834

I understand it in my head

Yeshaotong could feel the affection in Wu Yingshik's eyes.

His expression still looked indifferent, but the emotion his eyes conveyed was completely different.

Ye Xiaotong, who had been pouring out her story for a long time, was embarrassed by the tears that flowed without her knowing it.

She wiped away her tears and said with her head bowed.

"I didn't mean to ask you to do anything. I was just curious. If you knew about my existence, you might come to me, right?"

"······."

Although he tried to keep a straight face, Woo Young-sik felt complicated when he saw Ye Xiaotong's tears.

Although he tried to remain calm, his gaze was fixed on the top of Ye Xiaotong's head, which was bowed down, and he could not bring himself to say anything.

There was an awkward silence for a while.

Ye Xiaotong finally gathered her emotions, straightened her expression, and raised her head.

He spoke while making eye contact with Woo Young-sik, who was staring at him intently.

"Just say something."

After a long silence, Woo Young-sik slowly opened his mouth.

"Who told you that?"

Ye Xiaotong's eyes widened at the soft voice.

Knowing that Yeshaotong knew everything and came to see him, Woo Young-sik decided to speak comfortably.

"Does that matter?"

"Of course. Yesan Ping is not the one who would let you know about my existence. Who is it? The one who told you about me?"

"Is that important? Don't you have anything else to say?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to know about me. That's right. Yes, I and Mr. Ye Xianping, we both agreed on that point."

"······."

Yeshaotong was speechless and just opened her mouth. But Woo Youngsik continued speaking calmly.

"Because my existence would be a weakness to you."

"What is that······."

"It was like that in my time. My country and your country were enemies. But what would happen if it was known that Ye Xianping's granddaughter had Korean blood? What about your young life before mine? I just couldn't make the choice to ruin your life."

"But you could have taken her, right?"

"Are you sure you won't regret following me?"

Yeshaotong paused.

"Since you can't answer right away, I guess the affection that Yesan Ping poured out on you was genuine. That's fortunate."

Woo Young-sik smiled sadly.

Ye Xiaotong's heart became even more troubled when she noticed the negativity in that smile.

"What about your life? You lost everything you built in this country."

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"How much do you know? No, now I know. Who told you about me? It was Kim Moo-hyuk."

"······."

"I asked you to stay away from me. How dare you break that promise······."

Woo Young-sik did not hide his anger towards Kim Mu-hyeok.

Yeshaotong continued speaking urgently.

"No, that's wrong. It wasn't President Kim Moo-hyuk who approached me, it was me who approached him first."

"Don't get involved with that guy. It won't do you any good."

"What is that······?"

"That man is a man who will do anything for the sake of his purpose."

It was something I already knew. Ye Xiaotong nodded and said.

"I know. That's why I need him. You don't know, but that man is standing in the way of the person I love. I have to stop him."

"······Then you shouldn't have come to Korea. This is that man's country. Did you do something wrong to him?"

Ye Xiaotong shook her head at Woo Young-sik's worried question.

"No. Rather, I helped President Kim Moo-hyuk."

Woo Young-sik sighed in relief and nodded.

"I'll say it again. Don't get too close to President Kim Moo-hyuk. No matter what you do."

"······I'll take care of that. I don't know why that name comes up in conversation between a woman and a man who are meeting for the first time. I want to hear your story."

"Haha. My life······. The biggest regret in my life is giving up on your mother."

Woo Young-sik's eyes scanned the empty space as if reminiscing about the past.

But he trailed off and did not continue speaking.

Since then, the two have had quite a few conversations, but the gap between them has not been easily narrowed.

Yeshaotong said that she wanted to treat him as a father, and Wu Yingshik said that she wanted him to forget about her existence and never come back.

Just as the conversation between the two was running at an unfathomable parallel, a knock was heard on the guest room door.

Ye Xiaotong, who was getting irritated, called out to Tao in a sharp voice.

"Tao!"

Except for Woo Young-sik, no one came to visit.

At Ye Xiaotong's shout, Tao walked towards the door with his hands in his suit pockets.

Hidden in his arms was a pistol that a Chinese embassy employee had given him at the airport.

