A Bad, Bad Act - Chapter 47

Articles with grandiose titles broke out in bold.

And below them, several related entertainment articles were floating.

It seems what was bound to happen has finally come.

The article in the economics section included a photo of Cha Do Ha and Jin Yu Hee sitting side by side talking.

There was also a photo of them shaking hands, and one of Cha Do Ha leaning slightly towards Jin Yu Hee, smiling as he spoke.

The article covered their marriage in considerable depth.

It laid out the added value that would result from the merger of ST Chemical and Han Ju Bio, quickly congratulating the alliance of the two groups.

The comments were quite positive too.

They’re a handsome and beautiful couple.

I looked at the man’s profile, it’s mind-blowing. As expected of extraordinary DNA.

Is this man Kim Hae Ri’s boyfriend?

I feel bad for Kim Hae Ri, but looking at his face, everything is forgiven.

Kim Hae Ri, what can you do? Just be happy.

Yeo Eun’s expression remained calm as she read through the comments one by one.

But inside, she felt differently.

Yesterday during dinner, Cha Do Ha received a call from Manager Kim Jung Joo and was immediately summoned by Chairman Cha Ji Seop.

After dropping her off at the hotel, he went to the main house in Itaewon and didn’t return until morning.

Yeo Eun, who entered the hotel and called Cha Hyun, had to listen to Cha Hyun’s concerns.

[-ST’s side broke the news, but the Chairman approved it.] [-Yeo Eun, do you know what this means? It means the Chairman will tighten his grip on you even more.]

She heard the engagement date had been set.

November 16th.

Her task is to persuade Cha Do Ha to appear at the engagement ceremony before then.

And after the engagement, what next?

Does she have to get Cha Do Ha to the wedding altar?

[-The surveillance will intensify, and the threats will get stronger. So you need to be extremely careful. I think it’s incredibly dangerous for you to stay there.] [-The news of the arranged marriage is out, and they’re saying you’re dating nicely with marriage in mind. If it comes out that Do Ha is with you in the midst of all this, ST’s side won’t stay quiet this time either.]

Listening quietly to Cha Hyun’s worried words, Yeo Eun responded incredulously.

[Incredibly dangerous? Didn’t you push me in here knowing all this from the start?]

You knew it would turn out like this from the beginning.

You yelled at me that my job was to seduce him and make him quietly get engaged to ST’s Jin Yu Hee.

So why are you pretending to be worried now?

[My orders from the Director and Chairman were to seduce the Director, make him obedient, tame him well, and place him beside Director Jin Yu Hee. It seems I’m doing the job you assigned well, aren’t I? Or will you let me go now? Let me run away? You won’t do that, will you.]

So just stay the bad person.

Don’t pretend to be a good person now.

Barely swallowing the words that were burning her throat, Yeo Eun said she would do her best to complete the task assigned to her and hung up.

Yeo Eun stayed up all night and greeted the morning like that.

Today was going to be busy all day.

There’s a meeting scheduled with the head office PR team to prepare for tomorrow’s Han Ju Bio 3rd Factory groundbreaking ceremony.

She also needs to prepare a new tie for Cha Do Ha to wear tomorrow, and practice his eye contact for when he gives the congratulatory speech.

With a mountain of things to do, Yeo Eun, who couldn’t focus on work from the morning, finally arrived at the company 10 minutes past the start time.

When she opened the door to the director’s office, Manager Kim Jung Joo greeted her warmly.

“You’re a bit late today?”

“I’m sorry.”

How embarrassing to be late as an outsourced employee on assignment.

Unable to hide her embarrassment as she answered, Manager Kim Jung Joo smiled gently.

“It must have been hard to gauge the time since you’re not coming from home, right?”

Yeo Eun was silent for a moment at his words.

Come to think of it, Manager Kim Jung Joo seemed to have come to her house yesterday too.

He probably left the aftermath to Manager Kim Jung Joo, but she was so out of it that she didn’t even greet him.

“Thank you for yesterday.”

Offering a belated greeting, Yeo Eun tilted her head to look at the door of Cha Do Ha’s office.

Her gaze searching for traces of him beyond the tightly closed door seemed a bit anxious.

“The Director isn’t here.”

Manager Kim Jung Joo, who had been looking at the end of her gaze, quietly added.

“He went to see Kim Hae Ri. Things are in an uproar over there too because of yesterday’s article.”

It felt like being hit on the back of the head with a blunt weapon.

“Ah, I see.”

Nodding her head, Yeo Eun sat down at her desk silently.

After taking out some documents, she got up again holding a portfolio.

“Manager, I have a PR team meeting scheduled at 9:30. I’ll be back.”

With that, Yeo Eun left the Strategic Planning Department.

Her footsteps were heavy as she walked down the corridor.

The person who would have been most shocked by the marriage article is probably Kim Hae Ri.

Kim Hae Ri is Cha Do Ha’s lover, and it’s only natural for Cha Do Ha to rush to comfort the shocked Kim Hae Ri.

“He must have been with Kim Hae Ri all night.”

Ridiculously, a dull pain arose inside her chest.

If she doesn’t force herself to smile, the corners of her mouth keep falling.

