I’d Rather Live as a Villain

I’d Rather Live as a Villain – Episode 15

(The boatman only rows)

“I knew our Executive Yoon would be like this. That’s why I told you to come quickly.”

“What are… you talking about?”

The chairman wants to see you.

Instead of Manager Noh Gyu-hyung, I went to the distribution headquarters to personally escort Executive Yoon to Pyeongchang-dong.

The reaction Executive Kang Moon-jung showed upon seeing me.

“I bought you too many clothes at once, didn’t I?”

“…Yes?”

Knowing full well that he dislikes being questioned, I still blurted out that response, clueless about what the real issue was.

“It’s my fault for making Executive Yoon worry every morning about what to wear to work. Sigh… Does this suit even go with this tie?”

What exactly is the problem?

A navy suit with a yellow-toned tie.

Isn’t that supposed to be safe enough?

“I should have attached numbers to them. For this suit, wear this shirt, these shoes, this tie, or ties of this color palette. I was short-sighted. This won’t do, Executive Yoon.”

“Yes.”

“Starting tomorrow, you know what? Before you leave for work in the morning, take a picture of your outfit and send it to me. Get my approval before you head out.”

“You’re joking… right?”

“Does it look like I’m joking?”

I asked because it didn’t seem like a joke.

“How can you work so well with this sense of style? It’s not like there are many options for coordination. It’s just suits. But how can it not work out? You handle everything else so efficiently, even before enlisting, but when it comes to coordination, even after three years of nagging, there’s no sign of improvement.”

Before escorting Executive Yoon to Pyeongchang-dong, I made a quick stop at Daeyeong Department Store in Jongno.

There, Executive Yoon picked out a shirt and several ties that matched the suit I chose today with the speed of light.

No matter how I look at it, I just don’t understand.

I wonder what makes the shirt chosen by the executive any different from the one I wore all day at work, and why I must wear a purple tie with this suit today…

But even if I don’t know much about styling, I’m an expert on Executive Kang Moon-jung.

It seems he’s finally satisfied.

“Should I not prepare a separate gift?”

“What gift?”

“Is it okay to go empty-handed?”

“You heard me. I’m not sure if it’s sincere, but the reason Executive Yoon wants to see you today is not about marriage, but rather, he wants to have a meal with a well-performing employee… something like that.”

During my time as an executive assistant right by his side.

There were occasions when I had to perform special tasks beyond accompanying the executive.

Such as when the executives of the subsidiaries were summoned by the chairman to Pyeongchang-dong for a meal.

It wasn’t frequent, but usually once a month? Sometimes once every two or three months, the chairman would invite the subsidiary executives to Pyeongchang-dong for dinner.

For presidents and executives with personal assistants, it didn’t matter, but for other executives, I often had to wait until late to drive them home because even a light drink would be exchanged at the meal.

It would be enough to call a substitute driver, but it was the chairman’s stubborn style to have Daeyoung’s employees conduct the protocol directly, so I waited until the meal was over and drove the executives myself.

Naturally, no executive prepares a separate gift for such occasions.

That’s why I asked.

If I was really invited to such a gathering, who would take me home today… that was the question.

I wasn’t thinking any differently from the executive.

On the surface, it’s about having a meal with a well-performing employee, but that can’t be all there is to it.

***

“Why are you looking so nervous? Come sit here, sit next to me.”

The Pyeongchang-dong family home.

The meal started immediately.

As I was just assessing where my place at the table would be, the chairman, as always, using his wheelchair as a chair, took his place at the head of the table and spoke to me.

“Do you think I called you here to help finish off some leftover rice at home? Come sit next to me.”

This house in Pyeongchang-dong, where I’ve been coming to work for over three years.

Until the story of a contract marriage with the executive came up, I never even dared to think I could sit at this table, but now, for the first time, I was seated right next to the chairman.

Executive Kang Moon-jung gently pushed me into the seat right next to the chairman and then took his place beside me.

