GBH 88

Perhaps because there was an underlying assumption that everyone present came from similar family backgrounds, the child who asked who Song Yi-heon was approached without hesitation. The children who had been centered around Se-kyung now surrounded Song Yi-heon.

“It’s my first time seeing you. Did you live abroad?”

“I’m a native Korean.”

“Really? Then why haven’t we seen you before?”

Although they were asking various questions, what the surrounding children were most curious about was whose son Song Yi-heon was. As their favorable impression grew due to his seemingly open personality and idol-like appearance, their curiosity intensified. Unable to directly ask about his parents at the first meeting, they asked indirectly. Fortunately, Song Yi-heon quickly understood and seemed to grasp the situation, letting out an exclamation.

“Ah, that-.”

The gathered children also brightened up, thinking they were finally getting through. Song Yi-heon pointed to himself with his index finger, just as he had done during his first introduction.

“I’m the child born from the chairman of A Construction Company’s affair.”

“…”

It wasn’t even worth a second glance, and even if the original Song Yi-heon had returned, his eloquence was unrestrained, knowing he couldn’t let himself become friends with children who measured people by their background. Se-kyung, whose head stood out among the children, quickly turned away, trying to hold back laughter.

Regardless, Song Yi-heon pointed at the chairman standing in the distance, as if to confirm his statement.

“There he is. Our chairman.”

“…”

“I’m going.”

Although he waved his hand warmly as a final greeting, not one of the dumbfounded kids returned the gesture. These kids were hopeless. Thinking he had made the right decision not to befriend them, Song Yi-heon smoothly left the group.

The conversation couldn’t be heard from where the chairman was standing. So the chairman’s lips twitched with satisfaction, seeing only that Song Yi-heon, who must be new to such gatherings, mingling with his peers without being intimidated. As Song Yi-heon approached, looking impeccable from head to toe, even drawing side glances from those around, the chairman patted his shoulder.

“So, you’re here.”

The chairman seemed more excited than usual. Even though Song Yi-heon only nodded stiffly in greeting, the chairman said nothing and urged him on.

“Follow me. I’ll introduce you to the executives.”

In the direction he gestured, three elderly men were receiving greetings from the surrounding people. They must be quite important, as people not only ceaselessly greeted them but also circled around trying to make an impression on the old men.

The chairman whispered in Song Yi-heon’s ear.

“Do well. Those are the real power players.”

Song Yi-heon nodded as if he understood.

“Oh, Chairman Lee has arrived.”

The elderly men, who also served on the board of directors of A Construction Company, greeted the chairman first when he arrived. Although the chairman was also quite old with white hair, he was young compared to them. One of the old men, truly from another era, even wore a durumagi instead of a suit and had a long beard.

After exchanging pleasantries with a round of laughter, the chairman pushed Song Yi-heon forward to introduce him.

“This is my son.”

It’s not like a fully grown son just fell from the sky, and the executives knew that Song Yi-heon was an illegitimate child. The chairman had given them a heads up, and knowing the dynamics of A Construction Company, they were also aware of the inside story that the chairman and his wife were enemies in all but name, married only on paper.

It was thanks to these men that the chairman had been able to maintain his nominal position while driving the company to the brink of bankruptcy. Just as they had insisted on the outdated notion that the chairman of a construction company should be a man, they welcomed Song Yi-heon, even as an illegitimate child, when considering the next chairman.

The chairman was pinning his hopes on Song Yi-heon in front of these men. Eager to end the humiliation of being a toothless tiger as soon as possible, the chairman pressed on Song Yi-heon’s back, urging him to greet them. Song Yi-heon reluctantly bowed.

“Pleased to meet you.”

Though he couldn’t act warmly with an affable smile, the old men justified Song Yi-heon’s brusqueness as having a serious side.

“My, that’s reassuring. It must be comforting to have such a son in one’s old age.”

“Indeed. Chairman Lee has raised quite a fine son.”

His handsome appearance and sturdy physique actually satisfied the executives. However, despite their praise, Song Yi-heon kept his hands in his pockets and acted nonchalantly.

“What good is a son who’ll stab you in the back?”

“What did you say?”

“What’s the big deal about being born with something between your legs that these old men are taking credit for it?”

Just because they were looking at him favorably didn’t mean they would unconditionally accept everything. As Song Yi-heon’s words crossed a certain line, the old men’s indulgent laughter faded. Their reprimand for Song Yi-heon’s impudent behavior shifted to his father, the chairman.