Her nose stings, and her palms tingle.

Yeo Eun clenched her fists tightly and gently rubbed the center of her chest.

A sharp pain continued as if a nail had been driven into her chest.

This is the end of a toy that forgot its place.

“You’re being punished. For daring to hold another woman’s man in your heart.”

Did she only hold him in her heart? She held him with her body too.

She would have nothing to say even if Kim Hae Ri came and slapped her face.

“You brought this on yourself, Seo Yeo Eun.”

Yeo Eun stretched out her fingers and pressed the elevator call button.

A moment later, the elevator doors opened.

As Yeo Eun was about to step into the elevator, someone called out to her.

“Yeo Eun?”

It was Cha In Woo.

* * *

Lotus Hotel suite room.

Do Ha’s expression was very sharp as he talked on the phone with Manager Kim Jung Joo.

He didn’t seem angry.

He was just shaking with displeasure.

Do Ha, who had been quietly looking out the window, ended the call and returned to his seat.

Yi Han handed him a tablet.

“I told Marcus to move the plan up a bit. Chairman Jin Man Jae will be flying to the US this weekend.”

Do Ha, who took the tablet, signed it with a flourish.

“Tell Marcus to bewitch Jin Man Jae so thoroughly that he loses his mind.”

“Don’t worry. Marcus is the best at that. He was originally a stage actor.”

Nodding, Do Ha put down the tablet and sat down.

He looked quite tired.

According to Manager Kim Jung Joo, it seems Do Ha turned the Itaewon main house upside down after the article broke yesterday.

“The article spread, was it ST’s doing?”

“Partly.”

Five media outlets simultaneously broke the news.

Anyone could see it was ST-centric articles, but if only partly, then who was behind the rest?

Surely not Vice Chairman Cha Un?

“Surely not… him?”

At Yi Han’s careful question, Do Ha answered immediately.

“Yes, Vice Chairman Cha Un’s side was involved too.”

Do Ha’s lips twisted bitterly as he spoke.

He had expected it, but he seemed dejected that things were playing out exactly as anticipated.

“Your uncle seems to be in quite a hurry.”

Once called the crown prince of the Han Ju Group, he was branded an incompetent successor due to his lazy nature and poor intellect.

The public even evaluated that his son, Cha In Woo, was much more of a successor material.

Cha Un, squeezed between his long-living father and rapidly rising son, seemed to be in a bit of a hurry, likely to step down without ever sitting on the throne.

He took a risk to become the largest shareholder of Han Ju Industries, the holding company of Han Ju Group.

Needing money to buy up Industrial shares, Cha Un began aggressive investments with his slush funds.

He made some small gains, but most were failed investments.

Foolish people can’t forget the sweet taste of a small success and struggle to cover up failures, and Cha Un was just such a case.

He first raised money to disguise failure as success, and in his greed to make even more money, he eventually borrowed money.

Using Han Ju Industrial shares as collateral, no less.

But Lycocyte Plus, where Cha Un invested, was what’s commonly called a ‘manipulated stock’.

“How much of Industrial’s shares did Vice Chairman Cha Un put up as collateral with Inno Capital?”

“About 8%?”

These were shares of Industrial, the Han Ju Group’s holding company. 8% was by no means small.

Vice Chairman Cha Un’s power to control the entire group, despite being successor in name only, lay in his Industrial shareholding.

“He’s going crazy because he’s about to lose that.”

Yi Han shuddered, recalling Vice Chairman Cha Un who, unlike Do Ha’s father, went around with greed plastered all over his face.

With that greed and a failed investment, he must be losing sleep at night, though we don’t know for sure.

The last resort he chose was ST Chemical.

First rise with Do Ha and Jin Yu Hee’s marriage.

Second rise with the absorption of Druid Nine.

The plan was to inflate the company like that and then sell before it peaked to reclaim the Industrial shares.

But even that now seems impossible.

Yi Han shifted his gaze to Do Ha, who was holding all the strings to this situation.

Do Ha’s expression was cold as he slowly examined the data sent by Marcus.

“When’s Vice Chairman Cha Un’s repayment deadline?”

“I believe it’s the end of November.”

At Yi Han’s answer, the corners of Do Ha’s mouth turned up slightly.

“Is that so? This should be fun.”

You find it fun?

I’m going crazy with how precarious it is.

Swallowing his true feelings, Yi Han took the tablet from Do Ha’s hand.

“You’re rushing to move up the schedule, is it because of that pretty spy?”

Originally, there was no need to hurry this much.

The plan was to dangle the bait and make Vice Chairman Cha Un and Chairman Jin Man Jae sweat more.

He said it would be more fun to proceed slowly, putting in effort after getting his hands on the Industrial shares Cha Un put up as collateral, in addition to the shares he’s acquired so far, making a deal with Chairman Cha Ji Seop possible.

But now he’s trying to grab the two men by the neck much faster than planned.

It wasn’t like Do Ha.

“You, to that pretty spy…”

Yi Han couldn’t finish his sentence.

Because Kim Hae Ri, who had been drafting an agreement with a lawyer in the next room, burst in.

“You’re settling things with me because of Seo Yeo Eun, not ST, right?”