Chapter 145
Chapter 145
Episode 145. Scathing Pruning (3)
Shinwoo, after parting with Joo Ho-yeon, arrived at the floor where the Finance Department, Accounting Department, and Audit Department were located.
“You’ve arrived. Representative.”
Park Gyu-joon, the Head of General Affairs, who had been informed by the staff, rushed out immediately.
“I was on my way to see Director Park. You came out on your own.”
“Huh? Me… you mean me?”
Already, over a dozen people had been implicated in embezzlement, breach of trust, bribery, and more, and had been taken in. The prosecution’s investigation was ongoing, and it was unclear how many more employees would be involved.
For this reason, Shinwoo was even being called a Grim Reaper within MH Distribution.
“My office is still under construction, so let’s go to your office, Director.”
“Ah, understood.”
Shinwoo led everyone into Director Park Gyu-joon’s office.
Park Gyu-joon, giving up the central seat to Shinwoo, sat in the diagonally adjacent one.
“What would you like to drink? We have coffee and tea.”
“That’s fine. And I’d like to speak with you alone, so please have everyone leave.”
With that, Jang Jin-ho, Meian, and the General Affairs staff who had followed Park Gyu-joon all left, and the door closed.
For a moment, silence filled the office.
Unsure of what Shinwoo would say, Park Gyu-joon kept swallowing.
“How is the General Affairs Department these days? With the onboarding of both experienced hires and new employees mostly wrapped up, you must have some breathing room.”
The General Affairs Department is a type of management support division. Since HR, Accounting, and Finance are separate departments within MH Distribution, it handles all other miscellaneous tasks.
In terms of actual influence within the company, it was a department that struggled to hold significant power.
However, Park Gyu-joon, despite heading such a department, was considered a strong candidate for executive selection.
“Well… whenever another department needs something, we end up providing support.”
“You’ve been the Head of General Affairs for quite a long time. Weren’t you interested in other roles?”
Park Gyu-joon started as a new employee in the sales department of Baesung Corporation, then moved to Baesung Distribution, went through the HR department, and eventually became Head of General Affairs.
That alone was a span of 27 years… and he had been stagnant as Head of General Affairs for 7 of those years.
“There were many tedious moments, but… I feel it’s my calling, in a way.”
Shinwoo nodded as he listened to his words.
“Well, I suppose that’s possible.”
“…So, what is the reason for your sudden visit today? If you’ve come in person, it seems you have something important to discuss.”
Park Gyu-joon, who had been increasingly anxious, could no longer hold back and asked about the purpose.
“Once the prosecution’s investigation and the accounting audit are complete, we plan to carry out an organizational restructuring. So, while considering the plans, the General Affairs Department seemed a bit ambiguous.”
“…Indeed, our General Affairs Department’s work is a bit ambiguous. That’s why in other companies, it’s either under the Human Resources Management Division or included in HR and General Affairs.”
Previously, Baesung Distribution had maintained the General Affairs Department rather than following more recent trends.
“You understand well.”
“…So, are you planning to merge the General Affairs Department with the HR Department?”
“We are considering it. For now, the current Head of General Affairs’ opinion is also important.”
What could be his intention in asking that? From that moment on, Park Gyu-joon began to rack his brain.
“If we were to merge the departments immediately, I believe the biggest issue would be the departmental hierarchy. Looking at the department heads alone, there’s Director Nam Eunseok of HR and myself. Who among us would become the department head is also a question.”
Shinwoo smiled upon hearing that.
“Director Nam Eunseok of HR also started with Baesung Cement and has been working there for nearly 30 years.”
“…You know that too?”
“Director Park Gyu-joon started as a sales representative for Baesung Corporation and has been here for 27 years. You’ve truly worked for a long time.”
With this explanation, Park Gyu-joon became even more cautious. It meant Shinwoo had a good grasp of their situations.
“I didn’t expect you to take such an interest in us.”
“They are my company’s employees, so of course, I must take an interest.”
“…So, what do you intend to do, Representative? You and Director Nam Eunseok… to be frank, one of us will become the head of the merged department, and the other will be appointed as an executive, won’t you?”
