Chapter 38: Starting The Long Game III

Haneul spoke calmly to the Vice president like a gentleman as he responded to the excuse of concern. "You could have handled it more professionally like a cultured human and asked me. Looks like you lack both professional behaviour and common sense. Since you want to know, I will tell you. Why should my details be in your company when I am not part of it? It shouldn't be here. So my boss erased it after I was kicked out of CraZe and joined SMJ. After all, SMJ is not only protective of its employees but could get possessive too."

"Sorry, Mr Han. I will keep it in mind…" Vice-president Go Yoo Han had to bite his tongue not to say anything against the snide remarks and the dig at his professionalism. After all, it was acceptable to keep the past employees' records. Every company have the practice.

Lim Do Yun tried to intervene and end the talk then and there. He firmly believed that letting the talk happen more than this would put Haneul in danger, and the vice president would turn his back on them.

But Haneul knew it was the perfect opportunity to show the upper hand of SMJ and its employees; in this case- himself. He knew his boss would give him a disapproving glance if he failed to show power with a perfect opportunity like this.

Haneul would instead create two thousand mortal enemies in seconds rather than get disapproving glances from his boss for a few seconds.

"Don't tell me that's all you looked into… come on… speak the truth…" Choi Haneul coaxed the vice president as if he was discussing something harmless. He did not let go of the topic, as he had a mischievous look.

Lydia and Go Dae-Kyun were sitting on the edge as if they were watching an exciting movie. They were proud of Haneul for standing up for himself and tackling the situation better. But they were upset with the vice president, whom they used to respect a lot.

No one expected the vice president to behave like this, especially Go Dae-Kyun. After all, vice-president Go Yoo Han was his uncle. The man he had looked up to all his life behaving unprofessional and almost harming his friend was something he could not accept.

Lim Tae-Ri was gritting her teeth. She knew she could not move past CEO and question the vice president. At the same time, she was not sure if she could give support openly to Haneul. It might affect their plan in the long run. She was confused when she noticed Haneul looking at her through the glass window.

She turned towards Haneul, who just smirked her way as he tapped on the file in his lap before turning away. The entire interaction lasted for seconds, and that's it.

No one noticed it. Even if someone did, they would not consider it an intentional interaction.

Lim Tae-Ri understood and questioned the suspect hoping her question would help Haneul's plan. "Vice-president Go, what else did you look into?"

Everyone waited for the vice president to speak, but the man did not open his mouth.

Lydia gritted her teeth, but she still stayed calm. Go Dae-Kyun openly looked at the vice president - his uncle with hurt.

Lim Tae-Ri questioned him again, which the vice president could not answer. After all, he did not know everything madam Sun wanted to know. His focus was only to find out whether Haneul plagiarised the song or was he framed.

"This is the copy of the confidential contract he signed with a private detective." Haneul threw the document on the small coffee table in between.

"How original? Hiring private detective… is your stepmother watching too many crime thriller movies these days?" Haneul questioned Lim Do Yun.

The question caught Lim Do Yun by surprise, and Lim Tae-Ri took the chance to take the file. She was reading through the details.

Lim Do Yun snapped out of his thoughts before he started to look into the file over his cousin's shoulder.

The Vice president felt his palm sweat as his throat go dry. He was stunned and could not say a word.

Vice president Go realised there was a history between madam Sun and Choi Haneul. He also feared that he was used by madam Sun as he was anxious to learn more about Haneul.

Both CEO and president were stunned when they looked at aspects that needed investigation.

Lim Do Yun looked at his cousin helplessly, hoping she had a solution.

But the girl was too stunned even to spare a glance at anything. After all, the queries were invasive and threatening to Haneul's safety, considering the history between Haneul and madam Sun.

The silence stretched long, but Haneul had better things to do than be a sitting duck. So he was taking the game toward the final part. "Would you like to explain, or should I assume things and react according to my imagination?"

"Let me make this easy for you. I will ask the reasons for each of the queries, and if you could give me the answer, even if it is not valid, I will tell you the answers. Moreover, I will let you go. Fair deal?" Choi Haneul did not wait for the acceptance.

The series of questions fired toward the vice president, the scrape goat.

"Why do you want to know where I was after leaving CraZe?"

"Why do you want to know my relationship with SMJ? Or how long I was working for SMJ?"

"Why do you want to know where I lived all these years?"

"Why do you want to know if my mother is alive or dear?"

"Why does it matter to you about the severity of my mother's injury from the accident years ago?"

"Why do you want to know all my income sources over the years?"

"Why do you want to know where my mother got treatment?"

"Why do you want to know about my mother's current whereabouts if she is alive?"

"Please enlighten me on how this information would help the company. Especially the last one." Choi Haneul looked at the vice president casually after finishing the question.