Chapter 17
Unexpected Winds (4)
It was really an unforeseen method. No wonder there were no signs of vehicle damage or evidence of sabotage. The only trace would be ice — shattered by the impact and then melted instantly — so it would inevitably be ruled an accident caused by speeding.
“Seok Gong-seok, did you have accomplices? And they’re just punks? Hahaha.”
“They’re not accomplices. Just witnesses.”
“Witnesses?”
Bang!
Bang!
At that moment, lights came on in the dark warehouse. One by one, police officers who had been hiding behind the cargo stepped out.
Clatter.
Seeing that, Yoo Sang-ho accidentally dropped his pistol.
“There are too many witnesses to get rid of.”
There must have been twenty or so people. Each of them held either a gun or a recorder.
“Argh!”
Yoo Sang-ho seethed with rage. But an angrier voice cut through.
“Was this your doing?”
Hearing that, Yoo’s face turned deathly pale.
“You killed my sons… was it you?”
Yoo slowly turned his head, saw who stood behind, and muttered as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Ah… Father…”
“You did this?!”
Yoo Min-taek was truly furious. Two of his sons had died — and the culprit turned out to be his youngest son.
“Why! Why! Why did you do it?!”
The person Seok Gong-seok had summoned at the last moment was not Yoo Sang-ho but Yoo Min-taek. It was the agreed signal for a moment judged truly dangerous.
“How… how did you—”
“You were lucky.”
No Hyung-jin had noticed the trick and identified the perpetrator — in fact, he had read it. After realizing who the culprit was, he headed toward him with the police. Seok Gong-seok, discovering that the trick and even the amount of money he had received were known, gave up and confessed everything. At the same time, Yoo Min-taek, who had received the complaint via special service, stepped in and turned the tables.
“Yoo Sang-ho, you are under arrest on charges of instigating two murders and two counts of attempted kidnapping.”
Handcuffs were fastened on Yoo Sang-ho’s wrists. Yoo Min-taek could only watch in despair at the sight.
“This is… an unexpected ending.”
Holding the test results and the judgment in his hands, No Hyung-jin was genuinely surprised by an outcome he himself hadn’t predicted.
“There’s less than a one percent chance of a blood relationship…”
In other words, it concluded they absolutely could not be father and son. The problem was that this was not Young-min’s test result — that was Kang So-young’s son. Young-min’s test showed a 99.98% probability of a blood relation — he was indeed the grandson. The tests had been sent to three different labs at once, so there was no mistake. The issue was Yoo Min-taek and Yoo Sang-ho.
“Now I get why Yoo Sang-ho was desperate. Peekaboo.”
No Hyung-jin waved at Young-min and smiled.
“Why?”
“He’s not his son. Which means the mother cheated and bore another man’s child. Furthermore, Yoo Sang-ho’s mother, Kim Hwa-ja, remarried. So the first and second sons inevitably have a different mother.”
“So what does that mean?”
“It means Kim Hwa-ja pretended not to know even though she did.”
“For money?”
“Money’s part of it, but think about the storm that would blow up if this came out — for Kim Hwa-ja and Yoo Sang-ho, it wasn’t about a few bills. Their priority was to stop a DNA test completely.”
If it became known that the grandson of the second son, i.e., Yoo Min-man’s descendant, existed, Yoo Min-taek would certainly order a genetic test. Given his meticulous nature, he would likely subject Yoo Sang-ho to testing too to avoid error. After all, he’d already sent samples to three different labs at once. Yoo Sang-ho, believing the child to be his own, would serve as a perfect comparative sample even if the mothers differed.
“If that happens, it would prove the child isn’t his.”
Knowing that, Yoo Sang-ho and Kim Hwa-ja weren’t focused on negotiating for some money — they needed to prevent the DNA test from ever happening. That’s why they hadn’t attempted prior negotiations: any negotiation could lead to a demand for genetic verification.
“As a result, Yoo Sang-ho isn’t just threatened with succession or inheritance issues — he’d be entirely expelled. Not that being expelled alone is the problem.”
“Not a problem?”
“Peekaboo, peekaboo!”
No Hyung-jin smiled and waved at Young-min.
“Yoo Sang-ho’s mother, Kim Hwa-ja, is the youngest daughter of the Seonghwa Group, ranked eleventh in the chaebol hierarchy. After Yoo Min-taek’s wife died, he made a marriage of convenience — but imagine if she had a child who wasn’t his and tried to hide it while diverting assets.”
“Oh!”
“Right. Seonghwa Group is 11th, Daeryong Group is 9th. The gap is narrow. This is a war between the two conglomerates.”
“So now…?”
“There will be no avoiding war.”
It was already a huge problem that Seonghwa had tried to swallow Daeryong, and in the process had killed the rightful successors of Daeryong.
“Seonghwa and Daeryong can’t coexist under the same sky anymore.”
One would probably have to fall before the other could remain. That war had already begun. Yoo Min-taek, who had been quietly thinking of retirement, announced his return and declared an aggressive management stance — naturally, his target would be Seonghwa Group.
“In the end, only Young-min remains.”
It was an unofficial remark, but Yoo Min-taek had basically said the next generation wouldn’t include Seonghwa — implying he would personally lead the war. And that next generation meant…
“They’re coming.”
A line of black cars rolled up. Finally, the day to go to the head family had arrived.
“Is this the right move?”
“It’ll work. He’s effectively the only future heir of Daeryong — they won’t dare treat him badly.”
