In the car back to Seongjungwon, Tak-hyeon stared out the window without saying a word.

After the silence had gone on for some time, Tak-hyeon put a question to Do-beom in the passenger seat.

"Did you tip him off, by any chance?"

Do-beom shook his head and answered,

"No, sir. I knew the reason you wanted to go to Ilhyeon Hotel — how could I possibly have done that?"

Of course, Tak-hyeon hadn't asked because he genuinely believed it.

He'd asked only because there was no other way to explain it.

Tak-hyeon looked back out the car window and muttered quietly to himself.

"He really is a strange one."

Listening to Tak-hyeon's muttering, Do-beom felt exactly the same way.

Tak-hyeon's criticism had been, by anyone's reckoning, close to sheer unreasonableness.

Strictly speaking, none of it was Seong-ho's fault in the slightest.

Most people, in that situation, would have reacted with a sense of injustice.

But far from protesting the unfairness, Seong-ho had apologized as though it were his own fault, and then produced a solution nobody had seen coming.

No wonder the Chairman is amazed…

The truth was that Tak-hyeon had never been to the White Hotel.

Meeting former Prime Minister Kim, running into Chairman Kang — all of it had been a lie.

It was a scheme Tak-hyeon had devised to expose Ilhyeon Hotel's weaknesses, and through it, to test Seong-ho's ability to respond.

Without withdrawing his gaze from the window, Tak-hyeon said,

"A situation I manufactured out of nothing just to see how he'd handle it — and he resolves it like that? I can hardly believe it."

"Watching from the sidelines, it struck me as truly ingenious. And it wasn't just empty talk, either. I think Seong-ho's ability to respond really does deserve recognition."

"I threw obstacles in his path on purpose, because I was curious what he might manage at Mirae Heavy Industries — and seeing him resolve it like this, Mirae Heavy Industries may actually be worth some expectation."

"Shall we hold off on liquidating Mirae Heavy Industries for now, then?"

"Yes. Put it on…