The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 19

The Villain of a Chaebol Family – Who is the Real Villain? 02 –

***

“Hyun-woo is hospitalized?”

Choi Kyung-min bowed deeply.

“I am sorry.”

The person he was talking to was Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik.

“A fight at school, huh? I suppose you couldn’t have done anything about that.”

Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik thought he had lasted quite a while.

‘There’s no way Hyun-woo could have completely changed.’

He asked Choi Kyung-min again.

“What does the school say?”

“They say it would be best if neither side makes an issue out of it, since it was just a children’s fight.”

It was a major fight with several serious injuries, but thanks to Sera’s intervention, they were able to smooth things over somehow.

Of course, Choi Kyung-min had no intention of reporting this fact.

“Hmm, keep a close watch on Hyun-woo for the time being.”

“I am sorry.”

Click.

Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik hung up the phone and rushed to the chairman’s office. Five minutes later, a roar erupted.

“He’s caused another accident!”

Chairman Jung Woo-sun was on edge. The reason was that the business in the Middle East was faltering significantly.

With the group’s operations struggling and family troubles piling up, his anger exploded all at once.

“I am sorry.”

Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik’s voice was even lower than Choi Kyung-min’s, who had apologized to him earlier.

“No! How did you manage his affairs!”

Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik simply bowed without making excuses. Chairman Jung Woo-sun clicked his tongue as he looked at him.

“Tsk, I can’t blame you for kids fighting at school.”

School matters are not the responsibility of the guardian.

His thoughts were the same as Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik’s.

“So, what about the school?”

What he considered important was whether Hyun-woo would be expelled.

“The school seems to want to handle it quietly.”

“Quietly?”

“They don’t seem inclined to make an issue out of the children’s fight.”

Chairman Jung Woo-sun nodded.

“I understand. Handle this matter on your own.”

“Thank you for your trust.”

Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik bowed deeply and left the chairman’s office.

‘This is something only the chairman and I know about.’

However, a few days later, rumors about the fight spread throughout the entire Daewoon Group.

Stories circulated everywhere that Daewoon Group’s troublemaker, Jung Hyun-woo, had caused a major fight.

Thud.

Chairman Jung Woo-sun frowned deeply.

“Chief Secretary Hong, why are you handling things this way!”

Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik bowed at a 90-degree angle.

“I will take immediate action.”

“Is there a problem in the United States?”

“I will investigate.”

Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik was seething inside.

‘If the story leaked, it could only be Secretary Choi.’

Naturally, he had no choice but to reprimand Choi Kyung-min. But Choi Kyung-min felt wronged.

“I only spoke with you, Chief Secretary. I haven’t talked to anyone else about it.”

“Really?”

“Please believe me. I’ve been in the hospital, so it’s been difficult to even communicate properly with you, Chief Secretary.”

“Hmm.”

If it wasn’t Choi Kyung-min, then it could only be Jung Hyun-woo himself.

‘Hyun-woo spread the rumors himself?’

It wasn’t just a rumor among the children; he couldn’t have spread the rumors within the group.

‘It’s not Hyun-woo.’

Then who could it be?

Perhaps the secretarial staff overheard his conversation with the chairman?

It wasn’t impossible.

The main building used by the Daewoon Group was an old building constructed in the late 1950s.

The door to the chairman’s office had never been replaced since then. He himself had overheard Chairman Jung’s shouts several times while waiting outside.

‘It seems talent isn’t the issue.’

Chief Secretary Hong Won-ik concluded that rather than someone leaking the rumors, Chairman Jung Woo-sun’s voice had simply carried through the old door of the chairman’s office.

However, that was not the case.

At the same time.

The ones who leaked the rumors were celebrating.

“As expected of my brother!”

“Please don’t say things like that, Sister.”

The ones who leaked the rumors were none other than Daewoon Group’s Managing Director, Jung Min-seok.

“I knew Hyun-woo would cause trouble.”

“Didn’t I tell you? He’s not the type to just let things go.”

“I thought he had changed because he’s been quiet recently.”

Jung Min-seok shook his head.

“People don’t change that easily.”

“I suppose not.”

“More importantly, things are getting difficult in the Middle East.”

“Because the war is dragging on?”

The Iran-Iraq War was still ongoing in 1982.

“Is there any way you could help us secure funding, Sister?”

Jung In-hae’s husband was the second son of the Hongik Bank family.

“My husband isn’t the eldest son; he’s the second son.”

“But I heard that the Jongno branch manager of Hongik Bank has some influence.”

At this time, Jongno was different from Jongno in the 21st century. Gangnam was just being developed, so all the major corporations’ headquarters were concentrated in Jongno. Therefore, the Jongno branch manager had direct connections to major corporations.

“That’s a problem that my father could easily solve if he stepped in.”

It’s not a problem for the second generation of chaebols [family-owned conglomerates], but a problem that the group owner himself has to address.

She was saying this.

“Sister, please save face for me.”

