When Byeong-jin Jo came inside guided by a waiter, only Seong-ho Kim and Chung-seop Jo were seated in the large hall.

"Sorry. The traffic was bad, so I'm a little late."

Byeong-jin Jo, having greeted Seong-ho Kim first, went over to Chung-seop Jo and extended a hand.

"It's been a while. You've been keeping well?"

"I've been keeping well. Have you been keeping well too, Vice-President Jo? These days I'm astonished every time I hear talk of Ilhyeon Heavy Industries. Congratulations on its being reborn in a single stroke as one of the world's leading shipbuilders."

"What have I done, really? All I've done is put into practice what our President Kim here had prepared."

"There are plenty who can't even do that."

To Byeong-jin Jo, who had said he had done little, Chung-seop Jo said no, no, and praised Byeong-jin Jo's contribution to the skies.

"Hearing the news of Ilhyeon Heavy Industries' orders coming in every day, I have great expectations for its results. This year will be good, of course, and next year should be good too?"

"It had better be. It has to keep growing — should it stand still in one place?"

"Hahaha. That's our Vice-President Jo, all right. Then we too can invest in Ilhyeon Heavy Industries with easy minds."

When the two men's exchange of pleasantries seemed to have more or less finished, Seong-ho Kim held out a hand toward them.

"Then shall we sit down and talk now?"

The three, who had been standing in a triangle around a round table, took their seats.

Seong-ho Kim looked quietly for a moment at the two men before him, then looked at Chung-seop Jo first and opened his mouth.

"Representative Jo."

"Yes."

When Seong-ho Kim called to him, Chung-seop Jo looked at Seong-ho Kim with a tense face.

Because it had suddenly come to him what the reason was that Seong-ho Kim had called him to this place.

"President Chang-jong Lee — do you by any chance know what he's doing these days?"

"So it is, after all…"

Chung-seop Jo confirmed that his expectation was…