The Conglomerate Heir Just Wants to Fail - Chapter 3

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Conglomerate Heir Just Wants to Fail ◈

Chapter 3

──────

I got back into the black sedan.

The car glided through the city at night toward the heart of Gangnam.

A forest of towering buildings passed outside the window.

The car stopped in front of the tallest, most luxurious-looking mixed-use residential tower among them.

A private elevator silently carried us to the top floor.

The entire floor belonged to a single resident.

“From one rooftop room to another.”

I muttered it as though nothing much had changed.

When Lee Jinju pressed her fingerprint to the digital lock, the heavy front door opened smoothly.

The moment I stepped inside, I caught my breath.

This was a space from another world compared to the rooftop room I had occupied until a little while ago.

The ceiling was high, and Seoul’s nightscape spread beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows like a panorama.

The cold marble floor made even my footsteps feel out of place.

“The security system is among the best in the country. All appliances and lights can be voice-controlled, and I have prepared all daily necessities in advance.”

Lee Jinju gave her explanation concisely, but I barely heard it.

It was too wide, too high, too empty.

There was no human warmth anywhere in this luxurious space.

“If there is anything you dislike or need, please contact me at any time, Vice Chairman.”

Lee Jinju impressed my new title upon me one last time, then quietly bowed at the entrance.

The door closed, leaving me alone in the vast space.

I tossed my bag onto the floor and approached the windows.

Below me, city lights glittered like jewels.

“Ah.”

I could clearly see the electronic Billboard outside bearing the Daeseung Group logo.

“Knowing that old geezer, he might have bought this place for that reason alone.”

My reflection appeared in the glass.

A man in a worn zip-up hoodie, standing there blankly.

A foreign presence that did not fit this place at all.

I pressed a hand against the chilled window.

The cold sensation seemed to pass through my palm and reach my heart.

Grandfather had locked me in here.

In a bigger, more glamorous, higher prison.

And he had told me:

Do whatever you want with all of this.

Staring at my reflection, I murmured quietly.

“Fine.”

My voice echoed low through the empty space.

“This is my new battlefield.”

The first person I needed to contact in this situation was...

“Hello.”

I took a short breath and said the words I had prepared.

“Boss, I quit.”

For a moment, it felt as though the air on the other end of the call froze. Then, after a brief pause, a sharp voice burst out as if he had been jolted awake.

“What? Hey, Kang Daeun! Are you kidding me? Who quits out of nowhere like that?”

Instead of guilt at my boss’s flustered voice, I felt a strange sense of freedom.

I gave the excuse I had thought up beforehand.

“There’s been a serious family emergency. I’m in no position to work anymore. You don’t have to pay me severance or this month’s wages.”

My boss seemed speechless at my offer.

He might regret my sudden departure, but an employee giving up severance and wages had to be both shocking and tempting.

“...What? Ah, no, but still... so suddenly...”

His voice sounded confused.

Normally, he would have started cursing at me right away, but the words severance and wages were clearly holding his tongue.

“I’m sorry.”

A brief silence followed.

I could almost feel the complicated calculations he was making on the other end.

At last, he cautiously asked,

“...Are you serious?”

“Pardon?”

“You really don’t need your severance or this month’s wages?”

Suspicion and hope filled his voice.

I drove the point home once more.

“Yes. Something truly important came up, and I feel sorry toward you too, Boss.”

Only then did he seem to make up his mind.

Still, perhaps something bothered him, because he added an unnecessary remark.

“...All right. You were definitely hardworking, so I guess something must’ve happened. But... you’re not going to change your mind in a few days, demand severance, and report me to the labor office or anything, right?”

“I told you, I won’t!”

My voice rose before I knew it.

It was bitter to know that was all he thought of me as a person.

Perhaps embarrassed by my shout, he cleared his throat several times.

“...Still, this doesn’t feel right. Something serious must have happened, so I’ll calculate your severance and send it to your salary account. Just forget about this month’s wages.”

“...”

For a moment, I was at a loss for words.

The man truly had a talent for leaving people confused until the very end.

Even while making a profit, he still wanted to hold on to the bare minimum of conscience.

‘That’s what an ordinary person must be like.’

Someone who calculated gains and losses, yet still kept a little affection.

That was the world I had known.

But now I had to say goodbye to that world.

After ending the call, I stepped into the living room and saw that the eastern sky was already beginning to brighten.

The city lights that had remained on all night gradually blended into the blue light of dawn.

A new day was beginning, one very different from yesterday.

Thud.

I dropped onto the leather sofa.

I did not think I would be able to sleep tonight anyway.

My mind was a mess.

Grandfather’s intentions, Daeseung Group, and my revenge.

