Ch 42

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The Beginning of a New Time (3)

 

Yoonjae’s slim-fit three-piece suit, tailored as if made just for him, further accentuated his perfect proportions. Yoonjae rolled up his sleeves and placed the first company report in front of him. He meticulously reviewed all the company’s data, and he felt Eunho’s investment sense was developing day by day, so he was closely observing him, comparing him to the head of the investment division.

 

Eunho opened the development platform screen of the first company report and pointed out several areas with his finger, explaining each point in detail.

 

“The planning is a bit disappointing. Word-of-mouth is already out there, but it feels a bit trapped in terms of scalability. There seems to be a limit to the content planning. Of course, if you pour in capital, a better plan will come out, and scalability goes without saying. But the CEO’s experience and network seem a bit short, and it’s obvious that they’re reluctant to invest in personnel.”

 

Eunho was looking at the company from a comprehensive perspective. In over half a year, he had grown so much that he was worthy of being a professional management Secretary, which was admirable. Yoonjae gave a positive signal as if to thank him for his answer, and gathered all the reports into one stack.

 

“The CEO’s mindset and philosophy are important for startups. Actually, I’ve already met the CEOs of the first and third companies.”

 

“When?”

 

“Last Thursday and Friday.”

 

Eunho rolled his eyes and raised the corner of his mouth diagonally, uttering a short syllable. He wondered what was going on since Yoonjae had dinner appointments for two consecutive days and told him to leave work early, but it was an investment meeting. Yoonjae excluded Eunho from dinner meetings without exception. He said he couldn’t let him go hungry while waiting in the car for a meeting that he didn’t know when would end.

 

“The third company CEO’s vision is more solid, so I’m leaning towards that side. It’s up to that person to succeed.”

 

Yoonjae had already made up his mind about the third company. He was gathering various opinions in case he was missing something, and he only asked to check Eunho’s investment sense.

 

“Just a moment.”

 

Eunho thought the conversation was over and was about to get up and leave, but Yoonjae grabbed him from behind. When he turned his head, Yoonjae, who had come close, reached out and gently tightened Eunho’s tie, straightening it neatly. His subtle pheromones, emanating from close proximity, flowed down Eunho’s shoulders. It was as if the coolness of the forest, which had become even thicker after the rain, was permeating his lungs.

 

Eunho exhaled and inhaled repeatedly, as if breathing abdominally, and absorbed his pheromones as much as possible. Lately, his body reacted first and tried to absorb his pheromones as much as possible. Is this what it’s like to be imprinted? Eunho suppressed his instinct to not want to be separated from him and barely regained his reason.

 

“It’s good to see you doing well.”

 

Yoonjae was always consistent. His ticklish and soft semi-formal tone had disappeared, but other than that, he was always looking at Eunho without change.

 

Yoonjae grabbed the end of his chin with his fingers and kissed him lightly, as if brushing against him. Eunho’s round cheeks were tinged with apricot color. Eunho, knowing full well that there was no one else around, looked around just in case and cleared his throat.

 

“Executive Director.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“According to the report from the finance team today, A Second bought 10% of Yuseong Group Executive Director Choi Youngjae-ssi’s shares and became the second-largest shareholder.”

 

Eunho had been feeling uneasy since coming to work. His head became complicated as he checked the report from the finance team. It was difficult to understand why the Choi Chairman’s family, who had been grinding their teeth at Yoonjae, had handed over as much as 10% of their 17% stake to A Second. He knew that Yuseong Group’s financial situation was not good, but it was difficult to understand the exact inside story.

 

Articles about Choi Youngjae, the second-largest shareholder of Yuseong Venture Capital, selling 10% of his shares were exposed at the top of the economic section all day long, and each article was accompanied by the title of securing cash liquidity. What was even more surprising was that Yoonjae’s expression did not change at all when he received the report. Chief Yoon, who had reported early in the morning, came to Eunho, shaking his head, saying that he did not know what Executive Director was thinking. Yoonjae was calm to the point of being relaxed, as if he already knew the fact.

 

“I’m checking it out anyway. I’m verifying a few more things, and I’ll let you know when it’s accurate.”

 

Yoonjae rather comforted Eunho. Eunho, relieved by his trustworthy words that he had started a separate investigation, placed the bundled reports on Yoonjae’s desk.

