Presence?
A few days later, at Taeshin Asset Managent's conference room, a board eting was underway concerning a single executive.
Executive Vice President Oh Kang-goo looked at the results of the just-completed vote and let out a sigh.
"......."
Fourteen directors, both inside and outside the company, including the company's CEO, sat around the table.
Everyone was waiting for Oh Kang-goo to announce the results of the board's agenda.
Since it was difficult to delay any longer, Oh Kang-goo slowly began to speak in the increasingly heavy atmosphere.
"...... Of the total 15 executives, 14 voted excluding the person concerned. All 14 votes in favor. Accordingly, Director Bong Joo-hyung's dismissal has been approved."
Bong Joo-hyung, whose na had been called, was not present.
Since his dismissal was as good as decided, he hadn't bothered to appear.
Naturally, the board eting was held in na only.
Additionally, the employees who had directly leaked docunts from the M&A/PEF Division were also disciplined and ended up being advised to resign.
Of course, Oh Kang-goo had tried to prevent things from getting to this point.
But the situation was thoroughly locked in—there was no way to overturn it.
The evidence against those involved in the docunt leak was simply irrefutable.
And in that mont, even the audit team leader whom he had drawn in advance suddenly turned against him.
[I will neither conduct nor accept requests for any more unreasonable, targeted audits.]
This was the ssage Oh Kang-goo had received while talking with Tae Ju-ha and Kang In-hyuk.
He still didn't know why Audit Team Leader Lee Dong-gyu had made this decision.
Of course, since they had exchanged favors before, Oh Kang-goo had attempted a bit of blackmail, but it was useless.
Judging from the circumstances, it just seed like Lee was facing even greater threats from sowhere else.
"Damn it......."
Oh Kang-goo muttered quietly so no one could hear, his expression stiffening.
In the end, he had lost an ally within the executive faction. anwhile, the board eting ca to an end.
Sitting at the center, Tae Ju-ha felt a refreshing sense of relief.
She, along with her secretary Heo Yu-rim, who had been sitting by the door, exited the eting room.
"CEO. You should try to keep a straight face."
"...... Was it that obvious?"
"The corners of your lips were twitching so much I thought you had a stroke."
The two spoke in low voices, only audible to each other.
As such, they greeted others before heading upstairs—not to the CEO's office, but to the floor where the M&A/PEF Division was located.
"Is Division Director Kang In-hyuk inside?"
With that question, Baek Si-hwan, the one guarding the desk outside, stood up.
"He is inside."
Soon after knocking, and receiving permission, they entered. In-hyuk, who had been working at his desk, slowly stood up.
"I saw the board's official mo just now. It looks like everything wrapped up well."
"Thanks to you. But honestly, I'm surprised Director Bong Joo-hyung didn't na higher-ups. I thought I'd backed him into a corner, but maybe it wasn't enough."
"At this point, what's scarier for him isn't you, but those people. Plus, he was promised support after his dismissal. However, now that the balance is broken, things should be easier than before."
"At best, though, it just ans there are fewer people than those loyal to the Chairman."
In reality, even with her shares, Tae Ju-ha's power within Taeshin Asset Managent was not significant.
Everyone treated her as CEO only because Chairman Tae Gun-seung was behind her, and even that support was considered to be in jeopardy.
So, losing just one person hardly seed to make a difference.
"You seem to want to truly own Taeshin Asset Managent, but won't CEO Tae Seok-hyun give you the promised shares soon?"
At that, Tae Ju-ha's face stiffened slightly.
It was the stake her father, Tae Seok-hyun, had promised on the condition of her marriage, and only half a year remained until then.
The sa applied to In-hyuk's quiet married life.
"That's true..."
"If you add up all the shares held by the in-house directors, it's still less than 7%. On the other hand, with your shares and the separately gifted stake, you're close to 9%, so it shouldn't be a major problem."
The figure looked small since it was a single digit, but in terms of Taeshin Asset Managent's value, it was at least several tens of billions won.
However, Tae Ju-ha's true goal was the company's full independence, and she was not satisfied with the situation.
"Even so, combining company-held and internal holdings only gets us a little past 30%. Even with the gifted shares, it's about 34%. That's still less than the 36% held by the group's headquarters. The governance structure won't change."
"I'll co up with the funds you need before our agreent ends."
At that, Tae Ju-ha's eyes widened.
"Don't tell ... Are you planning to buy shares with client investnt funds coming into the fund division?"
"That money is already tied up in investnts, so that's not possible. But there's another way. I can't go into detail just yet, though."
Hearing In-hyuk's calm reply, she let out a sigh.
"You never give a straight answer. By the way, the security system you suggested—we've decided to apply it not just to the MP Division, but company-wide."
"Did you really get approval from headquarters?"
Since Taeshin Group had standardized systems, nothing could be implented without their permission.
"That's right. To be precise, the Chairman himself gave the final confirmation."
"That's a relief."
"The Chairman seed interested in Director Bong being ousted."
Tae Ju-ha studied In-hyuk's reaction. It felt like he might have heard sothing else, too.
"The group's got so much going on, I'm surprised at how focused he is on Taeshin Asset Managent."
"To be accurate, it's because of you. I was honestly shocked—both at how decisively you got rid of Director Bong and how you used the situation to get approval for the new security system. Was the initial purpose behind your request for an independent file managent system really just to set this up from the start?"
