An upscale bar usually had a rooftop to be used as a beer garden, for the employees to wind up, or for the customers to take some fresh air. In that case, the rooftop in Helios was not just a garden. It was a whole greenhouse that looked like a majestic golden dome from the outside. The access, however, was forever restricted, even for the employees.
Hell. Even for the general manager.
Lee Sol brought Seul-ah to an elevator at the end of a corridor that only several people were permitted to pass. "This is as far as I could go," he said. "Please use the card to access the roof. I will wait here to escort you out later."
Seul-ah gave the manager a genuine smile. "Thank you, Mister Sol."
It was the first time she spoke gently and used honorifics. Even after she used the card and the elevator door closed again, Lee Sol still blinked slowly in surprise.
Again, he couldn't help the confusion about which Seul-ah was the real Seul-ah.
Inside the elevator, however, Seul-ah also struggled with her own anxious mind. While she had been waiting and prepared for this moment, she couldn't help the building nervousness. After all, the person she was about to meet was someone she regarded as scarier than her own father. Someone with both legs in the light and darkness of society. Someone who held hands with both politicians and underworld bosses.
Song Yonghwa; The Flower of Disaster.
It was a nickname made from a pun of the last syllable in his name, which could mean both flower and disaster with different writing. A name that was given both as mockery and respect as a person who was said to bring a curse that brought down his own family, as well as a person who brought order to the chaotic gang wars a decade ago. Outside, on the legal side of the world, however, he had a different nickname.
The Flower of Contradiction.
Song Yonghwa, while bearing the words 'harmony' and 'peace' in his name, was the chairman of the largest military company in the country. To put it simply, he was a glorious weapon maker and arms dealer--although he dealt with governments and made missiles instead of guns. He was both heralded and cursed, but then again...people said we had to prepare for war to obtain peace.
Seul-ah didn't care about the nicknames or the state of global security. But she did think Song Yonghwa looked like a flower; even if he lacked color on his person.
Snow white hair and a pair of pale hazel eyes framed with long, silvery eyelashes. There was another reason why people--ugly-minded people--thought he bore a curse. His skin, under the light of the greenhouse, looked almost translucent. Clad in a white shirt, he would probably look like a ghost down there, in the establishment that he owned. Surrounded by the vibrant flowers in the garden, however, he looked like a serene white butterfly, or a single-stem, prized white lily. Innocent and deadly.
Sitting behind an antique-looking tea table, the pale eyes flicked up at her arrival. "Good evening, Miss."
The sweet, soft-sounding voice always made people forget the darkness beneath the man's shadow. Seul-ah took a deep breath before walking over and trying to make sure her voice wasn't shaken. "Good evening."
She took a seat on the only other chair there, in front of the white lily brewing tea so close to midnight. Two guards were standing on the other side of the greenhouse, blending themselves with the many plants. Another guard stood near the entrance that Seul-ah used earlier, and a woman stayed not far from the table with both a tablet and a trolley beside her.
No one moved; no one said anything. The only sound she could hear was the rustling of tea leaves and boiling water. Despite the initial nervousness, Seul-ah enjoyed the peace of silence, wondering how the place could block the sound from the boisterous bar below. The mellow fragrance from the brewed tea further eased her exhausted mind, and she felt like she could be lulled to sleep anytime soon.
Immediately, she snapped back to reality and straightened her slightly slouched shoulders. The subtle smile on that delicate-looking poisonous flower made her sure it was some kind of test.
Ah, damn it. She shouldn't have let down her guard. Just because she managed to meet him didn't mean she already got what she wanted. On the contrary, she might lose everything if she took the wrong step.
Finally, as Seul-ah regained her conviction, the nice-smelling tea was served in front of her. "To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting the second daughter of HS Group?"
Seul-ah stared at the cup filled with champagne-colored tea, contemplating whether she should approach this like a member of high society or a merchant. She looked at the white flower, who was savoring his tea calmly, and remembered what kind of person he was.
In front of a poisonous needle, there was no room for glib.
"I'm looking for an investor," Seul-ah said after taking a sip of the tea.
