Five-Day Funeral, Part 1
Despite the surprising revelations about my grandmother, Executive Director Woo Byung-jun remains unfazed.
“This won’t be easy,” he says.
It’s the first time he’s shown such a negative reaction since he started working for me. Is it really that difficult, or is it the fact that it’s about my grandmother that’s weighing on him?
“Is it the task that’s difficult, or the subject?” I ask.
“It’s not about the subject. It’s the art transactions that are hard to track.”
I can’t help but smile at the thought that Woo Byung-jun is human after all.
“This isn’t an exaggeration,” he insists, misinterpreting my smile as skepticism.
“To accurately track high-value art transactions, you can’t just rely on documents. There are many secret deals, often involving cash only.”
“Are you suggesting we need to investigate people?” I inquire.
“Yes. To understand the transactions, we need to get information from those involved, which is why it’s challenging.”
“Getting people to talk usually involves money or force,” I say, noting his surprise. He probably didn’t expect me to know the answer.
For me, it was the opposite. My job was to ensure people stayed silent through money and intimidation—pregnant women, assaulted men, hit-and-run accidents, drugs, and so on. I locked their lips and paid off investigators. I sent expensive gifts to nosy journalists to silence their loudspeakers.
Getting people to talk or stay silent is essentially the same task.
“You know your stuff,” he acknowledges.
“You said you don’t use violence, right?”
“Correct. Instead, I hire people who do. And they need to be easily disposable.”
“So, the difficulty lies in finding someone who can use violence effectively and be easily cut loose?”
“Exactly. They need to be smart, too. A fool will only give you the wrong answers to the wrong questions. Plus, the other side has their own muscle. If things get physical, we have to clean up the mess.”
His explanation is unusually long-winded. Normally, Woo Byung-jun would simply say, “Understood, but it will take some time.”
Could it be?
“You already know something, don’t you?” I ask, intrigued by his uncharacteristic display of emotion. When flustered, he blinks rapidly.
“I momentarily forgot how perceptive you are,” he admits.
I decide not to press him further.
“I won’t ask for details, but this needs to be done, no matter how difficult.”
His blinking stops.
“Understood. I’ll get started right away.”
“I’ll provide the necessary funds. I’ll leave ten billion won at my office today. Pick it up.”
“Understood, sir.”
After Woo Byung-jun leaves, I head to my grandfather’s house, where the funeral is being held.
When Chairman Jin’s three sons entered the now-ownerless study, they all frowned simultaneously. Their mother was already seated there, even before their father’s scent had faded.
They wanted to say something, but it wasn’t appropriate to raise their voices in a mourning house, so they held their tongues.
“When did you arrive without notifying us?” one of them asked.
“About a week ago.”
“You could have at least answered your phone…”
Jin Sang-gi grumbled, but she silenced him.
“Let’s not dwell on the past… What have you been doing all this time?” Her gaze fixed on the eldest son.
“What do you mean?” Jin Young-gi asked, irritated by her reproach.
“Why is that impudent brat still lingering around the company?”
They all knew she was referring to Jin Do-jun.
“Is it really that hard to get rid of him from the group?”
“Mother, we’ll handle the group affairs. You don’t need to worry yourself and lose your strength over it.”
Despite being over eighty, their mother was still vigorous, but her children, nearing sixty, didn’t appreciate her interference and nagging.
“Useless fools!” Mrs. Lee Pil-ok snapped, reading the dissatisfaction and irritation on her sons’ faces.
“That brat is slowly eating away at your father’s legacy, and you think you can handle it? You’re just sitting around, fighting over who gets to be chairman.”
“Mother, we’ve already made plans, and once the funeral is over, we’ll proceed. Do-jun won’t be able to set foot in the group. Leave it to us.”
Jin Dong-gi wanted to escape the room as soon as possible. The chaos outside with the funeral preparations was overwhelming, and he was frustrated with his mother’s lack of concern for their father’s funeral.
“Brother, what are you talking about? Plans?” Jin Sang-gi, who had been quiet, suddenly shouted, his eyes blazing.
It was like scratching an itch that didn’t need scratching…
Thanks to their mother, he had inadvertently revealed something, prompting the clueless youngest to get involved.
“You’ll find out soon enough. We’re not excluding you, and there’s no reason to. Father may have removed you from the group, but we’re different. Anyway… we’ll explain everything in detail after the funeral, so just be patient.”
As Jin Young-gi tried to placate his younger brother, Mrs. Lee Pil-ok slammed the desk in frustration.
“Useless fools! No wonder that old man kept that young Do-jun close!”
“Mother, please calm down and lower your voice. The staff outside can hear everything,” the eldest son tried to soothe her, but it was futile.
“Sang-gi, tell me. Your father gave you all his personal assets, didn’t he? How much was it? Over a trillion won? Did you get dozens of buildings and millions of square meters of land?”
Caught off guard by his mother’s sudden question, Jin Sang-gi couldn’t answer and avoided eye contact, prompting his brothers to press him.
“What is it? Why are you hesitating?”
