Gyeong-eun approached Seong-ho holding a plastic cup that had begun to sweat with condensation on the outside.

“Just like you said, it was a good call to wrap the cups in paper.”

She wiped the moisture from the cup she’d handed him with a finger and said,

“If there weren’t a cup holder, all this condensation would’ve gotten straight onto people’s hands, wouldn’t it? Anyone holding a cup would’ve found that uncomfortable for sure.”

Gyeong-eun lifted the plastic cup, its holder keeping the moisture off her hand, and went on.

“It’d be best if we could patent it, but unfortunately they told me we can’t. If we could’ve patented it, we’d have been able to lock out latecomers for certain.”

“Even without that, latecomers will be locked out for certain.”

Seong-ho drank the coffee she’d handed him and watched the people coming into the store.

Drawn by word that it was free today, passersby drifted naturally toward the shop.

And then they scattered again, coffees in hand, each heading off to wherever they were going.

“From tomorrow, this place will be packed to bursting. So tell the staff to be even more attentive. Keep on top of cleanliness, and never let the drink prep time exceed five minutes.”

“I’ve been staying on top of that anyway. Beyond that, the music has to be kept at just the right volume — not too loud, not too soft.”

Gyeong-eun looked at the store and said to Seong-ho,

“My friends said to me — it’s not even a restaurant, just a drinks shop, aren’t you fussing over it too much, is there really any money in it… but it’ll do well, won’t it…?”

“I guarantee you it will.”

Seong-ho took a sip of coffee and smiled.

“Ten years from now, the money this coffee franchise brings in might just surpass Ilhyeon Department Store’s revenue.”

“What?”

Gyeong-eun looked at him as if she couldn’t have heard right.

Seong-ho drank again and said,

“So don’t weigh this and that — go aggressive. If you focus on the busy commercial districts where the crowds are, it’ll deliver you enormous money before long.”

Gyeong-eun couldn’t tell whether Seong-ho was just saying it to encourage her on her first project, or whether he truly meant it.

She was about to ask again when someone approached the two of them.

“Congratulations on the opening.”

A man who had appeared holding an iced coffee just like Seong-ho and Gyeong-eun raised his cup and offered his congratulations to Gyeong-eun.

“So President Lee’s own special project has finally launched. If you make a success of this, your standing within Ilhyeon will grow all the more solid.”

Gyeong-eun turned to look at the man who’d spoken and tilted her head.

“Do you know me?”

“How could I not know the youngest daughter of the Ilhyeon family?”

“I don’t know who you are, though… Who are you?”

Displeased that a stranger she didn’t recognize knew who she was, Gyeong-eun frowned at the man.

At that, the man, still smiling, looked over at Seong-ho.

Seong-ho, who had said nothing, gave a small laugh and introduced the man to Gyeong-eun.

“Say hello. This is Senior Secretary Byeong-guk Jo, who serves as Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs.”

“Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs?”

Gyeong-eun shot Seong-ho a look asking how he knew a Senior Economic Secretary.

Seong-ho glanced at Senior Secretary Jo and said,

“I met him once when I went to the Blue House last time.”

Seong-ho turned toward Byeong-guk Jo and asked,

“What brings you here? Did you come because of me?”

Senior Secretary Jo pointed at the coffee and said,

“I’ve wanted to see you, Head Kim, but I could never manage to catch you. Then I heard you’d be attending this opening event today, so I came rushing over. Because I wanted to have a word with you.”

“Shall we go inside and talk, then?”

Seong-ho nodded and pointed toward the coffee shop.

“No.”

Jo brought the straw to his lips, took a sip of coffee, and shook his head.

“There are too many people over there.”

“Then…”

“If you don’t mind, why don’t you come with me to Hyoja-dong so we can talk?”

“Hyoja-dong?”

Even under Seong-ho’s gaze, Jo kept drawing at his straw, sipping his coffee.

