The Regressed Chaebol Grandson Finds It Hard to Forgive - Chapter 63

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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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Chapter 63. The Crown Prince (2)

“I hear there was quite a commotion at school today.”

In the office of the Cheonghwa Foundation chairman.
The interior bore the unmistakable stamp of a style fashionable decades ago.

Expensive mahogany furniture exuded an air of old-world gravitas and weight.

A woman sat curled in an overstuffed leather chair, speaking quietly.

Koo Ja-yeon, the youngest daughter of Koo Jae-young, founder and chairman of the Cheonghwa Group.

Though she was approaching sixty, her meticulous self-care made her look to be in her late forties.

Her round face and permed bob cut suited her well.

Behind her seemingly indifferent gaze, framed by gold-rimmed glasses befitting her age, lay considerable depth.

She had been given the chairmanship of Cheonghwa High School after falling behind in the succession line.

But she hadn’t entirely abandoned her ambitions.

Her older siblings each ran substantial subsidiaries.

The eldest son, Koo Sung-min, held the title of representative of Cheonghwa Holdings, which consolidated Cheonghwa Construction and MBS Media Group under one umbrella—a privilege granted for being male.

The eldest daughter, Koo Soo-young, managed Cheonghwa Logistics, which held the group’s core equity stake.

In contrast, Koo Ja-yeon, the youngest, held only the honorary position of Cheonghwa Foundation chairman.

The Cheonghwa Foundation had nothing to do with actual group operations.

She had weathered her circumstances patiently, waiting for her moment, but the cards simply wouldn’t fall her way.

Her father, Koo Jae-young, possessed a mind-set typical of the old guard—a traditional male perspective.

He had made it abundantly clear that he intended to pass the group only to his eldest son.

For the youngest daughter, he figured enough money and status to live comfortably would suffice.

Though she had largely given up, the moment an opportunity arose, she would still seize it.

She too had plans for her children’s futures.

Koo Ja-yeon’s husband came from a prominent political family rooted in the Gyeongsang region.

He had served three terms as a National Assembly member but lost his seat in the twenty-first election, overwhelmed by more powerful connections.

Since then, he had been scrambling to build networks on the fringes of political circles rather than focusing on family.

His position now offered little real power.

Her plan was to ensure her children could sufficiently enjoy the benefits of the Cheonghwa Group through their connection to her.

For that to work, as the school’s chairwoman, Cheonghwa High School had to be run more impeccably than ever.

Every year, the children of the wealthy left Cheonghwa and entered society.

As Cheonghwa alumni, they naturally became woven into existing upper-class networks through educational ties.

A nearly perfect league of their own.

Cheonghwa didn’t need to make any special effort to recruit new students or secure operating funds.

In that sense, it was a foundation sitting back and reaping the benefits.

The donations that alumni made through the Cheonghwa Foundation as scholarship contributions were beyond imagination.

More than the sponsorships from any ordinary prestigious university.

Of course, not all donation money went directly to scholarships.

Most of it was used as investment capital.

But funds invested in various enterprises rarely saw returns, and usually vanished in the end.

Naturally, a portion was quietly set aside as hidden assets.

The school should have remained quiet today, unremarkable.

Instead, chaos erupted.

“Chairman, that incident—”

Right after cleaning up the mess at the Main Auditorium, An Jong-ung had been summoned by the chairwoman.

At her quiet remark, cold sweat trickled down his spine.

Recalling it now, the situation at the Main Auditorium had been terrifying.

Yi Jang-yong’s foolish stunt had left no room for thought or caution.

Learning that the young master of the Haryun Group had been dragged to the Main Auditorium made his eyes roll back.

An Jong-ung, a man whose life motto was keeping his head down.
Yet Yi Jang-yong had turned the carefully maintained school atmosphere upside down in an instant.

Fortunately, the young master had cleanly resolved the situation.

Jo & Chang’s lawyers appeared on the scene.

