I’d Rather Live as a Villain

I’d Rather Live as a Villain – Episode 19

(Let’s get started for real)

Something you want?

Anything is fine?

I couldn’t let it show, but I swallowed a laugh inside.

Should I ask for one of those prime buildings in Gangnam?

Wouldn’t that be the end of anyone’s life?

Or should I be a bit more greedy and wisely ask for the Andalusian winery that Chief Oh Ji-won is currently scouting, to be purchased under Daeyoung’s name?

With just that, I’m confident I could set up the Madrid branch to operate safely for at least the next 10 years.

Once that setup is complete, following the olive farm deal, the entire Madrid branch would become my achievement.

Such an absurd thought.

Do I not know Chairman Kang Ki-young?

There’s a famous saying he left at a breakfast meeting in Pyeongchang-dong.

“The world has always belonged to the petty.”

Why? Because they are suspicious, worried, and born with an inability to trust others, they fear sharing what’s theirs, and thus, they don’t feel ashamed to be envious.

It doesn’t matter how much leaves my pocket. But the company’s pocket is a different story.

Even with my days numbered, I’ve led Daeyoung trembling over every single dime that might leak from the company’s pocket, so what makes you so great, so noble, that you pretend to be generous to the world, feigning magnanimity?

And with the company’s money, not your own.

I’m not sure if others have taken his words to heart as I have, but I cherish them, thinking they best describe the man known as the Chairman.

Why wouldn’t I be surprised that every move I make at Daeyoung is reported in real-time to Pyeongchang-dong?

It’s only natural, given Chairman Ki-young’s character.

With such a character, it’s no wonder he can summon me in the middle of work hours like this.

A gift?

What you’re offering is not a gift, but shackles.

Shackles filled with the meaning of flying only within the vicinity of your sight.

Though I haven’t seen much, just looking at Director Joo Yeon-hee, who started frequenting Pyeongchang-dong after marrying Vice President Kang Young-jin, the answer is clear.

Of course, with that marriage, the VR Group received something tremendous from Daeyoung.

But is it a hundred percent theirs?

Never.

It can’t be.

On the surface, it seems like they’ve been given something enormous, but in reality, Daeyoung has given almost nothing to the VR Group.

It’s all just numbers.

Not tangible.

It’s merely through such superficial business gains that the VR Group has secured a world’s solid guarantor in its relationship with Daeyoung, converting it into economic value according to their own calculations.

And for that price, Director Joo Yeon-hee, who has lived her life as a princess, what position has she been placed in at the breakfast table in Pyeongchang-dong?

A debtor’s position, pitiable to those who see her, having to watch Chairman Kang Ki-young’s face.

A debtor.

Every time I see Director Joo Yeon-hee, that’s what I think.

What was the VR Group lacking that they made their daughter, raised like a princess, into a debtor, striving to forge a relationship with the Daeyoung Group?

Do you ask me if there’s something I want?

Anything is fine, just say it?

If I truly tell you what I want, will you be able to give it? First, prove that you’re someone who can do that.

And once you do, another condition will be attached.

I can’t be unaware that Chairman Kang is someone who trains people like that.

I’ve been watching him for three years with curiosity, albeit from the corner of my eye, as if studying.

In the end, it’s a remarkable ability to make one continue to serve out of necessity, having spent precious time hopelessly on something one will never possess…

But the problem is, do I have any reason to owe Chairman Kang now?

Do I need to live as a debtor, shouldering the debt of something that will never truly be mine, paying only the interest with my time?

Already in my bank account is 5 billion, and by my side is Kang Moon-jung, a joker.

From now on, I must be someone who owes nothing to the Daeyoung Group.

Only then can I act with confidence in front of Vice President Kang Young-jin and Director Joo Yeon-hee.

How could I, lacking even a semblance of confidence, dare to step into the fray with VR Group’s leading lady, Director Joo Yeon-hee, and Vice President Kang Young-jin, who has the entire VR Group at his back? Executive Kang Moon-jung has declared a full-on confrontation.

Shouldn’t I at least possess the weapon of confidence?

Executive Kang Moon-jung.

