[Chapter 164]
[Clan Establishment (5)]
Byeok Hae-su's workshop located at Sadang Station.
Eun-ha visited Byeok Hae-su after a long time.
"Oh, Clan Lord. What brings you here?"
"I came to see how you're doing, hyung. Is work going well?"
"Don't even mention it. These Sirius Group people won't let me rest."
After Byeok Hae-su graduated from the academy.
He immediately became famous in the industry.
To the point where he had no time to rest, having to work even on weekends.
Eun-ha smiled bitterly hearing Byeok Hae-su's words.
Look at him continuing to hammer while complaining he can't rest.
He really loves this work.
Byeok Hae-su gulped down water.
Despite the workshop being constantly hot enough for sweat to flow.
There were ice cubes floating in the glass he held.
"Ah, this? I asked sister-in-law to make it last time. Isn't it great? Other maestros asked me to make one for each of them next time."
"You made quite a thing."
When Eun-ha's gaze turned to the ice.
Byeok Hae-su grinned and held out the glass to him.
Eun-ha laughed in disbelief.
"So what brings you here?"
Soon Byeok Hae-su asked, resting his chin on his arm on the wooden table.
Eun-ha shrugged his shoulders.
The reason he came was─.
"─I want to recruit you as an exclusive maestro for the clan I'll create."
"..."
To recruit Byeok Hae-su.
Generally, each clan had their own exclusive maestro.
All S-rank clans did.
The difference between S-rank and A-rank clans even included whether they had an exclusive maestro or not.
Therefore, Eun-ha who was determined to create an S-rank clan since creating a clan wanted to recruit Byeok Hae-su.
He extended his hand.
This hyung's skills are real.
Eun-ha knew Byeok Hae-su's skills better than anyone.
Fortunately, he's not affiliated with any clan exclusively.
At most it's Sirius Group. Even if I recruit Hae-su hyung, they won't care.
Coincidentally.
Byeok Hae-su was not affiliated with any clan.
Of course, Eun-ha knew the reason.
Byeok Hae-su wanted to make devices for various players without being bound to a clan.
So Eun-ha said.
"Even if you join exclusively, I won't interfere with what you do, hyung. I won't mind even if you deal with other clans. Of course... dealing with clans hostile to my clan would be a different matter."
Like himself.
Byeok Hae-su was a free spirit.
So, Eun-ha guaranteed him maximum freedom.
Then, Byeok Hae-su snorted.
"─Forget it, kid."
"..."
Then suddenly.
He grabbed Eun-ha's hand.
It was a hand covered in moisture.
Eun-ha whose hand was grabbed looked at Byeok Hae-su who hadn't even properly trimmed his beard.
"Hey, Eun-ha."
"...Yeah."
"Why do you think I wasn't joining other clans and was like this?"
"..."
With a laugh.
Byeok Hae-su laughed spraying spit.
He raised the corners of his mouth.
"I was guessing you'd create a clan."
"..."
"Is someone like you the type to enter under someone else?"
Not at all, he said.
Byeok Hae-su answered his own question.
"Before you came to my workshop, I was just a person mocked and called the academy's idiot."
"..."
"You discovered me, and you led me to this point. You don't know how big a debt I owe you, how much unpayable grace I've received."
Byeok Hae-su tightly grasped Eun-ha's hand.
He spoke in a cheerful tone.
"I'll be in your care from now on, Clan Lord."
"...I'll be in your care too."
There was no need to persuade Byeok Hae-su.
He had already decided to follow Eun-ha.
The day he first met him.
☆
Turning back time, the day Eun-ha said he would marry Han Seo-hyun.
That day, Han Seo-hyun spoke to her family at the dinner table as if asking a servant for water.
But her words were neither light nor heavy.
Her words were a quiet bomb.
"─I decided to marry Eun-ha."
""...!!""
"...Cough... cough...!!"
In such a calm tone.
Han Seo-hyun shocked her family.
The family members all turned their gazes to her, stopping in the middle of moving their utensils.
"S-Seo-hyun, what are you saying..."
"Really?"
While father Han Do-young trembled.
Mother Choi Su-bin just smiled brightly and only confirmed if what she heard was true.
