Chapter 54.1

Chapter 54.1

“Son, don’t you have something to say to me?”

“No, I don’t.”

When Jae-heon replied indifferently, Kwon Moo-young’s expression turned cold. The weary eyes of an old man from just moments ago were gone. Seeing the sudden shift, Jae-heon let out a dry chuckle.

“You’ve done something uncharacteristic. Wasn’t it because of this girl?”

“Please be clearer, Father.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand.

Kwon Moo-young was pressing Jae-heon about his meeting with Lee Yi-taek earlier that day. That he knew wasn’t surprising—Jae-heon was always aware that Kwon Moo-young kept track of who he met and what he did.

What puzzled him was how quickly Moo-young had come to see him. Not even a day had passed since the meeting, yet here he was. It meant someone close to Moo-young was closely monitoring Lee Yi-taek’s movements.

Was the Han camp getting nervous? Or was it the presidential office that was growing curious? Jae-heon glanced at Secretary Ahn, standing behind Moo-young. The man was listening intently to every word they exchanged.

Was everything they said today being funneled to the president’s office?

“Out of all things, are you trying to raise a snake because you’ve got nothing better to raise?” His father referred to the ever-greedy Congressman Lee Yi-taek.

Moo-young, the father, was backing Speaker Han Sung-jin. Yet the son had made contact with Lee Yi-taek.

Both candidates were from the ruling party, the Korea Party.

From the opposition Minkuk Party, the current party leader, Representative Park, was a strong contender for the presidency. He had already experienced one bitter defeat. A scandal surrounding his son’s military exemption had affected the previous election’s outcome.

In the upcoming election, the Korea Party would no doubt seize on the same issue relentlessly. Unless something drastically changed, their victory seemed all but certain. Which meant: whoever won the party’s primary would become the next president.

“Do I look weak enough to be eaten by a pet snake?” Kwon Jae-heon defended himself.

“For now, it’ll be satisfied with the food you give it. But at some point, it won’t be. Like a snake that devours even an elephant—it won’t rest until it’s swallowed everything in sight.”

“Boa constrictors are known for their appetite, aren’t they?”

The hat-shaped snake from The Little Prince. Just like the snake that swallowed an elephant whole, Lee Yi-taek’s greed knew no bounds.

“How do you plan to fill that belly?”

Jae-heon knew exactly what his father was worried about.

[天下我足下, 我獨尊]

‘The world beneath my feet, I alone am supreme.’

Lee Yi-taek had never hidden his ambition. If granted absolute power, he would no doubt use it to crush both Kwon Jae-heon and Kwon Moo-young. He wasn’t the kind of man who tolerated those stronger than himself.

Jae-heon dipped his head slightly and leaned toward his father, whispering in his ear—careful to avoid the ears of the rat nearby.

“There’s no law that says you can only raise one pet, right?”

“Hmph, that’s true,” Moo-young blinked and slowly nodded.

“Dogs and cats are boring, so I figured I’d try a snake. It’s more unique.”

“There’s a reason people don’t keep certain pets. If you’re going to raise one, make it a dog. Dogs don’t bite the hand that feeds them. You’re ignoring the easy path again, getting obsessed with weird things. Tsk.”

He wasn’t wrong. Dogs were loyal to their masters. Raising something sly and dark-hearted would only end in trouble.

“Shall I find you another dog, then?”

“Wouldn’t your dog feel hurt?”

“It’s a gift for my son. He shouldn’t take offense.”

“That’s true.”

If Lee Yi-taek was a snake, Chairman Han was more like a dog. A hunting dog that obeyed every order from Moo-young. Breed-wise, he was like a Doberman.

Jae-heon already had a good idea of the people his father wanted to introduce him to. If he were to describe them by dog breeds: Jindo, Husky, Samoyed. No matter how he looked at it, they all seemed too tame—no thrill in raising them.

“Sounds boring.”

“Tch. Pick something easy to handle. If you raise some unpredictable menace, it’s just trouble for everyone around you.”

He wanted to say that even his father’s hunting dog wasn’t exactly adorable, but compared to a snake, it was at least tolerable. Lee Yi-taek, with his serpent-like malice, would eventually ignore his master’s commands and devour anything that displeased him.

“If it refuses to be trained, I’ll turn it into your next tonic.”

“I don’t care much for snake soup. I prefer dog stew.”

The fact that he was talking about dog stew meant Chairman Han had probably outlived his usefulness. To kill the dog after the hunt. The dog still looked only at its master, and yet how cold-hearted he was.

“You shouldn’t be picky. As you get older, you need to eat a variety.”

“Not everything that’s good for you is safe to eat.”

“Don’t you trust me?” Jae-heon questioned.

“If you were me, would you? How could I trust someone who looks just like me? I’d be lucky if you didn’t stab me in the back. Look at you now, lying to your father to raise some damn snake.”

“You’re being heartless.”