Having drained half the cup in one go, Jo looked at the coffee and said to Gyeong-eun,

“President Lee. This is going to work. With coffee-shop coffee, one sip and it’s gone — but this, I’ve had several sips and it’s still half full. You could nurse this a good long while.”

“Oh… yes, thank you.”

Gyeong-eun offered her thanks and looked at Seong-ho.

She’d understood that “Hyoja-dong” meant the Blue House.

“Am I going alone?”

“Of course — who else is there here besides you and me, Head Kim?”

Jo drew at his straw again and then bowed to Gyeong-eun.

“I’ll see you again next time, then.”

His farewell finished, Jo turned and said to Seong-ho,

“Let’s go.”

Without even waiting for Seong-ho’s answer, Senior Secretary Jo set off ahead.

Seong-ho watched Jo’s back for a moment as he walked, then gave Gyeong-eun a smile that said he’d be back soon and followed after Jo.

Unlike the last time, there was no staff member on hand to receive Seong-ho.

Perhaps because this visit wasn’t being conducted officially, the inside of the Blue House was utterly quiet.

Getting out of the car first, Jo watched Seong-ho — still holding the plastic cup he’d drained empty — step out.

Once he’d confirmed Seong-ho was out of the car, Senior Secretary Jo turned and walked toward the main building.

Falling into step behind him, Seong-ho asked,

“We’re not going to the annex, I take it?”

“No. Today you’ll be talking in the main building, not the annex.”

“Don’t tell me…”

Seong-ho glanced back at the annex and let out a small sigh.

Because he thought he now understood why Senior Secretary Jo had brought him here.

Jo strode into the main building.

Then he held out his empty plastic cup to the first staff member he saw.

“Take Head Kim’s too and throw them out together, would you.”

“Yes, understood.”

Seong-ho handed over his own cup as well and followed Senior Secretary Jo up to the second floor, where the President’s office was.

Arriving in front of the office, Seong-ho straightened his clothes and asked,

“You said you wanted to talk — so why have you brought me here?”

“I don’t recall ever saying I was the one who wanted to talk.”

At Jo’s words, Seong-ho let out a wry laugh.

Senior Secretary Jo smiled back at Seong-ho, then opened the door and stepped inside.

“Your Excellency. I’ve brought him.”

Hearing Jo’s report, President Dae-sang Kim rose from his seat.

“Welcome. I hear you had an event in Seodaemun-gu today?”

“Yes. There was a launch event for a new brand at Ilhyeon Department Store.”

“Ilhyeon Department Store would be…”

“It’s the company my wife runs.”

“Oh dear…”

Dae-sang Kim put on a troubled expression, as if he hadn’t known.

“You must be busy — I do hope I haven’t called you here for nothing.”

When Dae-sang Kim turned to Jo, Jo bowed his head and answered,

“I should have looked into it more carefully. It seems I missed it. I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

“Yes. We mustn’t do this going forward. Just because we’re in a hurry, should we go dragging off someone in the middle of important work?”

“My apologies.”

Seong-ho watched in silence as the two of them beat their drums and gongs in concert.

Because he didn’t for a moment believe Dae-sang Kim hadn’t known.

Here was President Dae-sang Kim, having known all along, playing at stepping back as if he’d had no idea.

Watching the transparent little performance, Seong-ho simply looked on without reacting at all.

After telling Jo to be more careful going forward, Dae-sang Kim invited Seong-ho to sit at the conference table.

“Still, since you’ve come all this way, shall we at least have a talk?”

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

President Dae-sang Kim smiled, watching Seong-ho nod at the suggestion and head for the table.

He told Jo to sit as well, then walked slowly over to the table and took his seat.

“So… have you given it some thought?”

The moment he sat down, President Dae-sang Kim led with the question.

Seong-ho avoided Dae-sang Kim’s gaze and, deliberately, opened his mouth in a troubled-sounding voice.

“Well, that’s the thing…”

At Seong-ho’s words, Dae-sang Kim and Jo couldn’t take their eyes off him.

