Chapter 101
***
"Y-You bastard...!!"
Gu Yong-cheol stared at his son in disbelief, one hand pressed against his chest.
"Father. You've suffered enough. Please take it easy now."
His heart had been troubling him for some time.
He had been taking his medicine regularly, but he wondered if it was no longer enough on its own.
But he still had no intention of relinquishing control of the company, so he had asked his physician to prescribe him something for it.
But.
He never imagined that this bastard had bribed even his physician.
"Isn't this what you wanted, Father?"
His second son, Gu Yun-yeok, said with a calm smile.
"Your oldest son tried to kill himself because of you, Father."
"...That. That..."
Excessive pressure.
Saying that they needed to produce results to become his successor, Gu Yong-cheol had hounded and pressured his sons like a madman.
Unlike the third son, who had never been interested in becoming his successor in the first place, the eldest and second sons had been forced to withstand that pressure.
And.
In the end, it was his second son, Gu Yun-yeok, who overcame that pressure.
In the process, his eldest son, Gu Geum-cheol, attempted suicide. He failed, but he was still in a coma.
Gu Yun-yeok could not erase the bitter expression that had remained on his face after his brother ended up like that.
"Father. Was that chairman position really so important?"
"....That. That..."
"Was it so important that your son—my brother—was driven to decide to kill himself because he couldn't bear it?"
"....."
Gu Yong-cheol squeezed his eyes shut.
Maybe, just maybe, Gu Yun-yeok had been right.
It had been his own greed.
He had wanted to choose a better successor through competition and grow the company.
All of it had been driven by his own desires.
That was why he despaired and regretted everything.
Everything about himself.
His very life.
***
"I sincerely thank everyone for gathering here..."
The old man's voice from the podium was strong.
Compared to the future in which he regretted his life and withered away after witnessing his eldest son's suicide attempt and facing the betrayal of his second son, it was absurdly strong.
"That's Chairman Gu Yong-cheol, right?"
"Yes. Are you interested?"
"I can't say I'm not."
"Shall I arrange a meeting with the chairman?"
As for whether Chairman Gu Yong-cheol was a good person, I could only tilt my head.
He was a typical chaebol.
Of course, he was the sort of chaebol who practiced noblesse oblige.
But if you asked whether that made him an unconditionally good person, the answer was no.
Even so, I didn't think he deserved to end up seeing his eldest son unconscious, being betrayed by his second son, and suffering a miserable downfall.
"Would that be possible?"
"All right. Then could you wait a moment?"
"Yes."
She picked up her glass and moved.
The robust old man finished thanking everyone from the podium, came down, and began talking with the other guests.
Hong Si-yeon slipped between them.
Judging by how pleased he was to see her, they seemed to be acquainted already.
A short while later, Chairman Gu Yong-cheol approached with her.
"Oh, my. Well, this is something. I never expected to meet you like this, Mr. Kang. I'm Gu Yong-cheol."
"I'm Kang Noah. Please, speak casually."
"Heh heh. Is that all right? In any case, I've heard a great deal about you. Chairman Han of Saseong seemed well aware of how remarkable you are."
"I'm always grateful to Chairman Han."
"I also heard that Elder Kim Seok-chun has a good relationship with you..."
"Yes. Well, we're friends."
"Ha ha. How impressive."
Chairman Gu Yong-cheol laughed heartily.
Then he slowly looked at me.
"So? Why did you say you wanted to speak with me, Mr. Kang?"
"It's nothing special. Would you like me to read your fortune?"
"Hmm."
He stared intently at me.
Then he shrugged.
"I happened to have something I was curious about, so this is perfect. Mr. Kang, I'll leave it to you."
Chairman Gu Yong-cheol gazed at the stack of cards I held out, then turned one over.
It was the Fool reversed.
"What does this mean?"
"Chairman Gu, you're worried about whom to choose as your successor."
"Well, isn't that something people like us are always concerned about?"
Who knows.
You should be thinking about your own safety before your successor, though...
"You should stop pitting your two sons against each other."
"....!!"
Chairman Gu Yong-cheol had created a rivalry between his eldest and second sons.
Without naming a clear successor, he had made them keep fighting each other.
In the process, his eldest son attempted suicide, while his second son emerged victorious.
But the process was anything but smooth, and it left deep wounds on both of them.
I told him about the future I had seen.
Chairman Gu Yong-cheol had listened with interest at first, but his expression gradually hardened.
And when he heard that his eldest son would attempt suicide, his legs apparently gave out, and he collapsed onto the floor.
