In the car heading back to Ilhyeon Hotel, Byeong-jin Jo spoke with wonder.

“How did they walk right into it exactly like you said they would?”

Byeong-jin Jo kept exclaiming in admiration at how precisely Seong-ho Kim’s prediction — that Mun-jong Lee and Sang-jong Lee would come at him — had played out.

“They could’ve called you aside and said it privately, but no, they had to try to crush you in front of the chairman, and it backfired on them instead. Serves them right.”

Byeong-jin Jo laughed with delight.

Then he glanced sidelong at Seong-ho Kim in the passenger seat and asked,

“But how did you know the vice-chairman would use revenue and occupancy to find fault with you in the meeting?”

Recalling the scene, Seong-ho Kim curled up the corners of his mouth and answered,

“I’m probably the person in this world who understands that man’s mind best. Better than he understands it himself…”

Having watched everything unfold beside him for over twenty years, Seong-ho Kim had seen exactly how Mun-jong Lee had climbed all the way to the chairman’s seat, and so he knew precisely what decision Mun-jong Lee would make in a situation like this.

Byeong-jin Jo thought, once again, that Seong-ho Kim was saying something he couldn’t quite grasp.

“Well, either way, I’m glad this turned out fine… but what if the vice-chairman holds a grudge?”

This was, after all, the Ilhyeon Group’s vice-chairman.

And there were rumors that Mun-jong Lee kept every slight buried deep in his heart, settling scores no matter how many years had passed.

There was no way a man like that would simply let being humiliated at a presidents’ meeting go.

But even at Byeong-jin Jo’s sudden worry about the aftermath, Seong-ho Kim’s expression remained just as composed, still smiling.

Even Mun-jong Lee’s vindictive nature was already something Seong-ho Kim had anticipated.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got something in mind for that too.”

“You really have something planned?”

“Of course. You think I’d humiliate him in a public meeting without a plan?”

“You could’ve told me that beforehand. I was the only one shaking with worry.”

Only then did Byeong-jin Jo’s face relax.

“So what is this method? I need to actually hear it to feel truly at ease.”

Curious what novel scheme Seong-ho Kim might have prepared this time, Byeong-jin Jo kept glancing over at him from the driver’s seat. Seong-ho Kim gave a short laugh and, with a face of complete ease, shared what he’d planned.

“Once this Ilhyeon Hotel restructuring wraps up, I’m going to quit the company.”

Swerve.

The car wobbled left and right for a moment, and Seong-ho Kim, in the passenger seat, hastily grabbed the wheel in Byeong-jin Jo’s place.

“Hey, you idiot. Keep the car straight. We’re going to get in an accident.”

“That’s because you’re saying something that doesn’t make any sense!”

Gripping the wheel again, Byeong-jin Jo asked Seong-ho Kim about what he’d just said.

“What do you mean by that? Quit the company?”

“Exactly what I said.”

“You’re really going to quit?”

“Yes. And that’s when the real thing begins.”

“The real thing? What does that even mean?”

Byeong-jin Jo glanced at Seong-ho Kim, unable to understand.

But Seong-ho Kim answered his question only inwardly.

‘That’s when my real revenge begins.’

Arms crossed, Seong-ho Kim simply gazed out the windshield.

Byeong-jin Jo glanced over at him a few more times, but when no answer came, he stopped asking.

He figured that quitting, too, must be part of some plan.

Having wrapped up the presidents’ meeting successfully, the two of them drove back to Ilhyeon Hotel.

And standing in stark opposition to these two men, another pair had gathered in the vice-chairman’s office at Ilhyeon Group headquarters.

“Brother. What do we do now?”

Sang-jong Lee tried to pin the blame for Seong-ho Kim’s triumph on Mun-jong Lee.

“You brought up something pointless and we didn’t even get anything out of it.”

Feeling wronged at having been dragged into it himself, Sang-jong Lee kept pouring out his grievances at Mun-jong Lee.

“That could’ve been said privately, calling him aside. Why did it have to happen with everyone gathered like that?”

Recalling the presidents’ meeting, a mix of humiliation and irritation rose up in Sang-jong Lee.

“How pathetically must the affiliate presidents have looked at us? Waiting a few days would’ve given us the answer anyway, and we couldn’t even manage that… And above all, didn’t Father already warn us not to come to another meeting if we were going to act like that?”

Being in Tak-hyeon Lee’s good graces was already an uphill battle — and now they’d fallen further out of favor, which felt worse than doing nothing at all.

Having listened to Sang-jong Lee’s complaints in silence for a while, Mun-jong Lee finally spoke.

“Are you done?”

Seeing the chill in Mun-jong Lee’s eyes, Sang-jong Lee only then realized he’d gotten too worked up.

“Ahem… so what do you intend to do now?”

“…The gift the chairman said he’d give Kim. What do you think that is?”

“A gift?”

Sang-jong Lee retraced what Tak-hyeon Lee had said at the presidents’ meeting and tilted his head.

“A gift, well… probably money, like last time. Like the 100 million won he gave for doing well at Ilhyeon Watch.”

At that answer, Mun-jong Lee snorted.

“Money? If it were just money, there’d be no need to announce it formally in front of every affiliate president in the Ilhyeon Group. And you dare bark on when that’s all you can think of.”

“That’s because you…” Sang-jong Lee started, then stopped. “Never mind. So what do you think the gift is?”

At Sang-jong Lee’s question, Mun-jong Lee’s brow furrowed deeply, as if he didn’t even want to say it aloud.

Watching Mun-jong Lee’s face, wondering why he was scowling so hard, Sang-jong Lee got his answer and wore the same expression himself.

“Ilhyeon Hotel president…”

“Sorry?”

