Chapter 4: The Snake’s Invitation

The man’s face, sculpted to perfection, was reflected smoothly in the mirror.

His large hands moved with satisfaction as he finished fastening the buttons of his shirt.

The fit of the suit he had carefully selected was quite impeccable.

[As soon as the detailed adjustments are finalized, we will proceed with the discussion regarding the appointment of a court-appointed manager. For the manager…]

Cutting off his secretary Leo’s report, Jeonghyeok fastened the cufflinks to his sleeves.

[You said Jo Inho has never participated in management before, right?]

His English, spoken with a typical Eastern accent, harmonized perfectly with his deep, sinking voice.

It was enough to bewitch anyone.

[Jo Inho is part of that bloodline, and a son at that. Why has he been so blatantly excluded from management?]

[He is of the bloodline, yes.]

[And? Aren’t these Korean chaebols usually desperate to hand everything down to their children?]

[He’s an illegitimate child.]

At the unexpected answer, Jeonghyeok burst into a hollow laugh and looked back at his secretary.

[Ha. An illegitimate child?]

When he pressed the question with wide eyes, Leo nodded lightly again.

“Wow.”

Only then did he understand why Jo Inho, who looked decent enough on the surface, possessed no authority.

Koreans, truly.

Foolish creatures who cling to bloodlines until they eventually see blood.

[That works out. Regarding the court-appointed manager issue, how about talking to Jo Inho?]

[With Jo Inho, not Jo Seongho? Are you serious?]

“I’ll pay with this, please.”

The man cut off the conversation with his secretary and turned his head.

The cheeks of the shopper who took his card were turning a shade of red.

It was due to the sudden, gentle Korean pronunciation and his somewhat misleadingly friendly attitude.

The employee took the card and stepped back with a flushed face.

Leo, with a look of familiarity, raised his eyebrows and continued.

[The framework for specific negotiations hasn’t even come out yet. If President Jo’s side finds out we’re already touching other routes, things could get complicated.]

[Negotiations only get interesting when you’re holding several cards. It’s not like we’re doing this for the pocket change we earned by reselling a corner store.]

[But Jo Seongho seemed sincere. And because he’s sincere, he seems more firm.]

[I’m afraid of stupid people when they’re sincere. And we’re sincere, too. We’re incredibly desperate to make a proper profit and get out, aren’t we?]

Only then did Leo understand his meaning and put on an expression of agreement.

The shopper soon returned with the black card, standing there with a shy face.

“Thank you. It’s pretty.”

“…Pardon?”

The shopper’s eyes grew wide.

He leisurely added the subject he had intentionally omitted.

“The suit. I like it.”

His smooth, well-mannered voice was such that he couldn’t complain even if it were misunderstood as blatant flirting.

Leo eventually turned his head and let out a small sigh.

“You’ll help me pick out clothes the next time I come, right?”

“Ah… Yes. Of course.”

Even if he couldn’t understand the Korean, Leo was certain that this was the habitual flirting of his playboy boss.

[I thought you said Korean women weren’t your type.]

Leo asked reprovingly as they stepped out of the VIP shopper room.

[Can one really live only doing things that are their ‘type’?]

[That’s a relatable point. Preference is a luxury when it comes to making a living.]

At Leo’s joke, Jeonghyeok’s well-defined lips curled up into a smirk.

It was a subtle expression of dissatisfaction toward a boss who threw work at him day and night.

[Cha Hyeonseo is supposed to come to the office tomorrow at 7 PM.]

[Did she say she’d do it? That woman?]

[When have I ever failed a deal?]

Jeonghyeok slid the car keys out of Leo’s pocket and smirked.

It was a shamelessly sly and arrogant gesture.

[They say a comet that only comes once every five thousand years is falling tomorrow evening, Director.]

Left without his keys, Leo repeated what he had already said several times.

It was a notification that he would definitely be leaving early tomorrow—no, leaving on time.

However, the man walking far ahead could not have heard him.

Left alone, Leo simply scratched his forehead awkwardly.

Vrrr.

The vibration rang out.

The finger flipping through the documents stopped.

Her heart sank.

It was a call from her dead father.

Hyeonseo reflexively stood up and went to the emergency exit at the end of the hallway.

Even though no one would be eavesdropping in her office, it had become a habit.

Because to everyone else, Cha Seonyeop had to be a person who was already dead and gone.