 

“It’s not a good thing, is it?”

 

“It’s hard to tell whether it’s good or bad, but it’s not the worst, so don’t worry too much. And thanks for the information you gave me back then.”

 

Eunho sent the A Second data that Hyukpil Sunbae had sent him to Yoonjae via email. He would have been proud if the content was substantial, but he quietly handed it over because he was too embarrassed to say that he had found out the information with only a few lines of clues.

 

Yoonjae thought it was admirable that Eunho was paying attention from behind, but he drew a line, asking him not to get involved in this matter anymore. It was his earnest wish that he did not want to deliberately drag Eunho, who was already in sight, into the situation and get him involved.

 

“It’s not even helpful, anyway.”

 

Everything was full of uncertainties. Having heard from Hyukpil Sunbae, he felt wronged and angry that a dark shadow was cast over Yoonjae’s future. Why are you making people suffer so much? Later, even complaints mixed with resentment came out.

 

***

 

As soon as the afternoon executive meeting was over, Yoonjae left a message for Eunho to leave work first, then grabbed a coffee and drove to Kang Taeoh’s house. He had been waiting to hear from him after the news articles about the share sale that had been noisy all day, and Taeoh’s reply came right away as if he had read his mind.

 

The city was heavily congested even though it was not rush hour. Yoonjae rubbed his eyes, which were layered with fatigue, and picked up the coffee he had placed in the auxiliary holder. He took a sip of the coffee, frowned, and slowly stepped on the accelerator. Perhaps the coffee had been roasted for too long, but today the burnt taste felt strong, leaving his tongue feeling rough.

 

“You heard the news.”

 

“Yes, you bought it.”

 

Taeoh, who had walked out to the outdoor parking lot as soon as the gate opened, greeted Yoonjae happily. He had just left work and was wearing a full suit. He shook hands with Yoonjae, took off his jacket, draped it over one arm, and headed for the front door. The weather, which had entered the beginning of July, was so hot that it was impossible to bear without air conditioning. Yoonjae opened the back seat and took out a large box.

 

As soon as he opened the front door and entered the house, the sweat that had been rising from his spine evaporated in an instant due to the cool, almost chilly, air conditioning temperature. The helper, who had prepared the meal as if he had been given advance notice, quietly left the room, leaving the two of them alone again in the spacious space.

 

Before going to the kitchen, a small frame that looked like a family photo on the dresser in the hallway caught his eye. Yoonjae stopped walking and quietly looked at the photo, even though he knew it was rude, and turned his head to Taeoh, who was next to him.

 

“Is Isabella Brown, the CEO of A Second, perhaps Managing Director’s mother?”

 

“……Yes, that’s right.”

 

In the photo, he and his mother, Isabella Brown, were hugging each other’s shoulders and smiling brightly. Judging from the fact that his face was still young, it seemed to be a photo from more than 10 years ago.

 

“She’s a great beauty.”

 

Yoonjae couldn’t take his eyes off the harmonious photo of the mother and son. Having lost his parents early, he regretted not leaving many family photos the most. He had taken many photos until he was in elementary school, but after puberty, as Yoonjae became more assertive and wanted a life separate from his parents, he struggled in desperate regret only after sending his parents away.

 

“Ah, and this.”

 

Yoonjae handed Taeoh the large box he was holding. He had already guessed what it was from the size and thickness when he took it out of the back seat, but Taeoh waited quietly until Yoonjae handed it to him, and as soon as he received the box, he untied the ribbon and carefully opened the case. A deep breath, as if filled with resentment, pierced the cold air and scattered.

 

“I expected it, but Executive Director had it.”

 

His eyes were filled with many emotions as he spread the two paintings to the side and looked down at them silently for a long time. Yoonjae refrained from speaking because he could not dare to guess how he felt when he received the last painting his spouse had left behind during his lifetime.

 

“Thank you for returning it.”

 

His eyes were already red. Yoonjae responded with a faint smile and took a step back as he tried to hide his tears.

 

“Today, I will serve you tea after dinner. The information I have to convey is heavy.”

 

An unknown anxiety washed over him like a tsunami at his heavy warning. Yoonjae swallowed hard and looked straight at him.

 

“I also want to resolve the questions I couldn’t ask last time.”

 

Unresolved questions had been floating around in his head for a long time.

