Pay With Your Heart

493 Not Stopping His Scheming

“Press conference? What’s it for?” Eun-sun curiously inquired. She had not heard anything about it, not even from her department group chat, so she wondered what it was about.

“It’s for the ongoing projects, especially the centenary project, and I’m sure they’d ask about the collapsed building in country B, which Ji-Tae is currently working on.”

“Ji-Tae?” Eun-sun looked at him with surprise. “You gave it to Ji-Tae? Why?” Why would he even do that? she wondered.

“It was meant to be a trap to lure him and whoever is sponsoring him out, but so far, I’ve got nothing,” Dan-Han explained.

Luring whoever was sponsoring Ji-Tae? Who was that? It seemed like so much more was going on that she was clueless about.

Dan-Han sighed when he saw the solemn look on her face. He held her hand and led her to the sofa while he remained standing.

He hesitated and sighed as he dipped his hands into his pocket. He wasn’t sure he wanted to tell her this as she might be angry again, but he had already promised ‘again’.

“Remember the incident with A-Yeong and her child?” He asked, and Eun-sun nodded. She could vividly remember it, as well as A-Yeong’s child.

“So the thing was, their last shipment wasn’t drugs but substandard materials, which Ji-Tae had wanted to use to sabotage the centenary project.”

.....

“Sabotage?” Eun-sun’s eyes went wide with surprise.

Dan-Han nodded as he began to narrate everything that had transpired in the past months to her. How Ji-Tae had wanted to replace his ordered materials with substandard ones, and how he had sent them back to country B to force Ji-Tae’s hand to reveal his sponsor, but till now, he was yet to determine that.

Eun-sun was taken aback by what he told her, and she stared at him wide-eyed.

“Wh...why didn’t you tell me all these?” She dumbfoundedly asked. She couldn’t believe all this had happened, and she had been clueless about it.

“I just didn’t want to stress you or put you in harm’s way. You were already so stressed with finding your parents and my dad’s maltreatment of you. I just didn’t want to—”

“But you helped me with my parents’ issue too.” She practically did nothing, and she couldn’t imagine he had left all these to help her find her parents. He had prioritized her happiness over everything else.

Oh! the burden he must have carried.

Her eyes glistened with tears as she stared at him.

Dan-Han’s brows creased when he saw the despondent look on her face. “Are you crying?” He asked, and Eun-sun shook her head.

“No, I’m not.” She sniffled, but Dan-Han didn’t believe her. He sat by her side and pulled her in.

“This was why I didn’t want to tell you. You’ll always feel bad for me.”

“I’m meant to feel that way if you’re being overpowered.” She countered, and Dan-Han agreed with her.

He pulled her close and hugged her by the shoulders. “It’s okay now. Everything is under control.” He assured her, but Eun-sun didn’t believe him even though she wanted to.

“But do you suspect anyone who’d want to sponsor him, and why?” Eun-sun asked.

Dan-Han fell silent for a while. “There are a lot of people who are not happy with my family and me. I’ve made personal enemies aside from my fathers, so there’s a long list.”

“And there’s also my uncle,” Eun-sun reasoned out. She hated that Dan-Han had acquired one more enemy because of her.

“Yong-Gun is not a formidable enemy. I’ll handle him as soon as I’m done with the things on my desk. We’ll go back together, and I’ll put an end to him.” Dan-Han told her, and even though Eun-sun wanted to ask how he’d do it, she silently nodded. She didn’t want the details.

“So what are you going to do about Ji-Tae? It doesn’t seem like he’d stop scheming against you anytime soon, especially not after what just happened in the meeting.” She told him, but Dan-Han already knew that, and he didn’t want her to worry.

He brushed his hand down her hair to smoothen the ruffled strands. “I can handle Ji-Tae. You don’t have to worry about him. He’s still the kid I grew up with, and I have a plan to set him in order and, if possible, put him back with the family he should have.”

Eun-sun stared up at him. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” He affirmed. “I know Ji-Tae very well, and as much as he likes power, he loves his life more, and he hates losing what he has branded his, and that’s how I’m going to set him in line.” He told her as he thought about the plan he had already set in motion.

