At the End of That Memory

Chapter 28

I didn’t want to abuse my privileges. Nothing was more foolish than rejecting the generosity he had shown me to quench an unquenchable need. My father forced me to steal, and even though I knew it was wrong, I couldn’t make a deal with reality.

“…Ha.”

My father laughed and stumbled for a time. I tried to help him up instinctively, but I couldn’t because I was violently shaken off. As I paused and took a step back, my father talked as if he was chewing on something.

“A guy who can’t even attract an Alpha and can’t even get pregnant, can you even do anything properly anymore?”

I bit my molars gently. It was quite an insult, but I wasn’t surprised. I’d known for a long time about my father’s opinion of me.

“…I will formally discuss the terms of negotiation with Mr. Kwon Yido.”

All I could think of was this. No, it was still information that had been given to me previously, therefore I was considering properly asking it this time. He did not provide it to me on his own but in exchange for a formal contract.

“I will ask for the materials promised in advance…”

“Can’t you shut your mouth?”

My father yelled and hurled the USB drive he was holding on the ground. As if that weren’t enough to make him feel better, he trampled on it with his shoe. He was groaning and puffing, gritting his teeth and blinking.

“Do you think I’ll just hand you over to that bastard?”

“…”

“If I thought I was going to hand you over, I would have given you away a long time ago. That bastard has no intention of keeping his promise. He was trying to eat us and throw us away!”

My father continued to yell, his eyes going crimson. He approached me, gripped my shoulder tightly, and spoke each syllable with power.

“Do you think I sent you there just to listen to such nonsense? If you tell that bastard about the data, then he won’t hide it even more, right?”

I was the one surprised by the tremendous reaction. I was aware of my father’s anxiety, but I couldn’t understand why he became so enraged when I told him I’d talk to him first. Isn’t it clear that he is attempting to keep me from telling Kwon Yido about it?

“What, Chairman Kwon Byeongwook passed away?”

“…”

“There is more than one person who has seen that old man running around. Do you think the Alpha, who is still running around messing around, will die that easily?”

Did Kwon Yido lie to me? Of course, Kwon Byeongwook, who turned 85 this year, was not going to go around messing around.

“What are you going to do if our company dies before then?”

“Father.”

For a brief period, I could see disgust in his eyes. When I addressed him in this manner, he immediately showed his displeasure. His genuine sentiments were evident whenever he played such a caring father, but he changed as soon as he determined I was useless.

“…Companies don’t collapse that easily.”

So I blurted out exactly what I thought without realizing it. It was something I would never say under normal circumstances, and it was so insolent that my father got furious.

“Even if we solve the problem in this way, it will end up being the same unless we root out the cause. If the system had been turned upside down by removing one system, it would not have collapsed to this extent. You know that nothing will change unless you change the outdated management method.”