Don't Bring It In
Morning arrived, and as usual, In-hyuk waited for the elevator in the company's B3 basent parking lot.
At that mont, soone approached him and greeted him.
"Hello! Division director! Good morning!"
The owner of the booming voice was Go Mi-ah, her red hair neatly tied back, dressed in a navy two-piece suit.
"... Yes."
"What's with you? I finally passed and it's my first day, shouldn't you be congratulating at least?"
Fortunately, because it was early and they were in the B3 parking lot, no other employees were around.
"I wonder if you'll really be able to handle office life."
"What if I do a good job? Ah, uncles, hello~!"
Go Mi-ah belatedly greeted Hong Yu-geon and Van Hester.
However, Hong Yu-geon still looked openly displeased about the popcorn he had tasted the other day.
"Oh, right."
"I ate the popcorn you gave last ti."
"It was okay? That's a relief."
As they spoke, In-hyuk noticed a suspicious-looking pink paper bag in her left hand.
"... What's that?"
"Huh? This? Ah, it's just stuff I need for the office."
"Don't tell , it's not food, is it?"
Go Mi-ah quickly averted her gaze.
"Huh? Of course not."
"Really? Hong Yu-geon, bring that here."
"Okay."
"Uh, huh? Why are you taking that!"
Hong Yu-geon snatched the paper bag from her right away.
As he checked its contents, he found sothing hidden under the keyboard.
"This was inside."
It was a lump of palm-sized purple(?) cookies in a clear wrapper.
There weren't just a few, but easily over twenty.
"I told you not to bring food to the office."
"But it's my first day! I thought I could hand them out to the team as a kind of greeting, so I made so."
How many people was she planning to send to the hospital... In-hyuk barely held back those words and let out a long sigh.
"Your taste is so unique, it doesn't suit anyone else."
"It's just a bit unusual."
"A bit too much. Anyway, this is confiscated until the end of the day."
"Ah! No~!"
Go Mi-ah stretched out her arms to snatch back the bag.
Hong Yu-geon dodged her hands and stepped back, tangling with where In-hyuk was standing.
Ding—
At that mont, thanks to Go Mi-ah's arrival, an uncalled elevator arrived at B3 and opened its doors.
Inside were Tae Ju-ha and her secretary, Heo Yu-rim.
In-hyuk made eye contact with them in turn.
After a brief silence, Tae Ju-ha, who got off with Heo Yu-rim, spoke first.
"... What are you doing right now?"
"Ah... Soone I know was carrying a heavy load, so I was helping."
"A load?"
The pink paper bag in Hong Yu-geon's hand stood out.
"By the way, CEO, what brings you here at this hour?"
It was just past 8 a.m.—a bit early for most employees to arrive.
Of course, In-hyuk knew she had gone out early.
But she had no real reason to co down to B3 herself.
"I had a breakfast eting. I dropped by to pick sothing up, and my usual car is in for maintenance, so I ca to take a different one."
"Ah..."
"More than that... To , it looks less like you're helping with luggage and more like a bunch of grown n bullying a young female staff mber."
At that mont, Go Mi-ah seized the opportunity and slipped beside Tae Ju-ha.
"That's right! They took away the strawberry cheese cookies I made myself!"
In-hyuk felt a chill.
She said there was strawberry and cheese in them, so why did the cookies look purple, as if made with blueberries?
On the other hand, Tae Ju-ha smiled subtly as if she'd caught sothing.
"Aha."
Feeling awkward, In-hyuk quickly explained.
"It's really not like that. It's a misunderstanding."
"Seeing the security guard holding it, it doesn't seem like a misunderstanding to ."
Hong Yu-geon glanced between In-hyuk and Tae Ju-ha, then ended up returning the paper bag to Go Mi-ah.
"I had no idea Director Kang had this kind of hobby. But please show so restraint since this is the office."
"No, it's not like that..."
anwhile, Go Mi-ah quickly handed cookies to Tae Ju-ha and Heo Yu-rim.
"Thank you! Please have these when you get hungry! Well, see you!"
She then darted into the still-open elevator and took off upward.
In-hyuk had no choice but to let her go.
"Ah..."
"What's wrong with you?"
"There's a reason. And as for those cookies... I strongly advise you not to eat them."
He ant it with all sincerity.
But Tae Ju-ha smiled more broadly than ever, seemingly happy to find fault.
"Why not? Did Ms. Go Mi-ah put poison in them or sothing?"
He would have preferred a quick, clean death by poison.
"To be honest, ms. Go Mi-ah is terrible at cooking. They're bound to taste awful."
"People can be bad at cooking, but you could at least appreciate the effort she put into making them."
But thinking about that effort could send you straight to the hospital.
In his previous life, In-hyuk had accidentally eaten Go Mi-ah's cooking and actually ended up in the ergency room.
"I'm clearly warning you. Later... no, soon, even if you regret it, don't bla ."
"I didn't know you were so cold-hearted. Well, all right."
Hearing her reply, In-hyuk boarded the next arriving elevator.
Tae Ju-ha, who had been standing quietly, furrowed her brow a little.
Heo Yu-rim looked worriedly at the purple cookies, then slid them into her bag between the zipper.
"CEO. Let's go now."
"Huh? Oh, right."
They'd wasted too much ti in front of the elevator.
The two soon walked towards the spare car parked in the B3 lot.
.
