Chapter 232: Daughter-In-Law (1)
Kim Han-Gyo buried himself deeply in the chair of his study and fell into thought. He had made it a rule to never smoke inside his study, but he had not been in the right mindset to follow it lately.
“Huu...”
Han-Gyo could only relieve the accumulated anxiety and stress through the help of nicotine. He had been certain that Reporter Ahn Su-Jin had been the masked woman, but he had realized how wrong he had been after the recent kidnapping incident.
“I’d never expected for the real masked woman to appear after kidnapping Reporter Ahn...”
It would have been amazing if he had been able to capture the masked woman right then and there, but he had not expected for her to bring her own gang as well. Not only that, every single member of that gang had been skilled in combat. They had overwhelmed Han-Gyo’s gang when he had the numerical advantage. Considering all this, Han-Gyo's head wouldn’t stop hurting.
‘But above all else, she might have recorded me at the scene of Reporter Ahn’s kidnapping.’
Han-Gyo considered the probability to be practically 100% since the masked woman had been digging up as many of his secrets as possible while using any means necessary. He had ended up giving the masked woman even more ammo to use against him while trying to capture her. Just the thought was enough to make his stomach churn.
Team Leader Park Eun-Soo, one of Han-Gyo's close associates, knocked on the door of Han-Gyo’s study while he was deep in thought, and entered.
“Congressman. Don't you have a dinner gathering with the other congresspersons tonight?”
Han-Gyo had not moved from the study even after having gotten ready to depart. He had not forgotten about the dinner, but he had not moved an inch for one simple reason.
“I’m not in the mood to meet with people.”
Han-Gyo did not feel like it. Ever since the Ahn Su-Jin kidnapping incident, he had been in a constant state of anxiety about when the masked woman would leak more of his weaknesses. Hence, he couldn’t focus on his work in the slightest, and his psychological state caused his activities to lessen.
Eun-Soo was also aware of Han-Gyo’s anxiety, but now was not the time to stay cooped up in his study. Han-Gyo had something very important coming up.
“You need to prepare for next year’s general election so you can aim for the presidency like you’ve always spoken about in private, Congressman,” Eun-Soo remarked.
Han-Gyo’s ears perked up. He had no intention of staying as a congressman forever. He had been preparing all this time to go beyond the National Assembly and reach the Blue House[1]. Although he had not expected the appearance of the masked woman midway, he couldn’t afford to be swept along by her any longer since that was exactly what she wanted.
The light in Han-Gyo’s eyes changed thanks to Eun-Soo.
“Yes, Team Leader Park. It’s exactly as you say.”
For next year's general election as well as the dream that he had been pursuing all this time, he needed to push forward instead of staying in place. Han-Gyo got up from his chair and headed to the car that his secretary had prepared.
Eun-Soo, who was following the congressman in silence, replayed his confrontation with the masked woman in his head. He was sure that they had met for the first time at that construction site, but...
‘She didn’t feel unfamiliar.’
He felt a sense of inexplicable familiarity from her. Eun-Soo usually reported every single piece of information that he possessed to Han-Gyo, but this felt a bit too ambiguous to bother with reporting.
***
Ra-Eun barely managed to return to the living room from the bathroom as she rubbed her rumbling stomach. She surged with annoyance from the pain that women faced every month. Although there were times when she preferred being a woman...
‘Times like this makes me miss being a man.’
Ra-Eun sat on the couch and changed channels to the news. Whether it was perfect or terrible timing, she was met with Han-Gyo’s face as soon as she changed channels. The announcer reported news about him having attended a meeting yesterday with senior members of the ruling and opposition parties.
‘As expected of that sly snake.’
Ra-Eun hoped for Han-Gyo to stay cowered in anxiety after the Ahn Su-Jin kidnapping incident, but that had only lasted a few days; he continued his public activities as if nothing had happened almost immediately.
‘I’d expected as much. There’s no way he could have risen up to where he is now without that much backbone.’
Han-Gyo also likely knew that Ra-Eun wouldn’t release the Reporter Ahn kidnapping video to the press right away. Even if she did, Han-Gyo would once again make an excuse plausible enough to convince the public. Hence, Ra-Eun decided to prepare a single blow that Han-Gyo would never be able to deal with, and she had also decided on when to deal the blow.
‘Some time near the?Spokesperson release date should be fine.’
Ra-Eun was already excited to see how Han-Gyo would respond. She needed to prepare in a calm and orderly way for the day that her revenge would truly begin.
‘Should I give Chairman Ji a call? It’s been a while.’
Ra-Eun had not contacted him ever since she had played golf with him, Ji Han-Seok and several important political figures. Even if they couldn’t see each other, she needed to contact him often; she couldn’t afford to have the connection that she had worked so hard to form go down the drain.
As she was about to send Chairman Ji a text, he had texted her first as if he had been alerted by some sort of telepathy. Ra-Eun tilted her head in confusion after checking the text’s contents.
