Chapter 5.4

After holding Hanju’s hand and leaving, she returned alone to the director’s office, where the child was crying sorrowfully.  

Hyeran sat across from her and spoke calmly.  

「Bora, why are you crying? Are you upset? Do you regret not standing up first?」  

She still remembered the small, frail child, sobbing so hard her cheeks were blotchy, yet shaking her head.  

「No, I’m just very sad. I’m sad to part with Hanju, and I’m also sad that I don’t have a mother.」  

That day, Hyeran gave the crying child a clear answer.  

「This will be the last second chance I give you. I’ll make sure you don’t have to part with Hanju. This time, hold my hand tightly. Don’t forget—if you take it, you must never let go.」  

At first, she confined Moonkyeong in a large fish tank to tame her. The tank was filled with abundant aquatic plants and overflowing gravel. Clean water and fresh air were bonuses.  

Over time, she gradually reduced the size of the tank. Each time Moonkyeong tried to escape, she clipped her tail and gripped her gills, leaving only a small space where she could barely breathe.  

Hyeran had smiled with satisfaction as she watched Moonkyeong’s earnest eyes pleading for her friend Hanju’s sponsorship.  

But now, it was time to cut ties. Once Moonkyeong became part of Leehan Group, Bora would become nothing but a burden.  

Hyeran snatched the employee ID badge hanging around Bora’s neck.  

“You seem to have been promoted. So, how’s this new company? Bearable? This is another place Moonkyeong worked hard to arrange for you, isn’t it?”  

“……”  

Hyeran took an envelope filled with cash from the master bedroom and handed it to Bora.  

“Don’t come to me anymore. This is the end for you.”  

“What?”  

Bora tilted her head, unable to immediately grasp the meaning of Hyeran’s words.  

“What do you mean—”  

“My daughter will not die.”  

“……”  

“Do you know what kind of child Moonkyeong is? Even if you cut off her tail and block her fins, she’s the kind of child who cries out that she wants to live.”  

At that moment, Bora realized Hyeran had seen through her lies. Yet, she defiantly raised her eyes.  

“No, Professor, you don’t know Moonkyeong at all. You don’t know how wicked she really is.”  

Hyeran slapped Bora across the face. She barely restrained herself from grabbing Bora by the hair and shoving her head into the toilet.  

How dare she spew such nonsense?  

Hyeran shouted.  

“If you interfere with my daughter’s wedding, I won’t let you go. Stay away from Moonkyeong.”  

Tears streaked Bora’s face as she lifted her head. The humiliation and shame she felt every time she came to Seongbuk-dong grew worse by the day.  

Though trembling with rage, Bora refused to back down.  

“Well, Moonkyeong doesn’t have any friends except me. Are you going to take that away from her too?”  

Hyeran scoffed.  

“Sending pictures of luxury bags every now and then—is that what you call friendship?”  

“And not letting her choose a single cosmetic product for herself—is that what you call being a mother?”  

“Get out. Don’t ever set foot in Seongbuk-dong again.”  

Glaring at Hyeran’s eyes, which looked at her as if she were a bug to be squashed, Bora stormed out.  

She wanted to sit on the ground and cry out loud, but now was not the time.  

Bora quickly revised her plan.  

* * *  

The day after the engagement ceremony, Seojun was in Daegu with Chairman Kim Seokyeong, visiting the factory where he was born.  

That morning, he had also attended the group’s semi-annual meeting.  

Despite his failing health, Kim Seokyeong never missed the meeting. During today’s meeting, he officially announced Seojun’s succession training.  

The rumors about Kim Seokyeong’s hidden son, Kim Seojun, were finally confirmed.  

After the meeting, the group’s legal advisor, Do Heeho, and Leehan Electronics CEO, Yoo Chajun, rushed to oppose the decision, but Kim Seokyeong silenced them with his cane in the hallway.  

「Then who else is there! Are you going to do it? Or do you want to? When everyone out there is trying to crush Leehan, who else but Seojun will stand in the way after I’m gone? He’ll rise to the top and look down on them all. That’s what makes him my son. Only someone with that kind of ambition can be called the son of Kim Seokyeong! Leave him alone. Seojun is my blood.」  

「Chairman—」  

「I said shut up! If you mess around, you’ll have nothing left after I’m gone.」  

「……Chairman.」  

「Don’t follow me! I’m going to the Daegu factory with Seojun alone! Now get out of my sight!」

Kim Seokyeong, who had been told by the doctor that he did not have much time left to live, regretted his past.  

