Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Hyenas Distributing the Spoils (1)
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-The customer's phone is turned off. After the beep, you'll be connected to voicemail. Call charges will apply after connection.
Thud. Minister of National Defense Ham Pung-deok collapsed onto the floor of the official residence corridor.
He'd called on the off chance. Sure enough, National Security Office Director Yoon Hak-gil didn't pick up.
"No, it's more accurate to say he can't pick up."
He let out a heavy sigh, kicking up dust from the carpet.
Everything he'd dreamed of had turned out to be nothing more than a daydream.
And the moment he woke from that dream, reality hit him like a cold wave.
From the dignified position of Minister of National Defense, he'd become the mastermind behind a grubby arms industry scandal.
It had all happened because of that one man's pinky finger pointed right at him, in front of the entire nation watching.
"That monster... Using the election as an excuse to hold a knife to the president's throat just to achieve his goals? I can't tell if he's got balls of steel or if he's just plain insane."
"Probably both. Though the insane part fits better, of course."
"Chae-eun, you...! When the hell did you get home...?"
His daughter, Ham Chae-eun, had appeared before Minister Ham Pung-deok without him noticing.
She bent at the waist and extended one hand toward him. A small hand laced with a mix of love and resentment.
"Whatever. Get up off the floor. It's filthy. If you end up in diapers in your old age because of this, I won't deal with it."
"You insolent brat with that mouth of yours... And Ham Chae-eun, what the hell have you been doing all this time? Why are you only coming home now!"
Minister Ham Pung-deok steeled himself to give her a proper scolding.
But his resolve crumbled as Ham Chae-eun leaned in close to her father's face.
"You haven't been crying, huh. Well, not too little, not too much—just about right?"
"You little shit, still talking nonsense and out of your mind...!"
"Whatever. Here."
She handed him a single letter.
The plain envelope bore only the Ammunition Group seal, stamped in red flames.
"The blind date guy said to give this to Dad."
"What...?"
"It's for you, Dad. Read it, change your clothes, and come out. Weather's nice—let's go see Mom for once. Okay?"
He flinched at the sight of the Ammunition Group seal, and suddenly it all made sense.
Minister Ham Pung-deok stared blankly at his daughter's retreating back.
Half dazed, half relieved, he fumbled to open the envelope.
-To the esteemed Minister Ham Pung-deok. This is Han Seo-jun, Chairman of Ammunition Group. The fact that you're reading this letter means the goddess of victory has ruled in my favor.
"Haha..."
The letter plainly recounted past events.
From Seo Yun-ji, CEO of SA-Cheolhwa Techwin, and the Defense Ministry's new weapons development bid, to his meeting with Ham Chae-eun and the recent bed scandal.
But the contents weren't limited to the past.
The future lay ahead.
It mapped out the path Minister Ham Pung-deok should take, all within limits he could socially and legally accept—right up to the edge without crossing it.
"They say raising a daughter is useless. She's gone and fallen head over heels for some pretty boy parasite..."
Minister Ham Pung-deok let the letter droop from his limp hand.
He sighed and lifted his head. Something caught his eye.
It was a familiar path he took every day, yet he'd never noticed it before.
Hanging on the wall was a small picture frame containing a photo of his late wife.
"No... maybe not entirely useless after all."
Smack. He slapped his cheeks hard with both palms.
Letting out a hollow laugh, Minister Ham Pung-deok slowly rose to his feet.
"Whew, that monster. In the end, from start to finish, I've been dancing in the palm of Han Seo-jun's hand?"
He muttered to himself, gazing endlessly at the photo in the frame.
How much time passed?
From downstairs came his daughter's impatient urging, her patience finally worn thin.
"Dad! What are you doing? Hurry up! You going to see Mom or not?"
"Damn, what a brat."
Minister Ham Pung-deok gripped the stair railing and descended step by step.
With one footfall, his resignation from the ministry.
With the next, his acceptance of responsibility for the bed scandal and everything tied to it.
And the final step... a commitment to complete fairness in the Defense Ministry's new weapons development bid.
The greed weighing on his shoulders began to lift, one piece at a time.
In the end, he decided to embrace it fully. The path to the future added like a postscript in the letter.
And with a relieved exhale:
"I'm coming! It'll take a bit—wait in the car!"
* * * *
Plop. Along with a drop of saliva, a clear cubic bead hit the floor. To Seo Yun-ji, nail art meant nothing right now.
She gnawed at her thumbnail out of habit, trying to quell the tidal wave of anxiety crashing over her.
With her jagged nail, Seo Yun-ji cautiously fiddled with her phone screen.
-[Im Jae-ho] 29 Missed Calls
Her husband, whom she'd never feared—in fact, one she thought she could crush in her grasp anytime.
But now, with the tower she'd so painstakingly built crumbling, Vice Chairman Im Jae-ho's calls terrified her.
Until she could think of her next move, with no cards left to play.