 

The two were sending each other trusting eyes as if they had reached a tacit agreement. They were so tightly intertwined that there was no need to say they trusted each other. Taeoh said with a calm face, as if he was prepared that an awkward situation might arise.

 

“I will gladly tell you everything.”

 

Before time went back, that is, on the day Eunho died in an accident eight months ago, Kang Taeoh had been in the office of CEO Han of Yuseong Venture Capital early in the morning. In addition to Kang Taeoh, CEO Kim Seongho of Jane Pharmaceutical, Vice President Choi Seryeong of Yuseong Group, and a total of four people were in his office, and Choi Yoonjae was on a business trip to find other investment destinations for investment losses.

 

At the time, the starting point of the incident was not much different from now. The faltering Yuseong Group, and the 1st and 2nd promissory notes that would soon blow in. Choi Seryeong wanted Yuseong Venture Capital to focus its investment on B-gate, a promising coin exchange at the time, through CEO Han, and Yoonjae took the plunge in line with CEO Han’s strong recommendation and the prevailing trend at the time.

 

Two months after the B-gate investment, the CEO of the company embezzled and went into hiding overseas, and the government’s coin policy pressure bill passed through the National Assembly, plunging Yuseong Venture Capital into chaos. Seoin Construction’s Kang Taeoh and Jane Pharmaceutical’s Kim Seongho took advantage of the gap to buy Yuseong Venture Capital shares and prepare to give strength to Choi Seryeong at the general shareholders’ meeting.

 

The compensation they received for helping Choi Seryeong and after the general shareholders’ meeting was over was a 1:1 rights offering at the initial issue price. Since it was a condition that they would sit still and see hundreds of times the profit if it was the initial issue price rather than the current price, the two agreed to follow Choi Seryeong’s words, but Kang Taeoh felt a strange uneasiness even while riding on Choi Seryeong’s coattails.

 

That day, everything was unlucky as if it had been determined to go wrong. The toothbrush broke from the morning, the tire went flat before going to work, and there was a minor collision accident in the underground parking lot of Yuseong Venture Capital. Kang Taeoh thought he should be careful today and visited CEO Han’s office, but he had no idea that something bigger was waiting for him.

 

“I can’t get in touch. You son of a bitch.”

 

Taeoh watched Choi Seryeong spit out vulgar swear words and burst into laughter.

 

They planned that if Yuseong Venture Capital executed an investment of about 30 billion won in B-gate, the CEO of B-gate would transfer the investment amount to an overseas corporation, launder the money in a ghost account and casino, and then send it back to a ghost company, and then the money would flow to Yuseong Group like an investment. The amount that Seryeong had to compromise with the CEO of B-gate was 20 billion won. However, when the CEO of B-gate went into hiding and refused all contact, Seryeong was at a lost.

 

Seryeong was full of anger and spewed out poisonous words. Taeoh, frowning at the angry pheromones spreading from her, checked the window for ventilation, but ventilation was not good due to the angle limitation of the project window. Taeoh pretended to go to the bathroom and slyly opened the office door to try to ventilate.

 

While walking out of the bathroom and back to the office, a faint but familiar pheromone scent stimulated Taeoh. It was an unforgettable scent that he missed so much. Taeoh keenly sharpened his sense of smell and chased the pheromones floating in the air. He passed the secretary’s office hallway and the place where he stopped was absurdly in front of the door of CEO Han’s office, where he had been until just now. But someone was standing in front of the office.

 

“Who are you?”

 

The man, who had been eavesdropping on the conversation between the three people through the crack in the door of CEO Han’s office, was surprised and staggered backward. Judging from the fact that he was holding an employee card and documents, he was definitely an employee of this company, but he was definitely not the employee in charge of CEO Han, as he was more surprised than necessary.

 

“Why? What’s wrong?”

 

Seryeong and CEO Han, who were in the office, walked out belatedly. The embarrassed man dropped the documents he was holding and ran away when he saw Seryeong and CEO Han. CEO Han, who saw the man’s receding back, became pale and guessed how much of the conversation had leaked out and rubbed his forehead.

 

“Secretary Yoo……. He belongs to Executive Director Choi.”

 

“What?”