Though he had grown the company inherited from his father to its current size, all but Seouk and Seojun, the children he could pass it on to, had died.  

Not one, but three of his children had been unfilial enough to leave this world before their parents.  

When he belatedly learned of what Shin Jueun had done, he had been furious, but he also secretly hoped that Seojun, this boy, would ward off the family’s misfortune.  

Even though he knew the cold treatment young Seojun must have endured in a family where he had no allies, he had turned a blind eye.  

When he sent him off to Russia, it was because he simply couldn’t stand the sight of him, and because there was something unsettling about his face every time he looked at it.  

The way he wore an expression as if he had lived through everything in the world, or the way his empty, black pupils stared back at him, always made him uncomfortable.  

It was only when he realized that in life, those who had much and those who had little were ultimately no different, that Kim Seokyeong flew to Moscow himself to bring Seojun back.  

Of course, the information that he was close to Assembly Member Jeon Taepyeong had played a part, but in hindsight, it was also true that he could finally see the Seojun who had been alone all those years.  

Observing the bustling activity at the factory, he raised his eyes to look at Seojun.  

Though his back was hunched, the intensity in his eyes remained sharp, and his voice carried a metallic edge, undoubtedly due to his lungs, damaged from years of heavy smoking.  

He raised a finger.  

“Seojun, be honest. Have you become close with Jeon Taepyeong?”

Kim Seokyeong had already heard from the Chief Secretary that Jeon Taepyeong, who had gone to Russia for an international event, had been greatly helped by Seojun, and that in return, he had promised to support Seojun for life.  

But the sharp eyes of the seventy-something-year-old man saw beyond that. It made no sense that such a strong bond had been maintained based solely on that.  

Seojun lowered his head slightly before the Chairman, who had seen through his relationship with Assembly Member Jeon.  

“You’re right, Chairman.”  

“Is that so? That’s what I thought. Once I’m gone, Leehan will become a battlefield, but at least you’ll have someone to protect you.”  

“……”  

“Do well. If they come after you, you’ll have to drive them out. There’s no other way. If you want to stand at the top, you’ll have to abandon everything—family, friends, all of it. Even if you’re lonely, you’ll have to endure it. That’s the only way.”  

With his aged, weakened hand, he patted Seojun on the shoulder a couple of times.  

After returning from the Daegu factory, Seojun spent a significant amount of time in his office. There were still about two hours left until his dinner appointment with Moonkyeong.  

Immersed in work, he scratched near his forehead. He hadn’t anticipated that Shin Jueun would assign Lee Heejin to Kim Seouk.  

Knowing the relationship between Seo Moonkyeong and Lee Heejin, he frowned slightly. 

Of all people, why Lee Heejin? 

Still, wasn’t it a relief? If left unchecked, it wouldn’t have been Lee Heejin, but Seo Moonkyeong in that position.  

Kim Seouk and Seo Moonkyeong—it was unthinkable.  

He had thought he would live his whole life without ever getting married. In any case, the things that annoyed and irritated him were the same then and now.  

He parked his car in front of Moonkyeong’s ballet company building, just in time for their appointment. Secretary Yoon, who handled everything from driving to administrative tasks, handed him a call from Director Nam Leehyun.  

“Director Nam is asking about Seo Moonkyeong’s wedding dress.”  

“Give me the phone. I’ll take the call.”  

He intended to commission her wedding dress directly from a famous overseas designer.  

The most expensive, the most elegant, and the most dazzling dress that would suit Seo Moonkyeong perfectly.  

He rolled down the window and, while speaking with Nam Leehyun, watched Moonkyeong approach from afar.  

Perhaps due to the sudden downpour earlier in the afternoon, she encountered a small puddle on the roadside and lightly hopped over it.  

He must have smiled unconsciously, as Nam Leehyun’s voice lowered on the other end of the call.  

– Why are you suddenly laughing?  

“It’s nothing. I’ll call you back later.”  

Returning the phone to Secretary Yoon, he closed the open window. Outside, Secretary Yoon bowed toward Moonkyeong as she approached.  

Secretary Yoon opened the door to the back seat where Seojun was seated, and soon, Seo Moonkyeong, as elegant and enchanting as a flower blooming in winter, joined him.  

Her scent was so intoxicating that Seojun held his breath for a moment.