Tao carefully looked outside through a small hole in the door, then turned his head and reported to Ye Xiaotong.

"This is President Kim Moo-hyuk."

"What? Kim Moo-hyuk?"

"Why is Kim Mu-hyeok's death so serious?"

Two people called his name at the same time.

* * *

After arriving at Gimpo Airport, I got off the private plane and left the airport.

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As soon as I got into the car, I asked Director Ma.

"Where is Ye Xiaotong?"

"I am staying at a rented suite at the Jongno Hotel. I heard that Chief Woo Young-sik also entered the hotel."

"Let's go there. We need to resolve our questions quickly."

The car quickly drove down the road and arrived at Jongno Hotel.

When I got on the elevator and arrived at the floor where Ye Xiaotong was, I spoke to Director Ma.

"Sir, please clear this floor."

"Yes, boss."

Chief Ma gave instructions to his other subordinates.

Meanwhile, I walked slowly and arrived in front of the innermost room.

I knocked on the door, preventing Manager Ma from ringing the bell.

There was no response for a long time.

Just as Director Ma was about to knock on the door again, the door opened.

"How did you find out about this place?"

Ye Xiaotong's bodyguard asked.

"Did you say your name was Tao? I came to see Ye Xiaotong."

"You should go back today. The boss is having an important discussion right now."

"I don't think that's possible. I'm the type of person who can't stand being curious."

"······."

Tao stubbornly blocked the door and did not budge.

"Get out of the way. You'll get hurt."

"That can't be."

"Then there's nothing we can do."

As soon as I finished speaking, Director Ma stepped forward.

"Tao!"

At that moment, Ye Xiaotong's voice was heard from inside.

"Tell them to come in."

As soon as Ye Xiaotong's order was given, Tao immediately stepped aside.

It's good to be loyal, but you have to know when and where to do it.

I lightly patted Tao's shoulder as he stepped aside and smiled with the corners of my lips raised.

"Loyalty is good, but too much of it can be poisonous. This is not China, so don't overdo it. If you get hurt, Ye Xiaotong will be in danger."

Tao bowed his head and said nothing. I passed him and went inside.

"Chief Woo Young-sik was there too."

He said this while looking at Woo Young-sik and Ye Xiaotong who were sitting facing each other.

"What are you doing here?"

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"I came here because I have something important to discuss with you."

"Didn't I ask you to do that? Don't even think about using my daughter. If that happens, I'll give you everything I have…."

"I think you're mistaken. It was the chief's daughter who approached me first. I kept my promise."

"······."

I turned my head towards Ye Xiaotong, leaving Woo Young-sik behind who was glaring at me.

"I'm sorry. I know you're talking about something important, but I can't stand being curious, so I came here."

"How did you know about this place?"

"There is nothing in South Korea that I don't know."

"That's a scary story."

"Because it's true."

He shrugged his shoulders and spoke to Chief Woo Young-sik.

"Let's talk about the ladies later. Please take your leave now for today, Chief."

"What does that mean?"

"That's not nice to hear. I don't mind, but······. Your daughter wouldn't want that."

Woo Young-sik looked blankly at Yeshaotong.

"I'll contact you again tomorrow. Let's have a meal and talk about what we haven't finished."

"······."

"Please, Dad."

I was secretly quite surprised by Yeshaotong's action of readily calling Wooyoungshik "dad."

"Okay. Let's talk again tomorrow."

At Yeshaotong's request, Woo Young-sik reluctantly got up from his seat and stood in front of me.

"President Kim. I'm warning you. If you harm my daughter… I will risk my life to bring you down."

Although Woo Young-sik stepped down from all public office, he was one of the people who knew me very well.

I had no intention of becoming his enemy.

But that doesn't mean I can just back down when someone threatens me.

"Is that so? I want to do it more just to see how the chief will react."

"President Kim!"

"Haha, just kidding. I just came here to chat. I had a pretty fun time in China."

"······Let's talk next time."

Woo Young-sik glared at me once and then left. Ye Xiaotong spoke to me while still sitting there.

"Sit down. Didn't you come here because you had something to say?"

I nodded and sat down where Woo Young-sik had been sitting.

