Chapter 105
Chapter 105
Sungyoon rested for a week . s.h.i.+nhae had consoled him as he had cried his eyes out, and a lot of the guilt he felt about killing a human had waned . He enjoyed life with his daughter . When he was enjoying the peaceful and mundane parts of his life, it happened .
He received a call from Jimin .
Sungyoon went to her company .
“Most of it has been wrapped up . ”
Jimin abruptly spoke, giving no context to her words . But it wasn’t too hard for him to figure out what she was talking about .
“I see . That’s fortunate . ”
Sungyoon said as if he was talking about someone else’s business . Jimin looked a bit baffled at his response .
“Yes, it was fortunate . Also, the incident regarding Nicholas was also wrapped up . Let’s talk about the arrangement made in regard to Kim Soobin first . . . ”
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Sungyoon and Jimin heard knocks, and they looked towards the door at the same time . Jimin had an idea as to who the visitor was .
“It seems you’ll hear about the arrangement from the princ.i.p.al parties involved . ”
Jimin stood up and exited her office . Sungyoon followed her . The people who knocked on the front door of the company had entered the building .
They consisted of two people .
The first person was an old man . However, there was still a bounce to his step . He had dyed his white hair and done his best to mask the pa.s.sage of time . However, his face was full of wrinkles, giving a glimpse into how long he had spent on this earth .
The second person to enter was a man who looked to be in his mid-20s . He was tall, and his eyes overflowed with strength . He was a striking man with prominent cheekbones .
“Huh?”
It seemed that even though Jimin was expecting guests, she had guessed wrong about the visitors . She looked fl.u.s.tered as she moved towards the two men . The older-looking man let out a bright smile when he saw Jimin .
“Jimin! How many years has it been!”
He acted as if he was meeting his granddaughter, whom he missed . He opened both arms as he approached her . However, as if he had realized something, he came to a stop and put down his arms .
“No . This isn’t it . You"re a grown woman now, and also the president of a company . I can’t continue to treat you like a child . ”
He put on a solemn face, and then, he slightly bowed as he extended his hand towards Jimin .
“President of Jungb.u.m, Hahn Jimin, it is good to meet you . ”
The words had the effect of breaking her out of her fl.u.s.tered state . Jimin, who was always cold, laughed . Sungyoon looked a bit surprised as he looked at both of them . By their tone and actions, it seemed they were quite close .
“It is good to meet you too, Chairman . ”
Jimin didn"t turn down the offer . She lightly grabbed his hand, and shook it .
“Hey, Hyunwoo . Look at this . Jimin is all grown up . ”
He uproariously laughed as he spoke to the other man who had accompanied him . The man named Hyunwoo approached Jimin .
“It’s been a while, Jimin . ”
“It’s been a while, Hyunwoo ahjussi . ”
It seemed Hyunwoo also knew her, and they affectionately greeted each other .
“Huh? Why do you call Hyunwoo by ahjussi, but refer to me as chairman?”
Dongin acted like an immature grandfather . He grumbled . Hyunwoo sighed as he let go of Jimin’s hand .
“You decided to treat her as the president of a company in the first place . ”
“Well, Jimin is all grown up, and we are meeting each other as the representatives of our respective companies . ”
“Then you should continue to treat her like that . I understand you are happy to see Jimin, but it isn’t as if we are here to talk about good news . ”
Dongin’s face stiffened .
“Yes . You are right . ”
He let out a heavy sigh . Until a moment ago, a childish expression was on his face . But now, it was nowhere to be seen . He looked like an executive who ran one of the largest conglomerates in this country .
“Is he the one, President Jimin?”
Dongin turned to look at Sungyoon .
“Yes . ”
“Will you give us an introduction?”
Jimin nodded .
“He is a Connector affiliated with my company . His name is Woo Sungyoon . He is the victim in this matter . ”
“My name is Woo Sungyoon . ”
Sungyoon gave a bow .
Then, Jimin introduced the two men to Sungyoon .
“You probably already know this person, Mr . Sungyoon . He is chairman Lee Dongin . He is the leader of Korea’s greatest and world-renowned Connector company . ”
“I am Lee Dongin”
Unlike his designation as being the leader of a world-renowned conglomerate, Lee Dongin was very respectful towards Sungyoon . He even spoke in honorifics .
“I am in charge of running a company that is a rival to the company named Jungb.u.m . ”
As he spoke, he gave a playful wink towards Jimin, who let out a bitter laugh . They were in the same industry, but Dongin’s company was beyond being just a Korean company . It was a global company in a different cla.s.s than her company . If they didn’t have personal ties, Jimin’s company wouldn’t have even been in Dongin’s radar .
Jimin continued the introduction .