Where should I begin? How should I turn it all upside down?

This was a problem on an entirely different level from flipping a grill at a barbecue restaurant.

Then I noticed the document envelope on the living room table.

The one I had practically snatched from the hospital the night before.

I sat up and picked it up.

There were dozens of documents inside.

An overview of changes to the shareholding structure, a certificate of registered seal, Daeseung Group’s emergency contact list, and an organizational chart.

And a single sheet of paper lay on top.

Beneath the awkward title, the approval section bore the forceful signature of Chairman Kang Sinsu.

It was dated yesterday.

I slowly turned through the documents.

Countless names and titles, and a complicated map of interconnected affiliates.

It felt like I was looking at a map of a massive maze.

At the end of that maze stood my grandfather.

I ran my finger across the name at the very top of the organizational chart, Chairman Kang Sinsu.

Then I looked directly below it at my name, newly added there.

Only the title before my name had changed, yet my whole world had changed with it.

Until yesterday, I had not even existed on this piece of paper.

But from today onward, I was the second-in-command of this enormous empire, its actual ruler.

I rose from my seat and walked to the windows.

I really did not think I would be able to sleep tonight.

Snore... Hnnng.

“Wake up, Vice Chairman.”

I opened my eyes at an unfamiliar voice.

Before me was an unfamiliar high ceiling and dazzling morning sunlight pouring in through the windows.

And beside me stood a woman like a shadow.

Her hair was neatly swept back, and her black suit was flawless.

“Ah... Jinju?”

A foolish question that slipped out while I was still half-asleep.

Only then did I come to my senses.

I had fallen asleep.

Despite all the chaos and anger of the night before, I had slept deeply and well in this unfamiliar place.

I felt refreshed, as though the exhaustion of the six years my body remembered had been washed away in a single night.

Ignoring my condition, Lee Jinju got straight to the point.

“Wash up and come out. We leave in thirty minutes.”

“...Yes.”

I answered hazily and went into the shower.

As hot water streamed over my body, my foggy mind gradually awakened.

The reflection in the mirror still looked unfamiliar.

When I came out after showering, clothes entirely different from yesterday’s lay on the bed.

A tailored suit made from high-quality fabric, a silk shirt, and even gleaming shoes.

They must have been Lee Jinju’s work.

My old sports bag was nowhere to be seen.

The hoodie and jeans I had thrown off last night had probably been cleared away like trash.

I hesitated for a moment, then changed without a word.

The suit fit perfectly and was strangely comfortable.

As if it had always been mine.

That fact disgusted me, but at the same time, I felt a resignation I could not avoid.

When I came into the living room, Lee Jinju was waiting for me.

She looked me over from head to toe, but I still could not read any expression on her face.

“Just a moment.”

With a blank expression, Lee Jinju came right up to me, untied the tie I had clumsily knotted, and tied it again.

The subtle, expensive scent of women’s perfume washed over me.

Her hands moved with practiced ease.

‘She looks used to this.’

Glancing down, I noticed a thin ring on the ring finger of her left hand as she adjusted my tie.

‘So noona’s married.’

I had first met noona when she joined Daeseung Group’s Executive Office while I was in middle school. It would not be strange if she had started a family by now.

“Something’s still missing.”

After tying my tie perfectly, Lee Jinju stepped back.

At her signal, another female employee waiting nearby opened a velvet box.

Inside were watches that looked as though they cost more than Kang Daeun had earned in the past six years combined.

Lee Jinju frowned slightly as she considered them, then selected the simplest, heaviest-looking watch and fastened it around my wrist. For the first time, she gave a faint smile.

“That will do. Let’s leave right away.”

We got into the same black sedan from yesterday.

The female employee who had brought the watches had disappeared somewhere, leaving only yesterday’s driver, Lee Jinju, and me in the car.

As the car pulled away smoothly, Lee Jinju turned on her tablet and began.

“Vice Chairman, I will brief you on today’s schedule. At nine in the morning, there is an emergency meeting of the senior executive team. At eleven, the final signing for the Hwasu Heavy Industries acquisition contract...”

Instead of answering, I slowly turned to look at Lee Jinju.

Her expressionless face.

Behind it, I saw my grandfather’s face overlapping with hers.

Was that why?

Did he tell me to do whatever I wanted because he believed I would not be able to defy the path he had set for me anyway?

Anger boiled up from deep in my chest.

A pointless rebellious urge, no, this was the beginning of my war.

‘If that’s what you think, I’ll show you how completely wrong you are.’

I had no intention of living a life dragged around by my grandfather.

I had already cut the leash once. Why could I not do it a second time?

I interrupted Lee Jinju.

“Who set this schedule?”