"Yes, Eun-ha agreed too. We're thinking of having the wedding ceremony around May next year."
"You're going to be a May bride?"
"How on earth did you convince Eun-ha to say he'll marry? Did you threaten to divide him into 5 pieces?"
"Unni, that's not funny at all."
Choi Su-bin briefly congratulated her.
Han Seo-yeon teased her.
Han Seo-hyun just ignored it.
"Hah, really... I knew you'd marry before me but I didn't know you'd marry at 21, no 22 years old. Wow... Eun-ha is 20 years old. You didn't have an accident, did you?"
"A-accident!?"
"We haven't done it yet."
"You're saying you will someday."
"We're getting married, so won't we?"
"K-kids, wait a moment... Seo-hyun... I didn't mishear, right? You didn't just say you're getting married, right?"
"Yes, dad. I decided to marry Eun-ha around May next year. Thank you for raising me until now."
"..."
Han Seo-yeon kept joking around.
Han Seo-hyun frowned as if annoyed.
Then, the father who was in a daze asked her to confirm again.
She stated the facts again.
Father Han Do-young was now on the verge of death.
"So what happened? You and Eun-ha wouldn't suddenly say you're getting married for no reason."
"...Yes, Seo-hyun. What on earth happened?"
Fortunately, as Han Seo-yeon asked for the reason.
Soon the father on the verge of death came to his senses.
Han Do-young asked in a serious tone.
"It's nothing much."
Han Seo-hyun said that.
But it was something.
She brought up that she decided to establish a clan through Sirius Group's sponsorship while talking with Eun-ha that day.
""...""
Then Han Do-young and Han Seo-yeon changed their expressions.
The two made similar expressions and crossed their arms.
"There has been talk that we should decide on an exclusive clan within the group."
"There was also talk of creating Sirius Clan if there's no suitable clan."
It's not a bad thing for either Noh Eun-ha or Sirius Group.
Rather, it's a good thing.
The two nodded after organizing their thoughts.
But Han Seo-yeon and Han Do-young couldn't help but have one question.
"But Seo-hyun."
"But you know."
The two opened their mouths simultaneously.
Their next words were similar.
"We should receive shares in return for sponsorship. But rather than taking shares that can interfere with management, wouldn't it have been fine to take shares that can receive more dividends... Didn't you tell Eun-ha?"
"We just need to receive dividends. We're already busy enough with our work, how much would we interfere with Eun-ha's clan? Didn't you tell him there are various types of shares?"
The two people's questions.
They now knew Eun-ha's temperament to some extent.
Therefore, they couldn't help but question the story Han Seo-hyun proposed to Eun-ha even though it was obvious Eun-ha would be reluctant.
Then Han Seo-hyun said─.
"─Should I have said that?"
""...""
A servant brings coffee.
Han Seo-hyun drinks the coffee.
The two were at a loss for words seeing Han Seo-hyun elegantly drinking coffee.
"Hey, you don't mean..."
"Seo-hyun, perhaps you..."
"I don't know."
Soon the two stumbled over their words.
But Han Seo-hyun cut them off and pretended not to know.
To this, Han Seo-yeon clicked her tongue.
"Wow, really... I thought I was the fox in this house after mom, but now I see the fox wasn't me, but you Han Seo-hyun?"
"What are you saying?"
"Wow... Look at her playing innocent."
Choi Su-bin chuckled.
Han Seo-hyun laughed along.
Their laughing faces were truly identical.
☆
One day at the academy.
Eun-ha was having lunch with Yu Do-jun after a long time.
"Hey, but you know."
"Yeah, what?"
With Donghae Group joining.
Eun-ha would take 35% of the shares, Donghae Group would take 5% of the shares.
Sirius Group would take 30%, and the remaining three groups would each take 10% of the shares.
At this time, it was concluded that Han Do-young, Han Seo-yeon, and Han Seo-hyun would each exercise 10% of Sirius Group's shares.
From Donghae Group, Jeong Geum-jeon.
From Yeongwon Group, Yu Do-jun.
From Alice Group, Jung Ha-yang.
From Luminous Group, Lee Jung-in.
Would have the authority to exercise shares.
