God-Given Business Genius - Chapter 117

"Hello?"

Despite my greeting, Baek Jae-ha simply stared at me silently without answering. If a stranger had seen this, they might have wondered if he was deaf.

He was so quiet that it was hard to believe he was at the peak of youthful vigor.

Considering how students his age can hardly sit still for a moment, it felt rather strange.

"I'm Song Woo-yeon."

I knelt down to match Baek Jae-ha's eye level. The sunlight peeking through the hole seemed to be the only light allowed to Baek Jae-ha.

"What's your name?"

Baek Jae-ha looked at me as if searching for something intently.

'He looks so young, too young.'

At first glance, he looks barely like a middle school student. He's all curled up so it's hard to gauge properly, but his height seems similar to or slightly shorter than mine.

"......."

Baek Jae-ha remained silent for a long time.

I fumbled in my pocket and pulled out something I had printed in advance.

"This. It's yours, right?"

"!"

"Your blog was interesting. Good ideas too."

As I grinned, Baek Jae-ha showed a reaction for the first time.

He flinched in surprise and then suddenly scurried to the side. Then he peeked his head out from outside the annex.

He seemed to have realized that I was a type of outsider he had never seen before.

Fear towards an unfamiliar presence, and yet rising curiosity despite that. These emotions mixed together, making his eyes sparkle.

"Ah, right. Especially this part. Using strawberries here was really brilliant......."

"Hey! Who's there!"

That's when it happened.

Before I could finish speaking, someone's angry voice was heard. At the same time, Baek Jae-ha, who had been cautiously approaching out of curiosity, quickly hid back inside.

"What are you doing in front of someone else's house?!"

I turned around slowly.

A balding middle-aged man and a woman with fiercely slanted eyes were standing side by side.

They looked at me suspiciously, as an outsider who had suddenly appeared.

So it's you.

"Pleased to meet you. This is who I am."

Baek Jae-ha's abusive adoptive parents. Humans worse than dogs.

I showed them the scout's business card.

"Huh?"

"What's this. A scout?"

"Yes, that's correct. I've come here personally, despite the rudeness, because I found someone who perfectly matches the talent our company is looking for."

Their expressions softened a bit. Though they didn't know who I was, they seemed to immediately sense that there might be money involved.

These types of people always have an uncanny nose for money.

"Talent? Who? Surely not our Woo-jun?"

"Oh my. It must be! How did you recognize our Woo-jun all the way from the mainland...."

"No."

I cut them off sharply.

"I've come for Baek Jae-ha."

"......Jae-ha?"

Their expressions hardened as soon as they heard Baek Jae-ha's name. They seemed to have lost interest.

"Aren't you mistaken about something? That kid Jae-ha doesn't have anything special about him."

"That's right. If anything, he's lacking."

"The child doesn't answer when called, has no expression at all. I can never tell what he's thinking. He doesn't have a single cute thing about him."

They badmouth him without caring that Baek Jae-ha is right next to us listening. Before they could say anything worse, I showed them the materials I had brought.

"Do you see this? This is the blog that Baek Jae-ha runs."

"Huh? Blog?"

"What's that?"

"It's where you post your views or work on the internet. Through this, I was able to glimpse Baek Jae-ha's talent. If you look, you'll see recipes where he's reinterpreted and reconstructed foods from around the world that he's never tasted, based on photos......."

"What? Internet? We didn't allow him to use computers at home?"

They say their piece without even listening to me. Then Baek Jae-ha's stepmother clapped her hands and exclaimed.

"Oh my! The child said he had to go to school even after the college entrance exam for some counseling?! We let him go, and he was doing this sort of thing in the computer room?!"

"What? Good grief. We told him there's no point in getting counseling when he's not going to university anyway, but he insisted he had to go. Is this where he's been telling bald-faced lies to adults?"

"Goodness. Wouldn't it be better if he came home early and helped with housework or fieldwork? He's just so lazy. Always trying to find ways to play around!"

The two of them burst into angry shouts, then started banging on the storage room of the annex.

"Hey! Baek Jae-ha! You brat, come out this instant!"

As the stepfather roughly banged on the door, the stepmother naturally approached to try to shoo me away, with a skill that seemed practiced.

"Whatever scout or whatever you are, come back tomorrow to talk! When Woo-jun's dad gets angry, he doesn't see anything else~"

"What? Oh, no. Just a moment."

As she tried to push me away forcefully, I tensed my body and stood firm.

Despite appearances, my whole body is packed with practical muscle from years of cooking and part-time jobs.

When I didn't budge an inch, the stepmother made a puzzled sound, "Huh?"

Meanwhile, the stepfather forcibly opened the door and grabbed Baek Jae-ha, who was hiding inside, by the scruff of his neck.

"L-Let go...!"

"How dare you talk back! You ungrateful brat. We send you to school and this is what you do?!"

"Eek!"

Baek Jae-ha let out a shrill scream and scratched at his stepfather's hand that was gripping his neck.

"Argh!"

"Oh my, oh my! Are you alright, dear?!"

"That little rat!"

As soon as Baek Jae-ha landed on the floor, he scurried backwards.

"This is how you repay our kindness! You ungrateful wretch!"

