This Is Another Procedure, Mr. Chairman
“Um... that’s...”
The journalist, who had been so confident just moments ago, sputtered and stumbled over his words.
“They hand out freebies to their own when they’re filling their own bowls, but when it comes to deciding someone else’s, they wield strict yardsticks? I can’t accept this double standard. That’s exactly why I resigned. Legally, logically, procedurally.”
As soon as I finished, the reporter froze, lips moving without sound.
“So then, how do you plan to handle the new director appointment process?!”
A different reporter in the back shouted urgently.
I loosened my tie at my leisure and answered.
“I’ll interview him myself before the new director takes over. It’ll be far more fair than this rotten tradition. That’s it, press conference over.”
The click-clack of shutters erupted wildly behind me as I walked away from the podium.
[Interview wasn’t conducted, but the chairman’s crazy logic is dismantling the football world!]
Crazy logic?
You’re talking about procedure when selecting a director?
I’m the one who raised the issue with Director Jeon, so is that wrong?
Anyone who hears this would think I’m completely out of my mind.
It wasn’t wrong.
***
After successfully wrapping up the press conference, I returned to the chairman’s office and plopped down in the leather chair.
On one corner of the desk lay the final approval document for Jeon Gang-wi as the new director candidate.
“Let’s see… I like a good director…”
I tapped the contact number for another K League director with an outstanding career into my smartphone.
Procedure? This is ridiculous.
You want to interview someone with actual skill and then hire them through procedure?
Fuck off.
Drrrrr– drrrr– drrrr–
The tone rang a few times, and a deep, brusque voice came through.
“Hello?”
“Hello? I’m the chairman.”
“Eh? Who is this?”
The other party had called me, but the moment the call started, the atmosphere twisted strangely.
“Uh, I’m the chairman.”
“Hello?”
“Hello? Is this Director Kim?”
“What’s the matter that you’re calling me right now?”
“Um– I’m the chairman, and whose name do you have? Who is taking the call right now.”
“Yes, yes.”
“What’s your name?”
“Haa… why are you calling?”
“You ask for the name and won’t say it. You’re telling me you don’t hear that I’m the chairman?”
“But why are you calling me now? You’re calling me on my cellphone.”
“Yeah, I called Director Kim. But you wouldn’t answer when I asked your name.”
“Actually, I was in training. Calling out of the blue like that isn’t right.”
“No, tell me the name of the person who answered the phone first.”
I let out a fake laugh.
This asshole doesn’t even recognize me as chairman?
“Director Kim? You mean the chairman? …?”
“Yes. I’m the chairman, right? How many times do I have to say I’m the chairman? Are you not using the full title?”
“Ah, Director Kim! It’s Director Kim! Oh my god!”
I’m pissed.
You’re irritated at the chairman?
“So you are Director Kim?”
“Yes!!! No, Chairman! Is that you? Is this a prank call?!”
A noisy sound came from the other end of the line.
I laughed and leaned back in the chair.
“Prank…?”
“What kind of chairman calls like this! I don’t know how you got this number, but stop it! I’m already dealing with the team because of grades, why are you doing this? I’m a person too! You seem like a club fan, but we’re all working hard, so please understand! Don’t record and create drama again, for real.”
The response was refreshing.
I clicked my tongue.
“You lack talent. You’re out effective immediately. Hang up.”
“No, what are you talking about? Hello? Hello?!”
Click.
I tossed my phone away and chuckled to myself.
Fuck, really.
I had my eye on some Korean directors with Korean pride to bring over, but they won’t even use their full titles.
The other party must have thought I was calling from a random number, since they didn’t recognize my voice as the chairman’s. But they should have bowed low from the start.
It seemed Director Kim received a lot of prank calls, but what could you do.
The hungry one wasn’t me.
***
How much time had passed?
After roughly shoving aside the mountain of documents, I zoned out, and the window outside had already grown dark.
