Chapter 139
Chapter 139
139.
Accidental Undercover Cider (2)
The orientation session ended after about 50 minutes. The new employees lined up to leave for the orientation that would start the next day.
Meanwhile, Park Gyu-joon, the General Affairs Department Head, who had come down from the platform, casually asked his subordinates.
"Are you sure the CEO isn't coming today?"
He was anxious even while explaining to the new employees, worried that Baek Shin-woo might suddenly show up.
In response, Kang Shin-bae, the Deputy Head of the General Affairs Department, handed him a bottle of water.
"At this point, isn't it safe to say he's not coming?"
"Hmph… that would be a relief. He's known for being elusive and dangerous."
The rumors started with KITE, which was originally a subsidiary of MH Tech. It was said that as soon as Baek Shin-woo took office as CEO, he completely overturned the existing system.
Of course, it was also widely rumored that KITE had greatly succeeded thanks to this, but this was not welcome at all in a company full of conservatives who wanted the old system.
"Frankly, even if he's great at investment, how well would he know about distribution?"
Park Gyu-joon smiled at Kang Shin-bae's flattering reply.
"Baesung Distribution was such a good property, that's why he grabbed it. If left alone, it'll run well on its own."
"Besides, it'll run even better than before when Department Head Park is promoted to executive."
Executive positions were not included in the employment succession. Therefore, there were currently no executives at MH Distribution, and there was much talk among the existing department heads about who would be promoted.
In particular, Park Gyu-joon, who had worked at Baesung Distribution for nearly 15 years, was one of the candidates for the executive position.
"Nothing's been decided yet, has it?"
The selection of executives was to be decided by Baek Shin-woo, the major shareholder and CEO of MH Distribution. Of course, the personnel documents for the department heads had already been submitted.
"Honestly, who else would be selected if not you, Department Head?"
"...Is that so? Hahahaha!"
Park Gyu-joon and Kang Shin-bae talked like that as they left the auditorium.
.
.
.
Shinwoo, who had left the auditorium earlier, slipped out of the crowd of new employees, swiped his employee card, and entered the company.
He strolled slowly down the hallway, carefully observing the office.
The walls dividing each department were half glass, allowing a clear view inside.
'Everyone's busy working.'
They were so focused that they didn't even notice an outsider (?) passing by.
He came down about four floors from the top, sat in the lounge for a while, and got a can of coffee from the vending machine.
Soon after, employees came in, taking their break time.
"I heard the Marketing Department Head is definitely getting the executive position this time. Have you guys heard?"
"Kim, honestly, isn't General Affairs Department Head Park more likely than the Marketing Department Head?"
Shinwoo pretended not to be interested, but his ears perked up.
"General Affairs Department Head Park has always had a lot of power. He was famous for doing all sorts of things since Bae Min-sun was CEO. There were even rumors that he was part of former Chairman Bae Sung-wook's line."
"Was that true?"
"He was originally a candidate for the next headquarters manager. Why else would that be?"
"Ah~!"
Other employees came in and started talking about the executive selection, just like the two earlier.
"Have you heard about Kim Jihyo, the new Marketing Team 2 Leader?"
"Team Leader? Honestly, is she really a team leader? There's a rumor that she was parachuted in, so the employees below her have been ignoring her from the start."
"I heard that she pushed out Park Geun-hoo, the section chief who was supposed to be appointed by Marketing Department Head Jeong Hae-soo."
"Ah, so that's why Section Chief Park got the short end of the stick?"
"They're all from Baesung, but someone from MH Retail rolled in, so it's understandable."
Many stories were being told.
As the number of people continued to increase, Shinwoo threw away his paper cup and started exploring the lower floors again.
Normally, he would have stood out as an outsider, but recently, MH Distribution had hired a large number of new employees, including experienced ones.
Thanks to the influx of new faces, Shinwoo was recognized as one of them.
In addition, there were no front-facing photos of Shinwoo publicly available. He had deliberately avoided having them taken, and after Wei was found, Jang Man-soo had taken steps to have Shinwoo's photos removed from articles about LEUCO going to Korea and several other countries.
