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Chapter 71




< From now on, Muhyeok will be my successor. >
#71
From now on, Muhyeok will be my successor.
In my previous life, I was only designated as the successor after graduating from college and working my way up from the bottom for a long time.
“From now on, Muhyeok will be my successor.”
Although it wasn’t officially acknowledged, most people related to my grandfather already considered me the successor.
However, announcing it officially at a family gathering carried a different weight.
It meant passing everything on to a grandson, and not just any grandson, but one surnamed Kim, not Cheon.
“I will give the others some power, but don’t be greedy. If you are, I might take back what I’ve given.”
The reactions of the three were all different.
Cheon Jiwon, who had always looked intimidated, had a slightly distorted expression. Cheon Jisu showed no change in expression, and Cheon Jiyoung was delighted as if it were her own good fortune.
“Congratulations, Muhyeok.”
Jiyoung congratulated me sincerely, while Cheon Jiwon and Jisu did so formally, partly due to my grandfather’s presence.
With those words, the family gathering for my grandfather’s birthday came to an end.
My grandfather left for Pyeongchang-dong with Secretary Ha, and Jiyoung followed. Cheon Jiwon, with a distorted face, also left the hotel.
But Cheon Jisu held me back, asking for a moment of my time.
“Is it finally come to this?”
I didn’t answer, just looked at Cheon Jisu’s face.
“Will you keep your promise? You didn’t forget that you promised to help me get into Ilseong, did you?”
His reaction was completely different from Jiyoung’s.
That doesn’t mean Jisu didn’t know what Cheon had done.
“What my father did is not my responsibility. I hope it doesn’t affect our agreement.”
I was astonished by Jisu’s brazen face.
“At the very least, shouldn’t you say something like, ‘I’m sorry for what my father did to my aunt’?”
“Why should I apologize for something I didn’t know about? My father and I are different. And my father has received enough punishment, hasn’t he? He can’t come back to Korea as long as my grandfather is alive. Is that not enough?”
Jisu, whom I thought was a fox, was not a fox.
If he were, he would have at least apologized to smooth things over and gotten something out of it.
“Is it not enough?”
“A promise is a promise. I believe you will keep it.”
Regardless of whether I sneered or not, Jisu got up as if he had said his piece.
What does he think will change by being so brazen?
I watched his back, lost in thought.
‘He was planning to stab me in the back while pretending to help... but there’s no need for that. I’ll make sure he gets nothing at all.’
I gathered my thoughts and got up.
Then the phone rang.
“This is Kim Muhyeok.”
“Hey, let’s have a drink. At the nightclub in the hotel.”
It was Cheon Jiwon, who had left earlier.
‘These two are a pair of troublemakers.’
I sighed involuntarily.
I thought about ignoring it but wanted to hear what he had to say.
I went down to the nightclub and told the waiter Cheon Jiwon’s name, and he immediately led me in.
When I entered the room, Cheon Jiwon was drinking alone.
“Why did you call? We’re not close enough to drink together, are we?”
“Sit down first. Don’t stand there.”
When I sat down, Jiwon silently poured me a drink and then drank alone.
He kept trying to say something but just kept drinking.
He didn’t seem like the arrogant Cheon Jiwon I knew.
“Sorry. I really didn’t know about my aunt.”
It took him a while to say it.
“What?”
“I’m sorry. Damn, even if I’m a piece of trash, that’s not right.”
I didn’t expect Cheon Jiwon to apologize.
What’s his angle?
“I’m not asking for forgiveness just because I didn’t know. I just wanted to say it to your face once.”
Jiwon didn’t say anything more.
I watched him drink, as if he had finished what he needed to say, and then got up.
‘Cheon Jiwon and Cheon Jisu...’
I couldn’t sort out my thoughts until I got home in Pyeongchang-dong.
“Jiwon, Jisu won’t be your competitor anymore. Don’t let your desire for revenge consume you.”
