Chapter 169: No One is an Exception

Lim Do-hyun’s fingertips trembled minutely.

The hand holding the tablet trembled, and his face turned pale.

He stared at the screen for a moment.

He even rubbed his eyes and checked once more.

However, the characters visible on the screen did not change in the slightest.

[Chairman Lim Man-seok, condition improved.]

In an instant, the sounds of the world disappeared all at once.

His mind turned white, and his heart felt as if it were being crushed by a heavy boulder.

His chest felt oppressed as if an elevator in a high-rise building had malfunctioned and was plummeting with its cables cut.

He breathed in raggedly and muttered.

“…This makes no sense.”

They clearly said it would be difficult for his father to wake up.

Because the hospital director had said so directly.

In fact, Lim Do-hyun had visited the hospital in person.

He vividly remembered the appearance of the hospital director who spoke cautiously to him then.

“The Chairman’s brain damage is more serious than expected. Consciousness recovery may be difficult.”

Being unable to believe those words, he had even checked with his own eyes.

That was not alone, but together with his mother.

He felt relieved only after entering the hospital room with his mother, Mrs. Yoon Myeong-sook, and confirming his father lying there with a haggard face.

He had endured the past days believing those words.

During that time, it was enough to somehow turn the hearts of the board of directors and make Taeseong his own.

But now, it felt as if he had been struck by lightning at the fact that everything was twisted and was a deception.

Anger welled up, and the tablet in his hand shook.

“…How dare you deceive me!”

The things he had committed all this time did not cross his mind in the slightest.

Only the thought that his father had deceived him.

The blood in his whole body felt as if it were freezing with that one thought.

His fingertips turned cold.

‘Did my mother… the hospital director… Everyone plots and acts together?’

A sense of unreality began to run wild in his imagination.

‘They performed a play from the beginning with the intention of deceiving me.’

Paranoia spread like poison.

Like a person who had lost logical thinking.

At that time, one person’s face flashed through Lim Do-hyun’s mind like a bolt of lightning.

‘…Big sister.’

His heart felt as if it were sinking with a second thump.

This time deeper down.

There was no way Lim Hye-seon would not know this fact.

When the thought that she must have known for sure occurred, the hatred nested in his chest found a place to go.

‘She will strike me first as soon as she enters Korea.’

He knew her personality all too well.

Even if she seemed full of affection, she judged and acted rationally.

The thing she did to Lim Do-hyun at the executive meeting back then came to mind.

‘There is no way she will leave me be.’

Cold sweat flowed slowly down his spine.

A chilly sensation went down along his vertebrae.

All kinds of thoughts already surfaced in his head.

The things he had done to betray his father and take away Taeseong.

Lim Do-hyun’s legs felt as if they were faltering and giving way.

He staggered, and the hallway leading to the President's office suddenly felt infinitely long and heavy.

It was stifling as if the heavy air were choking his neck.

‘What will happen to me now?’

The moment he imagined the future he would face, he felt a chill as if all his blood were draining out.

He opened the office door, went inside, and slumped into his chair.

He wrapped his head with both hands.

However, no matter how much he denied it, reality does not change.

“No. Not yet… it is not yet. I cannot collapse like this.”

Lim Do-hyun felt true terror for the first time in his life.

He breathed in several times while wrapping his head with both hands.

Rather, a survival instinct began to raise its head from the bottom of that anxiety and terror.

He gasped for breath and forced his trembling hands down.

“…It is not over yet.”

It was a gaze crushed by fear, but another light quickly blossomed within it.

This was neither hope nor anger imbued with emotion.

It was the way he had overcome crises throughout his life.

‘The moment my sister returns, she will come raiding.’

Since Chairman Lim Man-seok had woken up, he must already know everything.

His lips were parched as if burning.

He slowly raised his body from the seat and then moved his steps.

“In that case, I must move first.”

As if forcibly forgetting the dark clouds called fear, he walked toward the desk and opened the drawer.

The things he had prepared quietly all this time were inside.

He looked at them and thought.

‘I cannot be the only one to suffer like this.’

The boiling anxiety subsided, and his mind regained peace.

“If I do not move first now, I will die.”

Lim Do-hyun had never felt himself to be so pitiful until now.

But now it is different.

He obtained a distorted conviction that he was a victim because his father deceived him.

His head was filled with only one thought.

With whom must he hold hands to survive in this board.

One person came to mind.

As soon as he thought of that name, the corners of his mouth sneaked up.

Nam Kun-ho. The Chairman of Daehan Group.

The man who had aimed for Taeseong Group the most tenaciously.

As Taeseong established a semiconductor company, it was an eyesore to Daehan just with that.

Daehan was higher in the business world ranking, but not having semiconductors was the only deficiency.

So he had been looking for an opportunity whenever possible to swallow Taeseong.

However, there was a person who blocked that path every single time.

It was precisely Chairman Lim Man-seok.

He was always one step ahead of Nam Kun-ho and moved forward while standing firm.

As long as Lim Man-seok was there, no matter how much Nam Kun-ho tried to strike in, he could not cross the wall every time.

However, the situation is different now.

The corners of Lim Do-hyun’s mouth twisted once more.

‘If I cannot have it, I will let no one have it.’

If someone were to see that ridiculous obsession, it would feel like a pathological instinct.

While the paranoia that they deceived him was twisted into anger, the direction that anger was heading was now neither his father nor his big sister.