Mr. Cheolhon caught him and helped him into a chair, but he still couldn't recover from the shock.
"I-I never wanted anything like that. I just, I just..."
"I've spoken before with a chaebol family that was worried about an issue involving their successor."
"......"
"Not all children want to become chairman simply because they're their parents' children. So, Chairman Gu, you should talk with your sons."
When there is no communication, people fail to understand each other, and when they fail to understand each other, unfilial acts occur.
"If you don't know what you should do, don't forget that the end is nothing but a cliff."
"...Then what am I supposed to do?"
"I don't know that either, do I? You could fight your sons until you go all the way to the end, or you could join hands with them."
Ultimately, the choice was Gu Yong-cheol's to make.
As he squeezed his eyes shut and agonized over the decision, his future changed.
From a future in which he wept before his comatose eldest son, was eventually banished to an overseas villa, and lived out the rest of his life in solitude before dying,
to a future in which he successfully handed over the chairmanship and enjoyed the final years of his life, respected by his sons and grandchildren.
"...Huh. I see. I suppose I should have a proper talk with my sons..."
"That is a wise decision."
"But, Mr. Kang."
"Yes."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"If I had to give a reason... because Cheongsaem may be destabilized during the succession process?"
Cheongsaem was a fairly large company, and trouble would arise during the succession process.
The company would be shaken, and employees would leave.
There was no need to go through a problem that could be solved with a few conversations.
"An older brother from my orphanage works at Cheongsaem."
An older brother from our orphanage had gotten a job at a Cheongsaem affiliate.
I didn't know what would happen to him because of the succession dispute.
But it probably wouldn't be good.
"Oh, I see..."
Chairman Gu Yong-cheol remained silent, then muttered quietly and sighed.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
He nodded, then took out his phone.
Then he held it out.
"If you don't mind, could I have your number?"
"As long as you don't call me every time you're bored to ask about the future."
"Ha ha. That goes without saying."
In that case, it wasn't particularly difficult.
After receiving my phone number, Chairman Gu Yong-cheol smiled faintly.
"Let's meet again sometime. And as for repaying you for this advice... I'll make it up to you appropriately."
Once Chairman Gu Yong-cheol moved away, Hong Si-yeon looked at me with wonder.
"Why?"
"No, I just thought you seemed to know more chairmen than I expected."
"Quite a few."
"That's fascinating. But you must be pretty close with Chairman Han, right?"
Chairman Han of Saseong.
Han Yu-na's father.
I suppose you could say we were close, and you could also say we weren't.
"We're on fairly good terms. Why? Did your grandmother lend Saseong money?"
"It's not that. Hmm... Mr. Noah, you're close with Han Yu-na, Saseong Group's successor, right?"
"Yes."
She was my friend.
She had contacted me recently and suggested that we go to Gyeongju World together once things settled down.
"...I see."
Hong Si-yeon's expression was unreadable.
Only her characteristic sunny smile was visible.
"Anyway, because of this, even more chairmen will want to meet you."
"I suppose so?"
For elderly chairmen, the most important concern was probably the issue of succession.
I couldn't deny that more people would want to check whether their heirs had any potential and ask what they should do in the future.
"Chairman Gu Yong-cheol is well-connected enough to be called a social butterfly. If he tells people about you, they'll come from everywhere to meet you... Won't it become a hassle for you?"
"What could be so bothersome?"
Whether they were chairmen or viewers begging me on my broadcasts to tell them about the future, they were all the same.
.
.
.
Several days later.
I was sipping coffee at a café with Hong Si-yeon, who had come to hang out with me.
-Brrrring!!
The phone I had placed on the table began to ring.
When I checked, it was an unfamiliar number.
I thought it might be spam for the first time in a while and ignored it, but the phone rang again immediately.
It was the same number as before.
So I answered it.
-Am I speaking to Mr. Kang Noah?
"That's right, but... Who is this?"
-I'm Kim Yeong-gil, and I run a small company called Gasto.
"...A small company? You're the chairman of Gasto, the food company ranked twenty-eighth in the business world."
-Hahaha...
"So? Why did you call me?"
-Well... The thing is, I'm worried about what to do about my successor...
"Don't you have a son?"
-I do, but I'm not saying this just because he's my child... He's utterly useless.
Ah... Ah...
In that case...
Hmm.
I should meet him first.
When I said that, he said he understood and hung up.
A short while later, the café door opened.
"Huh?! Chairman Kim Yeong-gil?"
So he'd made the call from outside.
Seeing him enter with an awkward expression, I knew the answer.
Ah.
You should switch to a professional management system.