Chapter 18
Chapter 18
After signing the contract, Sungyoon left the company .
“Whew!”
Jimin let out a big sigh, and she leaned back in her chair .
‘I took a step forward once again with this . ’
It had taken a long time . After her father went missing, she had made this company in order to find him . Finally, she had acquired the last and most important key to her plan . She felt a small sense of accomplishment . It was as if she had solved a very important task .
However, that feeling didn’t last long . She hadn’t solved everything . No, she had only taken the first step, and that fact energized her .
‘I have to report the contract through official channels, and I have to give him some Gems . Then I have to make sure he gets basic training . . . ’ free(w)ebnov(e)l
She was the only employee in this company, so she had to do all the work . She didn’t think too deeply on the matter, yet her mind felt faint as she thought about all the work ahead .
‘He was an odd man . ’
She wasn’t tooting her own horn, but she knew that she was beautiful . Moreover, she knew what affect her beauty had on others . This was especially true in regards to men . When she made her opinions known, men rarely refused her requests . Most importantly, her beauty was a great asset in important negotiations . It gave her many advantages .
However, Sungyoon didn’t show any signs of letting her appearance affect him . Even those that rejected her offers would linger behind . They tried to make excuses, so they wouldn’t be disliked by her .
‘Didn’t the report say he distrusts women?’
She thought about the result of her investigation into the person named Woo Sungyoon .
‘He divorced his wife on very bad terms . ’
Her ex-husband was swamped in debt, so he had to work at construction sites everyday . Her daughter was put into an orphanage, yet the ex-wife was living in extreme luxury . She was still living the high life .
‘Trash . ’
Jimin’s eyes became cold .
She was pretty well informed on his complicated past . There was a high probability that Woo Sungyoon was stabbed in the back by his former friend and ex-wife . It seemed his ex-wife had a role in Sungyoon’s downfall .
However, there was no clear evidence . This was probably why Sungyoon hadn’t dragged them through court . It was the reason why he had to shoulder that massive debt .
‘She’s like that woman . ’
His ex-wife reminded her of someone . This person was a shallow woman, who would use her children to acquire money .
However, she erased such thoughts from her mind . She would just get stressed thinking about her . It wouldn’t be productive .
Instead, she took out a picture from the desk drawer .
It held a picture of a man and a little girl . The man looked to be in his 20s, and he was plain looking . The girl had worn a uniform, and a bright smile decorated her face . Jimin looked like a sibling of the man in the picture . The man was her father, Jungbum .
Jimin brushed the picture in a loving manner .
“Dad . ”
At that moment, it was as if her icy visage had never existed . Her face was overflowing with love .
But for some reason, there was a darkness in her expression . Even though she had finally taken the first step towards hope, the darkness didn’t leave her face .
Her slender fingers continued to stroke the picture of her father . She had been smiling, but her expression was steadily getting darker .
“Will I be ok now?”
She sounded like a person confessing to a priest . Her words were squeezed out of her throat as she confessed .
“Is it ok for me to give up on you? You won’t mind, right? Is it ok for me to let you go now, dad?”
These were shocking words . She had built this company for the sole purpose of finding her father’s whereabouts . These words shouldn’t be coming out of her mouth .
“I’m so tired . ”
Jungbum had gone missing 8 years ago . At the time, she had been a high schooler . She had always loved her father, and he had been a pillar that she had relied on . When he went missing, it felt as if the sky had fallen down .
All the adults around her said that her father was probably dead . Her family mourned his death .
As time continued to pass, it was considered a foregone conclusion that her father had died . They held a funeral for him . Despite all of this, Jimin couldn’t accept her father’s death . Unexpectedly, her other family members easily accepted his death . He was a Connector that raided Labyrinths . Moreover, he went into the most dangerous labyrinth called the Great Labyrinth . For such a person, death was a constant companion . In the corner of their hearts, they might have been preparing themselves for this eventuality .
