Hazardous Concentration Chapter 20

Although he appeared calm, Yeo Taejun was angrier than ever. It was true that he hadn’t disliked him, but that didn’t mean he had liked him. To Yeo Taejun, Lee Jaewook was nothing more than a pebble on the roadside.

If he had just stayed quiet without causing any more trouble, Yeo Taejun had intended to guarantee him a comfortable retirement, acknowledging the merit of the father who had died in place of his grandfather. Yet, the man didn’t even know his place and caused such a disaster.

“Why are you taking out your frustrations in the wrong place just because you and your useless son were fired for incompetence?”

Lee Jaewook struggled and screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Do you think you’ll be fine after doing something like this?!”

He felt aggrieved. He had lived his whole life in the shadow of Yeo Jiseung. The world felt hateful when a man who was no better than him in any way inherited TS simply because he was born as the former chairman’s son.

Furthermore, his son, Lee Suwon, had also been compared to Yeo Taejun at every turn and forced to remain in second place. On top of that, he had been kicked out with nothing more than a pittance for severance pay, and his son had lost his director position at Holdings. His fury hit the sky. The hatred he had built up his entire life against the Yeo family exploded. He wanted to kill Yeo Taejun and Yeo Jiseung right then and there. However, approaching the two of them was not easy. So, he had attacked the relatively easier target, Yeo Gijoon. In short, he had acted on his immediate anger without thinking about the consequences, and once he had done it, he was so afraid that he ran away.

“From now on, my uncle has one choice: tell me who helped you while I’m still asking nicely. Who is it?”

Yeo Taejun was certain. A bastard like Lee Jaewook was the type to spill everything if scared just a little. But for some reason, as soon as he dug into who was behind him, the coward shut his lips tight as if he had never done so. Yeo Taejun let out a laugh.

“It can’t be out of loyalty….”

“I, I don’t know.”

“Is Lee Suwon held in someone’s hands or something?”

“…!”

At the mention of his son, Lee Jaewook’s eyes widened, and his mouth fell open. Yeo Taejun looked heartlessly at his face, which had flushed red with distress.

“This is interesting.”

Lee Jaewook flinched. That was answer enough. Yeo Taejun grasped the situation immediately.

“Fine. I’ll just find out on my own.”

It would just take a little time; it wasn’t as if there were no ways.

“It’s actually a relief. I was worried you might beg me to spare you by telling me.”

Yeo Taejun had no intention of letting Lee Jaewook live from the start. Due to this accident, Yeo Gijoon had sustained not only a fractured collarbone but wounds in several other places that required recuperation. Among them, the fracture in his right ankle was severe, requiring rehabilitation for the time being.

“From now on, I will return the same amount of shock to you as you inflicted on my brother.”

At the sharp, low voice, Lee Jaewook looked up at Yeo Taejun, trembling. The hand that had been gripping his jaw moved to his throat. Yeo Taejun tightened his grip even more, as if he would cut off his breath right there.

“Shall we start with the ankle first? Seung-yoon.”

As soon as the words were spoken, one of his subordinates stepped forward and bent down.

“What are you… Aaaagh!”

Before he could even ask, a snapping sound came from his ankle. The iron chair creaked. Lee Jaewook’s desperate scream echoed through the building.

Yeo Taejun grimaced.

“Everything else is fine, but your ears are noisy. Gag him.”

The man called Seung-yoon took off the glove he had been wearing and stuffed it into Lee Jaewook’s mouth. Yeo Taejun closed his eyes and flicked his fingers.

Snap, crackle—the sound of bones breaking continued several more times.

When he finished tending to his ribs last, the man was left limp, seemingly without the strength to scream anymore.

However, the real hell started from there.

“Is it over?”

“Yes.”

Starting from the ankle bones, the state of Lee Jaewook, whose knees, arms, and collarbones were all shattered, was gruesome.

One of his subordinates spread out the tools in a line with an expressionless face. There were small and large knives, as well as blunt weapons like hammers and axes.

Yeo Taejun looked them over and pointed at one. It was a pair of scissors. They were just a bit larger than typical scissors. The subordinate handed them over with an expressionless face.

