“Chairman. Since you’ve already given Director Kim the authority for restructuring, shouldn’t you raise him to the same standing as the presidents here?”

Mun-jong looked around at the presidents and said to Tak-hyeon, “If the one holding the hilt is a director while those who must follow his orders are presidents, the work may not proceed properly. And even within the Restructuring Headquarters, the Head being a director while the Deputy Head is a managing director is somehow ill-matched.”

Mun-jong urged Tak-hyeon to promote Seong-ho to president and winked at him. At the wink, Seong-ho quietly bowed his head to convey his thanks, and Mun-jong shrugged and turned his gaze to Tak-hyeon.

Tak-hyeon heard him out and sank into thought a moment. Then he slowly spoke. “That’s true enough, but raising him from director to president in one go is too much of a promotion — so take your time and climb the steps gradually. For now, move him to managing-director treatment, and if he shows results, I’ll promote him to full managing director. Take it as such.”

“Chairman. Still…”

“Enough.”

As Mun-jong made to speak again, Tak-hyeon cut him off. He looked around at the affiliate presidents and said, “Just because Head Kim is at managing-director treatment, the presidents here won’t disobey him, will they? Isn’t that so?”

Though Tak-hyeon phrased it as a question, everyone seated understood the meaning within was not a question but an order. The presidents answered in unison that no such thing would happen, and Tak-hyeon nodded with a satisfied look and ended the special presidents’ meeting.

“Head Kim. A word with you.”

As Seong-ho, the meeting over, was talking with Mun-jong, Chief Do-beom Hwang called him. Mun-jong, who’d been telling Seong-ho at length not to worry because he’d keep supporting him, turned to Do-beom and asked, “Brother. What is it?”

“Ah — I mean to talk over something to do with the Restructuring Headquarters. So the vice-chairman needn’t mind it.”

At the sight of Do-beom trying to talk while leaving him out, Mun-jong narrowed his eyes and spoke again. “Brother. Is it something I mustn’t hear?”

“The chairman gave a special instruction, so I ask you to understand, Vice-Chairman Lee.”

“A special instruction?”

Rather than understanding, Mun-jong shot an even more suspicious glare at Do-beom’s words, then nodded as if he understood. “Well… all right. Then I’ll withdraw. Head Kim, I’ll come by your office, so let’s have the rest of our talk then.”

“Yes, Vice-Chairman.”

As Seong-ho bowed his head, Mun-jong patted his shoulder and glanced at Do-beom. His gaze lingered on Do-beom a moment before he left, and only Seong-ho and Do-beom were left standing before the meeting room.

Do-beom looked around the empty space a moment and gestured to Seong-ho. “It’s awkward to talk here… let’s go to your office.”

“Yes. Understood.”

At Do-beom’s suggestion to go to Seong-ho’s office rather than the secretariat, Seong-ho cocked his head. If there was something to instruct, going to Do-beom’s office was natural, so moving to Seong-ho’s office felt somehow strange.

The two exchanged no words until they reached Seong-ho’s office. Coming quietly in, Do-beom shut the door, drew Seong-ho inside, and said in a low voice, “Seong-ho. Something’s happened.”

“Something? What do you mean?”

Seong-ho looked at him as if it were strange. Feeling something off in Do-beom’s unusual manner, he didn’t take his eyes off him as Do-beom pulled him deeper into the office.

Dragging Seong-ho past even the reception sofa, all the way near the window, Do-beom spoke in a lower voice still. “Ilhyeon Securities. Something’s happened there.”

At the mention of Ilhyeon Securities, Seong-ho realized why Do-beom was acting this way.

So he’s found it.

Understanding that Do-beom had discovered Sang-jong’s anomalous activity at Ilhyeon Securities, Seong-ho asked, feigning ignorance, “What happened at Ilhyeon Securities?”

Do-beom shook his head with a gloomy expression. “Sang-jong is buying up stocks in bulk through Ilhyeon Securities.”

“What stocks is he buying?”

