[Chapter 150]
[Misfortune or Perhaps Fortune (5)]
After the Yeongwon Pharmaceuticals Gate broke out,
Yoo Do-jun had to spend busy days without a moment to spare.
The world focused on Yoo Do-jun who exposed the darkness of Yeongwon Group.
He had to carry a spotlight wherever he went.
So he couldn't visit Eunha in the hospital.
If he made a mistake, the world's attention could turn to Eunha.
If it becomes known to the world that I was involved in this, it could become troublesome.
One hero, Yoo Do-jun, was enough.
The process of uncovering the Yeongwon Pharmaceuticals Gate originally crossed between illegal and legal.
Though people are angry at Yeongwon Pharmaceuticals now,
That anger will cool someday, and when that time comes, extremely realistic stories far from a sense of justice could come out.
It's good that justice was carried out, but in the end isn't it the same that illegal acts were committed?
Moreover, looking narrowly, this is just Yoo Do-jun's family matter.
If I get involved unnecessarily, it could create strange misunderstandings.
Also, people who could view the situation coolly knew that Yoo Do-jun didn't expose Yeongwon Group's darkness for a sense of justice.
Looking broadly it was for the world, but looking narrowly it was nothing more than a succession dispute for Do-jun to become chairman.
Therefore, Eunha shouldn't get involved.
If he made a mistake, it could raise suspicions that Eunha was trying to interfere with Yeongwon Group through Do-jun.
That's why this incident was known to be purely the achievement of Yoo Do-jun and Myeongwang Clan's Clan Lord and Twelve Seats
Above all─
─I couldn't identify the identity of those behind the New Humanity Project.
Eunha couldn't uncover the mastermind of the New Humanity Project.
This could be said to be the biggest reason Eunha wanted his name not to be mentioned in the Yeongwon Pharmaceuticals Gate.
Just who is behind it?
If his name is mentioned as a person involved in the Yeongwon Pharmaceuticals Gate,
The mastermind of the New Humanity Project would become aware of his existence.
There was more to lose than gain from that.
For Eunha who was trying to catch the mastermind, he didn't want his name to be known to the enemy.
"So how did it go?"
But he couldn't find any clues about the mastermind,
Eunha asked Yoo Do-jun who showed his face for the first time in a long time after the Yeongwon Pharmaceuticals Gate.
"─They're very meticulous. No matter how much we dig, not even a speck of dust comes out." "I see... As expected."
"For now, 'That Person' is mentioned in Dr. Deus' research journal, but there doesn't seem to be any clues revealing who 'That Person' is."
Unfortunately, there seemed to be no progress.
Though he heard about how the situation was going occasionally by phone from Yoo Do-jun, it seemed they couldn't find any clues about the mastermind at all.
At most, they could only know that a being called 'That Person' was mentioned in Dr. Deus' research journal among the materials Eunha obtained.
Eunha nodded to Yoo Do-jun who spoke in a low voice.
"It seems we'll have to end it at the level that the gate was Dr. Deus' doing." "It can't be helped..."
An incident that enraged the citizens.
So the Fairy Lady government and Yoo Do-jun had to somehow put the culprit who caused the gate in front of cameras.
But time was limited.
Because there were limits to the investigation, Yoo Do-jun left words that he should wrap up the gate appropriately at this point.
Eunha had to agree regretfully.
"And soon, a large-scale corruption purge will begin in the Mana Management Bureau. The Fairy Lady was enraged that someone used the Fairy Lady's seal to do this. The atmosphere there is really brutal."
"As expected... It means there are traitors inside?"
"Traitors... should we call them that. It's a workplace where they receive monthly salaries, not a place where they have to be loyal to the Fairy Lady. Someone just used public power to fulfill their personal greed."
"That's betrayal. Don't the Mana Management Bureau employees know they should be loyal to the country and Fairy Lady and devote themselves to the country? If they wanted to fulfill personal greed, they should have gotten jobs at private companies, not state institutions."
"Well... your words aren't wrong, but I'm skeptical about how much effect the corruption purge will actually have."
"Why is that?" "Korea isn't a feudal country, and corruption originally has a nature that keeps growing even if you cut it throughout ancient and modern times. Like cancer cells." "Should we just leave it alone then? Won't everything rot away?"