"That crazy bastard...! Has he lost his damn mind completely? Dumping a month's worth of calls all at once."
Her heavily applied eyeliner looked especially sloppy today.
In the mirror, she saw herself like a dazed widow.
Like a woman widowed from her de facto husband, Cheolhwa Group.
-Bzzzzt!
As she pitied her reflection, her phone began vibrating again.
In a fit of rage, she grabbed it to smash it on the floor.
"F-Father-in... law?"
A completely new name on the screen.
Her hand trembled. At the call from SA Group Chairman Im Gye-hyeon—something she hadn't even imagined—she froze like a stone statue.
"......"
The time for deliberation was short. Biting her lower lip hard, Seo Yun-ji carefully answered the incoming call.
"I've... answered. Father."
"No long talk. Come to the main house immediately."
Im Gye-hyeon's voice was devoid of anger, dry as a desert.
An unexpected situation.
Suspecting it might be something Vice Chairman Im Jae-ho had stirred up, Seo Yun-ji hesitated to respond.
As if seeing right through her, Chairman Im Gye-hyeon added one more line.
"Jae-ho isn't here. I have something to discuss with you alone, Se-a. Come right away without delay."
* * * *
Ammunition Group headquarters, top floor—chairman's office.
Thud. I collapsed weakly onto the sofa, yanking my tie loose from around my neck.
There are times when the office feels good.
First, when passionately leading a project.
And second...
"What the hell. So you met that old man, Chairman Im Gye-hyeon? Right before coming to work this morning?"
"The main house in Pyeongchang-dong is practically next door—if you trip leaving, you'd hit it. Even if it was just a breakfast invite, it was basically a kidnapping."
"Kidnapping, yeah. I can't breathe whenever I'm near that guy. Those eyes of his could kill."
Right now, like this—when I'd barely escaped somewhere even more hellish than work.
Uncle Kim Won-cheol immediately handed me a 500ml bottle of cola.
My stomach already bloated from the ordeal, I drained the bottle in one go anyway.
"Whew, now I can digest a bit."
"What in the world did that old timer want, summoning you first thing in the morning? I can guess, but..."
"Well, here's the thing..."
I'd brought up the bed scandal amid the live nationwide broadcast.
Less than a day later, the Blue House pressured the Board of Audit and Inspection into launching a massive probe into the Defense Ministry.
I'd lit the fuse with a bright smile.
But I was stepping back from this whirlwind of madness.
Just quietly watching the upcoming formal bid for the Defense Ministry's new weapons development project.
'Young Master—no, Chairman. Someone's here looking for you at the crack of dawn.'
'...At 6 a.m.? Who the hell...?'
'That Im Gye-hyeon says come eat breakfast together—you'll know who. But none of your friends are named Im.'
How he knew I'd visited the main house, Chairman Im Gye-hyeon of SA Group sent for me right away.
In that moment, a vague instinctual feeling.
Less like starting something new, more like calling me to clean up what had already unfolded.
And that feeling became reality soon enough.
'Come in. Chairman Han. Up close, you look just like your late father-in-law.'
Chairman Im Gye-hyeon, seated in his wheelchair, looked up at me.
A memory from before my regression flashed—him relentlessly solidifying SA Group right up to his final days.
Now, the sunken eyes of the little giant before me brimmed with insight as deep as their hollows.
'A wise performance. I enjoyed the show. From my son and daughter-in-law to the minister and president. In the end, you, Chairman Han, took center stage.'
Clink. He picked up his silver spoon and began eating.
The little giant already knew everything. Or rather, he'd known it all along and simply watched.
'Luck favored me several times.'
'That's all your virtue. Capable subordinates, perfect timing—everything.'
Perhaps feeling queasy, he paused eating and downed some rice-wine rinse.
Eager to clear the air, he cut straight to the chase.
'Yoon Hak-gil and Ham Pung-deok seem to be handling their own messes... So now it's just my one daughter-in-law left?'
'I didn't intend it, but Vice Chairman Im Jae-ho seems to have taken a stray bullet.'
'I let him. A guy who won't learn through words needs to learn the hard way.'
Im Jae-ho and Seo Yun-ji.
His son and daughter-in-law had witnessed the crisis, yet he brushed it off.
After the meal, to get some air, Chairman Im Gye-hyeon came out to the garden with me and spoke.
'That Defense Ministry new weapons development project. You'll take it—you and Ammunition Group. Isn't that right?'
'You won't block the path?'
'SA Group has other priorities. And that's something we need to discuss, you and I.'
The little giant stared steadily into my eyes from his seat.
A spring breeze brushed my cheek, and I couldn't help but chuckle.
I instantly grasped what Chairman Im Gye-hyeon intended.
'Cheolhwa Group. Now without an owner.'
The curtain had fallen on the stage.
Surveying the empty audience and the lone set pieces, the one who'd only watched until now licked his chops.
'You should hear from the Blue House soon. We can hash out the details then.'