“It’s not just any stocks.” Do-beom shook his head. “He’s recklessly buying up stocks in the top 50 of those listed on the KOSPI. And that’s not all. He’s wildly buying up once-famous theme stocks too. Things like Sogyeong Machinery, Soyoung Packaging, Hudo Electric.”

Do-beom let out a deep sigh.

Seong-ho knew very well with what thinking Sang-jong was acting this way. But still wearing a puzzled look, he put a question to Do-beom. “Chief. Honestly, isn’t it not a big problem for him to buy stocks? He quit the company, so it doesn’t run afoul of company rules, and there’s no law that Ilhyeon family members can’t make money through stocks.”

“Right. Done plainly, there’d be nothing wrong with it.”

Do-beom nodded, seeming to think Seong-ho was right too. But the gloom still hovering on his face conveyed the feeling that this wasn’t all.

Studying his face, Seong-ho asked in a careful voice, “How much did he buy, to make it like this? 1 billion? 2 billion? Not more than 2 billion, surely?”

Seong-ho named the largest figure an ordinary person might imagine. But Do-beom answered with a figure that leapt beyond common sense.

“100 billion. Sang-jong plunged in 100 billion.”

“How much? 100 billion?”

Seong-ho wore a startled look. Then, as if puzzled, he asked, “Did you have that kind of money, Brother?”

“He didn’t. That’s why it’s a problem.”

Do-beom let out a long sigh.

As the second son of the Ilhyeon Group owner, Sang-jong’s externally known wealth well exceeded 100 billion. But that was only externally known wealth — no more than book wealth stated as the appraised value of his stakes in Ilhyeon Group affiliates. It was a number on the books, from stakes Tak-hyeon had parceled out little by little over a long time, that Sang-jong couldn’t use personally.

“1 billion, 2 billion, Sang-jong could raise without much trouble. But 100 billion is another story. Surely Sang-jong…”

Do-beom trailed off and closed his eyes a moment.

Seong-ho completed what he’d meant to say in his stead. “He must have raised the money against his stakes as collateral.”

Even with the words trailed off, Seong-ho offered an understanding remark, and Do-beom nodded. “Yes. He surely did. And since Ilhyeon Securities is our affiliate, they’d have lent the money easily…”

“Chief. Then couldn’t it be more than 100 billion he borrowed? His stakes are worth well over 100 billion, after all.”

“I think so too. But for now, the confirmed amount is that much. That’s why I said so.”

Seong-ho let out a sigh as deep as Do-beom’s. “Hoo… The chairman doesn’t know this, does he?”

“I came to you the moment I confirmed it. If the chairman finds out…”

“It won’t end with him getting angry.”

“Right. That’s why it’s a serious matter.”

Do-beom looked at the seemingly deep-in-thought Seong-ho a moment and said in a low voice, “Even if I wanted to look into it more, I can’t dig deeper for fear the chairman might catch wind while I’m at it. So…”

“I’ll look into it in detail under the pretext of restructuring.”

At Seong-ho, who grasped his meaning without it being spelled out, Do-beom seized his hand. And he told him he was counting on him. “If the chairman were to learn that he raised money against his stakes as collateral, of all things, there’d be an uproar. So look into it in detail and tidy it up well.”

“The best outcome would be to liquidate the stocks, recover the money, and release the collateral.”

“Yes. That’s exactly it.” Do-beom patted his shoulder. “I knew that with you, you’d grasp what I’m saying.” Laying his hand gently on Seong-ho’s shoulder, he said, “It has to be handled fast, as much as possible without the chairman knowing. That’s why I’m asking you.”

“I understand your meaning. I’ll choose Ilhyeon Securities as the very first step of the restructuring. I’ll naturally call in Ilhyeon Securities’ management and discuss this matter along with it, so leave it to me.”

“Right. I’m counting on you.”

Having said he was counting on him several times over, Do-beom took Seong-ho’s hand lightly. Conveying his trust with his eyes, he left the office.

Seong-ho followed Do-beom out the door, reassured him not to worry, and saw him off. Watching Do-beom’s retreating back, Seong-ho recalled that former life.

