UAI Chapter 23

 Episode 23

The next day, Sunday.

Around early afternoon, Seongjun’s car pulled into the underground parking lot of the hospital.

After parking, he picked up his phone and made a call.

"Yes, Manager."

"Secretary Park, what is Father doing right now?"

"After lunch, the Chairman went for a walk in the garden to help with digestion."

"And how’s his condition?"

"Everything seems normal. He ate well, and his blood pressure is stable."

"Got it. I'm in the underground parking lot now, so I’ll head up shortly."

"Yes, see you in a bit."

After the brief call with Secretary Park, Seongjun grabbed the documents prepared by his secretary—and, just in case, a bottle of calming medicine—and made his way to the hospital room.

When he arrived and sat on the sofa, it wasn’t long before Chairman Choi walked in.

“Huh? What brings you here again?”

Chairman Choi asked, clearly surprised.

“Does a son need a reason to visit his father?”

Seongjun replied with a smile.

Chairman Choi gave a wry laugh.

“When you come, it just stirs up more trouble in my head!”

“Hm... I can’t deny that today. I might really rattle you this time.”

Seongjun’s expression turned slightly serious.

Seeing his son’s face, which he hadn’t seen in a while, Chairman Choi sat down and asked,

“What’s going on?”

Instead of answering right away, Seongjun handed over the calming medicine.

“Please take this first. I’ll talk once you’ve had it.”

Chairman Choi frowned as he accepted it but eventually drank it and slammed the bottle down on the table.

“Alright! Talk! What is it that’s got you acting like this?”

Seongjun turned to Secretary Park.

“Secretary Park, please have a seat and listen too.”

“You’d better sit down. Looks like this guy won’t talk unless you do.”

At the Chairman’s insistence, Secretary Park sat down on the sofa.

With both men watching him, Seongjun began to speak.

“You remember the other day, when Director Hwang visited the hospital?”

“Yes. Why?”

“That day, when Director Hwang left after reporting to you... something about his demeanor felt off. You know I have good instincts, right?”

Chairman Choi, catching on quickly, could sense that Director Hwang had done something serious.

“What is it? What the hell did that bastard do this time? Hurry up and tell me before I lose it!”

“Alright, alright. Geez, you’re so impatient for your age. I had my guys dig into Director Hwang, his family, and even distant relatives. And sure enough, we found something weird. Everyone around him has gotten surprisingly wealthy in just the past few years. Way beyond what could be explained by luck or coincidence. As for Director Hwang himself, his assets have grown far beyond what his salary could account for.”

“So what’s the conclusion?”

“Well, after digging deeper, we found that this jerk had been selling company secrets and living the high life off the profits.”

“Hmph… How much are we talking?”

“Do you remember a few years ago when we bid on that reserved land project with KS Construction? They offered exactly 50 million won more than we did, and the land ended up going to them.”

Chairman Choi didn’t respond, but Secretary Park added quietly.

“Yes, there were internal suspicions at the time. The bidding difference was so small, we feared there might’ve been a leak. We even launched an internal investigation.”

“And the conclusion then was that no employees were involved.”

“So you’re saying Director Hwang was the one who leaked it?”

“Yes. He confessed. Said he received a billion won from KS for that deal.”

Chairman Choi narrowed his eyes, his tone sharp.

“He confessed? You already have him in custody?”

“Yes. I had him brought to my villa last night. My team got all this out of him by morning.”

“Tch.”

Chairman Choi clicked his tongue and scowled.

Seongjun, watching his father’s reaction, calmly continued explaining the details and handed over evidence documents to Secretary Park.

“And finally, there’s one more thing. The biggest one.”

“What?! That bastard did something else?!”

Chairman Choi erupted in anger.

“Chairman, please. You need to calm down, or your blood pressure will spike.”

Secretary Park quickly poured some water and handed it to the chairman.

Chairman Choi drained the glass in one gulp and glared at his son.

“Talk. Now.”

“I’ll tell you, but please, try to stay calm. Remember that land deal in Yangpyeong Director Hwang reported to you about? He said some investment firm swooped in and offered the landowner triple the price?”

“Yeah, I remember. What about it?”

“That ‘investment firm’ was a fake company created by Director Hwang and his co-conspirators. He was planning one last big score before retiring.”

“Urgh! Who else is involved?!”

“Director Hwang and Mr. Beomho.”

“Beomho?! Am I hearing this right? That Beomho—the thug bastard?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Chairman Choi let out a bitter laugh.

“Ha! Maybe I’ve been living too quietly lately. For rats like them to dare sneak into my front yard and try to rob me... Ha!”

As his father’s fury boiled over, Seongjun paused, took a breath, and went on.

“Director Hwang and Mr. Beomho teamed up to create a paper company disguised as an investment firm. They approached the landowner, saying they’d pay three times the price.”

“If they don’t have money to burn, they were obviously planning to launder or steal it from somewhere.”

“Yes. Once they stepped out, Mr. Beomho’s gang was planning to threaten the landowner into selling at a dirt-cheap price. Then they’d flip the land to KS with a premium added. Apparently, they had a deal in place.”

Secretary Park, who had been silently listening, finally spoke up.

“I doubt that’s where it ends.”

Seongjun nodded in agreement.

“Exactly. Since Mr. Beomho’s group is posing as a construction company, they were planning to take a subcontract from KS as well. That way, they could cash in again on the construction side. The leftover profits were to be split between Director Hwang and Mr. Beomho.”

Hearing this, Chairman Choi scoffed.

