Late Instruction
“Didn’t you say Chairman Choi had spoiled his children rotten?”
“Most things were quietly smoothed over.”
Director Park continued to pull up one past incident after another.
“There was a case where, because of Choi Jeong-san’s bad judgment, confidential information leaked to a rival telecom company……”
“Isn’t that grounds for disciplinary action?”
“Choi Jeong-san did try to excuse it by saying it had been done by someone on the development team, but the chairman knew exactly how things stood. Still, because it was his own son, he let it go.”
If he had been shielding his child, the story was at least understandable.
“Anything else?”
“Yes. There was also a time he secretly took Chairman Choi’s car, drove drunk, crossed the center line, and rolled the vehicle over, killing the driver in the oncoming lane. At the time, the chairman said that a man sometimes had to drink and drive to get through social life.”
“What the hell. He just brushed that off with a few words?”
But there was no way to understand a man who let a death pass with the same shrug.
“There are countless other accidents Choi Jeong-san caused. But Chairman Choi simply handed the cleanup of his eldest son’s messes to the strategy office and told Choi Jeong-san not to do it again.”
“A saint, huh.”
“But when it came to women, that was like touching Chairman Choi’s reverse scale.”
“...Sounds like there’s a reason for that.”
James guessed there had to be some story he didn’t know, and the guess was right.
“Yes. Chairman Choi himself suffered a bit because of that in the previous generation.”
Director Park could trace the matter back to the chairman’s own parents. Chairman Choi’s father had an affair and taken a second wife, and the chairman’s mother fell ill from the strain of it, growing weaker and weaker until she died. It had shocked the chairman’s life to its core.
“...Because of that, the chairman became extremely sensitive about women, and he punished his son severely whenever those problems came up. Of course, because it was his own child, he gave him several chances. But every time, this matter blew up in a big way.”
“But this time it wasn’t about women, was it?”
“It didn’t quite touch the chairman’s reverse scale, but it was a matter that involved the company’s very survival. It was not the sort of mistake the chairman would ever forgive. On top of that, he didn’t even ask for forgiveness and instead kept pressing his buttons, so there’s no way he’ll get away unscathed.”
That day, James had revealed that he was a child Choi Jeong-san had fathered through another woman.
“...Then let’s say Choi Jeong-san got beaten half to death by Chairman Choi and is under house arrest at the family home.”
“Yes.”
That was a prediction with a very high chance of being right.
“And then, today, he heard for the first time that he has a grown grandson.”
“...He would have, yes.”
That was already something they had planned to reveal today, so Director Park nodded in agreement.
“And then he finds out that, to keep that fact hidden from the chairman, he killed the woman who gave birth to the child, and even planned to kill the illegitimate son as well?”
“......”
“Would Chairman Choi just sit still if the illegitimate son, me, took over the company today?”
Director Park could guess what would happen next, too.
“Even if Choi Jeong-san were beaten so badly he could barely breathe, Chairman Choi would probably pick up the stick again.”
“Wouldn’t he get beaten to death by the chairman before you even got to handle him? Then you wouldn’t get the rest of your payment.”
To Director Park, this was a matter worth ten billion won.
“...Would he really go that far? No matter how worthless he is, he’s still my son.”
“Turn the car around. Let’s go to the family home first. We’ll figure out the rest there.”
“Yes, sir.”
The vehicle that had been heading toward the officetel where Choi Jeong-san was likely hiding changed direction for Chairman Choi’s house.
Vwoooom.
* * *
As soon as Chairman Choi Tae-yeong returned to the family home after the shareholders’ meeting, he asked,
“What the hell is that bastard doing now?”
“...Doctor Kim and the other physicians visited him. They said the leg cast can come off in four weeks.”
In fact, Choi Jeong-san had been staying here ever since the day Director Park brought him back to the family home. He had indeed been beaten so badly by Chairman Choi that he should have been hospitalized, just as James and Director Park had predicted, but the chairman’s personal doctor had visited in person and treated him. That was why he had not shown his face outside.
“So he’s healed up, then?”
“......”
The words about removing the cast in four weeks did not mean he was fully healed yet, but there was no way he could disagree with the chairman.
“...Yes. I think he’s almost recovered.”
“Everyone get out. Looks like I’m going to have to see that bastard again today.”
“Chairman......”
“Didn’t you hear me? Empty the house!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Chairman Choi took up the stick he had used before and headed for the second floor.
‘What? He killed the woman who even gave him a child?’
Today, after hearing that from James, Chairman Choi felt as though his blood had turned to fire.
‘And he even planned to kill the son who came all the way to Korea to see his own father?’
The sheer wickedness of a son who had even set his mind on wiping out his own blood made his teeth ache with rage.
‘You’ve lived that way, so of course things turned into this mess!’
Because of that, Chairman Choi had to hand over the company he had built all his life. Choi Jeong-san was the source of every one of these disasters.
“You’re the one who turned this into all of this.”
Bang.
With a murderous expression, he pushed into the room, but Choi Jeong-san, drugged by painkillers, was fast asleep.
“......”
Chairman Choi quietly set the stick beside the bed and shook the sleeping Choi Jeong-san awake.
“Jeong-san......”
“Ugh. Huh! Father!”
