Chapter 1529 Educating (4)

“You still can’t contact him?”

“Yes, sir.”

Kim Sang-Ho’s expression crumpled. “Dammit!”

Just where was Jeong Myeong-Cheol hiding that no one could find him? Especially in the current situation?

Dammit...! He probably has holed himself up somewhere and is getting high right about now!

If only Kim Sang-Ho knew where that “somewhere” was! He’d have wished for nothing more right now. He could anonymously tip the police off so that that bastard would rot in jail for a long time, after all!

“Fuu...!”

Kim Sang-Ho spat out a lengthy groan.

Jeong Myeong-Cheol disappearing like this was actually not a bad development for the company. No, objectively speaking, it’d be better if he didn’t show up at all for a while.

Whenever an organization faced existential threats, its people needed to unite and speak in one voice to overcome said threats. However, the “Jeong Myeong-Cheol” Kim Sang-Ho knew was irredeemable trash of a rebel. If they experienced tailwinds, he was the type to set sail in the opposite direction. If the conditions were favorable for rowing, he’d break the oars just for fun!

Why? Because doing so would give him the opportunity to mock and jeer his struggling subordinates!

Right. His absence is for the best.

Kim Sang-Ho chewed on his lips. What pissed him off right now was Jeong Myeong-Cheol’s irresponsible behavior, not because he needed that little bastard to be here. Indeed, how could he be so immature and disappear from the face of the earth when the company was facing a serious problem?

“Dammit...”

Kim Sang-Ho shot up to his feet in irritation, then headed to the roof. He shoved the roof access door open and headed to the smoking area at the far corner before mouthing a cigarette.

Just for how long am I supposed to endure this rubbish?!

Even Kim Sang-Ho had a dream once upon a time. A hope. When he first got a job at this company as a young man, he swore to become a successful businessman and a renowned merchant. He promised himself to become a high-ranking member of the organization through his abilities.

By now, he had made half of his pledge come true. However, what he had earned so far was a cushy-sounding position and success. Worse still, that position was his only because of all the ass-kissing and throwing his lot in with the correct people, that was all.

Damn. I can’t even openly boast about myself.

Some people were envious of Kim Sang-Ho’s success. He had heard countless times about how... How none of it mattered as long as he could become rich doing so.

Kim Sang-Ho used to agree with those sentiments. Until recently, that was.

With his retirement looming ever closer, and as he began looking back on his lengthy salaryman career, a question filled his head and didn’t want to let him go.

Have I really done a good job in this place?

That might be so, judging from how many good things he enjoyed right now. Look at his wonderful house or his car that made others envious!

His kids all went to prestigious universities and were about to become productive members of society.

One might not say his life was completely satisfactory, but even so, he could hold his head high at how well he had done for himself.

His life had been a success story. Even if he died tomorrow, he could proudly say that out loud. To his eyes, his life had worked out well, and even other people would find it difficult to pick faults with where his life was currently at.

Despite believing that way, though...

What was this... this empty feeling deep inside of him?

Kim Sang-Ho silently puffed away at his cigarette.

It’s... too late now.

When he was still young and filled with energy, he genuinely believed success would reward him handsomely in due course. And after realizing that he was finally on a steep upward trajectory, he told himself he only needed to endure a little more, and it’d all be over soon.

But now that he was here....?

“What’s the point of being successful?”

His body was aged. His friends had left him. Even if he had money and time now, there wasn’t a lot he could do with them, nor was he interested in doing something in the first place.

He didn’t know. He didn’t know that the things he had to throw away on the path to success could never be found again.

Kim Sang-Ho thought he could make friends again. He thought hobbies could be found later. As for his strained relationship with his family... As long as work didn’t get in the way, he thought he could mend it at any time he wanted.

Unfortunately for him, though, none of that happened.

His estranged friends all sounded disinterested when he got in touch with them. And nothing interested him enough to become his new hobby. Because, he had forgotten how to enjoy things by now.

During vacations, when he didn’t have to go anywhere or do anything, all he did was dazedly sit on the sofa and flip through TV channels.

How did he end up this way? This wasn’t the destination he wanted to reach. He believed that working hard and enduring life would eventually reward him, so why...?

“Fuu-woo...”

Kim Sang-Ho exhaled the cigarette smoke as a hollow smirk crept up on his lips.

There wasn’t much he could do about it now. After all, he was no different from a creaky, ancient train that had lost its forward momentum, anyway.

