Chapter 122: A Battle in the Dark

Hyunwoo’s face twisted.

What was this man planning to say now?

He wanted to ignore him completely.

But their project was still tangled together.

Hyunwoo had no choice but to reach out and answer the call.

“This is Joo Hyunwoo.”

— Long time no see, Director Joo.

“…….”

Hearing that sly voice made him feel sick.

He wanted to throw up, but he couldn’t blatantly show it, so he pushed down the disgust.

“What is it?

We’re not close enough for personal calls.”

— Haha, so prickly.

Cha Kwon-oh sounded even more pleased than usual.

Well, of course.

He’d been dying to screw Hyunwoo over for ages.

With the current mess and Chairman Joo considering negotiations, the man had to be over the moon.

He was probably acting like he owned the world right now.

Hyunwoo clicked his tongue.

— Didn’t I tell you?

Don’t trust Lee Seunghyuk.

“…….”

The mocking voice echoed in his ear.

Hyunwoo didn’t bother responding.

So he still wanted to drive a wedge between him and Seunghyuk?

Stupid.

Even without Cha Kwon-oh’s schemes, he and Seunghyuk were already over.

Why was he getting so worked up over something so meaningless?

Hyunwoo shook his head.

“Is that all you called for?”

— Ha… you still don’t get the situation, do you?

“The situation?”

— Who knows?
Maybe it’ll be easier to negotiate if you personally ask instead of the Chairman.

“…….”

So this bastard just wanted to see Hyunwoo humiliated.

To see the man who always acted stiff bow his head.

Even if he lost his mind, Hyunwoo would never do that.

He let out a laugh of disbelief.

“I would never do that.”

— …What?

“You’re the one who should understand the situation.
No one will acknowledge anything built on stolen data.”

— Ha!

He didn’t need to see Cha Kwon-oh’s face to feel the boiling fury.

Maybe Hyunwoo really was gifted at infuriating him.

It was one of the few villainous skills that felt useful.

— Just wait.
Even if you cry and beg, it won’t matter.

“That’s my line.”

— Tsk!

“…….”

With a loud click of his tongue, Cha Kwon-oh hung up first.

Hyunwoo listened to the mechanical beeps for a moment, then lowered his phone with a sigh.

The call was pointless.

He only confirmed how trashy Cha Kwon-oh was.

Hyunwoo tossed the phone onto his desk as if shaking off an insect.

Knock, knock.

“Director, it’s me.”

“Come in.”

Jung-hoon entered politely.

Hyunwoo noticed his tense expression and felt uneasy.

“The Chairman is asking you to come upstairs.”

“…All right.”

He expected Chairman Joo to ignore him.

So being summoned did not feel like a good sign at all.

Hyunwoo slowly stood up.

The Chairman’s office was on the very top floor.

Hyunwoo walked through the unusually cold hallway.

Employees whispered as he passed.

Thud.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing!”

“……!”

He had a bad feeling—
and the moment he opened the office door, something flew at his face.

He raised his hands to block it and looked at the scattered items on the floor.

“…What is this?”

He picked up one of them.

The things Chairman Joo threw were photos.

Several of them.

Inside were pictures of him and Seunghyuk.

Seunghyuk limp in his arms as Hyunwoo half-supported him.

The background looked familiar.

‘The hotel from when Seunghyuk went into rut?’

The hotel he had taken him to confine him safely during the rut.

He thought for a second the photos might be edited, but they were real.

“So you cause all this mess because of an Alpha?
Are you out of your mind?”

“…….”

No wonder Cha Kwon-oh had been so confident.

So this was what he had planned.

Secretly taking photos like a stalker—
Hyunwoo let out a small, disbelieving laugh.

“You’re laughing right now?”

“Please calm down.”

“You think I can calm down?!”

Chairman Joo’s furious pheromones surged out.

Hyunwoo endured them silently.

The old man’s pheromones were still powerful.

