The Cruel Beast’s Desire - Chapter 37

It was one of those days when I didn’t want to wake up.

Unlike the days when my eyes would open on their own without even thinking about it, I had a strange feeling that I wanted to laze around in bed all day.

Was my bed always this cozy?

It was the first time I felt this way, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

Ieum’s foot fell heavily on my stomach. It was clearly a kick from kicking off the blanket.

Rather than the pain from being kicked, I was happy that the child was safe next to me, and the corners of my lips lifted slightly.

As I opened my eyes, my lips, which had been turned up, straightened into a line. Ieum was in the middle, and Hayeon was asleep on the other side.

Yoonjae realized that he was lying in Hayeon’s bedroom and sighed softly.

He must have been trying to calm his surprised heart after seeing Ieum sleeping here last night, and he fell asleep next to her.

Startled, he turned his gaze and saw the clock on the table next to the bed. After checking the time, Yoonjae jumped out of bed.

Even when he took medicine, he would wake up automatically at 5 a.m., but the clock was pointing to 10 a.m. Sleeping until this time was several times more embarrassing than sleeping in Hayeon’s bedroom.

Yoonjae roughly swept back his hair and tried to calm down.

He felt like he had to get out of here before Hayeon woke up, so Yoonjae moved quietly but quickly.

When he entered the main building, Secretary Kim was in the living room even though it was Sunday. It was strange that he wasn’t looking for Yoonjae, even though he must have come because of urgent business.

“Executive Director, I came because I have something urgent to report.”

“Wait a minute… I need to clear my head, so I’ll take a shower.”

“I’ll be waiting in the study.”

Judging by the fact that he didn’t ask anything, he seemed to know where he was coming from.

He quickly went into the bathroom, turned on the cold water, and went under it. Even after being hit by the pouring water for a long time, he still felt like he was trapped in a dream.

He couldn’t listen to Secretary Kim’s report in this dazed state.

Yoonjae quickly took a shower, starting by wiping the water pouring onto his face with his hands.

As soon as he entered the study, Secretary Kim started reporting as if he had been waiting.

“Executive Director Han Seok-ho is expected to win the bid for the resort’s operating rights.”

As soon as the name of Han Seok-ho, who was Yoonjae’s uncle, came up, Yoonjae put his hand on his forehead.

The projects that had been failing in small ways were handled by Yoonjae, so Chairman Tae Juwang was able to prevent the unfortunate event of kicking his son-in-law out of the company.

But this time, the work he was trying to do was a big one.

Executive Director Han was greedy, but he wasn’t bold enough to do such a big job on his own. It was clear that Yoonjae’s aunt, Tae Mi-kyung, had pushed him.

“Was this the surprise event my aunt prepared? Where did you get the information?”

“The information came from a resort official.”

I don’t know why they hid the information so tightly when it was going to be exposed before it was even confirmed.

“Where did they get the funds?”

“It seems they used the slush fund created by the president of Central Hotel.”

“Central… that’s the place that made a fortune with stocks by spreading rumors about the resort business two years ago.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

It was obvious what would happen when trash met trash.

“They’ve already signed the contract.”

The bidding was just a formality. Only the companies that were standing as extras in the predetermined script were exhausted.

What Yoonjae had to decide here was how to clean up the mess caused by Executive Director Han.

Like this time, selling the resort’s operating rights when they could be sold was the only way to reduce losses. The problem was that there weren’t many places that would buy it.

“And there’s one more problem. The chairman has returned to Korea.”

“When?”

Secretary Kim raised his wrist and checked the time.

“He was scheduled to arrive at 10 a.m., so he should be in Korea now.”

It was understandable that Secretary Kim rushed over on a Sunday morning. There must be a reason why he was moving quietly without giving instructions to the secretary’s office. Yoonjae was curious about Chairman Tae’s intentions.

“He always comes in the middle of summer, but is there a reason why he’s coming in early this year?”

“The purpose of this return is to finalize the management succession.”

It coincided with the time when Executive Director Han won the bid for the resort’s operating rights. Yoonjae’s eyes became fierce.

“So, is the chairman going straight to the villa?”

“Executive Director Han is escorting him and moving to the resort.”

“My aunt is trying hard. But that doesn’t mean she can get her hands on the Tae Wang Group…”

This was a case of two people with different dreams: the aunt who was trying to push Yoonjae out and take over the Tae Wang Group, and Chairman Tae who was trying to test Yoonjae’s abilities once again.

His inner thoughts were so obvious that a chuckle escaped his lips.

“What kind of resort is it that’s causing such a fuss?”

“It’s in Samcheok.”

Yoonjae’s brow furrowed. It was a place he had heard of before.

“It’s the place I mentioned when I reported on Kang Hayeon’s safety before.”

