Chapter 142: Someone’s Resolve (1)

Yu Hyeon-seok nodded and opened his mouth quietly.

"This is the part I confirmed from my side. Probably, if we go deeper, we will be able to identify who was involved at the time."

I was lost in thought for a moment, then I smiled and spoke.

"It is enough just that you confirmed up to this point. Both of you worked hard. Thanks to you, I caught a clue."

Kim Jongseok stood up from his seat and spoke.

"I am sorry I could not be of much help."

"Not at all. I will look into it from now on."

Yu Hyeon-seok spoke as if he were somewhat worried.

"Please be even more careful from now on, Representative. I do not have a good feeling."

"Yes, I shall do so."

After the two left, the office became quiet again.

I stood up from my seat and moved my body here and there.

Even though I took a rest on the plane, I was tired.

Furthermore, thinking about the matter from a while ago gave me a headache.

It was because someone's face came to my mind.

What was clear was the fact that Daehan Group was involved in this matter.

Chairman Nam Kun-ho would not have proceeded with the work without knowing.

If so, he would certainly be behind it.

"Nam Kun-ho…."

I, who was catching my breath while looking out the window for a moment, lifted my cell phone.

"Secretary Cho, I must investigate the company called J&T Marine Tech. Please form a dedicated team."

-How shall we form the members?

"Please include Advisor Hong Jang-gun. And for finance, Manager Shim Ye-seong of the Fund Management Team and… Lawyer Shin Ji-hyeon must also go in."

-Yes, I understand.

After finishing the call, I walked toward the desk while rubbing the corners of my eyes.

As I sat in the chair, I wore a cold smile.

***

After the Hyunjun group left, silence settled in the Rajan residence.

The space that was filled with laughter and conversation until just a few days ago was now left with only heavy and cold silence.

Arjun sat alone in the study and unfolded the documents he had been ignoring one by one.

Tara Steel's debt, the details of foreign capital inflow….

With every page he turned, his fingertips gradually stiffened.

Finally, he stood up quietly from his seat.

The door to Ravindra's office opened slowly.

Inside, Ravindra was still sitting.

Arjun approached without a word and then, suddenly, he knelt.

"Father… I was wrong."

Seeing Arjun speaking in a firm voice, Ravindra stood up from his seat as if he were surprised.

"What do you mean by that, Arjun?"

Arjun placed both hands on the floor with his head lowered.

"Everything is my fault. I am sorry for being stubborn because of Tara Steel."

It was an apology containing Arjun's sincerity.

He was a son who had never once lowered his head before his father all this time.

Ravindra looked at him with surprised eyes and then kept his mouth shut for a while.

Usually, a scolding would have flowed out first.

However, the current Arjun was different from before.

He spoke in a soft voice.

"It is enough just that you realized it now."

But Arjun did not lift his head.

"No, Father. Only now have I realized how foolish I have been all this time."

Arjun's hands trembled minutely while pressed against the floor.

"To revive Tara Steel, a massive amount of capital is required. I know it is not a problem that can be solved simply by emotion. However…."

He continued speaking while catching his breath for a moment.

"That company is not a simple steel enterprise. They are those who started together with us. It is a place where the sweat of those who raised the industry of our motherland is dwelling. If we turn away from them just because they are relatives, people will criticize the Rajan family for a long time."

His voice gradually became lower, but each and every word led to a deep resonance.

"Perhaps even that alone might become a blemish that will remain in the history of our family."

At those words, Ravindra let out a quiet breath.

Seeing his son's steadfast sincerity, he slowly sat in the chair and leaned back.

"I did not know you were having such thoughts."

In his gaze, surprise and emotion were dwelling at the same time.

Arjun spoke while still kneeling.

"I will now lay down my greed. I will not go against Father's will. However, I want to protect Tara Steel at least in our family's name."

Arjun, who left Ravindra's room, moved his steps quietly.

Walking slowly along the long corridor, he headed toward the shrine at the back of the residence.

In the garden where there was not a single point of wind, the evening sunlight was spread redly.

That light was coloring his body.

Reaching the front of the shrine, he took off his shoes and climbed the stone steps with bare feet.

The interior was filled with the scent of incense.

Dozens of lamps were burning on the wall.

In the middle, there was an image of Agni, the god of fire.

As that light illuminated Arjun's face, he slowly knelt.

He spoke in a firm voice.

"O God! From today, I will discard greed and arrogance. Please make this body into ashes and burn my sins."

He lowered his head just like that.

And from that night, he did not eat anything.

That news spread widely through the residence.

At first, Ravindra also considered it as nothing special.

However, as one day, two days, and three days passed, Arjun's face became rapidly haggard.

Even so, he did not leave the shrine every day and sat before the fire.

When morning came, he lit new incense and offered it before the god, and during the day, he stared only at the flames without saying anything.

When night came, he prayed quietly with both hands gathered.

