Ilhyeon Distribution employees gathered on the rooftop, smoking and talking.

"Life really is something you can never quite figure out."

"What do you mean?"

"You know Assistant Manager Kim, from our sales department. The one who got picked by the royal family and climbed up in the world."

"Ah, Seong-ho Kim?"

Assistant Manager Park, who'd worked alongside Seong-ho in Ilhyeon Distribution's sales department, spoke to Assistant Manager Song, smoking across from him.

"Who'd have thought he'd end up like this?"

Recalling Seong-ho as he was now — the group's grim reaper, Head of the Restructuring Headquarters — Park shook his head.

Song chimed in at Park's words. "You're right. When he was with us before, he was such a quiet guy, hardly said a word…"

"They say he's terrifying now. Not long ago he gathered our company's executives together and gave a talk — and I heard it was something else."

"How so?"

Song, seemingly not having heard this, put the cigarette to his lips and asked what happened.

"You know who our vice-president is, right?"

"Who doesn't know that? Vice-President Chang-jong Lee."

"Right, exactly."

Song looked at Park, unable to figure out what he was building toward with all this stalling.

Park took a couple more drags of his cigarette and spoke to Song with a serious expression.

"So our executives have always carried themselves with their noses in the air, right? Because they had the vice-president's backing."

"Was it just the executives? The regular staff were the same. We're the ones out there meeting with company presidents all day, so we could never really put on airs ourselves, but…"

"Right. But…"

Park paused a moment and looked around. Just in case one of the people involved happened to be among those on the rooftop.

After a long look around, confirming no one connected to the incident was present, Park said to Song, "I heard he tore into someone completely — Head Kim, I mean."

"Tore into someone completely? Who?"

"Who else? Managing Director Choi."

Getting more animated as he talked, Park mimed hurling an object, relaying what had…