It was the sea that Hayeon went to on the day she rejected Yoonjae’s offer. From the pictures, it was a place with a wide expanse of blue sea and sandy beach.

Perhaps because it was for a report, most of the pictures were taken with Hayeon in the center. Even though he had seen dozens of pictures, all Yoonjae remembered was Kang Hayeon crying.

“There was a resort there?”

“It’s only been open for two months. It seems that the subsidiary expanded its business too aggressively and suffered from financial difficulties, so it couldn’t be operated properly. It seems they are forcing the bidding in the hope of selling the operating rights before bankruptcy.”

What Yoonjae had to do was decide whether to sell or grow the operating rights that Executive Director Han had won.

The fact that Chairman Tae was going there himself was to test whether Yoonjae’s judgment was correct.

“Book a room at the resort.”

“I booked it on the floor below the one where the chairman is staying. What about Ieum?”

One of the reasons why Chairman Tae, who was not in good health and was out in a place with good air, came to Korea once or twice a year was Ieum.

Chairman Tae was a person who thought that money was the most important thing in the world and didn’t even pay attention unless there was a profit.

Ieum was the only being for whom Chairman Tae didn’t calculate profit and loss. The reason he gave this house away was for Ieum. It was obvious that he would tell him to bring Ieum, so it was better for Yoonjae to go with her.

“I have to take Ieum. Request that the room be thoroughly disinfected.”

“I sent a separate disinfection company. Is Kang Hayeon accompanying you too?”

There was a thorn in Secretary Kim’s last words.

“Why are you asking the obvious?”

“Haa.”

Yoonjae frowned at Secretary Kim’s sigh.

“What does that sigh mean?”

“Since this is a house, not a company… I’ll take off my rank.”

I don’t know what he’s going to say that he’s going to give up his official position. However, Secretary Kim rarely did this, and even if he did, it was only when it was absolutely necessary, so Yoonjae agreed by nodding.

“What is Kang Hayeon to you?”

He immediately regretted nodding a moment ago.

“Of course…”

“She’s the person who will give blood to Ieum.”

“Why are you asking when you know?”

“Do you want to keep the line or cross it?”

The thorn in his words pricked Yoonjae’s throat. He was stabbed heavily, and no sound came out.

Above all, I don’t know what kind of line should exist between Kang Hayeon and me.

Even after showering with cold water, I felt like I had woken up from something that had been locked up.

“A line… is that so important that you have to take off your rank to talk about it?”

“Yoonjae.”

“I’ve never even thought that there should be a line. What’s so different about Kang Hayeon from Chief Jang or Ms. Lee?”

Even at Yoonjae’s words, Secretary Kim’s face was not very pleased.

“She’s the person who will give blood to my daughter, and she has a good relationship with my daughter to minimize side effects. What else is there that makes you so prickly?”

“Is that really all?”

“That’s all, so go back to being Secretary Kim and get ready to see the chairman.”

At Yoonjae’s eviction order, Secretary Kim slightly bowed his head and left.

Sometime after Yoonjae left the room, Ieum stirred and woke up.

Ieum rubbed her eyes and her eyes widened as she checked where she was.

“Why am I sleeping here?”

“You woke up in the middle of the night last night and came here. Don’t you remember?”

“No… I don’t remember anything.”

Last night, Ieum said she couldn’t sleep, but she fell asleep quickly after exchanging a few words with Hayeon in bed.

Judging from that, she seemed to have come here in a daze. If so, the child might not remember. Without urging her to remember, Hayeon stroked Ieum’s cheek.

“Did Ieum sleep well?”

“Yes.”

Hayeon smiled faintly as she looked at the smiling child.

“What should we do? I think we overslept.”

“I was going to buy a bike with my dad…”

“Then, shall we wash up and have breakfast quickly?”

Hayeon took Ieum to the bathroom. She left the child, who said she could do it alone, and came out to the living room, where Ms. Lee was just coming in.

“Are you awake? Where’s Ieum?”

“Ah… she went in to wash her face. But how did you know Ieum was here?”

“There was a commotion in the middle of the night, thinking Ieum was gone.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think to contact you. I was going to talk for a while and take her to her room.”

I felt so sorry when I thought about how surprised they must have been.

“These things can happen in life.”

Ms. Lee smiled softly as she set the table.

“Ms. Lee, did you sleep well?”

Ieum, who had finished washing her face, ran to the table.

“Did our young lady sleep well?”

“Yes, I slept really, really well. I overslept too.”

“Oh, how admirable. You look like you had a good night’s sleep.”

Would there be another child who gets praised for oversleeping?

“Let’s have breakfast quickly, we’ll be busy today.”

“Yes, I’m going to buy a bike with my dad.”

Ieum was excited to have breakfast. Hayeon picked up her spoon as she watched.

“What should we do? I don’t think we can go buy a bike today?”

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