A child who looks like me

Jae-gwang had only returned home once in the past week. He was able to confirm everything about Saerun Group through the news. He never asked about the company’s situation, and Jae-gwang never shared anything either, but Young-mi couldn’t help but worry.

When she knew nothing, she had hastily concluded that bad news had come all at once. However, after overhearing Jae-gwang’s phone call during his brief visit, she began to suspect that someone might be behind it all. At that moment, Cha Eun-yeob flashed through her mind.

Cha Eun-yeob, Cha Eun-bi. Once, Young-mi was the most supportive person for this brother-sister duo, but she had to admit that they were also the most cunning.

Regret washed over her for everything that had happened in the past.

If only I hadn’t taken a liking to Cha Eun-bi, if only I hadn’t sought legal advice from Cha Eun-yeob at every turn, if only I had tried harder to listen to my son’s feelings, if only I hadn’t pushed for the marriage—none of this would have happened.

And today, Young-mi had also come across the news article about Ham Dae-geun’s arrest. Seeing Ham Dae-geun enter the police station while mentioning her son made her crumble to the floor.

Young-mi couldn’t believe what Ham Dae-geun was saying, which only deepened her despair.

My son is in crisis because of me. I’ve pushed my son into this situation…

“Ma’am!”

A staff member rushed to Young-mi, who had collapsed, and helped her to her feet. Young-mi’s legs were already covered in dark bruises.

“Oh my. Look at those bruises… Are you okay?”

Standing up with the employee’s assistance, Young-mi walked to her bedroom.

Throughout the week since the troubles at Saerun Group began, Young-mi had felt completely wrecked. She had been suffering from what felt like a body ache as if she had been beaten all over, but she hadn’t been able to visit a hospital. It felt like punishment from the heavens.

.*. *. *. *. *. *.

The employees at Max Planning, still unaware of the full situation, gathered in Production Team 1 to confirm the rumors they had heard.

“It’s true, right? The CEO of Daegun Industries is the fiancée of Manager Cha Eun-bi! What will happen to her now?”

“Did that Ham guy go on a rampage out of jealousy because he thought Director Jeong did something terrible to Manager Cha?”

“While his father is preparing to become the Chief Justice, the guy who’s supposed to be his husband is ruining everything for him.”

The employees shuddered as they talked about Cha Eun-bi. After nearly a week of online terror against Saerun Group, the employees were quite exhausted.

For the next two hours, public opinion on online communities remained unfavorable until an article correcting the relationship between Cha Eun-bi and Jeong Ji-heon was published. Harsh criticisms against Ji-heon were rampant. Jeong Oh also felt frustrated but endured it and continued to work diligently.

Assistant Ko Eun-joo called out to Jeong Oh.

“Hey, Assistant.”

“Yes?”

Eun-joo called Jeong-oh over and just stared at her without saying anything.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, I just wanted to call you.”

She wanted to check if her colleague, who was having such an eventful day, was okay.

But she couldn’t say that and instead expressed her frustration.

“Having someone you love seems to be a headache. It creates weaknesses.”

“Do you really see it as a weakness?”

“Not being able to only think of myself is a huge weakness.”

“That’s true.”

Jeong-oh nodded in agreement with Eun-joo’s perspective and smiled.

“But, Assistant Ko, while there are weaknesses, it also means you can become strong enough to overcome and resolve those weaknesses.”

Eun-joo found Jeong-oh’s response intriguing. As an individualist, Ko Eun-joo always found Jeong-oh to be an interesting person. She knew Jeong-oh had gone through tough times but had never seen her show signs of exhaustion; she was always full of energy.

Is that really the power of love? Does having someone you love truly make you stronger?

For Eun-joo, who disliked being tied down and found dating bothersome, Jeong-oh’s insights were always refreshing.

In the meantime, Jeong-oh’s phone vibrated. The smile on her face widened even more.

“I’ll take this call for a moment.”

“That’s Director Jeong calling, right?”

“How did you know?”

“Just by looking at your expression.”

Haha. What’s my expression like? Jeong-oh chuckled awkwardly as she tucked her phone into her pocket and stepped away. It was a welcome call from her husband, who had stayed out late due to work.

“Hello?”

[Did Ye-na get to daycare okay?]

As soon as Jeong-oh picked up, Ji-heon asked about Ye-na.

“Yes, of course she did.”

[Sorry I couldn’t contact you this morning; it was hectic.]

“Ye-na will understand. It’s fine.”

Jeong-oh spoke reassuringly so Ji-heon wouldn’t worry. A sigh could be heard on the other end. His voice was soft, but he sounded quite exhausted.

[It’s too chaotic. My dream is to live simply and peacefully with just family.]

“Once you were born as Jeong Ji-heon, you have to give up on simplicity.”

[…….]

“Hurry and finish everything, then come home and sleep.”

[Will your wife tuck you in when you get home?]

“Pfft. How should I tuck you in?”

[Well, something suggestive?]

Jeong-oh thought he would ask her to read a fairy tale to Ye-na or sing a lullaby, but even in this moment, he hinted at something more mischievous. It was probably a 100% playful joke, but when Ji-heon said it in his voice, it felt entirely sincere, causing Jeong-oh’s face to turn red.

Jeong-oh quickly changed the subject.

“Um, so, if Ham Dae-geun said that to the reporters, then he probably doesn’t know about the recording, right?”

[Not only that, but there’s a high chance that Ham Dae-geun got incorrect information through Chae Eun-bi or Chae Eun-yeob.]
“Exactly! That seems to be the case! Eun-bi was acting as if the baby in her belly is Ji-heon’s child…”

She was about to say that but quickly shut her mouth. It didn’t feel right to speak carelessly about Eun-bi.

