“Father, I think I should meet with Do-jun.”
“You?”
“Yes. I want to figure out what he’s up to and persuade him to give up early.”
Jin Young-ki scrutinized his son with a skeptical look.
“Don’t do anything unnecessary. There was an accident on the way to Gunsan. He might not have heard about it yet. You could end up giving him information.”
“That’s why I want to gauge his intentions. I heard Do-jun has already amassed a significant amount of money. He could live comfortably without working. He might not even be interested in the group, and it could just be Grandfather making a fuss over nothing.”
Jin Young-ki’s interest was piqued by the plausible argument.
“Young-jun might be right, Father,” chimed in Hong So-young, who had been quietly pouring tea. Although Jin Young-ki sometimes found his daughter-in-law’s interjections annoying, he let it slide when she occasionally made insightful comments.
Her unfamiliarity with the family dynamics was another reason he showed leniency.
“Why do you think that?”
“I heard he’s been carrying around a Miracle business card. If he wanted to learn about investments, he wouldn’t need a card. He could just watch the monitors in the office.”
Encouraged by her father-in-law’s interest, Hong So-young continued enthusiastically.
“I heard Oh Se-hyun takes him around like a secretary. He’s definitely learning about corporate M&A. He even went to law school because law is essential for M&A. Do-jun’s interest isn’t in the group.”
It sounded convincing, but the allure of the Sunyang name was too great to dismiss.
“Young-jun, do you really think you can persuade Do-jun to give up?”
“I talked to him around the time he graduated high school. I suggested that being the second-in-command of Sunyang Group might be better than inheriting a minor affiliate.”
“What? Second-in-command?”
“Yes. Do-jun is smart, isn’t he? He’d make a perfect advisor.”
“And what did he say?”
“He was too young to understand back then. But Father, the youngest ones usually prefer to live comfortably under the shade of a big tree rather than face challenges on their own.”
Though he found his son’s pretentious metaphors annoying, there was no harm in probing and possibly persuading Do-jun.
After all, isn’t he the most diligent and studious in the family? If he could be used as an advisor, it would be ideal.
“Alright. Meeting him might not be a bad idea. You can check on him after the accident, too.”
“Leave it to me.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. Just gauge his intentions.”
He reminded his impulsive son once more.
“Young-jun…”
As his father-in-law went upstairs, Hong So-young quickly turned to her husband.
“What?”
Jin Young-jun glared at his wife, silencing her.
“If you’re going to say something unnecessary, don’t. I can meet Do-jun on my own. Didn’t I tell you? Keep a low profile for a year. Even just now, why did you interrupt Father? So presumptuous!”
If she brought the tea, she should have quietly left. Instead, she sat on the sofa and meddled, which irritated him to no end.
Hong So-young bit her lip but didn’t respond. After all, her marriage conditions didn’t include a husband who listened to her.
“Hyung, what brings you to call me?”
“Come to the office. Let’s have dinner together.”
Why is Jin Young-jun suddenly reaching out?
Since returning from the honeymoon, the only interaction was visiting relatives.
Sure, my father might not know, but all the relatives understood the significance of the trip to Gunsan, so all eyes in the family are on me now.
What does Jin Young-jun want to find out from me?
I agreed to his suggestion of having a drink and catching up. I had something to tell him, too.
When I called from the Sunyang headquarters, Jin Young-jun came down in a private elevator. That elevator only operates above the 20th floor.
It’s where the group’s main office and the executive offices are located. Riding that elevator means he was with Vice Chairman Jin Young-ki.
Did he get some kind of briefing from his father?
“Do-jun!”
Jin Young-jun waved enthusiastically.
“Did you bring your car?”
“No, I took a taxi.”
“Stop being so frugal and enjoy life a bit, man.”
He gave me a friendly pat on the back and headed to the main entrance, where a few people were waiting to open the car door.
“Let’s go.”
The driver seemed to know the destination and smoothly drove off.
“Hyung, we’re not going to the villa, are we? It’s too far.”
“The villa’s for weekends. I have work tomorrow. We can’t go far.”
The car turned into a neighborhood filled with luxury villas in Nonhyeon-dong.
“Is there a restaurant here?”
“How can you eat in a crowded place? Let’s relax and eat comfortably today.”
A large iron gate blocking the villa opened swiftly as the security guard checked the car number, and the car glided inside.
“Where are we?”
As I looked around, he nudged my side.
“Where else? It’s a villa in the city.”
Following Jin Young-jun, I entered the villa. It was a duplex, with a high ceiling and a large floor area.
Do celebrities live here?
When I opened the seemingly ordinary front door, I couldn’t help but gasp in awe.
There was a small Japanese-style garden, a brick pond, and even a small fountain spraying water.
An indoor garden!
I had guessed it was spacious, but it was unusually large. Did they combine two units into one? Or three?
“Welcome. Shall we start preparing the meal?”
Two women in uniforms asked politely. Were they employees of Sunyang Group?
“Yes, bring it out quickly.”