The reason was simple. Although he hadn't revealed his face when he was active as UAD, he wanted to prevent any potential issues.
"There seem to be quite a few people counting their chickens before they hatch."
Shinwoo muttered quietly, looking around other offices one by one.
But then, a scream echoed from across the hallway.
"Hey! Who are you!"
It was Kim Jae-min, who had been spouting annoying nonsense when he saw Shinwoo in the auditorium earlier.
He was one of the few people who might recognize Shinwoo.
"……."
As Shinwoo stood silently, Kim Jae-min frowned deeply and walked right up to him.
"Who are you! How did you get into the company?!"
"I just walked in."
"That's not what I'm asking!"
Kim Jae-min's voice rose, and people from other offices poked their heads out into the hallway.
"I haven't done anything wrong."
"What do you mean, nothing? How did a new employee who hasn't even received their employee ID get in here? Do you want to get fired before the OT?!"
"Does the Deputy have the authority to fire new employees?"
"Is this guy crazy! Why haven't you changed at all from the old days? When are you going to stop acting so stiff? Don't you know what the problem is right now?"
One of the people watching the situation approached Kim Jae-min.
"Kim, what's going on?"
It was Kang Shin-bae, the Deputy Head of the General Affairs Department, who had been assisting Department Head Park Gyu-joon in the auditorium earlier.
"You came at the right time, Deputy Head Kang. This guy is a new employee, but he's inside the company."
"What? A new employee? Is that true?"
The current floor was where the General Affairs Department, Accounting Department, Finance Department, and Human Resources Department of MH Distribution were located.
Kang Shin-bae looked at Shinwoo with a bewildered expression.
"New employee! What's your name?"
"...My name is Baek Shin-woo. But I'm not a new employee."
Kang Shin-bae was startled because his name was the same as the CEO of MH Distribution, who was supposed to visit today. He had never seen the CEO's face either.
Moreover, he looked at him, thinking that Kim Jae-min wouldn't have done this for no reason.
"What? Not a new employee? Kim, you said he was a new employee?"
"He was in the auditorium during the OT briefing earlier."
Unable to understand the situation, Kang Shin-bae's gaze turned back to Shinwoo.
"If you're not a new employee, did you illegally trespass? Did you pretend to be an employee and come inside? Kim, call security right now!"
"Yes, sir!"
Kim Jae-min looked at Shinwoo as if he had been caught red-handed and took out his phone.
While the call was being made, Kang Shin-bae continued.
"Why did you come in here if you're not our employee? Are you a thief?"
"That's not it. And I am an employee here."
"You said you weren't earlier!"
"I said I wasn't a new employee."
The security guards from KITE, who had received the call from below, arrived in the hallway.
As they approached, Kang Shin-bae ignored Shinwoo's answer earlier and spoke as if giving an order.
"This person illegally trespassed into the company, so drag him out immediately."
Among the security guards was the person who had found Shinwoo in the lobby earlier.
At the same time, another person recognized Shinwoo's face.
"...Excuse me?"
"Didn't you understand what I said? Drag him out right now!!"
"No, that's……."
The security guards looked embarrassed.
Kang Shin-bae thought it was strange and then noticed the employee ID card hanging around Shinwoo's neck.
"Huh, what's this? Did you even forge an employee ID to get in here? This bastard! You're not a first-timer, are you?!"
Kang Shin-bae took the employee ID card off Shinwoo's neck and took it away.
Kim Jae-min, who was watching the situation from the side, muttered, genuinely thinking it was poetic justice.
"That guy is my high school junior, and he was like that in the old days too. He never listens to what people say and always does whatever he wants."
"What? High school junior?"
The murmurs of the people who had gathered around grew louder.
Kang Shin-bae looked at Shinwoo with a displeased expression and then turned his gaze to the employee ID card he had just taken.
"...MH Future Security? ...CEO?"
The exact contents written on the employee ID card were.
【MH Future Security】
【Ceo Baek Shin-woo】
Kang Shin-bae blinked, thinking he had seen something wrong, and looked again.
"Why is this……?"
Shinwoo sighed deeply and looked at Kang Shin-bae.
