Chapter 6

Chapter 6: To What Extent

The atmosphere in the newly moved-in room grew cold and heavy.

Baek Shin-woo stared at Park Sang-kyu and said calmly.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Please tell me when I ask politely. Also, tell me your relationship with Im Hee-yeon, the department head.”

With this response, the men in the back stepped forward one by one. It was a sign that they were prepared to use force depending on the answer.

“These days, it seems that large corporations solve problems with strength rather than brains.”

“Efficiency in work is important in the right place. Of course, my decision can change based on Baek Shin-woo’s actions.” Sёarᴄh the novёlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Park Sang-kyu’s gaze turned to the Karambit knife Shin-woo was holding.

“Oh, this? It seems it was uncomfortable for you to see.”

Immediately, Shin-woo folded the knife and threw it onto the mattress.

“That’s a good choice. Now, let’s talk.”

“I didn’t say I would tell you.”

“You’re being stubborn for no reason. Sorry, but I’m not very patient, so I will use a slightly uncomfortable method.”

Eventually, the two men from both sides approached Shin-woo.

At the same time, Shin-woo quickly grabbed the tie of the man on the left, pulling it and striking his temple with his elbow.

“Ugh!”

As the man’s body collapsed, Shin-woo twisted and swung him by the tie he was holding.

The man on the right fell on top of him, and Shin-woo kicked the man’s head with his knee.

Thud!

Shin-woo didn’t stop there and stomped on the chin of the man with the heel of his foot.

Thud!

He had perfectly completed the execution(?) with a confirmatory kill.

“……”

A silence filled the room.

Park Sang-kyu’s eyes widened, and his face hardened.

Although his subordinates were not as skilled as the 666th Unit, they were still capable of handling at least five men alone.

Yet, they had fallen and collapsed after facing Shin-woo.

“I confirmed that you are a non-commissioned officer, but it seems you’re not just any soldier.”

“It doesn’t matter what I did in the army. How about showing some manners now? Or just leave immediately.”

Shin-woo stepped on the ankle of the man lying on the floor.

“Ahhh!”

“Ahh!”

The man underneath also screamed as his legs were crushed.

Park Sang-kyu was stunned by Shin-woo’s ruthless actions.

“It seems you also lack patience.”

“I don’t wait. I’ll just charge in immediately.”

Park Sang-kyu, whose head was in a mess, thought about moving himself.

However, he couldn’t gauge Baek Shin-woo’s skill level. Furthermore, trying to deploy more subordinates was risky due to the high visibility of the densely populated commercial area around the studio.

“…Let’s retreat for today.”

“I don’t particularly want to see more.”

Shin-woo stepped back.

The men, who had regained their senses due to the pain, staggered and went back to Park Sang-kyu’s side.

“We’ll see you again somehow, Baek Shin-woo.”

“Oh, please clean the floor before you leave. This is a newly moved-in house.”

“……”

One of the men, given Park Sang-kyu’s signal, muttered incoherently and began to wipe the floor with his tie.

The other two, together with him, erased the shoe prints one by one and exited.

Soon, the door closed, and the room became quiet again.

“You can come out now.”

Click—

Jang Man-soo carefully opened the bathroom door.

“Did they really leave?”

“They left. By the way, did you bring the laptop?”

“Yeah? It’s here.”

Jang Man-soo handed over his bag.

Shin-woo took out a cellphone from his pocket and threw it to Jang Man-soo.

“Install some spyware on this and check it.”

“Whose cellphone is this?”

“One of those guys from earlier. They’ll come looking for it if they notice it, so hurry.”

He had taken the cellphone from the inner pocket while subduing the men.

“Your skills are really impressive.”

As he spoke, Jang Man-soo connected the cellphone to the laptop and started unlocking it with the password.

Thanks to the decryption program he developed himself, it didn’t take long.

“Done.”

“Ok—!”

Ding-dong—

Just then, the doorbell rang.

“Perfect timing. Go hide in the corner where you can’t be seen.”

Baek Shin-woo grabbed his phone and opened the front door.

Standing outside was the man who had pulled Shin-woo’s tie earlier.

“You’re here because of the phone you dropped, right? It was in the corner,” the man said.

“Ah… yes.”

“Here you go.”

As the man handed the phone over, he immediately took it and went downstairs.

Shin-woo, who came back inside, spoke to Jang Man-soo, who was looking at his laptop.

“Clear out the contacts and call history while you’re at it.”

“I’m already on it. It’s been quite a mess, and right now, I’m listening to the captain.”

Since Jang Man-soo was eavesdropping with spyware, he had earphones plugged in.

“Let me hear it too.”

“Got it.”

He removed the earphones and switched to the laptop speakers. At the same time, Park Sang-kyu’s voice was heard.

[… The fighting style was extraordinary. What did you think about it?]

[It was extremely swift.]

[Moreover, it felt like he had received professional combat training, and it was quite rough.]

They were evaluating Shin-woo’s combat skills.

During the conversation, Park Sang-kyu sighed and seemed to be making a call.

[Let’s keep quiet for a while. Don’t make any conspicuous actions out of boredom.

…Yeah, …Okay……]

Since it was eavesdropping, only Park Sang-kyu’s voice was heard, with no explanation or detailed information.

Then the call ended, and it became quiet.

Shin-woo slowly nodded.

“It seems like the call was from them.”

“666th Unit?”

“Given the failure of the previous plan, they will likely keep a low profile for a while. Can you get recent GPS coordinates?”

“I checked too, but they’ve turned off the phone’s GPS thoroughly. It seems that the spyware won’t be detected for a long time.”

