"Have you eaten something bad? How is that a good thing?"

The more Byeong-jin spoke, the more his anger rose, and his voice had climbed without his noticing.

"Don't you see the Vice-Chairman is pushing you out? He wouldn't spare Ilhyeon Heavy Industries a glance while it was staggering, and now that it's finally running properly, he does this. Throw you out and swallow Ilhyeon Heavy Industries whole."

"He's already Vice-Chairman and eyeing the chairmanship — what would a man like that need to swallow? He already thinks it's all his."

Seong-ho smiled, amused by the phrasing.

"Fine, grant that. Then what about checking you? You produce results and try to turn Ilhyeon Heavy Industries into a group of its own, so he's checking you. That's what this is."

Byeong-jin thought that fit better than swallowing.

Seong-ho clapped his furious friend on the shoulder.

"All right, all right. Let's get to the car and talk."

The elevator doors opened, and as Seong-ho stepped out, the staff bowed as one.

He returned each greeting and walked on.

Unable to keep shouting in front of them, Byeong-jin only snorted through his nose and followed in silence.

"Now talk. Are you really going to step aside like this?"

Seong-ho smiled at him starting up again the instant they were in the car.

"I said it's good for me and good for you."

"Being thrown out is better than staying at Ilhyeon Heavy Industries?"

"Yes."

He nodded, told Jeong-cheol Choi to drive, and turned to the speechless Byeong-jin.

"Ilhyeon Heavy Industries doesn't need me anymore. The foundation is laid and the plan is finished — all it has to do now is run along the plan I've built."

"Right, but… what about the credit that would come to you when Ilhyeon Heavy Industries becomes a world-class company?"

"Do I look like a man in any position to be clinging to credit?"

Byeong-jin couldn't answer at once.

Seong-ho's mouth curled up and he put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm past the point of clinging to that. There's no one in the Ilhyeon Group —…