Chapter 162: If You Already Know, Why Ask?

“Specialist Cha, aren't you pushing things a little too far?”

According to my contract, I was supposed to work at Hangang Group from Monday through Thursday. However, I had to leave for China tomorrow to eliminate the North Korean hacker group. That was why Chairman Yoon Jongu looked extremely displeased.

“The problem is that without Saho, eliminating the hacker group is impossible.”

“Then where do you think the saying 'Beggars can't be choosers' came from?”

Chairman Yoon's counterattack landed solidly. There was no helping it. It was time to play the trump card I had prepared.

“I thought exactly the same as you, Chairman, but I couldn't bluntly refuse the President's request.”

“...The President?”

Just as I had expected, Chairman Yoon reacted immediately to the mention of the President. Seeing my opportunity, I continued.

“The President personally approved the operation to eliminate the North Korean hacker group.”

“Phew... But you do understand, Specialist Cha, that absolutely nothing can happen to you?”

“I won't be participating directly in the combat operation, so the chances of anything happening are practically zero.”

“Even monkeys fall from trees sometimes. Don't be too confident.”

“I'll remember your advice, Chairman.”

“Now, let's change the subject for a moment. When does your mother plan to begin preparing to open her restaurant?”

Why is the Chairman interested in that?

Slightly surprised, I answered.

“She said she'd start looking around from now on.”

“I see. Has she decided where she wants to open it?”

“Since my mother isn't familiar with Seoul at all, we're considering places near our house.”

“Hehehe. Is that so?”

Looking at Chairman Yoon, I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine. He was clearly plotting something behind my back. While I was trying to figure out what it was, Chief Secretary Song Dosok spoke up.

“Specialist Cha, what do you think about converting a house into a restaurant?”

“I don't see any problem with that.”

“There's a company residence not far from your home. How would you feel about turning that into a restaurant?”

Only then did I realize what Chairman Yoon had been planning.

The neighborhood where I lived was filled entirely with luxury mansions. The claim that Hangang Group just happened to own a company residence there made absolutely no sense. He had clearly purchased a luxury mansion specifically to give it to my mother for her restaurant.

However, I still opposed the idea of my mother opening a restaurant.

Rejecting the proposal outright would only sour Chairman Yoon's mood, so I decided to use another excuse.

“The final decision belongs to my mother. I'll ask her first and let you know.”

“To save time, perhaps I should meet your mother personally and ask her myself.”

“I think you could simply ask over the phone.”

“It would be much better if your mother could inspect the house herself.”

He didn't leave me a single opening.

“Of course. My mother's opinion comes first.”

“Then I'll take that as your approval, Specialist Cha.”

“Please do. But if the company residence is converted into a restaurant, what happens afterward?”

“Wouldn't the cleanest solution be for Specialist Cha to purchase it?”

“Ah, right. That would be the best solution. Well then, I'll head back to my department.”

The moment Cha Jiham left the office, Chairman Yoon spoke.

“Secretary Song, Specialist Cha's mother is no fool, so be careful not to make her suspicious.”

“You don't need to worry about that.”

“And make sure you take care of what I promised Specialist Cha last time.”

“Ah, that?”

“Honestly... the things a man does for his granddaughter...” Chairman Yoon sighed.

***

The moment I returned to my department and sat down, Yun Sola sent me a message.

Yun Sola: I heard you're leaving for China on a business trip this week?

Only a handful of people knew about my trip to China.

Yet somehow Yun Sola already knew.

Cha Jiham: Where did you hear that?

Yun Sola: Who else do you think my source would be?

“Oh, you little...”

Before I could finish speaking, Yun Sola hurriedly interrupted me.

“Specialist Cha, what are you doing right now?”

“If you already know, why ask?”

Only one thought flashed through Yun Sola's mind.

This is bad.

She hadn't learned about Cha Jiham's business trip from Cha Hyeonji at all.

Chairman Yoon Jongu himself had told her.

If Jiham called his younger sister to verify it, her lie would immediately be exposed.

And if that happened, there was a risk that her true identity would also come to light.

Pushing her brain to its absolute limit, she finally managed to come up with a believable excuse.

“Specialist Cha, if you scold your younger sister, what position does that put me in?”

“Ah... That's true.”

Whew... I made it.

While Yun Sola breathed a silent sigh of relief, Senior Specialist Woo Changhun curiously joined the conversation.

“Specialist Cha, what's going on?”

Obviously, I couldn't tell him the whole truth.

“It seems Specialist Yun talks with my younger sister quite often.”

“And why is that?”

“They say if you want to shoot the general, you have to shoot his horse first.”

“What?! Specialist Yun, don't tell me you still haven't given up on Specialist Cha!”

“Once I've set my sights on something, I always see it through to the end, no matter what happens.”

Declaring that with fighting spirit, Yun Sola stood up and walked away.

Woo Changhun and I could only stare after her in bewilderment.

***

“Hyeonji, come over here and sit down.”

Earlier that morning, Cha Hyeonji had received a call from Yun Sola.

She had asked Hyeonji to cover for her and claim that she had been the one who told Sola about Jiham's business trip to China.

Naturally, Hyeonji had happily agreed.

She found Sola's efforts to melt the heart of that blockheaded Cha Jiham incredibly endearing.

Jiham had undoubtedly called her over because of that.

“What is it? Do you want to tell me something?” Cha Hyeonji asked innocently as she sat down on the sofa.

“You know Senior Specialist Yun Sola, the one who works in my department?”

“Of course. Why?”

“When you talk to Specialist Yun, try not to bring up topics related to me whenever possible.”

“Seriously? As if you don't know why she calls me!”

“I said whenever possible.”

“Alright, I understand.”