Choi Jeong-san could only see his father with his right eye. His appearance was ghastly. His left eye was so swollen he could not open it, and bruises the color of green rot still stained the other. One leg was in a cast and suspended from the ceiling by a strap. Anyone seeing him would have thought he’d been in a traffic accident.
“The shareholders’ meeting ended today.”
“What about the company......”
“Hoo. We even reached out to the National Pension Service and Jeong-pil’s in-laws, but in the end the company was taken over.”
“Huh!”
The shocking news drained all the blood from Choi Jeong-san’s head.
‘I might die today......’
It felt as though his father’s fury could burst out at any moment.
“I-I’ll fix it!”
“How?”
“If the overseas faction has gathered, then we can scatter them again. If we draw only some of them to our side......”
The overseas faction had already been swallowed up by James, the man who claimed to be his own grandson.
“Enough. I came because I had something to ask you, so from now on answer me truthfully.”
“......”
Choi Jeong-san nodded, unnerved by Chairman Choi Tae-yeong’s strange calm, since it was nothing like the outburst he had expected.
“S-speak.”
“Have you ever heard the name James Kane?”
“!!”
Choi Jeong-san was shocked, wondering how his father could possibly know that name.
“...Judging by your reaction, you do know him.”
“F-father. That bastard is......”
“Is he really your son?”
“......”
Concluding that his father already knew everything, Choi Jeong-san gave a tiny nod.
“Ha! So everything that bastard said was true.”
There was no need for a separate DNA test. James looked too much like his father’s side of the family to begin with.
“I-I don’t know what you heard, but that bastard is nothing more than an illegitimate child who doesn’t even know who his mother is. And the company’s in crisis, so I don’t have time to worry about him.”
“......”
Chairman Choi already knew that the son standing before him was the one who had ordered the murder of the daughter-in-law he had never even seen. He also knew this was the same son who, after pushing away the grandson who had come from America to Korea looking for his father, had even planned to kill him.
“You don’t even know his mother? Then why did you interfere to keep him from finding his parents?”
“T-that was......”
To explain that, he would have to admit everything, from sending the boy to the orphanage to the events of recent days. In the end, he would have to reveal that he was James’s real biological father.
‘How much does Father know?’
Choi Jeong-san, still studying the face of a chairman who had not yet exploded in anger, convinced himself that the information was incomplete.
“Don’t believe everything that bastard says. He didn’t even know who his parents were to begin with, and even if he did, he only came here because he thought he might get something out of TY Telecom......”
“Son. Today our TY Group was taken by that boy’s hand.”
“What?”
“Your son James Kane. Choi Ji-min has become the majority shareholder of TY Telecom. Since TY Telecom was the holding company of our group, he’s swallowed TY Chemical whole as well.”
Chairman Choi heard James’s words echoing in his mind again.
I have rightfully seized royal authority. Do you understand?
Yes. You seized royal authority. You were right.
“Uh. Uh. Uh.”
It was a fresh piece of news Choi Jeong-san could not possibly process.
“You raised him splendidly, whoever did it. When I think of that grandson going to an orphanage and surviving alone without parents, this old man feels as though his heart is being torn to shreds. How lonely and hard it must have been.”
Chairman Choi picked up the stick he had set on the floor.
Swish.
“I thought my son ought to feel that same pain, so I came here like this.”
“F-father. I don’t know what you mean......”
“You’ll understand once you’ve been hit.”
Whirr. Thud.
“Agh!”
Because Chairman Choi brought the stick down onto the quilt, the impact was softened, but it still struck a very bad place. The leg that had been in a cast broke again.
Crack.
“Aaah! My, my leg! My leg!”
“You tried to hide this from me and even planned to kill the grown child who was born?”
“Hahh!”
He had never imagined his father knew that much. Only he and Director Park Jin-tae knew about it.
“That bastard Park......!”
Through Choi Jeong-san’s words, Chairman Choi could confirm that his suspicion had been right.
Then the killing of that boy’s mother before this too......?
It was something else he would confess once he had been beaten senseless.
Thud.
“Ugh.”
“And you already killed and got rid of the daughter-in-law whose face you never even saw?”
“!!”
There was no answer, but Choi Jeong-san’s stunned expression was answer enough.
“...So this is true as well.”
“N-no, Father. It was all Director Park’s scheme......”
“Did I ever say it was Director Park who told me? I heard it from that James boy, so why are you saying Director Park schemed it?”
“Ah......”
In the end, he had confessed with his own mouth.
“Shut up and take the beating. Today, you die and I die with you.”
Smack!
“Kyaaaah!”
Choi Jeong-san raised his hand to block the stick flying toward his face, and this time his arm broke.
“If you block it, you’ll only suffer more.”
“Father, please spare me! My arm is broken!!”
“A few broken bones won’t kill you. I’ve already called Doctor Kim. He’s good at setting broken bones back where they belong.”
Thud.
“Aaagh!”
“Your precious son can let the ST Group granddaughter-in-law be seen by the family, and you’re the one who has to make divorce news spread? I’ve got no face left to show the in-laws, you bastard!!”
“There wasn’t even any talk yet that James would marry that girl......”
“So you knew that too? You knew everything and hid it all from me, is that it!”
“!!”
Every time Choi Jeong-san opened his mouth, he spilled the truth.
Smack!
“Aaaagh!”
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