Chapter 36

Chapter 36

I Will Take Charge (1)

Father entered the study first, but Secretary Kim was giving instructions to several Taeseong Group security guards in the living room.

I ran over to Secretary Kim.

“I have a request for Secretary Kim.”

In the past, it would have been enough to send invitations under the name of ‘Sillim-dong Ant Hell.’

Now, it seems I need Secretary Kim’s help.

“A request? Good. However, now I have to fulfill the chairman’s order first. Young Master, how about unwrapping the gift in the meantime?”

The gift Secretary Kim was talking about was not something like the gift boxes placed under the Christmas tree.

At Secretary Kim’s gesture, the Taeseong Group security guards placed the travel bags they brought in front of my feet.

“The fun of confirming will be quite substantial, so you won’t be bored waiting.”

“Okay.”

“Then I’ll see you again in a bit.”

Secretary Kim politely bowed to me and only then headed to Father’s study.

‘Hmm?’

The quick-witted security guard, the self-proclaimed number two, the security team leader Yu Jong-tae who volunteered to be my limb, was carrying the bags while groaning.

Moreover, the other Taeseong Group security guards began carrying desks and chairs.

The direction they were heading was the second-floor study.

‘Father clearly said to just have a cup of tea, right? Why does it seem like the matter is getting bigger and bigger?’

I snapped my fingers.

‘Hey, guardian deity!’

[Understood. Field of view sharing.]

Sharing the field of view right away without even asking or questioning!

This guy is also being rolled frequently, so his work sense has improved a bit!

* * *

Father was standing with his back turned looking at the study glass window.

Secretary Kim said politely.

“Young Master, it seems the conversation will be long, how about sitting on the sofa?”

“I said I have no mind to have a long conversation. Let’s speak directly. What is the intention of deliberately bringing up the Taeseong Chemicals talk in front of Jeong-hyeok?”

It was a tone that was cold, sharp, and imbued with hostility.

“It was a story that Young Master Jeong-hyeok should also know.”

“Still cunning. I thought you would have understood my meaning sufficiently by this point.”

Father didn’t even pretend to look at Secretary Kim.

“I know Father well. He never treats business lightly. He’s not a person who would give up Taeseong Chemicals without compensation. I’ll ask again. What’s the reason for deliberately shaking the child?”

“It seems I was firmly disliked by the young master because of the money envelope 7 years ago.”

Secretary Kim opened the travel bag that was said to be Father’s share.

“The chairman didn’t send the gift for free without compensation. Strictly speaking, shall I say it’s a reward?”

He took out a black-covered document folder bound with string from the bag.

Thud.

“This is the U-gwang Construction bribe ledger. It’s also a top-secret document inside the KCIA.”

“······What?”

It was exactly that ledger that Uncle Cheol-gu wrote and that I sent to the chairman.

“For reference, there will be a man like a bruised bear covered in mottled bruises in this house. Mr. Park Cheol-gu. That person is the KCIA agent who is the author of this U-gwang Construction bribe ledger. Young Master Jeong-hyeok extracted him who was dying in the Seobinggo water torture room.”

“Surely······.”

“Yes, what Young Master Jeong-hyeok gave to the chairman is exactly that.”

“······Wait. Jeong-hyeok? How does that child know U-gwang Construction’s weakness and convey it to Father?”

Father couldn’t hold back and looked back.

He was making an expression of being hard to believe.

Regardless.

Secretary Kim continued calmly.

“According to the bribe ledger, the bribes that U-gwang distributed to recruit important figures related to the subway are about 2 billion.”

“Wait. U-gwang is suffering from fund shortages because of the steel business they jumped into 4 years ago. With what money does such U-gwang distribute as much as 2 billion in bribes?”

“It’s money diverted from Taeseong’s safe.”

“What?”

“Yes, no wonder the chairman got heated? This is Agent Park Cheol-gu’s handwritten statement.”

What Secretary Kim took out this time was the three pages I cut out.

“Young Master Jeong-hyeok persuaded the vicious man who absolutely didn’t open his mouth even after being dragged to the KCIA. Thanks to that, the chairman was able to purge the Taeseong Construction flies all at once.”

“Did you just say Taeseong Construction?”

“Yes, this is the content that former president Cha Yun-seong of Taeseong Construction confessed.”

Thud.

“The circumstances of holding hands with U-gwang and the situations in the meantime are recorded.”

