I. The Covert Transit
The private jet took off under the cover of a late-night storm. Inside, Chairman Kim Taehyung had shed his expensive business suit for quiet, dark travel attire. He appeared tired, but the exhaustion was overridden by a fierce, contained energy. Across from him, Joon, the security consultant, was running last-minute diagnostics on encrypted comms and tracing devices.
"The board's quiet, Chairman," Joon reported, his voice low. "Ha-eun—Ms. Bae—has maintained the information lock perfectly. She sent a generic email stating you are in a 'private, urgent acquisition meeting' out of country."
Taehyung nodded, his gaze fixed on the map of central Geneva displayed on the screen. He knew this was the most vulnerable time. If Seok-jin's spies detected the actual purpose of his trip, the professor would vanish before they landed.
"We stick to the plan, Joon. No bodyguards. We enter the city as two anonymous businessmen. The moment we land, we start the pressure. His reputation is the target, not his person."
Taehyung's internal conflict was agonizing: leaving Ha-eun had exposed his soft heart, yet flying toward the enemy was the only way to protect her permanently. The Vow was both his weakness and his greatest strength.
II. The Information Bomb
They landed in Geneva under heavy morning fog. Their first move was swift and precise, orchestrated from a non-descript hotel room overlooking Lac Léman.
Target: Professor Shin, currently giving a mandatory, high-profile lecture at the University of Geneva on Art History and Ethical Acquisition.
At the exact midpoint of his lecture, Taehyung initiated the two-pronged attack:
The Legal Strike: Simultaneously, Taewon Group's global legal teams filed the massive asset-freezing injunctions against the White Stone Trust. The news hit the wires immediately, turning the White Stone Art Gallery—Seok-jin's primary source of clean cash—into an immediate legal liability.
The Reputational Strike: At the same time, an anonymous, encrypted email was sent to the university's ethics committee and the local press. The email contained irrefutable evidence of Professor Shin's academic misconduct from two decades prior—a clear case of plagiarism and fund misuse that had been quietly suppressed.
The effect was instantaneous and devastating.
Professor Shin's lecture was interrupted by frantic calls. Students, realizing the weight of the allegations, began abandoning the lecture hall. Within minutes, the university's ethics board had announced an immediate suspension of the Professor's teaching duties pending a full investigation.
Shin was officially a disgraced, financially compromised pariah.
III. The First Contact
Taehyung and Joon watched the live local news feed. The camera showed Professor Shin fleeing the university campus, his face white with fear and rage. The gentlemanly mask had evaporated, replaced by the terror of a man who had lost his life's work.
Taehyung stood up. "He's broken. Now we apply the pressure."
They drove to a remote, quiet lakeside café. Taehyung sent a single, untraceable message to the Professor's private phone:
I have the antidote for your reputation. I have the key to your frozen funds. Meet me now at the Café de la Paix. Come alone, or your academic legacy will be shredded into dust.
—The Chairman.
Thirty minutes later, Professor Shin, looking haggard and defeated, arrived. He scanned the café nervously before his eyes settled on the young, cold-eyed man in the corner. He recognized the ruthless face that had dominated the Asian news.
"Chairman Kim," Professor Shin hissed, sliding into the chair opposite Taehyung. "This is an international crime. You cannot threaten me here!"
"I haven't threatened you, Professor," Taehyung replied, his voice dangerously soft. "I've offered you a transaction. You tell me where Kim Seok-jin is hiding, and the academic scandal disappears, the legal challenge against the gallery is lifted, and your reputation is restored."
Professor Shin sneered, trying to rally his pride. "Seok-jin is family. I would never betray him."
Taehyung leaned forward, his eyes boring into the Professor's. "Seok-jin didn't hide you, Professor. He used you as his unwitting accountant for stolen funds. The truth is, the assets you guarded are already gone. He moved them after he escaped. He left you here to hold a frozen, worthless shell company while he disappeared. He betrayed you first, Professor."
Taehyung had gambled on the Professor's vanity and sense of self-preservation. Now, all they could do was wait for the betrayer to betray his true master.