Tap-tap-tap–
Familiar shoe sounds approached the silent chairman’s office.
“Chairman. I’ve finished preparing to go home.”
A secretary in a crisp office suit, holding a tablet, stood before me.
I stretched my arms wide and stood up.
“Have all the employees left?”
“Yes. All personnel on this floor, except the on-duty staff, have gone home.”
I glanced outside through the open door.
It was deathly quiet.
I casually walked over, stood right behind her, and gave her firm ass a sharp smack.
“Ah!”
The secretary jumped and shot me a glare.
I ignored it and casually tugged at my pants belt, smiling slyly.
“Secretary. Want a quick round?”
Before I could finish, she pounced, covering my mouth with her hand.
“Are you insane?! Just shut up already!”
Her voice was hushed and urgent.
I grabbed her wrist and yanked her close.
“Huh, a mere secretary talking back to the chairman?”
At my playful rebuke, she wriggled, bit her lip, and hissed.
“Chairman. I’m saying this for your own good. Please maintain your dignity.”
Her eyes burned with rage.
I grinned at her stern expression and pressed my face close to her ear.
“Maintaining dignity? Quick round on the bed today?”
Her earlobe flushed red from my whisper.
Actually, she and I had been close friends for a long time.
Back when I was a student and studying for overseas soccer scholarship through top tutoring, she had traveled here and we met by chance.
Our conversation flowed naturally as Koreans in a foreign land, and our personalities matched perfectly, so after adulthood our lines blurred quickly. After returning to Korea, we had kept a secret, sticky relationship all this time.
My status as a chaebol scion footballer was known only after I started playing, so up until then everything about my family and me had been kept secret. She hadn’t approached me because she knew my background.
Her original job was deputy head of HR at a reputable conglomerate.
But when I got the chairmanship of the Korea Football Association, she quit the company entirely and transferred here.
Think about it.
Everywhere around me were corrupt old men and rotten association executives circling my neck.
How could I trust a secretary assigned by the association?
These snakes who didn’t know when they’d leak my schedule, meetings, or approval documents to the press.
That’s why I bent her.
She was excellent at HR, administration, and had the tightest physical bond with me of anyone. She trusted me and transferred to become the head of the association’s secretary room, full of this rotten water.
Moreover, she came from a big company.
From her perspective, the conditions weren’t bad at all.
I didn’t know the full details, but I was the youngest son of a chaebol, so…
Hiring a reliable shield to protect my turf wasn’t outside my discretion as a legal hiring authority?
“Haa… I’ve ordered the car. Please finish quickly.”
She straightened up, pretending to hide her flushed face.
I enjoyed the sway of her hips and the view as I slipped on my jacket.
I wanted to go home with my secretary for that thrilling procedure, but there were too many eyes.
For now I had to hold back.
***
Korea Football Association Chairman’s Office.
“Fuck, my head hurts.”
The reality before my eyes was quite troublesome.
After I personally dismantled Jeon Gang-wi, the entire real-world task of selecting the new national team director fell to me.
The problem was which director to choose.
“Chairman. Morning briefing.”
My secretary entered with a tablet, her voice crisp.
A career woman in a sharp suit.
I wanted to give her a quick round right then, but I wasn’t a man who blurred work and pleasure.
Actually, it was true.
Uhehe.
Still, I had to do what needed doing.
“So, how’s the situation?”
She let out a short sigh.
“Due to the press conference fallout, media and public opinion are in chaos. While articles criticizing the dictatorship for ignoring procedure flooded in, netizens split between calling it a real purging of the rotten old water and praising the move.”
“Leave it. Once I bring in the director I want, the pot netizens will lick the soles of my shoes and say ‘Look what the chairman did for us!’ no matter what they said before.”
“But the problem is how to bring in that director. The moment the rumor that Jeon Gang-wi was dismantled spread, agents from around the world started emailing their resumes directly. Look at this.”
She placed the tablet on my desk.
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