"Chairman."

In the hidden room, Tak-hyeon — watching the CCTV — turned toward Do-beom Hwang as he opened the door and came in.

"Have they all gone?"

"Yes. Everyone's left."

"Seong-ho too?"

"Yes."

When Seong-ho was leaving, Do-beom had wavered for a moment over whether to hold him back. It had occurred to him that, once everyone else was gone, the chairman might need time to talk with Seong-ho alone. But Seong-ho — oblivious, it seemed, to Do-beom's thinking — had made his farewells and left at once, and Do-beom had had no choice but to return to the hidden room by himself.

Hands clasped behind his back, Tak-hyeon crossed to the sofa. As he sat, he asked,

"B&A, was it?"

He was asking after the company name Seong-ho had mentioned a little earlier. Swallowing his regret that Seong-ho hadn't explained it himself, Do-beom answered.

"Kim set up an investment-trust company called British & America Investment. It appears his own funds — plus his building, his stake in Silla Future Asset, and the rest — are all gathered there."

"British & America?"

Tak-hyeon repeated the name of the company Seong-ho had founded, as if amused, and asked,

"What's the British whatever supposed to mean? Why stick England and America in there, of all things?"

"It seems he put them in precisely because they have nothing to do with anything."

"Put them in because they have nothing to do with anything?"

Tak-hyeon shot Do-beom a look asking what that was supposed to mean. Recalling the account he'd caught in passing from Seong-ho, Do-beom explained.

"He says he doesn't want the company's true owner known for the time being. So he wanted a name no one could possibly predict… and what came out of that was British & America."

"Hahaha."

Tak-hyeon clutched his sides and burst into great laughter, as though he'd heard a fine joke. Slapping his knee, he couldn't stop for a good while.

"Hahaha. It's so funny it's brought tears to my eyes." He wiped the tears pooled at the corners of his eyes with a finger and said,…