Because the Ocean Was Getting Dirty
"Director, this is enough. The Coast Guard and more support are on their way."
"This... is enough?"
He sat on the tugboat, watching the vessel being towed. By positioning the oil tanker that had run aground with a push boat and having several tugboats pull it forward, they had managed to stabilize the situation. As he watched the trails left by the ships on the water slowly turn black, he realized this was by no means a minor accident. Yet, they were calling this "enough."
"We aren't professional rescue personnel anyway. Providing supplies and actually coming here to help a little is more than enough."
"You want me to... act?"
"It's not so much acting as it is realizing that our presence doesn't provide any extra merit."
Eunbyul, also staring blankly at the path they had traveled across the sea, spoke up.
"We won't be able to recover all that oil. And the shipping company isn't going to pay us for helping out. It’s basically volunteer work."
"..."
"We provided the necessary ships during the dawn, laid out oil fences to prevent environmental pollution, and relayed the on-site situation via communication. I think we’ve done more than enough."
He nodded slowly. What did he know about ships? Even if a person fell into the sea, it was hard to rescue them, let alone manage a disaster of this scale. With that thought, he slowly returned to Incheon Port. And as soon as he arrived...
Click, click-
"Director Han, an interview, please...!"
"Is there a special reason you went out there?"
"..."
Eunbyul, as if she had been a secretary for years, blocked her chest with one arm and cleared a path with the other, allowing him to pass through. His clothes were covered in dirt, especially the hems of his trousers, and the heavy industry employees following behind him had oil-stained diving suits that shimmered with rainbow-colored slicks.
A conglomerate heir had jumped into the sea to save a ship that wasn't even his company's, and his employees had followed him, departing at midnight to salvage a grounded oil tanker. With news like this, the reporters couldn't possibly sleep. It wasn't that they had been paid by Doowon; this was the scoop of the century.
He stopped and said, "We will provide a press release later. For now, I just want to go home."
"But just one word—"
"..."
Eunbyul cleared the path, then turned back to signal him and the other employees. The staff stopped for a moment and let out a deep sigh. Their faces were etched with exhaustion. Then, he spoke.
"The reason..."
"..."
"Because the ocean was getting dirty. That’s why I went out."
From the morning news that day until nightfall, the words he had spoken were featured as the lead story on every major broadcasting network.
"As for the clothes, you can just change at my place..."
"Aren't your dorms in Geoje Island right now?"
"Ah. That's right."
"You can take the company helicopter when you leave work later. I’ve already requested it."
"Ah, thank you."
He gave a bitter smile. "Don't mention it. I'm the one who should be thanking you. I made you do work that doesn't even pay."
"Still..."
For a late breakfast-slash-lunch, he and a dozen employees went to a nearby restaurant and ordered spicy seafood stew. As the employees were walking on eggshells around him, he told them it was fine, and three bottles of green soju were immediately placed on the table. When he told them he would buy them each a new suit before they left on the helicopter later, a diver in his 40s put down his spoon and spoke.
"Honestly, we thought you called us out just to get the spotlight, Director."
"..."
"So we were like, 'Ah, damn it, he's calling us out in the middle of the night, how annoying.' But..."
However, after they saw him on the deck, shouting and doing all sorts of manual labor, their opinions changed. People like him usually stayed in the background, leaving the staff to do all the work, only to take a few photos and give a long interview at the end before going home. But he was different.
"The water is freezing, what the hell is this...!"
"Are you alright!"
Even after being drenched by waves mixed with crude oil, he insisted he had to keep working. He was helped up, only to start shouting orders and making requests again. That was how they spent their time. Seeing that, the other employees felt moved and stepped up, using their own experience to help with the rescue. That was how they achieved such great results, allowing the government officials to investigate the accident at Incheon Port — and preventing further oil leakage into the sea.
"'Because the ocean was getting dirty.' It was a bit unexpected. Hahaha..."
"It's embarrassing, really... ...If it gets dirty, we can't eat seafood like this, right?"