– You’re busy, right?

“……”

– Just… wanted to see how you were doing.

It was an unfamiliar yet familiar voice.

She swallowed hard and pressed for the point.

“Is something… wrong?”

– Wrong? No.

“Then why… did you call?”

– Your wedding. I was worried about whether the preparations were going well.

Only then did a sigh of relief escape her.

Whenever her father called, she reflexively grew tense.

Worried that something had happened again, or that an emergency had occurred.

It had been ten years since the father she thought was dead reappeared before her.

She had lived the last ten years like this.

Holding her breath and feeling anxious over a single phone call.

– As a father, I’m doing nothing for my daughter’s wedding… I have no right, do I?

She could clearly see the image of the old man standing there with his head bowed, unable to even meet her eyes.

Her chest felt tight.

At one time, she had resented her father.

If she could meet him again, she wanted to ask why he had tried to leave alone.

Why he had tried to run away by himself.

She had spent years crying and cursing him, saying her life became miserable because of his irresponsible and cowardly self.

But when he actually returned, she realized something.

That she had missed her father for a very long time.

He seemed to have already paid enough for his sins.

Harshly enough that her petty curses didn’t need to be added.

So in the end, she couldn’t hate him.

She couldn’t curse him anymore, nor could she forgive him.

Her undefined emotions for her father were still drifting somewhere between pity and longing.

“Dad.”

Because the father in her childhood memories—the one she always missed—was a warm and kind man.

“I’m not getting married.”

– ……

“I decided not to.”

She delivered the news as calmly as possible.

As if shocked by the sudden news, no sound came from the other end for a while.

Then, after a long time, Cha Seonyeop whispered softly.

– I see. You did well.

The answer to her daughter saying she broke off her engagement was ‘you did well.’

Without asking the reason, he reacted calmly, as if he had already known.

That was the kind of person her father was.

“Check your bank account. I just sent this month’s living expenses.”

– I’m sorry.

The kind of person who always said ‘I’m sorry’ more than ‘thank you.’

As soon as she hung up, the phone vibrated again.

A message from Manager Kim of JK Group blinked on the screen.

[Requesting consultation regarding Executive Director Jang Giyong. Please contact me when you are available to talk.]

It seemed to be the matter regarding the youngest son Yang Jaesuk had mentioned.

She stood with the back of her head against the hard wall.

Her long, thin eyelashes lowered deeply.

The marriage was off.

All the time she spent agonizing with unworthy hope and indulgent emotions was rendered meaningless; everything had returned to zero.

A hell where she had to endure tenaciously alone without a single place to lean.

Back to the dirty, smelly bottom where she was always stuck no matter how much she struggled.

She had abandoned the hope of escaping this hell long ago.

She had simply held on and endured day by day.

How much longer could she hold on like this?

Submerging her hands in the gutter and being covered in filth, how many more times did she have to die like this?

At this rate, it was a yoke she could probably never escape for the rest of her life.

After that day, her father wasn’t the only one living as if he were dead.

“You want to clear it, don’t you?”

The memory kept surfacing.

The arrogant voice saying she wouldn’t be able to refuse rang in her ears like tinnitus.

That sneer had been haunting her.

That face, like a devil who had noticed her misfortune—recognizing how dirty, miserable, and pathetic she was.

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t shaken by that honey-sweet temptation.

She was shaken.

She pretended not to be, but she had been constantly wavering from the start.

Her heart fluctuated like a ragged buoy.

In truth, the claim that she had no greed was bullsh*t.

Just like the claim that she didn’t want to live anymore.

She wanted to escape, and she wanted to live.

To be more honest and greedy, she wanted to live happily.

Seo Jeonghyeok, that man, already knew all those inner thoughts.

As her thoughts reached that point, she grew urgent.

It felt as though it wouldn’t matter if holding the hand he reached out became another yoke that strangled her.

If her fate was to endure while clearing away dirty filth anyway, the answer was clear.

She began to feel a baseless conviction that Seo Jeonghyeok was the only one who could pull her up from this hell right now.

It was a truly strange thing.

[Tomorrow evening at 7 PM. Let’s meet at my office.]

She re-checked the message from the unsaved number.

The expression he must have had while sending those two concise, cold sentences was obvious.

How pathetic and amusing must the prey caught in his trap feel?

“Ha…”

Her exhaled breath scattered deeply like an echo.