Divorce in Bed Chapter 33

“Are the checks… finished?”

Dowon looked up as he set down his glass.

His gaze slowly scanned upward, starting from Yeohwi’s damp toes, moving up his legs draped in a hotel robe, past his waist, and finally reaching his face where the moisture hadn’t yet dried.

“Sit.”

The end of his voice, spat out in a commanding tone, was lowly cracked.

Without a word of complaint, Yeohwi sat on the sofa diagonally across from Dowon. As his line of sight lowered, their faces became even closer. Though he was obediently following orders, the look in Yeohwi’s eyes as he watched him wasn’t exactly submissive. He looked hungry.

“This is the framework you proposed.”

Yeohwi quickly scanned the documents placed on the table. The list of Seongga’s assets they had secured together today, along with the structural diagram of Do Jingyu’s slush funds, was spread out.

“After reviewing it, I found no need to revise the detailed plan.”

“Really? Then…”

With sparkling eyes, Yeohwi leaned forward. As he did, he caught the heavy scent of cedarwood wafting from Dowon’s suit.

“The targets are Taesung Logistics, the source of Do Jingyu’s slush funds, and Stone, the money laundry.”

Dowon picked up a fountain pen and circled Taesung Logistics at the very top of the diagram. As his upper body leaned forward, deepening the shadows inside his open shirt, Yeohwi unconsciously swallowed hard.

“Do Jingyu embezzled company funds from this unlisted company, Taesung Logistics, under the guise of dividends. That money flowed into Stone, a paper company in the Cayman Islands.”

“Yes, and he took out loans in Stone’s name to buy KD Construction stocks.”

Yeohwi naturally picked up where Dowon left off. Since these were the background facts he had memorized every day while holed up in Dowon’s study, he felt he could recite them in his sleep by now.

Because of that, his eyes were following Dowon’s mouth rather than the chart—the shape of his mouth that moved whenever he spoke, and his lips that closed slightly before parting again.

“Also, in the process, he used the purchased stocks as collateral again. To inflate the size.”

Dowon nodded and rolled the fountain pen in his hand. His long finger joints moved elastically, creating a sense of rhythm.

“We aim for exactly that weak link: the collateral.”

Yeohwi pointed to the documents he had brought from the bank today.

“The funds are ready. Since I’ve secured liquidity by cashing out all the convertible bonds and debentures I inherited. Now it’s time to establish the offshore fund with this money.”

Yeohwi planned to set up a private equity fund in the British Virgin Islands, a third country where tracking was impossible. On the surface, it would be disguised as foreign capital, but in reality, it was entirely Seong Yeohwi’s capital.

To defend his management rights, Do Jingyu had been recklessly and aggressively purchasing shares of KD. He repeatedly took out loans using stocks as collateral and used that money to buy more stocks. As a result, a massive tower of debt, built up unreasonably, had emerged.

Now, what would happen if Yeohwi bought up the toxic debt that Do Jingyu had borrowed so much of through the offshore fund he established?

The answer was simple.

Seong Yeohwi would become Do Jingyu’s creditor. In an instant, Do Jingyu would be reduced to the status of a debtor heavily indebted to Yeohwi.

Above all, the most brilliant and fantastic part was that the collateral for the loans consisted of the KD borrowed-name stocks that Do Jingyu had illegally embezzled and painstakingly collected until now. Not only did they hold Do Jingyu by the throat, but if Do Jingyu failed to repay that debt, the stocks would all belong to Seong Yeohwi.

“Have you decided on a name for the fund?”

Dowon asked after taking a sip of whisky. His Adam’s apple could be seen bobbing significantly as he swallowed.

“Hmm, I was torn between a few candidates, but I was thinking of ONE.”

“ONE?”

“Yes, ONE. Because of Dowon.”

“…”

He put the remaining ice from his glass into his mouth and rolled it around. The clinking sound of the ice was strangely erotic.

“Why, do you not like it? The fact that the name of the fund I own is Mister Dowon’s name.”

Yeohwi grinned. The corners of his eyes slanted long, and the skin under his eyes puffed up.

The corners of Dowon’s mouth curled up bitingly.

“Rather than that, you’d better hope your identity isn’t discovered. What if my eldest uncle gets even a whiff of it?”

“Oh, come on. And even if he does find out, it won’t be a problem. There’s absolutely no way for him to counterattack.”