The stepfather, his face red with anger, walked menacingly towards Baek Jae-ha.

That brief act of defiance seemed to have been his limit, as Baek Jae-ha couldn't resist any further. With a face pale with fear, he just trembled, paralyzed by learned fear and helplessness. Waiting for the brutal violence that was about to come.

Swish.

I stepped between the two of them.

"That's enough."

"Hey! Miss, don't interfere in things you don't understand."

"This is a family matter, so you shouldn't meddle!"

I scoffed at their words. Family matter? Since when did child abuse become a family matter?

But would such common sense arguments even reach the ears of these people? It would be like casting pearls before swine.

There's a more effective method.

Rustle!

I opened the briefcase I had brought. Bundles of cash inside glittered brilliantly in the sunlight.

"......!"

"Oh my!"

The two, who had been about to hang Baek Jae-ha upside down, stopped in their tracks with wide eyes.

They seemed bewildered, facing a situation they had never experienced before. I tried to stand even more firmly, feeling the warmth of the child cowering behind me.

"This is the cash I've prepared as a down payment. Exactly 50 million won."

"F-Fifty million won......!"

"Of course. It's not free."

Snap.

As I closed the briefcase, their greedy gazes fixed on me. Their eyes were now bloodshot.

"Our company, The Song, values Baek Jae-ha's talent very highly. So, if we contract on the condition that all of Baek Jae-ha's ideas belong to The Song during the contract period, and he cannot collaborate with other companies for at least 2 years after the contract ends,"

I pushed the briefcase forward slightly.

"We will pay 50 million won as a down payment immediately."

A terrible silence followed as I finished speaking. The two seemed to be weighing the meaning of my words.

Suddenly, Baek Jae-ha must have started to look like a goose that lays golden eggs to them.

"......O-Our Jae-ha has always been clever since he was young!"

The stepmother was the first to change her attitude. 'Our Jae-ha', she says. I wonder if she's ever called him that even once before.

Hohoho. The stepmother put on a forced laugh.

It was a grotesque smile, uncomfortable to look at, with her mouth corners unnaturally curled up and an unnatural eye smile.

The stepmother elbowed the stepfather's side, and he awkwardly chimed in.

"Ah, of course! That's right."

"But if we receive such a large sum of money for the contract, what if our Jae-ha doesn't do well? Would we have to return it...?"

"That won't happen. This is literally a down payment. It's not a concept of being returned if he doesn't perform well."

"Hohoho! Oh my, oh my!"

The stepmother seemed unable to contain her laughter that was leaking out from excitement. She then cleared her throat and, disgustingly, pretended to be thinking.

"Oh, but our Jae-ha is still so young.... If he receives such a large sum as a down payment, he might not be able to manage it well. As his guardians, we should manage it for him. Right, dear?"

"Th-That's right!"

"But, if our Jae-ha is such a talented child, perhaps you could offer a bit more than 50 million won......"

"It's an exceptional case in the industry to offer a down payment, Mother."

I smiled gently and spoke firmly.

"As far as I know, Baek Jae-ha is an adult this year, so the issue of managing the down payment is something for Baek Jae-ha and his parents to discuss and decide. Our CEO is very interested in recruiting Baek Jae-ha. How about we draw up the contract as soon as possible......."

I glanced at my watch as I spoke.

"Let's say we deduct 1 million won from the down payment for every minute that passes."

"What?"

"No, what are you saying? How can you be so unreasonable? W-We won't accept anything less than 50 million...!"

"49 million won."

"!"

"It'll be 48 million soon?"

They seemed to have read from my relaxed attitude that I had no intention of backing down. The stepmother's face, which had been unnaturally kind, changed to a vicious expression in an instant.

"Let's do it, let's make the contract!"

That's more like it.

They never once said they wanted to read the contract. If they really cared about Baek Jae-ha, that should have been the first thing they said.

"I'm glad we understand each other. Seeing your judgment, Mother, I think I came to the right place."

I said as I set down the briefcase.

"I'll leave the 50 million won as I initially stated. In exchange, I'll be taking Baek Jae-ha with me."

"Yes, yes. Let's do that!"

Even though it was essentially like human trafficking their nephew for 50 million won. Baek Jae-ha's stepmother's eyes were wide as she couldn't take her gaze off the briefcase.

"Well then."

I bowed slightly, then took Baek Jae-ha's hand and walked away quickly.

Baek Jae-ha was looking at me with a dazed expression.

I made a 'shh' gesture with my hand, then mouthed the words.

'Run!'

Dash!

Baek Jae-ha ran after me, not knowing what was happening. As we ran to the dock, the last boat to the mainland was just about to depart.

"Let's go!"

With my shout, the boat departed.

As we moved a bit away from the dock, the stepmother and stepfather, who seemed to have chased after us, yelled at me.

"Hey, you swindler!"

I couldn't help but burst into laughter at the sight.

"Ahahahaha!"

"......?"

As Baek Jae-ha looked at me quizzically, I smiled and explained.

"You know that briefcase from earlier? Actually, only the top layer was real money, the rest was all fake."

"!"

Baek Jae-ha's face was shocked at my words.

Well, there's no need to give such a large down payment to people like that, is there?