novelraw Chapter 61
Chapter 61
The CEO office of Taeseong Construction where darkness had fallen.
Lim Do-hyun was leaning obliquely on the sofa, deeply immersed in thought.
In the spacious office, only the stand light on the desk was emitting a faint glow.
Just then, his cell phone vibrated.
Looking down at the screen, Lim Do-hyun's eyebrows arched slightly.
The name of one of the executives who attended today's meeting was displayed.
“This is Lim Do-hyun.”
His voice answering the phone was calm, but somehow had an edge to it.
The voice heard over the cell phone was very cautious.
-President, during today's meeting, there was talk regarding HJ Partners. It turns out the representative there is young master Lim Hyunjun.“…What?!”
Lim Do-hyun's body momentarily stiffened.
Leaning against the sofa, he slowly raised his body upright.
“Are you sure?”
-Yes, young master Hyunjun said it himself.
After hanging up the phone, Lim Do-hyun did not move for a while.
His hand only repeatedly fiddled with the cell phone.
“How did that fellow….”
The voice he uttered as if muttering was mixed with strange emotions.
It was surprise, anger, and a somehow inexplicable sense of vigilance.
After a moment, he summoned his secretary.
“From now on, bring all reports containing the name HJ Partners directly to me. Do not miss even a single small thing.”
President Lim Do-hyun's voice became even colder.
“And reorganize the list of today's meeting participants again. Exactly who is on our side and who has leaned toward that side. I need to figure it out accurately.”
Under the light of the stand, his face was no longer peaceful.
The relaxed smile had disappeared, and in its place, only a coldly hardened expression remained.
Lim Do-hyun looked out the window and muttered lowly.
“You dare…. You’re trying to kill me.”
His gaze flashed sharply in the darkness.
The quiet night air suddenly became heavy.
The office was filled with a chilling coldness.
***
When I, Lim Hyunjun, arrived home, it was already a late hour.
However, the lights were still on in the living room, and both of my parents were sitting side by side on the sofa waiting for me.
Mrs. Kang Ji-yeon said to me as I was coming in.
“…You’re late.”
It was a gentle voice as usual, but it felt heavy for some reason.
Vice Chairman Lim Do-kyung also looked at me without a word.
His gaze wavered slightly with complex emotions.
I quietly put down my bag, went into the living room, and sat on the sofa.
Normally, I would have said ‘I’m sorry for being late,’ but today those words didn’t come out.
A moment of silence flowed.
Only the sound of the clock echoed quietly in the living room.
Vice Chairman Lim Do-kyung opened his mouth first.
His voice was much lower than usual.
“What you said in the meeting today… Was HJ Partners really a company you established?”
I hesitated for a moment and then nodded my head slightly.
“Yes, that’s right. It is a company I established with my own hands from the beginning.”
Mrs. Kang Ji-yeon's hand trembled slightly on her lap.
She looked at me for a while without saying anything.
She wanted to say something, but her mind was being tangled with all sorts of emotions from the unexpected event.
Only after trying hard to soothe her heart did she ask me with a trembling voice.
“Hyunjun, how did you think of doing something like this alone?”
“Mom….”
Mrs. Kang Ji-yeon shook her head.
“Mom doesn’t want that kind of thing. I always support whatever you do, but this is too dangerous. And you’re still a student.”
The corners of her eyes began to turn red.
She was a mother who had lived her whole life worrying only about her son's safety.
She was happy about excellent grades and growth faster than others.
Those things were also good, but as a parent, she just hoped her son would grow up healthy and ordinary.
I got up from my seat, sat next to my mother, and quietly took her hand.
“Mom, I’m fine. It wasn’t something I started without thinking. There is a reason for everything…. But I can’t tell you right now. However, please trust me. And I prepared diligently.”
Looking into my eyes, she said with a trembling voice.
“No matter how diligently you prepare, that doesn't mean it can block everything. You aren't even twenty yet, and you're so young….”
At those words, Lim Do-kyung quietly raised his head.
Actually, when I first brought up that story in the meeting room, I had felt like a stranger to him.
But now, he had an expression as if he understood something.
He said as if muttering.
“I see…. So that was why Father paid so much attention to you.”
Lim Do-kyung recalled the words Chairman Lim Man-seok had said to him in the past without any explanation.
“Raise Hyunjun well.”
At the time, it was a phrase he couldn’t understand the meaning of.
He just thought it was a request to raise me well since I was good at studying and stood out.
Thinking about it now, it seemed like Grandfather already knew about my abilities.
“Did you really do all these things alone?”
I looked directly at my father.
As if reading his mind, I said with a calm but firm voice.
“Dad, I came this far to protect our family.”
At my words, they looked at me with surprised expressions.
“This isn’t just for me. It’s something I did to do what I can in a crisis our family will encounter someday.”
Lim Do-kyung's eyes grew large.
He wanted to ask the reason, but at the same time, he became afraid to hear more.
It was because he could guess what kind of crisis I was talking about and how serious it was.
Then, Mrs. Kang Ji-yeon said with a trembling voice.
“Hyunjun, you don’t need to shoulder that kind of burden alone.”
I gripped my mother's hand more tightly.
“Mom, I’ve already chosen. And I don’t regret it.”
