Chapter 10

The Chairman’s office on the top floor of Seonghwa Center Building A.

Yun Changseop stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, quietly looking down at the city.

A view he had been looking at for decades, throughout all those long years.

It was a familiarity that only someone who had guarded Seonghwa longer than anyone else could possess.

Yun Changseop slowly opened his mouth.

“To be honest, I was greatly disappointed in the owner family. And disappointment is something that occurs because expectations are too high.”

His voice was calm.

Like a gentleman pulling out an old memoir.

“Chairman Kang Seongcheol, whom I first served, was a greater man than the rumors that circulated publicly.”

Yun Changseop smiled faintly.

“He was a fearsome man… but at the same time, he had more charisma and style than anyone else. That’s why so many people devoted themselves to Seonghwa to see his goals and wishes come to fruition. I was one of them.”

But after his death, Seonghwa changed.

To be precise, it wasn’t Seonghwa itself, but the people standing at its helm…

“The company was still excellent. There were still employees devoted to Seonghwa, and there were many outstanding talents as well. The foundation Chairman Kang Seongcheol had built was that solid.”

A moment of silence.

He slowly lowered his gaze.

“The 2nd Chairman was acceptable as well.”

He may not have had the same spirit and charisma as Chairman Kang Seongcheol, but he was at least a sufficient person to serve as Seonghwa’s chairman.

That was why Yun Changseop supported him to the very end.

However, Chairman Kang Taesu loved his children too much.

“At first, I thought of it as merely a generational difference. I believed that since they were young, their methods might differ, and that responsibility would naturally follow as time passed.”

Yun Changseop let out a small sigh.

“But as time went on, I came to realize. They weren’t people who would bear Seonghwa on their shoulders—they were people who would divide Seonghwa among themselves.”

Who gets to take over the better subsidiary.

Who gets to wield more influence.

The more he watched them, the more Chairman Kang Seongcheol’s shadow faded.

“The bloodline continued, but not the will. They weren’t trying to make Seonghwa greater than any other company—they were afraid of how to keep it from being taken away.”

Even so, Yun Changseop did not leave Seonghwa.

No matter how disappointed he was, the fact that they were the bloodline of Chairman Kang Seongcheol, whom they all respected, did not change.

“So I tried even harder.”

Yun Changseop thought that if they were lacking, he could fill the gaps himself.

He believed that as long as he supported from the side, Seonghwa wouldn’t waver.

And he actually did so.

He stayed at the company longer than anyone, and handled more work than anyone.

At some point, word started to circulate within Seonghwa.

That without the Chief Secretary, the company wouldn’t function properly.

“I didn’t dislike that saying. Because it showed that I had devoted myself to Seonghwa that much.”

But such devotion began to be interpreted differently by certain people.

“…The owner family didn’t exactly welcome my presence.”

They depended on him while simultaneously feeling uneasy.

The presence of Yun Changseop had grown too large.

“A secretary with too much influence, crossing the line with meddling, someone who could swallow the company whole at any moment…”

Yun Changseop’s voice dropped just slightly.

“In the end, I was quietly pushed out under the flimsy pretext of retirement age.”

When he first received that notice, he was furious.

He had truly devoted decades.

For him, his youth and life were buried under the name of Seonghwa.

That was precisely why he couldn’t bear it.

Watching Seonghwa—built by Chairman Kang Seongcheol’s lifelong effort—slowly rot, he felt rage rising within him.

And it wasn’t by anyone else, but by his own bloodline.

His deliberation was long.

But Yun Changseop arrived at one conclusion for the sake of Seonghwa.

“Poison must be cut out quickly before it spreads. Even if it’s the bloodline of the man I respected my entire life.”

He continued speaking with a face far too serene.

Yun Changseop was the kind of man who would do absolutely anything for Seonghwa—the company he had devoted half his life to, the dream of the respected Chairman Kang Seongcheol—to protect it.

Simply put, he felt not a shred of regret or guilt over his choices.

The same went for his actions to completely sever the bloodline succession, which offered no visible future for the company.

…However.

“So what exactly are you trying to say? I’m starting to get a little sick of listening.”

At the chilling voice from behind, Yun Changseop slowly turned around.

And he met the gaze of a boy who had been quietly listening to his words all this time.

…Kang Geon.

The stain on Seonghwa Group—a boy who, by all rights, should have died at Department Head Kim’s hands.

But at this point, Yun Changseop didn’t find the fact that the boy was alive angering or particularly bothersome.

If anything, it was the opposite.

Yun Changseop genuinely felt relieved that the boy before him had taken the chairman’s seat.

The Chairman Kang Seongcheol he truly respected.

