Chapter 103
***
-Crash!!
Kim Ho-yeol couldn't contain his anger.
It was only natural.
Until now, he had lived well as the heir to a chaebol family.
But overnight, all of that had disappeared.
His father had said,
"You aren't the sort of person who'll come to his senses after taking a few hits."
"So unless you use your own abilities to build a business of a certain size or larger, I'll hand the company over to a professional manager."
From Kim Ho-yeol's perspective, it was no different from having his own possessions stolen.
He couldn't stand it.
Even if the man was his father, wasn't this his right?
Could his father really take it away from him as he pleased?
That was why he sought out a lawyer.
And he got an earful.
He was told that choosing a successor was the chairman's right, not his obligation.
After that, he drowned himself in alcohol.
If Kim Ho-yeol had possessed any real grit, he would have tried to start a business.
Although he had been kicked out of the position of heir, his connections—and the fact that Kim Yeong-gil stood behind him—could not be denied.
Nor could his record and ability, including the fact that he had graduated from an Ivy League business school, be ignored.
Even so, instead of researching how to build a business, he merely stayed drunk.
"Fuck!! Fuuuuuck!!"
-Crash!!
He vented his anger by throwing empty liquor bottles.
A few of his friends—
no, people closer to subordinates than friends, did their best to soothe him.
"Ho-yeol. Don't get so angry."
"Yeah. Anyway, when your father eventually retires, who else would he trust besides family?"
"In the end, everything is only temporary."
He couldn't let himself be intoxicated by their unbearably sweet words of comfort.
Kim Ho-yeol grabbed a liquor bottle.
Then he gulped it down and bared his teeth.
"Fuck. This is all because of that Kang Noah, that son of a bitch...!!"
He had heard about it.
He knew that his position as heir had been revoked after his father met Kang Noah.
What other reason could there be?
It must have been because his father had heard something strange from Kang Noah.
He was certain of it.
'If that weren't the case, there was no way Father could have found out that I gambled...!'
He had gone into the foreign casino at a hotel in Yongsan and gambled, then played cards with people he met there and lost all the investment money.
Even so, with the help of employees and friends he knew, he had somehow disguised it as an investment failure, and his father had believed that. But suddenly, this matter had come up?
It was obvious that Kang Noah had told him.
"Kang Noah... He's certainly an incredible bastard."
"What!? Are you praising that fucking bastard Kang Noah in front of me?!"
"Wh-what? No, that's not what I meant..."
"Ho-yeol. Don't get so angry. And if Kang Noah is the reason you ended up like this, why not hire him?"
"....."
It certainly wasn't a bad idea.
Kang Noah could see people's pasts and futures.
So what if he kept Noah by his side?
He could avoid future dangers as well as make investments.
Not only that, it would bring him tremendous benefits in many other areas.
'That's a good idea.'
"You lost your position as heir because of Kang Noah, didn't you? So if you tell him to take responsibility..."
"Ha. You're right. Yes. That's a very wise decision."
With a sly grin, he spoke to the young man sitting in the corner, quietly sipping his drink.
"Hey! Yoo Gi-tae!!"
"Wh-what?"
"Go see Kang Noah. And tell him I want to meet him."
"Umm... All right."
Yoo Gi-tae nodded slightly.
He couldn't refuse Kim Ho-yeol's orders with the power of his own family.
***
I saw Yoo Gi-tae's past.
In truth, he had no desire whatsoever to associate with someone like Kim Ho-yeol.
Nevertheless, the reason he associated with Kim Ho-yeol was that his older brother had ordered him to.
Befriend the heir to Gasto, a major food company.
And get Goheung Foods' products supplied to Gasto.
He couldn't refuse the orders of the brother who would inherit the company.
That was why he went around with Kim Ho-yeol, who was no different from a wastrel.
Even though he had no desire to do so at all.
"...That bastard is a sinking ship...?"
"That's right."
"That can't be. Chairman Kim Yeong-gil of Gasto only has one son, Kim Ho-yeol. So how could he..."
"I don't know much about company management or succession issues either. But the important thing is that Chairman Kim has no intention of leaving Kim Ho-yeol a single penny."
Of course, since Kim Ho-yeol was his biological son, he could claim a portion of the inheritance through a lawsuit for his legally reserved share.
But would Chairman Kim Yeong-gil really be unaware of that?
He would have everything prepared.
If he failed to come to his senses to the very end.
Now that he had obtained the excellent card of a grandson to replace him, he surely would.
"...."
"So why don't you think about this a little more wisely? Would Kim Ho-yeol really be of any help to you? No, would he be of any help to your company?"
"......"
He pressed his lips tightly together.
That was why I could smile.
"Mr. Yoo Gi-tae. I know exactly what kind of person you are."
"...Y-you think you know me just because you turned over one card...?"
"Mr. Yoo Gi-tae. You weren't interested in company matters in the first place, were you?"
".....!!"
"Would I have to tell you the title of the web novel you write before you'd believe me?"
"...H-how..."
His eyes landed on Hong Si-yeon beside me.
Apparently, he disliked having someone else know the title of a novel that reflected his desires.
Well, if he hated it that much, there was no need to reveal it.
"You aren't interested in managing a company or anything like that. You just want to live comfortably while writing novels, don't you?"
"......."
He fell silent.
