Chapter 36: Bad Things (1)

The year-end events of 1987 passed just like that, and so... The new year of 1988 began. “...I’m already 27. I’ve only heard that damn Bosingak bell three times, and I’m already sick of it, seriously.” Under the dim night sky, we were getting all sentimental while listening to the New Year’s bell ringing from Bosingak. “Heheh. I’m 11, and you’ve really gotten old, Si-hyun.” Si-hyun let out a sigh full of all kinds of emotions. “Hey now, twenty-seven isn’t old, okay? I’m not even thirty yet....” “Spinster.” “I’m only like this because of you.... Hoo... Let’s see how you are when you get older.” I rubbed my sleepy eyes and shook my head. “If I were your age, you’d already be in a coffin.” “...You little brat.” “Whatever, old lady.” At that, Si-hyun looked genuinely hurt, crouching on the ground and muttering. “You’re really too much. I even came here on my day off because of you, and this is how you treat me?” “...Oh. Right, sorry.” Come to think of it, today was her day off. Technically, Si-hyun works for me. She should be resting on her days off.... “Ah, because of my wicked master, I can’t even see my family for the New Year. You’re gonna pay me extra for this, right?” Ugh. I opened my mouth like I was going to say something, then just patted her on the shoulder. “Mm, well, the nanny’s off today. You’ve got to fill in for her.” Normally, I’d have given her the New Year’s off, but today was... special. The nanny had taken leave. “...Ah, I heard about that. But can you tell me why she took the day off? She’s not the type.” “She has to visit her child’s grave. She takes leave once every winter for that. This year, it just happened to be January 1st.” seaʀᴄh thё NôvelFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. “....” Lee Si-hyun was at a loss for words. “You know, right? For a woman to produce milk, she has to have been pregnant. So of course she had a child.” “How did that happen...?” “It just... happened. An accident.” I changed the subject. I didn’t really want to talk about my own dark past. How could I straight-up say that the nanny’s child died because of me? The nanny didn’t seem to think that way, but... I couldn’t help but think it. I knew that child had lived just fine in my previous life. ...I knew. It’s one of the many debts I owe her. And honestly, there were heavier debts than that. Even a certified piece of shit like me couldn’t go against the nanny when she asked something of me. To put it extremely... if she had ever asked me to live like a normal woman—get married to some guy, have kids, and live a plain life—I’d probably have hesitated and nodded. Luckily, that never happened though. “Anyway, so you’ve got to pick up the slack.” “Well... I guess I’ve got no choice. I’ll just have to tell my siblings I can’t make it today because I’m looking after you.” Lee Si-hyun sighed and shook her head. “Weren’t your siblings becoming adults today? They’ll probably be too busy drinking to care if you’re not there.” “My family has a rule—no more than one drink a day. My mom made it that way.” “...Why?” “You know why. My dad died because of alcohol.... And when I see how I’ve picked up some of his eating habits and quirks, it’s scary how much blood matters. I really... didn’t want to be like him.” She said it with a bitter smile. “Are your siblings even real siblings? They don’t seem related by blood....” -Pfft. Lee Si-hyun spit out the water she was drinking. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and swore under her breath. “Shit, why would you say something like that?” “Well, you used to be in a gang, right? And you’ve got people under you. So I thought maybe you meant ‘siblings’ like that.” “How the hell do you know about that... wait, did you look into me?” “Of course I did. You think I wouldn’t check out someone I’m gonna have as my secretary for life? I didn’t do it personally, though. The chief of staff told me. I don’t know the details.” “Mm, fair enough. But yeah, I do have real siblings. I used to have others I called siblings, but that’s different.” Lee Si-hyun was trying hard to defend herself. “And I wasn’t in a gang, okay? I was a model student. It was more like a neighborhood watch. The place was just too dangerous back then.” Aha, a neighborhood watch. So stuff like that still exists. If it’s an “organization” dealing with “violence,” isn’t that just a gang? “Yeah, yeah, got it. Do you still keep in touch?” She