After the meal was over, Tak-hyeon Lee moved to Seongjungwon and, in an office still not fully arranged, sank for a moment into thought.

"How does it look to you?"

Tak-hyeon asked Do-beom Hwang, who was standing behind him.

Do-beom bent slightly forward and answered,

"I can't quite make out his intent either, sir. It seems sincere, yet it might be that his feelings were hurt and that's why he said it… Or it might be that he really means to move to a new post himself in order to fulfill your long-cherished wish, Chairman…"

Do-beom too showed himself wavering back and forth. That was how astonishing Seong-ho's words had been.

Tak-hyeon lifted his head and said,

"I made the offer to sound out whether the boy had any interest in Ilhyeon Distribution. On the chance that he might read my thinking and say he'd take it on."

"Seong-ho would indeed be perfectly suited to take charge of Ilhyeon Distribution and carry through the merger of Ilhyeon Precision and Ilhyeon Transport."

"Yes. If it were him, he could do it well. And yet… he refused, said he didn't want it. And not merely that he didn't want it — he said he'd fulfill a long-cherished wish of mine more important than that."

Tak-hyeon shook his head with an expression that said it made no sense however he turned it over, and said,

"He's a boy I can't understand. I simply can't get a read on him."

He pointed a finger at Do-beom and said,

"I'd meant to hand my own chair down to you once the merger of Ilhyeon Precision and Ilhyeon Transport was wrapped up properly at Ilhyeon Distribution, you know."

Tak-hyeon had settled on Seong-ho as Do-beom's successor.

For Do-beom, it might have stung to hear Tak-hyeon speak of a successor when he hadn't offered up the post himself. But ahead of any sting, what came first was a sense of relief.

The post of Chief Secretary to the Chairman of the Ilhyeon Group was one for which a suitable person was terribly hard to find.

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