Chapter 6. A Modern-Day Servant Life

It was hard to tell whether he was muttering to himself or asking Secretary Shin.

Which made it all the harder to know how to respond.

One wrong word could trigger that filthy temper of his and get him shredded.

‘That’s why you shouldn’t have answered so quickly.’

Shin clamped his mouth shut, forcing back the words he nearly let slip. He clenched his teeth to keep anything from escaping.

Gwon-ha shifted between cool detachment and simmering fury, then let out a deep sigh.

“This is driving me nuts.”

He yanked at the tie around his neck as if it were strangling him, loosening it roughly.

Then he undid a couple of buttons on his shirt.

Even standing in the middle of a rice paddy, he looked indecently sultry.

“Should I just quit?”

Shin was caught off guard.

He had never seen his boss, Kang Gwon-ha, like this before.

No matter the situation, whether angry or laughing, Gwon-ha always maintained perfect composure.

He treated his immaculate appearance like a law. Even when furious or tearing someone apart, he did it flawlessly.

—From head to toe, he’s literally PERFECT. Even when he’s sick or drunk, he doesn’t slip. I’ve even heard he doesn’t look messy when he sleeps.
—Even when he sleeps?
—Yeah… between us, it’s a kind of compulsion.

That was what his predecessor had said three years ago, tongue clicking in disbelief.

And even after experiencing it firsthand, Shin had never seen this side of him.

He must be under enormous stress, Shin thought. Then, without meaning to, he blurted out,

“Earlier, you’re the one who said there’d be no backing out…”

He realized his mistake the moment the words left his mouth.

He shouldn’t have moved his hand away from his lips.

“I did, Secretary Shin.”

The low rumble in Gwon-ha’s voice made Shin’s skin prickle like sand was being sprinkled across it.

Shin straightened up, clasping his hands in front of him like a student about to be scolded.

“I feel fucking terrible right now, and I don’t think I’m going to talk nicely.”

“Fucking terrible,” Shin thought, ‘That must taste as bitter as it sounds.’

He looked away to avoid meeting his boss’s eyes.

“So let’s get this straight. I… me…”

Here, in this pear blossom-filled countryside.

Kang Gwon-ha, the man who used to crush his seniors back when he was a private in the military.

“I’m supposed to bow my head to that younger woman here and…”

So basically… roll when told to roll, crawl when told to crawl.

“I have to play the lackey.”

“Just focus on the three percent stake, sir.”

Even with Shin’s attempt at comfort, Gwon-ha couldn’t accept the reality.

A hollow, almost mad laugh escaped him again and again.

Honestly, it had started the moment he set foot in Yehwa Village.

Then suddenly, he locked eyes with someone.

“Hey, who’s there!”

A middle-aged woman shouted, and Gwon-ha instinctively crouched down.

Shin followed suit beside him.

Pressed against the wall, both men caught their breath in silence. Gwon-ha let out a helpless laugh.

What kind of ridiculous scene was this.

“Secretary Shin, am I the discarded card?”

“…Sir?”

“Is the Chairman trying to get rid of me?”

“That’s impossible. This is all part of the Chairman’s grand plan to set you up for success—”

“Grand plan, my ass.”

It was to screw him over.

“Why is he doing this to me.”

“…”

“Did he find another option?”

Squatting under someone else’s wall made everything feel pointless.

The shares, the Daeseong Brewing chairman’s seat, all of it. He felt like throwing it away.

But as the red sunset spread across the sky, his lost sense slowly returned.

The crimson light sparked a flare of stubbornness.

After coming this far, quitting wasn’t an option.

“Phew, let’s just go for it.”

Gwon-ha pushed himself off the wall and brushed the dirt from his crumpled suit.

At that moment, the middle-aged woman burst out of the house.

Her nostrils flared with fury.

She was carrying a red plastic basin full of pale grains.

Please don’t let that be salt.

“It’s you again! Again! Good grief, you’re persistent.”

Yep. Salt.

The handfuls of coarse grains pelted his skin like stinging rain.

Of all the humiliations…

“Get out of here! We don’t care about Daeseong or whatever it’s called!”

Uncle, Aunt, just what the hell did you two pull here.

Before he could move, Shin stepped in front of him like a human shield.

He looked determined to take the hits himself.

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding. Can we talk this out instead of…”

Too late, Shin. Too late.