gave me a cautious look. “...Why do you want to know? And just so you know, if you’re planning to use them as your personal thugs, forget it. They’re good kids now. They all went to college with the money you gave me....” Tsk, that’s a shame. This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight. Hiring thugs to quietly ‘deal with’ a rival in Korea is way harder than you’d think. You’ve got to be a real chaebol chairman to pull that off.... I thought I might be able to get my hands on a reliable disposable blade, but from the way Si-hyun was acting, that was a no-go. “They must be pretty important to you.” “Of course. I trust your skills, but your personality? Not so much.... Someone who’s afraid of sleeping alone talks so casually about killing people.” “...I’m not scared of sleeping alone.” “Then should I go?” Eh. “W-Wait, that’s a bit.... You’re already here, so just stay over.” With the nanny gone, I at least needed Si-hyun around. If there’s no one nearby, I get nightmares.... I could deal with it if I had to, but it’s not like I want to. My mood is the most important thing in the world. ‘God, how many damn mental illness points did ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) I spend in my last life? Couldn’t I have just nerfed my IQ or gone full Zen or something?’ Completely unaware of what I was thinking, Lee Si-hyun looked down at me like I was a kid. “Yeah, yeah, got it. You’re in fourth grade now, and still clinging to adults. If that’s what you want, I can’t say no.” Tch. “...Just wait.” Lee Si-hyun picked me up and carried me into the room. Dangling from her arm, I watched as she set up the bedding. ‘I could just sleep in the next room....’ As long as I know someone’s around, it’s fine. There’s no real need to sleep together. ...Still, since I’ve already embarrassed myself, might as well enjoy it. Sigh. It’s so unfair. What the hell is this suffering from just picking the wrong character build? What did I do in my past life to deserve this— ‘Hm.’ Guess I did do... a lot. *** After Black Monday, Ha Yeong-il’s hedge fund started making a name for itself on Wall Street. ‘Alpha Fund.’ I named it myself. Picked it after much deliberation from a list of candidates. It meant maximizing the “alpha” in hedge fund returns, and during Black Monday, I pushed this Alpha Fund’s “alpha” to the limit. The other names I considered were Elixir, Marionette, Immortal, Midas, stuff like that. Yeah, a little cringey, but who cares? It’s fine if it gets famous. Tiger, Renaissance, Millennium—those are huge funds, and no one laughs at their names. Unless they go bankrupt. “Happy New Year, Miss. Long time no see.” The day after New Year’s, Ha Joo-seong greeted me warmly. “Yeah, you too, uncle. Happy New Year.” A department store is a department store, and securities are securities. Gotta keep hobbies and work separate. “I made it look like I’m just messing around with the department store, and with everyone being busy these days, the family hasn’t noticed anything. Hmm, how long can I keep this up?” This was why I hesitated when I first heard about bringing in Ha Yeong-il. We’re too closely tied. “He’s using a fake surname and only goes by ‘Yeong’ in documents.... But if someone checks, it won’t last long.” “...Then it’s fine.” “Sorry?” “No one’s gonna bother checking. No one here cares what’s going on abroad, except for a few.” Even if Grandpa knows, he has no reason to come after me. And Jin-seok, my biggest threat, isn’t even capable. Jin-ha could be a problem since he lived abroad, but... he’s more focused on taking down Jin-seok, so there’s a good chance we’ll form a united front. “Let’s do some bad things. As long as Alpha Fund doesn’t get too famous in Korea, we’re fine.” “How, exactly?” Ha Joo-seong asked like he didn’t know. But he did. He just didn’t want to. “You know. Just set up some shell companies, spread the funds around, and Yeong-il won’t show up on the radar. Put some white guy up as the figurehead to keep the Korean media disinterested.” “...I get that the returns would be diluted, but do we really have to? The risk seems too big for the benefit.” Ha Joo-seong wasn’t into it. Daehwa Group isn’t Mirae Group, he probably thought. No way the family would fight like that. Even in my past life, Jin-ha only split the group gently compared to Mirae. From his perspective, it made sense. He just didn’t know I was going to stab the family in the back myself.