“Ha, Uncle······.”

“Of course, the evidence and double ledgers etc. related to this are in this bag. You can also just confirm the results after thoroughly cleaning out all the Taeseong Construction executives and staff.”

“Umm.”

“In that way, instead of the chairman not sending the uncle to prison, he thoroughly scraped what he had and gave it as a gift to Young Master Jeong-hyeok. So it’s a reward.”

“······Does this make sense?”

Whether Father was bewildered or not.

“The chairman repeatedly said, ‘Young Master Seong-jun really obtained one good son.’”

Father looked at the materials that Secretary Kim laid out with a half-dazed face.

Secretary Kim held up the U-gwang Construction bribe ledger and shook it slightly.

“U-gwang is evaluated as being several steps behind Taeseong in technology and performance as well as scale. So for U-gwang, it’s like betting their life on lobbying.”

“In this country, political-business collusion is prevalent.”

“In the end, thanks to Young Master Jeong-hyeok, Taeseong even obtained U-gwang’s most powerful weapon.”

“Weapon?”

“Yes, the chairman sent one letter each to the people recorded in this bribe ledger.”

“Does that mean he threatened? How will you handle the aftermath?”

“The aftermath is not something Taeseong has to worry about. It’s something U-gwang has to worry about. Why do you think we sent anonymous letters?”

“Umm.”

“Even after obtaining such a good weapon, we can’t just let it rot in the warehouse like a fool, right?”

Secretary Kim pushed up his silver-framed glasses.

“This time I also thoroughly benefited from this weapon. Thanks to that, Taeseong was able to obtain Japan’s underground facility civil engineering method technology. This is the technical sharing agreement concluded with Japan.”

Thud.

Another document piled up on Father’s desk.

“Originally, the harvest should be reaped by the money owner, right? Today the president of U-gwang Construction ran all the way to the Taeseong Hotel and proposed a joint bidding to the chairman.”

“Ha······!”

“Of course, the chairman refused.”

“Of course it should be so.”

When Father nodded, Secretary Kim pointed to the travel bag.

“So when cleaning out the safe of the Taeseong Construction president’s office, we brought all these materials. Shall I say it’s the future of Taeseong Construction that Young Master Seong-jun has to personally take charge of and handle from now on?”

Secretary Kim even placed the travel bag on the desk and began taking out documents.

“This is the materials related to the tax evasion details recovered from the safe of the Taeseong Construction president’s office and the bills that have to be blocked immediately.”

Thud.

“This is the materials related to the apartment sites that Taeseong Construction tried to sell and the domestic construction sites currently in a state of construction stoppage.”

Thud.

“And this is the feasibility study materials related to site selection and construction fund preparation related to the Subway Line 2 construction.”

Documents piled up layer by layer on Father’s desk.

“Hoo. There’s still a lot left, shall I continue?”

“······It seems enough to stop. No, it’s already excessively overflowing.”

Father tightly closed his eyes.

There’s no shit lump like this shit lump.

“Ha! I didn’t know Taeseong Construction was in such a mess up to this point.”

“Since we cleanly cut out those mess-like cancer lumps this time, Young Master Seong-jun doesn’t need to worry.”

Secretary Kim lightly tapped the documents related to the Taeseong Construction executives with his fingertip.

“Considering that it was a fight that had to be fought once someday, it has rather become a blessing in disguise.”

Executive positions don’t come easily.

Even if trying to cut them, a justification is needed, and backlash is prone to spreading greatly.

“This time when the young master returns to the company, fill those empty positions with the young master’s people.”

Father was about to nod unconsciously but stopped and held his forehead with his hand.

“Is all this a matter that started because Jeong-hyeok brought the U-gwang Construction bribe ledger?”

“Yes.”

“Jeong-hyeok is just a seven-year-old child!”

“I know.”

“This is······!”

Father dry-washed his face.

“Was there perhaps another capable helper attached?”

“Perhaps that might be the case. But in this field, luck is also ability, and skill is also ability. This is also all Young Master Jeong-hyeok’s power.”

Secretary Kim raised one corner of his mouth.

“The chairman hopes that the young master will take charge of Taeseong Construction and successfully carry out the Subway Line 2 construction as if showing off.”

Secretary Kim shook the U-gwang Construction bribe ledger once more.

