Fate's Fucking End!
That’s what you call a fateful encounter! Fate’s encounters always turn into absolute disasters! Like this!
Han Lee-won shouted, voice thin and sharp, as he gripped the railing and launched himself upward in a jump. The tiny, extremely thin boy was so light his body swayed dangerously. The frail form wrapped in the wind tilted straight over the railing.
…God, please. Just this once.
Han Lee-won threw his body forward, climbed the railing, and reached desperately for the arm. In the instant he grabbed it and exhaled “Ah, got him!” the body suddenly swayed and crashed toward the river. A dull thud, a full spin, legs kicking empty air.
Shit. Oh fuck.
Han Lee-won’s eyes flew wide open, staring straight at the frozen river rushing toward him in a blur. No scream came out. The body he clutched felt weightless. The freezing wind slapped his face as the ice tower rose above him.
Crack.
The white ice gave a light snap as it swallowed the small, slender body first. Han Lee-won couldn’t make himself let go.
Splash.
The water beneath the ice was colder than cold—it was bone-deep agony. His limbs grew heavy as if chained. Everything was pitch black, suffocating. When he finally caught the boy’s hand again and pulled upward, his lungs burned with pain.
“Hoo… hoo… hah, hah!”
Han Lee-won barely broke the surface, gasping desperately. His mind was hazy and blank.
“…What the hell?”
The arm that had held the boy was now empty. He was naked, shivering. The world was a soft, warm cloud of white. Nothing was visible. Han Lee-won felt dizzy.
Was he dead and now in heaven?
When he moved his limbs, something hot wrapped around his entire body. Tap… tap… tap. A thin sound. Han Lee-won blinked slowly, then jolted awake at the faint voice.
“President-nim… are you all right, President-nim?”
Oh shit. Was this a dream?
…Why this dream?
Han Lee-won shook his head hard. His head rang. The bathroom was filled with steam so thick he couldn’t see anything. His skin was swollen from water and heat. He had clearly fallen asleep while bathing and no one had woken him. When he checked the clock, an hour had already passed.
Damn it. Damn it all to hell!
Still only wrapped in a towel, he rushed out and found Park Won-ju, his father’s longtime friend and a former Supreme Court justice turned lawyer, standing from the sofa with a gentle smile.
“You look much better now. How are you feeling?”
“I’m sorry. I must have dozed off from exhaustion.”
Han Lee-won bowed his head quickly. Water dripped from his wet hair, soaking the carpet. His head still buzzed.
“Don’t worry. You looked so tired I told Chief Choi not to wake you.”
Park Won-ju smiled lightly and waved a hand, but Han Lee-won couldn’t lift his head.
“As if you were the only one tired. Really, I’m sorry. I’ll go change and be right back.”
When he returned after changing, he couldn’t help but snap at Chief Choi Hong-yeon.
“Chief Choi, if something like this happens again, wake me up immediately. This isn’t out of kindness.”
Choi Hong-yeon nodded, “Understood,” then quietly clicked his tongue where no one could hear.
President-nim had a tendency to overdo the care. Everyone treated him like he was fragile and he found it embarrassing. In a situation like this anyone would want a little rest, but he refused to see it that way.
“Who would have thought the chairman would leave such a nuclear bomb behind? And he hid it from me completely, handing it to some random blue-haired lawyer I’d never even seen before.”
Park Won-ju hadn’t hidden his shock either. He sounded like he was grieving the betrayal of his late friend Han Se-kyung. The voice beside him grew fainter.
“After President-nim took a break there was chaos. They thought it was murder.”
“In the end Chairman Woo-eon somehow calmed the executive board. ‘If no conclusion comes by the end of this month, call an extraordinary general meeting immediately. We can go to the board meeting and remove the CEO then.’ …”
“When I heard that, the executives started fighting among themselves. They almost called the police.”
Han Lee-won, eyes still heavy with sleep, suddenly snapped awake. Chief Choi was gesturing enthusiastically as he reported on everything that happened in the meeting. He hated Chairman Woo-eon’s faction with a passion and supported his direct superior, President-nim, with his whole heart.
