IMFOBO | CH 48 | Hide and Seek Is My Preference

Tae-san put a cigarette filter between his lips in the darkness.

As he tilted his head, Team Leader Jang from the Chairman’s secretarial office lit the end of his filter, as if he’d been waiting for this moment.

Flicker, flicker.

The red glow sparkled in the darkness.

After deeply inhaling and exhaling the smoke, Tae-san looked up at the brightly lit building through his hazy vision.

That tiny Lee Eun-cho had fled conspicuously.

Without making a sound while he was showering.

Though it wasn’t unexpected, how could she be so predictable?

‘All she did was run away to the hospital. It’s not like she’s throwing a tantrum, begging to be caught’.

So mischievous and impertinent.

But that was also what made her endearing, so he let it slide.

“Did the photos get delivered properly to the Chairman?”

Tae-san looked at Team Leader Jang, the chairman’s secretary.

Instead of Chief Secretary Kim, who had served the chairman for many years, he had targeted the man working under him.

“Yes, Managing Director. I selected and forwarded an affectionate photo of you two side by side.”

He had merely conveyed the message to “distinguish between the setting and rising sun,” but the quick-calculating Team Leader Jang immediately volunteered to be Tae-san’s informant.

Had it been Chief Secretary Kim, who had shared life’s ups and downs with his grandfather, such cooperation would have been difficult.

Thanks to him, Tae-san could strategically leak information about Eun-cho to his grandfather in a favorable light.

“He didn’t have any particular suspicions?”

Team Leader Jang was also an excellent liaison who closely monitored the grandfather’s movements.

No matter how suspicious the old man might be, he would surely come around by now.

Tae-san pulled the corners of his mouth into a satisfied smile.

“Actually, the Madam saw and heard so much in person that I believe the Chairman has also turned positive about the situation.”

Ah, my girlish mother.

Tae-san held back a smile.

She had volunteered to be a human CCTV and had done a remarkable job.

How skillfully she appeared at every critical moment.

It would have been difficult to orchestrate even if planned.

“Heh.”

Remembering Eun-cho’s face as she buried her head between his thighs, not knowing what to do, he couldn’t help laughing like a madman.

He had almost gotten aroused.

While sitting on that dirty garage floor.

To think she would give him such a rare experience.

Indeed, Lee Eun-cho never failed to keep things interesting.

“Managing Director?”

“Ah, sorry. Something just came to mind.”

Team Leader Jang briefly scanned Tae-san with the same look similar to the one he’d had earlier.

It was understandable that those around him would be perplexed, as he had never shown such an absent-minded expression before.

Just then, a short vibration signaled an incoming message.

It was from Eun-cho.

[I’ve deposited this month’s principal and interest. I’ll settle Grandmother’s hospital room fee again on the 15th.]

“Ha.”

Look, see how impertinent she is.

That’s why he was helplessly drawn to her.

It was true they had shared a passionate kiss, but her matter-of-fact attitude—treating debt as debt—made Tae-san smile.

His raw, unfiltered gaze gleamed sharply.

“Good work.”

Tae-san nodded with an incredulous sigh.

As Team Leader Jang withdrew, Gi-wang, who had been standing at a distance, approached.

He drew deeply on the cigarette until his cheeks hollowed, then exhaled.

Stale smoke drifted through his well-balanced lips.

“Did the conversation go well?”

“More or less.”

He carelessly answered as he stubbed out the half-burned filter in his cigarette case.

“Both the Chairman and you are truly remarkable, sir.”

During turbulent times, Chairman Ryu Deokbae, Tae-san’s grandfather, had fled to South Korea alone and built the current Baekun Group with his bare hands.

Starting by supplying goods to the U.S. military and operating city buses, Baekun Group distinguished itself in construction.

Soon, it expanded into hotels and retail, growing into today’s Baekun Group.

Blood will tell.

Ryu Tae-san was the grandson who most resembled his grandfather, who had grown his empire by any means necessary.

They were cut from the same cloth—the grandfather who put tails on his grandson and the grandson who turned those very people to his advantage.

“Except for facial features, you’ve inherited his temperament completely.”

“If I looked like him too, that would be a disaster. Secretary Seon, can you really speak so bluntly?”

Gi-wang cleared his throat and stared intently at Tae-san.

As if the main point was about to come.

“By the way, I have something to report, sir.”

“Make it quick. You have one minute.”

He needed to go catch Lee Eun-cho right away, showing his prowess as a hunter, but there were so many people reporting to him today.

Tae-san nodded, and Gi-wang began.

“Go Hwa-ran has booked an airline ticket. For next Monday”.

“It’s not time yet.”

The timing was impeccable.

