A New Beginning (8)
"You don't seem to be doing it much lately."
"Yeah. I don't have the time. I'm sorry. ...No, wait, why am I apologizing for this?"
"It is something to apologize for. How important is the relationship between a married couple... Oh, right, you're divorced. ...Tsk."
He no longer had time to drink coffee in the morning. Or, to be precise, that time he used to spend staring blankly out the veranda window while sipping coffee had vanished. As a Senior Managing Director, he didn't just have to handle the affairs of his own Support Division; from the moment he got home until he woke up the next morning, he had to focus on reading the reports, proposals, experimental results, considerations, and meeting minutes uploaded by Jeonghyeon and the other founding members of GPL.
"Just how much work do you have?"
"That gasoline... we've decided to do it again."
"I know. I'm interested in it now, too. ...But still,"
Jia seemed to know because she kept up with the news. He had even seen several books on the table that explained GPL and GI-X100 quite well, and whenever she was bored, she seemed to read them, trying to understand what he was doing. ...It was a happy thing.
"But you're not the only one doing all that work, are you?"
"I have my own job to do, and I have to manage GPL, too. That's why I don't have any time."
"...."
Jia pouted, her lips curling in a sulk as she slumped down next to him, but she soon focused on the screen and the documents until he closed his laptop, trying to look into the details. He doubted she could really understand it, but the fact that she was trying was a happy thing for him.
'Isn't that just playing company with a bunch of kids?'
'See, I knew you'd fail.'
Compared to the Seo Jia of the past, who would spout off without knowing anything, this was certainly an improvement.
He closed his laptop and stood up, saying he had to go to work. She quickly grabbed the briefcase sitting by the sofa and handed it to him, saying, "Come home early. ...And don't bring Eunbyul with you."
"That's not really up to me..."
"Do it anyway. Or I'll just cry my eyes out..."
She was cute, too. So he said, "Alright, I get it, so please loosen your grip on my hand so I don't be late..."
His phone rang.
"Yes, Hyung, I'm on my way now. What happened?"
"Just come here first and let's talk."
After taking the call, he stood in front of Jia with his eyes wide open, rushed out of the house, and ran to where his car was parked. He waved off the driver who was bowing to him and shouted, "To Boseong University Hospital, quickly, hurry!"
"...? Ah, yes! Understood!"
Upon arriving at the hospital, he told the driver to park and wait in the first-floor lobby. As he slipped into the hospital, he had been checking the internet news since he turned the car around to see if the accident had been reported. Depending on the severity of the situation, he might have to report it to the Chairman immediately.
"Oh, Suhyun. You're here?"
"Yes... what happened? No, an explosion, what..."
"Hey, Suhyun is here, so let's all go in."
Five or six people were gathered in a crowd in front of an emergency room. Yoo Jieun and Park Jihoon had not yet arrived. It was 8:30 AM, the time when traffic was at its worst. He wondered if they were managing to take the subway in their panic, but that thought was fleeting; Jeonghyeon silently led the people into the lounge and sat them down.
"What happened? Hyung, you have to tell me quickly..."
"I know. First..."
Jeong Ayeong was not dead, they said. That was a relief. And when he heard that she hadn't had her hands or feet severed or suffered injuries from the explosion itself, but was just undergoing surgery for bleeding from bruises and the like, he nodded and let out a deep sigh of relief.
"What is the cause of the accident?"
"We'll have to investigate further, but... the fuel tank was between the trunk and the back seat, and that's where the explosion occurred," said Eunchan.
Fortunately, Eunchan lived in the same apartment complex as Ayeong—Building 3206, while Ayeong lived in 3211—so he had heard the explosion in the underground parking lot and arrived just in time.
"I was starting my car to go to work, and when I heard a bang, I drove a bit toward the exit."
"Yeah."
"Then I saw the car on fire... it started burning from the trunk side, and thinking I had to save whoever was inside, I opened the driver's side door and found Ayeong collapsed there. She was bleeding quite a bit, so I called 119..."
It could have been a disaster. If she had fainted to the point of being completely unconscious... if Eunchan had left for work even five minutes earlier, Ayeong's life might have been in danger.
"I thought there might be additional explosions, so I laid Ayeong down in the back seat and then took pictures near the car. Look here."
