The Oyang Group Families (4)
“Just who is young Taewoong’s grandfather?”
The evening family dinner had drawn to a close. Given the eyes that had been on them, the entire family had moved the meal to the Seongbuk-dong residence. Once it was over, the others returned to their own homes.
Eldest son Lee Seokpil quietly sought out Chairman Lee Dojung in the study and put the question to him. Even after marriage, Lee Seokpil still lived under the same roof as his father.
“Tsk, tsk.”
Rather than answer, Chairman Lee Dojung fixed his son with a look of pure exasperation.
“…….”
Who on earth is he?
No matter how hard he racked his brain, Lee Seokpil could not pin it down. His father clearly knew who Ha Taewoong’s grandfather was. He ran through conglomerate after conglomerate, yet no family connected. Of course, the surname Ha alone made certain people leap to mind—but this young man bore no relation to that house. The youngest of the Haeryun Group, the one who appeared in the papers, was a college student.
“You still haven’t figured out who Ha Taewoong really is?”
“No, sir…….”
“A young man named Ha. Raised with that kind of breeding—what sort of household do you suppose he comes from?”
“Father, you can’t be thinking of Chairman Ha Cheolgon? But their youngest grandson is in university. Ha Taewoong is absolutely not a direct descendant of Chairman Ha.”
Lee Seokpil kept a reasonable pulse on political circles. He was not so foolish as to believe things blindly.
“Is that so?”
“I even had the secretariat look into it, just in case.”
“Hmm…….”
Chairman Lee Dojung let out a short murmur and fell silent. Ha Taewoong had stood before him without a single rough edge, utterly composed.
No. I’m certain of it. That boy carries Ha Cheolgon’s blood.
Lee Dojung’s cold, precise instincts were convinced. There could be no dog of a son under a tiger of a father. The quiet charisma and iron self-control Ha Taewoong had let slip were pure Ha family lineage.
“There must be some hidden story behind it.”
“A hidden story?”
The Haeryun Group clan had long occupied a level of media control no one else could hope to match. The group itself ruthlessly sealed off any outside information about family members. Beyond the sons who currently held presidential-level posts, nothing about the grandchildren could be found on any portal. The only personal details that ever surfaced were for the eldest grandson who had already joined the company.
“Don’t dig too deep. When the time comes, you’ll know everything.”
Chairman Lee Dojung found himself quietly looking forward to further meetings with Ha Taewoong. He did not believe this was a one-time connection. An invisible principle only he could sense told him the encounter had been heaven-ordained. It brought back memories of the benefactors who had once given the group its first foothold for growth. The feeling was exactly like those natural currents of the past. There was no chance Ha Taewoong had approached him by design. This was fate shaped by coincidence—the inevitable born from the accidental.
His granddaughter, who never kept people close, had brought this friend. That they shared a class was surprising enough; the chance meeting at that rare golf-course pavilion was another. The odds of two or three such threads converging at a single point were vanishingly small.
“Understood.”
Lee Seokpil answered shortly to his father’s warning. Even if he himself left Ha Taewoong alone, his brothers would not stay idle. There was no need to sour his father’s mood here.
“That aside…… I hear you need guarantees to raise the PF funds for the apartment redevelopment project?”
Of his three sons, Chairman Lee Dojung generally threw his weight behind the eldest, Lee Seokpil—the one who ran Oyang Construction, the group’s prize asset. Government contracts remained the core, but lately they had also moved into apartment building. The trouble was that the PF market had been contracting of late.
“Once the units sell, there won’t be any problem. The high interest rates will even let the other affiliates turn a profit.”
The press was busy whipping up public opinion about a bubble. Yet in Korea there was still no better substitute for real-estate speculation. Win a bid from LH, put up a respectable apartment complex, and the pure profit alone exceeded thirty percent. The only real issue was the heavy initial outlay. Recently a few construction firms had overextended themselves and crashed; the shockwaves had indeed hit the PF market. But Oyang Group’s financial structure was rock-solid. If the affiliates simply guaranteed the PF funding, the project would proceed without a hitch.
“True enough. Land dealing is still the best game in town.”
Lee Dojung could never quite shake a lingering regret. There had been several chances in the past to expand the group’s scale—early investments in construction, mergers and acquisitions that could have bulked them up. Each time he had remembered the teachings of the previous generation and set his greed aside. Looking back now, those missed opportunities stung. There was no more time for hesitation or second thoughts.
“I’ll take that as permission and move forward.”
“Do so.”
“Thank you, sir!”
