ammunition Group's Hotel Florence.
This lounge bar, with its stunning view of Seoul's nightscape, was always packed.
But tonight, the vast, opulent space felt empty save for me and Kim Beom-ho chatting idly.
"Ey, Seo-jun, never thought you'd actually call me out."
"Why not? Beom-ho hyung knows how to play hard when it's playtime. Right?"
"Huh? Hold on, hold on. This couldn't be..."
Kim Beom-ho held his tongue for a beat.
My guess that he was lost in deep thought missed the mark by a mile.
True to form, he clapped with that signature laugh, reverting to carefree kid mode.
"As expected, Han Seo-jun's a real man! Succession stuff's miles away for me, but entertainment? I'm your guy."
"Yeah, well, that's not my scene."
"Kuh... That's the Han family curse at Ammunition Group. They don't just raise scholars—they churn out soldiers."
He crossed his legs with a flighty laugh and, without asking, stuck a cigarette in his mouth right in front of me.
Then, thumping his chest like he was lording over a little bro, Kim Beom-ho grinned.
"Heh heh heh. To you, hyung's basically Jesus. Jesus."
"Jesus?"
"Just follow my exact path, and heaven's yours. Even Seo Yun-ji's all... kuh!"
Kim Beom-ho choked off mid-sentence.
Even a guy like him managed to picture my tie to Seo Yun-ji.
He went dead silent, like his mouth was glued shut with honey, rolling his eyes counterclockwise in frantic search of an out.
"No, wait. Seo-jun, what I mean is..."
"It's fine. I know Yun-ji noona's up in heaven having fun."
My stone-cold serious face—and Kim Beom-ho clocking it.
The heavy silence that crashed in summoned a shadow of terror.
Terror that the demon hanging over him would coil around his throat inescapably.
The mood iced over in a flash, like ice water dumped on our heads, freezing us in place.
"How do you..."
"Better to start with this. Quicker that way."
With a casual flick of my hand, Yoo Se-na aide waiting outside came in.
She carried a slim laptop.
"Ah... cleaning sis?"
Yoo Se-na aide shot Kim Beom-ho a contempt-filled glare, eyes crackling like they could spark.
As the hard drive's whir faded in the hush, the screen lit up with a video and audio recording.
Drugs and adultery. The kind of scandals that could shred an executive's morals—unforgivable in the court of public opinion.
"......"
"Now, down to business. Ah, first—fix the tone."
He fidgeted like a puppy that'd pissed itself, at a total loss.
I raised my voice, stiff and formal.
"Let's shift from personal chat to something more official."
"Seo-jun... No, Chairman Han Seo-jun..."
"If anything's off, speak up. T Group's outside director, Kim Beom-ho."
* * * *
"Ugh, disgusting."
Disgust filled Yoo Se-na aide's eyes, peeking through her long straight hair.
She'd had to watch Seo Yun-ji and Kim Beom-ho's filth live—and then on replay, unfiltered.
"Even the uncles under my dad didn't carouse like this. And they were just company men."
"Kim Beom-ho's infamous for it, even among chaebol brats."
I shut the laptop and glanced at where Kim Beom-ho had sat moments ago.
Not the chair across from me—but right at my feet on the floor, where he'd knelt and begged.
A memory surfaced.
"Heh heh, Chairman Han... If there's anything about me you don't like, I'll fix it right away..."
"No real complaints about Director Kim Beom-ho. The issue is..."
Kim Beom-ho's eyes lit up like he'd spotted an angel amid the sudden hope.
Truth be told, I couldn't care less about meting out justice to this loose cannon.
The problem was simply that Seo Yun-ji—tied to this deadbeat Kim Beom-ho—stood against me on a single plank bridge.
'The woman in this video with you? She can't be on our side.'
'Yun-ji... you mean? Ah!'
'Turn yourself in at our preferred timing. Do that, and...'
Kim Beom-ho's pupils quaked like in an earthquake at "turn yourself in."
His despair-veiled eyes lifted only after my follow-up.
'We'll submit minimal evidence on anything harming Director Kim Beom-ho. Enough for suspended sentence.'
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