When he was still young, he probably still possessed enough energy to break free from this trajectory. But now? He couldn’t do that. Not with his own strength.

Now, he had only enough strength to shove the creaky, worn-down parts onto the ancient train until they fit somehow and keep chugging along on this trajectory, even though he had no idea how or where it would end.

No, it’s probably until my fuel runs out.

Kim Sang-Ho sucked in as much cigarette smoke as possible into his lungs, then looked up at the skies above. What a beautifully clear blue sky that was, with not even a speck of clouds in sight.

When was the last time I did this?

This, as in looking up at the sky? Even though it felt like he used to do this often?

Kim Sang-Ho stubbed the cigarette out.

His heart was too withered and dry to appreciate what nature had to offer. And with how long it had been, he felt awkward about becoming sentimental about things like this.

Vrrrrrrring!

Vrrrrrr!

Kim Sang-Ho shoved his wrinkled hand into his pocket to yank out his phone.

“...Yes, chairman. This is Kim Sang-Ho speaking.”

Kim Sang-Ho’s face stiffened slightly.

“No, sir. We also can’t get in touch with him, either. Although we’ve been searching for his whereabouts high and low, the president goes radar-silent for days at a time, so...”

Kim Sang-Ho reflexively bowed. Even though he was only talking on the phone!

He wasn’t stupid enough not to realize that the chairman couldn’t see him right now. However, his entire being had become so used to the life of a salaryman that his waist meekly melted forward even before he grew conscious of what he had done.

“Yes, sir... Sir? Oh. I assure you, I will deal with the issue without...”

Kim Sang-Ho stopped talking and squeezed his eyes shut.

The enraged roar and a torrent of insults coming from the phone’s speaker began stabbing his ear. More depressing was the fact that Kim Sang-Ho was in no position to take his ear away right now.

“...My apologies, chairman. We will ensure no harm falls on the president.”

The line had gone dead by the time Kim Sang-Ho had finished his sentence. He wordlessly stared at the phone before looking up at the heavens once more.

“Even if he’s a son of a b*tch, he’s your son of a b*tch in your backyard, is that it?”

However, wasn’t that always the story with these people?

No matter how bad the incidents caused by Jeong Myeong-Cheol had been, the chairman of the one and only Taegwang Group never abandoned him.

No matter how many times the chairman called Jeong Myeong-Cheol names, lost his cool at his grandson, and even beat the little bastard up with his cane... This family would never kick one of their own outside their backyard.

On the other hand, here was Kim Sang-Ho, who had practically abandoned his life in service of this company, receiving endless carrots and praises for the past several decades but never getting that permission to take a step inside this backyard!

This was a castle meant only for them. A space only they were allowed in, but not Kim Sang-Ho.

He knew. He knew that these people would unhesitantly throw him away if he made one mistake, no matter how trivial that mistake was.

Because he was worthless to them. Only those living within their boundary, their backyard, meant something to them. Everyone else living outside of it? They were merely tools. Indeed, tools. Nothing more.

Who would remember all the hard work of a vacuum cleaner that loyally served one’s family for over a decade until its parts all wore out? Who would thank their shoe that protected its wearer’s foot even as its soles got torn apart, and holes pockmarked it everywhere?

That was what it meant to be tools.

Kim Sang-Ho’s devotion, his loyalty... Those were nothing more than what was expected from mere tools. Once the tools had gotten old and worn down, their owners would throw them away unhesitantly.

Kim Sang-Ho chuckled hollowly.

Damn. Even though I knew all this from the start...

For some reason, this knowledge stabbed him more painfully than ever today.

Kim Sang-Ho groaned deeply again before turning around to leave.

So what if I feel this way?

When this was the only thing left for him?

It wasn’t even funny anymore. His devotion to this company had cost him everything. All he had now was his aged body, a kind of success other people wouldn’t be jealous of, and money with not much use.

In other words, he had morphed into an existence that wasn’t needed or wanted anywhere outside of work.

Maybe it’s because I started buttoning my shirt wrong from the get-go?

Even if that was true, so what? It was too late to re-button his shirt now, after all. Since that was the case, he should just grin and keep wearing this funnily buttoned-up shirt. Because he certainly couldn’t strip in public, now could he?

Kim Sang-Ho’s face stiffened as he left the rooftop. When he pushed open the door to the conference room, though, people with nervous faces greeted him back.

“Sir, President Jeong is...”

“He won’t be joining us for the foreseeable future,” said Kim Sang-Ho.

“Sorry? But at this sensitive time...!”