“Tell us. How much is it? Don’t tell me… it’s nothing?”
Mrs. Lee Pil-ok clicked her tongue at her sons’ reactions.
“Don’t you know how much that man loved money? He amassed wealth by any means necessary. Did you really think the shares you received were everything? Foolish boys.”
“Are you saying he gave all his personal assets to Do-jun?” Jin Sang-gi finally managed to ask.
“Who else would have taken it? Your brothers? Me? Seo-yoon? Do you need to taste it to know if it’s dung or soybean paste?”
Mrs. Lee Pil-ok looked at her sons, who were blinking in disbelief, with disdain.
“That lowly woman, who lived with makeup on her face, seduced my precious youngest and bore that child. And that child, of all people, inherited your father’s nature—cunning, greedy, and ruthless.”
She pointed outside with her finger.
“That’s why that man cherished him like a treasure. Because he’s just like him.”
The three sons couldn’t say a word under their mother’s scathing criticism and hung their heads.
“That lowly woman’s child, with her tainted blood, is about to take over our Sunyang Group, and you’re just sitting there, fighting over who gets to be chairman? Are you out of your minds?”
Mrs. Lee Pil-ok pounded her chest in frustration.
“There’s no need for further discussion. After the funeral, Young-gi, you take the chairman’s seat. Dong-gi, follow your brother without complaint. With your combined shares, there shouldn’t be any issues, right? Then, take control of the financial subsidiaries that Do-jun has. Replace all the executives with your people, and it’s done. You’ve missed such an easy task because you were too busy watching each other.”
Jin Young-gi suddenly felt grateful and relieved to have such a strong ally in his mother. But Jin Dong-gi’s expression hardened even more. He knew his brother wouldn’t relinquish the temporary chairman position easily, especially now that he had their mother’s support.
“Why aren’t you responding?” Mrs. Lee Pil-ok asked.
Jin Dong-gi addressed his mother.
“We’ve already agreed that my brother will take the chairman’s seat until we finalize the new share distribution. It’s a done deal, Mother.”
“Is that so? Well done.”
“Anyway, my brother and I will handle the group affairs. Please don’t concern yourself and try to maintain a somber expression during the funeral. There are many eyes watching.”
Jin Dong-gi sighed briefly and tried to stand, but his mother’s words stopped him.
“I have some shares. And I’ve accumulated quite a bit of money here and there. Depending on how you handle things, I’ll give everything to the one who pleases me the most. Dong-gi, if you get it all, your brother won’t be able to treat you lightly.”
Shares?
“Mother…”
Caught off guard, Jin Young-gi stammered, but Mrs. Lee Pil-ok silenced her sons.
“Did you think I lived with your father for over eighty years without any assets? I saw how he siphoned off money and hid his shares.”
“How much are the shares?” Jin Young-gi asked urgently, but Mrs. Lee Pil-ok only smiled.
“In this world, even parents need assets to be respected, right? Now you’ll finally listen to your mother’s words.”
Mrs. Lee Pil-ok rose from Chairman Jin’s seat.
“My shares may not be much, but combined with the money, they can tip the scales. Erase all traces of those lowly people from our family. Then I’ll give you everything I have. I trust you understand.”
Ignoring her sons’ desperate gazes, Mrs. Lee Pil-ok left the study.
The funeral hall was empty, save for a few workers arranging wreaths. I had just seen my father rushing to the reception hall, but where were the other mourners?
I lit a new incense stick and stepped back, gazing at the empty hall.
If my grandmother saw me alone here, this solemn place would become chaotic again. I resolved to avoid any confrontation with her until the funeral was over.
Just then, the study door opened, and Grandma emerged. Without so much as a glance at the funeral hall, she headed straight upstairs.
Why?
Why had Grandma gone into Grandpa’s study?
That place had already been cleared out.
Most of the documents had been burned, and the essential papers were moved to the respective subsidiaries. All that remained were the books lining the shelves and the awards and trophies Grandpa had received.
She wasn’t the type to get lost in memories while looking at the study.
Curious, I moved closer to the study, and sure enough, I could hear the low voices of my three uncles inside.
What scheme were they plotting now? Their voices were so low it was hard to make out.
Was Grandma giving them a lecture?
The mystery was soon solved.
When the uncles emerged from the study, their faces were set in stone. If they’d been scolded, they would have looked annoyed… Something significant must have happened.
I was curious about their conversation, but I had to push it out of my mind.
Guests were starting to arrive one by one.
As more of Korea’s influential figures visited the funeral, Jin-dong’s expression grew increasingly grim.
They seemed to be convinced that Jin-young was the heir apparent, focusing their attention on him rather than Jin-dong.
When the Minister of Construction and Transportation, who oversaw the construction industry, spent a long time in private conversation with Jin-young, ignoring Jin-dong entirely, it made his blood boil.
Did this mean they no longer considered him the head of Sunyang Construction and Heavy Industries? As everyone treated him like the second-in-command, he grew anxious.
His mother’s shares and money—he needed them more than ever.
Hadn’t his father taught him to always get what he needed?