TMPW Ch 11 part 1

TaeKyung woke up in a haze of pain.

Sunlight crept into the room from between the curtains. An unfamiliar ceiling, the clearly visible packages of syringes. He could smell a sweet aroma wafting in from somewhere. When he smelled that familiar scent, he cried out his sister’s name. What happened?

He had been caught by President Min. He recalled being beaten, torn, and left to suffer until he almost died. Even though it didn’t seem like it would end, he tried to hang on with all his might. However, WooKyung-ahjussi couldn’t do it. It was unbearable watching WooKyung-ahjussi crumble and collapse before his very eyes.

In the end, TaeKyung had given up the account in Luxembourg to save WooKyung’s life, but President Min didn’t hesitate to kill him anyway.

Son of a bitch. TaeKyung was going to kill him. It was no longer enough to just bring him to his knees. If it wasn’t for Yuan holding him back , he would have already killed Min DaeYup by now.

What happened?

He remembered seeing Yuan. His sister’s face was pale as she ran down to rescue him. How did his sister, who had always fainted at the sight of blood, manage to come down there? More importantly, how had she managed to bring him here?

Suddenly, he heard a click as the door opened followed by his sister’s voice.

“Oppa…”

That slightly low voice that he had missed so much.

TaeKyung turned his head. Yuan was wearing a soft blouse with a pair of slacks. Her hair was left down. He quickly examined his sister. She didn’t look like she’d gotten hurt anywhere.

“I told you not to come.”

At his words, Yuan looked disappointed. They were finally able to properly talk after a year of being unable to, but the first thing he did was scold her. TaeKyung also didn’t like it, but he couldn’t help it.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Yuan approached him and gazed at his pale face.

“Do you know that you’ve been asleep for three days?”

Three days? He hadn’t realized. He had been in and out of consciousness, and everything felt like a dream.

“I didn’t know. Where are we?”

There was no way that they were at Seo JoonHun’s house, right?

“Our house.”

Yuan said ‘our house’. For some reason, those words rubbed TaeKyung the wrong way. How did Seo JoonHun’s house become ‘our house’ to Yuan?

“What?”

“JoonHun-ssi said…”

Yuan slightly turned her eyes away. That was her habit whenever she felt awkward. TaeKyung became nervous.

“What did you tell him?”

His sister’s lips were shut tight. She turned her head and looked at him.

“He found your U.S. birth certificate. There was nothing I could do.”

My birth certificate?

TaeKyung frowned. His face stiffened at the realization. Seo JoonHun knew everything. He knew who his mother was, who he was, and what they had done.

But he brought me to his house? Why?

“Are you telling me that you somehow got Seo JoonHun to let me stay at this house?”

“Yeah.”

Yuan’s answer was short. TaeKyung narrowed his eyes as he looked at his sister. His sister was avoiding his eyes. The fierceness she had always shown whenever they talked about Seo JoonHun had disappeared. Was she… No. There’s no way. Yuan knew who Seo JoonHun’s father was. There was no way she’d open up her heart to him.

“Why?”

“…”

Yuan didn’t reply. She merely clenched her hands. TaeKyung could see her wedding ring on her finger. Suddenly, he had a strange and horrible feeling.

“Why, Min Yuan?”

He asked again coldly. Finally pulling herself together, Yuan looked up.

“He said he’d help me.”

“Why?”

“Why are you asking me that? He found out about you, so I had to tell him the truth.”

“You told him… everything? You told him about what his father did?”

Yuan’s face paled. As he watched his sister’s face harden, TaeKyung suddenly felt a sharp pain go through his body. He didn’t want any help from someone like Seo JoonHun. Just the fact that he was Seo JaeHyuk’s son was disgusting. Him being Yuan’s husband made him feel absolutely terrible.

If it wasn’t for Yuan’s plan to begin their revenge with the Dubai project, he would have never agreed to their marriage.

“He doesn’t know about that.”

“Why didn’t you tell him?”

“How can I tell him?! He’s the one that saved your life!”

Yuan spoke fiercely as her pale face looked at him.

“I couldn’t take you out of that basement on my own. That’s when JoonHun-ssi came, and all I could do was ask him for help. He already knows that you and I stole the 500 billion won. We would have been killed by President Min if he left us there. How could I not ask for help?”

“Ah, so what did you say, Min Yuan? That our mother died at President Min’s hands, so please help us? And did he obediently agree? Why?”

Yuan merely glared back at him in silence.

He knew. He knew that Yuan had been helpless. She wanted to save him, but she didn’t see any other way. He knew why Seo JoonHun decided to help her. How many men could deny the woman they loved?

That wedding ring. Didn’t it explain everything?

“I don’t need any help from that bastard.”

Just the thought disgusted him.

“Ah, really? Then what should we do? The moment you leave this house, President Min will catch you again.”

“I’m not going to receive his help, even if it kills me.”