I began to take in the lavish dining area.
In the center of the first floor was a large seating area, and one wall had a bar where you could drink alone. A bartender was already waiting.
And the kitchen.
Two chefs were busily preparing the meal. The doors visible on the second floor were likely bedrooms.
“Why are you looking around so much?”
“How big is this place? I’ve never seen such a large villa before.”
“I don’t know. It’s over 100 pyeong, maybe two units combined. I made it to have a place to eat alone, have a drink, and think about business. Does it look good?”
Good? Not at all!
Business planning, my foot.
The kitchen was like a high-end restaurant, and the bar was perfect for bringing women. The purpose was obvious.
In a secure luxury villa complex, it’s the perfect place to entertain women.
He probably bought this villa with company money, and the interior costs were likely expensed as company expenses, but he never thought of it as embezzlement.
It’s frustrating and infuriating to see the money earned by countless salaried workers working overtime being squandered like this.
I started eating dinner without showing my irritation.
“You’re newlyweds. Shouldn’t you be eating dinner prepared by your wife?”
“I haven’t seen your sister-in-law cook since we got married. Have you ever seen the daughters-in-law in our family cook?”
Jin Young-jun chuckled as he chewed on some grilled meat.
My mother still takes care of my eldest brother’s meals in the U.S., and she never missed preparing meals when she was in Korea. It’s just your messed-up family.
“True. The housekeepers take care of the meals. Haha.”
After exchanging some trivial jokes, we finished dinner, and the chefs began preparing snacks. Were they hired for the occasion, or were they regulars here?
“Let’s have a good drink for the first time in a while. I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t been able to take care of my younger siblings. Shall we start with some light cocktails?”
We moved to the spacious sofa instead of the bar.
The bartender carefully crafted cocktails, and the women in uniforms diligently served the drinks.
As we sipped a couple of cocktails, I casually asked about his recent activities.
“You’re in construction, right?”
“Yeah. I need to get out of the cement-smelling place, but it’s not easy.”
“Where do you want to go?”
“Of course, to Trading or Electronics. They’re the core of the group.”
“Come on, you’re the heir anyway, right? Once your training period is over, you’ll move there.”
When I subtly mentioned the heir, his eyes changed. His lips seemed to curl up slightly.
“The old man is living too long. Our father, who’s over fifty, still can’t drop the ‘Vice’ and is just a figurehead.”
“He’ll pass on the chairman title soon. He’s almost eighty, after all.”
As I fed him sweet words, he started drinking faster.
Yes, he needs to get drunk to reveal his true intentions.
“Oh, I almost forgot. Are you okay? Any aftereffects from the accident?”
He asks so quickly. As if he really cares.
“Yes, it wasn’t as serious as it seemed. Grandfather was more shocked because of his age, but I just had some bruises.”
“Thank goodness it was minor. I thought it was a big accident because you were in the hospital for so long.”
“The hospital made a fuss over nothing. And… you know, don’t you? Chief Lee Hak-jae. He put on a show to assert his presence in front of our family. He brought in staff to block access, moved us to Seoul like it was a secret mission, and controlled the media to keep the accident out of the news.”
“Keeping it out of the media was a good move. Imagine if the stock price dropped. It would have been chaos.”
Chief Lee Hak-jae is a rather uncomfortable figure in our family.
I spend more time alone with my grandfather than I do with my entire family combined.
He’s the one who knows all the secrets and the current state of the group better than anyone. With just a word from him, the people my uncles have painstakingly nurtured can be cut off in an instant.
Right now, I pretended to join in on criticizing Lee Hak-jae with them.
But contrary to my expectations, Jin Young-jun didn’t react much.
“By the way, how’s your grandfather doing? I heard the surgery went smoothly?”
“I haven’t seen him since he left the hospital. I was discharged right after that.”
“Really? Hmm…”
Jin Young-jun took a sip from his glass, glancing at me cautiously.
“So, why did you go to Gongju? Oh, is it okay to ask? Is it a secret between you and your grandfather?”
“Why? Do you have secrets with him too?”
I shot back casually, and he quickly waved his hands in denial.
“Me? No way. Grandpa doesn’t even like me.”
Is there something going on? Or did he just get a good scolding?
“Is it still like that these days?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since I got married. My dad told me to focus on work for a while. He said Grandpa might reevaluate me.”
He trailed off, then asked again.
“Anyway, what’s up with Gongju? It’s so random.”
“I don’t know. He suddenly called me and said we should go to Gunsan. He said it’s where the Sunyang Group started…”
“The old rice warehouse, right?”
“Yeah. I guess as he gets older, he’s getting nostalgic.”
“Nothing else special happened?”
This guy must be dying to know if I’ve been named the successor.
“Does there have to be something special? Is Gunsan some kind of special place?”
“No, just asking.”
The way he kept probing made it clear he knew the hidden significance of the Gunsan rice warehouse.
We both pretended not to know what the other was thinking, and a brief silence fell between us.