 

Secretary Park, who should have been sitting at the office table in front of the office as usual, was nowhere to be seen. The shocked Seryeong took out her cell phone and called the Secretary waiting outside the entrance, in the elevator.

 

“There’s a bastard who just went out in the elevator? Chase after him and catch him!”

 

The situation spiraled out of control. Perhaps the unlucky day from the morning was a silent warning not to come here. Taeoh chased after the man as things quickly escalated. He didn’t even understand why he was chasing him at the time. The purpose of chasing the man while chasing him to the lobby was not to get angry or threaten him. Rather, he wanted to stop the Secretary who was chasing after the man after receiving instructions from Seryeong. The faint pheromones flowing out of him attracted Taeoh’s heart.

 

Screech!

 

When Taeoh chased out of the building, a terrible and painful scene unfolded before his eyes that was hard to believe. The man, who had run out to the road to catch a taxi, collided with a truck that was running and soared into the sky before crashing helplessly to the ground. As his life faded away, the faint pheromones disappeared like a mirage.

 

Taeoh covered his mouth with his hand at the sight in front of him and stood still. If he had just stayed still without saying anything, or if he had quietly grabbed the man and asked him, this would not have happened. When he faced an irreversible situation due to his words, a terrible heat wave swept through his body and strangled him.

 

Seryeong put on a mask and acted calmly as if nothing had happened immediately after receiving the report about the man’s accident. She drew a line, saying that the incident had nothing to do with her and that she did not know about it. As she said, there is no evidence. Taeoh stormed out of the group, which was pretending to be virtuous and plotting the next thing in a hypocritical manner. Unspeakable guilt weighed down his whole body and strangled him.

 

The beginning was an endless hatred for Choi Yoonjae. The person whom his beloved spouse, Lee Junseo, had kept in his heart until just before his death. Taeoh, who had a narrow-minded thought due to his spouse’s suicide, returned to Korea and met Seryeong, igniting the conflict once again.

 

However, Taeoh began to rethink everything due to Eunho’s accident that day. Taeoh, who had stormed out of CEO Han’s office, searched for the funeral home.

 

Yoo Eunho. Taeoh, who confirmed the name of the person he had driven to death, lingered in front of the funeral home for a long time. His head was constantly ordering him to move forward, but his feet would not move as if they were nailed down.

 

After hesitating, Taeoh entered the funeral home and exchanged a light nod with the secretary’s office employee standing in place of the chief mourner. Choi Yoonjae was sitting at Yoo Eunho’s funeral. He was out of his mind as if he was devastated by the absurd accident of his affiliated employee. There was a deep sense of melancholy and loneliness in his cold appearance, so Taeoh deliberately ignored him.

 

The portrait seemed to have been taken directly from the photo on his employee ID. The face smiling faintly in the artificial white background gave a feeling that was divorced from reality.

 

Just facing him in the photo, pain pressed down on his heart and compressed his whole body.

 

Taeoh offered a silent prayer and fled the scene as if running away. His head was dizzy from the events that had happened in one day, and in the end, he had no choice but to soothe his mind with alcohol.

 

Choi Yoonjae, who was sitting in the place of his subordinate’s funeral, was so different from what he had imagined. Taeoh was in chaos due to the shock of taking the life of a person named Yoo Eunho and the sense of alienation between the Choi Yoonjae he knew and the Choi Yoonjae in reality.

 

And when he opened his eyes, time had turned back eight months. Taeoh didn’t know what was going on, so he didn’t leave the house and constantly pondered. Not eight years, but just eight months. For eight months, Taeoh focused on sorting out the major things he had regretted before, one by one, and that process included Choi Yoonjae and Yoo Eunho.

 

As he carefully watched Choi Yoonjae, whom he had hated for being his partner’s first love, he confirmed the achievements, values, and future that Yoonjae had built up, and the hatred that had grown without knowing the end gradually regressed. The hatred was nothing more than a stylishly packaged, shallow pride.

 

Thanks to constantly observing from the sidelines, Taeoh noticed Yoonjae’s regression early on. Not only had the direction of his business become more solid, but he was also trying to protect Eunho. Taeoh slowly turned his heart towards his efforts. But once he realized that Yoonjae had regressed, he realized that there was more to discuss with him than just watching, and Taeoh naturally looked for opportunities to meet. And he met Yoonjae at a pharmaceutical company investment meeting.