With Chairman Kang Ki-young in his wheelchair at the head of the table, Chairman Kang Man-ho and his wife Koo Young-sook sat to the left, and Executive Kang Moon-jung and I sat side by side to the right.

As usual, Vice Chairman Kang Young-jin and his spouse were nowhere to be seen today.

It’s been quite a while since I last saw Vice Chairman Kang Young-jin.

He had lived in the Pyeongchang-dong family home until he married Director Joo Yeon-hee in a political marriage.

It was a face I saw every day.

After getting married and moving out, he started living away from Pyeongchang-dong, attending breakfast with Director Joo Yeon-hee only once or twice a week.

Since I stopped being the official executive secretary, I had no chance of seeing him for a while, but sitting at this breakfast table reminded me of the plant he sent to my office to congratulate me on my promotion to head of the European region for Mulsan.

“Let’s eat. Take your time.”

The meal began with the chairman picking up his spoon.

Pyeongchang-dong.

Such an interesting house.

Of course, I’ve never actually met her, but the late Mrs. Ahn Young-hee, mother of Executive Kang Moon-jung and your maternal home, Hanshin Newspaper, was a powerful ally for her daughter.

Between Mrs. Ahn Young-hee and Chairman Kang Man-ho, there were no children for a long eight years after marriage.

Unable to let go of Hanshin Newspaper, a powerful ally, but also unable to give up on an heir, the Daeyoung family chose surrogacy.

And that surrogate was Mrs. Koo Young-sook, who caught the current mistress of the Daeyoung family.

Perhaps the person most similar to me within the current Daeyoung family is Mrs. Koo Young-sook?

Vice President Kang Young-jin, born a year earlier than Executive Kang Moon-jung between Chairman Kang Man-ho and Mrs. Koo Young-sook.

To put it a bit bluntly, siblings sprouted from the same seed but different fields.

One side has the only legitimate heir but only half a stronghold, while the other has enough stronghold but lacks external legitimacy of birth.

Moreover, Vice President Kang Young-jin moved into Pyeongchang-dong with Mrs. Koo Young-sook only after Mrs. Ahn Young-hee passed away.

From a general perspective, the adolescence of these siblings must have been more painful than their peers.

Yet, during my time as Executive Kang Moon-jung’s personal assistant, I never once saw a direct confrontation between the two.

The nuance always remains strong.

But the expression of that nuance is impossible.

All because of the presence of the absolute ruler of Daeyoung, Chairman Kang Ki-young.

The relationship between Executive Kang Moon-jung and Mrs. Koo Young-sook is quite unique when observed up close.

Clearly, it’s a relationship between a stepmother and stepdaughter.

But without being good or bad, it’s always like the calm before the storm.

Executive Kang Moon-jung acknowledges and respects Mrs. Koo Young-sook, his father Chairman Kang Man-ho’s partner, but only to that extent.

She doesn’t allow herself to go any further, and Mrs. Koo Young-sook seems to be carefully managing her actions, whether out of respect for Executive Kang Moon-jung, the only legitimate heir of Daeyoung, or for some other calculation.

Although it may seem precarious from the outside, there is a clear balance within this house, and naturally, Chairman Kang Ki-young is at the center of that balance.

But what if this center suddenly disappears one day?

That’s when the storm begins.

And perhaps, the storm has already begun.

It started when Mrs. Koo Young-Sook first sweet-talked VR Group’s eldest daughter, Director Joo Yeon-Hee, into this game.

“How’s the meal? To your taste?”

At the Daeyoung family’s table, aside from a few main dishes, all other side dishes are prepared individually.

Tasting a bit of each side dish laid before me, the senior chairman asked.

“Yes, it’s delicious.”

“Delicious, indeed. But it must be bland for you. Could the seasoning possibly be right?”

What does he mean?

Truthfully, the taste was exquisite, but honestly, a bit too bland for my palate.

Yet, the side dishes were of a very high standard, with the true flavors of the ingredients shining through.

“No, not at all. The seasoning is just right, and it’s very tasty.”

He looked at me intently and let out a laugh, one that seemed to say he could see right through me.

