TOIGC 30

Chapter 30 …

You Need Talent to Seize an Opportunity (1)

“Gagh!”

Feeling as though a piece of candy had just lodged in his throat, Kim Jeong-seon instinctively jerked back, clutching his neck with both hands. The sudden movement sent the tent wobbling, forcing Ryu Geun-tae to lean forward awkwardly.

“Oof…”

Crawling out of the squished—though thankfully unbroken—tent, Jeong-seon swallowed repeatedly to check his throat before turning to his nephew.

“Hey! Did you really have to be that vivid with your metaphor?”

“A secretary’s job is to take vague directions from above and translate them into concrete reality, Uncle. Sure, Samwoo Group isn’t a top-ten conglomerate, so we don’t do anything outrageously illegal, but we still cross the line behind closed doors every now and then.”

“Well, if a guy like me running a small regional operation has to get his hands dirty once or twice, I can only imagine how much worse it is for a corporate giant. Anyway… is that candy really all that sweet?”

“Hold on a second. Let me set this back up first.”

After popping the tent back into shape, Geun-tae crawled inside and motioned for his uncle to join him again.

“Say what you want, but this tent sure keeps the cold out. Damn, back when we were refugees, we had to sleep outside in the dead of winter just to survive. Times have certainly changed for the better.”

“Which is all the more reason to make as much money as possible now. Suffer a bit while we’re young, then live like royalty later.”

“Amen to that. So, tell me—is the candy sweet or what?”

At his uncle’s question, Geun-tae flashed a grin and licked his lips.

“Sweet? It’s terrifyingly sweet, Uncle. So sweet I’ve put on a massive amount of weight.”

“You… put on weight…?”

Jeong-seon looked at his nephew with a puzzled frown. The guy had an average frame—he didn’t look remotely overweight. But just as he was about to press the point, the real meaning behind Geun-tae’s words clicked.

“Ah…!”

“Get it now?”

“Yeah… If you’re putting it like that, you really must have gained a lot of weight.”

“That’s why I can’t go anywhere else. I’m far too hooked. My sole goal in life from here on out is to happily gobble up whatever candy the Boss throws my way and execute his orders to the letter.”

Listening to his nephew, Jeong-seon scratched his right sideburn with his index finger, smacking his lips with a tinge of bitterness.

“Are you really okay with that, though?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, calling yourself a dog like that. Doesn’t it hit your pride at all?”

It was a fair question, but Geun-tae merely scoffed. He wasn’t mocking his uncle—he was simply making it clear that such worries meant nothing to him.

“Uncle, you know how hard I scraped and struggled just to land a spot at Samwoo.”

“I know. Believe me, I know.”

“And you tried to land a job in Seoul back then, failed, and ended up starting your own firm down here instead, right?”

“Guilty as charged,” Jeong-seon offered a wry, self-deprecating smile.

“Instead of living as a bottom-feeder bowing to a rich man’s dog, I’d rather be the rich man’s dog receiving bows from his guests. Besides, the Boss isn’t the type to treat a loyal servant like an actual hound. Calling myself his dog is just my way of saying I’m ready to serve him with absolute loyalty.”

It was a firm commitment to give Yoongi his absolute allegiance, precisely because his master treated him like a human being.

“If you’re going that far… then I suppose this bet is worth taking after all.”

Though a hint of hesitation lingered in Jeong-seon’s voice, the temptation had clearly taken root.

“Isn’t that why you came up to Seoul in the first place? You came in person. Unless you were just planning to introduce your men and head right back down?”

“No, I came up intending to stay. Honestly, I felt it in my gut, too. At the very least, I want to make sure my son—no, my future grandkids—get to live in Seoul…”

Understanding his uncle’s sentiment better than anyone, Geun-tae felt a deep wave of sympathy.

“What about the others, though? Are they coming up tomorrow?”

It was late at night, with only a few hours left before the strict military curfew kicked in. Bringing the rest of the crew into Seoul at this hour simply wasn’t feasible.