“Hmph.”

“All that’s left is Mister Dowon’s turn.”

Yeohwi’s eyes shone sharply. He didn’t avoid Dowon’s clashing gaze; instead, he lifted his chin and looked at him provocatively.

“As soon as we return to Korea, Mister Dowon will move the legal team to attack Taesung Logistics. An injunction to inspect and copy accounting books, and a lawsuit for an injunction to prohibit dividend payments.”

Dowon added coldly.

“Right. The justification is sufficient. Suspicions of private profit-taking by the owner’s family. If we blow this open, the financial authorities will begin an investigation, and all of Taesung Logistics’ funds will be frozen.”

“Once the money flow is blocked… Do Jingyu will lose the cash to pay the interest on the loans from Stone. Even if he knows who is behind ONE, he’ll have no choice but to take the hit. He’ll be trapped.”

“The moment the interest is overdue, the ONE fund, as the creditor, will declare an Event of Default (EOD).”

Event of Default (EOD). It was the creditor’s right to recover the full principal even before maturity when the debtor fails to fulfill obligations such as interest payments. Based on this, the ONE fund would gain the authority to dispose of the collateralized stocks.

“Demanding that he repay all the borrowed money immediately.”

But Do Jingyu has no money on hand.

“Then we just execute the security rights and it’s over. Bang. Game end.”

Then they could forcibly take the entire amount of KD Construction stocks that had been held as collateral. All the shares Do Jingyu had spent his life sneaking away and collecting would belong to Seong Yeohwi.

Usually, in such cases, they would be sold on the market to be liquidated, but Dowon and Yeohwi’s goal was not cash, but the shares themselves to secure management rights of KD.

“Do Jingyu will be left as a mere empty shell.”

Dowon set down his whisky glass and looked at Yeohwi, who was meeting his eyes with a flushed face. He saw something swirling in his pupils. The determination of someone who had jumped into a lawless war, and behind that, an intense desire that was constantly surging and boiling.

Seong Yeohwi had now shed the skin of a child who knew nothing of the world. Just as a caterpillar emerges from its cocoon and metamorphoses into a butterfly, Seong Yeohwi had escaped the Seong Yeohwi of the past. Dowon had made him that way. A comrade-in-arms who could stand facing him on this board, sharing understanding and tactics, and wielding a sword together. Or a partner. And…

“It’s perfect,” Yeohwi muttered.

His gaze clung persistently to Dowon’s eyes.

“Yes.”

Dowon, cutting off useless thoughts, leaned back and replied languidly.

“Only the execution remains.”

“…But, Mister Dowon.”

Yeohwi called out to him, resting his chin on his hand at the table.

“If we take Do Jingyu’s shares, it’s basically the same as Mister Dowon winning the succession battle.”

“I suppose so,” Dowon replied dryly.

“Then… won’t we not have to worry anymore?”

Yeohwi asked cautiously, yet with desperation in his voice. At the same time, he reached out and covered the back of Dowon’s hand, which was resting on the table.

His hot palm pressed against Dowon’s cold skin. It felt as if an electric current was passing between them.

“Do Jingyu, who was the greatest risk factor, will be gone. Not just for me, but couldn’t Mister Dowon also stop living while killing your emotions? You won’t need to act out a version of yourself that isn’t real anymore, nor will you need to hide.”

“…”

“Then Mister Dowon will be able to do everything you want to do. If that happens… then, surely, with me too…”

Yeohwi’s breathing grew heavy. His light brown eyes gradually grew moist with expectation.

A peaceful future after the elaborately prepared battle ends and the great threat of Do Jingyu disappears. He found it hard to hide the faint hope that, at that time, Dowon might truly look at Seong Yeohwi.

But Dowon said nothing.

He downed the remaining whisky in his glass in one gulp. Tak. The expression on his face as he set the empty glass down with a thud looked displeased. One could detect a creeping anger emanating from his furrowed brow.

He had never thought about life after taking over the management rights of KD. To him, life was always a war, peace was a luxury, and emotions were a weakness to be carved out. That was simply it.

To him, who was focused on the struggle for survival in the immediate reality, Yeohwi—who kept crashing into him while dreaming of a fleeting future—was nothing more than a strange error. Because those eyes were too clear, Dowon felt sick to his stomach.