The Regressed Chaebol Grandson Finds It Hard to Forgive - Chapter 115

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 115. Getting Results (7)

“Have some. Pu-erh tea, traditionally brewed in Yunnan’s ancient style.”
“Yes, sir!”
“When it’s just the two of us, just call me senior. Between us.”
“Yes!”

Jo & Chang has no formal position of director on its books.

It operates as a profit collective, run on a partnership model by a handful of lead attorneys and numerous independent lawyers bound by contract.

The contracted attorneys freely took on cases and assembled their own teams to generate returns.

The competence of senior attorneys at the department head level determined each team’s performance.

That was why they needed people who could control such figures.

Those who mediated disputes not only with other law firms, but between different teams within Jo & Chang itself.

Directors—such as they were—existed at Jo & Chang without official title for exactly that reason.

Old-guard senior attorneys of Jo & Chang, drawn from the circles of the lead partners.

Hong Il-su, who had summoned Kim Gyeong-min today, was one of those figures.

Hong Il-su was a lawyer who specialized in corporate liaisons.

A single call from him could open doors at any conglomerate.

He was a broker of note in the legal world.
Hong Il-su managed connections spanning not only corporations, courts, and prosecutors, but senior government officials as well.

Kim Gyeong-min, summoned by such a director as Hong Il-su.

Kim Gyeong-min sipped quietly at the Pu-erh tea Hong Il-su had recommended.

The fermentation appeared sound; the tea was mellow and clean.

Kim Gyeong-min finished the cup in silence.

Hong Il-su offered no particular words either.

“Gyeong-min.”
“Yes, senior.”

Hong Il-su was a senior from Seoguk University’s Law School and from the Management Research Society itself.

Though ten years his elder, the two men had shared history since their student days.

Both had served as officers of the society; their bond ran deeper than with other members.

The kind of relationship where one pushed and pulled for the other, wherever they went.
Hong Il-su was the one who had recommended Kim Gyeong-min to Jo & Chang.

“Your style’s changed a bit lately, hasn’t it?”
“I’m sorry?”
“You were always so measured. Suddenly you seem different.”

‘Who told him?’

Kim Gyeong-min was curious about his source.
Hong Il-su had let slip a remark suggesting he’d gathered intelligence on Kim Gyeong-min’s dealings.

Perhaps word had spread through upper circles thanks to VIP Ha Tae-ung.

“I was put under pressure, so I had no choice.”
“Pressure?”
“The Young Master is of the Ha line as well, it seems.”
“Right—the Ha family’s made of stern stuff.”

Hong Il-su nodded in agreement.

“The contract’s been fully confirmed. I can’t back out. The penalty fee exceeds my lifetime salary.”
“I know. He did it properly. Ha ha ha.”

Hong Il-su’s reaction was unexpected.
The middle-aged man in an elegant blue tailored suit laughed heartily, regarding Kim Gyeong-min.

He was not a former judge or prosecutor.

Hong Il-su had passed the Bar Exam and gone straight into Jo & Chang.
Top marks at the Judicial Research Institute as well.

After that, he became the right hand of the lead partners, rising to his present position.

Despite his dignified and warm appearance, he was quicker than most to sever relationships.

He had a notorious reputation for ruthlessly purging incompetent attorneys whenever opportunity arose.

“This won’t be easy to carry.”

Hong Il-su’s counsel continued.

“The stakes are high.”
“……I may have underestimated your capabilities. I didn’t realize you had this much nerve…….”

Hong Il-su’s words carried weight.
He was subtly reminding Kim Gyeong-min that the opponent was the Haryun Group.

“The first card in my hand is…… AA One Pair. A hand that can never fold.”

Kim Gyeong-min fixed his gaze and stated his resolve clearly.

It was the same warning he’d given his team member Ayura.
Kim Gyeong-min was also a piece on the chessboard that Ha Tae-ung had laid out.

He had no intention of remaining a pawn.

At minimum, he would become a knight wielding a lance for the king.

“I’d like to meet the Young Master myself. If timid you has resolved to this…….”

Curiosity flickered in Hong Il-su’s eyes.

“That will likely happen soon…….”

* * *

“My heart’s still racing…….”
“Mine too.”
“Insane! How much is that in won, exactly…….”

The Cheonghwa High School Management Research Club Room, after the members had dispersed.

Jang Ji-yu and Kang Jun-woo sat across from each other.
Classmates and distant relatives who had followed the same path since kindergarten.

With similar family standing, the two occasionally found themselves in moments like this.

Jang Ji-yu was socially the eldest daughter of the Shindo Group, but privately she carried many wounds.

And Kang Jun-woo, who would eventually inherit the operation of the Ilseong Hotel.

A similar grain ran through both of them, and a shared emptiness pierced them both.

