Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 1

I Will Still Live as a Son-in-Law of a Conglomerate

1. The Life of a Century-Old Guest (1)

“How did the Chaeyunjeong matter get resolved?”

“We’ve silenced the reporters, and Shinseong Entertainment has decided to invest 10 billion won, Director.”

“The written agreement?”

“Here it is.”

Annoyed by the work I had to deal with on my wedding anniversary morning, I took the five pieces of paper from my employee and sighed. Wasn’t this an agreement to cover up the affair between my wife’s cousin, who is over fifty, and a five-member boy band that lasted all night?

Turning my chair back, I bent down to open the fingerprint-recognizing safe and inserted the agreement into the file case labeled ‘Chaeyunjeong.’ After sighing at the file cases filled with my in-laws’ files, I closed the safe and asked about the next schedule.

“What about lunch today?”

“The Madam… has reserved a Japanese restaurant. She said you’d know if I mentioned the usual place and menu…”

Damn it.

Instantly, the back of my neck stiffened, and I felt like a rock was pressing on my chest, making it hard to breathe.

It was obvious.

She must have booked the usual private room at our frequently visited Japanese restaurant and ordered a special course worth millions of won.

I was already feeling sick because of my in-laws, and my wife’s obvious intentions made me want to throw up.

“Okay. You can go.”

I sent away the employee who couldn’t say anything while watching my reaction and gritted my teeth in the office where I was left alone.

“No, but still…”

Still, she was a woman who always gave me gifts and said thank you on our wedding anniversary. I hoped it would pass smoothly…

***

Arriving at the usual Japanese restaurant on time, I faced Jang Suyeon, who is celebrating our 23rd wedding anniversary this year, across the table.

A small, slender face and fox-like eyes.

Skin without a single wrinkle, even in her fifties.

A figure with a chest, waist, and hips rarely seen in Asian women.

Clothes and jewelry custom-made by a famous overseas designer.

If she had been born 3,000 years ago, she would have been the model for the Venus de Milo. It’s only natural, considering her annual maintenance cost is equivalent to the salary of two or three Shinseong Group secretarial executives.

Such Jang Suyeon was now smiling at me and placing several pieces of sashimi from the center plate onto my plate.

In the past, I would have gladly accepted the sashimi, but today I had no appetite at all. It was because of the documents she handed me, not the gift.

“How is it? It’s a project I planned this time.”

I wanted to tear up the business plan in her hand. How many times has she taken money from my pocket under the guise of business, and how much? I should have focused on why we were eating in this room rather than the wedding anniversary!

I gritted my teeth and glared at Jang Suyeon before slamming the file folder in my hand onto the floor.

“How much did you take from me a few years ago when you said you were going to start a delivery app business?”

“Huh?”

Jang Suyeon widened her eyes and asked back as if she didn’t know what I was talking about. Seeing her like that, my voice naturally rose as if possessed, unlike usual.

“How much did you take?”

“About 200 billion won [approximately $150 million USD], including stocks and convertible bonds?”

About 200 billion won?

They say people’s skin gets thicker as they get older, but now she doesn’t even pretend to care about my feelings and shamelessly says such things.

I wanted to grab all of this damn woman’s hair and throw her into a temple, but I suppressed the rising anger.

“Exactly 270 billion won [approximately $200 million USD]. What did you do with it all?”

“I gave it to Father, Yongjae *oppa* [older brother], and Minjae. Because the business failed.”

Jang Suyeon nonchalantly spat out the words and put sushi in her mouth. Seeing her like that made me feel sick.

The business that this woman fiddled with a little and sold for 100 billion won [approximately $75 million USD] because it wasn’t working grew rapidly as soon as it was sold to her family. Then, when it became the top company in the industry, a German service company proposed an acquisition last year, and trillions of won flowed into the pockets of her father and brothers.

After barely suppressing the rising anger, I asked Jang Suyeon in a cold voice.

“Have you ever thought about why that business failed?”

“Those servants didn’t do as the owner told them and left on their own feet, didn’t they? They should do as they’re told when the owner tells them to, how dare they.”

