"Father. Is there really any need to go as far as private lending?"

A day had passed since the thing broke.

On Chuseok day itself the Dongmyeong Group chairman's house in Jangchung-dong was unsettled and busy.

The finance team had been scattered by the group's emergency and had come in, and so had every officer.

A meeting had been called to work out a response. Everything has to be ready by Monday, the substitute holiday.

"Seonghun-a."

"Yes."

"Do you think we are bringing in private money because our group has none?"

"That is not it, but……"

Go Seonghun let the end of it trail away. Dongmyeong is not a company without money. Which is why he wants to hold his father Go Jaeyong back all the more.

The operating profit forecast for this year alone runs to trillions of won. Cash and near-cash across the affiliates is considerable as well.

And a group like that meets a private lender?

Go Seonghun found it hard to understand why his father was going to see Kang Pilseong, the private-lending king.

"Director Han."

"Yes, Chairman."

"Explain it to him."

Han Gwangsu spread out the material he had prepared.

"The biggest problem right now is Tuesday."

"I had guessed as much."

"The moment the market opens there is a high chance the short-selling volume pours in. The rating agencies' announcements land on top of it, so we have to defend against institutional and foreign dumping in advance as well."

"……." "If that happens the corporate bond price can be affected too. There is a high chance the financial institutions re-examine their exposure to the Dongmyeong affiliates."

"But it is not as if we lack the funds to repay a loan, is it?"

"That is correct."

Han Gwangsu nodded.

"But the market moves first. It stops moving after an actual default."

"……." "On the warning signs alone it decides a default is coming, and it moves ahead of it."

Go Seonghun's face set. Only then did he understand why his father Go Jaeyong was going to see Kang Pilseong.

"You think the side that lent…