The Tiger with the Great Shadow
In the pale dawn of a snow-blanketed alleyway, Minhyuk staggered forward, his body drenched in blood. The snow fell silently around him as he trudged through the narrow passage.
“Haa… Haa… Hoo…”
Multiple gunshot wounds tore through his shoulder, side, thigh, and other parts of his body. Crimson blood poured from him, staining the pure white snow like red roses blooming across a blank canvas. He stumbled, his legs finally giving out beneath him.
“Ugh…!! Haa… Haa…”
Gasping for breath, Minhyuk lifted his head. White snowflakes drifted down onto his face. The snowflakes dancing across the night sky were almost cruelly beautiful—too beautiful to belong to the fate that might soon claim him.
Sejin-ah… Jaehyuk-ah… Dahyun-ah…
As he inwardly repeated the names of the family he had longed for all this time, a shadow fell over him. Was this the shadow of death people often spoke of?
Just before he lost consciousness, the owner of that shadow spoke to him.
“Excuse me, sir? Are you alright?”
It was Detective Min Taeseok, who had happened to be passing nearby.
“Sir? Can you hear my voice? Sir?”
Then Taeseok froze as he noticed the wounds covering Minhyuk’s entire body.
Wait… These are gunshot wounds? Not just one—there are several…!!
He quickly checked for a pulse by placing a finger beneath the unconscious man’s nose, then calmly called 119.
“I’ve found an unconscious person. The address here is…”
Soon after, paramedics arrived and hurriedly loaded the blood-soaked Minhyuk into the ambulance. A short while later, the ambulance reached the hospital. Taeseok explained the gunshot wounds to the doctor and reported what he had seen to his superiors.
“We’ve secured the patient and are currently running an ID check. We’ll begin questioning as soon as he regains consciousness.”
While still on the phone with his boss, Taeseok followed the doctor and nurses toward the bed where Minhyuk was supposed to be lying. But the bed was empty.
The doctor’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit as he turned to the nurse working nearby.
“What? Hey! Nurse Choi!! Where’s the patient who was just here??”
“I didn’t see anything. He was here just a moment ago…”
Taeseok asked the doctor, “Can we check the CCTV footage?”
“Yes. Let’s head to the control room.”
But when they reached the control room, this is what they heard.
> Footage unavailable during estimated time of disappearance.
> System experienced temporary outage.
> Recovery completed. No anomalies detected afterward.
“It went down?”
“Yes. The CCTV suddenly went offline for a short time… Strangely, it only happened during the exact window when the patient is believed to have vanished. It came back online later as if nothing had happened.”
“Huh… What kind of bizarre thing is this…”
The doctor muttered in disbelief. Taeseok bit his lip, a suspicious look crossing his face as he fell deep into thought.
Meanwhile, Minhyuk sat in a wheelchair being pushed by someone. He was loaded into a taxi. Seungkyu, who had been pulling the wheelchair, climbed in beside him, closed the door, and removed his cap.
“Team Leader. How’s your condition?”
“It’s fine. Thanks to some citizen who called 119, I received proper emergency treatment. I just need to get proper care back at headquarters.”
Minhyuk’s expression hardened as he asked, “More importantly, what’s the situation inside the company?”
“Fortunately, because I cut the connection early, no one knows the director you were trying to reach was Director Han Kichan. However, that call seems to have exposed your location. I recommend delaying further contact with Director Han until we’ve established a proper protection network.”
“Understood.”
“By the way, when are you supposed to meet Director Han Kichan again?”
“We agreed to meet separately when the time is right, avoiding their eyes. He said he’d reach out through his own people.”
Minhyuk leaned back against the seat, closed his eyes, and said to Seungkyu, “Wake me when we arrive. I need to rest my eyes for a bit.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
The taxi carrying Minhyuk and Seungkyu sped down the road, weaving through countless vehicles of every color and shape.
A few days later.
Jihun stepped out of the shower. At 187 centimeters tall with a solid, muscular build, broad shoulders, and six-pack abs, he toweled off his hair and slipped into the underwear that had been lying near the bathroom entrance.
Dressed only in his underwear, he entered the bedroom. On the bed, his girlfriend, Lee Suyeon, was still fast asleep. She must have gotten warm during the night—her pale legs were sticking out from under the blanket. Jihun smiled softly, thinking how adorable she looked, and leaned close to her ear.
“Suyeon-ah. Time to wake up. We need to get you home.”
“Mmm… Just five more minutes…”
“It’s already noon. You can sleep all you want at home.”
As he spoke, Jihun tried to yank the blanket off her, but Suyeon pulled it all the way over her head and rolled around before peeking out with just her eyes. She gave him a pleading, bashful smile.
“I want to sleep just a little longer.”
“Oh really?”
When Jihun laughed in disbelief, Suyeon quickly hid under the blanket again. That was when he noticed her small feet wiggling their toes outside the covers. A mischievous grin spread across his face as an idea came to him.
He gently tickled the center of her soft little sole with his finger. Suyeon flinched, curling her toes as she let out a tiny laugh.
“Pfft… Hehe…”
She quickly pulled both feet under the blanket, then poked her head out again with a pout.
“Ugh… That tickles…”
“If you don’t get up, I’ll tickle you more?”
Jihun wiggled the fingers of both hands threateningly. Only then did Suyeon throw off the blanket and sit up.
“Okay, okay. I’m getting up. I’m up, seriously… Why do both my brother and Jihun-oppa hate seeing me sleep in and bully me like this?”