It wasn’t entirely accurate, but he had grasped part of Shinwoo’s intention.
“For now, I believe that’s the only way.”
“Then, can you tell me who you are considering for the executive position?”
Shinwoo stretched his lips into a long smile.
“We are still considering various aspects. But… you were also using quite a lot of supplies delivered by OZ Office in the General Affairs Department, weren’t you?”
Park Gyu-joon’s expression stiffened as the topic suddenly shifted.
“…That’s true. OZ Office was the exclusive supplier of our supplies. But who would have known that the beneficial owner was the cousin of Director Oh Daeyeong? Honestly, I was shocked when I learned about the situation back then.”
“It’s understandable that you were shocked. A colleague in the next office was working behind your back.”
“It’s truly a major issue. It caused quite a stir, but I believe what you did was the right thing, Representative.”
Park Gyu-joon flattered Shinwoo as much as possible.
Of course, Shinwoo knew well why he was speaking that way.
“I intend to do even better. In that process, we found a person named Lee Gyeongsul, a deputy who recently resigned from OZ Office.”
At that moment, Park Gyu-joon’s expression hardened.
“…Who is Deputy Lee Gyeongsul?”
“You don’t know? He was apparently a sales representative who brought supplies whenever the General Affairs Department urgently needed them.”
“Ah—Deputy Lee? Everyone just called him Deputy Lee, so I didn’t recall his name. I know that Deputy Lee Gyeongsul. As you said, I requested additional supplies during orientations and various other situations.”
The slightly relaxed atmosphere began to turn strange.
“Deputy Lee Gyeongsul said something peculiar. That a portion of the payment for supplies requested by Baesung Distribution… was returned to the General Affairs Department.”
“Are you saying someone in our General Affairs Department received a rebate? But the employees involved in that matter have all been placed on administrative leave by you, Representative.”
At first, Shinwoo thought it ended there.
However, upon examining OZ Office’s ledgers, he discovered a significant discrepancy in the amounts, and the point where it stopped precisely coincided with Deputy Lee Gyeongsul’s resignation from OZ Office.
“They weren’t the only ones.”
“…So, if Deputy Lee Gyeongsul really passed on the rebate funds to someone in the General Affairs Department… who was it?”
Shinwoo leaned back deeply on the sofa.
“He’s right in front of my eyes. That person.”
“Me?! The requests for supplies are made by the junior staff. I am merely the one who approves them.”
It wasn’t an untrue statement.
However, the period during which someone from the General Affairs Department had been siphoning funds from OZ Office began even before Deputy Lee Gyeongsul joined.
“Corporate card.”
“……!”
“That card was issued under the General Affairs Department’s name, so anyone with usage rights can use it. There are records of the General Affairs Department’s corporate card being used regularly at OZ Office. But when I cross-referenced it with the schedule, there were traces of its use even on days when nothing was scheduled.”
Only then did Park Gyu-joon realize why Shinwoo had come to see him in person.
“Did you come here with this intention from the start?”
“Another straw in the place where a straw was already inserted. What is this, a couple’s straw?”
“…….”
“As I mentioned before, I intend to purge all the Baesung filth remaining in MH Distribution. And Director Park, you were one of them.”
“Representative Baek Shin-woo—!”
At that moment, Park Gyu-joon called out to Shinwoo with all his might, then got off the sofa and knelt on the floor.
Shinwoo was momentarily speechless at the sight.
“What are you doing?”
“I, I promise it won’t happen again! So please, this time…!”
Just moments ago, Park Gyu-joon had underestimated Shinwoo. He had thought that his act of inserting another straw into OZ Office would never be discovered.
Of course, he felt even more secure after resolving the issue with Lee Gyeongsul, who had been used as a straw, immediately after Baesung Corporation’s complete collapse.
“Are you asking me to overlook what is about to happen?”
“If you spare me just this once! I will be loyal to you, Representative!”
His voice was so loud that people in the outside office began to murmur.
In response, Shinwoo stood up and raised the blinds on the window so they couldn’t be seen from outside.