"Yes! That's right, Director!"
That was how he, Eunbyul, and the support staff spent the day. Everyone except the two of them had bought brand-new suits for the first time in 10 to 20 years. He called his driver in advance to have several cars waiting, and after entering the headquarters, he sent the employees off from the heliport.
"Thank you for your hard work! You don't have to come in to work tomorrow!"
"Director!"
He waved his hand, saying, "Yeah-," then added, "You were cool today!"
"I'll wear this well!"
"I hope to see you again!"
Hearing those words, he slowly stopped waving and showed a gentle smile. Just a year or two ago, all the employees — especially the heavy industry staff who had helped with experiments by lending vehicles and equipment — had been gloomy due to the failure of the business, and he remembered the past when they had criticized and bad-mouthed him. As mentioned before, it wasn't just that company; every firm that had shown interest and helped him had become a target of media criticism.
But unlike the past, seeing the other employees waving and greeting him with genuine affection as they boarded the helicopter, he felt a new sense of emotion.
'Live kindly.'
'Do things that everyone likes.'
'Don't make a show of it.'
And, 'Don't fail. Don't make mistakes.'
Han Juwon, his father and the Chairman of the company, had received reports on the group's major news from the previous day as he arrived at his office from home. After sitting down at his desk, he turned on his computer, took a sip of the coffee his secretary had brought him with a word of thanks, and then looked out the window behind him, lost in thought.
"That's what happened."
"No, he was supposed to come here today?"
"You should watch the news first."
As the Chief Secretary approached and explained in detail what he had been doing from midnight until dawn, the Chairman watched the TV the secretary had turned on, his face clearly showing shock. Perhaps because there had been a reporter on the passenger ship and tugboat he had brought, the Chairman focused on the video report in the news, barely listening to the Chief Secretary's words.
"Why did he go there?"
"...That is,"
The Chief Secretary, who hadn't been able to contact him yet, could only relay what had been confirmed on the news. So the Chief Secretary told the Chairman, "He said he went because the ocean was getting dirty."
"Suhyun did?"
"That is what he said."
"At that hour... of all times?"
"Yes."
"...Without even, without even telling me? Why? Why would he go?"
Anyone could fail in business, but he had thought that comfort should come from others or his wife; as for his son, he had decided to be a "necessary evil," scolding his son's shortcomings and hoping he would grow up quickly. That had been the Chairman's philosophy. From the Chairman's perspective, he had been very worried about his son, who had become somewhat passive after experiencing failure. It was a good thing he had brought in a large redevelopment consortium, but he had doubted whether his son could handle it well, and he had watched him carefully to ensure he wouldn't fail again.
The Chairman wondered why he had become such a passive person. If he knew the facts he was currently unaware of, he would feel a great deal of regret for his son, who had to overcome everything alone without being comforted by anyone, but for now, it was literally, "a fact he didn't know."
However, he had changed. No, to be precise, he was changing. Too fast. Too suddenly.
"There's no reason for him to go there, is there? Why would he go? Did you look into that?"
"Ah... In the video, the Chairman's son, he struggled with actions he had never done before at first, but later performed them skillfully. When told he needed to grab the rope and pull, other employees rushed out, and he grabbed it tightly with his bare hands, not even wearing gloves, and while pulling, he was saying something as if shouting, dominating the situation alone. Then, he was hit head-on by waves filled with black foreign substances and rolled around on the deck, but he stood up firmly and ran around to do other work again."
"...."
"....We will confirm the exact details after we make contact with the Director..."
Reporters had lined the Incheon Port pier, but he had walked silently. He had thought his son, who had an outgoing, "insider" personality, would say something long-winded, but he truly looked like someone who had gone through hell, his face etched with fatigue. Still, he hadn't lost his smile, bowing to the reporters as he passed through the cleared path before stopping to explain why he had gone.
"...That, he is..."
"..."
Around that time, a phone call came in from a number starting with 02-770. The Chairman slowly returned to his seat and picked up the receiver.
"Yes, this is Han Juwon."