‘He wants to see me somewhere near my house in the evening?’
It was for Ra-Eun since the meeting place would be near her home, but she was curious about why Chairman Ji wanted to meet her.
‘Well, I can just find out once I’m there.’
There was still plenty of time until then, so she was planning on killing time by watching some TV. As she reclined into the couch some more, Seo Yi-Jun’s room door opened.
“Urgh... My stomach feels queasy,” he expressed.
It was likely because he had drunk with his friends the day before. Right as he was about to grab the bathroom door handle as if he couldn’t hold it any longer, Ra-Eun stopped him.
“Use the one attached to your room.”
Yi-Jun usually used the bathroom connected to his room instead of the one between the living room and kitchen, but he couldn’t today.
“The toilet’s broken,” he said.
Hence, a plumber had been scheduled to come in the afternoon to take a look at it. Everyone had been forbidden from using that bathroom until then, so Yi-Jun had a valid reason for using the other bathroom. However...
“Then go in a bit later.”
Ra-Eun did not back down.
“What? But why? I really have to go...”
“Because I just used it, for God’s sake! If you really have to go, you can go after ten minutes.”
Ra-Eun had no intention of letting Yi-Jun use the bathroom until whatever traces she had left behind had naturally disappeared.
“It’s okay, noona. I don’t mind stuff like that,” Yi-Jun commented.
“But I do, goddammit!”
It had been a while since Ra-Eun had burst into a rage, and its target had been Yi-Jun, who possessed absolutely no sense of delicacy.
‘I should kick his goddamn ass.’
However, she decided to hold it in since it would lead to something irreversible.
***
The location where Ra-Eun had decided to meet Chairman Ji was not far, so she did not call her chauffeur. She dressed nicely and left her home, and also did not forget to cover up so that people would not recognize her.
‘It’s supposed to be around here.’
Ra-Eun arrived at a famous Korean-style restaurant that took up the entire fourth floor of a building.
The female employee asked Ra-Eun, “Have you made an appointment with us?”
“Yes. I’m with Chairman Ji of Do-Dam Group. He has a 7:30 appointment here.”
“Oh, it’s under the name Ji Yeong-Seok.”
“...?”
Chairman Ji’s name was Ji Seong-Geum, not Ji Yeong-Seok. Ra-Eun had definitely said that she was with ‘Chairman Ji of Do-Dam Group’, but she couldn’t help but be confused after hearing someone else’s name that was completely different except for the surname. However, she decided to follow the employee to the fifth room anyway.
As soon as the door opened, Ra-Eun was met with not only Chairman Ji, but with an oddly familiar-looking man and woman.
“Come take a seat here,” Chairman Ji stated.
“Ah, Yes, Chairman.”
The woman, who seemed to be in her late forties at most, was staring fixedly at Ra-Eun while grinning. She was looking at Ra-Eun with such delight that Ra-Eun could practically see the heart-shaped beams emitting from her eyes.
Chairman Ji coughed and introduced the two people to the confused Ra-Eun, “This is my first son Yeong-Seok, and next to him is my daughter-in-law.”
Ra-Eun had never expected to meet Han-Seok’s parents here.
‘No wonder they looked familiar.’
Ra-Eun immediately put a smile on her face and greeted them.
“Hello. My name is Kang Ra-Eun.”
“I’m Ji Yeong-Seok. Han-Seok speaks so much about you, so I’ve wanted to meet you at least once. I’m grateful to my father for giving us the opportunity. Right, honey?”
Han-Seok’s mother, Lee Hwa-Yeong, nodded and expressed the same feelings as Yeong-Seok.
“You’re just as beautiful and cute as Han-Seok mentioned. I can’t seem to take my eyes off of you.”
Hwa-Yeong was so busy staring at Ra-Eun that she was not even touching her silverware to eat the lavish feast laid out in front of them. Ra-Eun’s smile turned more and more awkward due to Hwa-Yeong’s excessively loving gaze.
Yeong-Seok calmed Hwa-Yeong down.
“Honey, you’re making Ra-Eun uncomfortable. Stop staring at her.”
“Oh my, I’m so sorry, Ra-Eun. I wasn’t staring because I dislike you, so please don’t get the wrong idea.”
Ra-Eun barely managed to answer that she understood while maintaining her smile.
Chairman Ji explained to her how things had turned out this way.
“We had all been out on business and were about to go home when the subject of our conversation turned to you. That’s why I thought we could have dinner all together.”
“I... see,” Ra-Eun replied while holding in her bitter smile.
‘This feels like a bride-groom family meeting[2].’
Ra-Eun was so uncomfortable that she couldn’t appreciate the feast in front of her in the slightest.
1. The Blue House is the Korean equivalent of the White House; it is the executive office and official residence of the president of South Korea. 👈
2. There is no specific word for this meeting in English, but it’s basically an arranged meeting between the families of the bride and groom. 👈
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