Seo Yonggeon, who had been reviewing docunts related to Ilseong Electronics investnt in his study, put down the stack of papers and raised his head.
“What? Gong Seungyeon’s whereabouts are unknown?”
“Yes, Chairman.”
“Since when?”
“He disappeared three days ago. His family, who had been waiting, reported him missing to the police yesterday.”
As if he could not believe what he was hearing, Seo Yonggeon’s expression twisted harshly.
“You didn’t mark him?”
“Before he vanished, he told his bodyguards to leave, saying he was going to a room to drink with friends. Since he often did that, the bodyguards withdrew.”
At the words that he had even dismissed his guards, Seo Yonggeon clicked his tongue.
He had always thought that Seungyeon’s love for alcohol would soday cause big trouble, but for him to behave that way even at such a crucial ti—
“So?”
“They went to the room but couldn’t find anything on CCTV. According to the staff, the last they saw was him getting into a car to go ho.”
“There’s a chance he ran away. Did you et the people he drank with? What did they say?”
“They said they just reminisced about old tis and drank. It doesn’t seem like he voluntarily disappeared. If he had, there should at least be traces, but there’s not a shadow of him anywhere.”
Seo Yonggeon finally slamd his palm down on the desk, fury boiling over.
“Then where the hell did he go!”
“We are looking into it.”
“Gong Seungyeon drafted half of Jaehun’s succession plan! And this is how you manage it? What the hell are you doing? Find him imdiately! Get out of my sight!”
Even though he was told to leave, Lee Seokmin did not move right away, hesitating.
Annoyed by his hesitation, Seo Yonggeon snapped.
“Why? You have more to say?”
“Chairman... The Blue House refused the eting.”
“...What?”
“They said the President’s schedule is too tight to make ti.”
Before the words were even finished, Seo Yonggeon roared.
“Don’t give that nonsense! Who said that? Who dares?”
“I spoke directly with the Chief of Staff.”
“Connect . Right now.”
Lee Seokmin pulled out his phone and dialed. After several rings, Chief of Staff Pyo Minguk answered.
“Yes, Chief of Staff. This is Lee Seokmin. Our Chairman would like to speak directly. Yes, yes, I’ll put him on.”
Lee Seokmin handed the phone to Seo Yonggeon. He snatched it as if tearing it away.
“Chief of Staff, this is Ilseong’s Seo Yonggeon.”
— Chairman, how have you been?
“You’re saying I cannot have an audience with the President?”
Though a polite greeting ca through, Seo Yonggeon ignored it and went straight to the point.
— Yes, the schedule is full until next month. Also, there were concerns among aides that frequent etings with a chaebol chairman would not look good. I’m very sorry.
“Is that the President’s will?”
Seo Yonggeon frowned, his face contorting in anger.
But none of it showed in his voice over the phone.
— Yes, Chairman. These are the President’s thoughts. How could I personally refuse your request?
“You an to say it is truly the President’s decision?”
— Yes, Chairman. My apologies.
“...Tell him he will regret this.”
Without even a farewell, Seo Yonggeon ended the call and hurled the phone to the floor.
“These bastards are testing !”
The phone shattered into pieces across the floor of the study. Seo Yonggeon scratched his neatly combed hair until it was disheveled and barked irritably.
“How many lawmakers can we mobilize right now?”
“Twenty from the Progressive Party, ten from the Conservative Party, about five from the Centrist Party.”
“Thirty-five? That’s it?”
“...Yes.”
While rubbing his chin in thought, Seo Yonggeon watched as Lee Seokmin began cleaning up the broken pieces scattered on the floor.
“Leak the weakest file we have on Kim Hakgwon to the press. Then have our lawmakers stir it into sothing big.”
“Understood.”
Seo Yonggeon had no confidence to go head-on with Kim Hakgwon.
Even if he was in la-duck status, he was still the President. If provoked recklessly, no one could predict what a President at the end of his term might do.
“Make sure it looks unrelated to us. There’s no need to expose our own weakness. Yes, that’s better. Just spread suspicion about his involvent in Progressive Party nominations for the general election.”
It was nothing more than flashing a card big enough to intimidate— a warning that if you ignore Seo Yonggeon, you’ll fall together.
“Jaehun still hasn’t concluded negotiations, right?”
More than the Blue House, what mattered now was the stalled negotiations that determined Ilseong Electronics’ future.
He tapped the report on the table with his finger.
“If negotiations fail, all this is aningless. That deal decides the next twenty years of this group. It must be done. How’s the lobbying of the Japanese governnt?”
“We are trying everything, but the fact that it’s a Korean company keeps holding us back. The Japanese governnt is reluctant because of it.”
Again, Seo Yonggeon clicked his tongue and sank deep into his chair. His furrowed brow showed his discomfort.
“This damned country never helps, only blocks my way. Keep pressing the governnt. If we suffer, Taiwan must not succeed either.”
“Yes, I’ll report to Vice Chairman Seo Jaehun.”
Seo Yonggeon’s head throbbed.
Suddenly, he rembered Kim Muhyuk’s words at the funeral. Just as he had said—everything began to unravel after Cheon Taesan’s death.
Having barely overco the foreign exchange crisis, this was the mont to expand the company properly, yet with the succession issues, nothing was moving as it should.
“The rcenaries?”
“They arrive next month.”
“They’re competent?”
“Yes, reliable n.”
