PEN Vol 1 Ch. 2

1. Shadow 1 (Part 2)

“Did Moon Sunhyuk go home?”

“No, he’s still here.”

“Where did he go.”

“…Well, he, um, just went outside for a moment.”

Moon Sunhyuk was originally part of the disposal team and, if Cheon Sejoo’s orders were to be followed, he would risk his neck for him as he’s one of the direct subordinates under Cheon Sejoo’s command.

He had clearly said yesterday that he would be here all day on Saturday, but he had left his seat empty. Cheon Sejoo began to grow suspicious of Moon Sunhyuk’s uncharacteristic behavior.

Moon Sunhyuk, who had washed his hands and wrapped a paper towel around his hand, entered the office. With his short-cropped hair and tall stature, he was physically larger than anyone else in the room. He was half a span taller than Cheon Sejoo, and as soon as he found Sejoo, he approached him and respectfully bowed his head.

“Welcome back, sir.” [T/N: I am changing hyungnim to sir/boss from now on as they use to refer to him in the manhwa.]

“……”

Cheon Sejoo remained silent and lowered his gaze. It was evident that there was still moisture on his hands and shirt sleeves under the paper towel. Knowing Cheon Sejoo’s hygiene obsession, Sunhyuk realized what had happened in the office before he arrived.

His neatly closed lips were slightly tilted. The sharp line of Cheon Sejoo’s jaw was clearly visible, with blue veins bulging next to his neck. Seeing Sunhyuk’s gaze directed towards the nape of his neck, Cheon Sejoo raised his hand to cover the traces of the marks left by Kang Doyoon. Soon, a hoarse voice came out of him.

“Sunhyuk.”

Under his straight eyebrows, indifferent eyes stared at Moon Sunhyuk. Moon Sunhyuk, who had committed a sin, could not bring himself to meet that gaze. As he bowed his head, Cheon Sejoo’s chillingly cold fingers tapped Sunhyuk’s cheek.

“When are you going to fix your bad habit?”

It was then that the hand that had been tapping playfully suddenly struck Moon Sunhyuk’s cheek just after that question ended.

Snap!

The sharp sound reverberated through the office, causing the men who were quietly cleaning to freeze. With a glance that conveyed fear, Cheon Sejoo aimed his gaze at Moon Sunhyuk, who stood with his head bowed.

“Who do you think you are, messing with the kids?”

The tone of questioning his qualifications was calm. Cheon Sejoo was not angry nor was he upset. Knowing the reason behind Moon Sunhyuk‘s use of violence, he couldn’t genuinely blame him. This was merely a reprimand that Cheon Sejoo, as the current person in charge of Shinsa Capital, felt was necessary.

“I apologize.”

Moon Sunhyuk admitted his fault without a single excuse. In response to his brief but sincere apology, Cheon Sejoo clicked his tongue inwardly and turned his head. He then ordered him, who was caught in an awkward situation, to find the troublemaker who had summoned him here.

Shortly after, the youngest member returned with a sullen face and swollen cheeks. He had caused trouble over the weekend, forcing Cheon Sejoo to be called in, and Moon Sunhyuk had already dealt out his punishment.

Since he had the misfortune of being caught and beaten by Moon Sunhyuk, he deserved some leniency. However, Cheon Sejoo, who clicked his tongue, did not show any mercy and instead slapped the youngest in the face. Once again, the sound echoed. Soon, blood flowed down the corner of the youngest member’s mouth. Cheon Sejoo looked at his pitiful appearance and opened his mouth.

“Youngjun.”

“Yes……”

A large hand gently caressed the head of the youngest, Youngjun. Despite his trembling lips, Yeonjun answered loudly. Cheon Sejoo, looking down at his swollen red cheeks, smiled and gently scolded in a soft voice.

“If you have a brain, use it. How many times is this now? If you keep doing this, I’ll need to crack your head open and see what’s inside.”

“I will never do it again, sir!”

“You should… How many men should I clean up to intervene for your mischief?”

“I’m sorry, sir!”