You should’ve come before the salt.

Gwon-ha patted Shin’s outstretched arms and moved forward.

The woman grabbed a fistful of salt and barked,

“I said get out!”

“Madam.”

“I told you I wouldn’t sell for all the money in the world, and even if you bulldoze the village, it won’t work! What’s so great about Daeseong Brewing that you keep tormenting us like this!”

“You’re absolutely right.”

“Exactly! Right— wait, what did you just say?”

“I said I completely agree with you. What is Daeseong Brewing compared to Ihwado-ga’s traditions? It’s a lowborn company.”

“A… lowborn company?”

Sensing her guard wavering, Gwon-ha pushed the lie with all his might.

He’d act like Daeseong Brewing was his sworn enemy.

It wasn’t even that far from the truth, given how he’d felt toward his grandfather earlier.

“I’ll say it again, I’m not with Daeseong Brewing, Madam. In fact, I’m on Ihwado-ga’s side, shouting ‘Down with Daeseong.’ I’ve been burned by them a lot.”

“D-Down with Daeseong? Then who exactly are you?”

“I’m the founder of a small startup that wants to promote traditional liquors like yours to the world. My name’s Kang Gwon-ha. Sadly, I don’t have business cards yet.”

Once he started, the lies flowed effortlessly.

He filled them with plausible details and logic.

“And that man?”

Her eyes turned to Shin.

“Oh, he’s my friend. We’re business partners.”

“Partners. Must be a special kind of friendship.”

She brushed the remaining salt off her hands, visibly less wary.

“Of course. Right, Dong-hun?”

Gwon-ha grinned warmly and gave Shin a look.

Smile, Secretary Shin.

This time, Shin picked up on the cue and forced a laugh.

His face was stiff as a board, but at least the sound came out.

Sweat beaded on his forehead.

“O-of course, Gwon-ha.”

“As you can see, we’re close friends.”

Gwon-ha gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder, playing the part.

Shin flinched, but the woman didn’t notice.

“Oh my, and here I was being rude. I feel terrible.”

“It’s not your fault, Madam. It’s those insolent Daeseong Brewing bastards. Right, Dong-hun?”

Why do you keep doing this to me.

Shin cursed his boss internally for putting him in this spot.

Eventually, with a face stuck between laughing and crying, he answered,

“Y-yeah. They’re terrible. The worst of the worst.”

Was that a lie or the truth?

Given how he felt right now, probably the truth.

Gwon-ha pressed on carefully.

“Madam, my friend’s been walking around with me since dawn without even a sip of water. Could we get a glass of water for him? I’m fine.”

“Oh dear. Of course I can get you some water.”

She turned to leave, then hesitated after a few steps.

Returning to them, she spoke again.

“This time of year, outsiders are strictly forbidden, but it’d be stingy of us Yehwa folks to turn you away, now wouldn’t it.”

Gwon-ha’s lips curled slowly.

“Well, there’s no cold water, but why don’t you share a bowl with us before you go?”

* * *

The Ihwado-ga servants’ quarters.

This was where workers and the occasional visitor stayed, far away from the brewing area.

It was the farthest building from the inner sanctum where Cheondo Ihwaju was made.

“You’re amazing, sir.”

Shin sat beside Gwon-ha on the porch, impressed by his boss’s quick thinking.

Even after a salt shower, the mood wasn’t bad.

They had managed to get inside Ihwado-ga. That alone was enough to report to the Chairman.

“Watch your mouth from now on, Dong-hun. They think we’re friends here.”

“…What?”

“We’re business partners, remember? You can’t just abandon me.”

“You mean I have to stay here too?”

“What, you think I’ll stay alone? Who’s going to help me?”

“…”

“You’re staying. We’re partners.”

“Sir…”

You’re going to dump everything on me, aren’t you.

Shin’s pupils trembled with unease.

As that dread washed over him, Gwon-ha patted his hand reassuringly.

“Call me by my name, Dong-hun. We’re friends now.”

“I’m a year older than you, though.”

“One-year age gaps are nothing between friends.”

While they exchanged these useless lines, a small table was set down between them with a clunk.

The brass bowls clattered loudly.

Both men snapped their heads toward it.

And then their eyes widened.

The one glaring down at them with frosty displeasure was none other than

“You ignored my warning.”

Joo Do-ah, the successor of Ihwado-ga.