Finally, sothing satisfactory. Seo Yonggeon gave a small nod.
“First, find Gong Seungyeon. If not, bring back the succession docunts he prepared.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
“Send soone in to clean this study.”
Lee Seokmin bowed and left. Soon other staff entered to tidy up.
Leaning his head against the chair back, Seo Yonggeon closed his eyes, lost in thought.
‘Could it be Kim Muhyuk made a move this quickly?’
A naless anxiety swirled in his mind. He shook his head, forcing thoughts of Muhyuk away.
* * *
Eva burst into the office, pushing the door wide open.
“Boss!”
I was browsing Arican newspapers on the computer when I looked up at her voice and smiled.
“You’re here, Eva?”
As I walked toward the sofa, Eva rushed up and hugged tightly.
“It’s been so long, Boss! I missed you.”
“You’ve lost weight. Sit down first.”
“Really? I feel the sa.”
It was clear she had thinned noticeably since the last ti I saw her. No surprise—she had been rushing around all over Asia.
Tilting her head, she glanced over her own body before sitting down.
“Did you leave Hong Kong matters in good hands?”
“Of course. Peter Wang, the new Peregrine representative, will handle it. Cost us quite a bit to bring him in.”
“Peter Wang?”
“Yes. He’s a Chinese-Arican, fairly well-known on Wall Street.”
I hadn’t heard the na before, since all Hong Kong affairs had been left to Eva.
“Yes. He’s more interested in derivatives than stock trading. Lost heavily on derivatives at his old firm, got kicked out because of it.”
“And you made him the representative?”
Skepticism colored my voice, but Eva grinned confidently.
“He’s talented. That loss—if he’d had a little more ti, Peter would’ve co out the winner. They later regretted it and tried to bring him back, but I had already scouted him.”
Seeing her bright confidence, I couldn’t help but smile myself.
When Eva saw my smile, her own softened as she asked carefully,
“By the way, Boss... Are you alright?”
“Hm?”
“...I an the Chairman.”
“I’m fine now. Don’t worry.”
She was concerned about , having gone through my grandfather’s death. I shook my head gently.
Recalling Grandfather’s words at the funeral, I smiled warmly. That seed to reassure Eva, who smiled again.
“More importantly—what’s the job? Why did you call back from Hong Kong, Boss? This is the Ilseong move, isn’t it?”
She already knew the reason.
I nodded and pressed the bell. Ha Myeonghun entered.
“Bring the prepared docunts.”
“Yes, President.”
Soon, Ha Myeonghun returned with a thick envelope and placed it on the table before leaving.
“Quite a pile, huh?”
“Wow! You expect to go through all this on the very day I arrive?”
“Take your ti. We’ll start once Manager Ma arrives.”
Joking, Eva pulled out a file and began to flip through it.
Hopeless workaholic. I patted her shoulder lightly.
“Later. Read it later.”
Finally putting the file down, Eva looked up at .
“This job is simple, yet difficult. It’ll take a lot of money.”
“...Boss, you know how big the losses are this ti, right? They’re worse than expected.”
She was worried about the money. Understandable—the dot-com bubble had lasted longer than expected, losses piling up.
“It’s fine. We can finance through Taesan Finance, and if that’s not enough, I’ll dip into my personal account.”
“Still... This push was too much.”
As she said, the derivative contracts I’d ordered had kept bleeding.
The two phantom accounts were already wiped out.
If Eva’s Asia desk was like this, then Dreamhigh under Han Kyungyeong in the U.S. must be facing even greater losses.
“Enough. Signs are showing now, aren’t they?”
“Yes, but... to cover these losses, prices must fall at least thirty percent more.”
“Fruit after long waiting tastes sweeter. The toast will be ours. In the end, victory belongs to the one who laughs last.”
“I trust you, Boss, but even Peter Wang said this—he thought he was the craziest man alive until he saw this sche. He asked who the hell could dream up sothing so insane.”
“Really?”
Labeled a madman, I chuckled.
“When he said that, I laughed so hard. I still laugh when I think about it.”
Eva’s smile deepened, not only from recalling Peter’s words.
“So what did he say?”
“He said whoever prepared this long ago is either insane or a genius. The losses don’t matter—pulling off these contracts is the hard part. No one today could do such deals.”
The stock market’s frenzy was showing cracks.
For months Nasdaq had only risen without correction, but now it was swinging up and down.
The effect reached Asia. Before the swept-up masses ca to their senses, Wall Street and the institutions would cash out.
That would be the beginning of true hell. A pit no one could escape. The trapped ants would weep blood.
“Right. No one makes such contracts anymore. Everyone knows the end is near.”
Eva gave a small nod.
Thinking it more urgent to deal with Ilseong than the stock market now, she changed the subject.
“So how are you going to move?”
“First, Joongwoo Group will make overlapping investnts in every business Ilseong has entered. Then Taesan Finance will move the banks to cut off their loans. You will declare a hostile takeover of JC Group, then imdiately ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) launch a public tender.”
A public tender ant announcing the buy period through dia, with the goal of acquiring managent rights.
It would burn through enormous sums, but there was no faster way to swallow Ilseong’s foundation.
“For tonight, just rest. Once Manager Ma returns from China next week, we begin.”
That night, Eva and I drank together late, talking over much.
She pointed out details I had overlooked, and together we drew the bigger picture.
A few days later, Manager Ma returned from China.
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