“This person here is Sung Hyunwoo ahjussi . He is one of the greatest Connectors in the world . He is a Connector that has the ability to enter the Great Labyrinth . ”
“I am Sung Hyunwoo . ”
Sungyoon gulped as he shook the offered hand . As he did so, he couldn’t tear his gaze away from Hyunwoo .
In the past, he had run his own company, so if it were still the old him, he would have been more interested in Dongin . Dongin had built his company from the bottom up, so every executive idolized him . However, right now, Sungyoon was more interested in Hyunwoo .
If one currently thought about a Korean Connector, the first person to come to mind was Sung Hyunwoo . He had enormous wealth and fame . He was basically the Connector that represented Korea, and he was standing right in front of Sungyoon .
‘I never expected her to know these people…’
Sungyoon glanced towards Jimin .
“Well, let’s stop catching up on old times . We should talk about why we are here . It isn’t about anything good, so let’s end this quickly . ”
“Let’s do that . ”
The amicable atmosphere cooled in an instant . The atmosphere between Dongin and Jimin turned serious . Sungyoon had run a company in his heyday, so he knew what this atmosphere meant . Even if they were friendly on a personal level, they were representing their companies now . This was a silent war where each party would refuse to back down .
Jimin guided the two of them inside, but she didn’t lead them into her office . Her office was too small to fit four people . She couldn’t treat these people like her brothers Woosang and Woosung . They had to be treated with respect .
But in her small company, she didn’t even have a secretary . So she made the coffee herself .
Jimin and Sungyoon sat next to each other, facing Dongin and Hyunwoo .
“I never expected the two of you to show up here . ”
They were huge figures in the industry, and they wouldn"t easily move . Jimin wondered if she should be happy that both of them were here . Dongin was as experienced as anyone in this industry, and Hyungwoo possessed indomitable power . The fact that both of them showed up to this meeting overwhelmed her . It was inevitable .
“I came partly on the desire to see your face, and partly on taking care of this business . Even if we do know each other, I have to do what is needed . ”
As he spoke those words, Dongin deeply bowed towards Sungyoon and Jimin .
“A Connector affiliated with our company caused both of you harm . I am very sorry . ”
The leader of one of the top Korean companies was bowing his head towards them . Sungyoon was taken aback . Jimin didn’t want to be pushed around, so she had hardened her heart for the meeting . However, even she was taken aback by the gesture .
“Y . . . you really do not need to do this . . . ”
Even the great Jimin couldn’t maintain her composure in this situation . She quickly leaned forward to stop Dongin .
“No . I have to do this in no uncertain terms . ”
As he spoke those words, Dongin raised his head and lowered it toward Sungyoon .
“I’m really sorry for causing you harm . ”
“It’s fine . I see it as an individual going rogue . ”
Sungyoon also had no choice but to say this .
The reason for Dongin’s apology was simple . The man who had ambushed and tried to kill Sungyoon, Kim Soobin, was a Connector contracted under Dongin’s company .
After giving a deep bow, Sungyoon raised his head . He ground his teeth as he spoke .
“I never expected that b.a.s.t.a.r.d to create such a mess . Our company’s image is in the muds right now . I should have cut him early on when he showed no signs of growth…”
The supply couldn’t meet the demand of moonstones . Even if their public image suffered, it wouldn’t affect their bottom line too much . Still, it was inevitable that they would hear gossip against their company .
“Please don’t worry about the recompense . This happened to you of all people . I’ll be sure to give you a lot . ”
It was his duty as the chairman of his company to minimize damage and costs to his company, yet he was speaking in such a way . Sungyoon wondered what was the relations.h.i.+p between Jimin and Dongin .
“It seems this fellow is curious about our relations.h.i.+p with Jimin . ”
Hyunwoo, who had kept silent until now, spoke out loud .
“I see . We only exchanged basic introductions . We didn’t tell him the details . ”
Dongin rubbed his chin once and turned his gaze towards Sungyoon .
“We were friends with Jimin’s father, Jungb.u.m . To be precise, it happened when I was struggling at the bottom to create my company . We became friends during this period of struggle . Hyunwoo worked alongside Jungb.u.m as Connectors for my company . ”
Dongin grabbed Hyunwoo’s shoulder .
Sungyoon knew Jungb.u.m had been affiliated with Dongin’s company as a Connector, but he didn’t know their relations.h.i.+p had been close enough that Dongin would come here himself . It seemed he was also quite close to Jungb.u.m’s daughter, Jimin . It seemed both of these men had been close friends with Jungb.u.m when he was alive .
“When I look back at it, those were the good days . ”
His eyes became unfocused . It was the typical sight of an old man thinking about the past . Sungyoon and Jimin didn’t dare interrupt Dongin’s trip down memory lane . They waited for him to come back to reality .
