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Translator: uly
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: A Father's Gaze
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Lee Dae-hyuk stared at Chairman Lee Myeong-guk, unable to speak for a long while.
From his perspective, carrying Kim Geon-woo's memories and soul, Chairman Lee Myeong-guk was a figure from the past.
It was only natural to be shocked when a dead man suddenly appeared before him.
But Chairman Lee Myeong-guk, unaware that his son had regressed with another person's soul, glared with displeasure.
"What's with that look? You nearly die and come back, and now you can't even recognize your own father?"
"N-No... sir."
"You can answer well enough."
A sudden uninvited guest turned out to be the original body's father.
For Kim Geon-woo possessing Lee Dae-hyuk's body, it was bewildering.
But oblivious to Lee Dae-hyuk's turmoil, Lee Myeong-guk grumbled as he entered the living room and sat on the sofa.
"You planning to just stand there forever?"
Lee Myeong-guk nodded toward Lee Dae-hyuk, who was still standing despite him being seated.
Regression, followed by this unbelievable 'possession.'
On top of that, Kim Geon-woo had learned the secret Lee Dae-hyuk had hidden until the end: 'psychometry.'
He couldn't help but feel flustered.
But one couldn't stay dazed forever.
Lee Dae-hyuk clenched his fist slightly.
'Whew... no need to be tense.'
Since he'd decided to live as Lee Dae-hyuk anyway, he had to get used to his relationship with Lee Myeong-guk.
"Yes, sir."
Lee Dae-hyuk sat before Lee Myeong-guk, gauging his expression.
And then, Lee Dae-hyuk was quite shocked by the unexpected emotion directed toward him from another person.
Contrary to his sharp tone, Lee Myeong-guk's eyes held an unforeseen feeling.
'...Affection?'
Lee Dae-hyuk had probably already sensed the paternal love from Chairman Lee Myeong-guk toward him.
After all, he possessed 'psychometry,' the ability to read others' memories and thoughts.
And in truth, Lee Myeong-guk's gaze was already filled with affection for his youngest son.
Even 'Lee Dae-hyuk' had known that Lee Myeong-guk harbored affection for him.
'But why had he attempted suicide all this time...'
As his thoughts reached that point, a new memory surfaced for Lee Dae-hyuk.
The death of his mother, who had loved him.
The stigma of being a filthy illegitimate child.
Lee Dae-hyuk left alone in the world.
Moreover, his father knew he was being abused by the legal wife and her children yet turned a blind eye.
As a child, Lee Dae-hyuk had once read Lee Myeong-guk's thoughts.
- If I step in, this child will be in even greater danger.
The moment he read Lee Myeong-guk's thoughts.
The young Lee Dae-hyuk despaired.
No one would save him.
He couldn't escape this prison.
He wanted to punish this hypocrite who claimed to love him while standing by.
Swept up in complex thoughts, Lee Dae-hyuk grew sick.
Rather than himself, he repeatedly attempted suicide to kill his father.
And each time, Lee Myeong-guk saved his son.
.
.
.
'...'
As Lee Dae-hyuk read the memories of that childhood filled with pity and despair, he stared at Lee Myeong-guk.
Lee Myeong-guk's gaze was the father's look that even Lee Dae-hyuk knew well.
Warm and benevolent. Tinged with regret for not doing more and a sense of guilt.
The look all fathers in the world give their children.
'Even as an illegitimate... a son is a son?'
But Lee Dae-hyuk showed no particular agitation.
To him now, Lee Myeong-guk was no different from a stranger, not a father.
"…What brings you here?"
"Does a father need a special reason to see his son's face?"
"...."
Lee Dae-hyuk shut his mouth.
It was one of the ironclad rules he'd learned living as Kim Geon-woo in his previous life.
If you're flustered or about to slip up, shut your mouth first.
Then wait for the other person's next words.
An awkward silence flowed briefly, broken by Lee Myeong-guk.
"How's your body?"
"Getting better."
"How many times has it been already?"
"...."
"...."
A heavy silence settled between them.
Lee Dae-hyuk rubbed his dry face and forced his mouth open.
"…Three times—no, the fourth."
Lee Dae-hyuk tasted bitterness.
The memories showed that Lee Dae-hyuk had already attempted suicide four times.
'Was that the only choice he had?'
Lee Dae-hyuk wanted to ask the real Lee Dae-hyuk.
If it was that agonizing, it would have been wiser to fight with death on the line...
Having experienced death once, Lee Dae-hyuk both despised and pitied the real Lee Dae-hyuk.
Watching such a Lee Dae-hyuk, Lee Myeong-guk swept back his forehead.
"I heard from Director Han. Seems you're still harboring those thoughts."
Han Su-cheol, the family physician of the Daehan Group household and Lee Myeong-guk's loyal retainer, was currently treating—no, monitoring—Lee Dae-hyuk on Lee Myeong-guk's orders.
'CCTV everywhere in the house... Right, not a home but a prison.'
But now, he would shatter that prison.
Staring straight into Lee Myeong-guk's eyes for a moment, Lee Dae-hyuk spoke in a solemn tone.
"You don't need to worry. From now on, I'll live with the resolve to die if needed."
Lee Dae-hyuk's words were true.
He had to live a different life from the original Lee Dae-hyuk from now on.
Lee Myeong-guk gazed at his son for a while.
"...."
After losing his mother, his son had walked into the prison he'd created himself.
Into a prison made of despair, remorse, contempt, and helplessness.
His own fault was part of what built that prison.
He'd known about the abuse at home yet allowed it.
No. He'd tried to stop it but...
'I was afraid... That woman, her family. They might disguise an accident and kill the child.'
Under the pretext of protecting Lee Dae-hyuk, he'd deceived himself and ignored his son's pain.