I continued speaking while looking at my father again.
“Dad, you know too. How cruel this floor is. That you can’t survive unless you prepare in advance.”
Lim Do-kyung could not say anything to me.
It was because my words were correct.
He himself had lived in a chaebol family and had seen how many people were brutally broken.
My voice became even softer.
“So please don’t worry. Please trust me. And from now on, I will protect Mom and Dad.”
Mrs. Kang Ji-yeon just quietly wrapped my hand with both of her hands.
The sturdiness felt from that small hand was surprisingly new.
It was vivid in her eyes when I was a child, wriggling, wondering when I had grown up like this.
Lim Do-kyung's gaze quietly stayed on me.
I appeared to him not as a child he needed to protect, but now as a man trying to protect the family.
The clock informed me that it was midnight.
Silence descended on the living room again.
However, that silence was not fear or anxiety, but the beginning of deep trust and understanding for each other.
None of them got up from their seats.
It was as if they wanted to cherish this moment a little longer.
***
A cold wind brushed past the National Assembly building in Yeouido.
The low-hanging clouds were overcast as if they would soon sprinkle sleet.
Unlike the weather, the front of the National Assembly main building where the National Audit was being held was as busy as a battlefield since early morning.
Dozens of broadcasting relay vehicles took their spots early.
Reporters, camera directors, and even staff were busy moving in tension while checking their equipment in line.
Thanks to that, breaking news continued from early morning.
[
The air itself was as sharp as a blade.
Everyone's gaze was directed toward one place.
At the end of that gaze, there was a man moving his steps quietly.
Kim Jongseok.
The scene was stirred by that name alone.
The former team leader of the Technology Development Team at Daehan Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, who had stayed out of sight after throwing his resignation letter.
Such a man finally made an appearance.
With the collar of his brown coat turned up, he climbed the stairs of the National Assembly main building with his mouth firmly shut.
The gait he stepped with was dignified and full of power.
His eyes did not waver even at the continuous shutter sounds and the shouts of reporters directed at him.
Rather, his expression was full of firm belief as if he had decided something.
This place would not be the end for him, but perhaps the beginning of revenge.
At that time, in the National Audit meeting room.
Inside the grand space with a high ceiling, President Nam Jae-heon of Daehan Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering was sitting in his seat.
He looked calm on the outside, but his hands were trembling minutely.
‘Please… please, don’t say anything.’
However, deep in his chest, fear was surging like black waves.
That Kim Jongseok appeared in this spot was a precursor to disaster.
If that man opened his mouth, everything might end.
During that time, he had also tried to meet Kim Jongseok to attempt conciliation.
But for some reason, his whereabouts were elusive no matter how much he searched.
As if someone had determined to protect him.
Nam Jae-heon looked at the questioning seat while picking up a water glass with trembling hands.
And at that moment, someone came inside.
The person who appeared along with the sound of the door opening was Assemblyman Jeong Yu-chan.
His appearance, wearing a dark navy suit and a gray muffler, was as intimidating as a judge.
As he entered, the meeting room was engulfed in silence.
The cameras moved toward him all at once.
Jeong Yu-chan moved his steps slowly and intentionally, looking at Kim Jongseok first.
An invisible current flowed the moment the two men's gazes met.
Kim Jongseok nodded his head.
And he turned his gaze toward Nam Jae-heon who was sitting on the opposite side.
As their eyes met, Nam Jae-heon's expression turned deathly pale in an instant.
He deliberately avoided the gaze.
After a while, the chairperson entered the meeting room.
After a heavy silence flowed for a moment, the chairperson slowly turned on the microphone and began the opening declaration.
“We will begin the 20XX National Audit of the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs, and Startups Committee.”
The meeting room air cooled down even further.
The lighting was concentrated on the microphone placed in front of Kim Jongseok.
Like a spotlight illuminating the protagonist on a stage.
The gazes of the people gathered in the meeting room were directed toward one person like a blade.
Kim Jongseok, the team leader of the Technology Development Team at Daehan Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, and a person who would speak the truth here today with the career and beliefs he had built in the shipbuilding industry for decades.
He calmly picked up the water glass and took a sip.
His fingertips trembled slightly, but not enough for others to notice.
Even when he decided to blow the whistle, even when he reported this fact to the media, speaking the truth was always a fearful thing.
But he had already chosen.
The chairperson's voice echoed through the microphone to every corner of the meeting room.
“First, we will receive the witness oath. Would the witness please come forward to the podium and take the witness oath.”
Kim Jongseok rose from his seat.
His movements were still bold.
He reflected on how many things had happened to get here.
Standing in front of the podium, Kim Jongseok straightened his shoulders and looked down at the oath document.
The letters on the paper seemed to wriggle as if they were alive.
The internal corruption of the company, manipulated reports, and the details of rebates exchanged secretly passed through his head like a panorama.
The meeting room became quiet once again, and finally, Kim Jongseok opened his mouth.
“I, in testifying before the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs, and Startups Committee in relation to the 20XX National Audit conducted by the National Assembly, swear and pledge to speak the truth as it is without hiding or adding anything according to my conscience as per Article 8 of the Act on Testimony and Appraisal, etc. before the National Assembly, and to receive the penalty for perjury if there is any falsehood in the statement or written answer.”