Chapter 8 (Part 3)

Do-jin, who went to the company, started handling the backlog of work.

Since he naturally processes things faster than the average person, he swiftly dealt with two days’ worth of pending approvals and meetings.

Around 4 PM, having roughly finished his work, Do-jin pressed the keyphone to call Seok-young.

“Executive Director.”

“Secretary Yoo, are you busy?”

Seok-young quickly shook his head, thinking Do-jin was about to assign him another task.

“Please go ahead, Executive Director. While you were reviewing the approvals, I also checked all the necessary items.”

Do-jin smiled slightly, indicating his satisfaction, and got to the main point.

“What happened to Ms. Seo-hye’s phone?”

“It wasn’t found at the kidnapping scene, so it seems it was lost during the abduction process.”

“Okay. Then please deliver a new phone to her.”

Knowing the relationship between Do-jin and Seo-hye, Yoo Seok-young didn’t question it further and agreed immediately.

“And would you like to visit the Chairman?”

“……Pardon?”

Seok-young hesitated for a moment, looking reluctant to answer.

“Why, it’s part of your job as my secretary.”

“Of course. As your secretary, I’ll make sure to return safely.”

Why the word ‘safely’ was necessary when visiting the Chairman was unclear.

Do-jin gave a wry smile. It seemed Seok-young was still quite afraid of Eung-soo.

Silently reassuring Seok-young that the day wasn’t far off, Do-jin continued with his instructions.

“Go and ask when they plan to leave the engagement article about Hae-mi and me as it is.”

“Yes, Executive Director.”

“If they intend to leave it as is, tell them that Lee Hwa-woong orchestrated the kidnapping of the second granddaughter. Then bring back the Chairman’s response to me.”

After acknowledging, Seok-young turned towards the office door.

If Eung-soo insisted on being stubborn even after Lee Hwa-woong had gone as far as kidnapping and imprisoning his own family member…

Do-jin felt he no longer had any reason to show leniency to Eung-soo just because they were family.

Click-

As the door opened, Do-jin urgently called Seok-young back.

“Wait a moment, Secretary Yoo.”

“Yes, Executive Director. Is there anything else you would like me to convey?”

“When you meet Seo-hye, could you also pass on this message?”

Seok-young, not having heard clearly, approached to make eye contact with Do-jin.

When Do-jin spoke in a flat tone, Yoo Seok-young, who was listening attentively, opened his lips wide in surprise.

“What? You want me to say that?”

“It’s just conveying my words anyway. Is there a problem? And this too.”

Upon hearing the second message to be delivered, Seok-young coughed, looking even more bewildered.

Do-jin, unfazed, continued to relay the third message.

“Did you remember all my words?”

Seok-young hesitated to answer clearly, but when one of Do-jin’s eyebrows started to rise sharply, he replied affirmatively.

“Ah, yes… I remember. But… wow, Executive Director.”

Do-jin cut him off with a short laugh.

“As expected of you, Secretary Yoo. You may go now.”

After Secretary Yoo left, Do-jin regained the expression he had temporarily relaxed.

He opened the drawer and took out all the materials related to Lee Hwa-woong that Seok-young had previously delivered, placing them on the desk.

On top was the most recent material Seok-young had provided.

“Executive Director, here are the documents you requested regarding Lee Hwa-woong and his son’s car accident.”

“It’s quite late.”

“I’m sorry. The prosecutor who handled this case retired and moved to the countryside shortly after, so it took quite some time to find someone who remembered the case.”

He was determined to thoroughly uncover everything about Lee Hwa-woong and quickly scanned through the documents.

Midway, a flash of insight crossed Do-jin’s eyes.

There was something suspicious about the death of Lee Hwa-jun, Seo-hye’s biological father.

Do-jin paused from reviewing the documents and shifted his gaze to the PC monitor.

To defeat an opponent, you must know everything about them. Perhaps even the small habits that the opponent themselves might have forgotten.

Do-jin had looked into Hwa-woong during work hours and had come across an interview video from a famous youth education program called “Getting to Know Lee Hwa-woong.”

Among the list of questions, there seemed to be one about Hwa-woong’s hobbies.

The sound of Do-jin tapping on the keyboard heavily dominated the office.

Having quickly found the video, he played it from the part where Hwa-woong was asked about his hobbies.