"Why are you receiving sponsorship like that? I don't mind as long as I get shares in your clan, but I think it's a bit strange given your personality."
"What are you trying to say? Speak so I can understand."
While Eun-ha was thinking about the share structure like that.
Yu Do-jun asked, spraying rice grains.
Eun-ha frowned and asked back.
"No, you could have divided shares on the condition of receiving more dividends instead of participating in management. But why did you decide to receive sponsorship in that way?"
"Shouldn't other groups have attachment to my clan that way? They won't want it to fail, so I think they'll help me in every way."
"That doesn't seem like a reason. They would have had attachment even if you just guaranteed dividends... Tell me honestly. You didn't really not know that, right?"
Yu Do-jun asking as if interrogating.
Eun-ha calmly deflected his question.
"Do you think I wouldn't have known that?"
"No, then why did you do that? You ended up completely getting your nose pierced by Han Seo-hyun noona because of that. Wait, you..."
Eun-ha shrugged his shoulders.
Yu Do-jun just frowned as if he didn't understand.
Meanwhile, he looked at Eun-ha as if realizing something.
"You didn't do that on purpose to marry that noona, right?"
"..."
Saying no way, right?
Yu Do-jun asked skeptically.
Eun-ha didn't answer.
That represented the answer.
"Do you like that noona?"
"I wouldn't have gotten engaged in the first place if I didn't have feelings."
"Oh my. You got engaged after falling for that noona's methods. Tell me honestly. Why did you do that?"
Yu Do-jun now didn't even look at lunch.
He stared persistently as if waiting for Eun-ha's answer.
And finally, after swallowing his food, he opened his mouth.
"Just... When that noona proposed marriage to me then, I strangely thought she looked really cute."
"What? That noona looked cute?"
"You know how she proposed to me nonchalantly but actually couldn't look at me properly and her gaze was wandering?"
"..."
Eun-ha burst out laughing.
Yu Do-jun closed his mouth at his honest words.
"Actually, I'm not sure about Seo-hyun's feelings. That noona is... she seems like she's not, but then she acts like she is."
"What on earth is seeming like she's not but acting like she is?"
"There are things like that. You should date too."
"...Just continue what you were saying."
"But seeing her act like that made me think."
As if shy.
And as if embarrassed.
Eun-ha continued speaking while feeding Buldak food.
"─I didn't want to hand her over to someone else."
"..."
"I just thought I had to keep her by my side."
"So you'll bind her with marriage?"
"I guess so?"
"Pipi pipi papa papa pupupu!"
I'm not sure what this emotion is.
No, actually I do know.
Eun-ha deliberately spoke roundabout.
To this, Yu Do-jun sighed.
"Geez... Holding onto Ha-yang too, you really have amazing possessiveness?"
"I don't want to lose this time, and I don't want to be taken away either."
"...Have you ever lost before?"
"You might not know, but I've lost a lot. And also─."
He was surely greedy.
The incarnation of possessiveness.
He also wanted certainty.
"─The administrator's role is to be responsible for the clan's affairs. It would be troublesome if such a person betrayed me. Maybe if Seo-hyun hadn't proposed marriage, I might have proposed."
He didn't want to be betrayed by her.
He wanted her to be on his side.
Strategically and emotionally.
That's what Han Seo-hyun was to him.
To this, Yu Do-jun said grumpily.
"Oh my, then do all clan lords marry their administrators? Just say you fell for that noona. Why is the kid speaking in circles? Geez, I'm going crazy, I'm going crazy."
"Pipi pipi papa papa pupupu!"
Yu Do-jun hitting his own chest.
Buldak also stopped eating and hit its own chest with its wings following him.
Eun-ha smiled bitterly.
"Hey, Eun-ha."
"What?"
"I'll tell you again and again, a harem is crazy."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I can clearly see you'll suffer a lot in the future. It's just one person now, but think about the future where you end up marrying Ha-yang later, and marrying other people even later."
"What are you saying. Ha-yang is the last."
"Do you really think that?"
"..."
"See, you're having other thoughts now. Your future looks so clear. Geez, my friend. Take good care of your body from now on."
Eun-ha made a blank expression.
Yu Do-jun expressed condolences.