However, Jimin couldn’t do that . She founded a company as soon as she became an adult . Her siblings were fully against her venture . However, her mother was more understanding, and she even let Jimin have her inheritance at an early date . Jungbum was a Connector that had operated within the Great Labyrinth . He had left behind a massive inheritance which was the reason that Jimin had enough money to start her venture .
At first, she was full of energy and desire as she carried out her work . At the very least, she wanted to find her father’s corpse . She wanted to find even a small memento . At the time, she was sure she would be able to find traces left behind by her father .
However, the real world wasn’t that easy . She studied a variety of subjects . She established her company, and she tried to gather people to her cause . However, Connectors were only interested in going to labyrinths and gathering moonstones . Moonstones were what made the world move . She was merely one woman with a little bit of money . She couldn’t pry them away to her cause . She was an intelligent woman, yet it wasn’t enough .
As each day passed, she became worn out . After founding her company, she hadn’t really taken a break . Her mind and body was reaching its limit .
Above all else, the thing that hurt the most was her efforts in gathering the Connectors Most Connectors were opposed to raiding the Great Labyrinth . They expressed their dismay before turning down her offer . Still, she was able to find several Connectors willing to contract with her company . Sungyoon wasn’t her first .
However, their goal wasn’t to reach the Great Labyrinth . They were only trying to use Jimin . They used the resources prepared by Jimin . It was supposed to be used to send them to the Great Labyrinth . In comparison to the other companies, she had put a massive amount of investment into 1st Gen Connectors . However, the contracted Connectors used this fact to their advantage .
After their career trajectory had risen to a certain degree, they broke their contract . They moved onto other companies . After a Connector started moving in the right direction, the penalty for breaking a contract became less restrictive . They could easily pay the fee . She didn’t know if she was lucky or not, but all the 1st Gen Connectors contracted to her were decent in ability . Eventually they became good enough to be useful to the other companies .
‘This person might also . . . ’
Seven million twenty thousand dollars was an obscene amount of money . It was an eye popping figure for a 1st Gen Connector, but it wasn’t high enough where a 1st Gen Connector wouldn’t be able to pay it off . If he somehow had the talent to enter the Great Labyrinth, he would be able to easily pay off that debt in no time .
‘If that happens, he no longer needs to honor this contract . ’
She looked at the contract on her desk . She could clearly see Sungyoon’s signature . The ink had dried, so the contract could be enforced through law now . However, this didn’t mean it was impossible to breach the contract . If he paid enough compensation, he would be fine in the eyes of the law . Even if the penalty fee was large, it was more advantageous to breach the contract if one could handle it . It was better to pay the money than losing one’s life in the Great Labyrinth .
It was ironic . As the talent of the Connector increased, the probability of the Connector honoring the contract decreased .
Her massive wealth was showing signs of drying up now . It was to be expected . She had poured her money into this venture without any thoughts of making money .
Sungyoon was her last hope in terms of her mental health and her physical wealth . If even Sungyoon left her company... .
‘It’ll no longer be possible for me to find traces of my dad . ’
At that point, Jimin would give up on the last shred of hope she had .
‘I’m sorry, dad . I’m so tired . ’
If she gave up on searching for her father, her father would not have been disappointed . In fact, he would have been worried for her since she had toiled so long up until this point . He might have gotten angry at her for continuing such a futile endeavor .
She knew all of this . But despite this, she continued to move forward with the search . She had no choice . She treasured her father to that extent .
However, this attempt would be the end .
Jimin hugged the picture . A streak of tears ran down her cheeks .
She wondered what emotions were contained in those tears . Was it anger, resignation, frustration, or helplessness? Jimin couldn’t identify the feelings, but she silently let her emotions flow out through her tears .
* * *
Jiyoon had come out to volunteer with her club members today . A couple members had left when Jiyoon didn’t budge at their numerous attempts to hit on her . Still, there were many people that hadn’t given up on chasing after her . She was sick of the men being overprotective of her . She wanted to let out a sigh, but she always participated in her club’s activity . She especially couldn’t miss today’s volunteer opportunity .