"I'm not a new employee, and I'm Baek Shin-woo, who will also be serving as the CEO of MH Distribution this time. If you don't trust that employee ID card, ask the KITE employees next to you."
"...He's definitely CEO Baek Shin-woo."
The answer came out before Kang Shin-bae could even look.
"...Is that true?"
"Then would it be fake? I hate making a fuss, so I was just going to look around quietly and leave, but someone drew attention."
Shinwoo looked at Kim Jae-min with a frustrated look.
Until that moment, Kim Jae-min couldn't believe whether what he was seeing and hearing was real.
"Y-you're… the CEO?"
Kim Jae-min also knew that the CEO of MH Future Security and MH Distribution was named Baek Shin-woo.
But he thought that it was just a person with the same name as the Baek Shin-woo he knew. That's because, in Kim Jae-min's memory, Baek Shin-woo was from an orphanage, had an unnecessarily high sense of pride, and was a loser who went to the military as a non-commissioned officer because of financial difficulties.
"Why? Do you think I forged it or something?"
Now Shinwoo's words were also short.
"N-no way."
"Looking at you now, I vaguely remember who you are. You're the guy who used to brag about being good at fighting in school. You're the guy who tried to extort money from me and got beaten up, right? You got two of your molars knocked out back then."
At that time, Kim Jae-min's story was heard among the murmuring voices.
"Isn't that the story about Kim Jae-min fighting five people alone in high school and having his molars knocked out?"
Shinwoo couldn't help but laugh at those words.
"Pfft—! You even embellished it by saying you fought 5 against 1? That's too much."
Kim Jae-min shut his mouth tightly.
Shinwoo looked back at Kang Shin-bae.
"You're Deputy Head Kang Shin-bae?"
"Yes? Ah, yes! I'm Kang Shin-bae, Deputy Head of the General Affairs Department!"
Kang Shin-bae was so surprised that he answered as if giving his rank and name in the military.
"It's noisy, so lower your voice a little. And as I said earlier, I was just going to watch quietly and leave, but looking at the situation, I don't think I can do that."
"Then what are you going to do……."
Kang Shin-bae and the employees around him sensed something ominous.
"Limited time, 10 minutes. All department heads and above from MH Distribution headquarters, gather in the auditorium on the first floor."
"...Right now?"
"Then would I be talking about tomorrow?"
Kang Shin-bae swallowed hard at Shinwoo's sharp question.
For a moment, no one could move.
"Move quickly!"
At Shinwoo's shout, which rang out once again, the people scattered in all directions. Meanwhile, Shinwoo called Jang Jin-ho, who was waiting outside.
[I'm on the phone. CEO.]
"I'll be in the auditorium on the first floor, so come in."
[…Yes? Weren't you just going to look around quietly?]
"Something a little annoying happened."
[Understood.]
Shinwoo ended the call and went down to the auditorium first.
Soon after, Jang Jin-ho and the bodyguards arrived.
"CEO… what happened?"
"I got caught while wandering around. But something a little annoying happened."
"...Annoying? Did someone pick a fight with you, CEO?"
"If you call it a fight, then it's a fight."
Jang Jin-ho was even more surprised to hear those words.
"What crazy bastard… why did they do that?"
"Who's picking a fight with Shinwoo? Should I kill them?"
The last answer was given by Meian.
"You be quiet."
"Why are you only picking on me?!"
"Because it's you."
"Tch—!"
Meanwhile, employees above the level of department head from each department entered through the open conference room door.
Shinwoo, who was sitting in the front, looked at them and said.
"Those who came first, don't stand, fill in the front row first."
After hesitating for a moment, they began to take their seats as he said.
In an unusual atmosphere, people whispered to each other in groups of three or five, front, back, and side.
"Secretary Jang. Find the Human Resources Department staff and check if all the department heads and above from each department have gathered."
"I will do so."
Jang Jin-ho moved immediately.
After some time, Jang Jin-ho, who had finished checking the number of people, returned.
"Everyone has gathered."
"Is that so?"
Shinwoo got up from his seat and went up to the platform in front of the auditorium.