Chapter-17😴

“Tae…”

A dangerous silence followed, and Chairman Han’s voice remained low as he continued staring at his son.

“I think you’re becoming soft.”

Tae slowly got up from his chair and walked toward his father.

“No… it’s not like that, Dad.”

“What I’m saying is true.”

“There was no reason to kill him.”

“We could’ve used him as bait to lure Uncle.”

The room immediately fell silent again.

Kim Joo didn’t move from where he stood, remaining completely still as he watched the two of them, while Chairman Han slowly walked toward the couch and sat down before calmly looking at Tae.

“Sit.”

Tae quietly sat down in front of him.

Once again, silence filled the office.

But this time, the silence created by his father’s lack of response terrified Tae in a way it hadn’t for a long time.

Kim Joo continued watching them silently, his eyes moving between Tae and Chairman Han without daring to interrupt.

After several long moments, Chairman Han finally broke the silence.

“When you work in this field, you always need to stay one step ahead, and if they’re already two steps ahead of you, then you need to be five steps ahead of them.”

Chairman Han looked directly into his son’s eyes and continued calmly.

“Tae…”

“You know me, right?”

“I never kill someone without a reason, and if I personally went there, that means something happened that should never have happened.”

The atmosphere inside the office instantly became heavier.

Chairman Han continued in a colder voice.

“You stopped thinking, Tae.”

“You forgot how I think.”

When Tae heard those words, he felt as though his heart had stopped for a moment, because his father had never spoken to him like that before, and suddenly, Tae understood that Chairman Han must have gone to the shed for a proper reason.

Kim Joo’s eyes never left the two of them.

And as he listened to Chairman Han’s words, Tae slowly began thinking about them himself.

Maybe his father was right. Maybe he really was becoming soft because of Yun. But even then, Tae never wanted to leave Yun behind. The business was important to him His responsibilities were important.

But so was Yun.

Chairman Han continued calmly.

“Tae…”

“Do you know what happened in our club?”

Tae answered quietly.

“One woman died.”

Chairman Han slowly raised his head and looked at Tae.

“What happened to that woman?”

Tae lowered his gaze.

“I don’t know.”

Chairman Han stared at him for several seconds before asking again.

“Then why didn’t you ask Secretary Shin what happened?”

“Why didn’t you go to the club yourself to find out what happened?”

Tae didn’t respond.

He had nothing to say.

Chairman Han slowly stood up and walked toward the window, where he looked outside at the city below.

Motorcycles, buses, and cars passed through the streets while the sounds of traffic, distant voices, and even birds moving somewhere beyond the buildings filled the outside world.

Meanwhile, inside the office, the atmosphere between Chairman Han, Tae, and Kim Joo became increasingly suffocating.

Chairman Han continued speaking while looking through the window.

“Tae…”

“Now you are the leader of the Tigers.”

“Now you have responsibilities.”

“You need to think like a leader.”

“You need to think like your grandfather.”

“He formed this gang to protect the public, and if you continue behaving like this, then one day, the Tigers Gang will collapse.”

“And when that day comes…”

“Neither I nor your grandfather will be able to help you.”

His voice remained calm, but every word felt heavy. After a long moment, Tae’s throat tightened. His fingers slowly curled around his shirt, and his palms became sweaty, yet he continued listening carefully to his father’s words without interrupting.

Chairman Han slowly turned away from the window and looked back at him.

“I’m not angry at you because…”

“There was once a time when I became like you too.”

He paused briefly before continuing.

“I also allowed my emotions to influence my decisions.”

“And I learned the consequences of that.”

His gaze remained fixed on Tae.

“Don’t let emotions control you.”

“The moment emotions take over…”

“Your mind stops thinking clearly.”

“You start making decisions without a plan.”

The office remained silent except for Chairman Han’s voice, which echoed softly through the room.

“No matter what happens…You must keep your mind calm. If you become emotional too easily…You’ll eventually lose the thing you wanted to protect the most.”

His gaze darkened slightly afterward.

“I’m telling you this from experience.”

Chairman Han slowly loosened the cuffs of his bloodstained sleeves before continuing.

“Your uncle recently got his hands on a drug called Hibiscus. It’s a dangerous drug. It  drives people insane with sexual desire.”

“Even old men and impotent people use it. It’s mostly used at high-class parties where celebrities and rich people gather.”

His expression slowly hardened.

“I still don’t know how your uncle got access to that drug…But he started spreading it through clubs. And even a tiny amount is enough to destroy someone’s mind.”

Tae silently listened without interrupting.

Chairman Han continued.

“The man I killed was named Baek Ji-Hoon.”

“He came to Han’s club, where he saw a woman and initially tried to talk to her, but she kept ignoring him.”

“So when she wasn’t looking, he secretly mixed the Hibiscus powder into her drink.”

“Before that happened, he had already been selling the powder inside our club, and from what I understand, he had only one packet left, so he kept the remaining amount for himself and used it on that woman.”

“After some time, without knowing that there was a drug in her glass, she drank it, and when the symptoms eventually appeared, she willingly went with him to a private room without understanding what had been done to her.”

“The next morning, when she woke up, she realized that something terrible had happened to her, and when she saw Baek Ji-Hoon beside her, she tried to escape.”

“But he attacked her again.”

“That attack caused her condition to become critical, and eventually, she died.”

“After realizing that she had died, Baek Ji-Hoon escaped without paying, and when the room cleaners eventually came to check the room, they found her lying there lifeless.”

Tae remained completely silent.

The information was difficult to process.

Chairman Han’s expression became colder as he continued.

“She had done nothing wrong.”

“She was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“And Baek Ji-Hoon thought he could walk away after what he had done.”

The Chairman slowly turned toward Tae.

“But he was wrong.”

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

The city continued moving beyond the office windows, completely unaware of what had happened inside one of its clubs.

Chairman Han looked directly into Tae’s eyes.

“And because of that…”

His voice became cold and emotionless.

“I killed him, Tae.”

The office fell completely silent.

Tae finally understood why his father had personally gone to the shed.

And for the first time since the conversation had begun, he no longer had anything to argue against.