Eun-sun didn’t clearly understand what he was saying, but she didn’t want to stress it so he wouldn’t arrive late to the press conference.

“Okay.” She simply said as she began to fix his jacket.

“We can talk more after the close of work. I don’t want you to be late, and I’d like to talk to my director and request to begin work as soon as possible.”

“Work?” Dan-Han frowned at the sound of that. “You still want to work there?” He questioned, and Eun-sun readily bobbed her head.

“I want to keep my job, or do you want to fire me?”

“Yes, I will, but aside from that, you should talk to your father first. I’m sure he has other plans in store for you. With Yong-Gun gone from the company, the responsibilities fall back to him, and, by extension, that means his children. Given his health, you should be getting groomed to take over with Mi-Cha. I heard she just got her MBA, and you should do the same. I’ll look up some schools for you that will be suitable and within reach. I don’t want you far away from me.”

Huh? Eun-sun confusedly blinked at him.

Why were they suddenly talking about taking over and school?

MBA? Where was this coming from?

“Dan-Han, you’re moving too fast. I’m not even sure if I want to accept working elsewhere or to take over—”

“You should already consider it, and you should get used to moving fast because in this world you’ve just stepped into, there’s a lot of fast movement, and you have to stay at your best and wits at all times.”

Eun-sun confoundedly looked at him, unsure of what to say.

She shook her head to gather her thoughts. “You should go for your press conference. We’ll talk about things later.” She told him, not wanting to dwell on the subject anymore.

Dan-Han silently looked at her. He grazed her cheek with his thumb. “I know everything is happening too fast, and you’re worried there’d be a lot of responsibilities and expectations from you. I know you’re scared. I was scared too.”

“But I’m not like you. I’m not prepared for any of this. I don’t have what it takes or the knowledge it requires. The shares he gave me, I don’t know what to do with them.”

“But I know, and I’ll teach you. I’ll teach you everything you need to know and help you do your best. Just keep an open mind on things, and I know you’re more capable of doing anything. You’re special, and that’s what you have to trust.”

Eun-sun was scared, and even hearing him say all this, she was still scared. Nevertheless, she nodded, and he kissed her forehead.

“Don’t worry about anything. You’ll be fine.” He assured her, and she concurred, choosing to believe his words.

Dan-Han sighed when he looked at the time again. He rose to his feet, and Eun-sun helped him fix his clothes.

“Wait here. I’ll be back soon.” He told her, and Eun-sun nodded.

“I’ll see my dad first, and I’ll wait.”

“Good, but stay away from Ji-Tae if you bump into him. He isn’t stable at the moment.”

Eun-sun was sure the boy had never been stable in his life. His words from the elevator suddenly came to her mind about having something he wanted to do against Dan-Han but would be saving for later.

She wondered if she should tell him, as well as ask him if he knew something she should be grateful to Ji-Tae about.

“Dan-Han, did Ji-Tae do something for me I don’t know about?” She suddenly asked, and he looked up from his phone to her.

“Did he say he did something?”

“Well, he just rambled something about me not being grateful for saving my life.”

“Saving your life?” Dan-Han’s brows drew together in a tight knot as he pondered on it.

“Is there something he did I don’t know about?” She inquired and keenly observed him.

Dan-Han couldn’t think of anything Ji-Tae had done or how he had saved her life.

“I don’t think there is.” He told her.

“Really? Then he must have been toiling with me.” She wouldn’t put it past him to be mischievous.

Their gaze turned towards the door when Chang-wok knocked and cautiously stepped into the office. “Sir, it’s time.” He informed Dan-Han.

Dan-Han slipped his phone into his pocket and kissed Eun-sun on her temple. “Don’t worry about him. Just stay away from him, and we’ll talk when I get back.” He told her, and Eun-sun nodded.

Dan-Han walked away with Chang-wok while Eun-sun prayed in her heart for Dan-Han to always be safe.

The last thing they needed at the moment was another batch of trouble, but the more she prayed, the more her heart felt heavy and restless.