《

• Lee Hwa-woong: My hometown is Pocheon. My parents ran a traditional liquor business there, so I also reached a level where I could make it with my eyes closed, and it naturally became my favorite hobby.

• Reporter: So are you saying you make traditional liquor at home using the skills your parents taught you?
• Lee Hwa-woong: Of course. But the manufacturing process is very demanding. So each time I make it, I have to put in a lot of effort. Still, I make it diligently to serve my family and guests. Haha. But in the end, I’m the only one who drinks it.
• Reporter: Homemade traditional liquor sounds much better than store-bought ones. Why do you think your family doesn’t drink it?
• Lee Hwa-woong: I have only one son, and he didn’t inherit any of my drinking genes. They say he’s congenitally deficient in alcohol dehydrogenase. But he keeps me company when making or drinking the liquor, so… Talking with my son is quite enjoyable. That’s why I stubbornly keep making it as a hobby, even if no one drinks it.

》

Do-jin pressed the stop button.

“…Right, he said the only son couldn’t drink alcohol.”

Muttering to himself and tapping the desk with his index finger, Do-jin fell into deeper suspicion.

Looking at the materials covering the traffic accident that day, the cause of the accident was not Lee Hwa-woong but Hwa-jun’s drunk driving.

A person who can’t drink was driving under the influence? With his father in the car?

Even if he had driven after drinking something that didn’t agree with him, there’s no explanation for why Hwa-woong would have willingly gotten into a car he was driving.

Moreover, a prosecutor who was doing well in the district attorney’s office suddenly retires and moves to the countryside after handling this case?

Doesn’t it resemble too closely the method of covering up crimes by those in power?

Do-jin’s eyes stared into space.

Perhaps Hwa-woong is even more inhuman than he thought.

***

Cheongun-dong house.

Hae-mi woke up late in the afternoon, biting her nails with a haggard face.

Unable to stand it any longer, she got out of bed and paced around the room like a mad person.

Since getting up in the morning, she had sent messages to her alumni chat room, but all were unanswered.

“Did that Park Hyun-ah say something strange to the others?”

Hae-mi screamed, pulling her hair wildly.

Then she bumped her hip against the corner of the desk, cursed, and shed a few tears.

But perhaps the pain woke her up completely.

If Hyun-ah spread her secret, she thought she could just sue for defamation.

Just as she felt a bit relieved, the door swung open.

It was Chae-seon.

“Hae-mi, you’re up—no, is something wrong?!”

Chae-seon ran over, grabbing Hae-mi’s arm and asking.

Hae-mi irritably shook off her hand.

“I hit the desk! Why!”

“Grandfather is in the living room.”

Chae-seon lightly patted Hae-mi’s back, telling her to lower her voice.

Grumbling, Hae-mi began to scratch her body, which had broken out in allergies.

“Oh, dear, oh dear. Seriously, you troublemaker. How long do I have to watch you drinking like this? Is it normal to keep drinking when you can’t handle alcohol? Huh? Didn’t I tell you to stop drinking so much!”

“Ah! More nagging! I don’t want to hear it! If you have time to nag, bring me some water! I need to take my medicine!”

Chae-seon hardened her expression at Hae-mi’s commanding tone but sighed and left the room.

A little later, Chae-seon returned with a tray holding a cup of water.

Hae-mi found the allergy medicine she had received in large quantities from Director Park, swallowed it, and drank the water.

Perhaps because the cold water went down, her agitated mind began to calm a little.

Only then did Hae-mi lower her voice slightly and ask.

“By the way, Mom, didn’t you go to work today?”

“Don’t you care about your Mom at all? There was a sports day today, so it ended early.”

Hae-mi nodded and then cursed at her phone, which still had no replies.

Startled, Chae-seon scolded Hae-mi, asking what was wrong.

“I don’t know! I’m hungry!”

“I thought you’d say that, so I made soup.”

“What kind of soup?”

“Bean sprout soup. I also bought sirloin because you kept whining about not having anything to eat. Come down, I’ll grill it for you now.”

“I don’t like it when the maid cooks. Hasn’t she ever eaten beef? She always grills it until it’s tough!”

“Phew, I’ll make it for you, so come down quickly.”

Hae-mi grinned, saying she’d come down soon.

Though she felt better knowing Chae-seon had bought food she liked, looking at her phone again, she felt absurdly down.

She threw her phone onto the bed and left the room.