“Chairman Lee, how are you raising this child?”

As the old men, his last lifeline, erased their friendly demeanor, the chairman turned pale. When he had contacted Song Yi-heon earlier, he had been docile, but the chairman never expected him to ruin everything like this.

“You! How dare you speak to the elders like that! Apologize immediately…!”

Fearing further offending the executives, the chairman tried to push down on the back of Song Yi-heon’s head. However, a body made of solid muscle was no match for the strength of an old man like the chairman. Song Yi-heon calmly brushed off the chairman’s hand.

“You brat…!”

The chairman had made a serious misconception. He firmly believed that the changed Song Yi-heon would still move according to his orders.

The previous image of Song Yi-heon had been just that. He had been so afraid of the chairman that he would have a fit at just the sound of the chairman’s displeased cough, so the chairman never considered the possibility of Song Yi-heon rebelling against him.

He was merely satisfied thinking that Song Yi-heon had finally come to his senses due to the cold treatment and strict discipline. It was a mindset possible only by viewing Song Yi-heon as a possession rather than a person.

In reality, Song Yi-heon was desperate to cut off the chairman’s lifeline.

Three hours ago, when Song Yi-heon had proposed to Shim Su-jin, “I will remove myself for you,” this is what he meant. He was deliberately making himself disliked to prevent the chairman from using him to win over the board members. If Song Yi-heon completely withdrew from the succession battle, naturally one of Shim Su-jin’s children would inherit the chairmanship. This was the situation Shim Su-jin wanted.

In any case, Song Yi-heon didn’t fit with power or ambition. This didn’t mean he was lacking or inadequate. Rather than whittling himself down to fit somewhere that didn’t suit him, living in a place that suited Song Yi-heon would be a much happier life.

“After my near-death experience, all I have left is bitterness.”

“When did you ever have a near-death experience!”

“Look at this, elders. This so-called father doesn’t even know his child almost died.”

“Song Yi-heon!”

The escalating voices between father and son were not a good sight. A re-evaluation of their character was inevitable. One of the old men clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, what a shame. I thought Chairman Lee was a man of substance, but the state of his household, tsk.”

As a commotion arose where the three old men, who were the central figures of the bazaar, were standing, people started to gather. Scanning the crowd of people, Song Yi-heon began to lecture the old men.

“Look beyond assigning roles and limitations based on gender. Madam Shim Su-jin’s daughters are not ones to fall behind because of their gender.”

According to the background check done by Choi Myung-hyun, they were outstanding talents. Choosing Song Yi-heon, whose soul had an average of 7th grade, over these women with an average of 1st grade in the college entrance exam was truly a case of willful blindness.

The old men’s expressions soured as they received a lecture from a young upstart in front of many people.

However, Song Yi-heon scratched the back of his head, feeling it wasn’t enough. What could he do to make those old men recoil in horror and reject him…? As Song Yi-heon pondered, his sudden smile seemed ominous, and in the blink of an eye, he grabbed the long beard of the old man wearing the durumagi. People around them inhaled sharply as if the air had disappeared. The chairman was on the verge of foaming at the mouth.

“You, you insolent-!”

The old man with his beard grabbed and flailed his hands as if trying to wield an invisible pipe. Fearing the fragile old man might break a bone, Song Yi-heon gently held the old man’s wrist to stop him, in contrast to how he had pulled the beard hard enough to pluck it out. He whispered, his thin lips forming a long arc along his sharp jawline.

“And you won’t like this either. The truth is, I’m gay.”

“G-gay, wh-what?”

Whether he truly didn’t understand or was pretending not to out of shock was unclear, but Song Yi-heon tried to keep his tone polite, if only to make up for the rudeness of grabbing the beard.

“Ah, you’re from an older generation, so you might not know the term ‘gay’?”

Song Yi-heon frowned, trying to recall what gay people were called in the old days. Thinking there was an even older term than ‘homosexual’, he mulled it over before speaking hesitantly.

“Would you understand if I said… ‘male color’?”

At the mention of ‘male color’, the old man’s face, spotted with age, turned deathly pale. As an old person who valued the harmony of yin and yang, the fact of homosexuality seemed to be an unacceptable shock. When the old man began to stagger, Song Yi-heon felt a twinge of conscience, but it wasn’t a lie – even if he wasn’t Kim Deuk-pal, the original Song Yi-heon was gay.