.
.
anwhile, upon arriving at the office, In-hyuk sat down as Hong Yu-geon spoke.
"Should I go back to Go Mi-ah and bring it?"
"If you do, you'll get a reputation as the division director who bullies young female staff."
"Then what do we do? If soone eats that, the whole system managent team will end up in the hospital."
Crumple— Crinkle—
Van Hester, who had settled on the sofa, took out a purple cookie and started eating it.
"When did you get that?"
"Right before Mia got in the elevator."
The palm-sized cookie disappeared half in one bite.
Watching this, Hong Yu-geon looked deeply concerned.
"How's your stomach... Are you really okay?"
"I'm fine."
"..."
Hong Yu-geon shook his head.
In-hyuk then took an envelope out of his bag and handed it over.
"It's a list of people to investigate from now on."
"That's a lot. Which area are we looking at this ti?"
"Taeshin Spintech. And TSS."
With that answer, the two stared intently at In-hyuk.
"You told us not to investigate TSS last ti. Is it all right now?"
Baek Si-hwan and his own past self had both worked at Taeshin Security.
When they'd dealt with Pyo Jun-woo's crowd, Kim Seong-tae, who was part of TSS, was there.
Because of that, he'd stopped them before, thinking about the risk, since they didn't know how many more people inside TSS were connected with Baek Si-hwan.
"Don't go too deep, just check the movents of the people I specify. If you can get storage devices or communication equipnt without getting exposed, that's best."
"You're telling us to steal now? Soon, Charybdis will be more famous for being thieves than rcenaries."
"Either way."
Despite grumbling, Hong Yu-geon carefully flipped through the docunts.
"By the way, why are we investigating Spintech employees? The na Taeshin is attached, so is it an affiliate?"
"It's a subsidiary under Taeshin Departnt Store. Soon the head office will create a TF Division and I'll serve as division director as well."
"Huh? You're moving to head office? Then what about here?"
In-hyuk shook his head at his question.
"I said I'll do both."
"Ah, ah! Sorry. I'm just out of it because I wasn't able to confiscate Mia's cookies. But is that the reason Chairman Tae Gun-seung called you to the shooting range?"
"It's a headache, but it won't drag on for long. So you two run the investigation as quickly as you can."
In-hyuk knew well both Taeshin Spintech's current situation and its future.
Besides, In-hyuk now was different from before. It was almost like taking a test knowing all the answers in advance.
"Okay. By the way, you said you're traveling abroad soon? When?"
"That's sothing I can't delay, so soon."
"Our boss is busy as always. Then handle the morning work. I'll be back in a bit."
As he sat, In-hyuk tilted his head.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to retrieve the bomb before there's a disaster in this company."
"Bomb? Ah..."
He ant Go Mi-ah's homade purple strawberry cheese cookies.
"Wish luck."
"... Good luck."
"Okay."
With a thumbs up, Hong Yu-geon slipped out of the office as carefully as he could.
* * *
Taeshin Trading's executive vice president Tae Seok-ho was reviewing docunts he had just received from Lee Jae-jun.
Inside were records of the conversation between Chairman Tae Gun-seung and Kang In-hyuk that had taken place at a shooting range outside Gyeonggi Province.
"Father is making a bigger move than I thought."
His secretary, Lee Jae-jun, stood by with a serious expression.
"I've checked, and it looks like the head office's managent support division has already started preparations."
"That quickly? He must be more anxious than he seems."
"This could get complicated quickly. How should we respond?"
Tae Seok-ho sighed briefly.
"If he's targeting Taeshin Spintech, that ans he suspects sothing. Or maybe he already knew and waited for the right hand to play."
In fact, Taeshin Spintech was one of the Taeshin Group companies he used to raise initial funds for setting up the H&T Fund.
Naturally, it was not above board.
As a textile company, he had protected the company president, moved funds under the table for production, developnt, and operations, accumulated money, and siphoned it off through a shell company.
"If the chairman is targeting us, it won't end quietly."
"And by putting Kang In-hyuk—the group's top 'hound'—in charge, it's a tacit warning."
It wasn't just anyone; the chairman's grandson-in-law was becoming the TF division director under his direct command.
"Should I take asures with that company's president?"
"How? Are you planning to get rid of him? By the way, you've been getting a bit wordy these days."
Lee Jae-jun bowed his head.
"Sorry. I was worried about your safety, executive vice president, so I overstepped."
At that, Tae Seok-ho looked at him quietly for a mont before speaking.
"No, I was sensitive too. When things don't go as planned, there's just too much that gets on my nerves."
"It's all right."
Silence fell again.
Since Chairman Tae Gun-seung was moving in earnest, caution was needed.
"How much funding does that side lack?"
"Roughly 50 billion won."
"That much? Now it's too late to move H&T Fund's money in."
After failing to acquire Chulsan Capital recently, there was so money floating in limbo.
But in business, money always left so trail, and it was difficult to move funds cleanly.
Moreover, if a hole in the capital got quickly plugged at this ti, it would only look more suspicious.
"Sorry that I can't be of more help."
"There are not many options for now. Just have soone warn that company president. I'll think about the rest."
"I'll do that."
Lee Jae-jun finished his answer and went outside.
Tae Seok-ho, now alone, tapped his fingers on the armrest, recalling Kang In-hyuk's face.
He began to have the sense that things were going wrong.
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