MR 1

Prologue

Beep—beep.

Inside the quiet hospital room, the only sound filling the silence was the steady beeping of the electrocardiogram.

Ji-an had been pacing anxiously, sitting down only to stand again moments later. At last, she sank into a chair and murmured,

“……He’ll be okay, right?”

Even as she asked, she knew it was a meaningless question. Still, she wanted to hear any answer at all. Standing silently beside the bed with his arms folded, Chief Secretary Choi Kang-hoon nodded.

“He’s not someone who’ll be brought down easily by something like this. He’ll wake up soon.”

Haaah.

Ji-an let out a quiet sigh and looked at the man lying on the bed.

“………………Director Lee Sa-heon.”

Even unconscious, his face remained composed and striking.

If not for his pale complexion and the abrasions scattered here and there, one could almost mistake him for someone who had simply fallen into a light sleep.

The smooth bridge of his nose, his delicately shaped lips pressed firmly together, even the sharp line of his jaw gave off an extraordinary presence.

Even now, sleeping amid the steady beeps of the machines, he somehow managed to embody the authority and oppressive presence of a Director of Hyun-gang—and the leading candidate to become its next head.

Come to think of it, even that was so like Sa-heon.

………………I won’t ever curse you in my head for being a work-obsessed boss again.

Please, just open your eyes, Director.

Ji-an clasped her hands together and silently prayed when—

“Uh!”

The tips of Sa-heon’s fingers moved ever so slightly.

Startled, Ji-an shot to her feet.

“C-Chief! Did you see that?”

“I believe he’s waking up.”

Chief Secretary Choi Kang-hoon hurried over to the bedside.

The eyelids of the man lying there trembled faintly before slowly lifting. His unfocused pupils wandered across the ceiling, gradually beginning to recognize his surroundings.

“Ugh…”

A rough, rasping voice escaped his lips. Sa-heon raised a hand toward his forehead, only to pause when the IV line caught against it.

“Director, are you all right?”

The chief secretary asked urgently.

Sa-heon deeply furrowed his brows and glanced around the room. As though he had finally realized he was in a hospital, he let out an irritated breath.

“What the•••”

..

Only then did Sa-heon’s gaze fall upon Ji-an, who was trembling.

The moment their eyes met, Ji-an gripped the hem of her blouse and sucked in a breath.

“Director, are you awake? Are you okay?”

As she approached him with a worried expression, Sa-heon’s head instinctively followed her movement.

Her silhouette seemed almost illuminated from within, her lips slightly bitten, her breath trembling. Sa-heon’s eyes traveled slowly over her face, and an inexplicable glimmer appeared in them.

“Honey………………”

“Y-Yes?”

Taken aback by both his piercing gaze and the unexpected word that followed, Ji-an stared at him blankly.

“D-Director, I’m Han Ji-an, your secretary.”

What had she just heard?

Ji-an’s body stiffened like a stone, while Chief Secretary Choi Kang-hoon swallowed hard.

“………………Honey, my head hurts.”

As if nothing unusual had happened, Sa-heon dropped another bombshell before closing his heavy eyelids again.

The people left in the hospital room could do nothing but stand frozen, utterly speechless.

Chapter 1

So, to understand how all this began, we have to go back one day.

Tension hung over the military training grounds in Posan, Gyeonggi Province.

Starting from the VIP seats at the very front, rows of neatly aligned chairs were filled with a mixture of people in military uniforms and formal suits.

Sitting in the very back row and keeping an eye on the proceedings, Ji-an calmed her trembling breath and checked her wristwatch as she counted down silently.

Three, two, one.

An alarm tore through the silence, and a 155mm artillery shell shot across the earth.

BOOM!

A thunderous explosion rang out, and the target several dozen kilometers away erupted, sending clouds of dust soaring into the sky.

The ground trembled beneath them, and the pressure in the air made the VIPs wearing helmets visibly flinch—including the Minister of National Defense and today’s most important client, Minister Walton of Defense, along with the other high-ranking officials.

The opening show of force had been a success.

Ji-an’s eyes sparkled with hope.

She leaned forward slightly and shifted her gaze toward the first seat in the front row, just as—

“Quite loud, isn’t it? The psychological pressure on the opposing side must be considerable.”

Amid the stiffened crowd, a man wearing sunglasses rose from his seat with a relaxed smile.

“And needless to say, the accuracy is impeccable.”

When the man, nearly 190 centimeters tall, stepped onto the outdoor stage, everyone sitting below naturally raised their heads as though looking up at him.

The sharply tailored suit fell perfectly over his well-built frame, its clean lines as crisp as his personality. Even standing before generals who had accomplished more than most, his posture remained perfectly straight, radiating an effortless dignity.

The man bent down toward the microphone, which was positioned far below his height, and smiled leisurely.