"Yes, you're right. So I agree with cleaning up the Mana Management Bureau this time. The problem is what comes next. After cleaning? As time passes, won't corruption grow again in places the Fairy Lady's gaze doesn't reach?"
"We have to prevent that from happening."
"'That Person' appearing in Dr. Deus' research journal is someone who can plot such things without revealing their identity. Do you think such a person will stay still looking after themselves just because corruption is being rooted out?"
"..."
"I assert they won't. This person will somehow use tricks to quickly make their own people? If not that, they'll insert their own people from the beginning."
"..."
"You said Dr. Deus' mind was completely blown away by the being behind it. That he's no different from a living corpse now." "...That's right."
"If it were you, Eunha, could you so easily cut off the person who was the overall director of the New Humanity Project like that?" "..."
"They're someone who removes even people in high positions as easily as discarding used items. Do you think such a person will look after themselves even if the Fairy Lady is preparing?"
Yoo Do-jun's assertion.
Eunha couldn't readily answer.
Eunha was thinking too.
The mastermind called 'That Person' must be no ordinary opponent.
Someone in a position to wield such power.
Just who is it? Why are they doing this?
A feeling of groping in darkness where you can't see ahead.
Eunha was silent.
Yoo Do-jun also closed his mouth.
Soon Eunha opened his mouth.
"Still, try to find as much as you can." "I will. Leaving a source of trouble will cause problems later."
"Tell me if there's anything I can help with."
"Thanks for saying that. You just hurry and get better. You're lucky. You don't have to go to the academy at all for the 2nd semester?" "Says the one not even going out." "Hey, is my situation the same as yours when I'm under prosecution investigation?"
"Pipu pi!"
"See! He agrees with me too." "What are you saying. He just said you're lucky to be sucking honey."
"...Really?" "I won't tell you."
"Sigh... Eunha, can I hit your back once too? There's something I really want to hit right now."
"Sure, keep your hands in."
They change the topic.
They lighten the mood.
The two chatted endlessly about things with no meaning.
"─I should get going now."
"Okay, take care."
Time passed like that.
Yoo Do-jun said he should leave and got up from his seat.
"Ah, right. Soon a new chairman will be inaugurated at Yeongwon Group. Should I say the last chairman of Yeongwon Group?"
"Why don't you just become chairman? Don't put someone else in the middle unnecessarily."
"I'm still young so I look unstable in people's eyes. So I need to put a stand-in until I'm old enough."
Yeongwon Group will be reborn, he said.
Yoo Do-jun spoke with a somewhat relieved expression.
Eunha chuckled at his words.
Finally, Yoo Do-jun has obtained the throne he longed for.
Though he says public opinion isn't good for him to become king yet.
"If I take over the group as is and immediately create a new group, it won't look good to the group people. It'll look like I cut off the king's head and took that seat?"
"That's actually what you did though."
"But I haven't cut off the head yet? So I need to pull the king down from the throne, make the king not a king. Then put up the next king and make that king peacefully hand over the seat to me."
"How troublesome. What if that king changes their mind and doesn't want to give it to you?"
"Well... That wouldn't be bad either."
As if it's nothing.
Yoo Do-jun laughs refreshingly.
As if that would be good too.
He spreads his shoulders wide and continues speaking.
"The person I'm putting up as a professional manager is someone under my mother, and someone who kept helping me get to this position. If that person kicks me out and says they'll become king... I could accept that person."
"Oh my, I went through all that trouble to make you king but you're saying you'll hand over the position to someone else."
"Hahaha..."
Eunha lightly scolded Yoo Do-jun.
This happened in the previous life too.
Back then, Yoo Do-jun also handed over the Yeongwon Group chairman position to someone who worked as his secretary until he became an adult.
And unlike Eunha's worries, the Yeongwon Group chairman readily gave up the position to Yoo Do-jun.
"Anyway, I need to clean up everything through that person before dissolving Yeongwon Group. And from my time, it'll be newly born."
So-called abdication, you could say.
Though it's somewhat different from saying he'll receive the throne from the previous dynasty and create a new dynasty since Yoo Do-jun is also a direct descendant of Yeongwon Group.
"Okay, do as you like." "I will. So while I'm at it, I'm going to change the group name too."
"Huh?"
Then Eunha opened his eyes wide.
Yoo Do-jun is changing the group name.
This didn't happen in the previous life.