As soon as I sat down, she asked me in a threatening tone.

"So what's going on? It must be very urgent that you came here without an appointment."

I don't think he was this impatient. When I looked closely, his eyes were red.

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"Did you cry?"

"Why do you want to know that? Let's just talk business. I don't want to fight today."

He shrugged his shoulders, looking quite emotional.

Well, I guess it was a touching reunion. As she said, there was no need to waste time, so I brought it up right away.

"Xiaotong. Is that you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm asking if you are the writer of this ridiculous play. It's a very funny, very strange play."

"Oh, are you talking about the death of Wijeongseong?"

As if he had just remembered, Ye Xiaotong clapped his hands and gave an exaggerated greeting.

The behavior was so elegant that it actually made me feel bad.

"Yeshaotong. How much do you know about me?"

"Well, don't you think I know as much as other people do?"

"Then you don't know anything. I'm talking seriously, so don't talk so playfully. I really hate being someone else's puppet. Let me ask you again. Are you the one who set up this?"

As if the smile had been a lie, the smile disappeared from Ye Xiaotong's face.

"You're so funny. Yes, I did it. I just gave back the gift you gave me. Thanks to that, things got easier. But I don't understand why you keep making me so upset."

She admitted it meekly. Then she glared at me and added curtly.

"Of course, there would have been a way without my help. You have the power to do so. But it would have taken quite some time. I just helped shorten that time. Are you still dissatisfied?"

As Ye Xiaotong said, I have already made a plan.

However, it must have taken quite a long time for him to be cleared of the charges and leave China.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No. Thank you. It would have been nice if you had told me in advance. But······."

He looked at her, who was snorting as if telling her to look at him, and spoke in a cold voice.

"Isn't it strange? How could you have all the evidence in your hands as if it were a set-up? The Wijeongseong ordered me to kill you, and when that failed, you were killed. If you weren't the person involved, you wouldn't have been able to obtain this evidence."

"Are you doubting me now?"

Her eyes were completely unwavering.

"I didn't know I would be suspected like this after helping you. Are you saying that I tried to kill you?"

Ye Xiaotong looked at me with a blank laugh, as if she thought it was absurd.

But he's China's top lobbyist, so he can easily hide his true feelings.

"Isn't it stranger not to have doubts?"

"This is driving me crazy. If I had known this would happen, I would have just pretended not to know."

There was no trace of suspicion in her face, her gestures, or her speech.

So it was even stranger. It made me want to dig deeper into her.

"Then it's purely your ability?"

"I know his position well. That's why I put him under surveillance in case he harms Ji-young later. Then I found out about all these facts. Thanks to that, I was able to hand over all the evidence I had obtained to President Hu Jintao."

She explained in detail how this matter was settled.

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I couldn't find a single flaw in the explanation that flowed like water.

This made me feel even more uncomfortable. I nodded while making eye contact with her after she finished speaking.

"I understand it in my head. But my gut tells me that you are the one behind the hypocrisy."

"Aren't you thinking too highly of me? How can I control a man like Wijeongseong as I please?"

"If you are too humble, it is worse than not doing anything at all. I think highly of you. You are no ordinary person, considering that you have supported Xi Jinping for a long time."

She chuckled, knowing what I thought of Xi Jinping.

"That's not sarcasm, that's a compliment, right?"

"Of course. If I didn't know Xi Jinping's real face, I would have supported him too."

"······What kind of person do you think Xi Jinping is? You always talk to me like that."

"Well, you should find out for yourself. That's not important today."

There's no need to explain it nicely. Instead, I said what I really wanted to say today.

"Thank you for this. If there is anything I can do to help you, I will. However, if you have anything to do with my attempted assassination, then you are my enemy. I still don't fully trust you. And······."

I paused for a moment and looked her in the eye.

"Don't do anything that concerns me without consulting me. This is a warning, even if it helps me this time. I hate being a chess piece on someone else's board. There will be no second chance, so listen carefully."

Finally, he gave her a cold warning and looked at her coldly.

Yeshaotong did not avoid my gaze.

< I understand it in my head > End

< I'm giving you a chance >