[Huh?]
“No, never mind.”

Ji-heon didn’t press her about why she had fallen silent. They needed to catch up on the things they hadn’t discussed since they hadn’t met in a while.

[I found out who the employee from the genetic research lab that Chae Eun-yeob bribed is.]
“Did they get caught too?”

[The method of finding out isn’t legal, so I can’t arrest them. But I can use it in another way.]
“So, are you going to bribe that person?”

[No. That can never happen.]
“……”

[We have to squeeze them dry so they can’t even pick up their bones. Then they will naturally take revenge on Chae Eun-yeob.]
Jeong-oh felt chills down her spine throughout Ji-heon’s response.

I’m glad I’m going to spend my life with this man. If he were anyone else, an enemy, I would have been truly scared.

He was relentless in tormenting others to get what he wanted. That was Ji-heon’s way.

.*. *. *. *. *. *.

The night before.

Ji-heon gathered all the materials related to the online terror attacks and headed to the police station.

Thanks to hiring professional hackers, he had pinpointed the initial leads of the crime, and through reverse tracking, he was able to identify the approximate location of the attacks.

The criminals had set up an office in downtown Seoul and were systematically carrying out online terror attacks. Now, with the police’s help, they just needed to catch the perpetrators at the crime scene.

The police carefully planned the operation and, as dawn broke, they stormed the location.

During this process, Ji-heon unexpectedly reunited with someone at the police station.

“Ji-heon.”

It was Sergeant Kwon Bae-il.

“Oh, Su-il… Bae-il.”

Ji-heon was surprised and paused before calling out his name. He remembered that Bae-il had previously worked at the Gwangjin Police Station and had been transferred to a rural area, so he found it odd to see him here at the Yongsan Police Station.

“Weren’t you transferred to a rural area?”

“Yeah. I was assigned to Jinju, but I came here briefly for something.”

“To the Yongsan Police Station?”

“Yeah. I worked here a long time ago.”

Ah… Ji-heon nodded quietly. While she felt happy to see Bae-il, the awkwardness of the years spent without any news was unavoidable. Noticing this, Bae-il was the first to speak.

“I saw the news. Are you here because of the situation with Seoreon Group?”
“Yeah.”
“I hope it gets resolved well. If you need help, just let me know. I’ll be in Seoul for a while.”

Unlike before, Bae-il’s demeanor was quite friendly. For the first time, Ji-heon felt reassured by him.

The day of reckoning had started off well.

The moment Ham Dae-geun entered the police station, Ji-heon was also there. He heard Ham Dae-geun speak about himself in front of reporters, and Ji-heon smiled.

He had stated that all of this happened because of Jeong Ji-heon and that it led him to commit crimes. That was practically a confession of his own wrongdoing.

Ji-heon personally didn’t care about external evaluations at all, so it didn’t matter to him what lies Ham Dae-geun spun; it had no effect on him.

He felt no injustice and didn’t particularly think about restoring his honor by correcting the truth. As long as he could use that fact to pressure Ham Dae-geun, nothing else mattered.

He remembered his father’s advice about being cautious for the sake of Jeong-oh and Ye-na, which made him worry momentarily, but even that was quickly resolved.

It was said that the employees at Max Planning were rushing to tip off reporters with the truth. The employees had known about the relationship between Ji-heon and Eun-bi for a long time.

This was because the details of their conversations had been exposed to the employees. While they might face public condemnation for a few hours, Ji-heon believed that the reporters would eventually set the facts straight.

.*. *. *. *. *. *.

Eun-yeob only heard about Ham Dae-geun after the morning session of the personnel hearing had ended.

“What a crazy bastard.”

Upon checking the news article, he couldn’t help but curse. Ham Dae-geun had carelessly thrown out bait that would attract reporters. He felt humiliated to think that he would marry into a family like this.

As he trembled with anger over Ham Dae-geun’s insane behavior, the phone rang. It was Ham Dae-geun. Eun-yeob felt he had to give him a piece of his mind, so he answered the call.

“Hello.”

[Lawyer, you need to come quickly.]
Before Eun-yeob could say anything, Ham Dae-geun spoke first. Eun-yeob feigned ignorance and asked,
“What’s going on?”

[You’ll understand if you see the article, but I’m in a tight spot right now. Come immediately.]
“It’s difficult right now. You know I have the personnel hearing today.”
[Your father will manage. This is an emergency!]

“Mr. Ham, losing your cool will only make things worse.”

Eun-yeob tried to reason with Ham Dae-geun, who was throwing a tantrum about coming over immediately.

“Just hold on a bit longer, and I’ll bring you good news. This is the most important moment in your father’s life. If you can just hold out a few more hours, your father will gain absolute power.”

[…….]
“First, call the company’s lawyer. Don’t get rattled; exercise your right to remain silent. Once I wrap this up, I’ll come by in the evening. I’ll take care of everything then, understood?”

Eun-yeob quickly hung up the phone after giving his instructions.

Right now, the priority was his father. He could focus on other matters once the personnel hearing was safely concluded. The weaknesses that Ham Dae-geun had on him were things that could not be proven. Eun-yeob acted meticulously at every moment.

He received the money in cash. There were no text message records, no documents, and no files left behind.

It would be difficult to investigate the creation of slush funds. Until charges were proven, they wouldn’t even be able to conduct a search and seizure.

Even if there was a chance that Ham Dae-geun confessed everything, there would be nothing they could do. The money was hidden in places no one knew about, so even if they searched Eun-yeob’s house, they wouldn’t find anything.

There was no need to rush. So he decided to act with confidence.

Eun-yeob finished a quick meal with his father and calmly prepared for the questioning over tea.

At 1 PM, the afternoon session of the personnel hearing began smoothly, as scheduled.