In that pain, his son had tried to end his life multiple times.
The despair and fear from childhood had carved deep wounds in Lee Dae-hyuk's heart.
Painful wounds that would never heal.
As a result, his son had lost the will to live, seeking to end his suffering through death.
Yet now, this son—who should be grateful just to be alive and breathing—was filled with the will to live, his eyes shining.
Saying he'd live with the resolve to die.
Should he believe it?
Lee Myeong-guk's gaze fell to his son's wrist.
The scars from multiple suicide attempts remained vivid.
"...."
Glancing at his son's wrist, Lee Myeong-guk looked back into Lee Dae-hyuk's eyes.
Confusion. As a man, no—as a father—he wanted to believe his son's words.
But the difficulty of it only deepened the confusion.
Thus, silence stretched again.
How many tens of seconds passed?
"...!!"
Lee Myeong-guk unwittingly gasped.
His son's eyes—those sunken eyes burning fiercely within their hollow sockets.
'This kid...'
As a giant who built Daehan Group, Lee Myeong-guk had keen insight.
Those with eyes burning with youthful vigor, like himself in his youth, would change the world.
In the end, discovering the seed of possibility in his son, Lee Myeong-guk's eyes flickered, and Lee Dae-hyuk realized something from the wavering gaze.
That this was his chance to seize his heart.
'I need to give him certainty.'
Resolving himself, Lee Dae-hyuk broke the long silence.
"A few days ago, I woke up in the morning and suddenly thought: Would anyone grieve my death? Or rather, who would be happiest?"
"...."
Lee Dae-hyuk spat out his musings indifferently.
His dry tone held no emotion, yet the words stung Lee Myeong-guk's ears sharply.
"Looking back now, it was a foolish thought... But the answer to that foolish question came quickly."
"...."
"...."
"What are you trying to say?"
Lee Myeong-guk couldn't miss the uncomfortable truths and thorns hidden in his son's words.
But the wedge had to be driven by Lee Dae-hyuk himself.
Only then could he steer the 'game' ahead.
"I'll give those who would rejoice at my death a taste of their own medicine. That's why I plan to live."
"...!!"
To some, it was a declaration of war against his legal wife, her son, and daughter.
From a father's view, it was regrettable.
The legal wife's children and Lee Dae-hyuk were all his blood.
'This fight can't be stopped. The rift runs too deep.'
Lee Myeong-guk knew it too.
His neglect had planted resentment in Lee Dae-hyuk, and the greed of the legal wife and her children would turn into arrows aimed at each other.
So, he had to end this fight with as little harm as possible.
'That's my duty... and atonement.'
As a father, not the chairman.
Even amid this, Lee Myeong-guk inwardly rejoiced seeing the venomous resolve in Lee Dae-hyuk.
He realized his son's words about living with resolve to die were sincere.
In the end.
'This guy...'
Lee Myeong-guk acknowledged his son had changed.
But the words from his mouth differed from his true feelings.
"…I still can't trust you. You've made the same mistake multiple times."
"I plan to end the mistakes now."
Lee Dae-hyuk stared straight at Lee Myeong-guk.
A seasoned veteran of decades of corporate intrigue.
Betrayed and betraying, he'd led Daehan Group to this point.
Naturally, he'd developed an eye for people.
Looking at the current Lee Dae-hyuk, one thing was clear.
'Not empty words. Not just to please me.'
People change for a reason and trigger.
And to Lee Myeong-guk, Lee Dae-hyuk was a precious son.
Though illegitimate, preventing him from giving full affection, he was the son of the woman he'd truly loved.
Thus, expectations for Lee Dae-hyuk's change were inevitable.
'I need to test it.'
But.
Lee Myeong-guk didn't easily reveal his true heart to his son.
"Whew..."
Lee Myeong-guk sighed again, who knew how many times today.
Lee Dae-hyuk watched him closely.
To achieve the revenge he wanted, he needed to protect Daehan Group and first win Lee Myeong-guk's favor.
Gulp.
Lee Dae-hyuk swallowed dryly.
Now was the time for a gamble.
But he couldn't trust the man who'd abandoned the abused Lee Dae-hyuk.
Affection showed on the surface, but his inner thoughts might have changed.
Moreover.
For the battles ahead, Lee Dae-hyuk needed to probe Lee Myeong-guk's heart once more.
"Please wait a moment. I'll get something to drink."
'Something to drink at least.'
With some expectation for a chaebol household fridge, Lee Dae-hyuk opened the door.
However.
He was soon disappointed.
Aside from a few bottles of water, the fridge was empty.
'Is this... a chaebol fridge?'
What good was a luxury fridge with only water?
'He really had no will to live.'
Only then did Lee Dae-hyuk understand why his body was so gaunt.
But water would suffice.
Pat pat-.
Pouring water into two glasses, Lee Dae-hyuk turned to Lee Myeong-guk.
"Water at least... please have some."
As Lee Dae-hyuk offered the glass of water, Lee Myeong-guk clicked his tongue.
"Still not caring about meals, I see."
"I'm sorry."
Instead of excuses, Lee Dae-hyuk apologized. It wasn't his fault, but no need for lengthy justifications.
Winning Lee Myeong-guk's heart came before petty excuses.
Lee Myeong-guk gazed quietly at Lee Dae-hyuk.
This son, who always avoided him, acting like this.
It was just a glass of water, yet it strangely tugged at his heart.
Without hesitation, Lee Myeong-guk took the glass from his son.
In that moment.
The backs of Lee Dae-hyuk's and Lee Myeong-guk's hands brushed against each other.
Flash-!!!
Like a camera flash exploding.
'Is this... psychometry?'
Flash-!