Around that time, Seong-ho was seated across from President Hak-ju Park of Ilhyeon Securities.

Park kept dabbing with a handkerchief at the sweat running down his forehead and neck as he spoke. “Head. As you know, what power do I have…?”

“President, I merely move within set standards. There are no exceptions and no favors. Just know that I act according to standards fixed in advance.”

“Head.”

Park wore a pleading look. But Seong-ho didn’t so much as twitch an eyebrow. At the sight, Park pulled his chair in closer and said in a low voice, “Why are you really doing this? Telling me not to follow President Sang-jong’s instructions?”

“It’s not a matter of following or not following instructions.” Seong-ho tapped the table with a finger. “If Ilhyeon Securities acted properly within the standards, there’s no problem at all. But conversely, if it didn’t follow the standards, that becomes a problem. There’s nothing to weigh this way and that. Just think simply.”

“But the situation isn’t like that — isn’t that the problem…”

Park knit his face tightly. “You know better than anyone, don’t you, Head? What sort of man President Sang-jong is. When he says to lend him money and he’ll put up his Ilhyeon Construction shares as collateral, how am I supposed to refuse? Hm?”

“You fear second brother, but the chairman doesn’t enter your sight, it seems.”

At that, Park’s face turned pale.

Looking at the Ilhyeon Securities president’s face gone white as rice cake, Seong-ho smiled. “President Park, you mustn’t forget which line the Restructuring Headquarters belongs to.”

“The line the Restructuring Headquarters belongs to…”

At that, Park finally realized the Restructuring Headquarters sat under the secretariat. “That…”

The mouth that had been saying I had no choice wouldn’t come open.

Watching him, Seong-ho said in a low voice, “However fearsome second brother is, you mustn’t forget who it is that gives you a salary and a seat to work in.”

“Does the chairman… know too?”

“Not yet. That’s why I’ve come to talk like this and open a path for you, nicely, nicely. If the chairman had known… we wouldn’t be talking. You know that too, don’t you, President?”

At that, Park nodded firmly. “I know… how could I not…”

“Since you know, I’ll say no more.” Seong-ho leaned back against his chair. “Within this week, recover all of former Ilhyeon Construction President Sang-jong’s accounts.”

Park hesitated a moment. “Recovering suddenly like that could mean taking a loss — what about that? Do I liquidate the collateral by the standards and cover the loss amount?”

“Hmm… that can’t be done. Tell me how much of a loss you’d take. I’ll make that amount good.”

“You’ll make it good yourself, Head?”

“Yes.”

At Seong-ho taking responsibility for one of his big worries, Park wore a somewhat relieved look.

Seong-ho said to him plainly, “It’s not simply covering the loss. I mean to pay out that loss amount and take the collateral — the Ilhyeon Construction shares. Because what the chairman worries about is Ilhyeon shares passing into someone else’s hands.”

“I understand your meaning.”

Park nodded with an understanding look, said he’d go back and handle it right away, greeted Seong-ho, and left.

After Park was gone, Byeong-jin Jo and Byeong-ju Jeong came into Seong-ho’s office. Byeong-jin pulled out a chair, sat, and looked at the door Park had left by. “What did President Park say? Did he agree?”

“Yeah. I told him well to handle it.”

Byeong-jin shook his head and turned to Seong-ho. “You wouldn’t believe how he swaggered at us. Right, Manager Jeong?”

Byeong-ju, seeming to agree, nodded and said to Seong-ho, “I went to Ilhyeon Securities to check as you instructed, Head. And the loan amount was bigger than expected.”

“Bigger, nothing. It’s a full 300 billion. Three hundred billion. The collateral wasn’t even 100 billion, and they lent 300 billion! What kind of nonsense is that? Of course, stock-collateral loans go up to 140%, 150% of the collateral value, but even so, 300 billion is too much. It came out more than 100 billion over the maximum.”

Byeong-jin spoke, looking at Seong-ho as if unable to understand.

Byeong-ju, seeming the same, quietly shook his head and asked, “But recovering 300 billion all at once means taking a loss, as President Park said… Are you really going to cover that, Head?”

“I made the promise, so I have to cover it.”

“However small the loss, it’ll be 10 or 20 billion at least…”

Byeong-ju trailed off, looking at Seong-ho as if to ask whether he was all right.

At the word that Seong-ho would cover it, Byeong-jin recalled something and asked, “Is it that you’re trying to secure the Ilhyeon Construction shares that way, by any chance?”

“What would I do with Ilhyeon Construction shares? No.”

“No?”

Byeong-jin looked at him thinking that if not, what reason was there to cover the loss.

Byeong-ju seemed to have had the same thought, wearing a puzzled look, and asked carefully, “Then are you really covering President Sang-jong’s loss with your own money because you can’t stand by and watch the Ilhyeon Construction shares pass into someone else’s hands? You might take a loss yourself doing that.”

Byeong-jin seemed to think the same. He nodded and looked at Seong-ho’s mouth, curious what answer he’d give.

Seong-ho looked between the two of them and smiled. “I’m not fool enough to cover second brother’s loss to the point of taking a loss myself.”

“Then?”

Unable to hold his curiosity, Byeong-jin threw out the question, and the corner of Seong-ho’s mouth rose. “If the Ilhyeon Construction shares passed into someone else’s hands, who’d grieve most?”

At the question, Byeong-jin and Byeong-ju thought of the same answer.

Seong-ho smiled at the two who’d thought of the answer but couldn’t say it. “I’m only holding it for a while in his place. And by holding it a while like that, I’ll earn goodwill from both sides — so this matter is, if anything, a gain for me.”

