IRLPLBIO Chapter 30 Part 1

Kwang-cheol’s eyes swept over the part-timer from head to toe.

“Which middle school do you go to?”

“Huh? Uh, that’s…”

“I haven’t seen your face around our school.”

Kwang-cheol tilted his head. Confusion flickered across the usually easygoing middle schooler’s face.

“Um, sir?”

“If you’re from around here, then Seojung Middle School?”

“…Oh, how did you know?”

Kwang-cheol’s eyes narrowed slightly. Yong-yong-i, beads of sweat forming on his brow, scratched the back of his head. The atmosphere suggested that no matter what excuse he offered, it wouldn’t be believed.

To navigate the crisis, Yong-yong-i held up two fingers.

“Two hours of service… I’ll give you two hours, so please don’t tell the school…”

“…”

“Th-then three hours…?”

He grinned obsequiously, but the words ‘this bandit bastard…’ clearly showed on Yong-yong-i’s face.

The karaoke bar’s air conditioning was blasting, making it not just cool but chilly. In keeping with the cave theme, the walls were decorated to look like rocks, and there were even installations in various spots emitting white smoke.

“This way.”

The three followed the bearded karaoke owner into the innermost room. It was a very spacious room, large enough for ten people, not just three. It had just opened, as advertised; the sofas gleamed like new, and the songbooks were pristine.

Shin Ju-hee turned off the colorful rotating lights and switched on the fluorescent lights. Jae-gu poured the cola the owner provided into ice cups and handed them out. All the while, Kwang-cheol held his mobile phone, typing at an astonishing speed.

‘So that’s why they talk about ‘thumb tribes’ and all that,’ Jae-gu thought, somewhat vacantly. Click. Kwang-cheol finally closed his mobile phone and looked at Shin Ju-hee.

“I don’t know the details, but you’re Madam Shin, right? Have you perhaps incurred anyone’s grudge? You’ve got a tail.”

Shin Ju-hee fell silent. Her inability to answer immediately was because there were far too many possibilities that came to mind.

Was it just a grudge? There were countless individuals whose eyes would turn bloodshot, convinced that if Shin Ju-hee disappeared, the elder’s entire foundation would be theirs.

Even with her extreme efforts to avoid going out and revealing herself, threats were constant. If it became known that Shin Ju-hee was actively moving about outside, there would likely be people who would personally drive their cars to crash into her.

Shin Ju-hee checked her trench coat and sunglasses. She knew these wouldn’t be enough to ward off everything, but she hadn’t anticipated that surveillance would instantly follow her even to the provinces. Pushing aside the excited mood from moments before, she calmly asked,

“Are you sure? That I’m the target, not you two?”

“Jae-gu hyung and I are still young. We don’t have opponents influential enough to take over an entire karaoke bar for us yet.”

Kwang-cheol paused, then stopped Jae-gu’s hand as he reached for a cola, seemingly thirsty.

“Huh? Why?”

“This also seemed suspicious.”

Kwang-cheol poured the entire contents of the cola into the trash can and suddenly listened outwards. Jae-gu, who had jumped up exclaiming “What a waste!”, pressed himself close at Kwang-cheol’s gesture.

Listening closely, they heard a clunk sound from beyond the wall. Shin Ju-hee’s expression changed, and she, too, poured the cola in front of her into the trash can.

Murky gray smoke seeped in through the door crack. A foul smell, like burning plastic or styrofoam, also wafted in. Jae-gu wrinkled his nose and tried the door, but it only rattled; it wouldn’t open.

“Is it locked?”

“Yeah. You heard the sound earlier, didn’t you?”

Kwang-cheol was calm, while Jae-gu was doubly startled. Jae-gu, who had jumped to his feet, slowly turned his head towards the still-composed Kwang-cheol. A strange thought flashed through his mind.

He himself, walking a path he had already taken, didn’t notice the gradually changing parts, so how did Kwang-cheol know?

“You… how did you know?”

“That kid who handed out flyers earlier was strange.”

“What? The part-timer? How?”

“He didn’t speak in dialect.”

“Hmm…”

That wasn’t a very definitive indicator. Even now, neither Kwang-cheol nor Jae-gu used much dialect. The part-timer, Yong-yong-i, could be the same.

To the hesitant Jae-gu, Kwang-cheol added one more thing.

“And, there’s no Seojung Middle School in Changwon.”

“…Ah.”

Only then did Jae-gu utter a blank exclamation of understanding. If he’d brought up a non-existent Seojung Middle School, the person should have denied it or been flustered, but responding with “how did you know?” was certainly suspicious.

Jae-gu chastised himself for thinking Kwang-cheol might also have a secret. Kwang-cheol was simply smart.

This time, it was Shin Ju-hee who asked coolly.

“Why did you come in, even knowing?”

“We have to let them get ahead for us to catch their tail, don’t we?”

“Catch their tail…?”

“If you stepped into a trap knowing it was one, it’s fair to assume there’s someone to pull you out.”

Kwang-cheol shook the mobile phone he had been pressing on moments ago. Even through the thickening smoke, the bright blue mobile phone shimmered clearly.

Shin Ju-hee was impressed. To be honest, she was utterly surprised.

When Jae-gu started to distinguish himself, she had frankly considered Kwang-cheol, who was always by his side, as merely an accessory. Even guessing he was Han Ga-yeon’s child, she thought he wouldn’t amount to much beyond being a Dae-yeong bloodline.

Park Kwang-cheol had grown up until now knowing nothing, receiving an ordinary education. He couldn’t possibly compete with his cousins who had received education with immeasurable sums of money poured into it since a very young age, and who had even completed internships with the help of relatives established throughout the business world.

Moreover, Han Yun-cheol, the current Chairman’s eldest son, had already firmly established his position. Even if other cousins held shares, their priority was to secure their own profits.

Shin Ju-hee had thought it would be nearly impossible for Han Ga-yeon and Park Kwang-cheol to gain anything substantial, even if they were to jump into the succession struggle now. …Until just a moment ago.

Now, Shin Ju-hee’s opinion had changed.

Han Yun-cheol’s foundations might crumble. The shares of others might concentrate on Kwang-cheol. The Dae-yeong Group’s strategic planning department’s succession work, which had been ongoing for years, might shift course in a different direction.

Shin Ju-hee decided to join forces with them.