She spoke with a sulky expression as if it were natural, but what she meant by ‘do as they’re told’ was ridiculous.

Who would like it if she put her friends’ children, who had no ability at all, in fancy positions and gave them salaries? Thanks to that, all the people I had worked hard to gather left the company.

The funny thing is that after this woman handed over the company, her father and brothers promised them twice the stock options, so those people came back, and the business was a huge success.

Even so, Jang Suyeon was spouting nonsense that was neither words nor rice wine [unintelligible]. Without changing her expression at all!

I was trembling under the table, but I barely took the strength out of my hands and calmed my breath. I had to see how much she would babble on.

“List all the businesses you’ve touched so far.”

“What are you trying to do now? Are you so upset that I’m trying to succeed in business?”

Jang Suyeon sharply snapped, but I didn’t even sneer.

Success?

Bullshit!

She’s a failure!

For the past 20 years, this woman has been involved in convenience stores, e-commerce, and fast fashion, and I’ve provided everything from the initial capital to the people, as well as the business direction and management strategy according to the variables that would occur in each year from the 1st year to the 10th year.

Each time, they all failed like the delivery app business, but what made me angry was that the process of those businesses reviving and succeeding was the same pattern as the delivery app business. Using my management strategy exactly as it was!

In other families, there would have been several life-or-death situations between husband and wife, but I had rarely raised my voice to this woman.

Who is Jang Suyeon’s father? Jang Hogun, the chairman of Shinseong Group, who was above the president until he was on a ventilator, and who accounts for 30 percent of South Korea’s KOSPI [Korea Composite Stock Price Index] market capitalization?

The reason I abandoned my family and became the son-in-law of Shinseong Group, and the husband of a woman who I don’t know if she’s an idiot, a crazy person, or highly anti-husband, was only one.

It was because of my ambition to become the chairman of Shinseong Group.

Although the size and main business were overwhelmingly larger than Haedong Group, I was drawn to Jang Hogun’s Shinseong Group, who was a friend of my deceased father and cherished me like a son.

Above all, I hated my grandfather and Haedong Group, who had become penniless during the real-name financial transaction system [a system requiring financial transactions to be made under real names] because they didn’t listen to me and had accumulated money in shady places.

So, I abandoned my family and became Jang Hogun’s son-in-law. I merged the breakaway groups from Shinseong Group and the Haedong Group affiliates that had gone bankrupt, and I also improved the performance of Shinseong Group affiliates.

But.

The problem was that whenever I was recognized for my performance and was about to establish my position, I was transferred to another place.

At first, I thought it was okay. There was no calm day due to the IMF [International Monetary Fund] crisis and the subprime mortgage crisis, and that was the way to make up for the points that Jang Suyeon had repeatedly lost while ruining her businesses.

However, after I stepped in as a firefighter and put out the fire, I had to watch with my own eyes as my brothers-in-law slyly crawled in and took all the media spotlight.

In contrast, I was now the director of the subsidiary office under the Future Strategy Business Division of Shinseong Group, with the nicknames ‘Shinseong’s hunting dog’ and ‘Shinseong’s goose.’

The title was president, but all the work I did here was cleaning up after my in-laws. All the bizarre accidents that those people caused inside and outside the company!

I wondered how I ended up in a position where I was cleaning up the mess of people who were worse than me. Why me, Lee Seongmin, who was the top student in the liberal arts department at Seoul National University!

Just as my head was in a mess and about to explode, a shrill voice scratched my ear.

“Hey, Lee Seongmin! Why aren’t you answering!”

At that moment, the string of reason snapped, and my hand went out.

Slap!

‘Damn it!’

I must have let go of the string of reason for a moment, but my hand had already slapped Jang Suyeon’s cheek.

Both she and I didn’t know what to do, and then tears welled up in her eyes.

In the past, I would have felt sorry and lowered my tail, but now my face was distorted with more anger than regret.

“Let’s stop. I’m tired of cleaning up after you anymore.”

“…What?”

“Are your ears blocked? I’m tired of cleaning up the shit you make!”