And just like that, Yi Jang-yong’s future was utterly destroyed.

“You said the problem student is an Outcast? What’s his name?”
“Ha Tae-ung, from class 3-2.”
“Ha Tae-ung……”

‘So he’s Chairman Ha Cheol-gon’s blood relative?’

Koo Ja-yeon hadn’t actually planned to come in today.

But she’d come in after receiving an urgent call from her right-hand man, the administrative director.
After hearing a full report on the incident, she’d summoned Principal An Jong-ung.

“Ha Tae-ung’s father is Ha Dong-hwi.”
“Ha Dong-hwi??”

An old piece of gossip suddenly surfaced in Koo Ja-yeon’s mind.

The youngest son among the Haryun family’s four sons and two daughters had abruptly been struck from the succession list.

Rumor had it he’d been cast out by the family for defying the stubborn Chairman Ha Cheol-gon’s orders.

Among Gangnam’s upper class, the whispers had spread quietly.

Children of the top ten conglomerates are naturally seen as future leaders of South Korea’s economy, so there’s considerable interest in their affairs and they become subjects of gossip.

The rumors that had leaked from the Haryun Group side had been exactly that.

The rumors proved true—after that, Ha Dong-hwi’s name was erased from the Haryun family roster.

“He’s definitely Chairman Ha Cheol-gon’s youngest grandson.”

An Jong-ung had also made careful inquiries about the earlier incident.

Using Ha Tae-ung’s student file from enrollment, he’d gathered as much information as possible.

Gangnam was always full of fixers willing to handle any problem for money.

“I see……”

‘Then why? Why has he been so quiet until now?’

Koo Ja-yeon activated the wisdom of life she’d accumulated over years.

The feeling was strong that this wasn’t just a simple incident—she was caught up in something entirely different.

The internal succession struggles of top-tier conglomerates were far more complex than they appeared.

Behind the scenes, what looked peaceful played out like bloodshed and shattered bones.

The most common method was eliminating rival heirs through accidents or schemes.

Money was the simplest medium to expose the depths of human nature.

And the Haryun Group had the fiercest succession competition of all.

“Yes! They addressed him respectfully as ‘young master.’ Their manner was quite courteous.”
“Young master……” she sighed.

As the concrete details became clear, Koo Ja-yeon felt her head throb.

A member of the Haryun family expelled from the group, hiding as an Outcast, enrolled at this school.

‘Hidden assets, then.’

The children of the super-wealthy each had their own methods of growing personal wealth.

Even if publicly expelled, a child typically still received their basic inheritance.

Koo Ja-yeon herself managed assets easily in the hundred-billion-won range.

“…What should we do?”

Principal An Jong-ung, watching the chairwoman’s troubled expression, asked cautiously.

‘There’s something here….’

An Jong-ung, perceptive enough, quickly worked through his thoughts.

The lives of the absolute elite were far more complex than ordinary people imagined.

Their lives were a mystery no ordinary person could fathom even in death.

They were the sort of people living lives stranger than fiction.

“Have Deputy Director Wang Jin-deok brought in.”
“Understood.”
“You’re dismissed.”
“Rest now, Chairman.”

At the chairwoman’s dismissal, An Jong-ung let out a small breath of relief, bowed, and hurried out.

Whoosh.

Koo Ja-yeon stood and walked to the window.

Under the tall trees on the school grounds beginning to leaf out, students strolled the pathways during lunch period.

Here and there, small clusters of students gathered in animated conversation.

The scene resembled an ordinary high school, but it was anything but.

The conversations they shared mirrored those their parents held in private.

Discussion centered entirely on substantive information and money, driven by politics.

And……

“Outcast Ha Tae-ung……. What’s his real identity really?”

Director Koo Ja-yeon found herself curious about a student for the first time in a while.

“A true crown prince in disguise, or just a worthless mutt? We’ll find out soon enough.”

