Chapter 302 (1/2)

.

I also nodded with a stiff face. That was what I thought just now too. Considering that Yi Ruda was the only person left for the position of Yi Jenny’s successor, Jooin’s assumption was indeed reasonable.

However, an unanticipated response returned.

“No. The day before the last test, Yi Jenny suddenly declared that Ruda was her only successor even without everyone taking the remaining test.”

What? I recalled Yi Jenny’s cold and imperturbable face. She treated Ruda, her son, with a perfunctory, business-like attitude, which even revealed a slight annoyance.

“Why did she do that?”

Lucas shrugged his shoulders cheerfully at Yeo Ryung’s question. Suddenly shifting his atmosphere, Lucas spoke in a light tone.

“Well, perhaps Yi Jenny also couldn’t overcome the love for her family? Maybe, there could be other reasons too. However, it was something very unexpected that everyone was struck dumb when she announced her decision.”

Changing his sitting posture, Lucas kept on speaking, “Yi Jenny has said that she will give the first primacy to the overall outcomes and evaluate the candidates stoically without injustice to anyone. Besides, Ruda’s test results were actually remaining in the mid-lower ranks.”

“Really?” I asked. I could hardly imagine Ruda being incompetent among the candidates. Throwing a glance at the look of my face, Lucas adjusted his words, “Oh, it isn’t that Ruda wasn’t smart or athletic. Compared to his age, he was, instead, superior in those abilities. However, the issue was his age.”

“Oh…”

“Among those kids competing for that position, Ruda was the youngest. No matter how athletic he was, Ruda couldn’t overcome the physical difference during the growing period. Therefore, he naturally became the mid-lower ranker. Well, it was amazing that he didn’t belong to the lowest group.”

Lucas then unfolded his hand.

“However, as long as she declared that she would eliminate applicants with very strict evaluation, and selected candidates were drafted in to compete for the position even though she had a son, Yi Jenny should have played her cards right until the end. Her final decision, therefore, made her lose faith.”

When Lucas’s voice disappeared, the car was enveloped by a weird silence for a moment. Glancing out the window, Lucas added, “That’s all I know.”

After his last words, the three of us were lost in thought. Even I, who had in mind that Ruda would have gone through quite an abnormal past, stiffened my face too.

I murmured to myself, ‘If Ruda had to get trained and compete while being surrounded by kids older than her during her childhood for the sake of that un-wanted successor position, she would definitely shudder at Yi Jenny. Besides, Yi Jenny even declared Ruda as her successor regardless of the test results and without asking Ruda’s opinion.”

Why on earth did Yi Jenny do that? Did she change her mind simply due to her love for her family? I only met Yi Jenny once, but I was convinced that she wasn’t a person who would be carried away by such a reason like that. Besides, canceling the announced test came down to a question of credibility, the most significant virtue of a leader.

‘Hmm, everything’s such a mystery,’ as soon as I had that thought in mind, Jooin, sitting beside me, detached his lips. I turned my head aside.

“I understand roughly about what happened to Ruda hyeong; still, a mystery exists the more I get to hear about his story.”

Resting his elbow on the windowsill, Lucas asked with a smile, “What would it be?”

“Are you really just Ruda hyeong’s friend?”

“Hmm…”

Instead of a response, Lucas just let out a dubious sigh. Looking severe, Jooin pressed him for an answer.

“That’s what I wonder. How can just a friend know so deeply about the internal affairs of Reed Enterprise?”

Lucas then shrugged his shoulders and asked Jooin with an unaffected attitude as if he couldn’t understand him at all.

“Why not? Friends can talk about something like that. Childhood stories are a subject we often share in our conversations. Don’t you think so?”

Jooin replied like a roar, “I don’t think Ruda hyeong is reckless enough to bring up such a story like that.”