I had endured it until now because of the halo of being the second daughter of Shinseong Group, but I couldn’t stand it anymore and swore for the first time in our married life.

Perhaps that curse was also a word to myself.

I had gritted my teeth and endured because I made the choice and decision, but I was tired because I couldn’t see a way out, and today became the trigger.

I’m going to let go of everything now. I can’t stand it.

Cleaning up the shit I made is over today.

***

Crash!

I closed the door and left the room, and I heard the sound of dishes breaking, but I ignored it. Why would I comfort a woman who is crazy about squeezing money out of her husband!

Not only that, but I slapped the second daughter of the Shinseong Group chairman, so even as her son-in-law, I can’t handle the aftermath. I ran out of the restaurant as if fleeing, opened the back door of the Rolls Royce Phantom that was waiting, and got in.

“I have it prepared, Young Master.”

“Thank you.”

Next to the back seat, clothes and shoes identical to the ones I was wearing were prepared. This is because the clothes I’m wearing now are a prison uniform that monitors my every move.

After changing into the clothes in the back seat and putting the clothes I took off in the trunk, I was finally freed from confinement.

“That bitch!”

Unlike before, I slammed the back door roughly and sat down, screaming. The man in the driver’s seat looked at me through the rearview mirror and asked.

“What’s wrong, Young Master?”

“It’s happening again, Hyung [older brother figure].”

This man’s name is Park Taejin.

He was one of the three talents that my grandfather, who was the second chairman of Haedong Group, personally raised at the end, and he was like an older brother or a youngest uncle to me.

“…Is it money?”

“Yes. Even after blowing it all away, she’s asking for more. That damn woman!”

I couldn’t control my anger and slammed the armrest hard, then calmed my breath and said to Park Taejin as if vomiting.

“Let’s… leave this country.”

“Young Master?”

“I’m tired. Now I want to live comfortably with Hyung. I lived rubbing shoulders with that woman, but it’s a good thing we don’t have any children.”

After pouring out what was 쌓인 [accumulated] in my heart, I felt empty rather than relieved. What have I been living for for 23 years, and what about Park Taejin’s life, who wasted 23 years because of me?

Park Taejin’s calm voice was heard to me, who was bowing my head.

“You thought well, Seongmin.”

“Hyung…”

My name, Lee Seongmin, which I heard from him for the first time in a long time.

My name, which he had only called in the car since I became the son-in-law of Shinseong Group, sounded endlessly pathetic today.

“I felt sorry for you watching you struggle so hard until now. I wondered why you were trying so hard to catch something you couldn’t catch…”

“I’m sorry, Hyung. Because of me…”

It was all my fault that Park Taejin, who was considered a talent to succeed Go Seungju, the last secretary-general of Haedong Group, was doing the job of a Rolls Royce driver.

He came to Shinseong Group with me, rejected the offer to become the secretary-general of Shinseong Group with a single stroke, and remained my personal secretary.

I wanted to become the owner of the Shinseong Group chairman’s office, even if it was to apologize to him, who had been by my side and was like half of my body, but now everything is over.

Even so, the face that Park Taejin was looking at me was full of affection while feeling sorry for me. What a fool.

“It’s okay if you come to your senses now, Seongmin. Where shall we go?”

“Let’s go to Gimpo. Incheon is too far.”

Incheon has far more international flights, but it takes forever to cross the Yeongjong Bridge. To leave this country as quickly as possible, it was much better to go to Gimpo.

“We need to switch, right?”

As expected, it was a question worthy of someone from a special forces unit. To leave this country as soon as possible, we had to switch cars and go.

“We have no choice if we want to cut the dog leash.”

That dog leash was the tie pin, fountain pen, and shoes attached to the clothes I had just taken off. All of them had tracking devices and listening devices, so to regain freedom, I always had to change clothes and keep them in the soundproofed trunk.

I looked at Park Taejin, who was looking at me through the rearview mirror, and smiled bitterly.

“Still, I lived breathing thanks to Hyung.”

“Yeah, I don’t know how surprised I was when I first found the listening device.”

