Lim Do Yun felt the threat to his position as the Lim family heir for the first time.
His father and grandfather always told Lim Do Yun that he lacked in his conduct to portray himself as the boss, the heir. They had always criticised his behaviour and how he carries himself in the workplace.
They always said the boss has to command the place just by his presence. It should instil fear but not to the extent of making the employees feel threatened. The fear should not be crippling but instil the subtle notion of hierarchy between them.
He never understood their point even though he tried to achieve it. They always told him that he was either instilling a crippling fear or had the laid-back approach that made the employees dismiss his authority.
For the first time, he understood what they meant.
Choi Haneul was approachable with his nonchalant attitude, but the same nonchalance threatened the people around him.
He looked unpredictable, drowned in the aura of power. But there was humanity and kindness dancing in his eyes.
Lim Do Yun understood the qualities his father and grandfather wanted in the heir, and his little brother Choi Haneul possessed them with ease.
The boy, his father, used as a scrape goat to climb the ladder.
The boy his grandfather dearly missed every minute of his life.
Lim Do Yun felt he could approach Choi Haneul, but at the same time, he felt fear. Even though Haneul was part of CraZe by disguise, he was part of SMJ, the company that could ruin them quickly.
The power he possessed and the fear he instilled were evident, but Haneul walked casually as if it did not matter to him. He walked inside the room to show them who had the upper hand among them.
Choi Haneul did not even glance at the trio till he took a seat on the small lounge in the office.
The dismissal attitude he had towards the three higher-ups of the CraZe as if they did not matter to him did make the two men in the room agitated. After all, his attitude was a blatant display of disrespect and challenging their authority.
Lydia and Go Dae-Kyun were happy to see the attitude Choi Haneul showed the Lim family. They felt so proud to see his changes.
Compared to all of them, Lim Tae-Ri stood calmly and bowed to him in respect.
"Good morning Mr Han!" Lim Tae-Ri purposefully called him Mr Han and not Mr Choi to remind the other two men in the room that they were at the mercy of SMJ. After all, they had promised SMJ that their employees would be treated with the utmost respect.
Moreover, she knew her role in the play scripted by the CEO of SMJ and Haneul together.
"Morning, Ms Lim!" Choi Haneul smiled at his cousin, whom he rarely interacted with in his life. But he has a positive opinion of her.
Lim Do Yun snapped himself out of the stupor and chided himself for even thinking of his little brother as a threat.
He had to consciously say to himself that even if his little brother became the heir, he should be happy about it. After all the struggle his brother went through, he definitely deserves the name, fame, power and money.
Lim Do Yun decided to stand by his brother if Haneul wanted to be the heir as long as he didn't harm the family in the process.
After all, he still had to look out for the trouble his stepmother might create and the lurking danger called the Sun family.
The last time he failed to protect his brother, and this time he was determined to protect Haneul at all costs.
He decided to keep his distance from his brother as he knew his stepmother had spies in the company. He planned not to raise any suspicions. So he chose to be cold and distant with his little brother for now.
Haneul made himself comfortable in the small lounge as he turned his attention to the target for the day.
"Vice-president Go Yoo Han, please take the seat. We have to discuss the most important thing." Haneul called for the man who had been annoying him the last few days.
He had just entered the company and had to deal with pests like him, which annoyed him to the core. At the same time, he was tempted to ask for a raise in salary from his boss.
A girn made its way to the face at the prospect of making more money. He looked like a grim reaper who was about to buy his favourite ice cream in the eyes of everyone in the room.
Haneul turned his attention to the two people he invited to watch the fun. "Feel free to join us. After all, you both contribute a lot to the company's profit. You both deserve to know what's happening here!"
Lydia was startled when Go Dae-Kyun dragged her inside and sat on the lounge as if they were also supposed to be part of the conversation. She knew the other was thick-skinned, but she was still baffled by his audacity.
Haneul smiled kindly at them and asked them to be as comfortable as they wanted.
Then his attention turned towards the trio who were looking at him. Haneul smiled dismissively at the CEO and president as if the matter was not of concern to them but involved only the vice president.
"CEO Lim, President Lim, please join us if you want." Haneul graciously extended his invite, but he was still pointedly glaring at the vice-president, who was still standing.
"What are you doing here, Haneul?" CEO Lim Do Yun looked at Haneul as he stood by the place.
He wanted to fake a show of exercising his power as the CEO over Choi Haneul.
Unfortunately, Haneul did not know Lim Do Yun's thoughts. Even if he knew, he wouldn't care.
There was a period he wanted to be close to his brother and trusted him. But all of it was shattered when Lim Do Yun stood by and watched when everyone blamed him for plagiarism.
The last bit of affection died when the so-called elder brother did not move a muscle to save their mother, who had a fatal 'accident' which put her in a coma.
Now he was here to start the long game and get back everything that truly belonged to him; he was more than willing to forget they were even siblings.
Haneul looked at the three higher-ups of CraZe like they were morons. "Join the meeting with me, or do you expect the CEO of SMJ to come here personally and educate you guys about basic details in business contracts???"
Haneul did not even try to hide the disdain when he looked at the vice-president.