"I'm not aware you're in charge of fundraising," Yonghwa tilted his head. "Or are you venturing on a business outside of your family?"
"No," Seul-ah placed the cup down and looked at the deep hazel eyes across her. "What I'd like you to invest in is me."
"You?"
Yonghwa raised his brow slightly, meeting Seul-ah's anxious but firm gaze. He held the gaze while slowly stirring his cup of tea as if searching for an answer he knew the girl wouldn't give him. At the end of that silence, he threw a question that sounded like a teasing.
"You want me to sponsor you?"
"You may call it that if you want," Seul-ah shrugged, unfettered.
"Haha," Yonghwa chuckled and leaned back on his seat, stroking the leaves of a plant hovering around the tea table. "I'm not very aware of HS's situation, but..." he smiled, eyes curling like a pair of crescents. "Could it be you are getting abandoned, Miss?"
"Mr. Song, let's not pretend as if you aren't the person with the most expansive information gathering in this country," Seul-ah narrowed her eyes. In the first place, Helios itself was a hub of information gathering; Song Yonghwa's intelligence tower. "I know you're already aware of my situation."
It didn't take a lot of digging to know about her car crash and the situation surrounding it; how the police were allowed to question her directly, how no one from the family took care of her mother's remains until she did, or how she had to do the funeral alone as if her mother was nothing more than a stranger to her family.
And it if was Song Yonghwa, he would be able to find out that she was getting cut off her privilege. After emptying the account for the first bet, the rest of her expenses were made through the house card's credit--which meant all of her spending was being scrutinized closely. She wasn't given a new car, and she was about to be thrown away abroad.
For Yonghwa, who even knew the deepest dirt of the congressmen, finding out Seul-ah's current situation was like child play.
The pale lips smiled deeply. "Then you must also know that I have nothing to gain from you."
"HS Group--"
"Hmm?"
"They will become a thorn in your side in the future when a mine will be found in that region Aeetes had an eye on."
The corner of the hazel eyes twitched, and Seul-ah picked up her cup to hide her smile.
Yes, that was why the first son was trying to attack Helios. Aetees, on paper, was an affiliate company of Helios--which meant it was also owned by Yonghwa. While HS Group and Yonghwa's Steel Star did not clash in industry, they had a bit of friction regarding raw materials.
To be exact, the source of the raw materials.
She held the cup and stared at the flower's eyes, which finally bore a genuine gleam of interest in them. "Invest in me, and I'll make sure HS will never know about what's inside the mine."
Yonghwa rubbed his fingers, looking at the girl in front of him in intrigue. It was one thing for her to know about Aetees, but...he didn't even know there would be a mine discovered, although his geologist team already found a trace of it. Naturally, he never thought such information would fall into the hand of this unassuming girl who looked like her lifeline was hanging by a thread.
And nothing...he had found nothing about how this girl could find out about his connection to Helios.
How...interesting.
"And how can you guarantee that?"
The girl smiled, gradually showing more confidence. "Because I'm the only one who knows about it," she raised her finger as her smile deepened. "In fact--I'll give you the exact location as a bonus, for allowing this meeting."
Yes. It was Seul-ah who found the mine after months of drowning herself in reports as the first son was urging her to find something worthwhile so he could gain more support from the board of directors.
"I'm not asking for you to do much," she continued while she still had her leverage. "All you have to do is provide some tools when I need them."
Investing did not always mean money. In fact, Seul-ah didn't want to take any money from anyone. Her revenge would be done with her own capital, which her mother contributed to.
That being said, she was alone. Outside of her family, she had nothing. No one. And while she wanted to do her revenge alone, she knew her limitations. She needed more than money--hell, she needed tools to move her money, which was why she used the shadow account that Helios provided. Going forward, she would need more, even better tools.
And Song Yonghwa was the best person to provide those tools.
The man, meanwhile, still looked at her skeptically. "Why?"
Seul-ah replied right away. "You know why."
The pale lips stretched deeper, showing a pair of dimples. "I see..."
Revenge. Because that was what Yonghwa did in the past; the reason he destroyed his own family's company. The reason why he started to be called the Flower of Disaster.
And revenge was Seul-ah's sole reason for coming to him.