Feeling that was enough, I tried to change the subject.

“Where's Mom?”

“She went to meet Song Dosok, Hangang Group's Chief Secretary.”

Talk about moving fast.

“I see.”

“Why did Secretary Song want to meet with Mom?”

“You should ask her yourself when she gets back. Anyway, I'm going to my room.”

As soon as I entered my room, I saw Saho lying on the bed with his face buried in the blanket, looking thoroughly miserable.

Naturally, I knew exactly why he was sulking.

I sat beside him and lightly patted his fluffy backside.

“I wanted to take you with me to China too, but there's no legal way to bring you in.”

“Grrr!”

Saho bared his fangs and growled unhappily.

Fortunately, I had the perfect way to convince him.

“To enter China legally, you'd have to get about ten injections. Are you really prepared for that?”

The instant I finished speaking, Saho bolted out of the room at full speed.

“Well... Looks like injections are what he hates most.”

After changing into comfortable clothes, I headed downstairs just as Mom was opening the front door.

She was carrying a rather large and heavy paper bag.

I hurried over and took it from her.

“Mom, what's this?”

“A gift from Secretary Song.”

“For what?”

“I'll tell you after I change. By the way, Saho just ran past me like his life depended on it. Did something happen?”

“He was throwing a tantrum because he wanted to go to China with me, so I scared him by mentioning injections.”

The moment I finished speaking, Cha Hyeonji, standing behind our mother, broke into a smug grin.

“Serves him right!”

“Oh my! So that's what happened!” Hyeonji laughed even harder.

Mom looked at her daughter with a sigh that clearly said, What am I going to do with this child? before shaking her head and going to her room.

Some time later, she returned wearing comfortable clothes.

After sitting on the sofa, she pointed at the paper bag on the table.

“Secretary Song said I looked rather weak, so he gave me some herbal tonic.”

I had opposed the idea of my mother opening a restaurant from the beginning.

However, Chairman Yoon Jongu insisted that letting her cooking talent go to waste would be a terrible shame and strongly supported the idea.

To defend my position, I had emphasized that my mother was still physically weak.

Apparently, that was why Chairman Yoon had instructed Secretary Song to give her the herbal tonic.

There was no point telling my mother about that verbal battle, so I kept it to myself.

“Secretary Song is being a filial son in my place.”

“Do you really think Secretary Song would give me herbal medicine for no reason?”

“Exactly! It's all because my brother made Hangang Group so much money!” Cha Hyeonji chimed in as she stood behind our mother.

Well... she's not entirely wrong.

“Mom, make sure you take the herbal medicine and get your strength back.”

“Don't worry, I will. Now let me tell you what Secretary Song and I talked about.”

“I'm listening.”

“He took me to a luxury mansion about three hundred meters from our house.”

At that moment, Cha Hyeonji's curiosity got the better of her.

“Is Hangang Group giving Mom a luxury mansion?”

“Of course not. He suggested remodeling it into a restaurant.”

“How big is it?”

“It seemed a little smaller than our own house.”

“Isn't it a waste to convert such an expensive mansion into a restaurant?”

“I asked Secretary Song exactly the same question.”

“And what did he say?”

“He said reservation-only restaurants are often located in residential neighborhoods.”

I frowned as I thought about it.

Our mansion was worth roughly eight billion won.

If that mansion was only slightly smaller, it had to be worth at least seven billion.

At that price, the monthly rent alone would easily exceed twenty or thirty million won.

How could any restaurant make enough money to survive?

I asked my mother what she thought.

“I was worried about that too, so I asked Secretary Song. He said reservation-only restaurants charge extremely high prices, so it all works out.”

“But for it to work out, business would have to be booming.”

“Secretary Song promised he'd personally make sure there was no shortage of customers.”

“If the restaurant is always full, there's no way you'll be able to handle everything by yourself.”

“I was planning to invite the women I worked with at that restaurant back home.”

It was time to bring my mother back to reality.

“The gangsters who were harassing Director Jang Seokcho were arrested by the police last week. He'll get all the extorted money back. Once that happens, Director Jang will probably reopen his restaurant. Are you sure your friends will still want to come to Seoul?”

“I already called and asked them. They're proud to come here, and they're eager to leave immediately.”

“...Living in Seoul is expensive. Most of their salaries would end up going toward housing.”

“I've already thought about that. I'm planning to convert the third floor of the mansion into staff accommodations.”

She had prepared far more thoroughly than I had expected.

At that point, I couldn't think of another argument to change her mind.

More importantly, trying to stop her after she'd become this determined no longer felt like the proper thing for a son to do.

“I understand. I'll purchase the mansion for the restaurant as soon as I return from my business trip to China.”

“Purchase it? What are you talking about?”

“Secretary Song didn't tell you?”

“If he had, why would I be asking?”

“Secretary Song and I agreed that I'd buy the house.”

“But it's unbelievably expensive! Where are you going to get that kind of money?”

I wonder how shocked Mom would be if she found out I have more than eighty trillion won in cash.

“I'll just grab Secretary Song by the pant leg and keep hanging on until he gives me a generous discount.”

“Thank you so much. Just... don't bargain too aggressively.”

“Haha, alright. By the way, when are we having dinner?”

“Oh dear!”

Clutching her head, Mom jumped up from the sofa and hurried into the kitchen.

As if she had been waiting for exactly that moment, Cha Hyeonji immediately turned to me.

“So you're really buying Mom a restaurant?”

“What choice do I have when she's this determined?”

I had sincerely wanted my mother to spend the rest of her life peacefully and comfortably.

But since things had turned out this way, there was nothing I could do.

After answering in a somewhat resigned tone, I stood up from the sofa.