Chapter 92
Chapter 92
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: Rats Targeting the Granary (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Thwack. Darts slammed one after another into the board on the wall. The sharp steel tips pierced straight through the cork overlay, embedding up to the fletching.
"Too much force? No... I should throw even harder to make sure they drop dead for good."
Seo Yun-ji approached the dartboard slowly and yanked out the deeply lodged darts.
The single photo affixed to the board was riddled with holes everywhere.
The two women in the picture—Seo Yun-a and Seo Yun-mi. Their eyes, noses, hearts, and palms were a total mess. A smile crept across Seo Yun-ji's lips as she took in the sight.
"You idiots. So blinded by the crown that you can't even watch your flanks. Forgot that leaves a knife in your back."
She gripped a dart tight in her fist and stabbed down at her half-sisters' photo like she was slashing at them.
Only after a rough grunt escaped with her exhale did she finally collapse onto the bed. She wiped the sweat beading on her forehead.
"Yoon Hak-gil's the type who keeps precise accounts, so he'll surely send another bill. And one... even I might struggle to cover."
Pressure over the Defense Ministry's new weapons development project, plus legal action against her half-sisters.
It felt excessively heavy compared to the payoffs for the funds and personnel favors she'd offered.
That vague wariness cooled Seo Yun-ji's exhilarated body bit by bit, freezing it into icy composure.
"I can't hand over the entire Cheolhwa Group. Never! That's... mine."
Seo Yun-ji reached toward the ceiling.
Her clenched little fist crumpled inward to its limit, as if ready to smash something right then.
If betrayal was an inevitable future anyway, she vowed to flip the lid off the pot first and dump her foes into the boiling water.
"After finishing off that bastard Han Seo-jun, I need to plan my follow-up moves carefully. Which means... it's time to invest more effort here than with Yoon Hak-gil."
Seo Yun-ji rose from her seat. She immediately pulled out her phone.
She dialed the familiar eleven-digit number she'd saved. It was Defense Minister Ham Pung-deok's contact.
Unlike before, it took several rings before the call connected.
"Oh my! Minister. You must be swamped with official duties. I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time."
"No, Representative Seo. Busy, yes... but not official business. Just family matters."
The call stretched on.
Her perfunctory thanks for introducing her to National Security Office Director Yoon Hak-gil quickly evolved into a suggestion that she ought to keep her guard up around him.
"Anyway, Yoon Hak-gil is pretty dangerous, right? Once this blows over, wouldn't it be better to keep some distance?"
"Well, from my position, yeah. If he keeps sticking his spoon into Defense Ministry affairs even after getting his party's nomination, I won't have any face left with my juniors."
Seo Yun-ji smiled as the conversation flowed just as she'd planned.
She was about to wrap up pleasantly when she tossed out one final remark without a second thought.
Unaware that Ham Pung-deok's response to her question would boomerang back at her someday.
"Good. I knew you felt the same. But I've taken up too much of your time already. You mentioned family matters earlier..."
"Ahem."
Defense Minister Ham Pung-deok hesitated briefly. His reluctance to bare his weaknesses couldn't hold back the frustration bottled up inside.
"Sigh... well, family matters for me means just one thing—my daughter."
"Oh, that little rascal? Goodness, you must be so upset. How heartbreaking."
A sigh carried over the line.
After a moment's pause, the minister continued in a pained tone.
"Rascal? More like a lunatic. She up and ran away from home a few days ago and hasn't come back. Even cleaned out the cash bundles from my wallet."
* * *
"Okay. This'll last me through next month even if I blow it all. Man, that old geezer's surprisingly tight about his backdoor cash."
Strutting with full confidence, she'd even raided her father—Defense Minister Ham Pung-deok's—wallet.
In the lounge bar at Yeouido's K Hotel, Ham Chae-eun fiddled with the straw in her cocktail and waved at Kim Beom-ho as he approached.
"Oh. Mr. National Adulterer."
"Hey... damn it. I told you not to call me that. Suspended sentence is basically the same as not guilty. I didn't even go to jail."
"Better than Mr. National Drug User, huh? That's already too good a title for you, oppa."
She let out a frivolous cackle.
The two were notorious scandals among high society, so Ham Chae-eun and Kim Beom-ho were on pretty friendly terms.
Without a hint of hesitation, her fingers trailed down to Kim Beom-ho's lower leg.
"So, how's our Beom-ho oppa's leg holding up? I'd bet all my money and my little finger that it's a bloody mess."
"Sigh, no need to bet. You've already won, Ham Chae-eun."
Kim Beom-ho pulled out his phone from his pocket and showed her a photo.
It featured his leg, bruised purple.
The adultery scandal with Seo Yun-ji that led to legal punishment, and the drug administration suspicion that mercifully ended as just that—a suspicion.