Youngjun’s profuse apology made Cheon Sejoo feel suddenly overwhelmed with fatigue. He’d rather resort to physical violence than endure this pretense of being a good hyungnim. Cheon Sejoo quickly wanted to go home and rest.

He turned away from Youngjun, who was crying with tears streaming down his face. Youngjun then followed behind Cheon Sejoo, who crossed the partition to go to the accounting office.

Finally, peace returned to the office. Moon Sunhyuk went out to buy coffee for Cheon Sejoo and the other men resumed cleaning, keeping an eye on Cheon Sejoo’s mood.

“Hold the mouse and do as I say.”

Cheon Sejoo, sitting by the window in the accounting office, instructed Youngjun, who held the mouse with a rigid posture on how to recover files. Despite Yeungjun accidentally overwriting the most recent backup file twice, and almost prompting Cheon Sejoo to raise his fist in frustration, he fortunately grasped the recovery method firmly from the third attempt onwards, avoiding further outbursts.

The recovery process was finally complete, and while Youngjun typed up the accounting data that was due today, Cheon Sejoo remained seated, sipping an iced Americano that Sunhyuk had brought him and stared out the window. As he finally decided to go home, he was overcome by a surge of laziness.

It wasn’t until he’d been at the office for over an hour, lost in thought as he stared down at his new car, that he finally called out to someone.

“Hey!”

Ten meters below the window, a man who had been staring at his white Lamborghini on the sidewalk suddenly perked up at the sound. Then, pretending not to have heard, he casually walked past the car. Cheon Sejoo, momentarily bewildered, hurled the cup he was holding out the window in frustration.

Thud, the disposable cup, which was only filled with ice, hit the man’s foot. Startled, he looked around and then glanced up at the 3rd floor where Cheon Sejoo was, with a surprised expression as if he didn’t know what had just happened.

“Ah, boss! When did you arrive?”

In response to the questioning shout, Cheon Sejoo coldly replied.

“You shameless b*stard, pretending not to know. Aren’t you coming up here?”

“What? I can’t hear you well! I’ll be right up!”

Kim Donggil, the person who had called him thirty times since morning, turned his head away pretending not to hear Cheon Sejoo’s curse, and briskly walked away. Seeing him disappear into the building, Cheon Sejoo came down from the window frame and left the accounting office.

“Sir, would you like to go for a meal?”

As he came out, Sunhyuk, who had been smoking put away his cigarette, rushed over and asked.

“Forget it,” Cheon Sejoo pushed Moon Sunhyuk away with his arm and headed towards the water purifier. After receiving a glass of cold water and drinking it, he saw Donggil entering the office just in time.

He had a closely shaved head, a chubby face that couldn’t be called handsome even with empty words. When Cheon Sejoo and Donggil’s eyes met, Donggil smiled warmly with a face that strangely evoked affection.

“When did you arrive?”

He must have heard the news that he had arrived earlier, but he was annoyed that he pretended not to know.

“Stop messing around and come here.”

“I’m a bit busy…”

“If I come myself, I’ll beat you up.”

As soon as Cheon Sejoo said those words, he came forward with a terrifying step, as if his feet were flying. Pushing Moon Sunhyuk with his buttocks, Kim Donggil stood politely with his hands clasp together in front of Cheon Sejoo. Staring at his face, which was muttering to hit him without hurting him, he clicked his tongue as he entered the accounting office.

“Buy some meat for the youngest after work.”

Having been scolded and hit by both him and Sunhyuk, he must have been utterly devastated. Once Youngjun left the office as well, there wouldn’t be anyone here with a significant level of intelligence left. Only the humanoid apes would remain. So, it was essential to take care of matters while he was still here.

However, upon hearing the words to take care of the youngest, Kim Donggil pursed his lips as if he couldn’t hear the words. At the absurd statement that he had no money, Cheon Sejoo became annoyed.

“You must be blowing through your money left and right. You just got paid yesterday.”

“I invested it all in cryptocurrency. Isn’t that trendy these days?”

“Hah….”