Then, with his eyes squeezed shut, he finally muttered,
"That is... true. Actually, with the money I have now... I can live comfortably just receiving dividends from my stocks."
Though he was the son of a company chairman, Yoo Gi-tae wasn't a particularly greedy person.
He disliked luxury, and instead of the liquor worth hundreds of thousands of won that Kim Ho-yeol drank like water every day, he preferred two-thousand-won chocolate milk from a convenience store.
He only pretended to be tough while associating with Kim Ho-yeol because of his older brother's orders.
Deep down, he was simply someone who liked quietly reading novels and writing them himself.
"Shall I give you Chairman Kim Yeong-gil's phone number??"
Then why would he need to associate with that hopeless wastrel Kim Ho-yeol?
He could just work directly with Chairman Kim Yeong-gil.
I waggled my phone, and he shook his head.
"Honestly, I don't think our company's products would satisfy Gasto right now."
He had only tried to form a connection with Kim Ho-yeol and get their products supplied through personal connections because he lacked confidence in their quality.
I smiled at his answer.
Still, he was an honest man.
"Anyway, if what you're saying—that I don't need to associate with Kim Ho-yeol—is true..."
He let out a deep sigh.
Then he brought over a chair from the next table, sat down, and continued in a low voice.
"What should I do?"
"Why are you asking me that...? But I suppose there's no point in saying that, is there? What do you want, Mr. Yoo Gi-tae?"
"What I want...?"
"If all you want is to live while writing novels, then leave home right now. Buy Saseong or SG Memory shares with all your money and live off the dividends."
With the money he had now, he could probably receive around three million won a month.
He might not be able to live like the wealthy son of a company chairman, but he could still live without worrying about money for the rest of his life.
"If you don't like that... I suppose I have to return to the company, right?"
His mission had been to become close to Kim Ho-yeol, but now that mission was meaningless, so he would have to return to working at the company.
"This is a headache."
"Things in this world are generally a headache."
"Sigh... I understand, Mr. Kang."
In any case, he apparently had no intention of associating with Kim Ho-yeol any longer, because he nodded and rose from his seat.
"If he finds out that I disobeyed Kim Ho-yeol's orders, won't he cause trouble for our company?"
"What can a kite with its string cut do?"
He was no longer an heir or anything else of the sort.
He was merely Chairman Kim Yeong-gil's wastrel son.
He might bow and scrape in front of others, but there was little he could actually do.
"I'm worried he might try to harm you, sir."
"Hahaha..."
I told him not to worry. That wouldn't happen.
.
.
.
Hong Si-yeon hadn't come today.
It was true that I was bored without Hong Si-yeon, who usually warmed the surroundings with her gentle presence like a bright sun beside me.
"Let's make do with hamburgers for lunch today."
"Are we going to McDonald's?"
"Isn't McDonald's the best?"
Today's lunch would be a Big Mac.
I was just leaving the café with Mr. Cheolhon and heading toward McDonald's when
I saw a drunk man approaching from afar.
It was Kim Ho-yeol.
Here he comes.
Last night, there had been people targeting me.
They were gangsters disguised as thugs looking for a fight, but naturally, the NIS dealt with every one of them.
I wasn't sure whether to call the organization their subordinates or simply mercenaries, but it had been utterly demolished.
The NIS had said, "What if Kim Ho-yeol runs away? Shouldn't we go arrest him?" But I told them there was no need.
Because I had seen a future in which Kim Ho-yeol, unable to contain his anger, came looking for me with a knife.
Mr. Cheolhon and the NIS had replied, "Come on, surely he isn't stupid enough to do that..." but...
"Wow. He's really coming."
Chairman Kim Yeong-gil had said he was smart, but seeing this, he didn't seem particularly intelligent.
Had a hedgehog simply been blinded by affection for its own child?
"You fucking bastard!!"
What he held was a bottle of liquor.
The man brought the half-full bottle to his mouth and gulped down the liquor.
Kim Ho-yeol charged at me, completely drunk.
In his other hand was a sharp knife.
Mr. Cheolhon stepped forward, but
he wouldn't need to use his strength.
-Crash!!
The man charging at me was tripped by another man—
more precisely, by an NIS agent disguised as an ordinary passerby, and he went tumbling across the floor.
The knife in his hand went flying, while the bottle in his other hand shattered and spilled its contents.
I looked at the NIS agent who had discreetly hooked Kim Ho-yeol's leg to stop him.
I could see several other agents ready to step in at any moment.
They had said they were providing covert protection just in case, but I could only be grateful that they were willing to go this far.
Maybe I should give them a bonus later...
Anyway, I looked down at him as he lay sprawled on the floor, gasping in pain from having drunk himself senseless.
Huh.
I'd seen all kinds of hopeless cases while doing this work, but...
I'd never seen a disaster of a man like this bastard.
I looked down at him and held out a card.
"Turn it over."
"You crazy bastard...!!"
"Ah. Of course, if you don't want to turn it over... Mr. Cheolhon."
"Yes."
His hand moved.
He forcibly grabbed Kim Ho-yeol's hand and made him turn over the stack of cards I had held out.
"Ghk...!!"
Grinding his teeth, he turned the card over.
The Lovers reversed.
I confirmed it and gave a small chuckle.
"Hey, Kim Ho-yeol."
"....."
"You committed a hit-and-run, didn't you?"
"....!!"
His eyes were trembling.