Still grumbling, Suyeon—wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts—headed into the bathroom and closed the door. Jihun knocked gently and called out in a soft voice.
“Suyeon-ah. Are you mad?”
In response, she gave the bathroom door a hard thump. At the loud bang, Jihun chuckled, finding her sulking incredibly cute.
“Alright. I’ll buy you something delicious on the way home. Cheer up, okay?”
“……Then buy me a chocolate smoothie.”
“Sure. I’ll get it on the way.”
Their playful bickering made them look like a newlywed couple. Jihun couldn’t help but smile at the sweet atmosphere, as sugary as that chocolate smoothie.
A little while later, Jihun was driving Suyeon home. A chocolate smoothie rested in her hands. As he drove, his phone mounted on the dashboard began to ring. He pressed the call button to answer.
“Yes, Father.”
When Suyeon realized the caller was Jihun’s father, she tensed up without meaning to. During their trip, she had learned from Jihun that his father was the infamous boss of a criminal syndicate.
“I heard today is the last day of your trip. Is that right?”
“Ah, yes. I’m dropping Suyeon off and then heading home.”
“……Can you stop by the company for a bit after you drop off your girlfriend?”
Jihun’s face twisted slightly in displeasure as he asked, “To the company?”
“Yes. There’s something important I need to discuss with you.”
Is he going to pressure me to take over the family business again?
The thought made Jihun hesitate. He didn’t want to inherit his father’s criminal empire. After a brief silence, he answered.
“……Understood. I’ll see you soon.”
He ended the call. Suyeon asked him carefully, “Is your father… angry?”
“No, it’s not that. He probably just wants to talk about company matters.”
“Company matters?”
Jihun remained silent for a moment, his expression stiff. He realized it wasn’t the right time to tell her everything. Not wanting her to worry because of the heavy atmosphere, he softened his face a little and said, “I’ll explain it to you slowly later. It’s not that big of a deal, so don’t worry too much.”
“Okay… I understand.”
After dropping Suyeon off at her house, Jihun drove to the underground parking garage of Crown Holdings and parked his car. Once the engine was off, he gripped the steering wheel tightly, closed his eyes, and let out a deep sigh. He sat there motionless for a while, as if organizing complicated thoughts.
After a moment, he slowly opened his eyes, having apparently come to a decision. He got out of the car and headed for the elevator.
Inside the elevator, he pressed the button for the top floor. When he arrived, he stepped out and walked toward the chairman’s office. Standing in front of the door, he knocked slowly.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Kang Jihun.”
“Come in.”
Jihun opened the door and entered. The vast expanse of the chairman’s office spread out before him. The first thing he saw was his father, Jiyong, sitting at the desk wearing a black suit.
Kang Jiyong, the boss of Gangryonghoe and Jihun’s father, was well past fifty, yet his eyes still radiated the sharp charisma of a golden eagle. His massive frame rivaled that of most grown men, giving off an overwhelming pressure—like staring into the eyes of a wild beast.
“Have a seat.”
Jiyong spoke with the dignified tone one might use when addressing a subject granted an audience with the king. Jihun sat down on the sofa in front of him.
Once Jihun was seated, Jiyong asked, “What do you think is the reason I called you here?”
“……Is it to tell me to take over the company?”
“That’s right. Jihun, you are my only son, and you are the perfect person to inherit this company.”
“There are plenty of other people besides me.”
At Jihun’s reply, Jiyong countered by citing his close associates.
“Choi Kyungsoo of Crown Capital? He may have talent, but he lacks the ability to earn loyalty from his subordinates. Dongmin and your maternal uncle Taeyang are too hot-headed and would ruin everything. Junkyeong is too violent, which worries me. Seongjun isn’t bad, but to me, you, Jihun, are the best choice.”
“But I…”
“Are you going to say you don’t want to inherit the family business again?”
When Jihun didn’t answer, Jiyong asked him, “Jihun-ah. Do you know the fable of the fox’s shadow?”
Then Jiyong told him the story.
“There once was a fox. While walking along a path, it saw its own shadow. Looking at the large shadow walking beside it, the fox thought proudly, ‘Is my body really this big?’ At that moment, a tiger approached. When the tiger’s shadow covered the fox’s, the fox said to the tiger, ‘I will pass, so bow down and pay your respects.’ Because its own shadow was smaller than the tiger’s, it mistakenly believed the tiger was smaller than itself. So the fox, relying only on the size of its shadow, acted arrogantly and was eventually killed by the tiger. Do you know the moral of this story?”
“It means that even if you are strong, you shouldn’t show off your power and carelessly look down on others.”
Jiyong let out a small chuckle and stood up.
“Most people interpret it that way. But I see it differently. What if it wasn’t the fox, but the tiger who knew it had a large shadow and acted arrogantly? A tiger can do that, because it is stronger than most animals.”
Jiyong sat down in front of Jihun once more.
“In other words, the moral of this fable could also be that if you have nothing real to back yourself up, you shouldn’t recklessly challenge anyone. If someone else obtains this great shadow that is the chairmanship of Gangryonghoe, they will act arrogantly and end up like the fox—killed by other beasts. But you are different. You can become the tiger with the great shadow. Because you are my son. That is what this father believes.”
With those words, Jiyong gave Jihun a faint smile. Though it didn’t seem to contain genuine affection.
“Think about it carefully, Jihun. Rather than giving up the great shadow and handing it over to the foxes, I hope you become the tiger that bears it.”