Seong-ho, on his feet, was talking with Chung-seop over the phone.

—Are you certain?

“Yes. Right now strong buying is coming in, centered on the Ilhyeon Securities accounts.”

Urgency came through in Chung-seop’s voice over the receiver.

—The index has already recovered 800. Your return has shrunk to 30% too. Director. It’s not too late even now. Let’s unwind.

At his words, a smile came to Seong-ho’s lips.

Same as that former life, sure enough.

Hearing that volume was flowing into the KOSPI centered on the Ilhyeon Securities accounts, Seong-ho recalled what had happened in that former life.

Second brother overreached, didn’t he.

In that former life too, Sang-jong — thrown out of the Ilhyeon Construction presidency — had bought stocks through Ilhyeon Securities, trying to plot for the future. But that very thing snagged his ankle and ended up excluding him entirely from the succession picture.

Seong-ho figured Sang-jong would put his hand to stocks by overreaching the same way this time. No — the thought came that he might overreach even more greatly than in that former life.

Unlike that former life, this time he blew 300 billion, so he’ll be thinking he has to recover something bigger.

As Seong-ho, letting out a light laugh, was about to put a question to Chung-seop, a knock came.

Knock, knock, knock.

Soon the door opened and Do-beom came in. Gesturing for Do-beom to wait a moment, Seong-ho put to Chung-seop the question he’d been about to ask. “How’s the exchange rate? Is the won-dollar rate falling?”

—No. The won-dollar rate is still holding its upward trend.

“Then keep carrying it.”

—Keep it? The market may have turned, and you’ll keep carrying it?

As if Seong-ho’s choice were unexpected, Chung-seop’s flustered voice came over the receiver.

With a smile at his lips, Seong-ho said, “I don’t think the market has turned. So keep carrying it.”

Chung-seop could only say he understood. Since the account’s owner hadn’t changed his mind, the agent couldn’t change the position on his own.

Seong-ho set down the receiver and asked the arriving Do-beom with a smile, “Chief. What brings you all the way here?”

“The chairman says he has something to discuss with you and to come down now.”

Seong-ho nodded. “Understood. Where should I go?”

To Seong-ho, asking with bright eyes, Do-beom smiled softly and answered, “He says to come down to the basement.”

“His telling me to come to the basement — seems he’s accepted my proposal.”

Knowing Tak-hyeon had, in the end, accepted his proposal, Seong-ho smiled and rose.

Do-beom smiled awkwardly at Seong-ho’s remark and nodded. “He’s accepted it, but… it seems he wants to press a few things upon you. So don’t be too pleased in front of the chairman. He might grow suspicious that you’ve got some other intent.”

That was Do-beom’s roundabout way of saying Tak-hyeon worried power would tilt toward whoever held the group-restructuring hilt.

Seong-ho nodded lightly and, walking ahead, said, “You needn’t worry so. I know it well. And I smiled not because my proposal was accepted, but because the chairman made the right decision.”

“Then that’s a relief.”

Recalling the call Seong-ho had been on when he opened the door, Do-beom asked, “What was that call earlier? I caught a bit of it — you were talking about the exchange rate, and about carrying something…”

“Ah, that?” Seong-ho answered as if it were nothing. “It was a call with the place that runs my assets. I’m holding a position that the KOSPI falls right now, and they proposed unwinding it.”

Having said it lightly, Seong-ho, going down the stairs, spoke as if something had just occurred to him. “Oh, right. They told me an interesting thing there, though.”

“An interesting thing?”

Seong-ho turned his head to Do-beom, watching him, and cast out a bit of bait. “They said strong buying is coming in, centered on the Ilhyeon Securities accounts.”

“Well, wouldn’t that be because Ilhyeon Securities judges it a good time to buy, so buying came in?”

“Ordinarily, yes. But to my eye, that’s not it. The exchange rate keeps climbing to new highs, the financial sector — Jaei Bank included — stays in a bad state… and we’re going ahead with restructuring precisely because we expect the situation to be poor, aren’t we?”

At that, Do-beom slowly nodded. “That’s true.”

Seong-ho, with a smile at his lips, explained to him why this was strange. “In a situation this far from easy, isn’t it strange that strong buying comes in? And centered on our Ilhyeon Securities accounts, no less.”

Do-beom knit his brows. Because a strong sense that it was strange came over him, just as Seong-ho said.

And to him, Seong-ho threw a decisive line. “It could be that Ilhyeon Securities has made a wrong judgment. A decision-maker’s misjudgment could bring the company a great loss, so it’d be well to check it once.”

At that, Do-beom’s face hardened. “You’re right. If the upper levels of Ilhyeon Securities made a wrong analysis, not knowing the situation is poor, it’d be a serious matter. I’ll have the secretariat check with Ilhyeon Securities about what’s going on. Thank you.”

“Thank you, nothing. It’s only natural to do. Am I not a member of the Ilhyeon household too?”

At Seong-ho’s smiling remark, Do-beom’s hardened face eased as well. “Right. You’re family.”

Seeing Do-beom look much more at ease, Seong-ho smiled. “Then shall we go now? The chairman will be waiting.”

“Right. We’ve wasted time talking.”

Do-beom began walking ahead. Following behind, Seong-ho let a full bloom of a smile spread at his lips. Because he knew why this buying had come out at Ilhyeon Securities.

Second brother had better not overreach.