Eunchan held out his phone and showed the screen. Everyone's eyes turned toward it. It seemed he had intended to show everyone and talk once they had all arrived. On the screen, the car's hood and headlights were perfectly fine, without a scratch. However, behind that, from between the two doors, the flames were spreading intensely, and looking at the thick smoke rising above—
"Looking at this, it's true that it exploded from the fuel tank. I used to drive this car before I sold it to Ayeong."
The white subcompact sedan was one that Jeongmin, who was the same age as him, had bought when he was in his senior year of college and then sold to Ayeong as a used car. Jeongmin, who was very interested in cars, knew the structure inside and out, and said, "...An investigation will be necessary."
"Right. We need to recover the vehicle..."
"How was the fire handled?"
"Eunchan called the fire department and put it out. The car next to it was a bit damaged, but we can cover that with our reserve funds."
"We have reserve funds...?"
Jeonghyeon wanted to say, 'You're the one who gives it to us, every month!', and he recalled the old days he had briefly forgotten. He remembered approving a document to pay the department they were in 10 million won per person every month as business processing expenses, thinking he should at least give them some reserve funds to comfort them. To think they had been saving it up until now.
"We didn't save all of it. You see... Jihoon bought a shortening refining device, so a lot of it was spent."
"...Still, that's a large sum of money."
It was about 180 million won. This would be enough to cover the compensation without any problems. Well, he could get help from his father if he asked, but he wanted to solve it on his own.
Around that time, seeing Park Jihoon and Yoo Jieun pacing in front of the emergency room at almost the same time, Myeongho went out and brought them in. Repeating what had already been said, "Reserve funds... I see. I'll have to contact the car owner first. For compensation negotiations, etc... Should I ask the legal department? Is that okay? Suhyun."
"Yeah. That much is fine."
Jieun said, "First, we have to recover the car. I need to pull out the fuel tank and check it. Minsu, can you do it?"
"Yes. I have the one we bought last time. I'll proceed with the sample collection immediately."
However, he said that since this was an accident, it would have to go through a police investigation. But as he said that, he thought. If this enters a police investigation, what's inside will come out, and then Ayeong could be punished according to the relevant laws.
"Did you report the chemical accident?"
"That was... well, the 119 team..."
"...You didn't."
This is a disaster.
At that time, Eunbyul was waiting for him as he hadn't shown up long after his start time, and when the minute hand of the clock passed 30 minutes, she called him to ask where he was.
"...No, an accident happened. ...Anyway, that's what happened. I think I need to handle this."
"Are you an idiot?"
Suddenly? "Why."
"No, with all the manpower at Doowon, you can't handle one thing like that? How is that... that employee doing now?"
"She's hospitalized. I've secured a special room for her..."
"Oh, give me a break. Just wait. A Managing Director who can't even use his own company."
Eunbyul, who had hung up the phone without a second thought, rummaged through her clothes, took out the business card she had received yesterday, and dialed 003250.
"Line separated. Please enter the extension number you wish to connect to. For Executive Director Kim Seonghwan, press 1. For Managing Director Park Seongjin, press 2—"
After pressing the button, when a woman's voice was heard at the end of the signal, Eunbyul abruptly said, "Legal Department Ju Arin..."
"Lawyer, I'm the Managing Director's secretary. An accident has occurred, so please handle it."
"...?"
"It's a chemical accident, and an unauthorized substance was fueled into a vehicle, causing an explosion in an underground parking lot."
"...Secretary, I'm in the International Finance and Tax Division, so a fire accident is..."
"Please do it quickly."
The lawyer from yesterday, who had been staring at the receiver with a 'What the hell, what is this?' expression, said, "...How would you like me to handle it?"
"Prevent the police from investigating and stop it from leaking to the media. Ah, I'll request that from the External Cooperation Department. And please calculate the compensation for the victims. You can keep the prosecutors in check, right?"
After speaking recklessly and hanging up without even waiting for an answer, Eunbyul ignored all etiquette and procedures, dialed 002000, and—
"Yes, Managing Director! This is the External Affairs Manager..."
"This is the Managing Director's secretary, Eunbyul. An accident occurred at the 15th-floor Alternative Energy Development Group. It's at the underground parking lot of Lian City Hills in Cheonho-dong, Gangdong-gu, so block all reporter reports."
She was a crazy woman.