Lee Seokpil trusted his father deeply for placing such faith in him. Given the chairman’s age, the separation of affiliates was already being pushed ahead gradually. The company had to grow large enough that portions could be carved out for the younger brothers. No one would complain much—yet Lee Seokpil remained wary of the youngest, Lee Seokjong. For now it was only rumor, but word was circulating quietly that the youngest had his eye on the top seat. The boy had always been especially greedy. Lee Seokpil could only hope Chairman Lee Dojung stayed healthy until the affiliate spin-off was safely complete.
Beep.
I unlocked the door with a one-pass key. It had been a full, satisfying day. My first proper round on the course, and a meaningful one. I had held my head high. The fellow golfers who had designed the round to target Pro An Hyeonju had been thoroughly schooled. The chance encounter with Lee Hyoju’s family had been even more surprising. I had neatly put those ill-mannered cousins of hers in their place as well. Oyang Group would prove a great help going forward. Thanks to Lee Hyoju I had naturally made Chairman Lee Dojung’s acquaintance. I returned to my house having reaped a rich harvest.
“Oh!”
The moment I stepped into the entryway, a subtle, refreshing fragrance met me—mixed so naturally into the air that it felt as if it had always belonged.
“Clean.”
A soft blue doormat lay at the entrance. Indoor and outdoor slippers were lined up neatly.
I slid open the shoe cabinet.
“As expected—she has taste.”
Several pairs of dress shoes and sneakers had been arranged inside, varied enough to match jeans, training gear, or a suit.
I slipped on the indoor slippers and stepped into the living space. After dropping Pro An Hyeonju near her place, I had come straight back to the Signiel. Beyond the windows the Seoul nightscape unfurled like a panorama.
“They installed automatic curtains.”
Until I left that morning the living room had been empty of everything. Now a large six-person couch sofa sat in place. Slightly thick blue-toned blackout curtains and the modern sofa complemented each other perfectly. The overall tone of the apartment was light and lively.
“Wine too?”
The empty wine cellar had been stocked—champagne, reds, whites, the full range. Definitely someone with sense.
“……And the kitchen set is perfect.”
Kitchenware for a basic four-person household filled the cabinets—plates, mugs, pans, even the small cooking tools, every piece a luxury brand. Brand-name tableware I myself had never owned stood in rows. Compared with the rooftop-room life I once lived, it was pure luxury.
I walked toward the bedroom. The door stood half open.
“……!!”
Through the gap I saw a king-size bed, made up with light, cozy ivory bedding.
“Even the skincare…… Flawless.”
On a dressing table to one side, high-end men’s cosmetics stood in neat rows. I hadn’t arranged any of it myself, yet the result left me thoroughly pleased. In a mere half-day the entire place had been perfectly set. Yu Areum, the Hyeondo Department Store personal shopper, had staged the space so comfortably it felt as if I had always lived here. Her exceptional taste and eye earned silent applause.
Cost was no concern. Ten billion won was accumulating every single day.
Pop!
I took a bottle of champagne from the wine cellar and opened it. Sharp bubbles rose with a sweetly lingering fragrance. I filled a glass and stood by the window.
The never-sleeping city of Seoul looked different tonight. With room to breathe, the city at night became more beautiful than by day—the hour when every human desire opened its eyes. Amid that glittering nightscape the Haeryun Group headquarters stood out with particular clarity.
“Grandfather. I hope you’ve been well today as well.”
At this very moment, not a soul in the Ha family could imagine it: I was here, looking down on them from above.
“I met the chairman of Oyang Group today. Look forward to it. It’s a rather fine connection—one that will make you grab the back of your neck.”
The bond forged today was by no means light. From Chairman Lee Dojung I had seen a pure golden aura—clear and bright, a stark contrast to the heavy gray that clung to his third son. The eldest son and Lee Hyoju’s father, the second, were not bad either. The meeting had not been planned, yet the destinies of the season had to be ridden with the proper rhythm. Drawing on my years of social experience, I had deployed my full entertainment skills. How deep a connection became depended entirely on me.
I had begun equipping those skills back in the military. Special-forces units rarely kept ordinary enlisted men; officers and non-coms formed the teams. A private like me was one of only one or two. Dealing with them had required hundred-level social radar—skills I then carried into corporate life. To keep a project alive I had poured my soul into it, even once securing the birthday gift a professor’s son had wanted just to win the man’s cooperation. All those hard-won entertainment skills had shone on the course today.
“Doa Ilbo…….”
Doa Ilbo, bound by blood to Oyang Group. The power of a century-old central daily could never be ignored—especially since it also owned a comprehensive cable channel. When the real battle with Haeryun Group eventually came, it would prove invaluable.
“One step a day…… I’ll keep drawing closer to you, Grandfather.”
The faces of the Ha family, burned into my young eyes and never erased—the people who had driven our three-member household into misery and, in the end, killed my father.
I swallowed. The champagne was cold.
A toast to the future……
I drained the glass in one shot.