Even though he told him not to gamble, he’s messing around with cryptocurrency. Cheon Sejoo sighed deeply, his hands clutching his throbbing head. If he had to hit someone while working, Kim Donggil would be the one he wanted to hit the most here, but unfortunately, he had no excuse. Being stupid wasn’t a valid reason to hit him.

Helplessly lowering his head, Cheon Sejoo soon gestured to Sun-hyuk, and the quick-witted Sunhyuk found the jacket Cheon Sejoo had taken off and brought it over. From the jacket pocket, he took out several fifty thousand won bills and handed them to Kim Donggil.

“I’ll kill you if you eat all of it alone.”

“Yes, understood!”

It wasn’t very pleasant to see him smiling while answering. Cheon Sejoo asked him irritably.

“How many kids are there upstairs?”

“None. They’re busy finishing up.”

Since there was no need to worry about the guys guarding the entrance, even if Donggil, Youngjun, and Jangjung were added, there were only six of them. However, Cheon Sejoo, who knew how much they ate, took out a few more bills from his wallet and handed them to him. In order not to starve the youngest, it was necessary to fill the stomachs of the older guys. Donggil’s mouth widened as he held the money.

“Wow, we’re so lucky to have Manger Cheon here. We used to starve every day….”

“Stop f*cking with me. I’m leaving.”

Cheon Sejoo, who didn’t want to stay in this filthy place for another minute, put on his jacket and turned around. Suddenly, Kim Donggil asked in a subtle voice.

“Oh, the director is coming at 1 o’clock. Are you going to leave without meeting him?”

“……”

Cheon Sejoo’s face twisted in annoyance at the mention of the director. Soon after, he turned around and looked at Donggil, raising his hand. With his fingers spinning around next to his temple, Cheon Sejoo said.

“Are you crazy?”

“Of course not. Since you’ve come after a long time, it means you should stay a little longer.”

Cheon Sejoo new well that despite Donggil’s pretense of being clueless, he was actually sharper and more adept at handling situations than anyone else.

The director, Han Jonghyun, like Cheon Sejoo, was one of the people under Shin Gyoyeon, the next successor to the organization and is also known for being a vulgar man who shamelessly pursued women.

He had only one reason to visit Shinsa Capital. To recklessly borrow money and to take advantage of young girls who had been pushed to the edge of the cliff due to debt collectors and using it as an excuse of repaying their debts.

Kim Donggil’s words meant that he wanted Cheon Sejoo to deal with the director. However, Cheon Sejoo had no intention of doing so. Whether the annoying Kim Donggil was in distress or not, it was irrelevant to him, and the director was someone extremely irritating. Cheon Sejoo did not want to face him if possible.

“I’m done, you deal with that director and suck up to him as much as you want.”

Cheon Sejoo turned around spitting out words that Han Jonghyun would surely hate. But the moment he stood in front of the entrance, a face popped into his mind. His expression hardened as he remembered the girl he saw on the lower floor.

Even though he only glanced at her briefly, she was so remarkably pretty that she left a lasting impression. She didn’t seem like an adult, but he vaguely remembered hearing that Han Jonghyun was the kind of guy who would even mess with minors.

F*ck. Cheon Sejoo closed his eyes tightly and clicked his tongue in his mouth.

It’s none of my business.

He kept telling himself that, but his steps did not falter. Feeling annoyed with himself as he messed his hair, he eventually sat down at the desk near the entrance while crossing his legs, asking aloud.

“What about the kid downstairs.”

“The kid? Oh….”

‘Who?’ He hoped for an answer like that or ‘There’s no one there.’ However, Kim Donggil furrowed his brows as if he understood and shook his head.

The kid’s still here. Donggil explained to Sejoo with a gesture.

“What else could it be? The girl’s father borrowed money and ran away, so her mother was dragged here as a guarantor. But she’s been asking to be taken to where her mother is for a few days now.”

She wasn’t waiting for her parents who were dragged in because of the debt. She was waiting for her parents who had already been dragged into the business to come back to pay off the debt.

That child, was barefooted, here…..

His mouth went dry.

I should quietly go home and wait, why should I stick around here and do something.

Cheon Sejoo muttered to himself, clicking his tongue inside.