Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 69

69. 21st. Know Thyself (4)

Gong Seong-pil.

In my past life, he climbed all the way to the president of the trading division at Shinseong Corporation, but Lee Soo-han and I cut him off when his affair with a female secretary and subsequent sexual assault issues came to light, along with irregularities exceeding regulations.

I thoroughly mocked this most vile of men, who used to badmouth me behind my back and disregard me to my face, as he trembled before me.

“You didn’t miss a single day. The time it took for that mistress to go in and out… Whew, are you brewing Appalachian ginseng or something? If you screw that much, something’s bound to get swollen, hehe.”

I counted on my fingers, then sighed exaggeratedly, mocking Gong Seong-pil. His face turned red and blue, but he couldn’t say a word.

“There’s plenty of audio evidence, but let’s skip it. It would be embarrassing to play it in a crowded restaurant, hehe.”

I heavily implied that I had recordings of him making lewd noises with a call girl, and Gong Seong-pil stammered.

“Wh-what do you want? Why are you doing this?”

I coldly retorted to Gong Seong-pil, who was stuttering and shouting with a look of utter injustice.

“Shut up, you bastard. You’re caught in my trap now. Can’t you read the room?”

“Ugh…”

Gong Seong-pil glared at me and groaned. How infuriating must it be to be cursed and spoken down to by someone who’s practically a nephew, even if he’s from another group’s owner family?

But.

That’s his problem, not mine. He attached a leech to me, so why is he looking at me like that? I glared at Gong Seong-pil and slammed the desk with a thud.

“Take the force out of your eyes? I’m the one asking questions here. Answer if you don’t want to see something nasty!”

As I transformed from the twenty-five-year-old Lee Seong-min to the fifty-year-old Lee Seong-min, both Gong Seong-pil and Park Tae-jin looked at me with surprised expressions. Ignoring their gazes, I glared at Gong Seong-pil and asked.

“Who is it? Who ordered you to chase me?”

“Th-that’s…”

“Should I guess? Jang Su-yeon? Or… Madam Hwang Na-yeon? If not them, Chairman Hwang Hyeon-seong of Joguk Ilbo [a fictional newspaper] or his siblings?”

Gong Seong-pil, who had been avoiding my eyes, opened his mouth wide. Seeing him speechless with a dumbfounded expression, I slammed the table with a thud.

“Answer me. Now!”

“Ye-yes!”

Gong Seong-pil, caught off guard, emptied the water glass in front of him and sighed.

“…Madam Hwang Na-yeon ordered it.”

“Why?”

“She wanted me to find something to humiliate the guy who messed with her daughter…”

It must be because Jang Su-yeon was caught showing her true colors to me at the department store. I had a bad feeling when I heard about the commotion at home…

Gong Seong-pil, who had been trailing off, suddenly stood up. He slammed his head on the table with a thud and shouted.

“Please save me! I’ll die if it gets to the Chairman’s ears!”

“Why should I? What do I get out of it?”

Muttering with a nonchalant expression, Gong Seong-pil raised his head sharply and shouted, looking at me desperately.

“I’ll do whatever you tell me! Please! Just save me, and I’ll do anything!”

“How can I believe that?”

“I’ll show you right now.”

Gong Seong-pil hurriedly pulled out his phone, turned the volume up to the maximum, and dialed a number. As I watched to see who he was calling, Gong Seong-pil opened his mouth.

“This is Gong Seong-pil, Madam.”

[How are things today?]

Hwang Na-yeon’s voice could be heard from the phone’s receiver. If I had known this would happen, I would have booked a quiet room and brought a recorder… If I had booked a room as a meeting place to lure this guy in, he would have been suspicious and wouldn’t have come, so I’ll have to be satisfied with this.

Gong Seong-pil nodded, seeing my pursed lips and Park Tae-jin’s murderous eyes as he mimed slitting his throat, then spoke into the phone again.

“Lee Seong-min is living a normal life. He’s just working in the office from morning till night.”

[Is that true?]

“Yes. He’s staying in a regular room at the Astoria Hotel, and people from Haedong inspect the room every day. It seems impossible to install any listening devices.”

I frowned and glared at him, wondering if she knew I had booked a regular room, but Gong Seong-pil shook his head urgently. Well, this guy was quite known for his quick wit, so it seemed he had improvised.

A sigh could be heard from the phone, along with a groaning sound.

[Give up on the eavesdropping. But still, make sure to keep track of the movements of the guy who humiliated my daughter. Contact me immediately if he causes any trouble.]

“Yes. I understand.”

Gong Seong-pil finished the call and said to me, regretting that he couldn’t record it.

“While you’re in New York, I’ll report to Madam that you’re living a normal life. She asked me to send photos to Korea every week, so if you take some appropriate pictures, I’ll take care of it. There won’t be any tailing either.”

As expected of a guy who secured his position as president thanks to his ability to act like the tongue in someone’s mouth, Gong Seong-pil accurately grasped what I wanted. Nevertheless, I asked bluntly.

“How can I believe that?”

“Aren’t you already holding my leash? And… your father is a close friend of the Chairman, so you can contact him anytime, right?”