“Just why are you being like this, Oppa? Don’t you know the situation we’re in right now?”

“Why are you being like this, Min Yuan? After living with that dirty President Seo’s son, have you actually come to like him?”

“What?”

Yuan’s white face stiffened as she gave him a deadly glare. TaeKyung couldn’t stop. Yuan, his little sister, the one and only person he loved in this world, was speaking such nonsense. He couldn’t stand it. Our house? Seo JoonHun’s house could never become ‘our house’ to her.

“Young Madame.”

They heard a man’s voice and a knock at the door. Yuan flinched and turned her head.

“Yes?”

The door opened, and they saw a middle-aged man’s face peek in.

“There’s something that needs your attention outside.”

“What is it?”

“A strange woman is asking for you outside the house.”

“What?”

Shocked, Yuan looked at TaeKyung.

A strange woman? Who else could that be?

“Eri?”

Yuan’s eyes widened at TaeKyung’s cold voice.

“You should have told me what the hell happened to you!”

A furious Eri began to explode in anger the moment she stepped into the sitting room. She had a slender figure and short hair like a boy’s. She wore form-fitting leggings and a matching leather jacket. She did look strange with her many piercings and combat boots, but she still looked stylish.

“Sorry. I couldn’t find the time to contact you.”

“Ah, is that so? You’re just the same as TaeKyung-oppa! You only appear when you need something, and when you don’t, you just forget.”

“It’s not like that.”

TaeKyung had been very sick for three days. On top of that, JoonHun didn’t go in to work during that time and drove her insane. When she finally had enough time to contact Eri, she found out that the money in Luxembourg under TaeKyung-oppa’s name had disappeared, driving her crazy once again.

The money had vanished.

She didn’t know what had happened, but she hadn’t brought it up to TaeKyung yet. How did that money under his name just disappear like that? Yuan was currently chasing after the money’s whereabouts.

“Something happened.”

“What? Did something happen to TaeKyung-oppa?”

“Oppa’s fine. He woke up just now.”

“Ah, really?”

Eri was glowing with anticipation and was about to walk away when she suddenly stopped. She just remembered TaeKyung warning her not to appear in front of him ever again.

“Damn it.”

Annoyed, Eri plopped onto the couch. The floor lamp next to the sofa began to wobble. Choi Myung, who had been standing by the door, became noticeably nervous. However, Eri didn’t show any concern.

She didn’t know why everything around her broke so easily. Thankfully, she took care of her computers extremely well.

“…Oppa’s going to be fine, right? The security here is no joke. I couldn’t infiltrate it at all…”

Amazingly, the surveillance cameras were kept off, so she couldn’t have peeked in.

“He’s fine. I just met with him.”

“Really?”

Looking disappointed, Eri bit her bottom lip. She was holding back her impulse to run to him. Yuan thought it was amazing that she was able to love someone so passionately. Yuan sighed and sat on the opposite sofa. Choi Myung brought in some tea.

“Please have a cup of tea.”

“Ah, I don’t drink tea, ahjussi. Do you have any beer? A refreshing one would be nice.”

“Eri, that’s enough.”

At Yuan’s glare and scolding, Eri shrugged her shoulders.

“Why? Not everyone likes tea. I drank enough tea back in England. Beer is best for me…”

“I’ll go and bring one.”

As expected, Choi Myung was a pro.

Yuan’s neck felt strained. However, now that Eri was here…

“Good. Have a beer and work a bit before you go.”

Eh? Eri blinked as she put her feet up on the table.

---

“Come in.”

The sunlight poured in through the tall windows, creating dark shadows across the room. A man sitting behind a large desk stood up and greeted JoonHun.

He was R&K’s president, Min DaeYup. He was legally Yuan’s father as well as JoonHun’s father-in-law. He was a formidable man weighing at about 100 kilograms. His wife, Hong SeRyung, was also in the office. When President Min saw JoonHun enter, he got up and greeted him happily. From behind President Min’s back, SeRyung was smiling strangely.

She was quite famous in the financial world. 10 years ago, she was a hostess at a bar in Gangnam. In one stroke, she managed to take over as the mistress of R&K. There were rumors going around that she was great in bed. There was talk that a man who had spent one night with her claimed that she could steal your soul.

These rumors must have been true. That snake-like President Min was still eating out of the palm of her hand.

“Have you been well?”

At JoonHun’s greeting, President Min approached him and shook his hand. His thick hands were damp with sweat. It was unpleasant, but JoonHun didn’t let it show.

“Thanks for coming all the way over here. Did you two have fun on your wedding anniversary?”

“Yes. Thanks to you, we had a good time.”

“You sent such an amazing gift. There’s no way they didn’t enjoy it.”

SeRyung’s voice interrupted their conversation. They were talking about the news that EUIB had agreed to invest 500 billion into the Dubai project. They seemed to have forgotten that the EUIB had agreed to the investment only because JoonHun had put double that amount up for collateral.