Jung In-hae realized what Managing Director Jung Min-seok was implying.

“Ah, you mean you want to score points with Father.”

“I can’t have people saying I just inherited the company, can I?”

Jung In-hae nodded.

“That would be troublesome.”

She decided to use her influence for her brother.

***

The sales of Zero Space 2 did not match those of Zero Space.

Jung Hyun-woo sighed deeply as he read the data Sera handed him.

“Hoo, I guess the timing wasn’t good.”

A new game released during the new semester.

It would be strange if the results were good.

“Still, it performed well compared to other titles.”

Total sales for August were 220,000 units.

Only half of Zero Space’s sales during the last Christmas season.

“Could the bubble be growing?”

The Atari shock [the video game industry crash of 1983] didn’t happen overnight. Inventory piled up, retail sales decreased, and then it crossed a critical point, and everyone became aware of the situation.

“I’m investigating the inventory.”

Jung Hyun-woo tilted his head.

“Do you even have time to do that?”

Sera switched the leg she had crossed. Her legs were divinely beautiful.

“This is also part of Victoria Fund’s work.”

“But Sera, you also have your studies. And you visit me in the hospital every day like this.”

Sera said, holding up the report.

“Charlie is the owner, developer, and everything of our Victoria Fund.”

Without him, Victoria Fund wouldn’t even exist.

“Sera.”

“What?”

“I heard a rumor.”

“What rumor?”

“That you paid for all the hospitalized kids’ hospital bills?”

Sera replied in a calm voice.

“I took care of it with my own money.”

“It’s my fault, so why with Sera’s money…”

“It has to be handled as something the Hilton family did. And you have to do that much to prevent any backlash.”

Aside from using the family name to show off, she didn’t forget to clean up the mess.

Jung Hyun-woo couldn’t help but be amazed by her smart handling of things.

‘Sera is only in her early twenties, but she’s so meticulous.’

She was handling things like a skilled butler or head maid.

“Sera?”

“I promised to take you to my father.”

Since he borrowed the Hilton family name, he could accept this much.

Jung Hyun-woo lowered his head.

“You mean I should go and apologize?”

“What are you talking about? My father doesn’t even know about that.”

“Huh?”

“I said you’re a friend.”

“…”

Even if they were both college students, could a high school student and a college student be friends?

“My father is a stubborn person, so I hope Charlie can bear with it a little.”

The Hilton family was a typical wealthy white family. And her father would be an older white man born in the 1930s.

‘That means I might face racism.’

Even if it wasn’t intentional, Sera couldn’t do anything about the remarks that would come out naturally.

“Sera, don’t worry. I’m not that narrow-minded.”

Sera sighed briefly after hearing his words. He knew what she was worried about.

“It wasn’t because of racism that we fought.”

Sera raised her voice slightly at the end of her sentence.

“Then?”

“It was because of drugs.”

“Drugs?”

“Those guys were the ones who sent me to the drug rehabilitation center.”

Sera’s expression changed in an instant. Jung Hyun-woo continued to speak.

“When I said I wouldn’t buy drugs from them, they made the first move.”

“A small gang, huh.”

“I didn’t expect such a thing to happen at a prestigious private high school.”

Sera sighed deeply.

“Hoo, the world is chaotic these days.”

After the Vietnam War, drugs spread widely in the United States. 60% of veterans had experience with marijuana, and 20% had experience with heroin, so this was a natural consequence.

And the amphetamine that Jung Hyun-woo used wasn’t even considered a drug, so the extent of its spread was unknown.

“I went to see the hospitalized kids.”

“Because of the hospital bill payment?”

“No, I just thought I should keep an eye on them.”

Jung Hyun-woo turned his gaze to the opposite side.

“Sera is like a mom, not a sister.”

“Where is there such a young mom?”

Sera was only a sophomore in college. Of course, in the United States, it wasn’t uncommon for people her age to get married and have children.

“…”

“One of the kids said something strange.”

“Something strange?”

“Someone said they would give 10,000 dollars to anyone who sold drugs to Charlie. And the kids decided to split the money.”

10,000 dollars.

The amount itself wasn’t huge. But it was a different story when it came to a high school student’s allowance.

Even for the children of the upper class, it was rare to spend 10,000 dollars a month on allowance.

In other words, it was enough money to tempt even a private high school student.

“So, someone instigated this?”

The reason Sera was surprised when she heard Jung Hyun-woo’s words earlier was that the child’s words matched what he had said earlier.

“We need to investigate further to know for sure.”

Jung Hyun-woo narrowed his brows.

‘Surely it’s not someone from the Jung family?’

He wanted to believe it wasn’t. If it were true, he would have a major enemy in the family.

“I hired a private detective, so the results will be out soon.”

Jung Hyun-woo widened his eyes.

“You hired a detective?”

Sera replied in a calm voice.

“This is something happening within the family. I know best what a prestigious family is like.”

She was a woman who had directly experienced a prestigious family, not just through content or rumors.

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