“M-male color…”

The old man couldn’t recover from the shock. Seeing the effect was better than expected, Song Yi-heon suppressed a laugh and added, intending to further upset the chairman:

“Please pass this message to the other two gentlemen as well. I may be a man, but I’m crazy about men.”

With this, the chairman’s ambition to make a comeback using Song Yi-heon moved one step further from reality.

* * *

The chairman’s superhuman patience lasted only until they reached the hall where the bazaar was being held. As soon as they passed through the doors of the hall, the chairman grabbed Song Yi-heon by the collar. Even though there were still influential people from politics and business watching them inside, he couldn’t restrain himself any longer and roughly dragged Song Yi-heon by the collar.

The sense of despair at losing his only hope seemed quite significant. With strength unbecoming of an elderly man with white hair, he pulled Song Yi-heon along. Although it wasn’t so forceful that Song Yi-heon couldn’t break free, he allowed himself to be dragged along obediently.

Searching for an isolated space like a reception room, the chairman passed through a secluded corridor, turning all the doorknobs of the rooms lined up in a row. However, all the reception rooms that hadn’t been booked in advance were locked, and the clicking sound of doorknobs half-turning before hitting the locks was interspersed with the chairman’s angry snorts. Even the nape of his neck below his white hair was flushed red with anger.

When even the last door was locked, the chairman resorted to pushing Song Yi-heon into the bathroom at the end of the corridor. The translucent glass door swung back and forth. Even as Song Yi-heon frowned when his back hit the tiled wall, the chairman pressed down on his collar, threatening him.

“Go and smooth things over! Tell them it’s not true, make excuses and apologize!”

The chairman’s hope of making a comeback had turned to bubbles due to Song Yi-heon’s rudeness today. The despair of everything being over and the obsession that he couldn’t give up caused veins to bulge on the chairman’s neck.

“Do you not know whose pocket all the luxury you’re enjoying comes from, that you’re so arrogant!”

“Is your pocket the only one, Chairman?”

Song Yi-heon had already secured another source of money in Shim Su-jin. The amount he demanded from Shim Su-jin wasn’t unreasonable, and it was better to silence him with money than to have an illegitimate child step forward to claim rights and covet company shares, so there was no reason for Shim Su-jin to break her promise.

Song Yi-heon sneered at the chairman.

“I’ve already secured another money pocket.”

“You, you brat-!”

It wasn’t long ago that he had admired Song Yi-heon’s gutsy attitude, but now that the situation had come to this, the chairman raised his hand in a fit of rage. He swung his palm through the air, but it didn’t reach the point of striking flesh.

The chairman’s wrist, caught by Song Yi-heon, trembled. He tried to use force to strike Song Yi-heon in anger, but each time his strength was nullified by Song Yi-heon’s. The chairman lunged beyond his limits trying to free his wrist, but he was no match for young blood.

“Ugh…!”

Pushed back by Song Yi-heon, the chairman collided with the bathroom stall. As the partition vibrated, the impact caused a flat, rectangular case to fly out of the chairman’s jacket pocket. Wondering what it could be that he carried separately in a case, Song Yi-heon picked it up and flipped open the top cover. Thin cigarettes were clustered towards the tilted side.

“Always putting on airs…”

Grumbling about why he bothered to transfer them instead of just carrying the cigarette pack as sold, Song Yi-heon took out a cigarette and put it between his lips. Then, he patted and felt around the still panting chairman’s pockets before pulling out a Zippo lighter from his pants pocket.

He pushed open the lid with his thumb and struck the flint. The deft movement of his soft hands resembled that of a long-time smoker.

Song Yi-heon frowned one eyebrow as he held the cigarette between his lips. His face, tinged by the flickering light from the Zippo lighter, was clearly Song Yi-heon’s, yet the atmosphere was so different that the chairman was left speechless. The chairman gasped for breath. Meanwhile, the Zippo lighter that was about to light the cigarette closed. As the metallic sound rang out, Song Yi-heon muttered and spat out the cigarette from between his lips.

“Trying to smoke after so long doesn’t appeal to me.”

The unlit cigarette, caught between his fingers, was thrown away with its white body broken in half. Dried tobacco leaves spilled out from the broken part like burst intestines. The tip of his shoe pushed the tobacco leaves together.

“Well, after smoking for over 30 years, it’s about time to quit.”

With his gaze fixed on gathering the tobacco leaves on the floor, the 19-year-old Song Yi-heon said this while glancing up at the chairman.