Like every other company, R&K’s chairman’s office was on the top floor of their building. The tall windows were so high and wide that it almost couldn’t be called a room at all. The windows were about 5 meters wide and 10 meters tall. One could look down and see downtown Seoul and the Han River all at once.

A tower of Babel built on piles of money. Whenever one saw R&K, that was the first thought that came to mind. Was it because this company was an investment company?

28 years ago, thanks to the merger, the company had managed to rake in a lot of investors. However, its performance couldn’t be considered top-tier. Actually, they strangely suffered many losses in the beginning. After that, they absorbed a sturdy, smaller business called M&A.

The companies that President Min invested in would temporarily run into all sorts of problems, causing their stock prices to plummet. With their backs against the wall, these companies would then be reluctantly absorbed into R&K under the pretext of an investment.

Then, under the guise of restructuring, they would fire most of the employees before selling the company’s core technology or results to other companies to make a profit.

However, the past was the past.

Lately, President Min was trying very hard to change their reputation into an ethical company. He saved on taxes by supporting societal charities. He began to choose normal projects to invest in and used his PR department to its fullest.

Among that, his best decision was partnering up with HyunJin to form the consortium.

“Yes, my father is also very happy about it.”

“I’m sure he is. I’m also glad that we managed to avoid this messy situation. Once ‘The Tropical’ opens up, I’m sure our two companies will form an even stronger bond.”

President Min spoke as he smiled widely. JoonHun could see the gums of his teeth. It was almost too much for him to take. JoonHun lowered his eyes before speaking.

“I came because I had something to ask you. I was wondering if you made any progress on finding out what happened in the Dubai incident. We are also investigating everything we can, but anything you have to share could greatly help us out.”

If he had captured Lee TaeKyung, found out about the mutual funds in Luxembourg, and already collected the 500 billion, shouldn’t he have notified HyunJin? However, there had been no word from President Min. He was the one that had shut his mouth and refused to say anything.

At JoonHun’s question, President Min hesitated. However, that old worm merely smiled greasily.

“Us? What could we have found out? We’re only putting our trust in HyunJin… Aren’t you the ones that have the resources that rival that of the National Intelligence Service? I’m anxiously waiting for any news from your side.”

When JoonHun saw the gleam in President Min’s eyes, he realized that President Min already knew everything. However, both men kept their mouths shut. As if they already knew the other’s secrets but pretended not to.

And so this laughable game kept going.

If HyunJin brought up the 500 billion won, they would have to hand over Lee TaeKyung. If they didn’t hand over Lee TaeKyung, R&K would continue to keep their mouth shut about the 500 billion.

Damn it.

JoonHun coldly looked at President Min. This was a man who hid his true colors and constantly tried to take advantage of any situation. And he knew very well that the one who had infiltrated his house and taken Lee TaeKyung that night was JoonHun. Why else would his eyes be glowing as he watched JoonHun’s reaction?

Like a mischievous snake.

“Haaa, what kind of bastard… Seriously… If I ever catch him, I think I’ll break all his bones and just shatter him.”

After throwing out the threat, President Min leaned back and plopped down on to the leather sofa. His face even had an exaggerated look of disappointment.

“I’m sure you’re also furious. How can you find any sleep after putting so much up for collateral? Don’t worry. We’ll catch the culprit. We’re also looking into everything we can. Haa, it’s just that Dubai is so far away.”

I’m sure you are. JoonHun looked at him with a blank face. After knowing what had happened to Yuan and Lee TaeKyung, he couldn’t hand them over to R&K.

However, because JoonHun had put 1 trillion of his assets up for collateral, ‘The Tropical’ was going to proceed anyway. If this happened, then HyunJin would be the one suffering a loss.

What should I do about this bastard?

JoonHun laughed.

“What is it?”

President Min asked him. JoonHun raised his eyes and looked at him. He knew that Hong SeRyung was sitting next to her husband and watching JoonHun’s expression carefully.

“It’s nothing. Just…”

In order to avoid Hong SeRyung’s sharp gaze, JoonHun began to act.

“Honestly, I was worried after having put up so much for collateral and came here to find you.”

“Ayyy, I told you not to worry. We’re not strangers. Aren’t we family? Things will work out, so don’t worry.”

President Min’s warm laughter was quite disgusting.

Suddenly, the smartphone on the desk rang.

“Ah, just a minute.”

President Min got up and answered the call.

“What?”

– President, something’s happened.

“What happened?”

– I think a problem has come up on our office network. Don’t turn on your computer no matter what.

“What?”

– Ah! Even your smartphone.

“Haa, what are you talking about, you bastard?”

– I think a hacker might have broken in. All of the company computers are acting strange.

“What?”

JoonHun slightly raised his eyebrow.

Hacking?

Suddenly, he got a text from Derrick.