“They’re waiting at an inn for now. Thinking about it now, I’m glad I didn’t bring them straight here.”

Geun-tae let out a sheepish smile.

“Good call. Anyway, let’s go see the Boss tomorrow.”

“Right, let’s do that. And make sure I get a piece of that candy, too.”

“If you want in, never lie to me, and don’t try to line your own pockets on the sly before you’re in a position to do so. I can help you land bigger profits, but I won’t be able to bail you out if you dig your own grave.”

“Not even a little leeway?”

“Not even an inch.”

Though looking slightly disappointed, Jeong-seon let out a long sigh, gave a relieved nod, and squared his shoulders.

“Fine. If playing my cards right gives me a shot at becoming the president of a corporate subsidiary, I shouldn’t be obsessing over petty chump change anyway. Let’s make this work. You’re the only one I can trust up here, and I’m the only one you can…”

Jeong-seon trailed off, blushing slightly as he gave a sheepish grin.

“Well, the fact that you’re my uncle isn’t going to change.”

“Right! Exactly.”

Clasping his nephew’s hand tight, Jeong-seon cleared his mind of lingering doubts, feeling a spark of the fire he’d had in his younger days.

“Grandpa~!”

A child’s voice echoed through Choi Gi-hyeon’s estate. Clad in heavy, fur-lined winter clothes, the young boy bounding through the door was not Yoongi.

“Ah, my grandson!”

Choi Gi-hyeon, dressed only in an undershirt despite the cold weather, beamed bright at the arrival of his second grandson, scooping the running boy up into his arms.

“Father, have you been well?”

At the greeting from his second daughter-in-law, Park Gyeong-ja, Gi-hyeon offered a pleasant smile and nodded.

“Yes, I’ve been fine. It’s freezing outside, so let’s step inside first.”

Stepping into the main living room, the ambient warmth was enough to make an undershirt comfortable. Condensation quickly formed on the boy’s heavy coat.

“Where’s my older brother?”

“He and his wife went out for a rare dinner date.”

Before Gi-hyeon could even finish his sentence, a whiny voice cut in.

“Grandpa, I’m hot!”

“Ah, you are, aren’t you? Let’s get that heavy coat off then.”

Gi-hyeon stripped the outer layer with a warm, indulgent smile. But watching from the side, his second son, Choi Cheol-min, felt an overwhelming sense of frustration building in his chest.

‘The look in his eyes is completely different.’

The difference between how his father looked at his eldest grandson compared to his second was night and day. When looking at Yoongi, Gi-hyeon’s eyes practically overflowed with intense expectation. But looking at Jeong-gi, it was just the ordinary, fond look of a grandfather watching a young kid.

‘Damn it.’

Choi Cheol-min’s son, Choi Jeong-gi, was born in 1971—three years younger than Yoongi, making him seven years old. Cheol-min brought him over frequently before he started elementary school, hoping to make a strong impression on the patriarch. But the look in Gi-hyeon’s eyes when facing Jeong-gi never shifted.

‘Damn it, his mother is so dense that the kid isn’t sharp either…’

Instead of reflecting on his own shortcomings, Cheol-min blamed his wife Park Gyeong-ja’s shallow nature. After all, he considered himself exceptionally sharp.

“I don’t wanna eat this!”

When dinnertime arrived, Cheol-min’s frustration only deepened. Seeing his son toss his spoon aside in a tantrum at the dinner table, Cheol-min glared sharply.

“Jeong-gi! What kind of behavior is that in front of your grandfather?!”

“Waaaaaaah!”

At his father’s scolding, Jeong-gi burst into loud, wailing tears, bolted from his chair, ran into an empty room, and slammed the door shut behind him.

“Jeong-gi!”

Park Gyeong-ja quickly scrambled up to chase after him. Cheol-min let out a heavy sigh before bowing his head deeply toward his father.