Recalling Sang-jong’s future, Seong-ho followed Do-beom with a smile.

Seated across from Tak-hyeon in the chamber, Seong-ho looked at the cigarette butts piled high in the ashtray and spoke. “Chairman. How about cutting back on the cigarettes? However well the air circulates in here, you’ve smoked far too many.”

“Talking nonsense. I’ll try to cut back, so enough of that.”

Tak-hyeon answered that he’d cut back, but Seong-ho knew he couldn’t. Seong-ho remembered clearly that cigarettes had a hand in his end, but knowing Tak-hyeon’s stubbornness, he couldn’t press the matter of cutting back further.

“More to the point, I called you down because there’s something I want to ask you.” Tak-hyeon stared hard at him and slowly threw out the question. “Who do you think would suit being the next head of the Ilhyeon Group?”

At the question, Do-beom’s face turned ashen. Because he knew better than anyone how dangerous a question this was. Seong-ho knew it was dangerous too.

Whoever I name, it’ll be an answer that crosses the chairman.

Naming the eldest, Mun-jong, first would be to ignore the shortcomings of Mun-jong that Tak-hyeon had long spoken of. And with him already risen to vice-chairman, discussing Mun-jong as the next could sound like pressure for Tak-hyeon to step down from the chairmanship soon.

Yet he couldn’t name the second son, Sang-jong. Having caused the disaster of blowing 300 billion and gotten thrown out of the company, he couldn’t be discussed as the next heir.

The third child, Jeong-eun, and the fourth, Chang-jong, had never shown clear results, so they fell short for talk of the next. And naming Gyeong-eun would indirectly express having designs on Ilhyeon Group, so it couldn’t be the answer either.

Whoever he named, it was a question that couldn’t but cross Tak-hyeon. As kings of old had it, discussing the next throne while the king yet sat sound was as good as treason — and discussing the next chairman to Tak-hyeon now was as good as expressing that one harbored some other intent.

Ashen-faced, Do-beom turned his head to make an escape hole for Seong-ho. But however he thought, no hole for Seong-ho to slip out of came to him in this situation. Do-beom thought that calming Tak-hyeon when he flew into a rage might be the best method after all, and worked to settle his own startled heart.

Unlike Do-beom, Seong-ho was nothing but calm.

The chairman is testing me.

Where there’s a test, there’s a reason for the test. Recalling why this test had arisen, Seong-ho realized the situation was turning in his favor. If Seong-ho produced a fitting answer to this question, he’d clearly be able to get what he wanted. And Seong-ho already knew the fitting answer to this question.

To Tak-hyeon, staring hard at him, Seong-ho slowly opened his mouth. “I think Brother Mun-jong suits the next chairmanship.”

“What?”

Tak-hyeon’s voice rose.

Standing behind him, Do-beom looked at Seong-ho with a frustrated heart at why he’d put Mun-jong’s name up right away.

You should have said you don’t really know, or that you’d never thought about it!

Just as he sank into wondering how to quell Tak-hyeon’s anger now—

Tak-hyeon shouted at Seong-ho in a sharp voice. “Do you truly think Mun-jong is wise enough to lead the group?”

“Whether he’s wise or not, I can’t know.”

“What did you say?”

Tak-hyeon looked at him with a thoroughly angry face, but Seong-ho, without a shred of wavering, looked straight into his eyes and went on. “Whether someone is wise or not can be dressed up and hidden as much as one likes. That’s why choosing a wise person as the next chairman to lead the group is not, I think, the right choice.”

“Then why did you bring up Mun-jong?”

Seong-ho answered in a calm voice. “A person’s disposition can be sufficiently hidden and changed. But the relation of legitimate to secondary birth, the relation of rank — that can’t be hidden. That’s why kings of old passed the throne to the legitimate eldest son, and deliberated when passing it to one who wasn’t.”

“Succession by the legitimate eldest, is it…”

Repeating Seong-ho’s words a moment, Tak-hyeon threw out another question. “And if Sang-jong or Chang-jong were the better man? So that they refused to submit to my decision? Then what would you do?”

“If second brother or fourth brother were the better, they wouldn’t do a thing that ruins the group, blinded by private greed. If Brother Mun-jong, holding legitimate authority, kept second brother and fourth brother in check, the group would only flourish the more.”

“Well, well.”

Tak-hyeon let out an exclamation of admiration at the answer.

Confirming that no deliberation remained on Tak-hyeon’s face, Seong-ho drove in the final wedge. “But this is only an answer faithful to the basics. Because you alone can decide. All of us — myself, Brother Mun-jong, everyone — need only do our assigned work well in our own places. There’s no need to wage debate on a subject like this.”

He finished and bowed his head slightly.

Tak-hyeon gazed at him quietly for a long while. Having watched him a while, Tak-hyeon rose and gave an instruction to the startled Do-beom.

“Convert the Strategic Planning Office into a Restructuring Headquarters, and seat Kim as the inaugural Head of Restructuring Headquarters.”

“Head of Headquarters… Kim?”

Wide-eyed, Do-beom turned to look at Seong-ho. Not the least bit surprised, still wearing an easy expression — it was as if he’d known it would come to this.

“And tidy up the chamber here. Seems we won’t be using it for a while.”

At the deliberation that had tormented him being over, Tak-hyeon wore a deep smile.

(End of Chapter 73)