Bam!

“What in the world have you been doing to let things get to this point?!”

Chairman Han burst into the executive office of , shouting and mercilessly throwing a book at Han Seung-jae’s head.

Whoosh… Thud!

But Seung-jae was not one to just take a hit. He deftly caught the flying book and grumbled with a frown.

“Ah, damn it! Why are you doing this again, so annoying!”

It was not the first or second time his father had barged in and made a scene like this. He was used to having a father like this, but it was still unpleasant every time. Seung-jae moved from his desk to the sofa with a bored expression. It meant his father should just say what he had to say and leave.

“What, annoying? You handled things in this shoddy way, and you expect me not to lose my temper?!”

Chairman Han, who was fuming, raised his voice and snatched the booklet back from his son’s hand, opening it to the page with Professor Eom’s thesis. He then shoved it right under his son’s eyes. Seung-jae flinched back, his brows furrowing deeply.

“Ugh, you’re going to poke my eyes out. But what is this?”

“Don’t ask me, look closely with your own eyes!”

Seung-jae took the book and was momentarily dazed by the unfamiliar medical terminology. But after some time passed, he seemed to roughly grasp the content and twisted his lips.

“Wow, this guy seriously…”

No wonder it had been quiet. From continuously watching Professor Eom, there was nothing notable besides him continuing his daily life as usual. So Seung-jae had let his guard down, but to think the professor would use his brilliant mind in this way. It was like an unexpected punch coming from the side.

How would Seung-jae have known that Eom Eun-hyeok’s thesis was published in a medical journal that only doctors would be interested in? It was Hospital Director Yang Chan-soo who had informed the clueless Chairman Han about it. If he hadn’t told him that this article was tantamount to an exposé, Chairman Han would have been oblivious to the fire at his own feet.

“You made such a big fuss, but what is this?!”

So how shocked must he have been? Not to mention, what move could he make right away when Professor Eom was now tied to Chairman Tae as in-laws? At a total loss, Chairman Han took it out on his innocent son as if catching a mouse.

“Don’t worry, Father. I’ll handle it all.”

Seung-jae raised one corner of his mouth and made a confident expression, making Chairman Han perk up his ears at his son’s words while narrowing his eyes suspiciously, unable to relax.

“Alright, well said! But what trick do you have up your sleeve, what are you going to do? You’re just stalling for time with no solution.”

“Heh…”

Seung-jae stared at his father’s face and snickered softly. That eerie laughter and malicious gaze were so uncanny that a chill ran down Chairman Han’s spine, and he purposely raised his voice.

“Why are you snickering without saying anything?!”

“We should try intimidating him first, and if that doesn’t work, then take care of it immediately.”

“I-immediately? What method is that?”

As Chairman Han nervously swallowed dry saliva, Seung-jae quietly opened his mouth for a moment and silently burst it.

“…”

Bang!

His lips imitated a gunshot and even mimed blowing into the muzzle to finish it off.

The son’s expression as he wordlessly conveyed the terrible crime was too bleak. What more needed to be said? Chairman Han, who knew better than anyone that his son was a vicious man who would gleefully shoot a gun as if dancing with a blade, got up from the sofa, twitching his furrowed brows.

“Huh, I guess that will do then.”

Chairman Han indirectly expressed that he would trust him this once and left the executive office.

Seung-jae scoffed at the closed door and stretched out his legs, putting his feet up on the table. Then he slowly muttered.

“As if there’s a choice, Father…”

He was already barely restraining himself from wanting to kill all the hateful people in the world.

A few years ago, semiconductor company , which possessed state-of-the-art new technology, faced a mysterious bankruptcy crisis. There was fierce competition among large corporations to acquire that company. However, it was none other than Han Seung-jae who had set it up from the beginning so that could swallow that company whole.

That’s how confident he was to pour the massive capital he had pulled from the group into shaking up that perfectly fine company. But somehow, in the middle of it all, the new owner of the company he had so painstakingly worked on became, infuriatingly, .

Furthermore, the person who had received important inside information leaked by employees within and revealed that it was the heir of was none other than Tae Seo-jun, the de facto owner of . As a result, Seung-jae was kicked out of headquarters and demoted to .

But what a small world. The man who would become Tae Seo-jun’s father-in-law, someone he wanted to crush and drink dry, was Professor Eom, whom his father and he had their sights set on.

Crack…

Lost in thought for a while, Seung-jae cracked his knuckles with a murderous gaze.

If he played his cards right, he could not only regain the trust he lost from his father, but also get a somewhat bittersweet amusement, if not satisfying revenge.

Filming for the movie was halted in mid-December last year and resumed in January.

Two months from then.

By the second week of March, the production team that had been rushing breathlessly arrived at their final filming location, Mt. Halla on Jeju Island, and set up their filming equipment without a moment’s rest.

In the middle of Saryeoni Forest, where green and snowy scenery mingled, the filming was made even more thrilling by the action performances of Eom So-yeon and Tae Seo-jun.

So-yeon, who had descended from a tree to the ground relying on a wire, held her sharp dagger right against the villain’s neck. The snap of her slender wrist was truly swift.

“Urk!”

The man’s body heavily crashed to the ground. So-yeon fixed her elegant and concise gaze on the corpse that had not gone cold.