“Allow me to formally introduce myself. I’m Director Lee Sa-heon of Hyun-gang Aeros.”

Sa-heon removed his sunglasses.

His lips curved upward in a broad, refreshing arc, his skin bright, and his sharp, intelligent eyes radiated confidence.

Applause erupted throughout the audience.

Ji-an clapped enthusiastically along with everyone else when a quiet whisper drifted up from the row in front of her.

“He’s the youngest son of Hyun-gang, right? Of the three brothers?”

One reporter leaned slightly toward the side as he asked. Beside him, an economics reporter Ji-an recognized gave a knowing grin and chimed in.

“That’s right. The first and second sons were born out of wedlock. Only the youngest is legitimate. Apparently, even after having two grandchildren, the former chairman absolutely refused to accept their mother as his daughter-in-law.”

“So it was true that the youngest is the only one who’s a half-brother?”

“You didn’t know? Even though there were two grandchildren born outside the family, he refused to acknowledge them until the very end. Then he separated them and married the daughter of Assemblyman Choi instead. That’s how the youngest was born.”

“Huh. So he’s the youngest in birth order, but the only legitimate son.”

The economics reporter nodded smugly.

“That’s what makes it interesting. People in the market are saying that the youngest is the most similar to the former chairman in temperament. They say he’ll rise to the top, leaving his older brothers behind.”

The complicated family history of Hyun-gang Group was a juicy piece of gossip that was constantly discussed throughout business circles.

“So what if he does? The two older brothers are still his real brothers.”

At times, Sa-heon’s striking appearance and self-assured demeanor went beyond simple curiosity, stirring envy, jealousy, and a strange sense of inferiority in those who watched him.

“True. Just look at how Chairman Lee Kang-moon brought his sons back the moment the former chairman died. The youngest had to struggle all by himself—”

Just like right now.

“Ahem!”

At Ji-an’s pointed cough, the two reporters jumped and turned around.

Ji-an lifted the corners of her lips into a bright smile and lowered her voice.

“Hello, reporters. I hope you’ll write a good article.

Our director put a lot of effort into today’s demonstration.”

Her smile was gentle, but there was no warmth in her eyes.

The two flustered reporters exchanged an awkward laugh after a brief silence.

“Ah, yes. Of course. Haha.”

Then they furtively exchanged glances and began needlessly flipping through their notepads or rolling their pens between their fingers.

Honestly, when you worked for a boss this impressive, you had to step in and straighten things out every now and then.

Ji-an turned her head back toward Sa-heon standing on the stage.

To dismiss Sa-heon as merely someone who had “struggled” was an insult to him. He was more capable than anyone, utterly consumed by his work, and the kind of ruthless meritocrat who regarded work as both his life and his blade.

As one of the employees and colleagues who had worked alongside him and endured those struggles, Ji-an couldn’t help feeling wronged when people who knew nothing about him whispered about nothing but his family background.

The countless nights she had stayed awake preparing for today flashed through her mind like a revolving lantern. Then, as though breaking through her thoughts, Sa-heon continued speaking from the stage.

“First, I ask for your kind understanding regarding my appearance here today in place of my elder brother, Executive Director Lee Jae-seong. Unfortunately, Executive Director Lee was recently involved in a traffic accident and was unable to attend.”

The unexpected news of the accident caused a stir throughout the audience.

Sa-heon continued in a gentle tone.

“Since my brother spends so much time looking at Hyun-gang’s sturdy armored vehicles, it seems he briefly forgot just how thin the sheet metal of civilian vehicles can be. I hear he’s getting a firsthand lesson in the importance of safety this time.”

Laughter broke out in several places at the joke that eased the tension.

Sa-heon lowered his body slightly, then drew everyone’s attention with his voice dropping by a single note.

“The weapon you just witnessed is Hyun-gang’s flagship, the TS-8 Falcon self-propelled howitzer. It’s our latest model, equipped with an automatic loading system and MRSI, or Multiple Rounds Simultaneous Impact, capability.”

There was a force in his confident voice that immediately seized control of the relaxed atmosphere.

People who had been laughing only moments ago fell silent and listened intently.

Ji-an nodded to herself.

So that’s where all that confidence came from. And he didn’t even practice separately.

Sa-heon was highly capable when it came to speaking in front of a crowd.

Ji-an herself had been one of the new recruits whose company loyalty had been fired up after listening to his speech at the training center shortly after joining the company. She had been practically overflowing with what employees jokingly called “Hyun-gang pride.”

Of course, three years had passed since then. And after recently transferring to his direct secretary’s office, she had experienced firsthand just how insanely work-obsessed Lee Sa-heon was.

By now, even seeing the first character of Lee Sa-heon’s name was enough to make her shudder.