“I’m so sorry, Father. He’s still young and lacks proper manners…”

The moment his grandson vanished from sight, the warmth vanished from Gi-hyeon’s face, replaced by a cold, businesslike detachment.

“It’s not about doing that in front of me—a child shouldn’t throw a fit at the dinner table, period.”

The words struck Cheol-min like icy arrows straight to the chest. Break in a cold sweat under his father’s chilly tone, Cheol-min kept his head bowed low.

“I’m terribly sorry. I will make sure to discipline him strictly from now on.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

Gi-hyeon didn’t add the usual ‘He’s just a child’ line. Worse, the look he gave his second son was entirely devoid of expectation—even colder than the glance he’d cast toward the empty room where Jeong-gi had thrown his fit.

Cheol-min gnashed his teeth in silent fury.

‘This is all because of that bastard Yoongi.’

Yoongi had set the bar for the grandchildren impossibly high. His own son Jeong-gi was stubborn and, despite having private tutors, was barely keeping up with a second-grade level. Building an asset portfolio like Yoongi? Absolutely out of the question. To make matters worse, the boy didn’t even know basic table manners in front of his elder.

‘What on earth is that useless woman doing at home to raise him like this?!’

The more he thought about it, the more his blood boiled. But unable to vent his anger in front of his father, Cheol-min had no choice but to take his leave shortly after dinner ended.

“Father, we’ll visit again soon.”

“Don’t go out of your way to make time.”

“Not at all, Father. It’s my duty as your son to visit often.”

Though he gave a polite answer, Cheol-min was seething inside as he drove his family home.

‘That’s a line he’d never say to Yoongi…’

At first, he had assumed his father favored Yoongi simply because he was his first grandson. He had been convinced that once he had a son of his own, his father’s affection would shift toward the younger child, as elders naturally doted on the youngest.

Yet even after Jeong-gi was born and brought over, his father’s affection for the boy hadn’t lasted even five years.

[Grandpa, you smell funny!]

That was what five-year-old Jeong-gi had blurted out to his grandfather. Ever since that day, Gi-hyeon had treated Jeong-gi as if there were a sheet of glass standing between them. He held the other grandchildren at a similar distance, as if finding them somewhat troublesome to deal with. Yet whenever he looked at Yoongi, he beamed with genuine warmth, pouring out unconditional love and pride.

‘If this kid would at least pull himself together, it’d give me a fighting chance at taking over the company…’

Sighing as he glanced at his son fast asleep in his wife’s arms, Cheol-min dropped them off at home and immediately headed back out into the night.

“Curfew is coming up soon—where are you going?”

“I have business matters to discuss.”

“You better not be meeting another woman behind my back. I swear to God, Cheol-min!”

“I told you it’s not like that!”

At Cheol-min’s harsh bark, the sleeping Jeong-gi woke up and began to wail, echoing through their modest house—a home incomparably smaller than his older brother Cheol-ho’s mansion.

His brother had joined their father’s business ten years earlier, mastering the ropes and rising to become a subsidiary president, while Cheol-min remained a mere assistant manager at Samwoo Trading.

‘Damn it… if only I’d been born ten years earlier…’

A crying child, a cramped house, and a wife he couldn’t stand the sight of.

Kicking a stray tin can on the street in frustration, Cheol-min made his way toward tonight’s meeting spot. Instead of the high-end hostess bars he usually frequented, he headed toward a modest, unassuming pub—a 1970s staple that closed its front doors at curfew and kept the drinks flowing quietly inside. Of course, if you were unlucky, you could still get hauled off to jail despite bribing the local police.

‘Still got plenty of time before curfew.’

Taking a seat, he ordered drinks and snacks. Before long, the front door swung open, and his contact pushed through the warm steam of the tavern.

“You’ve arrived. Please, sit.”

Cheol-min stood up politely, offering the seat across from him.

“You always greet me so warmly, Manager Lee. I hardly know where to put myself.”

Lee Seong-won, Chief of Staff to Chairman Choi Gi-hyeon, took his seat with a bright smile.