And not his son, nor his grandchildren, but the illegitimate child who had been treated as nothing but a stain…

‘I never imagined I’d find the shadow I’d been searching for in that boy.’

Savoring that fact, Yun Changseop smiled bitterly.

From what he had seen in yesterday’s live stream, the boy was anything but ordinary.

The entire owner family dead.

The media went into a frenzy, the market shook, and internally, it was practically a state of panic.

In that situation, any high school student forced to take the chairman’s seat would normally hide.

No—it would be closer to normal to hide behind someone and seek protection.

But the boy didn’t do that.

‘Instead, he walked toward the spotlight himself.’

In that chaotic situation, he revealed his existence to the world and stated his views as Seonghwa’s new chairman before the people.

What left the deepest impression was how he redirected the confusion and anger in an instant.

Naturally, public opinion was bound to lean toward suspicion of this suddenly appearing young 3rd Chairman.

But the boy flipped that very current.

The direction the public’s anger and confusion would flow.

‘I’ll give those who did this the punishment they deserve.’

He even rescued Department Head Kim Taejin’s daughter.

How he figured out the location of the kidnapping was still beyond comprehension, and the very fact that he reached such a conclusion was absurd.

As a result, the boy had identified the culprit behind this poisoning incident in just one day.

‘And Jeong Mincheol, too.’

Contact with him had been cut off, and his last known whereabouts were an external schedule with Kang Geon.

Just by looking at that, the answer was obvious.

He was probably having a very difficult time somewhere about now.

‘Just two days.’

Yun Changseop deliberately did nothing during that time.

He didn’t respond, nor did he try to contain the situation.

Simply because he wanted to confirm the dissonance of the boy resembling Chairman Kang Seongcheol.

And the result—

Control of public opinion.

Resolution of the kidnapping case.

Even the exposure of the betrayer.

All of it was accomplished by a mere high school boy in two days.

Yun Changseop suddenly recalled a memory from long ago.

The day he first met Chairman Kang Seongcheol when he was young.

What was certain was that the boy and Chairman Kang Seongcheol were frighteningly similar.

Of course, their methods differed, and he lacked experience.

He even had a somewhat rough edge to him.

But.

‘Decisiveness and execution, and solving cases effortlessly with ideas others couldn’t even imagine.’

In essence, they were far too alike.

That was why, if.

Truly, if.

If the boy named Kang Geon were to firmly take root in the chairman’s seat and gain time and experience…

‘Seonghwa could surely become even greater.’

It wasn’t admiration.

Nor was it the illusion of being saved.

Yun Changseop was simply recalculating.

That this boy leading Seonghwa was better than any alternative he had prepared.

The moment he reached that conclusion, only one option remained for Yun Changseop.

What Yun Changseop valued most was, in the end, Seonghwa.

For that, he was a man who could do anything.

And the boy asked.

What exactly was it he wanted to say.

“I am the culprit behind the poisoning of the owner family. So, Chairman, please turn me over to the police yourself.”

Yun Changseop said flatly toward the boy.

“People still don’t fully acknowledge you as Chairman.”

Illegitimate child.

High school student.

Sudden succession.

Whatever the case, it was true that his position was far too unstable.

“However, if you personally uncover the culprit behind this incident, the story changes considerably.”

A chairman who, using the evidence Yun Changseop provided, personally tracked down the one who massacred the owner family.

On top of that, completely exposing the internal betrayers in just a few days.

“Once that happens, people will have no choice but to acknowledge you. Your image will solidify as someone who protected Seonghwa through crisis and showed boundless potential.”

Yun Changseop smiled faintly.

For that, he was willing to serve as the trigger.

Because that was the true path for Seonghwa, he held no lingering attachments or fear.

But then.

“This crazy old man has gone senile? Well, I guess he has—he is old, after all.”

That was merely Yun Changseop’s ideal scenario.

At Kang Geon’s words, dripping with irritation by anyone’s measure, Yun Changseop’s eyes widened just slightly.

But contrary to his words, Kang Geon continued with a pleasant smile.

“You cause all this mess yourself, and now you’re trying to end it all nice and easy on your own?”

What bullshit.

You’re the reason I’m going through all this damn hardship right now.

Feeling that no further conversation was needed, Kang Geon slowly rose from his seat.

“You said you’d do anything for Seonghwa, right?”

A fine aspiration, he thought.

In that case.

“Hmm, well then, you can just work at Seonghwa for the rest of your life.”

As chairman, isn’t it only proper to work him hard until the day he dies?

Kang Geon gazed steadily at Yun Changseop.

With the look of a certain king gazing upon Hwang Hui.