The Regressed Vault Keeper Took It All

Chapter 26: Would You Like to Go First?

Yang Sobo’s office.

Two men sat facing each other across a table.

One was Yang Sobo, the other was Jeong Tae-soo.

The air between them was charged with tension, as though invisible blades were colliding.

“It’s truly been a long time since we’ve faced each other like this, sir.”

It was Jeong Tae-soo who spoke first. A faint smile rested at the corner of his lips.

“Heh heh, indeed it has. I heard you suffered a bit during the early days of the revolutionary government. Are you well now?”

Yang Sobo’s words sounded concerned, but there was a hidden thorn beneath them.

Jeong Tae-soo’s painted smile vanished in an instant, and his reply came coldly.

“I must be fine if I’m sitting here sharing tea with you, don’t you think?”

“Heh heh, that’s a relief then.”

“Sir. I am not your subordinate. So I would appreciate it if you didn’t treat me as carelessly as before.”

There was a warning embedded in Jeong Tae-soo’s voice.

“My, my. It was just a pure concern—did it sound otherwise? If I offended you, I apologize.”

Yang Sobo handled it slyly, like an old snake, and calmly lifted the teapot.

Only the sound of clear tea filling two cups cut through the silence.

He quietly pushed one cup toward Jeong Tae-soo.

“Have a cup first. It’s a fine Pu’er tea—it’s good for calming the mind.”

Their gazes clashed once more in midair, violently.

An invisible struggle for dominance.

But picking an emotional fight here would have been foolish.

After a brief moment, Jeong Tae-soo was the first to avert his eyes and raised his cup to savor the aroma.

“Indeed, the fragrance is deep and mellow.”

“Good tea knows good people. It’ll help steady your mind. If you wish, I’ll send some along when you leave.”

Jeong Tae-soo took a sip, set the cup down, and went straight to the point.

“So, what’s the reason you asked to see me? I can’t recall any particular matter that calls for a private meeting like this.”

His eyes were still filled with suspicion and wariness.

“I heard your relationship with Director Kang Byung-woo of the KCIA hasn’t been good lately. Is that true?”

At Yang Sobo’s blunt question, Jeong Tae-soo’s face stiffened.

It was impossible to tell how much Yang Sobo actually knew—or how much he was testing him.

After a brief calculation, Jeong Tae-soo asked directly.

“What’s the point of asking that question?”

“Lately, I’ve been suffering some losses thanks to those KCIA bastards’ little tricks. Naturally, if you’re struck once, you’d want to strike back…”

Yang Sobo trailed off and took another sip of tea, his eyes never leaving Jeong Tae-soo’s face.

“You mean you can’t move directly, so you want to use me to stab them in the back?”

Jeong Tae-soo had pinpointed Yang Sobo’s intent. Their eyes met sharply at his cutting tone.

“I thought it could be something mutually beneficial.”

“Sigh… Sir, are you unaware of Director Kang’s current influence? Other than His Excellency himself, no one can keep him in check. To touch him carelessly would be like stirring a hornet’s nest.”

“That’s precisely why I came to see you, Deputy Director Jeong.”

Yang Sobo’s voice dropped low, secretive. The feeling made Jeong Tae-soo tense up involuntarily, as if facing a coiled snake.

“Just how much do you know?”

Yang Sobo placed his cup down with a meaningful smile.

“Well, I only know that a certain line within the KCIA has been deeply involved in the stock market lately, creating slush funds. Ah, and that there’s another power hidden behind them, profiting quietly.”

Yang Sobo spoke lightly, but the weight of his words was anything but.

Jeong Tae-soo’s eyes widened. He tried to appear calm, but couldn’t completely hide the trembling of his fingertips.

Yang Sobo didn’t miss it. He continued, as if it were nothing.

“If Director Kang were to learn about this… hmm, I wonder what might happen. What do you think, Deputy Director Jeong?”

“Sir! Have you forgotten whose orders I act under?”

Jeong Tae-soo’s warning came in a low voice.

In his eyes burned both the pride of the powerful KCIA and a wary vigilance toward Yang Sobo.

“That’s exactly why I’m asking.”

But Yang Sobo replied with leisure.

“If Director Kang and Deputy Director Jeong were to clash head-on… I can’t help but wonder—whose side do you think His Excellency would take in the end?”

Yang Sobo’s gaze, sly as a serpent’s, slowly swept over Jeong Tae-soo’s face.