“Oh my! This old man behaved shamefully in front of the young people . ”
He let out a bitter laugh .
“My brothers Woosang and Woosung are affiliated with his company . ”
Jimin gave additional information in order to lighten up the mood . Dongin vigorously nodded .
“They are Jungb.u.m’s children . Of course, I have to take them under my wings . Both of them are amazing Connectors . They are contributing greatly to my company . Don’t worry about them . They are doing very well . ”
“Thank you very much . ”
Jimin gave a slight bow towards him .
For a moment, Dongin just stared at her .
“Do you hate me?”
His words came out of nowhere . Until now, they had been having a congenial conversation, so why did he ask if she hated him? However, it was true that there was a bit of hostility in Jimin’s tone of voice up until now . Jimin didn’t answer him .
Hyunwoo gave an explanation to Sungyoon .
“You probably know this because we sent a scout to you . It was the same with Kim Soobin . Our company tried to steal Connectors away from Jimin’s company . Of course, this created ill feelings between us . ”
Sungyoon thought about the scout who had come to his house in the past . His business card said that he was from Fabion, Dongin’s company . It seemed the scout hadn’t come solely based on Sungyoon’s skill .
“I stole your first Connector, and I tried to steal your new Connector too . Of course, you would hate me . However, you should know this Jimin . I truly believe Jungb.u.m would have wanted you to forget about him . He would have wanted you to live a happy life . ”
Dongin let out a sigh .
“When he was lost in the labyrinth, I was devastated . Then I saw you set up a company in order to find your father . If you were running your company well, I wouldn’t have interfered . However, I received a report on how you were managing your company, and if I’m being honest, I had thought you had lost your mind . Moreover, I saw how much resources you were pouring into Kim Soobin . So, I s.n.a.t.c.hed him away from you . You can resent me all you want . However, I saw my friend’s daughter leading such a life . I couldn’t stand by and do nothing . I had the means to do something about it . ”
“ . . . I know how ahjussi feels about all of this . ”
“No, you don’t . The young cannot understand the heart of the old . I used to be like you . I thought old people were stuffy and messy in how they conducted their business . I believed them to be rooted in the past and thought that they were only trying to get in my way . ”
Dongin looked at Jimin .
“Do you still plan on leading this life?”
Jimin couldn’t look straight into his eyes, so she looked down .
“ . . . this will be my last attempt . ”
Everyone’s eyes widened . Sungyoon was also surprised . This was the first time Jimin had said this in front of him .
“Everyone around me is trying to stop me from continuing with this work, and I am aware that what I am doing is abnormal . Mr . Sungyoon will be my last . ”
“ . . . I see . If that is true, it’s a good thing . ”
Dongin spoke .
“You probably thought hard on this . It must have been painful . However, I can’t help it . I welcome the idea that you’ll stop all of this . ”
Dongin stood up, and Jimin followed suit .
“You are going?”
“I came here to give my apology and to check on how you are doing . However, I am a busy man . ”
As he spoke those words, Dongin looked at Sungyoon .
“Please take care of Jimin . ”
“Understood . ”
He once again turned towards Jimin .
“Since I know your plans now, I’ll stop interfering in your business . This is your last attempt, so I want you to do your best . Oh yeah, I put all of Kim Soobin’s Gems and Devices under Mr . Woo Sungyoon’s name . When he goes back to the moon, please be sure that he picks it up from the storage facility . ”
The influence of Armstrong city didn’t reach the Personal Labyrinths . This was why there were a lot of problems in trying to control fights between Connectors that occurred outside of Armstrong . Hence, if it was found that Connectors had fought each other outside of Armstrong, the administrators of Armstrong enforced a pretty big penalty . When a Connector tried to kill another Connector, the punishment was quite severe . In some cases, the punishment was to hand over all the Devices and Gems of the a.s.sailant to the victim .
This was one of those cases .
“That b.a.s.t.a.r.d gathered pretty good Devices and Gems under our noses . If you can handle them, they"ll be of significant help to you . ”
After he spoke those words, he exited the company as he swung his arms .
“Please take care of yourself . ”
“You too, ahjussi . ”
Hyunwoo also said goodbye to Jimin . However, he didn’t immediately exit the company, and turned to look at Sungyoon .
“It is a small present, but I left one of my Gems amongst Soobin’s Devices and Gems . I’m pretty much the representative of Fabion’s Connectors, so think of it as an apology from me . ”
Hyunwoo didn’t wait for a reply . He opened the front door and departed . Was Sungyoon imagining things? But it felt as if Hyunwoo had given a meaningful glance towards Sungyoon .