It was thanks to the meticulousness that Park Taejin, who was also a ROTC [Reserve Officers’ Training Corps] officer, had learned in the military, where he had been drafted into special forces and even top-secret operations for the intelligence agency. If it hadn’t been for that, I would have lived as a dog of Shinseong Group for the rest of my life without even knowing I was being watched.

Park Taejin made a phone call while the signal stopped for a moment.

“I have a favor to ask, Hyung. Your Rolls Royce and…”

Park Taejin asked someone I couldn’t call, and then smiled at me through the rearview mirror.

“We’re going to switch near the airport and leave.”

As soon as I met his calm eyes, I bowed my head deeply. What am I that he’s so devoted to me…

***

Things progressed at the speed of light. Park Taejin made several phone calls as if he had prepared in advance, and soon finished all the preparations.

I also transferred all the Shinseong Group affiliate stocks I had been holding to a Morgan Stanley account at Shinseong Securities. As soon as I leave this country, Morgan Stanley will sell my stocks, and at least 1 trillion won [approximately $750 million USD] will go through several overseas rounds and into my pocket.

When I arrived at the meeting place, there were three middle-aged men and a Rolls Royce Phantom in the same color as my car.

“Welcome, Young Master.”

I was choked up, so I couldn’t say thank you to the man who greeted me and just nodded.

In the meantime, the other two skillfully changed the license plates with skillful hands. There were no cars following me, but I couldn’t go to the airport with the tracking devices and listening devices on board, and I was worried about being eavesdropped on if I only handed them over.

Because of that, I had to say goodbye to the Rolls Royce that I had personally tightened, wiped, and oiled today. Damn it.

While I was looking at my baby with a reluctant gaze as the license plate was changed, the man cleared his throat and opened his mouth.

“This is what Chairman Go Seungju said. Leave your regrets here and live comfortably outside.”

It was a message I heard, but a tear ran down my cheek. I was grateful and sorry that he had protected the Haedong Scholarship Foundation without blaming me even as the Haedong Group affiliates that had been handed over to the creditors were being eaten by Shinseong Group one by one, but he was worried about me until the end…

“…Please tell him thank you.”

With those words, I got into another Rolls Royce with Park Taejin and went out onto the main road with my car that they were riding in.

Now they will go to Daebu Island with the tracking devices attached to my body in the trunk. Jang Suyeon will now think that I’m going to get some fresh air to clear my head.

While looking outside in the rapidly moving car and wondering what to do in the future, my smartphone rang. When I looked at the screen, it was Jang Suyeon. Damn it.

***

“How dare you, you…”

Jang Suyeon remained in the chaotic room and gnashed her teeth.

A kept son-in-law, even the eldest grandson of a ruined *chaebol* [family-owned conglomerate] family, dared to raise his hand against the third generation of the great Shinseong Group!

“Clean up the mess? Clean up the shit? You rude bastard.”

Barely calming her anger, she muttered dryly and picked up her smartphone to make a call.

“Hey, Lee Seongmin! Come crawling in and apologize when I’m being nice. If you don’t…”

After relentlessly firing for dozens of minutes, she sighed.

“You, if you ever do that again, you’re going to die!”

She shouted into the phone and immediately made a new call.

“It’s me, Yongjae *oppa* [older brother]. Today that bastard…”

Jang Suyeon told him what happened at lunchtime today.

“…That’s what happened? Seeing that the guy who had been bowing down like a dog for over 20 years hit me, something’s going to happen today.”

Having watched Lee Seongmin for over 20 years, Jang Suyeon was intuitively aware that Lee Seongmin was different from usual.

“There’s nothing more to be sorry about. He’s already taken out over 2 trillion won [approximately $1.5 billion USD] so far, right?”

To Jang Suyeon, who had been seducing men since her school days to easily manage her grades, Lee Seongmin was the best *bong* [pawn], and a goose that laid golden eggs. But Jang Suyeon had no mercy to spare for a goose trying to escape her embrace.

“Let’s cut open the goose’s belly.”

A cold smile hung on Jang Suyeon’s lips.