“The young son has progressed the matter up to this point, will the father young master ignore it?”

Every time the ledger shook, Father’s pupils also shook.

“The chairman has given up Taeseong Chemicals. The chairman will be busy for the time being to clean up Taeseong Chemicals, so wouldn’t it be unreasonable to even take charge of the 180 billion won Subway Line 2 construction and push it simultaneously?”

“······Good. I will take charge of the Subway Line 2 construction.”

Father looked at the mountain of documents placed on the desk with a confident face.

“If I resolve and run, there’s nothing I can’t do. I intend to do it properly once. If it’s construction bidding, I’ve made estimates and plans countless times in the Middle East and briefed, would Korea be different?”

“The young master’s words are right.”

Father covered the U-gwang Construction bribe ledger with a thud.

“It seems there will be too many things to do from now on.”

“Yes. As you know, the time until the Subway Line 2 construction bidding is tight. So you’ll be quite, no, extremely busy.”

“How far has the preparation of the Subway Line 2 construction bidding estimate gone?”

“The Taeseong Construction executives are so incompetent that progress is very slow. It’s to the extent that a sigh comes out.”

Secretary Kim pointed to the travel bag.

“Shall I take out more materials? For reference, I haven’t even taken out half yet.”

“Enough. That much is sufficient to understand. It means the road ahead is far.”

Father let out a small sigh.

“It’s impossible for me to handle this matter alone. There’s not even a month left until the bidding, but the things to do are a mountain.”

“That’s why I came.”

Secretary Kim shrugged his shoulders.

“What shall we do? Shall I drink a cup of tea and leave like this? Or shall I stay? As I revealed from the beginning, I will follow the young master’s will.”

“It seems I have to earnestly request help.”

“Is there a need to earnestly request? The young master just needs to command.”

When Secretary Kim opened the study door, Yu Jong-tae placed five heavy travel bags as if he had been waiting.

“My security team will also join and support for the time being.”

“I called seven among the Taeseong Group secretariat staff. From tomorrow morning, all will join this side.”

“I also contacted the Taeseong Construction finance department, general affairs department, and inspection department. They will bring related materials and ledgers.”

“The young master just needs to appropriately distribute the work to them.”

Secretary Kim and Yu Jong-tae matched perfectly.

Father grinned.

“Reassuring.”

“Leave the back to me, and the young master just needs to look at the Subway Line 2 construction and run.”

“I feel like I obtained a thousand armies and ten thousand horses.”

When Secretary Kim flicked his hand, a Taeseong Group security guard brought a desk and chair to the corner of the study.

“Three days. Until the year-end night event ends, I will stick here and assist the young master. If there’s anything to order, entrust it anytime.”

“First, let’s send just one telegram.”

“Telegram? Where shall I send it?”

Secretary Kim pushed up his silver-framed glasses.

Father quickly wrote down on the memo paper with a fountain pen.

He handed the memo paper to Secretary Kim.

“To room 707 of the Crystal Hotel in Dubai.”

“Ah, you’re calling Secretary Lee?”

“There are too many things at stake in the 180 billion won Subway Line 2 construction. At times like this, a partner whose hands and feet match well is desperately needed.”

Father gently stroked the cover of the U-gwang Construction bribe ledger with his fingertip.

“Do you know why I’ve been bringing in construction orders while going around the Middle East until my eyes turned red until now?”

Father said.

“When refusing the marriage with U-gwang, it was because I wanted to reduce even a little the enormous loss that has to be borne in case Taeseong Chemicals flies away. It’s a matter I started, I can’t pass all the loss and responsibility to Father.”

It was a face that somehow looked refreshed.

That was only for a moment, Father hardened his expression and looked at Secretary Kim.

“Come to think of it, why I ended up flying to the Middle East of all places, do you perhaps remember?”

“The Middle East earned an enormous amount of oil money after declaring the weaponization of oil. Because they’re building cities with that overflowing money. Isn’t that right?”

“Wrong. When I abandoned all pride and knelt in front of you and earnestly requested.”

“Surely······.”

Secretary Kim was rarely flustered.

“Was it because of the report that Ms. Lee Su-jin’s last whereabouts were cut off in the Middle East?”

“That’s right. Because I searched every corner of the country thoroughly but couldn’t find her. But when I actually met her, Su-jin was······.”

“That was Jung-dong in Mapo-gu······.”

“······.”