Once the media frenzy hit, it was no surprise that his father, the T Group chairman, unleashed hell with his belt.
"Wow... harsher than the crime deserves? Our old man would die before laying a hand on me."
"You really need a good whack with the general's personal baton. But you're the only daughter, so he can't."
"Jealous? Hehehe."
"Anyway, your blind date guy's coming soon, so please—no incidents today."
"Ah! So who is it? That chaebol heir heartthrob."
Kim Beom-ho scratched the back of his head vigorously, like something irked him.
A few days ago, out of the blue—a phone call.
From someone he never wanted to see again, let alone hear from.
The head of Ammunition Group, who'd gifted bruises to his leg, suddenly wanted a woman introduced. And not just any woman.
'One favor. You know Ham Chae-eun? Defense Minister's daughter. Set up a blind date with her. ASAP, and discreetly.'
'Why the hell should I...? Wait, guess I can drop the formalities now. Hey! Why me! What's so great about you, Han Seo-jun, that I'd set you up!'
Kim Beom-ho vented his pent-up rage.
But quelling his little rebellion took less than ten seconds.
'Heard your family cut off your funds? Credit cards blocked too. I'll pay handsomely, so why not?'
'...I pledge my loyalty, Chairman Han. T Group's lover boy, trust only me, Kim Beom-ho! One week! Loyalty!'
Too much money to turn down.
Kim Beom-ho's pride sold out in a blink for an amount equal to six months of his old allowance.
The client's request is sacred, but money is more so. That's why he brushed off the tantrum from the Ham Chae-eun sitting across from him.
"It's a secret. They don't want rumors spreading."
"Ugh, seriously... playing hard to get. Hey, Kim Beom-ho. Just hypothetically."
-Crash!
The cocktail glass shattered on the floor. Ham Chae-eun ignored the glass shards entirely.
Her manic eyes fixed on Kim Beom-ho with a deranged grin. She held up two fingers in the air.
"If the guy who shows up isn't some chaebol daughter or has an ugly mug—one or the other?"
"Ha, what the hell is this lunatic on about now..."
"Yeah, lunatic. Kim Beom-ho, you're about to find out exactly how crazy this lunatic can get. Right here. Got it?"
"Sigh..."
Frustrated, Kim Beom-ho thumped his chest with his fist.
Staring at Ham Chae-eun, already tipsy and off the rails, he sighed inwardly.
'What the hell is Han Seo-jun thinking, asking me to set him up with a psycho like this? Lunatic matches lunatic—soulmates or some shit?'
Her antics didn't stop.
She ordered the waiter—old enough to be her uncle—who came to clean up the broken glass.
"Ugh, yeah. You, freeze right there. At ease! That's it!"
Ham Chae-eun demanded he assume parade rest out of nowhere. She pulled a wad of cash from her wallet and started slapping his cheeks left and right with the bills.
Like how she'd treat a chauffeur at an official residence.
"Hehehe. Earning money's always this tough, huh? Today's your big life lesson. You should thank me."
"Hey, Ham Chae-eun. That's too much...!"
The waiter's cheeks flushed red with humiliation. As Kim Beom-ho moved to intervene against the over-the-line behavior, his phone suddenly rang.
"Huh? Already...? He's here?"
The author and star of today's script.
The chairman of Ammunition Group.
"Yes! Oh, you're here quick. Any inconvenience on your way here...?"
Kim Beom-ho bowed low, exuding impeccable service spirit.
"Yes? Oh, casual speech... is fine? R-right. Top-floor lounge bar. Take the private elevator straight up."
The call ended abruptly.
Ham Chae-eun found the sight hilarious, bursting into laughter and stomping her feet.
She wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes haphazardly with a finger and yelled.
"Pfft! Look at Kim Beom-ho groveling! When did our Beom-ho oppa turn into such a good little boy?"
"Shut it. Anyway, I'm out. You two have fun. Dad's due home soon, so I gotta bounce."
"Loser. Thirty years old and still under curfew. Have fun, oppa. Get home safe."
Ever since the incident with Seo Yun-ji, Kim Beom-ho was treated like air at home. Ham Chae-eun waved him off, then crossed her legs on the sofa and pondered.
"Hmm. Wonder what kinda guy's coming."
Her high heel dangled from her foot, clicking. She twirled a lock of wavy hair around her finger, imagining all sorts of handsome men.
-Ding! Door opening.
Clack of dress shoes. A man stepped slowly out of the elevator.
Ham Chae-eun's already round eyes widened to saucer size. An exclamation slipped out unbidden.
"Oh, jackpot...! Kim Beom-ho's actually useful for once."
He pulled out a wooden chair with a scrape and sat across from her.
Flashing a bright smile, he spoke in a low, steady voice.
"Pleasure to meet you. Great to be here. I'm Han Seo-jun of Ammunition Group."