It was Taeseong itself.

To Lim Do-hyun, the corporation called Taeseong was an existence only valuable if it became his.

If that was not fulfilled, it was better to destroy it.

Lim Do-hyun let out a long breath.

After that, he slowly picked up his cell phone.

He knew the number, but he had never called it.

He whispered lowly as if deceiving himself without a shred of hesitation.

“I must move first.”

Soon a call connection tone began to ring.

A low yet cold voice was heard.

-Who is this! Is it not President Lim Do-hyun?

Suddenly his heart raced wildly, but his lips drew an arc without him knowing.

“Chairman, I have been remiss in my greetings lately. I would like to meet you and pay my respects, would it be alright?”

A low laugh was heard from the cell phone.

-Is that so? If our President Lim asks to meet, I must go out.

Lim Do-hyun closed his eyes.

Fear and a sense of relief rushed in.

“I will visit you soon.”

***

The moment Chairman Lim Man-seok entered the front door of his home, the cold winter air rushed deep into his lungs.

Chief Secretary Kang Cheol-woo, who was waiting at the front door, bowed his waist.

“Chairman, you have worked hard.”

Lim Man-seok only nodded with an expressionless face and slowly moved his steps toward the study.

Inside the study, various reports and documents were already organized neatly.

Lim Man-seok sat in his chair habitually, put on his glasses, and began to look into them one by one.

Chief Secretary Kang Cheol-woo began to report one by one in a low voice.

After some time passed, a knocking sound came from outside the door.

Kang Cheol-woo went out and checked what was the matter.

He soon returned and reported to Chairman Lim.

“Chairman, your eldest son and eldest daughter-in-law have arrived.”

Lim Man-seok closed his eyes for a moment and then took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

And then he stood up from his seat without a word.

“I will finish the rest of this later.”

“Yes.”

As Lim Man-seok stepped out of the study, Kang Cheol-woo followed behind him.

In the drawing room, Lim Do-kyung and Kang Ji-yeon saw him and stood up from their seats and bowed their waists.

Soon after, Mrs. Yoon Myeong-sook also walked over with a stiffened expression.

The air in the drawing room subsided heavily.

Lim Man-seok looked at them slowly.

It was the gaze of a person who had endured confusion for a long time.

“Do-kyung, do you also know what kind of things your younger brother Do-hyun has been committing all this time?”

“…I know.”

A heavy silence followed.

Then Lim Man-seok slowly opened his mouth.

“What that fellow did… is no different from pointing a blade at this father.”

Mrs. Yoon Myeong-sook widened her eyes momentarily, but Lim Man-seok’s voice did not flicker in the slightest.

“I think I must make a decision now.”

With that one sentence, Yoon Myeong-sook wavered as if she would burst into tears at any moment.

She clutched her handkerchief and continued speaking lowly with a trembling voice.

“Honey… no matter what… he is our son. At least regarding the prosecution’s investigation… please….”

Lim Man-seok turned his head toward his wife.

His gaze was cold enough to be chilly.

“Honey, it is because he is our son that we must correct him more. If we cannot correct the wrongdoing even now, no one will be able to set that child straight.”

Yoon Myeong-sook bit her lip hard momentarily.

The handkerchief was crumpled in her hand.

Being unable to hold back the tears, they gushed down.

She also knew what the words her husband said meant.

The thing her son committed was not something that would be passed over easily.

Even so, as a parent, she did not want to see her son being in prison.

She eventually raised her body and moved her steps quietly.

The people who remained could not say a word.

Lim Do-kyung and Kang Ji-yeon merely lowered their heads and did not move in the slightest.

Before long, Lim Man-seok’s gaze headed toward Do-kyung.

His voice was very low, but a heavy weight was felt.

“Do-kyung, I must make a decision now to save Taeseong.”

Lim Do-kyung, who was silent for a while, finally opened his mouth slowly.

“…I fully understand your intention, Father.”

Everyone knew what kind of heart it was even with that one sentence.

Kang Ji-yeon had also been guessing all this time, but as she actually heard it, she could not help but sneakily grab her husband’s back of the hand.

That was the only comfort she could give.

Lim Do-hyun’s fate now became a reality that no one could change.

***

I, Lim Hyunjun, who had returned to the hotel from the airport, did not fall asleep for the sake of tomorrow.

Inside the hotel suite room where we stayed, the lights were on until a late hour.

I was reviewing endlessly pouring documents and drawings while slowly turning the tablet placed on the table.

U.S. Navy MRO business.

It was my first winning move to enter the U.S. government procurement system and the key to changing the future of HJ Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.

Choi Seo-jun entered and said,“Representative, please go to sleep early today.”

I spoke without taking my eyes off the tablet.

“Time is tight to leave after finishing the work by tomorrow.”

“That is true, but you should still think about your body.”

I raised my head toward Choi Seo-jun, who was worrying about me, and gave a smile like a mischievous child.

“Director Choi, if we miss this opportunity, the timing to enter the U.S. procurement market might not come again.”

At those words, Choi Seo-jun could no longer say anything more to me.

However, his eyes were full of worry.

“Still, I do not know if you are overdoing it too much. You have been continuing only a forced march without being able to rest properly after going through a big event. No matter how young you are, if you work like this, your body will be ruined.”

Knowing with what kind of heart Choi Seo-jun was worrying, my heart became warm.

And then I turned the tablet screen and showed it to him.