<52>
"Fix your expression."
At Kim Sun-young's firm voice, Kang Seok-ju struggled to suppress the corners of his mouth that kept rising. After Kang Il-hyun was sniped at the inauguration ceremony, he was transported to the hospital, underwent emergency surgery, and was in the intensive care unit until today when he was finally moved to the VIP ward.
The news and newspapers had been noisily reporting about Kang Il-hyun's accident day after day. Thanks to this, talk of Chairman Kang's slush fund scandal had completely disappeared. Even the prosecution, since his son had met with misfortune, was prevalent with opinions to delay Chairman Kang's summons date out of concern for public opinion.
The executives and shareholders were also shaken, with the existing faction wanting to proceed with Kang Tae-han's succession process, Kim Sun-young's faction wanting to install Kang Seok-ju as the new successor, and another faction still insisting that there was no one better than Kang Il-hyun as successor—all clashing against each other. As the car headed toward the hospital, Kim Sun-young composed her expression and repeatedly warned Kang Seok-ju not to show any signs.
Kang Seok-ju, instead, was having heated discussions with friends on his phone about this joyful news. Who shot Kang Il-hyun? The common opinion was that it was hard to guess because he had so many enemies.
If Jang Ian were here, they would have shared this joy together. Regretfully, he sent him a message, but no reply came back.
The car stopped in front of the hospital, and the secretary opened the rear door. Chairman Kang and Kang Tae-han's cars stopped front and back, and they got out and entered the hospital. People's attention focused on them, and the hospital director and doctors came out to greet them, but their faces somehow weren't bright.
Kang Seok-ju learned the reason at the entrance to the 20th floor VIP ward. The elevator doors opened, and before they could even enter Kang Il-hyun's hospital room, they were stopped by Park Tae-soo. Seeing Park Tae-soo blocking the way, Chairman Kang looked at him in disbelief.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm sorry, Chairman. You cannot enter."
Next to them, Kang Tae-han jumped up in anger.
"You insolent bastard. A mere secretary, stepping forward so boldly. What? Can't enter? You worked under Kang Il-hyun and now your liver's grown bold enough to stick out of your belly?"
Kang Tae-han stepped forward as if to strike him, and the hospital director next to them looked embarrassed and didn't know what to do, yet couldn't intervene. Just then, the elevator doors opened and Kang Yu-jeong appeared. Next to her was a young man wearing glasses.
Chairman Kang knew who he was. He was a representative lawyer of a large law firm who had a personal friendship with Kang Il-hyun and handled his personal affairs. Yu-jeong approached and greeted the family members with a gentle face.
"You've all come early. But what a shame, it seems difficult to have visitors today."
Kang Tae-han replied with a sullen face.
"Why? They said the surgery went well."
Yu-jeong slowly examined the family members' faces, then made a regretful expression.
"He lost a lot of blood and barely survived. He needs to rest now, so please come another time."
The bullet in his left leg passed by the artery and nerve without causing major damage, but the bullet in his right leg severed an artery. Though emergency treatment was given immediately, he had lost so much blood, and they struggled to find the artery that had hidden inside the muscle.
If they hadn't stationed a medical team on site against Kang Il-hyun's wishes, if Yu-jeong hadn't been there using her busyness as an excuse, something unthinkable might have happened.
Then Kim Sun-young stepped forward. The sharp sound of her heels clicking against the floor was piercing.
"Yu-jeong. We'll just check his face. Father came all the way here himself."
Kang Tae-han chimed in.
"That's right. Don't be so strict. Even the director isn't saying anything, so why are you stepping forward!"
The hospital director cleared his throat and pretended not to notice. Having already discussed things with Yu-jeong, he wasn't in a position to say anything more. Yu-jeong carefully examined each of the family members' faces. Though they were all hiding it, excitement was strangely evident on their faces.
How happy they must be. Kang Il-hyun, who was like a thorn in their eyes, had been shot.
She signaled to the law firm representative next to her. He unfolded some documents and respectfully presented them to Chairman Kang. Chairman Kang's secretary received them and passed them to him. Chairman Kang's brow twitched as he examined the contents.
Yu-jeong looked at Chairman Kang and spoke.
"This states that if something happens to Managing Director Kang and he loses consciousness or passes away, all authority is delegated to me."
At those words, Chairman Kang's gaze sharpened.
"What does this mean?"
Yu-jeong smiled brightly. That smile somehow resembled Kang Il-hyun.
"Well. What could it mean?"
Kang Tae-han flared up and demanded an explanation.
"Are you playing word games now? So what? Speak clearly. Make us understand!"
Yu-jeong still fixed her gaze on Chairman Kang.
"It means that from now on, whoever it may be, if they want to kill Managing Director Kang, they'll have to kill me too. Father."
Anger and sorrow could be felt in the word "Father." Chairman Kang's lower eyelids trembled, and Kang Tae-han raised his voice beside him.
"What do you mean by that? Are you saying we ordered it!"