“What does that matter?! When him being here wouldn’t have helped us, anyway!”

“...”

Kim Sang-Ho hurriedly clamped his mouth shut. His agitation must’ve gotten the better of him, seeing how he blurted out something he shouldn’t have.

He spat out a lengthy groan, then tried to get things moving again.

“The president won’t be joining us during our meetings for a while. Let’s focus on fixing the most pressing issues first. How are things looking with the police?”

“Sir, that’s...”

Kim Sang-Ho’s expression stiffened once more as he listened to the report.

Right. For now, focus on what’s in front of our faces first.

That was how he lived his life, after all!

***

“Urgh...!”

Jeong Myeong-Cheol writhed.

“Urgh... Euh...!”

He continued to whimper and grunt in pain like a dying man.

Every part of his body was screaming in agony. His joints, every single one of them, creaked painfully and noisily, while he couldn’t put much strength into his muscles. His throat was so hoarse from all the screaming and shouting that even swallowing his saliva caused a horrifying burning pain from somewhere in his neck.

Damn it! I’ll really die at this rate!

This place was filled with lunatics.

Even now, Jeong Myeong-Cheol still had no clue where he was. However, at least he was certain of one thing now—all these people surrounding him and tormenting him endlessly were all insane.

Jeong Myeong-Cheol often heard other people accusing him of being a loon, but compared to these bastards? It’d not be an exaggeration to say he had been living a righteous life until now!

“Urgh...!”

He tried to stand up, but couldn’t put any strength into his muscles.

How long am I supposed to do this?

One hour felt like a day. A day felt like a year.

These bastards must know how to drive a person insane. That must be why they always pushed him to the limits of his physical and mental capabilities but backed off just before he could truly lose his mind.

His pain would’ve been more tolerable had he gone insane, but these bastards never crossed that line. If their goal was to maximise his torment, this method had to be the contender for the best one ever devised by mankind!

Jeong Myeong-Cheol looked at his arms trying to push his torso up from the floor. They were trembling precariously.

He was lying alone in a room that could’ve easily housed twenty people.

I... I need to escape from here!

Jeong Myeong-Cheol’s eyes quaked weakly.

At this rate, he’d really die. Not because he got beaten up to death, no, but more like his stamina had completely run out!

He somehow forced his trembling body to stand up again.

No one is watching me right now!

Thankfully, these bastards hadn’t placed any guards nearby. Maybe they figured that he had passed out from all the fatigue.

That exit over there...

As long as that doorway wasn’t locked!

Jeong Myeong-Cheol kept pushing his shaky legs to walk. He staggered toward the sole doorway in the room. If he could help it, he wanted to make as little noise as possible, but it was not possible to mask the faint footsteps in his current physical condition.

“Fuu-huuph...”

He caught his breath before gripping the doorknob tightly. After turning the knob, he carefully pulled the door open.

Much to his relief, the door slowly opened while making only a hushed noise. It seemed his captors hadn’t locked it from the outside.

I need to find a house, and then...

If he could contact the cops somehow, every one of these insane bastards would end up behind bars, and he...

“What do you want?”

“...”

Jeong Myeong-Cheol’s head slowly turned toward that voice. And that was when he saw three people sitting in a circle while casually puffing away at their cigarettes. A blanket lay on the ground in the center of this circle, and on top of it were a bunch of playing cards.

“...”

Did these insane bastards not sleep?!

“I said, what do you want?”

“Oh, uh... Umm...”

Jeong Myeong-Cheol desperately searched for an excuse.

“I, uh, the toilet...”

“Toilet?”

“Y-yes. My stomach hurts suddenly...”

“Oh? Sure, that could happen.” The man nearest to the doorway nodded, then picked something up next to him and pushed it toward Jeong Myeong-Cheol. “Here. Use this.”

“What... What is this?”

“You don’t know what a chamber pot is? What the hell? I heard you’re a gold spoon, but to think you don’t even know what this is!”

“...”

“Use this to take care of your business, okay? Look after it well throughout the night, then empty it out tomorrow morning. You better not spill it, though, because if you do, I’m gonna spill your blood instead.”

“...”

“Go on now. Back inside.”

“...Yes, of course.”

Jeong Myeong-Cheol obediently accepted the chamber pot and slunk back inside the room. After closing the door behind him, he stared at the round metallic object glistening in a silvery hue gripped in his hands for a long, long time.

Eventually, though, he plopped down on his butt.

You... You sons of b*tches!

They all had to be inhuman monsters!