My grandfather seemed to think I might take revenge on them after he died.
By calling the family together to say I was the successor, he was sending a message to me, not the others. It was more of a message to let me be, as I wouldn’t be able to do anything anyway.
“I understand.”
“Good. I’m counting on you.”
My grandfather took a sip of tea and changed the subject.
“Are you still seeing the Song chairman’s granddaughter?”
My grandfather smiled as he put down his teacup.
“Don’t you like her?”
“No, I’ve met her a few times.”
“Bring her over once.”
“It’s not that kind of relationship yet.”
“Let me see her. Her name is Song Hyunji, right?”
“Yes.”
“From the looks of it, you like her too.”
We’ve met a few more times since the first meeting at the Song family’s house.
The more I met her, the more I liked her.
“I’ll bring her over when I’m ready to meet her properly.”
“I don’t know when I’ll die... I’d like to see you get married before then.”
“Grandfather.”
He chuckled, seemingly pleased by my flustered expression.
“I won’t hand everything over just because I told the family you’ll be my successor.”
That was what I wanted.
During the IMF crisis, I had to hide behind my grandfather to do what needed to be done.
“Don’t give up the loan market. There must be a shadow for there to be light. This is a law that doesn’t change, no matter how the dynasty or era changes. Everyone must do their part in their own domain for the country to function.”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
* * *
In a spacious old house on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province.
An old man’s voice was heard softly.
The person on the phone seemed to be someone of high status, as the old man kept saying “Yes” in Japanese.
When he hung up, the old man’s face was flushed.
He walked out of the room. On the wide wooden floor, people were kneeling on both sides. The old man walked through them and sat at the head of the table.
“What are you all doing!”
The old man’s voice was surprisingly loud for his age.
No one answered.
They all bowed their heads and didn’t move.
“Prime Minister, does the President really have no intention of changing his mind?”
The man called Prime Minister raised his head.
“Chairman, no matter how much we try to persuade him, he won’t listen.”
The old man was none other than the chairman of the Cheongpung Association.
“What does he gain by rejecting Japan’s offer and being so stubborn?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Ha... How could a president we supported become so ungrateful?”
“It was an unavoidable choice. If we hadn’t chosen him, the government would have gone to the opposition.”
The chairman rubbed his forehead, as if in pain.
“After... He’s talking about dismantling the Government-General of Korea, a legacy of the Japanese Empire, on the day of the end of the war.”
Although he used the term “end of the war” instead of “Liberation Day,” no one objected.
“Stop it. Do whatever it takes to stop it.”
“There’s no way. Those who oppose are being sidelined or forced to resign. He’s resisting our pressure with his high public approval rating.”
“That’s your job, to find a way.”
No one could answer, just sweating.
How could anyone stop a president with an 80% approval rating?
The old man clicked his tongue in annoyance.
“We should have acted when they were purging our influence. We made a mistake.”
The Han Association was one of the pillars of the Cheongpung Association.
It was their best card to pressure the president using the military, but they lost their chance when the president carried out a major military reform before they could respond.
That’s when the president started to act on his own will.
The atmosphere grew even more tense as the wrinkles on the old man’s forehead deepened.
Then, a man on the opposite side of the Prime Minister spoke up.
“Chairman...”
The chairman looked at him indifferently.
“What is it, Kim Do-sung? Can you get the prosecutors to expose some corruption around the president?”
“The prosecutor general is on the president’s side. As a powerless deputy, I can’t do much unless he resigns.”
“Two years, two years. The dismantling has been discussed for two years, and no one has been able to change the president’s mind. Can’t you even do that? Japan is covering all the costs, and you can’t stop it?”
Everyone bowed their heads, unable to answer.
“What are you going to do about this?”
The sound of his tongue clicking echoed in the room.
The chairman of the Cheongpung Association, Yoo Gyeong-hyun, was, as Kim Muhyeok had expected, too preoccupied with the