Chapter 8: The Price of Survival

“He knows he can’t have it on his own, so he’s struggling to seize it by borrowing external power. It’s a foolish judgment—deciding that if he can’t possess it, destruction is better. Something like that.”

There was nothing wrong in Seo Jeonghyeok’s words. Jo Inho was a far more foolish human being than she had realized, and Seo Jeonghyeok was simply profiting from that stupidity. However, this absurdly uncomfortable coincidence left her feeling restless and bothered.

A life that never seems to go straight, not even once, without getting tangled. She was sick of it herself.

Was it because she had stayed up all night in the office? Her head throbbed again. The chronic headache showed no signs of subsiding.

[Recipient: Cha Hyeonseo] Principal and interest repayment complete. Remaining balance: 0 KRW

She stared blankly at the text on the screen, which still felt surreal. She thought about the new kind of debt she had acquired by clearing this one.

“I heard you’re good at handling those things, Lawyer Cha. The dirty things.”

What exactly were the “dirty things” she had to handle on his behalf? In exchange for 5 billion won, how much did she have to be worked like a dog to prove her worth? No, even if it were the price of her life, wasn’t it an excessive amount?

What was Seo Jeonghyeok hoping for when he readily tossed such a huge sum of money? His unknown intentions became increasingly terrifying. Instead of a sense of liberation, an inexplicable feeling of dread and unease washed over her.

As she turned her head absentmindedly, the cafe door opened. Her father, Cha Seonyeop, whom she had been waiting for, appeared.

Spotting his daughter’s face, he looked around nervously as he approached. It was an anxiety born of the fear that someone might recognize him. After all, this was the first time he was meeting his daughter in broad daylight in such a crowded place.

“What’s going on? Why did you want to meet in a place like this…?”

She quietly observed her father’s anxious face. Though he had grown old and thin from years of living as a fugitive, he didn’t look too bad.

“You look well.”

She didn’t say it because she thought it was a relief. She certainly didn’t say it out of concern for his well-being or unspoken hardships. She wasn’t a kind or gentle enough daughter to sincerely worry about a father who had left behind nothing but billions in debt as an inheritance.

“It seems you’ve been living well. Fortunately.”

Rather, it was because she was inwardly displeased that he looked halfway decent. Do you even know what kind of other debts I had to create to pay off the ones you left behind?

“You’ve gotten even thinner. Are you eating well? Is it really over with that Jo Inho fellow…?”

“This.”

Cutting off her father as he brought up the broken engagement, she pushed a manila envelope toward him.

“Open it.”

Cha Seonyeop looked at his daughter’s unusually stern expression with curiosity before taking the envelope and pulling out the documents.

“Petition for Cancellation of Declaration of Disappearance…”

His gaze snapped back to her as he read the title. He was asking what this meant.

“I’ve finished drafting it, so just stamp it and submit it to the court. I was going to do it myself, but I thought it would be better if you did it in person, Father.”

“What is all this?”

She turned her phone screen toward him, showing the ‘Repayment Complete’ notification. Cha Seonyeop’s expression grew even more confused.

“I paid off all the debt, Dad.”

She continued calmly, delivering words that were hard to believe, so her father could grasp the current situation.

“I cleared it cleanly. Every single bit of it. All of it.”

“…What?”

“The debt. The 5 billion. It’s all finished.”

“…What on earth does this…?”

“It means you don’t have to live as a dead person anymore, Dad.”

As he listened, Cha Seonyeop’s rough hands began to tremble violently. Surprise and joy. Confusion and sadness. And apology. His face turned a complex shade, a mixture of various emotions.

“Explain it… in detail… so I can understand. Where did you suddenly get that much money to pay it all back?”

His stuttering, panicked voice shook and broke.

“I received a scout offer and changed jobs with very good terms.”

“No, no matter how much you changed jobs, how could you… this much money… it doesn’t make sense.”

Cha Seonyeop shook his head. From a common-sense standpoint, it was impossible to fathom. She understood his reaction. She still found it hard to believe herself.

“Could it be, you did something…?”

“No.”

Knowing what kind of suspicion her father was about to harbor, she cut him off first.

“It’s not. It’s not what you’re thinking.”

“Hyeonseo.”

“Don’t worry. It’s not money I got for some strange price, and it’s not illegal money. I just moved positions. Nothing is different from how it’s been until now.”

“……”

“Just live. That’s all.”

It was a consolation she offered to herself as well. To quiet the anxiety and confusion that had no clear source.

“Live as a living person now, Father.”