His words carried the confidence of someone who had completely seen through Jeong Tae-soo’s unstable position and precarious relationship with Director Kang.

The sound of a dry swallow, restless fingers unable to stay still—Yang Sobo took it all as confirmation.

“Aren’t you curious? Deputy Director Jeong.”

“…What do you want?”

In the end, Jeong Tae-soo was the first to back down.

He knew it himself—the President was far more likely to favor Director Kang Byung-woo for now.

And Yang Sobo was digging straight into that weakness.

“Let’s make the game bigger.”

Yang Sobo’s voice carried a cold fury—so chilling that it made one flinch without realizing it.

“Make the game bigger? What exactly do you mean?”

“Director Kang, and every leech clinging beneath him. This time, let’s uproot them completely—so they’ll never rise again.”

Jeong Tae-soo’s eyes widened in disbelief. The proposal was far bolder than he had imagined.

Yang Sobo smirked faintly, his lips curling with satisfaction, and called softly,

“Zhang Wei!”

At his summons, the office door opened soundlessly, and Zhang Wei entered.

In his hand was a thick document envelope.

He placed it quietly on the table, bowed, and withdrew without a word.

“Take a look at this first.”

Jeong Tae-soo gave Yang Sobo a suspicious glance, but soon picked up the envelope and began to read the papers inside.

Yang Sobo said nothing. His expression was impassive as he watched Jeong Tae-soo’s reaction over the rim of his teacup.

Jeong Tae-soo’s face appeared calm, but the faint tremor in his fingertips betrayed him.

The more he read, the darker and deeper his gaze became.

After a long while of thorough reading, Jeong Tae-soo finally placed the documents on the table.

“What is this… Sir, just how much do you know?”

His voice was laced with shock and unease as he stared at Yang Sobo with wide, disbelieving eyes.

The documents Yang Sobo had prepared contained not only the outline of the current stock manipulation operation, but also a detailed list of the people involved and the flow of funds—information even Jeong Tae-soo himself hadn’t grasped yet.

“That’s as much as I know.”

Yang Sobo said calmly, still fingering his teacup.

“I don’t know exactly what kind of picture you’re trying to draw, Deputy Director. But with a board this big already in play, I trust you’re not the sort of man to let such an opportunity slip. Am I wrong?”

Yang Sobo’s words sounded like praise—but they pierced straight through to Jeong Tae-soo’s ambition.

Jeong Tae-soo couldn’t say a word.

Yang Sobo was right.

He had already laid out a plan to use this game for his own great gain.

“Rather than picking up crumbs under Director Kang’s table and saving up bits of slush funds, there’s a far better way, isn’t there? What if Deputy Director Jeong just takes the whole board for himself?”

Yang Sobo finally brought out his true purpose.

His low voice rang through the quiet office, sinking directly into Jeong Tae-soo’s mind. The content was dangerously tempting.

“Take the whole board? How could I possibly…?”

Yang Sobo’s proposal was outrageously bold and perilous—and therefore all the more alluring.

“Heh heh, must I spoon-feed you after setting the whole table? Is that what you want?”

His expressionless lips curled into a sly arc. A serpent-like smile spread across his face.

“A man of your caliber, Deputy Director, couldn’t possibly fail to understand what I mean.”

It was an open provocation, yet Jeong Tae-soo bit his lip in silence.

Yang Sobo wasn’t simply offering information—he was suggesting an overthrow of the entire board.

If he won, he could seize both wealth and power in one grasp. But if he failed… he dared not even imagine the price.

In the heavy silence, Jeong Tae-soo’s eyes wavered with complexity. Countless calculations, pros and cons, weighed furiously in his mind.

Yang Sobo, savoring his turmoil, drank his tea in silence and waited.

After what felt like a long time, Jeong Tae-soo finally opened his mouth as if he had come to a decision. His voice was lower and more deliberate than before.

“…Your proposal, sir, isn’t something I can take lightly. It’s far too significant. I can’t give you an answer right away.”

“Of course, I understand. One must be prudent. But time will not wait for you, Deputy Director.”

As Yang Sobo hinted with subtle pressure, Jeong Tae-soo sighed quietly and rose from his seat.

“I’ll review what you’ve proposed and compare it with the information I have. Then I’ll come to see you again.”

“Good. Then I shall await your wise judgment.”

Yang Sobo nodded with a satisfied smile.