“It’s good to bend when necessary. It’s not bad to clean things up before they change to MH Distribution.”
“That’s right. If I had been greedy, I wouldn’t have stopped at just that, like Director Oh Daeyeong. But that’s not the case. If you let me off this time, I will do whatever you say, Representative, and follow your orders.”
Shinwoo stared intently at Park Gyu-joon, who continued to bow his head and cry out.
“Then why did you meet with Managing Director Kang Won-sook of MH Group Headquarters?”
“…What?”
“I will decide what to do with Director Park after hearing the reason. And it’s an unpleasant sight, so please sit up properly.”
Shinwoo, who had been standing for a moment, sat down on the sofa with him.
“Well, that’s……”
Park Gyu-joon’s eyes darted around rapidly.
“It can’t be helped. Of course, I already know the reason even if you don’t say it. It must have been a condition for you to be promoted to executive, in exchange for something. And afterwards, to keep me, the Representative, in check.”
“…….”
The ones Shinwoo had marked beforehand were not Park Gyu-joon but the executives of MH Group Headquarters. He had investigated them because they had been bothersome before, and Managing Director Kang Won-sook had caught Park Gyu-joon.
“The measures will proceed like with the others. Thank you for your service.”
Shinwoo walked out with a quiet yet heavy response.
Afterward, Park Gyu-joon gritted his teeth and then let out a scream that shook the office.
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.
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MH Group Headquarters.
Managing Director Kang Won-sook urgently knocked on President Myung In-chul’s office door. The atmosphere alone suggested something was amiss, and Myung In-chul’s brow furrowed.
Kang Won-sook then carefully closed the door and approached him.
“President! Director Park Gyu-joon of MH Distribution and the other employees we had on standby have all been caught.”
“…All of them?”
“It seems they were caught by the tail somewhere.”
Myung In-chul’s expression could only worsen.
“Could it be… Baek Shin-woo knows everything?”
“According to Director Park Gyu-joon, he even knows about my meeting with you.”
“From where, and in what way, was he monitoring us?”
For a moment, he felt a chill run down his spine.
“I don’t know. We were being as careful as possible…”
“Was there any tailing?”
“You know that well, since I was accompanied by your bodyguards.”
The people lent to her were members of 666 Unit under Park Sang-gyu. They were skilled in intelligence, so if there had been any tailing, they would have noticed.
“What do we do now?”
“Are there any remaining threads?”
“Only lower-level employees whose usefulness is difficult to ascertain immediately.”
Myung In-chul let out a long sigh.
“If it stays this way, MH Distribution will fall into Baek Shin-woo’s hands without any issues.”
“MH Distribution’s current operating profit margin has dropped to minus 2%. Putting aside the prosecution’s investigation, if they cannot fill the financial hole revealed by the accounting audit, a negative opinion is inevitable.”
A negative opinion indicates overall problems in a company’s financial statements.
For a company, it proves that its management status is precarious, making it difficult to secure investment from other companies or corporate loans from banks.
“If that’s the case, does it mean MH Distribution could collapse entirely?”
“Honestly, wouldn’t it? Representative Baek is already taking absurd risks. He may appear clean image-wise, but he isn’t thinking about the aftermath.”
Myung In-chul let out a hollow laugh.
“Managing Director Kang, don’t you still know Baek Shin-woo?”
“Do you mean Representative Baek has prepared a way to save it? But he can’t boost sales immediately, and in the current state, given the nature of the distribution industry, it’s impossible to raise the operating profit margin by more than 10%.”
“What if there are other methods?”
“If you’re referring to MH Future Security, we’ve already spent over 1 trillion won on acquiring Baesung Distribution. Investing more funds would be like pouring water into a bottomless pit, so it would be problematic.”
Myung In-chul’s head began to ache. At the same time, he didn’t believe Baek Shin-woo would have created the current situation without any defenses.
“For now, let’s put that discussion aside for a moment. Regardless of how the situation unfolds, if it collapses on its own, it will be good for us. If not, then we will see the extent of Baek Shin-woo’s capabilities.”
With Myung In-chul’s sharpened response, Kang Won-sook could say no more.