Chapter 104
His past as seen in Kim Ho-yeol.
Among them was one particularly serious crime: a hit-and-run.
Three years ago, in winter.
He hit someone while driving drunk, then fled.
"You didn't even care who you'd hit with your car."
His excuse for hitting someone while drunk driving was simply that he'd had bad luck.
He felt neither remorse nor regret.
He was simply lying low.
"The police officer you bribed... Was it Officer Park Seo-jun of Gangnam Police Station?"
"H-How did you know that....!!!"
"I'm not exactly a righteous man, but I can't just let someone who tried to attack me off the hook."
I got to my feet.
Then I took out my phone.
"Yes. Prosecutor Gu Nam-cheol? It's me."
-Oh. What is it?
"I have something to report."
I calmly told Gu Nam-cheol about Kim Ho-yeol's crimes.
He listened in admiration for quite a while, but seemed somewhat flustered when he heard Kim Ho-yeol was from a chaebol family.
-...A chaebol family. Then their lawyers will be formidable. I'll have to prepare.
"They won't be all that formidable."
-Pardon? Why not...?
"Because I'll stop them."
This bastard needs to spend some time behind bars.
On top of that, Kim Ho-yeol's father, Chairman Kim Yeong-gil, was also planning to cut his son off.
He wouldn't let this opportunity pass him by.
-Excellent.
"Yes. And Kim Ho-yeol has committed many other crimes besides that."
From embezzlement and breach of trust to assault and abuse of power, there were plenty of other charges that could put him behind bars.
The more I mentioned, the paler Kim Ho-yeol's face became.
-Understood. Then leave the rest to me.
"Yes. As always, I'll be counting on you."
-Haha. Don't worry.
I hung up.
Kim Ho-yeol, pinned face-down beneath Mr. Cheolhon, looked up at me and cried.
"Why! Why are you doing this to me!! Why!!"
Is this guy insane?
I didn't ask him why he'd come at me with a knife, either.
I merely looked at him.
"Isn't it only natural that someone who commits a crime should be punished?"
"Fuck!! Am I the only bad guy in this world?! Am I the only one who's done anything wrong!! Hey! Kang Noah! Have you lived such a good life?"
"Hmm..."
I folded my arms and thought about it.
"At least I think I've lived better than you."
Honestly, how many people had I saved, and how many had I helped avoid terrible futures?
I'd lived a much better life than a piece of trash who went around causing trouble and throwing his chaebol father's wealth around.
"If that bothers you, sue me."
I rose from my seat.
By then, the police had arrived and handcuffed him.
"You... You!! Just you wait!!"
His eyes were filled with hatred, but
I wasn't particularly afraid.
He had to worry first about how he was going to live in prison.
Chairman Kim Yeong-gil wouldn't help him in the slightest.
.
.
.
A few days after Kim Ho-yeol was sent away.
I had been idling around at home before coming to a café for coffee, when Chairman Kim Yeong-gil came to see me.
"I sent that damned bastard to prison. He'll be locked up for at least twenty years."
"Oh. Really?"
"Yes. I thought he might come to his senses after serving time."
"Do you really think so...?"
"...Isn't that possible?"
"No."
"Sigh..."
Chairman Kim Yeong-gil let out a heavy sigh.
Running a company was difficult, but he seemed to be realizing firsthand just how difficult raising a child could be.
"That boy... Is he really beyond saving?"
"I'm not sure... They say a beating is usually the answer, but once a child's head gets too big, even that stops working."
I didn't particularly think corporal punishment was essential to character education.
But I couldn't deny that some people only came to their senses after being beaten.
And Kim Ho-yeol had simply missed that window.
"By the way, what happened to your daughter-in-law and grandson?"
"I went to see them and talked with them first."
About his son.
And about what they would do from here on.
"I wanted to add him to the family register... but she said no."
"Ha ha. I suppose she'd had enough."
"Yes... As his father, I truly can't hold my head up."
She thoroughly denied having any relationship with Kim Ho-yeol.
Apparently, she was afraid he might take her child away.
"She only told me after I promised I wouldn't take him away."
"So? Did you just leave it at that?"
"Of course not. I told her that if she wanted to work, she should work for our company. The pay and benefits are better than where she works now."
"I see."
"And my grandson... To be honest, he's incredibly cute and smart."
He said that, then showed me a photograph.
The boy really did look bright-eyed and adorable.
"I actually brought him somewhere nearby."
"Oh. Really?"
"Yes. My secretary is looking after him. He likes Max Ice Cream, so she's buying him some there."
"The ice cream here is good too."
"Shall I bring him over?"
"Since we're already here, I'd like to see his face."
Chairman Kim Yeong-gil looked pleased as he made a call.
A little while later, a boy walked over with a large middle-aged man.
"...Noah hyung?"
"Oh. You know me?"
"I've watched lots of your videos on YouTube. My name is Jo Hyeon-myeong."
Jo, huh.
He's using his mother's surname.
"I see. But Hyeon-myeong, you know that if you're going to call me hyung, you don't need to use honorifics, right?"
"Hehe. Okay, hyung. But, hyung, were you the one who found my grandfather?"
"I was."
"What about my dad?"
"Hmm..."
What should I do?
Should I tell him the truth? Or protect his dream?
Would it be less shocking if I said, "Your dad went to America"?
I looked at Chairman Kim Yeong-gil, and he gave a bitter smile.
"The boy knows more or less."
"Is that so? Then I suppose I should tell you the truth. Your dad committed a lot of crimes, so he went to prison. More precisely, I sent him there."
"I see..."
"Aren't you surprised?"
"Mom used to say that a lot. That my dad was a piece of fucking trash."
