Early in the evening, Chairman Jo sat on the sofa watching the news. He needed to know how the world was turning, check on the progress of his affairs, and, most importantly, since the contact with the secretary was cut off after she went to pick up Minhyung, he couldn’t help but worry about what might happen if he were unfortunately caught. Anyway, when things explode, they will surely make a fuss in the news.

As expected, the news was filled with worries enough to make one sigh just by looking at it. Fortunately, Minhyung didn’t appear in the news, which was a bit of relief. But that alone was not enough comfort; there had been too little news in the past two days.

Could it be impossible to approach Minhyung? Arrogant thoughts crossed his mind. But shortly after, the phone rang.

Chairman Jo quickly picked up the phone. “Is that you?”

[Yes. I’m on my way there, but it might take a little longer.]

At the secretary’s words, Chairman Jo let out a sigh of relief. The reason being that the secretary’s first words were a kind of code indicating that Minhyung was safely coming down with him.

“That’s really a relief. Can I talk to Minhyung?”

[Father!]

“Minhyung!”

[Father, are you okay? Nothing happened, right? Do you know how worried I was?]

As soon as Minhyung answered the phone, he started whining like a child. But even that alone was moving enough to make Chairman Jo’s heart feel choked up.

“Let’s talk about everything once you’re here. Come quickly. Hurry!”

[Yes. I’ll be there as soon as possible. We’re almost there. I just called because I was worried that if I didn’t contact you once, you might stop breathing, Father.]

Indeed, there was no one else but his son.

“Yeah, you did well. Otherwise, it was almost as you said, I was on the verge of stopping breathing.”

[Well, I’ll be there soon. I’ll hang up!]

“Sure. Go ahead!”

After hanging up the phone, Chairman Jo let out a sigh of relief. Though his son was like an archenemy, he was still a blood relative who meant everything to him. Just hearing his voice made the tense muscles in Chairman Jo’s body relax a little.

Now he could finally relax. Thinking that he could soon see Minhyung without worrying anymore, Chairman Jo decided to loosen the tension a bit.

He poured a glass of whiskey and brought it to the sofa. He switched the channel to a movie, but there wasn’t much to watch these days. In the end, he fixed the channel back to the news and sipped his whiskey.

However, as the tension eased, drowsiness began to pour in. Chairman Jo blinked and dozed off.

A little later, the sound of knocking on the door startled Chairman Jo, and he quickly got up. Looking at the time, he had blinked and dozed off for an hour.

“Oh, it’s already this late.”

The knocking sound came again.

It seemed that Minhyung and the secretary had arrived. Chairman Jo quickly got up and approached the front door.

“Is it Minhyung?” he asked.

With the thought that he could finally see the son he had longed to see, Chairman Jo was thoroughly excited.
With joy, his pupils expanded.

However, the moment he opened the door, his eyes, which had reddened with excitement, contracted again due to tension. The person standing outside the door was someone he had not expected.

“Who… are you?”

“Hello, Jogukjin. It’s been a while.”

The person was extremely unfamiliar.

Meanwhile, at that moment.

Serin was having a meal at a restaurant with Taejun after a long time. Red wine and well-cooked steak. Even though it was a luxurious feast that had not been eaten or slept in for a while, it didn’t go down well.

“Not eating much. Doesn’t it taste good?”

“No, my taste buds aren’t back yet.”

In response to Taejun’s worried question, Serin reassured him, gesturing okay, and reluctantly cut a piece of steak, putting it in her mouth.

The steak had a good texture, melting in her mouth, but Serin couldn’t feel the taste at all. However, with Taejun’s worried eyes fixed on her, she couldn’t stop her hand reaching for the inside of her mouth.

“There’s talk that Chairman Jo will smuggle out tomorrow or the day after. I’m going to contact the police as soon as he starts moving.”

“Yeah.”

“Absolutely don’t miss it. Absolutely. So, don’t worry and let’s focus on our lives now.”

“Yeah. Thanks. But Taejun, what’s the next plan after Chairman Jo is caught? Do you really think the law can make Chairman Jo pay for his sins?”

To Serin’s question, Taejun put down the knife and fork he was holding and looked at her seriously. His black pupils flickered slightly.

“No. Actually, I’ve been thinking about it too. What do you think?”

“I… want to take away what’s most precious to Chairman Jo right in front of him. Just like you and I lost the person we love right in front of us, like that.”

“What’s precious to Chairman Jo……”

“Ocean Shipping. And Jominhyung.”

Agreeing with Serin’s words, he nodded his head.

“I already have Jominhyung in my hands. The problem is Ocean Shipping. It’s difficult for me alone. So… I hope you can help.”