Park Won-ju sighed.
“Maybe now would be a good time. Marry Mi-hyun. There aren’t many decent men like Won like her. The family fits perfectly. The chairman really loved Mi-hyun. He was also worried about how lonely President-nim would be all alone.”
“…I see.”
“I understand it must feel sudden and unpleasant. If President-nim had a girlfriend, the chairman wouldn’t have left such a will. What were you doing all this time without even one relationship? Everyone always told you to start dating in high school.”
“Come on, President-nim, you’re exactly the right age. Thirty-two. Golden years. Of course you should date.”
Chief Choi opened his eyes wide and asked beside him.
“Chairman. Think about it. How many women in the world would reject a man like President-nim? Tall, sexy, rich, capable, kind, cultured, well-educated—really, the creator made such an unfair trade. You should at least date, out of courtesy!”
Choi Hong-yeon already knew Yu Mi-hyun had been living with Morris Chen for a long time. Not just knew—Chief Choi had obtained the information at President-nim’s direct request. But he couldn’t say it outright, so he was poking fun through jokes.
Han Lee-won felt gratitude for the concern, but he didn’t want to hear anything else. He was being sold into marriage and had to face it in public. He wanted to hide forever that he might have to close his eyes to his wife’s lover, but he knew it was only a matter of time.
“Ah, you’re talking nonsense! You’ve never dated, so don’t lecture me, Chief Choi!”
“I’m the insufficient one. …Let’s stop now.”
He tried not to show fatigue, but his voice cracked and his mind kept wandering. He wanted to collapse right there and sleep. He just wanted to run away.
…No, there was still work to solve.
Han Lee-won fought the tidal wave of exhaustion and tried to grasp the thread of thought. He suddenly felt nostalgic for the burning wind on Mapo Bridge that used to slice his body. His head rang, and a voice swept through it.
“…Uncle. If you don’t want to, you can just run away.”
Ah… damn it.
A small, pale face floated up. A girl whose face had been blue, red, and yellow. He had dreamed of her too—maybe something happened to her? He had waited for contact for a long time, so maybe she was fine, but why this gloomy dream?
The chaotic voice whispered in his ear. You can run away. Look. You’re a complete middle-aged man. Five portraits, uncle, if you don’t want to then run, a proper adult, a sucker, only run when it’s necessary, uncle, middle-aged, mature… Between those words, Park Won-ju and Chief Choi’s voices buzzed like mosquito wings. His eyes were forced open but consciousness hovered in a foggy limbo between sleeping and waking. He barely parted his lips.
“…Um, Chairman Park. There’s something I’d like to ask.”
“Yes, President-nim.”
“How old do you mean by middle-aged…?”
The buzzing voices suddenly vanished. When he opened his eyes, two bewildered faces looked at him. He shook his head sharply. Damn, was he sane right now?
“From about fifty? A bit late, isn’t it? Forty-five?”
Park Won-ju, who had already crossed sixty, had a high standard for middle age. Chief Choi, the same age as Han Lee-won, tilted his head.
“Hmm… maybe from forty?”
“…Thirty-two… right?”
Han Lee-won asked hesitantly. Chief Choi jumped.
“What the hell? Who gave you that lightning bolt?!”
Han Lee-won swept his hand across his face. The two men’s faces remained unchanged. Since he had already been humiliated, he decided to ask one more thing.
“Chairman. If you saw a student experiencing domestic abuse on the street, what would you do?”
“You should report it to the police immediately. Don’t jump in recklessly or President-nim might be dragged into it.”
“What if you only know about the domestic abuse but didn’t witness it on the spot? And the victim student doesn’t want to report?”
“Of course I wouldn’t interfere without permission, but wouldn’t you call the police or a protection center? President-nim isn’t required to report, but you’re the chairman of the Won-mesa Foundation. They have a youth scholarship department.”
“I see.”
“Did something happen while you were away earlier?”
Chief Choi asked with concern.