Without another word, Jeong Tae-soo bowed slightly in courtesy, then lifted his heavy frame and exited the office.

Outside the door, Zhang Wei was waiting for him like a shadow.

“I’ll escort you.”

Zhang Wei spoke with a blank expression.

Following behind him, Jeong Tae-soo walked through the long and winding corridors of the mansion, lost deep in thought.

His mind was filled with the conversation he’d just had with Yang Sobo.

‘Yang Sobo, that old fox… You dare to play games above my head? I can’t let that go.’

Though Yang Sobo’s arrogance irritated him, his proposal was too sweet to dismiss.

‘To remove Director Kang Byung-woo, and swallow the entire massive board he built…’

With Yang Sobo’s vast capital and intelligence backing him, it wasn’t impossible.

Perhaps this was the perfect chance for him to climb to the very peak of power.

‘It’s dangerous, but the reward matches the risk.’

While countless thoughts flashed through his head, they soon reached the mansion’s grand front gate.

“Please return safely.”

Zhang Wei bowed deeply. His men swung the heavy gates open.

Just as Jeong Tae-soo was about to step through them, carrying the weight of his thoughts—

He found himself face to face with a young man entering the mansion.

The youth looked barely twenty, with a somewhat boyish face, yet he exuded a subtle air of presence that was anything but ordinary.

His deep, tranquil eyes locked with Jeong Tae-soo’s.

‘Jeong Tae-soo.’

A cold chill ran down my spine as my heart froze—and my mind began spinning faster than ever.

Why had Jeong Tae-soo appeared at Yang Sobo’s mansion at this point in time? This hadn’t happened in the past I remembered.

What variable had changed?

“Who might you be?”

The low tone of Jeong Tae-soo’s voice struck my ears, and goosebumps crawled over my skin. It overlapped perfectly with the voice that had once tempted me in my past life.

His sly, snake-like eyes swept over me from head to toe, as if examining prey.

I forced a calm expression and replied,

“My name is Baek Min-woo. I’m currently staying under Mr. Yang’s care.”

“Baek Min-woo? Baek Min-woo, you say…”

Jeong Tae-soo narrowed his eyes, repeating my name.

After a brief moment of thought, a knowing smile crept across his face.

“Ah, so it’s you—the brat who ruined my little plan.”

My heart sank heavily. He must be referring to his failed scheme to use the Fly to take control of the beggars in Cheongnyangni.

Feigning composure, I answered,

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Heh heh, pretending not to know, are we? Well, if it was done unknowingly, then fine. I didn’t expect to find you staying at Sir Yang’s place.”

How irritating—he sounded as though he had been looking for me all along, though he hadn’t cared in the slightest.

If Jeong Tae-soo had truly wanted to find me, there’s no way his information network would have failed.

Just seeing that smirking face made murderous intent rise from within, but I suppressed it with all my strength.

Now was not the time.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Do you know me?”

Jeong Tae-soo asked, feigning mild curiosity. His eyes still gleamed with interest.

“This is my first time meeting you. I only looked because, sir, you seemed to be blocking my way.”

“What?”

“Would you like to go first?”

I stepped aside to make way.

Right now, there was nothing I could do. I had to endure—again and again.

Unexpectedly, Jeong Tae-soo stroked his chin and continued to study me with interest.

“You’re quite an amusing fellow.”

My body tensed before I could stop it. Jeong Tae-soo had taken an interest in me.

That was never a good sign. He always looked like that when he discovered a potentially useful chess piece.

As he started walking again, Jeong Tae-soo suddenly stopped beside me and laid a heavy hand on my shoulder.

“I have a fondness for talented young men. Let’s see each other again soon.”

A kindly smile—his trademark expression.

To his subordinates, he always acted endlessly benevolent, pretending to care deeply for them.

But behind that mask was a cold-blooded man who saw people only as chess pieces.

I said nothing, only bowed my head in silence.

After patting my shoulder a few times, Jeong Tae-soo finally left through the gates.

Only after the heavy doors shut did I release the breath I had been holding. I immediately turned to Zhang Wei.

“I must see Sir Yang. Right now.”

One of the reasons Yang Sobo had eventually been forced to leave Korea in sorrow was because of his ill-fated connection with Jeong Tae-soo.

And now Jeong Tae-soo had come to Yang Sobo’s mansion of his own accord?

I couldn’t tell what scheme he was plotting.

My mind was a tangled storm.