I’m currently tempted to forgo the remaining 50 billion won of the initial 100 billion won promised to me. Instead, I’m considering coveting Kang Moon-jung, this woman, with genuine desire.

As the wedding draws near, greed has taken hold of me.

“I’ve already received it,” I said.

“What?”

“Your consent to the marriage. I didn’t think I would get it. Even if I did, I thought it would be incredibly difficult. I was prepared to be hurt. But you agreed so readily that at first, it didn’t feel real.”

“…”

“I didn’t have the luxury to consider anything beyond receiving your consent.”

“And now?”

“It seems I’m developing a sense of shame.”

“Shame?”

“I want to end the shamelessness with just one consent to the marriage.”

The chairman bit his lower lip, hiding it beneath the upper one, and let out a short click of his tongue before murmuring to himself.

“Is it a deal? These guys say they won’t accept anything even if offered. Don’t go changing your tune later. I’m not one to ask twice or thrice.”

***

By now, Executive Kang Moon-jung and I should be calling for a strategic timeout.

“What you mentioned earlier inside, about announcing the marriage yourself…”

“Come to Remius by 6 o’clock after work.”

The executive also mentioned that there was still more work to be seen to, and that he needed to return to it immediately.

“I’ve had someone roughly fill in the furniture, but you still need to see it for yourself. Let’s discuss the details there.”

“Understood.”

6 o’clock, Remius Building 1011.

All the lights were on in the entire building.

But the garage was empty.

And there was no sign of Manager Noh Gyu-hyung.

I punched in the code and entered the house through the garage.

Unlike when I first visited this house with the executive, it now felt warm, as if someone had already moved in.

Furniture I hadn’t seen that day, luxurious interior accessories, and even the lighting, replaced according to the executive’s taste…

The tags were detached, but the slippers seemed brand new, as if I was the first to wear them.

As expected, the executive director had arrived first.

“Did you come?”

“Is Manager Noh not around? Did you let him leave early?”

The executive director shook his head disapprovingly at the position of the painting on the living room wall.

“It seems Manager Noh is quite lucky. Even amidst my hectic schedule, he’s taken over the role previously held by Director Yoon, yet his workload is less than half.”

“There’s a saying that it’s good to keep people with a lot of ‘eating luck’ but no ‘work luck’ around.”

“Is that so? Then maybe I should have proposed to Manager Noh instead of Director Yoon?”

“It’s not too late even now.”

We exchanged light banter as we moved to the second floor.

“I’ve learned how difficult a request for ‘anything’ can be, thanks to Director Yoon.”

The space I would use in the future.

One room was set up as a bedroom, another smaller room as a study.

When asked if I had a preferred interior style, I said I had none, that I had never lived paying attention to such things, so the executive director offered to take care of it.

“The bedroom was roughly prepared following the concept of the Daeyong Hotel, and it turned out like this.”

It was splendid.

“I paid special attention to the study, starting with the chair and every piece of furniture. It occurred to me that while this place is our honeymoon home to the outside world, to us, it’s our base camp.”

He wasn’t wrong.

“The space that needs the most attention in interior design… is each person’s study. With that in mind, the third floor was decorated like a conference room. Let’s go up together.”

I was astounded.

Taste, sense, discernment… That’s why they’re important.

A conference table with the grain of the wood vividly alive was placed there.

That single table transformed the space from a house to a modern office.

“Now that we have our own secret hideout, shall we inaugurate it? Take a seat.”

If all the processes that the executive director and I had gone through during our contractual marriage were like a strategy, now it felt like a strange thrill that from this point on, things would proceed like a meeting in this space.

An equal position.

The executive director and I sat facing each other across the table.

“Do you like baseball, Director Yoon?”

“Didn’t you ask that question once before?”

“I stopped midway. Executive Yoon asked if I would accompany him to see his mother.”

“Baseball… I used to like it when I was younger.”

“Which team are you a fan of? Personally, I’d prefer if Executive Yoon were a Giants or Eagles fan, not our Daeyoung Monsters.”

“I’m a Giants fan.”

Can someone like me even be called a fan?

These days, I don’t even know which players are on the Giants, or who the manager is.

Life got busy, and it turned out this way.