He remembered that in that former life too, this matter had brought Ilhyeon Group into a very awkward situation. And Seong-ho remembered clearly that because of it, Sang-jong had been ejected from the heir’s seat.

Having seen the departing Do-beom off, Seong-ho turned and went back into his office. Sitting down, he murmured to himself, “But this time the result will be different.”

In that former life, by the time Do-beom found it, it was too late — a situation beyond remedy. And so Sang-jong had ended up thrown out of the Ilhyeon house, slipping clear of the succession picture. But this time was different. It had been confirmed at a not-too-late time, and the handling had fallen to Seong-ho.

A smile at his lips, Seong-ho went on murmuring. “It’ll be more entertaining with second brother around, so I ought to help him.”

Seong-ho didn’t want Sang-jong thrown out. Because he figured that with Sang-jong remaining in the Ilhyeon house, the discord with the rest of the family would grow greater, producing more entertaining situations.

So Seong-ho meant to pull the swamp-mired Sang-jong out. Of course, no one but Seong-ho knew that such help would, in the end, come to Sang-jong as a still worse outcome. That being thrown out quickly was, for Sang-jong, the better situation — only Seong-ho knew.

Seong-ho meant to pull Sang-jong from the swamp precisely to visit greater torment upon him.

For the first time in a while, Byeong-jin Jo and Byeong-ju Jeong sat across from Seong-ho. Looking around his office, they clicked their tongues.

“You said you’d be back before long, and I wasn’t sure — but I never dreamed you’d come back like this. Managing-director treatment? Head?”

“What did I tell you? Didn’t I say I’d come back as a bigger man?”

“Wow… you’re really something, you are.”

As Byeong-jin clicked his tongue, Byeong-ju too looked at Seong-ho with an admiring gaze like Byeong-jin’s. “How did this happen? Restructuring the whole group?”

“The situation right now is far from easy.”

“I heard the Korean economy’s reeling with the Bumi Group collapsing on the heels of the Dubo Group — but is it serious enough that our whole group has to be restructured?”

“It’s serious. That’s why the chairman put the hilt in my hand.”

At Seong-ho’s brief explanation, Byeong-jin and Byeong-ju realized the situation was flowing along very seriously. Exchanging a glance with Byeong-ju, Byeong-jin dusted off his hands and said, “All right. So what do we do now?”

At his words, a smile came to Seong-ho’s lips. Because Byeong-jin’s brisk, decisive manner, just as he’d expected, pleased him greatly.

“You two…”

Seong-ho began, in a calm voice, to explain to Byeong-jin and Byeong-ju what lay ahead. Having heard him out, the two left the office at once and went out of the company. And from there they moved straight to Ilhyeon Securities’ headquarters in Chungmuro.

Not long after Byeong-jin and Byeong-ju left, Gyeong-deuk came by. “Head Kim. The newly reinforced personnel have arrived.”

Gyeong-deuk announced that the people newly reassigned to the Restructuring Headquarters had come. In the Strategic Planning days, about forty staff had worked there full-time. That had grown to as many as 150 with the elevation to headquarters.

“Have they all arrived?”

Seong-ho rose from his desk and left the office to meet the newly transferred staff. Gyeong-deuk followed. “I’ve collected resignations from all the new ones too.”

At that, Seong-ho smiled lightly and turned to look at him. “You explained it well, so there’s no misunderstanding?”

“Of course. Who am I? The Head’s right arm, aren’t I?”

Having decided that being Deputy Head of the Restructuring Headquarters was better than being head of the Strategic Planning Office, Gyeong-deuk had stepped up to volunteer as Seong-ho’s right arm.

Seong-ho smiled lightly and entered the large conference room where the newly reinforced staff had gathered. Most of the personnel newly added to the Restructuring Headquarters were crack staff from the accounting and general-affairs departments of each affiliate. Seconded and moved to the Restructuring Headquarters, they awaited Seong-ho with tense faces.

“Good to meet you. I’m Seong-ho Kim, who’ll be working with you at the headquarters going forward.”

Receiving his greeting, the new Restructuring Headquarters staff, faces tense, fixed their eyes on Seong-ho.

(End of Chapter 76)