At the word “live,” tears began to well in his trembling eyes. Cha Seonyeop began to sob sorrowfully.

To a man who had lived as if he were dead even though he was alive, what did life mean? Was it a lingering attachment he had to protect even by killing himself and sacrificing his daughter? Or was it a monster-like spite created by vain desires?

Did he have any inkling of the devilish heart she possessed—the heart that had wished he were dead instead?

Leaving the endlessly weeping and helpless Cha Seonyeop behind, she was the first to leave the cafe.

It was definitely too much to face her father any longer. Resentment and pity. she didn’t want to get pathetic by showing those drifting emotions as they were. It wasn’t as if they were going to sit hand-in-hand now and cry to release old pent-up feelings.

She hurried her steps back to the company.

As soon as she entered, Sol followed her, clutching a pile of requested materials as if she had been waiting. She was so glad and grateful for Sol’s presence. If not for her, those unmanaged emotions would have leaked out in an ugly way.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay? With this case…”

Sol trailed off, pointing to the materials for the Eunsung Pharmaceuticals case.

“With what?”

She asked back pointlessly, even though she knew what Sol meant. It was out of a desire to prove she was unfazed. It was a meaningless bit of spite.

“I mean, why at this timing, and why this specific company… I’m worried you’ll get tangled up with Jo Inho again and things will get more complicated.”

“What’s there to be complicated? It’s already over. Simply.”

Despite her nonchalant words, Sol gave her a worried look, as if she couldn’t understand.

“Am I being too clingy, or are you just excessively cool, Lawyer Cha? Even if he was a man you didn’t love, he was someone you were going to marry. How can you really be so unaffected? Don’t you feel wronged, angry, or sad?”

“Not really.”

She denied it with an indifferent face while flipping through the documents.

“What’s the point of wasting emotions on something that’s over? I’m dying because I don’t even have enough time to work.”

“Right. I guess I was worrying about something useless again.”

“Yes. Since you know that, let me ask for one more set of data.”

It was personal information data, narrowed down to shareholders whose stakes had recently increased. She wanted more detailed information beyond the basic facts listed.

“Of course.” Sol shrugged and left the room as if she had expected this.

She stayed holed up in her office all afternoon reviewing documents. How much time had passed? The headache stabbing her temples was getting worse. Unable to bear it any longer, she grabbed some medicine and stood up.

Holding a cup that had become empty without her noticing, she headed to the pantry. As she opened the door and entered, the employees sitting around the large table gave her awkward nods.

For some reason, the atmosphere among the whispering employees felt unusual. Was something going on?

“Is something happening?”

She asked indifferently after swallowing her headache medicine and turning around. One employee with a somewhat familiar face shrugged, as if asking if she didn’t know yet, and pointed to the muted TV screen.

Shifting her gaze, she immediately read the caption in bold font:

Kim Youngjin, former Korea Branch Manager of private equity firm Goldstone, found dead at home.

It was unexpected news. As she stared at the screen, furrowing her brow, further explanation was added.

It said it was presumed to be a suicide due to pessimism about his situation after being dismissed overnight. It added that his only surviving family member, his son, refused an autopsy, so the case was closed immediately.

“Suicide, my foot. It’s murder.”

Someone’s disgruntled voice burst out. Everyone nodded in agreement.

“He was insulted and kicked out by a kid young enough to be his son. Rumor has it he even went to him separately to plead and beg. Apparently, that son of his is terminally ill. Cancer or something. Anyway, it’s truly cruel.”

They were talking about Seo Jeonghyeok.

The employees were clearly not favorable toward the new branch manager. And for good reason; even in the few short days since his appointment, a bloodbath had swept through the office. The justification was that they had to pull up the performance that the previous manager had bottomed out. No one could openly object. This was Ryan Seo, sent by Karl Anderson for exactly this purpose.

“Sigh, I don’t know what the world is coming to…”

The older employee who had been listening quietly tapped the arm of the employee who had sighed. Only then did everyone fall silent, watching their words.

They were conscious of Hyeonseo. After all, the rumor was widespread that Cha Hyeonseo was also a “parachute” Legal Team Leader scouted by the new branch manager.

“Uh, the rest of us are going to the funeral home together after work. You’ll be coming with us, right, Team Leader?”

The smile of the employee who asked while awkwardly changing the subject was quite strained. It was as if they were pleading for her to forget everything they had just said.

“Yes. I’ll go with you.”

Hiding her internal confusion, she nodded and walked out of the pantry.

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