“Wake him up.”

No sooner had he spoken than water was poured over Lee Jaewook’s face.

“Gasp! Cough.”

Yeo Taejun looked down at the startled Lee Jaewook with a dry gaze and whispered, “I think I need to correct one thing I said earlier.”

Yeo Taejun stared quietly at the cold scissor blade.

“Come to think of it, it’s not that I didn’t dislike you, Uncle. I think I actually quite disliked it when you spewed out those pathetic things with that mouth of yours.”

He thought it was one thing if it was his real uncle, but when someone who wasn’t even an elder of the family acted like a superior and gave him all sorts of useless advice, he really had wanted to cut that tongue out.

Yeo Taejun gripped his chin tight, forcing Lee Jaewook to open his mouth. He pulled out the clump of gloves his subordinate had stuffed in earlier. The bloody saliva trailed out long because of how much he had struggled. Yeo Taejun grimaced and tossed the wet gloves onto the floor.

“Mmmph. St, stop!”

The cold blade entered his mouth. Lee Jaewook shook his body like a madman.

“Ph-please, I was wro—Haaagh!”

The iron chair shrieked. The more he thrashed, the more the cable ties dug into the skin of his wrists.

“…!”

Every time the handles moved, the sharp double blades clicked shut—snip, snip. Before long, red blood pooled beneath the chair.

As if it were about to rain, a scent of water filled the air as they stepped outside. Beside him, Kim Hyunseong delivered the report he hadn’t been able to give until now.

“We have almost tracked down Lee Suwon’s location, so it won’t take long to bring him in.”

“Tell them to hurry.”

“Yes.”

“What should we do with Executive Director Lee Jaewook?”

Yeo Taejun washed his hands at the sink and answered nonchalantly. The blood on his hands mixed with the water and flowed down the drain.

“Treat him just enough so he doesn’t die, and put him in a suitable local sanatorium.”

“Are you going to let him live?”

To Kim Hyunseong, who asked back in surprise, Yeo Taejun muttered as if it were interesting.

“Why, should I kill him? That would be the cleanest way, but he’s still someone I once called Uncle, so I can’t do that.”

Even if he was a half-cripple, being alive and being dead were different matters. Yeo Taejun wiped his wet hands thoroughly with the handkerchief Kim Hyunseong handed him.

“There’s no need to make the other executives uneasy.”

Even if it were a justified response, if it were too extreme, even those who were loyal would only have their hearts shaken by anxiety. There was no need to cause unnecessary chaos at this time.

At Yeo Taejun’s answer, Kim Hyunseong wore an expression that said, ‘Of course.’ He glanced at his boss. His hair, neatly slicked back with pomade, and his perfectly set features stood out. He was perfect. Except for the bright red blood splattered on the front of his shirt.

“Where shall I take you?”

“To the company.”

Yeo Taejun naturally got into the backseat where Kim Hyunseong opened the door. After slamming the car door shut, Kim Hyunseong moved to the passenger seat.

There was a rumbling sound, and before long, raindrops began to fall from the sky one by one.

Rrr—.

Yeo Taejun checked his phone and was about to light a cigarette before he stopped and grimaced.

“Yeo Gijoon.”

—Hyuuung.

“I guess you’re living well enough now?”

Until yesterday, he could barely handle daily conversation, let alone phone calls. He had spent most of his time asleep after receiving painkillers for the pain.

—No, it hurts.

“I sent you away to study, and you cause trouble by drinking until dawn. A fine job you’re doing.”

—I only had one drink. I also waited several hours before driving. No, more than that—can you only say that to your brother who is lying here after an accident?

It was his first call after the accident, and he was being scolded from the start, so Yeo Gijoon made a crying sound as if he were aggrieved. He had been spoiled because he was the late-born child, and now he was like this.

“Where is Chief Seo?”

—He’s next to me.

“You listen to Chief Seo well.”

—I am already. More than that, Hyung, I hurt so much.

“Of course you hurt. You broke several bones. But be thankful that it ended at least to that extent.”