The people gathered in the restaurant looked up at the TV mounted on the ceiling.

—"Word has come that the Ilhyeon Group has entered the Doa Motors bidding. The Blue House disclosed that President Dae-sang Kim and Ilhyeon Group Chairman Tak-hyeon Lee met the previous day, and that through President Dae-sang Kim's persuasion, they secured the Ilhyeon Group's promise to participate in the Doa Motors bidding. With this, Doa Motors—which had been driven to the very brink of bankruptcy—is able to go through the sale process once again."

At the news, the restaurant's customers forgot even to eat and fixed their eyes on the broadcast. People sat with chopsticks and spoons in hand, gazes locked on the screen, and even the owner couldn't set food before his guests, unable to tear his eyes from the news pouring out.

—"However, in some quarters the possibility of Doa Motors' bankruptcy is not yet seen as fully resolved. Because the possibility remains that the Ilhyeon Group, having entered the bidding, could judge Doa Motors' odds of survival low and withdraw. Should that happen, insiders testify, there is a high likelihood that Korea would once again be plunged into great shock."

The office workers gathered over lunch sighed at the words from the TV. Having watched colleagues beside them pack up and leave, the thought struck them that they might be next.

But the weight of it lasted only a moment. Because the fact that Doa Motors had held onto a chance to survive brought more joy than worry. So long as it survived somehow, a solution would appear, and in the process the present situation might work itself out too—thinking this, the spoons and chopsticks that had stopped began to move again. Just as Korea's stalled economy had begun to move once more, the people in the restaurant returned to their usual lunchtime.

In a corner of that restaurant where office workers were settling their lunches, Seong-ho and Byeong-jin Jo were eating too. The two spooned up the stew before them, mixed it into their rice, and talked as they ate.

"So in…