Contrary to what everyone had expected — that Tak-hyeon would react at once — he simply kept eating in silence.

Just as those at the table began to feel puzzled, Suk-ja spoke first.

“What kind of habit is this, deciding everything on your own and then just announcing it?”

“Announcing? We’re asking for permission.”

“Permission? You call this permission?”

Suk-ja shouted, sounding displeased.

At that, Min-yeong Oh, Sang-jong’s wife, spoke up brightly. “Mother-in-law. Isn’t it better this way, taking turns living with your children? Don’t you think so, dear?”

Min-yeong smiled and sought Sang-jong’s agreement, and he nodded. “That’s right. It’ll be good for the kids too, living with their grandfather and grandmother. Mother, don’t look at it so unfavorably. The youngest reached this decision after talking it over plenty with us.”

“Why talk it over only with the two of you?”

Suk-ja pointed a finger at Mun-jong, sitting quietly. “What about the eldest? If anyone’s to move in, shouldn’t it be the eldest?”

At Suk-ja’s words, Hyeon-ju Bang laughed awkwardly. “That’s true, we probably should be the ones to move in and live here, but…”

Hyeon-ju jabbed Mun-jong’s side.

Unlike Sang-jong, who stood to gain a great deal by moving into Pyeongchang-dong, Mun-jong had little to gain from it. So Hyeon-ju had no intention of moving into what amounted to a prison.

At her signal, Mun-jong cleared his throat and spoke. “Ahem. That’s true. But second brother says he wants to move in and live here. So it’s better for him to move in than for us. Should we block second brother from doing what he wants just because we’re the eldest?”

Hearing Mun-jong’s words, Suk-ja’s eyes narrowed. And just as she was about to say something, Jeong-eun cut in.

“Then what about us? We can move in and live here too. No — we want to move in and live here.”

Jeong-eun even raised a hand, insisting she wanted to move in as well.

At that, Sang-jong turned his head to look at her. “It has to go in order. If not eldest brother, then me, then you.”

Ignoring Sang-jong’s words, Jeong-eun pleaded with Suk-ja. “Mom. Let me move in and live here. I’ll look after you and Dad devotedly. And Cha — he’ll play the son far better than my brothers do, so let us move in and live here. Dad. Let us move in and live here. All right?”

Having pleaded with Suk-ja, Jeong-eun turned to Tak-hyeon too, saying she wanted to move in and live there.

Shaking her head at the rising commotion, Suk-ja raised a hand to quiet the room. “All of you are being noisy, so quiet down.”

Jeong-eun, who’d half-risen from her seat, and Sang-jong, about to say one more thing to her, both quietly settled back into their seats at Suk-ja’s words.

Only once the room had gone quiet did Suk-ja look around and ask Gyeong-eun, “If you’re moving out to live on your own, where do you plan to go?”

“We’ll have to think about that.”

“You haven’t even thought about where you’ll live?”

“There are plenty of places to live, after all.”

Gyeong-eun smiled at Suk-ja as if it were the most natural thing. “We could go live at my in-laws’ place in Nonsan, or get a house in Gangnam and live there… somewhere near the company would be fine too. Or we could get a place near here.”

“What money would you have to…”

Suk-ja, about to ask what money Gyeong-eun would have to get a place nearby, looked instead at Seong-ho, sitting quietly beside her. It had occurred to her that the money Tak-hyeon had handed over to Seong-ho was no small sum.

It’s that man again.

Suk-ja found herself resenting Seong-ho — with money in his pocket — even more than the daughter who’d announced she was moving out. Because she thought that if Seong-ho’s pockets weren’t lined, her daughter would never have been able to say such a thing.

As Suk-ja glared at Seong-ho, Tak-hyeon, silent until then, rose from his seat.

“We’ve talked enough about this — let’s wrap it up.”

“Dear. Wrap it up how?”

Suk-ja, who’d been glaring at Seong-ho, looked up at the standing Tak-hyeon.

Still standing, Tak-hyeon looked around at his children, daughters-in-law, and sons-in-law and said, “Gyeong-eun says she’s moving out to live on her own, and second son says he’s moving in — what is there to do about it? Let them do as they please.”

Tak-hyeon looked at Jeong-eun and went on. “Jeong-eun, if you want to move in too, then move in.”

“Really?”

“Yes. The house is big enough, and the rooms you all lived in are all still there, so you’d just have to move your bodies in. Move in if you want to, move out if you want to.”