Park Sang-kyu was meticulous enough to find Shin-woo’s house on the day he moved in.

That was something Jang Man-soo also felt while going through the phone.

“Once all the information inside is copied, make sure to delete the spyware cleanly.”

“Ok―!”

Tapping sounds echoed as Jang Man-soo’s fingers moved swiftly over the keyboard.

*

The weekend arrived.

Im Hee-yeon visited Myung Joong-hwan’s mansion in Pyeongchang-dong.

As she entered the living room, her eyes met with Myung In-chul, who was sitting on the sofa.

“It seems difficult to see your face these days.”

His comment made Im Hee-yeon frown slightly.

“I’ve been quite busy. By the way, what brings you home? I thought you were always out on weekends for dental appointments. It seems like you’ve been very busy too, Mr. Myung.”

The one turning the group upside down was Im Hee-yeon.

Because of that, Myung In-chul had been keeping a low profile and dealing with many things quietly.

“What about the audit of MH Electronics? Are you not delaying the preparations?”

“Seeing your confidence, it looks like you’ve prepared thoroughly.”

“The audit is handled by the staff. What can I do?”

Im Hee-yeon’s frown deepened at his smirking expression.

“Chairman called, so I must excuse myself now.”

“…Oh, do you know a man named Baek Shin-woo?”

At that moment, Im Hee-yeon’s footsteps halted. She turned back with the calmest expression she could muster and looked at Myung In-chul.

“Who is that?”

“Don’t know? Hmph… Doesn’t matter if you don’t know.”

It was already expected that Myung In-chul had information about Shin-woo.

“I’ll excuse myself now.”

With her mind troubled, Im Hee-yeon went into the study, trying not to show her distress.

In the study, Myung Joong-hwan, the chairman of MH Group, was sitting on a sofa reading a newspaper.

His white hair and solemn expression were complemented by the transparent rimless glasses perched on his nose. His eyes slowly turned toward Im Hee-yeon.

“Director Im seems to be dealing with many complicated matters these days.”

“…I didn’t mention it.”

“So, the due diligence for MH Electronics will be conducted next week? Have the other places been wrapped up?”

“MH Electronics is the only one left.”

“You’ve been working hard.”

Even while the conversation went on quietly, the atmosphere grew heavy.

“I apologize for not proceeding according to schedule.”

“Even if it takes time, it doesn’t mean the business will be affected. By the way, there was some issue with MH Retail during the due diligence, wasn’t there?”

Im Hee-yeon responded calmly to the question.

“There was a rebate issue with the executive in charge and the MD at MH Convenience Store under MH Retail. The relevant documents have been handed over to the audit team.”

“Busan, huh… Is it Joo Seong-man? What’s the amount of the rebate?”

“The amount identified so far is 3.2 billion won.”

At that answer, Myung Joong-hwan made a bitter expression.

Joo Seong-man was someone who had worked with Myung Joong-hwan when he was establishing the base of MH Retail. However, three years ago, he was demoted to Busan after causing a similar issue while in the Seoul headquarters.

“Ah… Joo Seong-man, that guy, has become blind to petty money since he went down to the provinces.”

“What should we do?”

Silence followed while waiting for the answer.

“One chance is enough. And if he has harmed the company, he should naturally be punished. So proceed according to the regulations.”

“I will do that.”

The conversation paused for a moment.

Then Myung Joong-hwan closed the newspaper he had been reading and made eye contact with Im Hee-yeon.

“I heard you raised your voice with In-cheol earlier in the living room.”

He was asking why.

Im Hee-yeon hesitated for a moment before cautiously opening her mouth.

“It was a conversation about a person. …I said I didn’t know the person.”

“Baek Shin-woo…?”

It wasn’t a loud voice, but it was loud enough to be heard even through the door.

At the same time, Im Hee-yeon’s fingertips trembled slightly. She looked at Myung Joong-hwan as calmly as possible.

“…That’s what they say.”

“Hmm…”

A peculiar sigh escaped Myung Joong-hwan’s lips.

“Why… is that?”

Myung Joong-hwan, who had risen from the sofa, walked to his desk at the end of the study and sat down.

“Hee-yeon.”

He always called her with a title, but now he just used her name, which surprised Im Hee-yeon slightly.

“What is it, Chairman?”

“It has already been 26 years since you connected with our family, hasn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“It’s already been that long. Time really flies…”

“……”

Myung Joong-hwan’s gaze turned toward the garden outside the window, where the trees were thick and lush.

“Eighteen years ago, I gave you the opportunity to leave MH Group.”

It was around the time when Im Hee-yeon had graduated from Harvard. But she had chosen not to take the opportunity Myung Joong-hwan offered.

“…You did.”

“Honestly, I thought you would accept it. But you have lived as a shadow in our MH Group until now.”

“Because I owe you, Chairman. I just didn’t want to betray that.”

That was sincere enough.

Myung Joong-hwan tapped the armrest of his chair with his fingers with a peculiar expression.

Tap— Tap— Tap—

“Weren’t you worried about what would happen to your son in our MH Group?”

The previously heavy atmosphere instantly turned as cold as ice.

“Indeed… Chairman, you knew.”

Im Hee-yeon had long suspected it. However, she had kept silent all this time because she couldn’t bring herself to ask Myung Joong-hwan.

“Even if your child was born outside, it doesn’t change the fact that he is my blood. So, I couldn’t ignore hearing news about you while you were studying abroad.”

“…I see.”

During the time she was studying in the United States, MH Group only sent money. She had thought it would be enough to stay out of sight.

Yet, it had been of no use.