Until Not Even Bones Remain
O Kang-gu frowned deeply as he listened to the sudden details of the M&A deal. Once again, it was information he had heard nothing about beforehand, so he couldn’t help but be shocked.
A corporate M&A worth a staggering 800 billion won. Honestly, since the division didn’t even exist before, he had never imagined Kang In-hyuk would bring in a deal of this scale.
“Which company are we acquiring?”
At his question, Tae Ju-ha paused for a moment before answering carefully.
“…Cheolsan Capital.”
“That place… wasn’t that in the news not long ago….”
There had been so many loudly reported articles that even O Kang-gu had no trouble recalling it.
“That’s right.”
“But they received a not-guilty verdict and their management seems to have normalized… Did they propose the sale first?”
“Apparently so. For your information, this matter is still confidential. Since it was reported with rather unsavory allegations, we plan to proceed as quietly as possible.”
“Has the acquiring company already been decided? It’s not going to auction?”
Cheolsan Capital was a financial firm with influence that stretched beyond the southern region all the way to the capital area. The stakes and real estate of the many companies that had borrowed capital from them could be valued at enormous sums depending on the need.
Naturally, the more parties that wanted Cheolsan Capital, the higher the sale price—and the higher the commission Tae Shin Asset Management could claim.
Even with the currently estimated corporate value of 800 billion won, the commission alone would be around 10 billion won.
“For now, yes.”
“Have you reached a firm agreement with Cheolsan Capital? From what I know, due diligence and valuation alone will require a considerable amount of time. On top of that, Cheolsan Capital will surely want to sell at the highest possible price.”
O Kang-gu pointed out each issue one by one, intent on highlighting problems in Kang In-hyuk’s work.
Of course, none of what he said was wrong.
Tae Ju-ha knew that as well. At the same time, she was inwardly astonished.
It was because In-hyuk had informed her of Cheolsan Capital’s sale along with O Kang-gu’s reaction.
‘I knew Executive Director O didn’t like In-hyuk, but I didn’t expect him to nitpick this much.’
After thinking quickly, she answered O Kang-gu.
“Cheolsan Capital wanted the sale to be handled as quietly as possible. Fortunately, we found a buyer that met those conditions. There’s no loss for us, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”
O Kang-gu soon asked the question he was most curious about.
“Who is acquiring it?”
“AMK Partners. I’d heard they’ve been expanding into many businesses lately, but I never imagined they would go as far as acquiring Cheolsan Capital.”
O Kang-gu’s face hardened without him realizing it. He had recently heard quite a few rumors about AMK Partners and had taken an interest.
But he had never thought they possessed the financial power to acquire Cheolsan Capital.
“I see… However, Director Kang’s way of handling work still has many issues. And if things continue like this, an accident will happen sooner or later.”
“I can’t say I have no concerns either, but this is something the Chairman is pushing for. So for now, I’d appreciate it if Executive Director O would simply watch over the situation.”
“…Understood for now.”
After giving a somewhat uneasy reply, O Kang-gu stood up and left her office.
In-hyuk sat facing Jang Hyeong-cheol at Hoam in Cheongdam-dong.
However, mealtime had long passed, so only coffee and tea sat before each of them.
“As you said, I’ve taken care of CEO Han Jae-won.”
“You decided faster than I expected.”
“I can’t stay tied down by sentiment forever. So I immediately called an emergency board meeting, and the results came out this morning. My phone has practically been on fire because of it.”
Jang Hyeong-cheol’s phone on the table was filled with missed calls from a number labeled ‘Han Jae-won.’
The sudden board meeting had resulted in his dismissal, leaving him with a fire under his feet.
“You did well.”
“Recovering the funds that bastard siphoned off will be difficult, but at least we’ve cut him out now. That has to count for something. It could have put me in danger otherwise.”
Han Jae-won had created over 150 billion won in slush funds through a paper company in Myanmar.
But the money had already moved to another account, so only tracking had been possible; recovery was nearly impossible.
“Then is there no problem with the sale talks on Cheolsan Capital’s side?”
“Employment succession for executives and staff will proceed as is anyway. Besides, the sale is only on the surface. The CEO position will return to my hands, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
It had been a plan to confuse those who had been targeting Cheolsan Capital during the Riseburn incident.
Of course, he hadn’t expected things to go this smoothly.
“By now, the people who moved through Han Jae-won must have caught wind of Cheolsan Capital’s situation. Well, even if not, the news will spread anyway.”
“Did something happen on their side….”
Woooong— Woooong—
This time, an alarm rang from In-hyuk’s phone. It was a news alert from an internet media outlet.
“There it is.”
In-hyuk held out his phone.
Jang Hyeong-cheol’s eyes widened slightly as he checked it.
“Not exactly a pleasant article. Was this expected too?”
Anyone could see it as a foreign company swallowing up a domestic financial firm.
“Anyone who wants Cheolsan Capital will make some kind of move. And to those people, this acquisition battle probably looks like an opportunity instead.”
“So you deliberately set the board like this. Then I assume you have countermeasures ready?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. Instead, there are things I need you to do, sir. Of course, I’m not forcing you. You can decide as you wish.”
Jang Hyeong-cheol stared at In-hyuk with deeply sunken eyes. He had looked into In-hyuk ever since the investment in Raison Energy.
The son-in-law of the Tae Shin Group family, whose business abilities had seemed ambiguous. While at Taeshin Mulsan, he had shown decent work performance, but he had zero track record in investments.
