As soon as I stepped out of Team Leader Park's office, Captain Kang escorted .
He had been hiding nearby with more than twenty n.
The mont I walked outside, he personally prepared a vehicle and ushered inside.
"It looks like Team Leader Park has joined hands with Executive Lee."
"Team Leader Park? But wasn't he the one who showed unwavering loyalty to the Gwanghwamun Bear?"
"There's an old saying: When a pri minister's dog dies, people pay their respects, but when the pri minister himself dies, not even a single dog shows up. Team Leader Park wasn't loyal to the Gwanghwamun Bear himself—he was loyal to the power the Bear wielded."
The Gwanghwamun Bear was dead.
Had Team Leader Park been there when Executive Lee tried to kill him, he would have risked his life to protect Chairman Lee.
But now, the Gwanghwamun Bear was gone.
There was no longer any reason to stay loyal to a dead man's power, so he allied himself with Executive Lee for his own benefit—despite knowing that Executive Lee was the very one who had killed the man he once followed.
"It seems the Yakuza's funds are flowing toward Executive Lee. If we add Team Leader Park's assets to that, it's only a matter of ti before Myeong-dong falls into their hands."
"It'll be difficult for Lee Young-han to stop them with his inheritance alone. A few loan sharks may have sided with him, but Team Leader Park knows Myeong-dong inside out. He won't stand a chance."
"Are you planning to help Lee Young-han?"
"I'll decide after speaking with him. I need to et him in secret."
"I'll arrange a eting before the day is over."
It had been a long ti since my mind felt this clouded.
I had gone so far as to lay the groundwork to support Team Leader Park, yet he was the first to betray the Gwanghwamun Bear.
* * *
Late at Night
I finally t with Lee Young-han at a small gym.
This gym was where Captain Kang's n trained, and the second and third floors served as their living quarters.
"I didn't expect you to call to a place like this. And why are you ordering around?"
"If you don't like it, you're free to leave. Whether Myeong-dong falls into Team Leader Park's hands or Lee Joon-soo's, I won't care either way."
Lee Young-han was still soone I had no desire to deal with.
I wasn't sure what kind of delusion he was under, but he was speaking to as if I were beneath him.
"Didn't my grandfather help you out a lot? And this is how you treat ? This is why they say you should never take in an ungrateful wretch. The mont my grandfather passed, you turned into a different person."
"Let correct you on one thing—you're mistaken if you think Chairman Lee helped . It was I who helped him. He didn't take in; rather, I took him in."
I spoke with the utmost politeness, though the content of my words was anything but.
"You think you can act high and mighty just because you're the heir to Taewoo Group? A brat who just barely graduated from being a minor, claiming he took in my grandfather? They say third-generation chaebols have no manners, and I see they were right."
"Let's cut this pointless argunt short. Honestly, I have no reason to waste my ti with you. No matter who ends up controlling Myeong-dong, it has nothing to do with Taewoo Group."
This guy was hopeless.
He had no sense of the situation, let alone the awareness to understand the position he was in.
I dusted off my clothes and stood up.
Even with the Gwanghwamun Bear gone, Myeong-dong had always been divided among four people.
Perhaps it was ti to give the opportunity to Cash King, Old Lady Baek, or Chairman Kang instead.
"Wait a minute! You called all the way here just to walk out like this?"
"Out of respect for Chairman Lee, I'll give you a piece of advice—take your inheritance and leave Myeong-dong. That's your best shot at survival. You've got a stash of hidden stocks in the U.S., don't you? Check into it. Those IT stocks should have turned a decent profit by now."
"How the hell do you know that?! The only ones who knew about my Nasdaq investnts were my grandfather and ! Not even Team Leader Park knew about this—how do you know?!"
Lee Young-han's deanor shifted in an instant.
The man who had been slithering like a snake suddenly turned serious.
"How do I know? Because I was the one who told him. Do you really think Chairman Lee, who valued real estate above all else, would suddenly sell his properties to invest in Arican stocks for no reason? Frankly, I'm more surprised you knew about his U.S. dealings."
"…Were you the benefactor my grandfather spoke of? The one who helped pass off the corporate bonds of failing companies to other Myeong-dong loan sharks, and the one who provided information about U.S. stocks—was that you, Director Kim Min-jae?"
Could a person change this drastically?
So all this ti, he had been deliberately acting like a reckless fool.
Of course, from the mont I first saw him, I knew he wasn't lacking in ability.
As the grandson of the Gwanghwamun Bear, it was only natural that he wouldn't be an idiot.
"And if I were? What difference would it make?"
"Allow to formally introduce myself. I am Lee Young-han, grandson of Chairman Lee Sun-il. I sincerely apologize for my past rudeness."
Lee Young-han dropped to his knees and bowed his head.
I turned away from the door and walked toward him.
"Was that all an act? Why did you pretend to be soone you're not?"
"I had no choice. I needed to uncover the truth behind my grandfather's death. I couldn't trust anyone—especially those who had frequent dealings with him."
"Now I'm sowhat interested. Tell everything. I need to hear the full story before deciding whether to trust you. And don't kneel—I'm not fond of empty gestures."
Lee Young-han stood up.
With cautious movents, he took a seat and began speaking.