Her nose for money was truly impressive.

There was no way news that her nephew had found a cash cow would have reached the Philippines yet.

He had been keeping tabs on Go Hwa-ran for a long time.

Even before meeting Eun-cho face-to-face and long before frequenting Cheongnim-ri.

Go Hwa-ran was a woman with a terminal case of business fever and a risk-taker’s temperament, indulging not only in speculation but gambling too.

Somehow, she managed to ruin everything she touched.

If she hadn’t used the ancestral house as collateral for her reckless ventures, he would have had a much harder time acquiring land for the energy industry belt development.

“After living luxuriously in the Philippines, keeping quiet like a dead mouse, why is she suddenly making waves now?”

Initially, he monitored Go Hwa-ran to eliminate variables in the project. After deciding to marry Eun-cho, he kept her as a card he could play to pressure Eun-cho if needed.

Being a woman obsessed with money, she would be easy to manipulate to his advantage.

He was fully prepared to bring her into the game if necessary.

Though with everything going so smoothly according to plan, she had been a useless card so far.

“It seems she’s coming for her daughter’s wedding.”

Ah.

The woman Eun-cho had asked about with wide eyes, comparing their beauty.

He only remembered she had eyes, a nose, and a mouth, but couldn’t recall her appearance at all.

“She hasn’t caught the scent of money?”

“That hasn’t been determined yet. Anyway, she gave up the ancestral house long ago, so she has no right to discuss any compensation.”

“She doesn’t seem like the type of woman who would follow that kind of common sense.”

Tae-san slightly furrowed his brow and rubbed the front of his eyebrow with his thumb.

If she were a woman with common sense or conscience, she wouldn’t have sucked dry the blood of her dead sister’s flesh and blood.

“Block Go Hwa-ran’s entry. Use those gambling loan sharks or whatever means necessary. Make sure she can’t set foot in Korea before my wedding.”

“Yes, understood.”

“Good work.”

Tae-san’s eyes gleamed sharply.

He patted Gi-wang’s shoulder a couple of times and turned away.

In the distance, he could see the brightly lit hospital building.

He walked slowly, letting the wind carry away the cigarette smell.

On his way to meet Lee Eun-cho, who would be caught in less than half a day.

His stride was noticeably lighter as he pulled up the corners of his mouth into a smooth smile.

Arriving at the hospital room, Tae-san looked through the glass door at the two people inside.

Despite their mutual affection, the atmosphere was quite different from that between him and his grandfather, who was indifferent and sometimes harsh.

‘Just missing a tail, but truly a white dog.’

She looked genuinely happy, wearing a broad smile as if something was incredibly pleasing.

She was definitely pretty when she smiled, though why he occasionally felt the urge to make her cry was beyond him.

When he slid open the door and entered, both pairs of eyes turned to him.

“Oh my, Ryu son-in-law!”

Grandmother greeted Tae-san with a bright face.

Deliberately avoiding Eun-cho’s tense gaze, Tae-san firmly held the grandmother’s hand.

“How are you feeling?”

“Oh, I’m doing well! All thanks to you, Ryu son-in-law!”

They exchanged pleasant conversation.

Tae-san continued the conversation, responding to the grandmother’s words. He purposely kept talking, noticing how uncomfortable Eun-cho had been since he arrived.

“If Grandmother’s condition allows, I’d like us to have a meeting of the families.”

“Oh my, would it be alright with me looking like this? Your family is quite wealthy, right? If the elders are displeased because this old lady is sick…”

“Don’t worry about that. In our family, Eun-cho is being welcomed with open arms.”

This much, at least, was sincere.

He didn’t want the sick elderly woman to stress unnecessarily.

Perhaps sensing Tae-san’s genuine feelings, Eun-cho looked at him with somewhat softened eyes.

She seemed to have relaxed a bit, seeing that their conversation was normal.

“Oh my, our Eun-cho will reach Cheongnim-ri in the middle of the night. You should get going before the buses stop running.”

“I’ll take her home.”

“Oh? But it’s such a long way—will you be alright for work tomorrow?”

The grandmother’s gaze became more affectionate.

The longer their conversation continued, the more Eun-cho fidgeted like a puppy that needed to pee.

At this rate, our white dog might slip on her own behind.

“If I don’t do this, she keeps running away.”

“Huh? Running away? Our Eun-cho? Why?”

Eun-cho glared at Tae-san, trying to signal him to stop.

Tae-san ignored her and opened his mouth with a gentle smile.

“It’s fine. Hide-and-seek is my preference.”

Lee Eun-cho, standing defiantly in the hospital room waiting to be caught, was not a bear but a fox.

If she wanted to be caught, he had no choice but to oblige.