Spring was ripening, and summer was fast approaching.
Over quiet Cheonghwa, a massive typhoon was beginning to gather.

* * *

‘Tae-ung…?’

Yi Hyo-ju turned first at the familiar voice.

“Oh!”

She was startled.
The face she recognized belonged to a younger student she knew.

Or rather, precisely speaking, a sixth-degree relative—a distant cousin.

Someone she saw exactly once a year.
At the ancestral rites for their great-grandfather.

They attended the same school, but their paths rarely crossed.

She was the only one in the family permitted to work in entertainment.

“Hyo-ju! Hi~”

The moment their eyes met, Yi Hyo-rin waved cheerfully.

The two shared the same generational character, “Hyo,” in their names.

“Hyo-rin……. What are you doing here?”

Yi Hyo-ju asked, finding Yi Hyo-rin’s sudden appearance odd.

Such an impulsive move was out of character.

So much so that Yi Hyo-rin had a truly unique personality.
Frankly, even her parents had given up on her.

According to what she’d heard, even their grandfather had abandoned hope for Yi Hyo-rin.

So it was strange that Yi Hyo-rin was acting this cheerful toward Yi Hyo-ju now, so out of character.

“I came to see Tae-ung.”
“Tae-ung?”

Surely those two weren’t acquainted.

Before this morning’s incident, Ha Tae-ung had been ignored by everyone—he was an Outcast.

But……. senior?

Yi Hyo-rin’s gentle speech had an air like a fox swishing its tail.

The pretty, mischievous Yi Hyo-rin’s suggestive gaze fixed on Ha Tae-ung.

“Mm.”

Yi Hyo-rin replied as she approached the two.

Her eyes never left Ha Tae-ung as she drew near.

“Senior. You’re cool.”

She tilted her lips into a slight smile and spoke directly to Ha Tae-ung.

He was genuinely the most dazzling man in Yi Hyo-rin’s eyes.

More handsome than any male idol she’d seen from her agency or at broadcast stations.

Most of them were products of cosmetic surgery with mediocre height.
And they weren’t real men at all—just pretty boys.

Yi Hyo-rin, with her sharp temperament beneath her appearance, had grown up among fierce members of a Royal Family.

She felt no attraction to these polished idols carefully crafted for broadcast.

They seemed hardly more than beardless boys.

Yi Hyo-rin had never yet experienced the fire of first love.

But today, she opened her eyes to a new world.

“Thanks.”

Ha Tae-ung replied lightly.

‘What? He doesn’t know me?’

Ha Tae-ung’s surprisingly indifferent response momentarily threw Yi Hyo-rin off balance.

There was no male student at Cheonghwa who didn’t know her.

Yet Ha Tae-ung’s response was……

“Senior, don’t you know me?”
“I do.”
“Yes? You know me, but…that’s all?”
“What else?”

Ha Tae-ung regarded Yi Hyo-rin without the slightest emotional shift.

“Hyo-ju.”
“Hmm?”
“Let’s go eat.”

Ha Tae-ung’s warm voice was directed at Yi Hyo-ju.

“Y-yes.”

Yi Hyo-ju found herself jumping up from her seat before she even realized it.

Yi Hyo-rin was bewildered by both their attitudes.

Yi Hyo-rin, who’d typically had better success with boys than Yi Hyo-ju in terms of looks.

Yi Hyo-ju was equally caught off guard.

Ha Tae-ung seemed impervious to Yi Hyo-rin’s appearance.

Thud-thud.

Casually stepping past Yi Hyo-rin, Ha Tae-ung and Yi Hyo-ju left the classroom.

“What? Did he just reject me?”

Yi Hyo-rin, experiencing rejection for perhaps the first time in her life.

“Oh, is that how we’re playing it?”

Watching the two receding figures, she kindled her competitive spirit.
Just then.

A familiar face entered the classroom.

“Huh? Why are you here??”

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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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