“Those thug bastards, sharing money? Even a stray dog would laugh at that!”

Seongjun nodded again.

“Right. I think the same. Once Director Hwang outlived his usefulness, they would’ve gotten rid of him.”

“But that stupid fool Director Hwang didn’t even realize that, huh? Joining forces with Beomho of all people...”

Beomho, formerly a major regional gangster, had taken over a small construction company by force and transformed himself into a corporate-type gangster.

Most legitimate companies knew what he was and avoided dealing with him. But the world is full of people who’d rather let others get their hands dirty. Beomho exploited that weakness, partnering with shady figures and growing his influence.

Of course, to Chairman Choi, the whole operation still looked like a child’s game.

“KS keeps coming up. I bet they were the ones who set all this in motion.”

“Yes. I think so too. They probably thought by doing this, their involvement would remain hidden.”

“Hah! Maybe I’ve been running this company too quietly. Seeing these jokers running wild like this is almost funny.”

Both Secretary Park and Seongjun hadn’t seen Chairman Choi this angry in a long time.

“There’s one more thing.”

“What now?”

“There seem to be some rats inside the company.”

Chairman Choi gave a small nod.

“Right. It doesn’t make sense that Director Hwang got away with all this for so long without anyone noticing. Round up every leech feeding off the company and clean house.”

“Yes. I’ve already sent the team to start digging. Director Hwang let slip a few things last night too.”

Chairman Choi stared out the window for a while before speaking again.

“Let’s clean up the internal mess first. As for Beomho and the KS bastards, we’ll deal with them once I’m discharged. Talk to Secretary Park if you need anything.”

“Understood. Then I’ll get going now.”

“Alright. You’ve done well this time. I’m proud of you.”

Seongjun grinned at his father's rare praise.

“Well, it’ll be my company someday anyway, so I should take care of it! You just focus on getting better and getting discharged, okay?”

Chairman Choi smiled warmly at his son for the first time in a while, but then his expression changed as he snapped.

“You brat! Who said you’re getting the company? Don’t get ahead of yourself—just go take care of what you’re supposed to be doing!”

Despite the scolding, Seongjun smiled and nodded before saying goodbye to Secretary Park and leaving the room.

He headed next to Sejin’s hospital room.

He wanted to thank Sejin for helping prevent the company’s losses.

The guard standing outside confirmed Seongjun’s identity and opened the door.

As Seongjun stepped inside, Sejin and Hajin greeted him with bright smiles.

“Uncleeeee!!”

Sejin ran over and jumped into Seongjun’s arms. Laughing, Seongjun lifted Sejin up and spun him around once.

“Wheee~ Uncle! Do it again!”

Laughing, Seongjun spun him a few more times before sitting down on the sofa with him still in his arms.

“What brings you here, hyung? No call or anything.” 

Hajin asked with a smile.

“I heard my nephew is getting discharged tomorrow, so I figured I’d stop by. Don’t tell me I’m not welcome?”

Hajin quickly waved his hands.

“No, not at all! I was just surprised, that’s all.”

“Right? Everywhere I go, people are always happy to see me. Hahaha!”

Seongjun's cheesy humor earned only a polite smile from Hajin.

After some light conversation, Seongjun looked down at the child in his arms.

“Sejin, did you tell Hajin what we talked about the other day?”

Sejin froze.

He had planned to eventually tell him, but every time he tried, the words wouldn’t come out.

He had no trouble opening up to Seongjun when they first met, but when it came to Hajin… the hesitation ran deep.

'Will he believe me? What if he thinks I’m strange? What if he thinks I’m some cursed child possessed by a ghost? What if he believes I caused the accident that killed this body’s parents?'

In his past life, Sejin wouldn’t have thought so much about it. But ever since he woke up in this body, he found himself thinking like a child in every sense—fears, thoughts, identity.

Even though he retained a much higher level of intelligence and reasoning than a normal child, he had begun to truly accept Hajin as his one and only family.

He was his first real family in all his lifetimes.

That emotional bond brought with it a fear he hadn’t experienced before.

So he kept hesitating.

And now, with Seongjun suddenly bringing it up so directly in front of Hajin, Sejin’s body froze completely.

Seeing his nephew so tense, Hajin looked at Sejin with concern.

“Sejin, what’s wrong? If it’s hard to tell me, then you don’t have to say anything. Don’t be so nervous, okay? It’s really okay.”

At Hajin’s gentle words, Sejin’s eyes welled up with tears.

“Sniff... Sniff... Uncle...”

Suddenly bursting into tears, Sejin startled Hajin, who quickly took him from Seongjun’s arms and held him close to comfort him.

“Why are you crying? Don’t cry, okay? Please. When Sejin cries, it makes Uncle really sad. You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to, okay? I’m not curious at all. Not one bit. So don’t cry anymore. Your eyes are going to get all sore.”

As Hajin spoke soothingly, he carefully wiped Sejin’s tear-streaked face with tissues from the table.

Watching the scene, Seongjun scratched his forehead awkwardly.

“Uh… I think I might have made him cry. Sorry.”

“No, it’s not that. You didn’t say anything wrong. Kids cry easily anyway. Don’t worry about it.”

After a while, Sejin calmed down a little and sniffled as he spoke.

“Sniff... Uncle…”

“Oh dear, your nose is all stuffed up. Here, blow into this tissue. Go on. Big blow!”

“Snf!”

“Harder.”

“SNFF!!”

With his nose cleared, Sejin could finally breathe more easily.

Now settled, Sejin looked directly into Hajin’s eyes.

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