» The Youngest Son of Sunyang
The Youngest Son of a Chaebol Family - 243
[243] Five-Day Funeral 1
Even after hearing about the investigation into his grandmother, Executive Director Woo Byungjun's demeanor remained unchanged.
"This is not an easy task."
It was the first time he had shown such an immediate negative reaction since he started working for me.
Was the task itself that difficult? Or was it because the target was my grandmother, making it a burden?
"Is it the task that's difficult? Or the target?"
"I do not operate based on the target. Understanding art transactions is what's difficult."
Realizing Woo Byungjun was human too, a slight laugh escaped me amidst all this.
"I'm not exaggerating."
Perhaps misunderstanding my smile, his expression grew even more rigid.
"To accurately grasp high-priced art transactions, simply unearthing documents is insufficient. There are many covert dealings, and countless transactions where only cash is exchanged."
"Does that perhaps mean we need to investigate people?"
"Yes. I'm telling you it's difficult because we need to understand the transaction details through the people who were involved in them."
"Making someone speak, money and violence are the most reliable methods."
Woo Byungjun had a slightly surprised expression. He probably hadn't expected the correct answer to come from me.
I, on the other hand, had been in the exact opposite situation.
Making people keep silent with money and violence had been my job.
Pregnant women, assaulted men, hit-and-run incidents, drugs, and so on.
I locked the mouths of the parties involved and slipped money into the hands of the investigating officers. I sent expensive gifts to the homes of journalists who caught wind of things, effectively turning off the speakers that would spread the news far and wide.
Making someone speak and making someone keep silent are one and the same task.
"You understand well. That's right."
"Didn't you say you don't use violence?"
"Yes. Instead, I hire people who use violence. And they must be the kind whose ties can be easily severed."
"That, too, is possible with money... So, what you mean by 'difficult' is that it's hard to find someone who uses violence effectively and appropriately, yet is also easy to cut ties with."
"Because they also need to be sharp-witted. If they're dull, you'll only get irrelevant answers to irrelevant questions. And there are plenty of tough guys on their side too. There'll be wooden planks flying back and forth, and then there's the whole issue of pacifying any conflicts that arise..."
He was adding an unusual amount of extraneous detail.
Wouldn't the usual Woo Byungjun, even if a task was difficult, simply say, "Understood, but it will take some time," and leave it at that?
Perhaps?
"You already know something, don't you?"
It was also interesting to see Woo Byungjun, who usually showed no emotion, flustered. He blinks frequently when he's flustered.
"I briefly forgot how sharp-witted you are."
I didn't want to make him any more uncomfortable than he already was.
"I won't ask for details, but it must be done, no matter how difficult. It's an absolutely essential task."
Executive Director Woo's blinking eyes stopped.
"Yes. I will proceed immediately."
"I will provide ample support for the necessary funds. I'll leave one billion won at my officetel today. Take it."
"Understood, Director."
After Executive Director Woo left, I also set off for my grandfather's house, where the funeral hall had been arranged.
* * *
When Chairman Jin's three sons entered the now masterless study, they simultaneously frowned.
It was because, even before the scent of their father had faded, their mother was conspicuously seated there.
They wanted to say something, but as it was not customary to raise one's voice in a house in mourning, they all composed themselves.
"When did you arrive without notifying us?"
"It's been about a week."
"You could have at least answered your phone..." Jin Sanggi complained.
As Jin Sanggi spoke discontentedly, she cut off her son.
"Enough about the past... What on earth have you been doing all this time?"
Her gaze fixed on her eldest son.
"What are you talking about?"
Jin Younggi frowned, perhaps annoyed by his mother's rebuke.
"I'm talking about why that impudent fellow is still lingering around the company."
They all knew that "impudent fellow" was Jin Dojun.
"Was it so hard to get rid of that one fellow from the group?"
"Mother. We will handle the group's affairs ourselves. There's no need for you to worry unnecessarily and lose your strength."
Though their mother, past eighty, was brimming with vigor for her age, her children, nearing their sixties, were in no mood to take kindly to her interference and nagging.
"You pathetic individuals...!"
Reading the dissatisfaction and annoyance clearly written on her sons' faces, Madam Pilok Lee raised the corners of her eyes in disdain.
"That fellow is slowly eroding your father's Sunyang, and you say you'll 'handle it yourselves'? What exactly do you mean by that?"
"Mother. We've already put countermeasures in place and will proceed as soon as Father's funeral is over. Then Dojun won't be able to set foot in the group. So, please, leave it to us."
Jin Donggi wanted to escape this place one second sooner. He was simply displeased with his mother, who seemed utterly unconcerned with his father's funeral while everyone outside was frantically setting up the funeral hall.
"Brother. What's that about? Countermeasures?" Jin Sanggi, who had been quiet, exclaimed.
Jin Sanggi, who had been quiet, glared and shouted.
Talk about stirring up trouble....
Because of Mother, he'd said something unnecessary, involving even the third son, who knew nothing.
"You'll know soon enough. We have no intention of excluding you, and no reason to, either. Father may have removed you from the group, but we are different. Anyway... I'll tell you in detail after the funeral, so just be patient." Jin Younggi said to his third brother in an admonishing tone.
As Jin Younggi spoke to his third brother in an admonishing tone, Madam Pilok Lee, unable to contain her fury, slammed the desk.
"You pathetic fools! Because you're so incapable of telling right from wrong, that old man doted on that young Dojun fellow!"
"Mother. Please calm down and lower your voice. The servants outside will hear everything."
Her eldest son spoke soothingly, but it was no use.