As I excluded things unrelated to me, and sorted out human relationships without direct contact, I gradually became a machine that only works, a person without fun.

The slight consolation in life, if any, was feeling the change of seasons.

That’s how I’ve lived for several years.

“I knew it. I thought so. There’s a game between our Daeyoung Monsters and the Giants this Friday.”

Executive… isn’t interested in baseball at all, is he?

Two years ago, when the Daeyoung Monsters made it to the playoffs for the first time in five years, he did attend the first game for corporate promotion.

Even then, he kept a smile on his face because of the unpredictable photos, but whenever he got the chance, he would turn to me and ask how long this goes on, how many hours does a game usually take to finish.

“Our marriage will be officially recognized, and it will be the first place to announce it to the world.”

At the baseball stadium?

“Executive Yoon should wear a Giants uniform tee. If that’s too much, then at least a Giants cap. As for me, being a Monster is my very essence, so there’s no need for that.”

“…”

“There’s a photo from two years ago at the baseball stadium where Executive Yoon’s face appeared with mine. Our distribution and promotion department will handle it. They’ll pair that photo with the one that will be taken this time to support our dating period, and while he’s a son-in-law of the Daeyoung family, he’ll be packaged as a man of principle who supports the Giants, not the Monsters, drawing attention and framing Executive Yoon in a certain light.”

Seeing such planning skills, it’s no wonder people call him ‘Little Kang Ki-young.’

“The distribution and promotion department will handle the work, but Hanshin Newspaper will take the lead in spreading the issue. After Friday, Executive Yoon’s world will change dynamically, incomparable to now. If there’s anything you want to do before your world changes drastically, do it now.”

“That sounds fun.”

“It might seem so at first. But soon you’ll realize. How much caution is needed in a life where your face is known, how uncomfortable it is.”

I think I already know that without trying.

For three years, serving Executive the closest, I’ve never seen him have personal time except for university alumni meetings and gatherings of conglomerate heirs.

Even those university alumni meetings and gatherings of conglomerate heirs can’t really be considered his personal time.

“Is there anything else?”

“Before we get married, are there any friends or gatherings I need to meet with Executive Yoon?”

“There’s one gathering that would be good to attend, but it’s okay to skip it.”

“Then let’s do it. I’m fine with it.”

“I think I might skip it.”

“Why?”

“Personal relationships. After cutting back again and again, this is the last gathering remaining. I’m cautious about creating unnecessary tension by insisting on inviting the executive to such a meeting.”

The executive nodded as if he understood what was being said.

“That part, Yun can handle it. I was thinking of joining if needed.”

“Is there anyone I should meet with you before we get married?”

“Not for me. Maybe just the relatives on my mother’s side? But you know all of them, Yun.”

The executive’s mother, the late Ahn Young-hee, her memorial service is being held by her maternal relatives.

For the past three years, though only once a year, I have always taken the executive to that place on the anniversary of Mrs. Ahn Young-hee’s death.

“I’m fine with how things are, but do you need anything, Yun?”

“Do you have a particular place in mind for our honeymoon?”

“Honeymoon… Yes, we should go. I need to start thinking about that.”

“If you don’t have a specific place in mind, how about Spain?”

“Spain?”

I must go there.

But taking the executive with me is a hundred times more effective than going alone.

“The Madrid branch, and the Andalusian olive farm. I think I need to handle the olive farm’s contract renewal myself.”

The executive squinted his eyes and asked,

“The contract still has a year left, do you think it can be settled that quickly? They’re asking for 4.5 euros. There’s too big of a gap from what the trade side is expecting. They’re telling us to set a wedding date within the next month, wouldn’t that be too rushed?”

“I would like to move the wedding date to the middle of next month if possible.”

“···?”

“The company said that the ability I demonstrate and the results I produce will soon reflect on your image.”

“That’s right. You’ve been doing well enough already.”

“So far, the results I’ve produced are nothing of my own. It’s all been thanks to your influence. Whether it was my greeting on the first day at the trade department or everything else, it was all possible because you are my background, not because of trust in me.”

The executive nodded silently.

“With the olive farm’s contract renewal, I’ll start to truly contribute to enhancing your image.”