“Father intends to seat Kim in Ilhyeon Hotel’s president’s chair.”

“What kind of nonsense is that—!”

Sang-jong Lee shot up from his seat.

“What kind of absurd thing are you saying? Seating Kim as president of Ilhyeon Hotel!”

“If not that, then what? Do you think Father would bring something like that up in front of every affiliate president for no reason?”

“But still…”

“There’s no ‘but still.’ If he really achieves 250 billion won… no, even if revenue just doubles, Father will seat Kim as president of Ilhyeon Hotel.”

At Mun-jong Lee’s words, Sang-jong Lee wore a bewildered expression and said,

“It took me a full 15 years to become president of Ilhyeon Construction. The same goes for you, Brother, doesn’t it? And Chang-jong and Jeong-eun haven’t even reached a president’s seat yet!”

Still standing, Sang-jong Lee stamped his foot as he spoke.

“I could understand it, at a stretch, if it were the president’s seat at Ilhyeon Watch. But Ilhyeon Hotel? However much Ilhyeon Hotel isn’t what it used to be, it’s still one of the Ilhyeon Group’s flagship companies, front and center.”

Sang-jong Lee’s brow furrowed even deeper as his fury rose.

“You remember, Brother, how when Father seated Cha as vice-president of Ilhyeon Electronics — because of the political connections behind him — Father made absolutely clear he was never to covet the president’s seat, before he’d even let him have the vice-president’s chair!”

Sang-jong Lee looked down at Mun-jong Lee, who sat lost in thought without answering, then sat back down.

Leaning toward him, he said,

“Brother. This absolutely cannot be allowed to happen. Not even Cha, who has real backing behind him, was ever given this — and now some man who only became family through marriage becomes president?”

“I know. I feel the same way.”

Mun-jong Lee looked steadily at Sang-jong Lee and said,

“But if Father decides to do it, can we really stop him?”

“That’s…”

At Mun-jong Lee’s words, Sang-jong Lee could say nothing.

Because if Tak-hyeon Lee decided to do something, no one in the Ilhyeon Group, whoever they were, could ever overturn it.

Letting out a deep sigh, Mun-jong Lee spoke.

“If it’s Father, the chairman, handling Ilhyeon Group affairs himself, there’s no way to stop it.”

“So are you saying we just have to sit and watch him become president of Ilhyeon Hotel?”

“…We can’t do that.”

“Do you have some method, then?”

Mun-jong Lee drew a deep furrow between his brows.

“Not right now…”

“If you don’t, then what do we do?”

At Sang-jong Lee’s frustrated tone, Mun-jong Lee let out another deep sigh.

“Haah… There’s nothing right now, but there’s still time, so we need to think of something before then. Once time passes, an idea we never considered might come to us.”

Sang-jong Lee, too, knew there was no other option but to buy time and search for a method.

But he didn’t feel that time passing would actually produce a solution.

And Mun-jong Lee felt exactly the same way.

The two of them, frustrated and anxious, could do nothing but let their hands sit idle and let the time pass.

Ilhyeon Hotel grew at a frightening pace.

As the service Seong-ho Kim had named “before-service” began to shine and show its effects, people’s perception of Ilhyeon Hotel started changing rapidly.

Just as the idea that Ilhyeon Hotel was Korea’s finest hotel began to spread, an event abroad cemented that perception completely.

—FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland announced on the evening of the 19th, local time, that Korea’s Ilhyeon Hotel has been selected as the official World Cup hotel. FIFA stated that staying at Ilhyeon Hotel offers the most enjoyable and safest way to experience the World Cup, and recommended it to travelers planning to attend the tournament.

Sitting beside Seong-ho Kim watching the news, Gyeong-eun Lee tapped his arm with a delighted expression.

“Ilhyeon Hotel’s going to be packed with guests now, right? You’re really amazing, Seong-ho. Father must be pleased too, don’t you think?”

“I suppose he might be.”

Seong-ho Kim smiled at Gyeong-eun Lee, who was delighted as if it were her own achievement, and looked toward where Tak-hyeon Lee’s study would be.

In the study, Tak-hyeon Lee was watching the very same news.

Seated on the sofa, eyes fixed on the television, Tak-hyeon Lee asked Do-beom Hwang, standing beside him,

“What’s the reservation rate now?”

“I’ve received a report that it’s already exceeded 80%.”

“And what was it last year?”

Having lost interest in Ilhyeon Hotel entirely once it posted losses, Tak-hyeon Lee was now asking about last year’s reservation rate, and Do-beom Hwang, thinking Seong-ho Kim had achieved something even greater than the visible results suggested, answered.

“This time last year, the reservation rate hadn’t even reached 30%.”

“A place that couldn’t reach 30% is now hitting 80%? That’s beyond remarkable, honestly.”

Do-beom Hwang offered Tak-hyeon Lee one more startling piece of news.

“What’s even more remarkable is that the 80% reservation rate was achieved before FIFA’s announcement.”

“And it’ll go even higher after the announcement?”

“Yes. We expect it’s possible to reach a reservation rate of over 95%.”

“That level essentially means every room is booked.”

“That’s correct. Setting aside rooms under maintenance or held back for contingencies, hotels often describe even a 90% reservation rate as fully booked. And Ilhyeon Hotel is expected to exceed that at 95%… it truly is a remarkable outcome.”

Tak-hyeon Lee nodded and turned his gaze back to the television.

“How long until the World Cup?”

“About five and a half years remaining.”

“So this state will continue for about five and a half years, then.”

“The secretariat expects the same.”

Tak-hyeon Lee curled up the corners of his mouth and tapped the armrest with his hand.

“Five and a half years…”

Murmuring about the time remaining until the World Cup, Tak-hyeon Lee sank into thought.

(End of Chapter 50)