“Fire that intern immediately!
And you—stay out of this project.”

“…Father.”

“I am NOT your father!”

The Chairman roared.

He had never been this furious.

Well… no, once.

In the previous life.

When Hyunwoo insisted on marrying Seunghyuk.

Chairman Joo despised the idea of two Alphas getting married.

Of course—Alphas can’t have heirs.

It took forever to convince him back then.

“I’ll say it simply.
Get rid of him.”

“There’s nothing to get rid of.
I have nothing going on with that intern.”

“And you deny it even with this evidence?”

“These are photos from a hotel hallway.
Call the hotel—
they can confirm exactly when I left that day.
He was just helping me because he went into rut.”

“…….”

The swirling pheromones around the Chairman weakened.

His temper flared easily, but it also cooled quickly.

Knowing that, Hyunwoo explained calmly.

“Is it really nothing between you two?”

“Yes.
You’ve been tricked by Director Cha’s nonsense.”

“…….”

The Chairman frowned.

At least he was regaining rationality.

He clicked his tongue.

“Even so, remove that intern.
Rumors are spreading all over the company.”

“But—”

“Drop it.
Just move on to your next project.”

“…….”

His voice was firm—already decided.

Hyunwoo bit his lip.

He couldn’t let Seunghyuk get kicked out.

If that happened, the program he created would fall into L&S’s hands again.

Even if Seunghyuk got removed, he needed precautions.

Since Seunghyuk had also regressed, maybe this time they could talk.

Even if all of Seunghyuk’s words were lies, even if Hyunwoo ended up being manipulated—

He still wanted to trust him, just one more time.

“No.
I started this project.
Please let me finish it.”

“You’re still saying that after all this?”

“The product they’re developing with the stolen data is nothing but a superficial copy.
Director Cha will face problems soon.”

“…….”

The Chairman fell silent.

He hated being manipulated by Cha Kwon-oh as much as Hyunwoo did.

There wasn’t much he could argue against.

Chairman Joo especially despised people like Cha—
a bastard son acting above his place.

If Cha had at least been a dominant Alpha, the Chairman might have acknowledged him a little.
But he wasn’t.

Thankfully, the Chairman’s expression showed hesitation.

Hyunwoo pressed harder.

“Give me just a little more time.
I’ll fix everything.”

“…You’d better fix it fast.”

“Yes, sir.”

Reluctantly, the Chairman backed down.

But if the results weren’t satisfactory, he wouldn’t hesitate to act.

“Haa….”

Leaving the office, Hyunwoo let out another habitual sigh.

The crisis had passed—barely.

But the matter was far from over.

He still had to fix everything.

“Young master.”

“…Chief Kang.”

Seongyoon approached him.

After checking their surroundings, he spoke quietly.

“What you requested before… it’s ready.”

“…Really?”

“Yes.”

Hyunwoo’s eyes widened.

Seongyoon smirked and nodded.

Hyunwoo had asked him to secretly investigate Cha Kwon-oh’s hidden crimes.

Cha had many enemies—he dirtied his hands often.

Finding evidence wasn’t hard.

Hyunwoo had even started preparing right after regression.

“Can we drop it immediately?”

“Yes.
Exactly as you instructed—it was easy.
People were surprisingly eager to cooperate.”

“Hm….”

As expected of Haesong.

Probably the team leader who exposed the internal issues helped a lot.

Hyunwoo nodded, remembering that man’s serious eyes.

“Then let’s begin.”

“Yes, sir.”

Thanks to regression, Hyunwoo now knew all of Cha Kwon-oh’s weaknesses.

The things he had only suspected in the past were now clear evidence.

“But… many companies besides L&S are involved.
Will it be okay?”

“It can’t be helped.
Right now, we need to divert everyone’s attention.”

Cha had recklessly released articles first—

So Hyunwoo would respond in kind.

An eye for an eye.

A tooth for a tooth.

A perfect counterattack.