Chapter 249

Seol Hyoseok and Kim Seongu met right after I asked the guards about the eyewitness back then. Kim Seongu got a call during rounds and canceled all his outpatient appointments, while Sanggil called me while tailing Kim Seongu's car. Putting these facts together and roughly calculating the timeline, Kim Seongu must have gotten the call from Seol Hyoseok about 30 minutes after the guards split from me.

In other words, Seol Hyoseok, having received a report from the guards about my meeting with them, summoned Kim Seongu. The reason was obvious. He was anxious. He thought no one knew about the eyewitness, but I seemed to know something. He'd probably grill Kim Seongu on what happened and discuss their next moves.

"...Seol Hyoseok did this to kill his own brother?"

That was the best conclusion I could draw right now. And once I reached it, all the puzzle pieces fell into place.

Seol Hyoseok conspired with Kim Seongu to kill Seol Hyeongseok. So Kim Seongu planned to inject him with cephalosporin to trigger anaphylactic shock. But if he admitted to such a mistake himself, it'd cause problems, so they decided to pin it on someone else—their target: Dongjin, Kim Seongu's rival.

'Then the eyewitness must be Seol Hyoseok too.'

Among the people who visited Seol Hyeongseok that day, the Seol Hyoseok couple had stopped by. If I pegged Seol Hyoseok as the eyewitness, everything ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fit naturally.

Let's assume that's how it went. Seol Hyoseok and Kim Seongu set a date in advance. That day, Seol Hyoseok visited Seol Hyeongseok. After their talk, Seol Hyeongseok fell asleep, and Seol Hyoseok hid in the room's bathroom. Around 11:30, Go Sojeong and Dongjin entered. Dongjin ordered moxifloxacin, and Go Sojeong acknowledged it. Dongjin left after giving the order, and Seol Hyoseok emerged from the bathroom. Go Sojeong injected Seol Hyeongseok with cephalosporin right in front of him, and they reconfirmed she'd claim it was per Dongjin's order.

This explained how Seol Hyoseok could have overheard the two in the room at that time.

'What was Seol Hyoseok's usual relationship with Seol Hyeongseok like?'

I'd concluded Seol Hyoseok was the culprit, but I needed his motive. Plus, without solid evidence yet, I couldn't rule out the chance he wasn't.

I pondered for a moment, then called Bae Siljang.

...Not picking up? I'd called Bae Siljang several times before, and no matter the hour, he'd always answer before three rings. Was he busy tracking down who the guards had met?

'No...'

[...Um, before that, let me ask one thing. Do you think the person who instructed the guards to lie was the eyewitness in that room?]

Bae Siljang's voice from our last call suddenly came to mind. I'd been too rushed then to dwell on it, but looking back now, there were suspicious elements.

I thought we'd covered everything back at headquarters. Yet about an hour later, he called me to ask if I thought the person who gave orders ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to the guards was the eyewitness. His tone hadn't betrayed any particular emotion, so maybe he'd replayed our conversation after we parted and a question arose. But an hour was plenty of time to check the guards' movements from yesterday.

Maybe he'd learned the person they met was none other than Seol Hyoseok and called to confirm with me one more time. He was an insider at Hanyeong Group and had insisted the culprit must be exposed—[truth] had appeared then. But even he probably hadn't suspected that insider was Chairman Seol's eldest son.

"But if Bae Siljang won't cooperate..."

I'd figured out who the culprit was, but to fully clear Dongjin, I needed hard evidence. And there were three kinds that could serve as that:

Proof Dongjin never ordered cephalosporin.

Proof Kim Seongu instructed Go Sojeong to inject it.

Proof Seol Hyoseok conspired with Kim Seongu.

Crucially, I couldn't ask Seol Hyoseok outright right now, "You were in that room back then, right?" If he admitted he was the eyewitness but claimed he'd heard Dongjin order the cephalosporin himself, it'd make things even worse.

"...Bae Siljang."

Bae Siljang wasn't a fool; even if he'd learned Seol Hyoseok was behind bribing the guards, he wouldn't think I'd ask such a question. But what if Bae Siljang was Seol Hyoseok's man?

"..."

I called Bae Siljang again, but he still didn't pick up. It seemed he was deliberately avoiding me.

In that case, I had to force him to contact me. Whether Bae Siljang was Seol Hyoseok's, Seol Hyeongseok's, Chairman Seol's alone, or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠none of the above—there was a way to make him reach out.

I kept it vague on purpose—who the eyewitness was, who bribed the guards, or who orchestrated the whole incident? Let him wonder.

If he was Seol Hyoseok's man, anxiety would make him call. If Seol Hyeongseok's or Chairman Seol's, curiosity about my new discovery would prompt it.

After sending the text, I called Lee Se-hwa. To probe him before Bae Siljang got back to me. I needed to pin down his stance to decide how to handle Bae Siljang.

-Cha Byun? What's up?

"Hello. Hope you've been well."

-I've been fine. How's work going?

"That's why I'm calling."

-Something not going smoothly?

Her instincts ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were razor-sharp. She wouldn't assume it was just a courtesy call.

"I have some questions. Is now a good time to talk?"

-Sure. What do you want to know?

"About Bae Siljang."

-Bae Siljang? Haven't you met him yet?

"I have. But I need to confirm some things about him."

-About Bae Siljang? I could ask straight-up whose side he was on, but with Lee Se-hwa's quick wits, she'd piece together the situation in seconds. It wasn't that she couldn't know, but the timing wasn't right yet. No evidence in hand.

"He seems to be dodging my calls now."

-Dodging you?

"I asked a bunch of questions to make sure I could trust him and proceed, but it looks like I offended him. Thinking about who benefits from Seol Hyeongseok Executive becoming a vegetable, my suspicions reached Bae Siljang too. I think I messed up."

-Classic Cha Byun mistake. But yeah, Bae Siljang has reason to be pissed. Accusing a victim of profiting? Of course he'd blow up.

"Victim?"

-Everyone knows. Before Seol Executive ended up like that, Hanyeong Group was likely going to him. Even with the glioblastoma diagnosis and high mortality, Chairman Seol planned to hand over prime subsidiaries. And Bae Siljang, loyal to the chairman through and through, naturally backed Seol Executive.

Lee Se-hwa's words sketched out Seol Hyoseok's motive. The most clichéd one: Seol Hyeongseok was set to inherit, so kill the brother and take Hanyeong.

"I see. Bae Siljang must have had promises from Seol Hyeongseok Executive too, so this leaves him in a real bind."

-Bind? Try devastated. He'd slaved behind the chairman his whole life, thinking he'd finally get a big subsidiary as reward—then bam, Seol Executive's condition hits. How furious would he be? You poking at his wounds like that? No wonder he doesn't want to talk. Haha.

"I made a big mistake. Should apologize."

If Lee Se-hwa was right, Bae Siljang was grinding his teeth at Seol Hyoseok. Or maybe agonizing in this power vacuum: stick with Seol Hyoseok now, or wait for Seol Hyeongseok to wake?

If he chose Seol Hyoseok, he might offer to bury the Seol Hyeongseok incident like a general defecting with his lord's head, in exchange for acceptance.

Best if he hated Seol Hyoseok, but even the latter bought time. He couldn't decide overnight. At least he wouldn't spill everything to Seol Hyoseok right now.

-Good luck.

Lee Se-hwa laughed like it was amusing and hung up. The moment the call ended, a new notification popped in my messages.

While talking to Lee Se-hwa, Bae Siljang had called twice. My vague text had hit his nerves just right.

And soon after, unable to hold out, another text from Bae Siljang arrived.