Seeing Gong Seong-pil, the great Gong Seong-pil, struggling so desperately to live, my heart felt refreshed. How much did he chew, tear, taste, and enjoy me in my past life?

Still not satisfied, I suppressed my murderous intent and spoke as if I would devour Gong Seong-pil right away.

“Give me the list of all the executives on Hwang Na-yeon’s side.”

“Yes?”

Gong Seong-pil looked at me with a dumbfounded expression. Wasn’t I asking him to take out his own heart and hand it to me?

“Why are you so surprised, between pros? I’ll have to send it to the Chairman if you do anything foolish.”

“Still, that’s a bit…”

I went a bit too strong, and since he still looked troubled, it seemed the whip method wouldn’t work. I took a step back for a moment.

“Forget it if you don’t want to.”

I said as if I had nothing to lose and watched his reaction. A carrot, a carrot would work. A carrot that even the great Gong Seong-pil would covet.

Seeing him conflicted, I took out a Parker Duofold fountain pen from my pocket and rolled it like a bowling ball, then threw him a bankbook as well.

“You’ll be interested in this much.”

“What is this?”

“It’s a bank account opened at the Royal Bank of Canada in the Cayman Islands. The money is clean, so you won’t get sick even if you eat it.”

Gong Seong-pil’s mouth dropped open as soon as he opened the bankbook.

“T-ten million dollars?”

“Even if you get fired from Shinseong, you’ll have enough to live on for several generations. Let’s bury the information you wrote down. Until you stab me in the back.”

When the conflict is severe, you have to use both the knife and the medicine. I had stabbed him enough with the knife, so it was time to stitch up the wound and apply medicine. If I could make this guy my pet, even ten million dollars wouldn’t be too much.

Gong Seong-pil’s eyes showed that he was acknowledging that he was caught in an inescapable trap.

‘He’s going to die anyway, and I’m giving him a way to live and even giving him money, so would he resist?’

Muttering inwardly, I pressured Gong Seong-pil a few more times and repeatedly flattered him, coaxing him. Perhaps because of the money, enough to live on for the rest of his life, Gong Seong-pil seemed to have made up his mind.

“…Even I can’t refuse. I understand. But please keep your promise.”

“As long as you don’t betray me.”

At my answer, Gong Seong-pil looked at me with pitiful eyes, then seemed to make up his mind, took the cap off the pen, and began to write down the names of the people attached to Hwang Na-yeon’s side.

***

Meanwhile, Hwang Na-yeon frowned with displeasure after receiving Gong Seong-pil’s report and crossed her arms.

“A goody-two-shoes, a guy who just works at the company?”

She would be immensely proud if her sons were like that. But she was furious that the guy who messed with her daughter and played around with the woman her husband brought was acting like that.

Hwang Na-yeon sighed and looked at her watch. She had something important to do today.

“It’s 12 o’clock… I need to get her ready quickly.”

Hwang Na-yeon left the room and went up to the second floor. Her feet stopped in front of Jang Su-yeon’s room.

“Su-yeon, you need to wake up? It’s your matchmaking appointment today. You insisted on going, so how can you still be sleeping?”

“Ugh…”

Jang Su-yeon sat up and stretched.

“Hurry, honey. You need to get your hair and makeup done soon, how long are you going to sleep?”

“Okay, Mom.”

Jang Su-yeon grumbled and went into the shower room. After showering and drying her hair, she was transformed into a glamorous figure by the hands of a visiting hair designer and makeup designer.

After nearly two hours of on-site makeup, the designer said to Hwang Na-yeon.

“It’s all done, Madam.”

“Good work. But… isn’t it too flashy?”

Jang Su-yeon looked at Hwang Na-yeon, who was scanning her and asking the designers, and said.

“Mom, come on. This is the trendy style these days. I need to dress up well. I’m going upstairs.”

Jang Su-yeon went up to her room, put on a simple-looking dress, then put a deeply cut blouse and tight leather skirt that she would wear to a club in her garment bag and went down to the underground garage.

After arriving at the meeting place by car, she changed her clothes in the bathroom, left her garment bag at the counter, and sat by the window of a cafe in the Hilton Hotel, drinking coffee.

“Are you Jang Su-yeon?”

Jang Su-yeon heard the voice in her ear and stood up. The man standing in front of her had broad shoulders, was tall, and had distinct facial features, just like the profile picture the matchmakers had shown her.

“Yes. Are you Park Nam-jun?”

“Yes. It’s an honor to meet you, Jang Su-yeon.”

The two sat down, placed the newly ordered coffee on the table, and began to talk.

“My father is…”

“Park Mu-jin, the representative lawyer of Mujin Law Firm. It’s not as big as Shinseong Group, but we’re making a living thanks to the clients who come to us.”

At Park Nam-jun’s modest introduction, Jang Su-yeon smiled sweetly at him as if to show off.

“I’ve heard a lot about Attorney Park Mu-jin. Isn’t he as influential in this country as your father?”