‘I wonder if Shinhae is doing ok?’
She thought about the cute child, who she had rapidly grown close to in recent days . Shinhae was starting to act lively in front of her, and the sight melted any stress she had in life . If she had a daughter in the future, she wanted one like Shinhae . She caught herself having such thoughts these days .
“Mmm? Is something wrong?”
When they arrived at the orphanage, the president of the club mumbled to himself . Jiyoon looked into the orphanage . It was quite busy inside .
“Oh my . You are here?”
One of the teachers greeted Jiyoon . As she greeted the teacher, Jiyoon was puzzled to see her . Normally, the director of the orphanage came out to greet them .
“Where is the director?”
It seemed the president had the same question as her . The president looked around at his surroundings .
“She is greeting a guest, so I came out instead . ”
There was an odd expression on the teacher’s face . Her expression indicated that nothing bad had happened . However, she looked flustered . It was as if she had experienced something amazing .
Jiyoon was a bit curious, but she decided to put away her curiosity . She’d rather look for Shinhae, so she started looking at her surroundings . Normally, Shinhae would have come running as soon as Jiyoon arrived . However, she was nowhere to be seen .
“Where’s Shinhae?”
She asked the question to the teacher . The teacher knew about the relationship that had developed between Shinhae and Jiyoon . If it was any other day, she would have brought Shinhae to Jiyoon .
However, it was impossible to do so right now .
“She is with the director and the guest . The guest is Shinhae’s dad . ”
“Ah . Did her father come here to see her?”
She had seen him before . He had looked shabby, but he had been overflowing with love towards his daughter .
“Is it ok for him to come to the orphanage?”
The other children became jealous, so Shinhae and her father met outside of the orphanage . Jiyoon had delivered Shinhae to him once before .
The teacher knew what Jiyoon was referring to .
“It’s ok . He came to reclaim his child . ”
“Really?”
It was a joyous occasion . Jiyoon knew how much Shinhae loved her father .
‘Ah . I guess I won’t be able to meet Shinhae anymore . ’
She was quite fond of the girl, so her heart ached a little bit . However, her little friend would be happy, so she decided to be happy for her too .
Since the club members were here to volunteer, they eventually dispersed to find work . It happened when Jiyoon was about to be assigned a task from the daycare teacher .
“Unni!”
Jiyoon heard a familiar voice, and she could hear dainty footsteps running towards her . Jiyoon put on a big smile as she greeted the owner of the voice .
“Shinhae!”
“Unni-!”
Her little arms encircled Jiyoon’s neck . Jiyoon’s usually mild and reserved self was thrown away, and she hugged Shinhae . This was the first time the club members had seen this side of her, so they were surprised . However, Jiyoon ignored them .
“How are you?”
“Good!”
Fortunately, Shinhae was doing well . Jiyoon mussed Shinhae’s hair, then she hugged her once again . She could feel the energy within the small bundle of life in her arms .
‘Yes . This is Shinhae . ’
Shinhae was the only child with this adorable warmth .
“I heard your dad is here to pick you up . I’m so happy for you, Shinhaae . ”
She was a bit disappointed, but she erased such emotions as she let out a bright smile . Jiyoon believed she would be greeted with a similar smile from Shinhae .
However, Shinhae’s reaction differed from her expectation .
It was true that Shinhae seemed happy . However, she also looked a bit troubled .
“What’s wrong?”
Jiyoon knew Shinhae well . This was why she had expected Shinhae to let out a laughter that was brighter than the sun . She expected a smile brighter than the moon . There was no way Shinhae’s smile should be troubled like this
“Didn’t you say... your name was Ms Jung Jiyoon?”
At that moment, she heard a man’s voice . She had heard this voice before .
‘It is Shinhae’s father . ’
She raised her head . In her head, she remembered the shabby man wearing worn out clothes .
However, the man she saw was a handsome man in his mid-20s wearing normal clothes .
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