Until now, she had tried various ways to keep the opposing executive faction in check, but nothing had worked.
They were too cunning, and their entrenched influence within the company was too great.
But as soon as In-hyuk created the new M&A/PEF Division, he used it as bait to trigger action and oust one of them.
"That wasn't my original intent."
"And you expect to believe that?"
"Director Bong Joo-hyung simply stumbled and fell of his own accord."
"By the way, are you sure the information that went to Oga is really harmless? You said it was fine before, but since it's related to the Chulsan Capital bidding process, I can't afford not to be concerned."
In-hyuk gave her a slight smile.
"I knew from the beginning that there was a rat inside the MP Division. I even identified who it was. Of course, I ensured none of the critical docunts got to them."
"So everything they got was fake...?"
"Only things like a company's liquid and retained assets ratio, inco statents, changes in capital, etc. Oga will probably realize it soon enough."
Tae Ju-ha let out a sigh at the sa ti.
"Next ti you do sothing like this, at least give a heads-up."
"There's a saying—you have to fool your allies first before you can fool your enemies."
Suddenly, Tae Ju-ha's gaze grew ambiguous.
"...... Am I an ally?"
"For now, yes. As long as you don't turn into your enemy."
"Ah......"
She closed her mouth silently, as if reflecting on the multiple implications.
"By the way, did you co just to ask how Director Bong was removed? Or do you have another reason?"
"That for now. Also, I wanted to report the outco, since I'd put a lot of effort into it. Are you very busy?"
"I have an external eting to get to shortly."
"These days you seem to be out of the office almost every afternoon. Do you really have that many external etings?"
It wasn't just once or twice; the number of tis seed strange even compared to sales staff.
"You have to do the legwork yourself to make a profit in fund investnts."
"What about the other staff?"
"They're busy with what I assigned them. I don't intend to move money around unless I've seen and heard things with my own eyes."
It was a firm answer.
The overlap with the cold impression she'd had of In-hyuk when they married made her even more curious.
"I didn't know you were so passionate about work."
"If I've decided to do sothing, I see it through. Anyway, unless you have more to discuss, I'll take my leave."
"...... Go ahead, then."
In-hyuk gathered his jacket and bag and left the office with Tae Ju-ha.
Following them were the security guards Hong Yu-geon and Van Hester.
"Now that I think about it, manager Baek Si-hwan seems to always be at his desk. Doesn't he serve as your personal assistant?"
"He has a lot of docunts to sort out right now like the rest. For outside business, the security guards are enough. Well, if you'll excuse us."
The elevator had already arrived. In-hyuk got in with the two security guards.
As the doors closed on both sides, Tae Ju-ha unconsciously sighed.
"Hmm......"
"What's wrong?"
Startled, Tae Ju-ha turned around.
There stood her secretary, Heo Yu-rim, who had been following since the start.
Seeing Tae Ju-ha gazing at the elevator with such a strange look, Yu-rim spoke up quietly.
"Why are you standing there with no presence?"
"...... Presence?"
It was only natural for her assistant secretary to stay by her side.
"No, it's nothing. Let's go back to my office."
. . .
At the sa ti.
Oh Kang-goo and Managing Director Yang Chan-woo were back in Oh's office.
"Damn it—! Why is everything turning out so twisted?!"
Yang Chan-woo, watching from his seat, was just as anxious.
Every staff mber they had planted or recruited in the M&A/PEF Division had been ousted, and even Bong Joo-hyung, whom they had pushed to lead the effort, had just been dismissed.
"So what should our next plan be? At this rate, it might be difficult for us to continue supporting him."
"How many have turned their backs?"
"Confird so far—Audit Team Leader, risk Managent Team Leader, head of Fixed Inco, head of Marketing, and the Head of Alternative Investnts Division 2."
All were individuals they had recruited within Taeshin Asset Managent.
Given they had attached themselves to Oh Kang-goo for personal gain, this sudden turnaround was baffling.
"Did you find out how Kang In-hyuk was able to win them over?"
"They all said they won't get involved in further infighting and will now focus solely on their duties."
"Hah... infighting? If only they'd kept their mouths shut. Do they not realize what they themselves have been doing?"
"But considering what they're holding over us, it might not be easy to pressure them."
Oh Kang-goo, Yang Chan-woo, and Bong Joo-hyung had promised these people promotions in return for inside information, and had even used borderline illegal thods in order to restrain rival executives.
This wasn't just bad for the defectors—it actually placed the executives themselves at greater risk.
"We can't just get rid of them right now..."
"If we try, Executive Vice President Nam's people will simply replace them with their own."
They were truly at a stalemate.
"We have to fix this situation before the Chulsan Capital bidding."
"There's not much we can do, is there? Besides, if Kang In-hyuk got that kind of dirt on them, he may well have found out about us too."
"And it's impossible to keep extracting internal docunts now."
The new security system proposed by Kang In-hyuk had received approval from the group, and would be used not just in the M&A/PEF Division but throughout Taeshin Asset Managent.
That was how they'd managed to catch Director Bong.
For the company, it was an excellent asure, but it also made it impossible for them to figure out what else Kang In-hyuk was planning.
bzzz—bzzz—
At that mont, Oh Kang-goo's phone buzzed on the table.
It was a call from Jeon Joon-seok, executive vice president of Taeshin Life and forr CEO of Taeshin Asset Managent.
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