"My grandfather wanted to live in the light, not in the shadows. That's why he kept away from Myeong-dong and even spread rumors that we had a strained relationship."
"So that's why you never lived in the Gwanghwamun estate with him."
"Exactly. But in secret, he was educating . A few years ago, he even sent to the U.S. to manage investnts in Nasdaq."
I could understand the Gwanghwamun Bear's mindset.
To survive in Myeong-dong, he must have done countless unspeakable things.
At the very least, he didn't want his grandson to follow the sa path.
"Then you must not have had much to do lately, considering most of the funds invested in Nasdaq were brought back to Korea."
"Over 80% of the stocks were sold, and the dollars were transferred to Korea. I returned as part of that process."
"There's talk that you inherited 10 billion won. What's that about?"
"He gave that inheritance to establish an investnt firm in Korea. If I was going to work in the light, I needed a legitimate ans to inherit wealth."
I could see the bigger picture.
He likely planned for his grandson to run an investnt firm, using his own funds as the primary capital.
That way, even after his death, the Myeong-dong loan sharks wouldn't be able to lay a hand on the money.
"So Chairman Lee must have passed away before he could transfer all the funds to the firm."
"About half of the assets were moved, but the ones under borrowed nas couldn't be transferred in ti."
"You'll need Manager Park's help to retrieve those shadow assets. But from what I've seen, he doesn't seem willing to cooperate."
"Based on what I've gathered, it seems Team Leader Park and Lee Joon-soo conspired to kill my grandfather. But no matter how I think about it, I can't figure out why Team Leader Park would betray him. My grandfather intended to pass Myeong-dong down to him."
Who would want a fish-shaped bun without red bean filling?
If Chairman Lee had completed the inheritance process while he was alive, Team Leader Park would have had no choice but to accept the empty bun.
But now that the person holding his leash was gone, he naturally wanted to fill the bun with red bean paste himself.
"From what I've found, Lee Joon-soo joined forces with the Ohseong Clan to take out Chairman Lee. After that, he seems to have aligned himself with Team Leader Park."
"Lee Joon-soo working with Ohseong Clan? …That damn leech, after all this ti."
"And the Ohseong Clan is connected to the Japanese Yakuza. The Japanese loan industry is planning to take over Korea's private lending market. From their perspective, Chairman Lee, who controlled Myeong-dong, was an obstacle."
"Lee Joon-soo and Team Leader Park… My grandfather fed and nurtured them. They say you should never take in an ungrateful beast, but they were the last people who should have turned against him."
Lee Young-han's eyes burned with rage.
For a mont, I saw a reflection of my past self before my regression.
But his situation was far better than mine. I had possessed nothing, whereas he had inherited his grandfather's wealth and still had people willing to help him.
"If you want, I can assist you. My promise to make Chairman Lee the ruler of Myeong-dong is still valid. Are you ready to step out of the light and return to the shadows?"
"I've already stepped into the shadows. Though my abilities are lacking, I've been eting with loan sharks and expanding my influence to take control of Myeong-dong."
Lee Young-han was still as cunning as a snake.
He was carefully hiding his venom, preparing step by step for his revenge.
But his fangs were far too weak to take a bite out of Team Leader Park, who had Japan's backing.
"Before long, Team Leader Park and Executive Director Lee will use Japanese funds to seize control of Myeong-dong."
"I plan to invest all my assets to stop them."
"Half of your assets won't be nearly enough. I'll provide financial support. To take on Japanese capital, you'll need at least an equal amount. With 10 trillion won, we can crush them."
Lee Young-han swallowed hard, the sound audible in the silence.
He looked visibly shaken by the ntion of 10 trillion won.
"As far as I know, Taewoo Group doesn't have 10 trillion won in liquid assets. But… how can you possibly raise that much?"
"I was the one who advised Chairman Lee on U.S. stock investnts. Naturally, I've also made my own investnts there. On top of that, I have connections that can easily mobilize 10 trillion won."
In reality, I didn't even need to call in my connections.
Through SAVE Investnt alone, I could easily inject 10 trillion won into Myeong-dong.
But there was no need to reveal that. Just because Lee Young-han seed sincere didn't an I had to disclose everything.
"With 10 trillion won, we can definitely hold our ground!"
"We're not just going to hold our ground. We're going to crush them completely. If Team Leader Park is lending money at 60% interest, you'll lend at 50%. If he lowers it to 30%, you'll drop it to 20%."
"Are you sure about that? The profit margins will shrink significantly."
"In business, you get used to price wars. A true entrepreneur is willing to take losses to eliminate the competition."
Even now, I was engaged in price wars across multiple industries.
Especially with Taewoo Telecom, where we were investing heavily to challenge KS Telecom—going as far as launching our own OTT streaming service.
Compared to that, Myeong-dong was nothing.
Even at 20% interest, the profits would still be substantial.
Of course, the returns wouldn't be as high as managing money on Wall Street, but in the long run, it wouldn't be a loss.
"Thank you… truly, thank you."
Lee Young-han bowed deeply, pressing his forehead to the floor in gratitude.
I turned to the window and gazed up at the sky.
Through his grandson, I could finally fulfill the promise I made to the Gwanghwamun Bear.
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