When the Raison Energy investment succeeded, Jang had simply thought he was a lucky novice.
But the more they talked, the harder it became to read In-hyuk’s true intentions. Moreover, his actions seemed to look several moves ahead, enough to leave one speechless.
“Are you saying I have a choice? Somehow that sounds even more frightening.”
“I have no intention of using methods you would dislike, sir.”
“Exactly what method is it?”
“It’s….”
In-hyuk continued in an even quieter voice.
When the explanation ended, Jang Hyeong-cheol’s expression had grown even harder, and his eyes were wider than before.
“…Is that really possible?”
“I don’t say things that aren’t possi….”
Just as he was about to finish speaking, a man’s loud shout came from outside.
“Brother! Brother—! I was wrong!”
Recognizing the owner of that voice, Jang Hyeong-cheol frowned.
“An uninvited guest has come all the way here.”
“It must be CEO Han Jae-won. Did you tell him you’d be here?”
“Of course not. He must have searched places where I might be. Sorry for making this meeting uncomfortable for you.”
“I’m fine.”
“I’ll wrap this up quickly and come back.”
Jang Hyeong-cheol walked leisurely to the door. A middle-aged man whose white hair made him look well past sixty shoved aside a bodyguard’s arm and dropped to his knees.
“B-Brother!”
The man who shouted was Han Jae-won, who had been CEO of Cheolsan Capital until this morning.
Standing in the doorway, Jang Hyeong-cheol looked down at him with a thoroughly displeased expression.
“I believe my answer was made clear enough at today’s board meeting.”
“Embezzlement? That’s a misunderstanding!”
“Misunderstanding? What exactly is the misunderstanding? That you’re the real owner of the Myanmar paper company? Or that you framed me for the things you did behind my back and leaked the materials to the Busan Prosecutors’ Office?”
As he spoke, Han Jae-won’s face turned deathly pale.
At the board meeting, he had only been dismissed by majority vote based on circumstantial evidence of embezzlement.
Everything else had been carried out thoroughly through third parties, so he was shocked that Jang Hyeong-cheol knew the details.
“Th-That’s… You’re mistaken! Why would I stab you in the back? You know me better than anyone, don’t you? It’s me! I’m Han Jae-won, the one you’ve raised all this time!”
Until recently, Jang Hyeong-cheol had thought the same. He had trusted him as his right-hand man for life and had even entrusted him with Cheolsan Capital.
But betrayal returned that trust many times over, leaving a painful wound in his chest.
“Did you really think I knew nothing and created this situation? Well, you must have thought I was a toothless tiger and pulled those stunts.”
Han Jae-won could no longer continue speaking.
Seeing this, Jang Hyeong-cheol shook his head and said,
“Tsk—! To think I’d have to remind myself at this age that one shouldn’t keep black-haired beasts. And since the evidence of what you’ve done has probably reached the prosecutors by now, you’d better steel yourself.”
“Brother…!”
“I hope we have no more business to discuss.”
At Jang Hyeong-cheol’s signal, the bodyguard dragged Han Jae-won away with even greater force than before.
His shouts continued to echo down the restaurant hallway, but Jang Hyeong-cheol returned inside without a trace of lingering attachment and sat back down.
“Sorry for the noise.”
“Not at all. I was just thinking that Han Jae-won seems to have underestimated you quite a bit, sir.”
At In-hyuk’s enigmatic remark, Jang Hyeong-cheol grew curious about why he thought so.
“Did it seem that way?”
“Even in this situation, he judged that clinging to sentiment might let him escape. He’s probably still racking his brain right now.”
A low groan escaped Jang Hyeong-cheol’s lips.
“Hmm… You’re saying I acted too complacently.”
“There was no need to draw attention on purpose, but leaving loose ends with ambiguous handling could become a problem later.”
“What would you have done?”
“I would have made sure the prosecutors came for him the moment he left the company. Isn’t the Busan Prosecutors’ Office still looking for prey after the last incident? If you time it right and throw him to them, they’ll chew him up until not even bones remain.”
His voice was chillingly cold.
Hearing it, Jang Hyeong-cheol unconsciously swallowed.
“You… have a scarier side than I thought. But this wasn’t in the background I looked into before… Have you been hiding it all this time?”
The original In-hyuk had been nothing like this. Naturally, any side he showed would feel unfamiliar.
“There was no need to reveal it before.”
“But now there is.”
“Well, something like that.”
In-hyuk gave a short answer, took a sip of coffee, and continued.
“…For now, Han Jae-won has probably been abandoned by them as well. There won’t be much left in his hands.”
“Even after devouring more than 150 billion won? No matter how foolishly he acted, those people behind him wouldn’t have been easily deceived.”
“He must have used borrowed-name accounts to manage it without getting caught by you, sir. But if the real owner of those borrowed names exists, the funds inside become easy to seize. Of course, additional groundwork is required.”
“Oh…”
It was a borrowed-name fraud method whose principle was simple but required considerable preliminary work. It was proof that those who had used Han Jae-won had put real thought into it.
At the same time, it was a method In-hyuk had used in his previous life after taking control of the Chinese organization called the Blue Gold Room and swallowing up surrounding groups.
‘And the bastard who first suggested it was that damn son of a bitch.’
In-hyuk pictured the face of Baek Si-hwan, who was probably sitting right outside his office by now.