Having told them all to do as they pleased, Tak-hyeon turned his gaze to Seong-ho. “The situation isn’t slack enough to waste time on this kind of trifling talk right now.”

He jerked his chin at Seong-ho and said, “The presidents’ meeting three days from now. How’s the preparation coming?”

“Yes. I’ll have Secretary Hwang bring you the report so you can review it this afternoon.”

“Today’s Sunday. You’ll have the report ready today?”

“Every headquarters staffer has been working through the nights for a week now. I plan to head back to the company myself as soon as this meal is over. Once I’ve done the final check, I’ll pass it to the secretariat.”

At Seong-ho’s words, Tak-hyeon wore a satisfied expression. “Good. A report ought to be reviewed three days before the presidents’ meeting, not the day before.”

Tak-hyeon nodded and looked around the table. “It’s a shame Kim’s leaving Pyeongchang-dong, but what can be done… tsk.”

He turned and muttered to himself. “The ones who ought to be working hard are wearing themselves out over talk of moving house — makes me worry about what’s ahead. Whether fools like these can lead the company well… ugh.”

Letting out a sigh, Tak-hyeon shook his head and left the table.

Though it was said to himself, everyone at the table could hear Tak-hyeon’s words plainly. And at his words, every face at the table turned red. Because the children — and even Suk-ja — all knew exactly what he meant by saying this wasn’t the time for such talk.

Everyone knew that Chairman Seong-mun Kim of Doa Motors was scheduled to visit Pyeongchang-dong that very day.

Only Gyeong-eun sat there with a bright, delighted face, thinking only of moving out of Pyeongchang-dong.

Chairman Seong-mun Kim of Doa Motors arrived at Tak-hyeon’s Pyeongchang-dong residence, sweating.

He followed Chief Do-beom Hwang down to the underground chamber beneath Pyeongchang-dong. No one knew what Chairman Seong-mun Kim of Doa Motors and Chairman Tak-hyeon discussed in the chamber. But seeing Chairman Seong-mun Kim’s face drained white as he came out of the chamber, one could only guess the conversation hadn’t ended well.

A full hour passed after Chairman Seong-mun Kim of Doa Motors left Pyeongchang-dong before Tak-hyeon himself came out of the chamber. Coming out, Tak-hyeon stood in the Pyeongchang-dong yard, hands clasped behind his back, gazing up at the sky for a long while.

Suk-ja, wanting to talk with Tak-hyeon about Gyeong-eun and Seong-ho leaving Pyeongchang-dong, went out to the yard several times and hovered near him. But seeing how grave his face looked, she couldn’t bring herself to raise the subject at all.

Even after coming out of the chamber, Tak-hyeon remained alone for some while, and it wasn’t until Do-beom brought him the report Seong-ho had mentioned at the meal that he went back inside the house.

“Is that the report Kim’s going to present at the presidents’ meeting?”

Coming into the study, Tak-hyeon looked at Do-beom, who’d brought the report, and asked.

Do-beom set the report on the desk and answered, “Yes. This is what Head Kim will present at the regular presidents’ meeting three days from now.”

Hearing Do-beom’s words, Tak-hyeon nodded and examined the report. Looking over the report, briskly organized into three pages, Tak-hyeon said nothing for a while.

Watching him look at the report without a word, Do-beom asked carefully, “Chairman. Are there any revisions needed?”

“None.”

Tak-hyeon set the report down on the desk and shook his head. Looking down at the report on his desk, he said, “Tell him to present it exactly as it is. And the Doa Motors matter… have him look into it.”

“Look into it?”

Do-beom hadn’t quite grasped Tak-hyeon’s instruction and asked again. “What should I have him look into?”

“Have him check whether there’d be synergy with Ilhyeon Motors if we acquired them.”

“You mean to acquire Doa Motors, Chairman?”

Do-beom looked at him with a startled expression.

Doa Motors was ranked 8th in the business world — a conglomerate of 38 affiliates with annual automobile exports exceeding 3 billion dollars, a formidable enterprise in its own right. At the words that Tak-hyeon meant to acquire such a company, Do-beom couldn’t help but be startled.

“Did Chairman Kim, who just visited, propose this himself?”

Tak-hyeon raised a hand to stop Do-beom’s question.

“Nothing’s been decided yet. So don’t make such a fuss over it — just have Kim analyze whether an acquisition would be worthwhile. And tell him I want to hear it at the presidents’ meeting three days from now.”

