Chung-seop Jo, who'd entered the president's office following Byeong-jin Jo, spoke to Seong-ho with a face on the verge of tears.

"This is too much."

"Sorry? What is?"

Chung-seop, putting on an almost tearful expression, said,

"Why, of all the many affiliates, did you come to Ilhyeon Securities... It puts you in a competitive relationship with Future Asset, doesn't it..."

Seong-ho smiled at Chung-seop's words, patted his shoulder, and invited him to sit in an empty seat.

And, after telling his secretary to bring tea, he sat down across from Chung-seop.

"Did the acquisition of Silla Securities wrap up well?"

Chung-seop, who'd been wearing a near-tearful expression, immediately wiped it away when the talk turned to business, nodded, and answered.

"Yes. A few days ago we paid the full amount and finalized the acquisition."

"So will you use the Silla Securities name? Or will Silla Securities come to use the Future Asset name?"

Chung-seop lowered his head slightly as if embarrassed and answered,

"Silla Securities has been in the industry a long time and has far more customers than us, so we couldn't throw away the name Silla. But we couldn't throw away our name either... so we've decided to use the name Silla Future Asset."

"Silla Future Asset, is it — that's fine."

"Really?"

At Seong-ho's word that it was fine, Chung-seop leaned his face in slightly.

Because he was curious whether Seong-ho was just saying it or truly thought it was fine.

"Of course. I said it's fine because I sincerely think it's fine. Silla Future Asset is a fine name."

Only after studying Seong-ho's face did Chung-seop breathe a sigh of relief.

"That's a relief. I was worried it might look too clumsy. Silla is Silla and Future is Future, but Silla Future Asset felt like it was neither one thing nor the other, so I was uneasy."

"You can't give up the name Silla. But you can't throw away the name of the acquiring party, Future Asset, either. For now, use Silla Future Asset, and once time passes and people grow accustomed to the name Silla…