Moreover, today both had been shaken by the same revelation.

The investment balance confirmed by Ha Tae-ung, scion of the Haryun Group and a pariah.

The afterimage hovering before their eyes would not fade.

“That wasn’t even all of it.”
“What…… there’s more?”
“Yes.”
“Wow…… really?”

An exclamation escaped Jang Ji-yu’s lips.

“It was futures. At minimum, ten times the return.”
“Aren’t you being reckless? If the position reverses…….”
“We won’t lose.”
“Why?”
“My instinct.”
“Just your instinct?”
“Instinct is intelligence, Ji-yu.”
“…….”

At Kang Jun-woo’s words, Jang Ji-yu fell silent.
She too recognized that as Jun-woo’s greatest strength.

“Is that why you picked Ha Tae-ung?”
“Yes.”
“Impressive. Our Jun-woo~”
“You’ll invest too, right?”
“……maybe a little. Conservative.”
“Put in more. If you can.”
“How much are you putting in?”
“All of it.”
“Will your mother allow it?”
“It’s mine. Why wouldn’t she?”
“……I envy that. I don’t have as much as you’d think.”

Jang Ji-yu spoke plainly.
All she had was the estate left by her mother, who had taken her own life.

The shares inherited from her grandfather remained locked away; she couldn’t dispose of them as a minor.

Her father had given her little beyond what was required.

Though officially the eldest daughter, her family had never truly acknowledged her.

Her grandmother had discriminated against young Ji-yu since childhood, calling her the spawn of a variety actress.

“It’s an opportunity. Seize it.”

Kang Jun-woo’s cold but necessary advice.

“Ugh…….”

Jang Ji-yu, who understood his meaning, pouted slightly.

‘Should I really do it? Take a proper gamble?’

Jang Ji-yu’s eyes shifted.
She held a secret fund that no one else knew about.

Hidden assets left by her mother existed.

Money that was like her mother’s final breath!
No one in the family knew.

Jang Ji-yu recalled what she had been hiding.
And she hesitated.

“You think Ha Tae-ung will pull off something huge?”
“……Seems like it could be fun.”

Kang Jun-woo’s eyes sparkled at her question.

For conglomerate heirs, succession and inheritance wars were an inescapable fate.

An ambition that Kang Jun-woo had also come to harbor in time.

He didn’t want to end as merely a hotel operator.

A dream—and something beyond—that his mother would never allow!

Crack.

Kang Jun-woo clenched his fist, hot passion mixed with imagination.
Ha Tae-ung, who had become his friend—an outcast.

He was becoming the driving force that would help Jun-woo design a new future.

* * *

Crack!

“Nice~”

The Cheonghwa High School Golf Practice Range.
Most students and teachers had left campus by now.

Two figures were leisurely warming up at the practice range.

An Hyeon-ju admired Ha Tae-ung’s crisp Driver swing.

‘Better and better. His form needs no correction at all.’

His Driver form was so polished you’d believe he was a pro.

His average distance easily exceeded three hundred meters.

Ha Tae-ung drove with precision to his target, a long ball every time.

“Refreshing.”

Ha Tae-ung had unleashed roughly a hundred consecutive Driver shots the moment he arrived at the range.
Sweat glistened on his brow.

“Something on your mind?”

An Hyeon-ju asked, trusting her feminine intuition.
Ha Tae-ung held the Driver and gazed toward the distant targets.

Whoosh.

The evening breeze scattered his hair.

An Hyeon-ju bit her lower lip as she watched Ha Tae-ung, lost in thought—a sculpture of contemplation.

An adult by age, yet a student by social station, Ha Tae-ung.

The subtle emotions that coalesced around him in An Hyeon-ju’s heart.

“……It seems there’s a hierarchy among people.”

Ha Tae-ung recalled the Management Research Club members who had tested him.

He revisited every emotion they’d held for him in their eyes.

Wariness, envy, jealousy, despair and fear, awe and defeat.

Those kids who swagger at school as if they’re the best, yet amount to nothing in truth.

He’d brought them to their knees with numbers on a screen.

In his past before the regression, they were people he couldn’t dare meet eye to eye. Now he looked down on them.

It felt satisfying, but also, somehow, a little hollow.

The AI Era approaches and becomes reality.

These kids would be the executives responsible for Korea’s future.

Whether the consciousness of group heirs—who would have such profound influence on that future—could keep pace with the rapidly shifting AI Age.

“Want a drink?”

An Hyeon-ju stepped closer and offered.
At her words, Ha Tae-ung suddenly craved a cold beer.

“That sounds good.”
“My treat today!”

An Hyeon-ju’s voice brightened as she watched Ha Tae-ung’s expression shift.
Then, that instant.

“Yaaaaaaa! Ha Tae-ung!!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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