"Sanggi, you! Tell me. They say your father gave all his personal assets to you, didn't he? How much was it? Did it exceed one trillion won? What about real estate? Did you receive dozens of buildings and millions of pyeong of land?"
Seeing Jin Sanggi unable to properly answer his mother's sudden question and avoiding eye contact, his two elder brothers pressed him.
"What is it? What's wrong with you?"
"Tell us. How much is it? Don't tell me... it's empty?"
Pilok Lee clicked her tongue, watching her sons' reactions.
"Don't you know how much that man lying outside loved money? He scraped it together by any means necessary, without distinguishing methods. Did you really think the stocks you received were everything? You foolish men."
"Then are you saying he gave all his personal assets to Dojun?"
Jin Sanggi barely managed to open his mouth.
"Then? Who else would have taken it? Your two brothers? Or me? Seoyoon? Do you only realize if it's dung or soybean paste after you've tasted it?"
Madam Pilok Lee could only look with pity at her sons, who were just blinking at each other in surprise.
"He's the child born from a base woman, with no background whatsoever, who just painted her face, seducing my precious youngest son. And of all people, that fellow inherited your father's nature exactly: sly, greedy, and ruthless..."
Pilok Lee pointed outside with her finger.
"That's why that man lying out there cherished him like gold and jade. Because he was just like him."
Her three sons couldn't say a word under their mother's sharp rebuke and merely bowed their heads.
"First, that base woman took my son, and now that base fellow with her base blood is about to take over our Sunyang Group... and you lot are just relaxing, sitting around, fighting among yourselves to become chairman? Are you in your right minds?!"
Pilok Lee repeatedly struck her chest, as if her fury would not subside.
"There's no need for further words. After the funeral, Younggi, you will take the chairman's seat. Donggi, don't complain and follow your brother. With your two stakes, there won't be any problem, will there? After that, seize control of the financial subsidiaries that Dojun has taken. It's as simple as installing your people, from the CEO to all the executives. You fools missed such an easy opportunity because you were too busy checking each other!"
Jin Younggi suddenly felt fond of his mother and grateful. To think he would gain such a reliable ally!
However, Jin Donggi's expression hardened even further.
He wouldn't give up a temporary chairman position for a long time. Not now that he even had his mother's backing.
"Why aren't you answering?"
Jin Donggi said to his mother.
"We've already agreed that my older brother will sit in the chairman's seat until we finish adjusting the shareholding anew. It's already a settled matter, Mother."
"Is that so? Well done."
"Anyway, my older brother and I will handle the group's affairs well. Please withdraw your interest and at least try to look sad while the funeral is ongoing. Many eyes are watching."
Jin Donggi sighed briefly and tried to stand up. But his mother's words held him back.
"I have some shares. And I've also accumulated quite a bit of money here and there. Depending on what you do, I plan to give it all to the one who pleases me most. If you, Donggi, get your hands on all of it, your brother won't be able to treat you carelessly."
Shares?
"M-Mother..."
As a flustered Jin Younggi stammered, Pilok Lee cut off her sons.
"Did you really think I was penniless after living with your father for over eighty years? I saw exactly how he siphoned off money and how he hid his acquired shares."
"H-How many shares?"
As Jin Younggi asked urgently, Pilok Lee only offered a smile.
"They say it's a world where even parents need assets to be treated with respect, don't they? Now you'll finally listen carefully to your mother's words."
Madam Pilok Lee stood up from Chairman Jin's seat.
"Even if my shares aren't that many, combined with the money, they will be a weight that can tip the scales. Erase completely the traces of those lowly things buried everywhere in the house. Then I will give you everything I have. I trust you've understood."
Pilok Lee pretended not to see her sons' earnest gazes and left the study.
* * *
In the funeral hall, only a few workers were arranging wreaths; no one else was present. I had just seen my father rushing off to the guesthouse, so where could the other chief mourners be?
I offered a new stick of incense, then quietly stepped back, simply gazing at the empty funeral hall.
If Grandmother were to see me guarding the funeral hall alone, this place, which ought to be solemn, would undoubtedly become noisy again. I resolved to try my best not to clash with her until the funeral was over.
Just then, the study door opened, and Grandmother emerged. Without even a glance at the funeral hall, she went straight upstairs to the second floor.
Why?
Why would Grandmother have gone into Grandfather's study?
That place had already been thoroughly cleaned.
Most of the documents had been burned, and all essential papers moved to their respective affiliates. All that remained were books adorning the shelves and the plaques and trophies Grandfather had received.
She was not the type to get lost in memories while looking at the study.
Just in case, I approached the study, and sure enough, the voices of my three uncles leaked out.
Their voices were so low it was hard to understand what kind of scheme they were plotting again.
Had Grandmother sat her children down and poured out a stream of nagging?
This question was soon answered.
The expressions on my uncles' faces as they emerged from the study were stiff. If they had simply been nagged, they would have looked annoyed... Something special must have happened.
I was curious about what they had discussed, but I had to shake off the thought.
Because mourners were beginning to arrive, one by one.
* * *
The more powerful figures leading Korea visited the funeral hall, the darker Jin Donggi's expression grew.
They seemed completely convinced that Jin Younggi was the chairman's successor, busily seeking him out rather than Jin Donggi himself.
Even when the Minister of Construction and Transportation, who oversaw the construction industry, completely ignored him and engaged in a long, secret conversation with Jin Younggi, Jin Donggi felt his blood boil.
Didn't that mean they had already forgotten he was in charge of Sunyang Construction and Sunyang Heavy Industries? As everyone treated him as the second-in-command, he grew impatient.
He needed his mother's shares and money even more desperately.
And hadn't he learned from his father that one must take what one needs?