Chairman Kang gestured for him to stop and looked at Yu-jeong. Her face was smiling gently, but her eyes strangely revealed hostility. Unlike Kang Il-hyun, she was skilled at hiding her expressions, but today she fully revealed her emotions.
Chairman Kang nodded, returned the documents, and softened his fierce demeanor.
"We'll return today. When his condition improves, let us know. You're not the only one worried about him."
"Yes, I will do that."
Yu-jeong returned to her usual self and smiled warmly. Chairman Kang and the family members turned to leave. The hospital director and other doctors seemed busy wiping the cold sweat from their foreheads. After they took the elevator and went down, Yu-jeong clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut.
Park Tae-soo approached beside her.
"You endured well."
Yu-jeong opened her closed eyes, took a deep breath, and then smiled bitterly. When she first heard the story from Kang Il-hyun, she was dumbfounded, and then fury rose up. What made him so greedy that he would kill his own child to keep his position? Yu-jeong couldn't understand and couldn't forgive either.
After sending the lawyer away, she entered the hospital room with Park Tae-soo. After checking his blood pressure and pulse, she looked down at his two legs wrapped in bandages. It seemed it would take quite some time before he could walk without discomfort.
"Would it be better to move hospitals?"
At Yu-jeong's question, Tae-soo nodded.
"I'm looking for a suitable place, so I'll let you know once it's decided."
"It's reassuring that Secretary Park is by his side."
"No. I'm just doing what I need to do."
"What about the culprit?"
Tae-soo hesitated for a moment. He knew that the hired assassin was Jang Ian, no, Lee Ja-kyung, but Yu-jeong didn't know this. Kang Il-hyun had told Yu-jeong all the facts but kept that part secret. So he also didn't say anything.
"We're looking."
Just then, Kang Il-hyun groaned and frowned. Yu-jeong approached, and Park Tae-soo also examined his face to check his condition. His eyelashes trembled, then his eyelids lifted, and his pupils moved left and right.
Yu-jeong asked carefully.
"Are you conscious?"
His black eyes landed on Yu-jeong, then moved to Park Tae-soo behind her. Yu-jeong asked again if he was okay, but there was no reaction. Seeing him stare like a person whose spirit had left him, Yu-jeong's heart sank.
She turned on a medical pen light to check his pupils, and suddenly he chuckled. Yu-jeong's eyes widened. Did he just laugh? Did something happen to his head when he fell? But the test results and external appearance showed no abnormalities.
Kang Il-hyun was now making sounds from inside his throat and laughing so hard his chest vibrated. Yu-jeong looked at Tae-soo with a worried face.
"Why is he acting scary like this?"
When the doctor asked about the patient's condition, Tae-soo found it difficult to answer. But having watched Kang Il-hyun from his side for nearly 10 years, he could guess that this state was...
"He seems angry."
Yu-jeong opened her eyes wide.
"This is anger?"
Park Tae-soo lowered his voice and answered so only Yu-jeong could hear.
"Yes... Extremely."
The common expression "fucking pissed" would be accurate, but he didn't want to use such vulgar language in front of Yu-jeong. Yu-jeong frowned. Kang Il-hyun couldn't stop laughing at whatever he found funny. If anyone had seen him, they would have thought his wife had just given birth to a baby, not that he was hospitalized from a gunshot.
After laughing for a while, the smile slowly faded from his face, and his gaze turned cold. His black eyes now gleamed with a chilling light.
***
Ugh, ugh. Wang Ryun stuck his head out over the side of the boat and kept retching.
They were supposed to take a fishing boat to the middle of the sea and transfer to a smuggling vessel, but his seasickness had worsened. He had taken medicine beforehand, but it was useless.
After saying he would go inside and lie down, he disappeared into the cabin, and Ja-kyung stared blankly at the swaying sea from the deck. The pitch-black sea made sounds but showed nothing. When she was ten years old, after Wang Han's father saved her life, she had traveled to China by boat at night like this.
Torn between relief at having survived and fear of going to a new place, she had trembled with anxiety the entire journey without being able to sleep. And there she met Wang Han and Wang Ryun. To her, they were like family.
She took out her mobile phone from her pocket. Kang Il-hyun's contact information was saved on the powered-off phone. While he lay in a hospital bed, she needed to move as far away as possible to somewhere untraceable. Going into hiding was nothing new, so it didn't matter.
It was a shame she couldn't collect all the money, but combined, it was certainly not a small amount, so she decided to be satisfied with that. Both sides received only down payments and each got half of what they wanted, so it was by no means a losing deal for them. Now the rest was their business. Whether they killed each other or not, it wasn't her concern.
With a lump sum of money secured, she planned to look for an island once things settled down. If it was too big, it would be difficult to manage, so she would need to find one of moderate size. For that, she first needed to meet a young lady to marry. She still needed to think a bit more about where to settle, but she would never set foot in Korea again.
She crossed her arms on the railing and looked down at the pitch-black seawater, thinking various thoughts. When she lifted her head, a faint light appeared in the distance within the darkness. The light blinked several times as if signaling.
It was the smuggling vessel.
Ja-kyung slowly straightened her body. The lights of the ship came closer and closer.