Because they had no idea at all what Seong-ho was about to say.

After hesitating a moment, Seong-ho slowly lifted his head and said,

“I did discuss it with the Chairman, but…”

“Oh! And what did the Chairman say?”

“He said we could help — but that we’d lose far too much in doing so.”

“Lose? What is there for Ilhyeon to lose?”

Jo raised his voice sharply.

President Dae-sang Kim frowned at him.

Seeing Dae-sang Kim’s expression, Jo realized he’d made a mistake.

Recalling that before going to fetch Seong-ho they’d agreed to gently coax him and Dae-sang Kim along, Jo immediately apologized to Seong-ho.

“My apologies. My voice got a bit loud there.”

“Secretary Jo. Be careful. Is that any way to behave with a guest present?”

Having rebuked Jo, Dae-sang Kim moved to soothe Seong-ho.

“Please understand, Head Kim. The situation right now is… haah.”

Dae-sang Kim couldn’t finish and shook his head.

“As you well know, Head Kim, the situation is anything but easy. No — to be honest, our Korea right now is no different from someone walking a tightrope. One wrong step, and we fall straight off the wire. Bound up in a situation like this, I imagine that’s why Secretary Jo’s voice rose.”

“I understand. Out in the field myself, I know full well that the situation is grave.”

When Seong-ho said he understood, Dae-sang Kim relaxed his face and spoke.

“The people are handing over the gold they owned to pay down the national debt, and when I saw children offering up bankbooks holding what little they’d managed to save with their tiny hands, I couldn’t hold back my tears. And in a situation like this, should companies be chasing only their own profit? Ah — I’m not saying this about Ilhyeon. I know very well that Ilhyeon is actively cooperating with the government’s policy.”

Seong-ho gave a faint smile at Dae-sang Kim’s words.

It was almost pitiable, watching him try so hard to coax and cajole, to avoid giving offense in any way.

That was how urgent and difficult a position the government was in — he could see it plainly.

Deciding it was about time to put Dae-sang Kim’s mind at ease, Seong-ho opened his mouth.

“The Chairman told me that even if we stand to lose a great deal, shouldn’t we lend a hand when the President is trying to accomplish something so important?”

“Lend a hand?”

President Dae-sang Kim’s expression brightened.

Because he’d gotten the sense that Seong-ho was saying the very thing he wanted to hear.

But he couldn’t just let it slide by on a mere nuance.

Wanting to make it certain, Dae-sang Kim shot Jo a look.

Catching Dae-sang Kim’s signal, Jo asked Seong-ho on his behalf what the President was wondering.

“Does that mean Ilhyeon will accept, then?”

Seong-ho looked Dae-sang Kim straight in the eye and, clearly and distinctly, said the thing he’d wanted to hear.

“Yes, we’ll accept the special tax investigation. And the fine, up to 20 billion won — we’ll find some way to cover it.”

Bang!

Hearing the words he’d been waiting for, Dae-sang Kim struck the table with his palm.

Then, with a bright smile, he raised his hand, pointed at Seong-ho, and said,

“Don’t worry. The target isn’t Ilhyeon — it’s the other four major groups that wouldn’t fall in line. There’ll be no bothering you. Secretary Jo, take this to heart. You are not to let this interfere with Ilhyeon’s business.”

Dae-sang Kim issued the instruction to Jo and broke into a broad smile.

Since Ilhyeon had agreed to accept, he figured he could now proceed as planned.

“And don’t worry about the 20 billion, either. The 20 billion you’ll pay in fines — we’ll make it up to you some other way, whatever it takes.”

Dae-sang Kim tried to reassure Seong-ho, promising to compensate the fine Ilhyeon would pay.

But contrary to Dae-sang Kim’s concern, Seong-ho wasn’t worried about the 20 billion at all.

Because in his mind, a plan had already been laid to turn that 20 billion into hundreds of billions in compensation.

(End of Chapter 154)