“True. There’s no way you’d take a loss.”

At Byeong-jin’s words, the three burst out laughing. Because Byeong-jin’s offhand remark — that Seong-ho wasn’t a man to take a loss — pierced right through all three of their hearts.

Having laughed, the three set down their worries and lightly discussed the next step. But at that same moment, someone elsewhere was giving off an anger as great as a mountain.

Bang!

“Where’s Kim Seong-ho?”

The man who came into the Restructuring Headquarters, flinging the door open as if to break it, shouted the moment he entered.

The staffer seated by the door stood in the path of the shouting Sang-jong. “Who are you and what brings you here?”

Stopping his walk inward, Sang-jong looked the staffer up and down. “Have these people lost their minds? You don’t know who I am?”

“Who are you, coming so suddenly and looking for the Head? First, make an appointment downstairs…”

“You little…”

At not being recognized, and on top of that being told to make an appointment, Sang-jong’s face went red as if to burst. And he raised a hand as if to strike then and there.

Just then Byeong-jin, watching the commotion, came over pretending to recognize Sang-jong. “Aren’t you President Sang-jong?” And, blocking the space between Sang-jong and the staffer, he bowed his head and apologized in his stead. “President. My apologies. This fellow hasn’t been at headquarters long. Please forgive him.”

“Do you not train your staff properly?”

“I’ll take him in right away and train him.”

At the sight of Byeong-jin bowing low in apology, Sang-jong lowered his raised hand. He turned to look inside and asked the staffer who’d apologized, “Is Seong-ho in?”

“Yes, President. The Head is inside.”

Hearing Byeong-jin’s quick answer, Sang-jong, his face somewhat eased, looked Byeong-jin up and down quickly. Glancing at the flustered staffer behind Byeong-jin, he turned his head. “Count yourself lucky. If I weren’t busy, I’d have trained you myself.”

“I’ll train him properly so this never happens again.”

“Right.”

Having said it, Sang-jong made for the office where Seong-ho was. As he left, Byeong-jin straightened his bent back and watched his retreating figure.

The staffer, minding things from behind, stepped closer to Byeong-jin. “If that’s President Sang-jong… then the Head’s elder…”

“Yes. The chairman’s second son.”

At Byeong-jin’s answer, the staffer’s complexion went pale. Because he was worried about having stood in the way of the Sang-jong he’d only heard of in rumors.

Byeong-jin watched Sang-jong’s back a moment, then turned to the staffer and smiled at the tense man. Even seeing Byeong-jin, the staffer still couldn’t relax and said, “Um… what happens now? Am I getting fired…?”

“Fired, why fired? It’s fine, so don’t mind it and finish your work.”

Even at the reassurance, the staffer’s worry didn’t fade. Byeong-jin laid a hand on his shoulder and pushed him toward his seat. “By the time he comes out of that room, you’ll already be wiped from his mind, so you don’t need to worry.”

“Really?”

“Why would I lie to you, of all people? It’s fine. The Head will handle the rest, so just finish your work.”

“Um… I’m really not going to get in trouble…?”

Byeong-jin gently pressed the staffer’s shoulder to sit him down and looked at him. “I’m more curious about the situation over there than about scolding you. Scold yourself in your heart and grasp your mistake, all right?”

He patted the staffer’s shoulder with both hands and moved quickly toward Seong-ho’s office. “Aigoo. Looks like it’s already started.”

With a face full of anticipation, Byeong-jin moved to the front of Seong-ho’s office, where loud voices carried out.

“What is this you’ve done?”

The moment he’d come in, Sang-jong — not even seated, still standing — was shouting at Seong-ho.

Seong-ho looked up at him and asked, feigning ignorance. “Brother. What brings you here? And what do you mean, what I’ve done? Is something the matter, by any chance?”

“You told the Ilhyeon Securities president to recover my stocks, didn’t you? Isn’t that so?”

“Ah — is it that you’ve come about that?”

Seong-ho rose as if he finally understood. Walking to the reception sofa, he invited Sang-jong to sit. “Let’s sit and talk first.”

“You little… You can say ‘sit and talk’ right now?”

Sang-jong swung a fist at Seong-ho. But having anticipated it, Seong-ho lightly dodged.

“Oh-ho? Dodging?”

His face gone even redder, Sang-jong rolled up his sleeves, showing he meant to turn to violence in earnest.

Seong-ho gazed at him blankly, then smiled lightly. “Brother. Let’s sit and talk calmly. Would I have made that decision to do you harm?”

“You bastard. If it wasn’t to do me harm…”

Tup.

A bound sheaf of papers flew before the speaking Sang-jong. He caught it without thinking, and confirming Sang-jong had it, Seong-ho sat on the reception sofa.

“What is this?”

Sang-jong asked, the bound papers in hand.

Seong-ho gestured for him to unbind it. “Open it. It’s a contract I made with a place called Future Asset.”

“Why give me your contract?”

Sang-jong looked at him, dumbfounded. Because handing him a contract mid-conversation felt absurd.

Seong-ho looked up at the dumbfounded Sang-jong. “If, because of me, you fail to see a gain, Brother, I’ll compensate you for the difference.”

“What?”

“So don’t worry — come and sit, first. My pressuring President Park of Ilhyeon Securities to liquidate your accounts was all a decision made for your sake, Brother.”

“For my… sake?”

Still full of anger, Sang-jong gripped the contract Seong-ho had handed him and looked at him with a still-suspicious gaze.

Seong-ho looked at him, smiled, and invited him to sit across from him.

(End of Chapter 78)