In the previous life, Yoo Do-jun just cleaned up the group internally and inherited Yeongwon Group as is.
"─Luminous Group made people recognize they're starting anew by changing their name from Dawn Group. I want to do the same." "I see..."
It seemed the reason the future changed was due to Dawn Group.
Eunha didn't know whether to take this as good or bad.
Do-jun's expression looks good so it's fine.
Soon Eunha shook off his worries.
He decided to just take it positively since Yoo Do-jun's face looked bright.
"So what's the name of the new group you're making?"
"─Hana Group."
"Hana Group?"
"It means starting over from one. And my mother's name was also Hana..."
"Ah, that's a good name."
Hana Group.
A group that didn't exist in the previous life, but will be newly born in this life.
He was satisfied watching Yoo Do-jun who started chattering endlessly about the path Hana Group will take.
☆
After leaving Eunha's hospital room,
And hitting Yoo Do-jun's back once,
Lee Yucheon visited his younger sister's hospital room again.
"I should see my younger sister's face once more before going home."
Taking a deep breath in front of the door.
Lee Yucheon stood there endlessly with his hand on the doorknob.
"..."
Since when was it?
Probably when he was very young, when his younger sister suddenly collapsed and was hospitalized.
Lee Yucheon was shocked seeing her fighting disease lying on a hospital bed, when just moments ago she had been laughing and chatting happily with him.
He realized then.
That his younger sister was pretending to be healthy even while sick, trying hard not to show it to him.
His younger sister who was always smiling in front of him lying on a hospital bed like that was truly terrifying to him who was young at the time.
"Hoo..."
Because that memory remained vivid,
Lee Yucheon always gathered his surging emotions in front of the door before meeting his younger sister.
Taking another deep breath.
He slaps his face with both hands lest he show a gloomy appearance to his younger sister.
Deciding to pull himself together and raise the corners of his mouth with all his might.
That's how much courage he needed before seeing his younger sister's face.
"─It's me. I'm coming in."
Though he knew his younger sister was currently unconscious,
He spoke while knocking as if reminding himself.
The doorknob in his hand felt so heavy.
Turning the doorknob, Lee Yucheon soon entered the hospital room.
"..."
The curtains flutter in the wind coming through the open window.
A hospital room filled with the smell of medicine.
The smell as if cut off from daily life always gave him a strange feeling.
And there, his younger sister was.
"...I'm here."
Though his lips trembled,
Lee Yucheon sits in the chair pretending to be as calm as possible.
Then he tightly grasps his younger sister's hand. It was a fragile hand that seemed like it would break at any moment.
Beep beep beep beep─...
His younger sister lying on the bed with her hair loose.
As if dead.
His younger sister is lying there with her eyes closed like that.
But though his younger sister lost consciousness, she was clearly alive.
Because the devices attached to various parts of her body were making sounds.
Beep beep beep beep─...
Lee Yucheon felt despair at the reality of having to rely on mere machines to confirm his younger sister's life and death.
He was afraid that sound would stop.
He really hated this smell, and this sound too.
He detested it.
Yet ironically, he desperately prayed over and over for this smell and sound to not stop.
Because that's how his younger sister could live.
"..."
Though he didn't say it to Eunha on purpose to avoid unnecessary worry,
His younger sister was actually in a very critical condition now.
The explosion accident that occurred at the Yeongwon Pharmaceuticals research complex.
That greatly affected his younger sister's internal mana.
That was the reason his younger sister, who had already been bedridden due to internal mana problems, was hospitalized at Alice Hospital receiving intensive care.
"I wish you weren't sick... If only I could be sick instead, to that extent..."
So please get better soon.
In a world where God is dead, Lee Yucheon kept praying to a non-existent God.
Praying and praying again while stroking his younger sister's bangs.
"─Then I'll be going now."
How much time had passed?
Lee Yucheon who spent his mental energy praying for his only younger sister got up from his seat.
"..."
His feet wouldn't move.
Before leaving the hospital room, Lee Yucheon suddenly turned around and looked back at his younger sister.
No miracle occurred.
His younger sister was still lying with her eyes closed, only the machines beeping as if to announce her existence.
Lee Yucheon smiled bitterly.
Then he calls his younger sister's name.
"─I'll come again next time, Yoo-jung."
Leaving loneliness behind,
Lee Yucheon stood there for a long time before leaving the hospital room.