"Until this fire goes out, please do not let my heart shake either."

When it became the fifth day, his lips were cracked, and his chubby face became recognizably haggard.

Even so, he did not leave the spot even once.

His gaze was staying only on the flames.

In that light, he recalled all the wrongs he had committed again, and he repeated them in his heart as if washing away those sins with fire.

Ravindra watched his son from a distance.

He thought he would not be able to endure and would fall away in a day or two.

However, as many days passed, his heart began to shake little by little.

He could see his son's shoulders trembling thinly even from afar.

But the praying posture did not falter even once.

He whispered quietly.

"Arjun, please stop. Even God will know your sincerity."

However, Arjun did not pay attention and prayed while closing both eyes and bracing his heart even more deeply.

He looked like a practitioner who had discarded worldly greed before the flames.

That night, the light of the shrine burned exceptionally red.

It was to the point that an illusion occurred as if that fire had accepted Arjun's resolve.

The flames soared straight without shaking.

Like that, the fifth day passed, and the dawn of the sixth day broke.

The garden where the fog had settled was very quiet.

In the dawn air, only the scent of burning incense was faintly mixed.

Ravindra opened his eyes earlier than usual.

Feeling some ominous premonition, he headed straight for the shrine.

When he opened the door, the light of the incense burner shook weakly and illuminated the inside.

Arjun was still there.

He had not left the spot even once until the sixth day.

His body sitting before the fire was even thinner, and his lips were turned pale blue.

However, those eyes were still staring at the flames.

"Arjun…."

Ravindra called his son without realizing, but there was no answer.

At that moment, Arjun's body wobbled little by little and then slowly leaned forward.

Ravindra ran and shouted while embracing him.

"Arjun!"

Even in the cold dawn air, his body was very hot.

His breath was also weak.

His forehead was covered in cold sweat.

Ravindra said in a trembling voice upon seeing that appearance.

"Stop it. Please, stop! Why are you going this far. Even the god would have known your sincerity!"

Arjun opened his eyes weakly.

His gaze headed toward his father, but he turned his head and looked at the flames.

A voice close to a whisper flowed from his mouth.

"Father…. I cannot have Tara Steel taken away like this. It is a company established by our country. We must revive it with our hands again. This is… not a simple business, but our history."

At those words, Ravindra's gaze shook.

He held his son's hand tightly.

His hand was very cold, like a dead person's.

"Arjun…."

"I swear before god."

The flames were reflected in Arjun's eyes.

"Even if this body is broken, I want to take back Tara Steel. Until that fire goes out, my will shall not go out either."

With those words, Arjun's head slowly drooped as if leaning on his father's shoulder.

The inside of the shrine was quiet without even a sound of breathing.

Only the flames burned, casting the shadows of the two people long on the wall.

Ravindra could not continue speaking for a while.

He whispered while stroking his son's head with a trembling hand.

"I did not know you were this sincere. My son, it is enough now. God will also forgive you."

As if responding to those words, the flames suddenly flared up.

As if the god heard their conversation and answered, the red flames soared even higher.

That light flickered while coloring Arjun's face.

Ravindra realized at that moment.

What his son wanted was not a simple obsession.

His prayer was soon the will of the god.

The god was sending an answer with those flames.

'Yes. The god also wants it.'

He looked at the flames while exhaling a trembling breath.

Agni's flames were no longer burning only on the altar.

That fire was spreading into Ravindra's heart, and out into the world.

At Ravindra's shout, the residence employees called the medical team.

The father's shout that was like a wail toward his son was on people's lips in an instant.

"The son of the Rajan family collapsed at the temple!"

"I heard he fasted for six days."

A video of someone filming Arjun decorated the news through broadcasts.

[The youngest son of the Rajan family swears the revival of the motherland's industry before the god of fire.]

Arjun in the camera was sitting before the altar with a haggard face.

While the flames were wavering, the last sentence that flowed from his mouth was translated as a subtitle and filled the bottom of the screen.

"Until this fire goes out, my will shall not go out either."

That one sentence shook all of India.

Even the anchor reporting the news continued speaking while sobbing.

"He threw his body away for the reconstruction of Tara Steel. One person's conviction is trying to raise the pride of a country again."

Afterward, SNS and the media boiled over like a storm.

People even called Arjun's actions the Young Mahatma.

People marched with lamps in front of the Tara Steel headquarters, and the factory workers shouted Arjun's name while tying red cloth on their heads.

This was all something that happened in a single day.

That evening, the flames that burned in India crossed the border and flowed to the UK.

A British economic specialty magazine also reported this news.

[A young man from India called forth the soul of the industry.]

Ravindra fell into thought without a word after encountering that news.

The world was moving due to Arjun's prayer.

He moved his steps to the shrine where his son had offered prayers.

He whispered quietly while touching the ashes that had now gone out.

"O God… what my son wanted was eventually your will."