Chapter 164 – One, Two – Part 7

Chapter 164 – One, Two – Part 7

At Woojin’s words, Kim Taehyun couldn’t help but give a bitter smile.

Kim Taehyun, who had been looking at Woojin and thinking about what to say, soon turned his head and said,

“Auntie! Please bring a soju here too.”

Kim Taehyun turned his gaze back to Woojin.

“Brother was wrong. No matter what past you have, the fact that you are Shin Woojin remains unchanged, my handsome and smart younger brother.”

When the waiter brought the soju, Kim Taehyun twisted the cap open and offered it to Woojin.

“Here, shall we have a drink?”

Woojin took the drink, and Kim Taehyun raised his glass.

“Alright, cheers.”

“Just a moment.”

Woojin began to make the Ssam.

Kim Taehyun watched him with a smile.

Yes, Woojin is Woojin.

“Detective Kim, have some Ssam too.”

“Shall I?”

They each made Ssam to their liking and soon raised their glasses.

Kim Taehyun opened his mouth as if to make a toast.

“To our even brighter future.”

“Cheers.”

Woojin, after drinking the Soju, immediately brought the Ssam to his mouth, and Kim Taehyun…

“Ah… the alcohol tastes sweet today. So sweet.”

“It’s probably due to the influence of hormones. Alcohol isn’t sweet. In other words, it’s all in your head.”

“Is that so? Hahahaha!”

***

After parting ways with Woojin, Kim Taehyun sat across from Kim Manpal in the Interrogation Room.

Kim Taehyun’s gaze, as he looked at him, was colder than ever before.

“Name, Kim Manpal. Age is…”

“That bastard locked me up, I tell you! He committed a crime!”

Kim Taehyun closed his mouth and stared silently at Kim Manpal.

“Detective, can’t you understand what I’m saying?”

A long breath escaped Kim Taehyun’s lips as he closed his eyes.

“Look here, Detective…”

Kim Taehyun’s eyes slowly opened again.

“Shut up, you crazy old man.”

“What?”

“There’s a witness who saw you dispose of the body.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The victim, Shin Woojin, he’s the witness. You disposed of it in the nearby Wooded Hill, didn’t you?”

Kim Manpal frowned.

“Are you believing that crazy guy? The words of someone who just mutters to himself?”

Kim Taehyun pulled out a folded A4 paper from his pocket.

It was a rough map Woojin had drawn of where the body was disposed of.

Kim Taehyun pointed to the disposal location with his finger and said,

“20 kilometers from your house. Do you remember now?”

Kim Manpal, who had been silent for a moment, opened his mouth.

“Me? Ha, go ahead and see if that crazy guy’s words are true or not. It’ll be a waste of time.”

Just then, Kim Taehyun’s cellphone vibrated.

It was Choi Gicheol.

Kim Taehyun brought the cellphone to his ear and said to him,

“Is that so?”

“Senior, I found it. That’s exactly the right location.”

It was a place where the surface of a tree was contoured like a human face.

The tree’s contour was a mark Woojin had created by inducing it to grow that way, so he wouldn’t forget, despite his young age.

After finishing the call, Kim Taehyun spoke in a calm tone.

“They found it at this exact location.”

“I have nothing to say.”

“Oh really? Then just listen to me.”

Kim Taehyun, who had gritted his teeth on the Righteous Path until he heard them grind, spoke again.

His voice was filled with anger and weight.

“I’m going to screw you over. I’m really going to screw you over. I’m going to make sure you never see the outside world again. If I can’t do that, I’ll quit being a detective. I promise you.”

It wasn’t a promise to Kim Manpal, but a promise to himself.

***

A few days later.

The media, one after another, informed the public that Kim Manpal had been caught.

Of course, not only the kidnapping but also the discovery of a skeleton, presumed to be 9 years old, along with a witness’s testimony, was additionally mentioned.

Woojin, sitting in a coffee shop and looking at the articles, nodded slightly.

There wasn’t a single line that seemed to reveal his identity.

Woojin also checked the comments.

-Detective Kim Taehyun again.

-Detective Kim Taehyun has done it again.

-If he’s on the Righteous Path, isn’t he a hero? lol

-It seems Detective Kim Taehyun has a GPS that can locate criminals.

-In Detective Kim’s ear, there’s a Commissioner…

“What are you doing?”

At the familiar voice, Woojin looked up.

It was none other than Lee Hyerim.

“You’re here?”

Lee Hyerim smiled slightly and sat down.

“You came early?”

Woojin had arrived 20 minutes early.

“Congratulations, Hyerim.”

She had now become the largest shareholder of SH Construction.

This was because Prosecutor Kim Cheolung had handed the case over to Prosecutor Yang, and Prosecutor Yang, acting on an order from the District Chief Prosecutor, had pushed for a suspended sentence.

Although Lee Jeongmi did not contact the District Chief Prosecutor at all after taking the water, the District Chief Prosecutor, who was unaware of her situation, stuck to the suspended sentence Lee Jeongmi had initially mentioned.

Of course, it was an action motivated by profit, but even if Kim Daehan received a suspended sentence, there would be nothing for the District Chief Prosecutor to gain.

Anyway, the promise made with Kim Daehan to secure a suspended sentence had been fulfilled.

“What should I say… It’s hard to believe? I’m still dazed.”

He had merely followed Woojin’s words.

‘I followed the words of a Seoul National University student and became the Largest Shareholder.’

It was a story no one would easily believe if they heard it.