No Hyung-jin grinned as he watched Young-min wriggle in his mother’s arms.
“What will happen to me?”
“Well, they’ll treat you well. You’re the mother of the only heir and the only remaining blood relative.”
She was even the only daughter-in-law. Conversely, if Yoo Min-taek fell, she would have to lead Daeryong’s fight with Seonghwa. Young-min was still decades away from growing up.
“Teach him properly. Don’t let him imitate his stupid father.”
“But thanks to those stupid actions, Young-min was born.”
“Is that so?”
Indeed, because of that foolishness Young-min was born and Daeryong caught a break.
‘Maybe Daeryong didn’t collapse solely because of Lee Sang-ho’s incompetence.’
When Daeryong fell, most of its assets and companies were sold cheaply to Seonghwa, which catapulted Seonghwa to third place in the corporate rankings. Back then it seemed just incompetence, but looking at the current situation, it might not have been that simple.
“Don’t worry. At least I’ll teach him how to treat women right.”
The black cars stopped in front of the hotel. The back door opened in front of her, and people from another car lifted her luggage into the trunk.
“Take care, sister.”
“Thank you.”
“No need to mention it. Don’t pretend you don’t know me when I make it big later.”
“That won’t happen, hohoho.”
After the final farewell she climbed into the car and left. No Hyung-jin breathed a sigh of relief and shook his head.
“That was the hardest paternity case in history. Maybe I should do something else instead of being a lawyer?”
He pondered the question seriously.
Spotlight (1)
“Did I go too far?”
The media was in an uproar — all because of a perfect scorer on the national college entrance exam (the CSAT). Of course, there are top scorers every year, so it usually isn’t such a big deal. But this time, the uproar was because the perfect scorer was only a second-year middle school student.
“I should’ve just missed a few on purpose.”
He had known all the questions anyway, and using his special ability — psychometry — he had basically created subject-specific cheat sheets by touching items like his seat cushion, pen, watch, and even eraser. The exam hadn’t been difficult at all for him, but that only made things blow up louder.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. I’ll be leaving soon anyway.”
He wasn’t bothered — the fuss would die down within a month. It was his father who was shocked. He had expected his son to be bright after he passed two equivalency exams at once, but never imagined he’d get a perfect score on the CSAT. And to make things worse, an even stranger issue arose.
“Who on earth have you been meeting lately?”
“Just… a small connection.”
“How ‘small’ is this connection supposed to be…?”
The Daeryong Group had sent a staggering 50 million won as a “congratulatory gift,” along with a promise to cover his tuition with 30 million won per year until graduation. Of course, he didn’t end up attending university, so that part fizzled out.
‘A bit excessive, isn’t it?’
It must have been an act of goodwill from Yoo Min-taek, after hearing the details from Kang So-young — the boy had found his grandson and even saved his life.
‘Well, no harm done in taking it.’
He’d need money anyway once he went off to study. His parents could afford it, but there was no reason to refuse what was freely given.
“Just take it.”
“But it’s such a large amount…”
“Then repay it later by helping them when they need it.”
“You think you can manage that?”
“Have I ever said something without meaning it?”
At that, his father shook his head. His son had never been one to speak recklessly.
“Alright then. We’ll accept it.”
In the end, they decided to keep the money. Only one thing remained.
‘Now it begins.’
A difficult year awaited him.
A boarding academy — literally, a cram school with dormitories. The one No Hyung-jin chose was among the most prestigious for bar exam candidates. Spending a year there would earn him 35 credits, qualifying him to take the national judicial exam.
“This is your room.”
“Thank you.”
He accepted the key card and entered a red-bricked, old building that looked just like Harvard’s historic dormitories often seen in films. Despite its age, it was a place everyone wanted to get into.
“Ah, this is exhausting.”
He dropped onto the bed.
“A year, huh…”
Not a long time, but the cramped room still made him feel suffocated.
“Ugh, it’s already irritating.”
He had probably died after studying himself to death in his past life — and now he was about to do the same thing again. No wonder frustration welled up inside him.
“And I can’t even blow off steam.”
At sixteen, he was a minor — no alcohol, no cigarettes. Sure, he could break the rules, but since he planned to enter the legal field, he couldn’t risk leaving a blemish on his record.
‘Maybe I should’ve gotten a girlfriend… No, that’s risky too.’
At sixteen, hormones raged and curiosity about girls was at its peak. But with memories of his previous life, No Hyung-jin could only grit his teeth and endure. If he acted impulsively, it could end up on record somewhere.
“Damn it, I can’t even drive yet, so I can’t go anywhere.”
The academy wasn’t located in a city — it was deep in the countryside, far from distractions. To go to town, he’d have to catch one of only two buses per day. Those with cars could come and go as they pleased, but Hyung-jin wasn’t old enough for a license.
“Fine. I’ll study like crazy and pass in one go. Screw this.”
Just as he was grumbling about having to relearn everything he already knew, the door opened and a young man walked in. Judging by his casual, almost delinquent appearance, he didn’t look like the studious type.
“Hey.”
Since it was this season and someone was moving in with luggage, that meant one thing — a roommate. So Hyung-jin tried to greet him pleasantly.
But the man’s reaction wasn’t what he expected. Sure, Hyung-jin looked younger than most here, so some awkwardness was understandable. But the reaction went far beyond that.
“Damn it! A brat like you is my roommate?!”