“You came to save me. I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“No. I have to kill him to kill you.”

“Are you really going to kill me too?”

Seo-jun spoke and held out his bound wrists. But far from untying him, So-yeon pulled down her mask below her chin and simply lifted her pretty jawline and transparent face.

“Do I look like someone who would say something pointless?”

“No. I was just surprised that the person who came to kill me was too pretty.”

As soon as Seo-jun finished speaking, he grinned. At the same time, he cut the rope on his wrists with the knife So-yeon was holding.

“Hah!”

Thud!

So-yeon, who was pounced on by his swift movements, was knocked down into the snow.

“Now it’s my turn. To kill you.”

“Tch…”

As rough words spat out between So-yeon’s teeth, Seo-jun stood up, narrowing his deep eyes. And he reached out his hand to So-yeon. It meant for her to take it and get up.

“Get that away!”

So-yeon slapped his hand away and got up on her own strength.

“Be honest. You came to save me, didn’t you?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Then.”

“I came to live with you. Together.”

So-yeon ended her lines with a bright smile. Seo-jun, who had fixed his gaze on her, also raised the corners of his mouth refreshingly.

In the meantime, cut!

Now it was time to head to the real final filming location. Time was tight to catch the last boat to Udo Island. So everyone hurriedly began loading the filming equipment into the cars.

But there was still time to hand a warm can of coffee to the actors who had worked hard in the cold environment. Director Yoon Ji-wan approached Seo-jun and So-yeon for a short tea time.

“Ms. Eom So-yeon, not only are your flexible movements great, but your acting skills have noticeably improved.”

“You don’t need to flatter me like that, I’m already grateful. It’s all thanks to you, Director, that I met Mr. Tae Seo-jun and work so hard on acting.”

“I was just stating facts, how is that flattery? Have I ever said empty words?”

“Well.”

That was true. Director Yoon, who was known for his sharp tongue among actors as much as his meticulous and sharp work, had never been heard saying empty words. Nodding in agreement with Yoon Ji-wan’s words, So-yeon smiled with the corners of her eyes crinkled.

Then Director Yoon turned a satisfied gaze to Seo-jun and mischievously asked.

“Now it seems even Mr. Tae Seo-jun is being outdone by Ms. Eom So-yeon’s acting skills. What do you think?”

“Why would I mind hearing that the mother of my child is talented? As her husband and a family man, I should support my woman so she can provide for me and our child to the end.”

It was a joke, but not exactly wrong either. Seo-jun’s new life goal was to make sure that when Eom So-yeon, who had risen as a stable actress, looked back on her life, she could confidently say that choosing to marry him was the best thing she ever did.

“This is unbelievable. Mr. Tae Seo-jun, a genius in his main job, dreaming of being a househusband. Who would have guessed?”

“Don’t be jealous. Isn’t meeting a capable wife also my ability?”

“You two must be so happy being so tremendously talented.”

“Yes. Extremely happy.”

“Oh ho ho…”

Director Yoon Ji-wan couldn’t stop his hollow laughter. It was absurd to see Tae Seo-jun, who was always lofty everywhere else, befitting of his strong charisma as a son-in-law, turn into a pushover lamb in front of his woman.

Seo-jun warmly wrapped an arm around So-yeon’s shoulders and gently smiled.

A man who had won a jewel of a woman.

It was the composure of a winner.

A heavily built sedan entered the steep and long stone wall path of the detached house area in Samcheong-dong.

A large mansion with high walls engraved with hanok-style patterns and an additional barbed-wire fence on top. Next to the grand gate befitting it, the garage door opened.

A basement-like parking lot, and stairs connected from there that were about an adult’s height. Only after climbing those did one finally reach the garden. The hanok mansion with that long and deep garden was obscured by landscaping trees of juniper and pine to the point that nothing but the eight-sided roof could be seen.

As soon as he got out of the car and climbed the stairs, crossing the garden, Chairman Han reached the front door and the wall lamps turned on. Lining up in two rows from the pillars on either side, the mansion’s caretakers bowed at a 45-degree angle.

“You’ve arrived, Chairman.”

A maid in a black skirt suit stepped forward from among them and greeted the owner of this house with a bow.

“That’s enough, you can all go in.”

Chairman Han, who frowned as if it was bothersome, shooed the caretakers inside and asked the young man who had quickly approached from the annex.

“That guy.”

“Even after being severely beaten, he refuses to drop the charges.”

“That, that bastard! Does he have no fear, or does he have something else he’s relying on?”

“It seems…”

“Enough. I’ll go talk to him myself.”

Cutting off the man’s words, Chairman Han went down to the basement of the annex with his thug-like underlings.

The narrow corridor with granite walls and floor was pitch-black. And further inside was a room sealed on all sides with cement. No one would guess that this elegant hanok had such a creepy underground space, but it was that kind of secret and terrible place.

The man they had secretly captured and brought here during the day had been beaten so badly that he was already battered and bruised, slumped haphazardly in a wooden chair.

“Hey. Can you speak?”

As Chairman Han approached him and spoke, the head that had been powerlessly drooping slowly lifted.

“Ugh…”

The one weakly groaning was a middle-aged man whose face was so swollen it was unrecognizable.