“Three days?”

Even analyzing Doa Motors alone would take more than three days. At Tak-hyeon’s instruction to hear the results in just three days, Do-beom wore a troubled expression.

Looking up at Do-beom, who seemed to have something to say, Tak-hyeon smiled. “I know full well that a proper analysis with real results takes a long time. What I want to hear is just whether the acquisition makes sense or not — have him analyze just that much and bring it to me.”

“Yes, understood.”

Having received Tak-hyeon’s instruction, Do-beom moved at once to the company, where Seong-ho was.

Even on a holiday, Seong-ho’s Restructuring Headquarters bustled with people.

“Oh? Chief. What brings you here?”

Seeing Do-beom arrive at the Head’s office, Seong-ho — deep in conversation with headquarters staff — rose with a puzzled look.

Do-beom glanced at the staff and said to Seong-ho, “If I’ve come in the middle of something, shall I come back a little later?”

“Not at all.”

Seong-ho shook his head quickly and offered Do-beom a seat on the sofa. “This was all going to be reported to you anyway, once we finished. Just sit and wait a moment, and we’ll wrap it up shortly.”

Having said this, Seong-ho continued the conversation he’d been having with Byeong-jin Jo and Byeong-ju Jeong.

“So how much did they adjust the sale price to?”

Byeong-ju glanced at Chief Do-beom.

It wasn’t something that could be discussed in front of just anyone. If word of this got out, the Ilhyeon Foods sale could fall through. But since the man sitting on the sofa watching Seong-ho was none other than Chief Secretary Do-beom Hwang, Byeong-ju set his unease aside and answered.

“Joseon Foods and Ruji Group offered 150 billion and 200 billion respectively. Looking at price alone, there’s no question that selling to Ruji Group is better — but the problem is that Ruji Group is only interested in the company’s assets and trademark rights, and showed no interest in taking on the staff’s employment.”

“Then let’s go with Joseon Foods.”

“There’s a 50-billion-won gap — are you sure that’s fine?”

Byeong-jin asked, worried about the considerable difference in sale price.

Seong-ho turned to Do-beom, seated on the sofa, and asked, “Chief. I still think selling to Joseon Foods, which guarantees the staff’s employment, is better. What do you think?”

At the question, Do-beom, who’d been listening from his seat, nodded. “I think so too. I’ll speak well of it to the chairman, so go ahead with the sale to Joseon Foods.”

With Do-beom sharing his view, Seong-ho instructed Byeong-jin and Byeong-ju to proceed with the sale to Joseon Foods. With both the Head and the Chief Secretary settled on selling Ilhyeon Foods to Joseon Foods, the two answered that they understood and rose from their seats.

Once they’d left, Seong-ho rose from his seat and went over to the reception sofa where Do-beom was waiting. Sitting down, he asked, “Did the chairman review the report I submitted?”

At the question, Do-beom nodded and answered. “Yes. The chairman said there’s no problem and you can present it exactly as it is at the presidents’ meeting.”

“That’s a relief. I was worried there might be revisions needed.”

Seong-ho, as if letting out a breath he’d been holding, settled comfortably into the sofa and looked at Do-beom. “Seeing you come here in person, it seems the chairman gave an instruction… ah!”

Seong-ho spoke with a knowing smile. “Chairman Kim of Doa Motors was visiting today, wasn’t he? Did the chairman ask you to have me look into acquiring Doa Motors?”

“…How on earth did you know that?”

Do-beom looked at Seong-ho with startled eyes, at his knowing without being told the reason for his visit.

Confirming that his guess wasn’t wrong, Seong-ho spoke, still smiling. “The reason Chairman Kim of Doa Motors came is obvious enough, and if the chairman sent you, the reason for that is just as obvious. If I couldn’t make a guess of this level, I shouldn’t be sitting in the Head of Restructuring Headquarters’ seat.”

“Your guess is right, Head Kim. The chairman wants to hear at the presidents’ meeting three days from now what impact an acquisition would have on us — he wants you to analyze it and let him know.”

“For something like that, three days isn’t even necessary.”

“What? Not even three days necessary?”

“No. I can answer right here, right now.”

Sitting comfortably against the sofa back, Seong-ho leaned forward toward Do-beom and said, “Acquiring Doa Motors would be an unconditional gain for Ilhyeon — but not now. Later, we’ll be able to acquire it on better terms, more easily. So the choice right now is to wait.”

(End of Chapter 88)