Mujin Law Firm, along with Minwoo Law Firm, is one of the two leading law firms in Korea, and its founder, Park Mu-jin, is called the Jang Ho-geon of the legal world. Jang Su-yeon was well aware that his influence in Korea was no less than her father’s, even if his wealth was less.

“Chairman Jang Ho-geon is the most powerful person in Korea. Compared to him, my father is just an ordinary lawyer, haha.”

As the two were talking about their families like a background check, Jang Su-yeon changed the subject.

“What’s your favorite fruit? I like raspberries.”

“Fruit… Huh?”

Park Nam-jun, who had been repeating the words, looked at Jang Su-yeon with wide eyes. Raspberries?

Jang Su-yeon looked at Park Nam-jun with a mischievous smile and recalled what had happened a few days ago.

###

“Are you out of your mind? Park Nam-jun?”

“Yes, Su-yeon. Even I don’t think he’s the one. Why Park Nam-jun out of all the guys?”

Jang Ho-geon and Hwang Mi-yeon looked at her with dumbfounded expressions, but Jang Su-yeon retorted nonchalantly.

“Why? Because he’s the stud of the legal world?”

“Are you asking when you already know? That guy, even if people in this country don’t know, when he was studying at Harvard Law School…”

“I know. I heard he knocked out five women at the year-end party? From evening to the next morning.”

Jang Ho-geon looked at his second daughter with a dumbfounded expression as she cut him off and stated the reasons why he was against it.

“That guy can’t tell the difference between women and shit. If you just marked the nationalities of the women that guy has slept with, you’d have already painted the whole world map! You want me to accept such a playboy as my son-in-law?”

“That’s why. I don’t think he’s a good fit for Shinseong Group? To grow into a global company, shouldn’t the son-in-law have global experience?”

“You, you…!”

Jang Ho-geon pointed at Jang Su-yeon, who was staring straight at him and talking back, and shouted, then closed his eyes tightly and massaged the back of his neck with his other hand. He knew that his daughter was crazy about handsome and strong men, but how could she have chosen such a playboy!

Jang Su-yeon looked at her father and said calmly.

“Well, that’s not the only reason I chose him.”

“Yo-you…!”

“I chose him because he has better skills and background.”

Jang Ho-geon, who had been raising his eyes and voice, blinked at his daughter’s following answer. Skills and background?

Jang Su-yeon read her father’s subsided anger and continued.

“Mujin Law Firm has a higher win rate than Shinseong Group’s legal team. Wouldn’t such a law firm be enough to be our family’s guard dog?”

“…?”

Jang Ho-geon, who had been raging, blinked at Jang Su-yeon’s question.

“Hmm…”

Jang Ho-geon stroked his chin and groaned. If Park Nam-jun had no flaws or if Park Mu-jin had other sons, even decent ones, he would have sent Jang Su-yeon to that family as a daughter-in-law right away, so it wasn’t wrong.

“Anyway, I can’t marry into any other family. I’m already known as the bitch of the business world.”

“Did I tell you to play around like that? Wouldn’t it be better if you had acted modestly?”

Hwang Mi-yeon was burning inside because of her daughter, who was telling the truth. If she had lived buried in work like Jang Ha-yeon, she would have looked for a good marriage prospect, but because of her male promiscuity, the matchmakers only brought back the children of chaebols outside the top 10 or mediocre nouveau riches.

“Th-at’s. Why. I’m reaping what I sowed. At best, they’ll be families far below our family, and I don’t want to be a daughter-in-law in such places.”

Jang Ho-geon knew that his daughter was trying to protect her last bit of pride and nodded.

“I’ll ask you one more time. Are you confident you won’t regret it?”

“Yes. If he cheats, I’ll cheat back.”

Jang Ho-geon stopped groaning and slammed the armrest of the sofa.

“Remember those words. Never regret it.”

###

Jang Su-yeon looked at the flustered Park Nam-jun with a calm expression and opened her mouth.

“Shall we stop pretending?”

“Su-yeon?”

“I’m the bitch of the business world. Every actor and singer who hasn’t been through my hands… except for the ugly ones, I can count them on one hand. If you’re from Nam-jun’s family, you’ll know about me, right?”

Park Nam-jun couldn’t get angry or shout at this arrogant woman’s brazen confession. Didn’t he also come to this place looking at Shinseong Group behind Jang Su-yeon rather than the woman herself?

Jang Su-yeon continued to say what she wanted to say to Park Nam-jun, whose lips were twitching.

“You know why I’m telling you this. Because I know how strong and technically skilled Nam-jun is. Why else would you be called the stud of the legal world?”

Park Nam-jun gritted his teeth as he looked at Jang Su-yeon, who was calmly spitting out his nickname. He had silenced the mouths of the women he had seduced with the generous money his family had given him, but he felt deeply why Shinseong Group was Shinseong Group.

He sighed and said with a rotten smile.

“Okay. Then let’s take off our masks and talk honestly. What do you say? Jang. Su. Yeon.?”

“That’s what I wanted. Park. Nam. Jun.”

Two men and women whose reasons were unknown but something was severely twisted.

The two began to reveal their true colors, throwing away the masks they were wearing.