But Woojin made it so it couldn’t be any other way.

“I’m going to order. Do you need anything?”

“If I had to say something I need, a pancake?”

“Okay.”

When Lee Hyerim returned to her seat after ordering, Woojin spoke up.

“Hyerim, I wanted to ask you something today.”

“What is it?”

“I think you can acquire the affiliates of Shinhwa Group faster.”

“Faster?”

Woojin slowly nodded his head.

And he spoke directly.

“There are two methods to acquire shares of Shinhwa Group. Both have the same meaning, but the method is different. It’s just a difference between securing shares quickly or slowly. Hyerim, which method do you think would be better?”

If it were anyone else, they would have naturally chosen the former.

As Woojin stared at her, Hyerim eventually replied.

“Well…”

Woojin read hesitation on her face.

Just then, the vibration indicating that their ordered drinks and cake were ready rang out.

“I’ll go get them.”

“Yeah.”

Woojin watched her walk away, her back to him.

How to quickly secure shares, and how to slowly secure them.

She would be curious about both.

“Here.”

As Lee Hyerim set down the pancake, Woojin immediately poked it with his fork.

“Oh wow… How did you make this? It looks so moist!”

Woojin immediately cut a suitable piece of pancake, dipped it in honey, and brought it to his mouth.

Then he shook his head as if savoring the taste.

“It’s out of this world delicious… I want to savor every bite.”

A smile once again spread across Lee Hyerim’s lips as she watched Woojin.

The money Woojin had now surpassed the ordinary.

He could eat pancakes until he was sick of them, or only go to expensive restaurants, but Woojin was always the same.

“Hyerim, I met Chairman Lee’s attending physician the other day. He said he’s in good health.”

“He looks it even on the outside. I’m glad he’s healthy.”

Woojin, who had eaten half the pancake, put down his fork.

The rest was for her.

“However, there was one thing the attending physician missed.”

“Missed?”

“Yes, dementia.”

Her eyes widened at Woojin’s unexpected words.

“De-dementia?”

Woojin nodded, bringing the caramel macchiato to his lips.

“All the symptoms of early-stage dementia were present.”

It was subtle, but clear.

Lee Hyerim couldn’t hide her surprised expression.

Dementia? For someone who sometimes seemed so terrifying and healthy?

Lee Hyerim’s unhesitating trust in Woojin came from experience.

Woojin continued.

“It won’t stop. It will only progress further.”

“How…”

“Chairman Lee’s dementia. If we use this first, we can secure shares of Shinhwa Group faster.”

Woojin was treating dementia as information.

“If we don’t use it, it can only be secured slowly.”

Because they would have to dismantle it one by one, taking their time.

Lee Hyerim’s eyes trembled, understanding Woojin’s words.

And a thought unconsciously came to her mind.

‘I need to become someone else. Someone else.’

Only by becoming a cold-blooded and ruthless person could she stand in a position to look down on everyone.

“Using it is simple. It’s about manipulating Chairman Lee, whose dementia is progressing.”

He wants to return to the happy times of the past.

That unconscious desire is at the base, and as the disease progresses, the brain regresses, going back in age.

Therefore, the further the dementia progresses, the more it can distort memories, making it impossible to distinguish between past and present events.

It could even make him believe Woojin is his deceased son, Ira, by associating him with Go.

While Woojin continued to speak, Lee Hyerim couldn’t utter a single word.

Because even if she had to become a cold-blooded person, thoughts that it was not morally right were intertwined in her mind.

Seeing her like that, Woojin nodded his head.

Such hesitation could also be explained as a human desire.

Human desires can be largely divided into 5 stages in a pyramid structure: physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs.

When physiological needs are met, one desires safety needs, and then the next needs.

At this stage, Hyerim’s desire could be described as a social need.

Most people tend to uphold moral principles.

That’s normal and social.

Humans have a habit of forming groups, and they find stability and comfort there.

Therefore, they try to conform to the general atmosphere of society.

Lee Hyerim found herself in a similar situation now.

Her hesitation was also an understandable result.

However, when people experience such situations, they often don’t fully realize why they are hesitating due to self-consciousness.

In other words, they don’t recognize it as a social need, apart from morality.

“You don’t have to decide right now. But the sooner you decide, the better.”

Lee Hyerim bit her lip.

Using her grandfather with dementia…

She had to become a cold person…

These two thoughts kept growing, chasing each other’s tails as if fighting.

Woojin spoke again, as if being considerate of her.

“Come to think of it, making a decision now might not be a wise choice. It would be better to think it over carefully before deciding.”

Lee Hyerim accepted Woojin’s words and nodded.

***

Chairman Lee, looking at the Go board, burst into hearty laughter even though a disadvantageous situation was approaching.

“To think of such a move. How many moves ahead did you see?”

Woojin fixed his gaze on the Go stone and replied.

“I thought three moves ahead.”

Three moves was a lie.

He had played the same moves several times before to provoke a fight, and the development was not much different from then.

He was checking and re-checking Chairman Lee’s condition.

Not only his way of speaking, but also all of his actions.

Just then, Woojin’s cellphone vibrated in his pocket.

It was Lee Hyerim.

“Chairman. Is it alright if I take this call for a moment?”

“Of course, of course. Take as long as you need. It’ll give me time to think.”

Woojin immediately brought the cellphone to his ear.

Then, looking at Chairman Lee, who had his eyes fixed on the Go board, he spoke.

Like a business call.

“Have you made your decision?”