“The taste of those who sail isn’t easily satisfied, is it? Especially those who board large ships and spend months at sea. Catering to their taste is no easy feat. How could someone accustomed to such a mother’s cooking, considering the health of a nonagenarian patriarch, find this meal to their liking?”

Indeed, my mother is renowned for her culinary skills, whether it’s Gyeongsang or Chungcheong style.

It’s no coincidence she started a food business after my father passed away.

“How about the fisheries? How do they seem to you now? Worth a try?”

Before answering, I do the calculations in my head.

This meal, at the Daeyoung’s Pyeongchang-dong main house with Mrs. Koo Young-Sook.

Whatever the pretext, it’s clear I’m here not as Yoon Tae-Sik, the head of Mulsan, but as the partner seated next to Executive Kang Moon-Jung.

Senior Chairman Kang Ki-Young, who maintains the balance in Pyeongchang-dong, asks.

“Do you think life at Mulsan is manageable?”

Is there anyone here whose reaction I need to gauge before responding?

No.

Mrs. Koo Young-Sook?

She’s not someone I need to be wary of.

Rather, it’s a situation where I need to reveal more of myself, especially since Senior Chairman Kang Ki-Young knows she’s watching.

In this setting, there’s no way I can stand out.

But I can make Executive Kang Moon-Jung shine by downplaying myself.

That must be why the executive director arranged a contractual marriage to set me up as his partner by his side.

I can’t mimic the background of the VR Group that Vice President Kang Young-jin has created as his ally.

It’s something that can’t be done, even if I were to die and come back to life.

But there’s one thing that even the VR Group can’t imitate about me, even if they were resurrected.

My absolute loyalty to Executive Director Kang Moon-jung.

The VR Group, and Director Joo Yeon-hee, may not know how to deal with Daeyoung Group, but they can’t create the absolute loyalty I can give to Executive Director Kang Moon-jung when facing Vice President Kang Young-jin.

Instead of obsessing over what I can’t do, I need to focus on what I can do because of who I am.

“Daeyoung Trading is recognized as the most complete trading and industrial company in South Korea, at least within the country. Executive Director Kang Moon-jung instructed me to go out and try to earn that recognition from the outside as well. I will do my best.”

“How suffocating must it have been for you all this time?”

What? What are you talking about?

“There must be something you want to do, something you’re good at, but you’ve been unable to do it, chasing after Moon-jung for no reason. I regret not recognizing your talent sooner.”

He’s not usually so generous with praise…

“You must have felt very frustrated following Moon-jung around and doing secretarial work, haven’t you?”

“Absolutely not. It was a precious time where I could learn things that are hard to experience on-site.”

“Do you really think so?”

“The past three years and three months of commuting to Pyeongchang-dong have been the biggest world in my 34 years of life.”

“…”

“Many people are curious about it, but it’s a world that not just anyone can experience. Thanks to Executive Director Kang, I was able to experience it. Without that experience, I wouldn’t have even dared to dream of the head position at Daeyoung Industrial.”

After taking a spoonful of soup, the chairman asked again.

“Your position and title have changed with the transfer to the industrial division, but your duty to serve Moon-jung remains unchanged, right?”

I momentarily shifted my gaze from the chairman to Chairman Kang Man-ho.

“Yes.”

“In Daeyoung Group, your only superior is Moon-jung, and that was the case before, it is now, and it will continue to be so in the future?”

“…Yes.”

“Would that be the case even with me?”

“What kind of…”

“If I and Moon-jung give you different orders at the same time, will Moon-jung’s order still take precedence?”

Madam Koo Young-sook also glanced up at me at that moment.

“The helmsman only rows. It’s the shipowner who decides the speed and direction of the ship. I am the helmsman, and the shipowner of the vessel I’m aboard is Executive Director Kang Moon-jung. You asked if I could do that, and I said I would. That’s probably why… I’m able to sit here today.”

“The helmsman only rows? Father.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Shouldn’t we have a drink on a day like this?”