His mother had certainly given him a proper upbringing.
"So when I asked her why she'd met Dad, she said she'd met him because he was still pretty handsome."
What a woman.
"Anyway, Mom said I mustn't live like that."
"She's a wonderful mother."
"Yeah. I think so too."
Pride filled the little boy's face.
I couldn't help smiling.
"Want to turn one over?"
"...Yeah."
With anticipation on his face, Jo Hyeon-myeong carefully turned over a card.
It was the World card.
"That's a good one."
"Huh? Really?"
"Yeah. You won't have any particular problems in life."
He really would live a life without any major ups and downs.
It wasn't particularly strange.
After all, the chairman of a chaebol family was going to appoint him as his successor and assign people to look after him. How could his life have any ups and downs?
"Still, you have to work hard. You know that, right?"
"That the future changes. You've said it a lot on your broadcasts, hyung."
"That's right. Work hard from now on. And..."
I got up and approached the manager.
Then I asked him to pack up a few cupcakes.
"These are for you. Take them home and eat them with your mother."
"Okay! Mom loves cupcakes! Thanks, hyung!"
The boy left with a bright smile.
Chairman Kim Yeong-gil watched him go and smiled faintly.
"If it weren't for you... I might truly have been unable to hold my head up even in death."
"Ha ha. Surely it wouldn't have come to that."
"The many employees who followed me, trusting only in me, would have suffered under an incompetent leader and lost so much."
Chairman Kim Yeong-gil rose from his seat and bowed deeply to me.
"I sincerely thank you."
I didn't refuse his heartfelt thanks.
After Chairman Kim Yeong-gil left, I was sipping a second café latte when
the café door opened and a man entered.
"Mr. Kang!!"
"Oh..."
It was Producer Jang U-gyeong.
He must be busy these days, so what brought him here?
"Have you been well?"
"I've always been well."
"Haha. You certainly seem to be. Well... The reason I've come to see you is that we're preparing a new variety show."
"A new variety show?"
"Yes. It's a show where we cook and eat in the countryside..."
"Ah, I see. But why are you telling me about that...?"
"Sir. Would you perhaps be interested in appearing on it?"
I was a hot topic lately, but was there any reason to drag me into a variety show?
No, putting that aside, why would I appear on a show about cooking and eating in the countryside...?
"More importantly, that show's concept sounds similar to the one Ppeurhong is doing... Is there a connection?"
"Yes. We're actually working on it together."
"Oh-ho. I see. You're making it part of the regular broadcast and filming a variety show... But do I really have to appear?"
"If you don't want to, then we can't recommend it any further."
Producer Jang U-gyeong said offhandedly that it was merely an offer to appear.
"But you'll enjoy it."
He had a point.
I could see in Jang U-gyeong's future that he would laugh and play around.
"It'll be difficult, right?"
"I suppose? I'm the producer in charge, but cooking and eating in the countryside isn't as easy as you might think."
Like catching fish in a stream and making spicy fish stew.
Or completing a mission to obtain meat and grilling it to eat.
Or gathering seafood by hand at the beach.
Since they had to procure most of their ingredients themselves, it wasn't an easy variety show.
But apparently, it would be fun.
"Actors Lee Bin and Kim Hyeon-u will be appearing."
"Is it also to promote a movie?"
"Yes."
The movie I'd appeared in as a cameo last time.
Producer Jang U-gyeong said casually that it was about time to promote it, so they were appearing on variety shows here and there.
"From our perspective, we'd be delighted if you appeared, sir. But we don't want to burden you."
"Then I'll do it."
"Yes. It's a shame, but I under... What?"
"I said I'll do it."
"Uh... Really? I made the offer, but honestly, I thought you'd refuse..."
But still.
It looked fun, so how could I say no?
I'd never experienced country life before.
.
.
.
The filming location was an island.
Of course, it wasn't as far away as last time.
It was only an hour by boat from Incheon.
"Welcome!!"
Of course, Mr. Cheolhon seemed to suffer quite a bit during that hour-long trip.
I didn't get seasick, so I was fine.
"Having you join us, sir... Haha. It's like having a whole army on our side."
Producer Jang U-gyeong laughed heartily as he led me along.
We arrived at a small house on the coast.
I could see Lee Bin sitting among the staff who were already preparing for the shoot.
"Sir!"
Lee Bin broke into a broad smile the moment he saw me. He's really happy to see me.
"You've been well, right?"
"Ha ha. I've been fine, of course. What about you, sir?"
"I've been fine too. But are the three of us the only ones appearing?"
Me, Lee Bin, and Kim Hyeon-u.
Are those the only people appearing?
That was when it happened.
The door opened, and a man and a woman entered.
One of them was Kim Hyeon-u.
And the other was...
"Kang So-ra?"
An actress from Twin Entertainment who was on hiatus.
She entered after taking off her sunglasses and greeted the staff.
"Producer Jang, you never said actress Kang So-ra would be coming?"
"Haha. Surprise! Well, rather, actress Kang So-ra suddenly said she wanted to appear herself."
Jang U-gyeong's gaze landed on me.
"Because she heard you were appearing, sir."
"Oh-ho."
While Lee Bin looked intrigued, Kang So-ra approached me.
She smiled faintly and held out her hand.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Kang Noah. I'm Kang So-ra."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kang Noah. But you decided to come here because you heard I was appearing?"
"Yes."
"Do you want me to read your fortune?"
"Yes. That too..."
She hesitated.
Then she said in a soft voice,
"Actually, I've been harassed by a stalker lately. I thought someone like you might be able to catch them..."
It's been a while since I caught a stalker.