The CEO's Dismissal
The small theater performances were running smoothly, and public opinion was flowing in a favorable direction.
With some free time on his hands, Yeon-woo put Han Hae-un forward as his proxy to command the agents while concentrating as fully as possible on intelligence gathering.
Then the agents' voices came through to Yeon-woo's ear.
"Wow, at this rate they're gonna start dating. Meeting every single day to hatch their little schemes?"
That was Lee Gyu-jin — the fastest and most physically gifted of the three agents.
He had infiltrated the hotel rooftop and was lowering an endoscopic camera to film the interior of the top-floor suite where LN Media's elders were staying.
From the rooftop of the building across the street, Kim Su-hyeok was watching through a scope and checking names off his list.
"This guy's the last one."
"You watching the feed? How's the angle?"
Park Jung-hyeon, recording beside Kim Su-hyeok, nodded at Lee Gyu-jin's question as the latter held the endoscopic camera steady.
"Got clear shots of all the targets' faces. Looking at nothing but greedy old men is gonna give me heartburn."
"Isn't that because you ate four hamburgers earlier?"
Park Jung-hyeon, his massive frame crouched on a tiny chair, shook his head.
"I normally eat six. Cut two for the diet."
Listening to the voices through his earpiece, Yeon-woo let out a quiet chuckle.
It reminded him of his past life — trading pointless jokes and banter with his teammates during operations.
The three agents Yeon-woo and Han Hae-un casually called "Kim-Lee-Park" after their surnames — Kim Su-hyeok, Lee Gyu-jin, and Park Jung-hyeon — were all exceptional operatives who executed their missions with precision the moment orders were given.
They had been gathering materials to later use as a noose around the necks of the LN Media elders cooperating with Baeksol, and they had just completed the final target.
After checking the transmitted footage, Yeon-woo gave the order to Han Hae-un.
"That's enough. Tell all three of Kim-Lee-Park to pull out."
"Yes, sir. Understood."
Moments later, Han Hae-un's voice came over the comms channel.
Static—
"Withdraw."
"Confirmed. Withdrawing."
"Ugh. Rooftop's freezing. Withdrawing."
Once they began the investigation in earnest, they learned that the enemy's operation launch date was not far off.
Yeon-woo compiled all the gathered intelligence, formulated a rough operational plan, and met Han Hae-un in the parking garage.
"Here's a rough outline of the plan for this operation."
"Yes, sir. I'll take it and study it thoroughly. By the way, those so-called elders of LN — they were problematic in more ways than one. From late-life affairs to the illegal gambling they recently started, quite the colorful bunch."
Of course they were.
Yeon-woo had personally observed several of their operations, so he nodded at Hae-un's words.
"Drugs?"
"Couldn't confirm it directly, but I believe there's a high probability they're addicted."
"You ran a check on Representative Kim Ju-seong?"
"Yes. That side is completely clean. He just goes between the company and home — lives almost like a monk. Though, Team Leader, you were the same way."
At Hae-un's words, Yeon-woo stroked his chin as he thought of Kim Ju-seong.
"The shareholders' meeting is in two days. To prevent this kind of thing, LN's articles of incorporation require that the CEO's dismissal go through a shareholders' meeting rather than just the board…"
"But since they've co-opted all the retired elders, there's no way around it."
Securing enough shares to flip the board was impossible with the funds Yeon-woo currently had.
And looking at it coldly, there was no real reason to take that much risk just to preserve Representative Kim Ju-seong's position.
"How should we proceed?"
If there was no way to reverse a dismissal process that was already fully in motion, the wise move was to use this crisis to extract everything they could.
"First, assign Lee Gyu-jin and Park Jung-hyeon to twenty-four-hour close surveillance of Representative Kim Ju-seong. Purpose: VIP protection."
"You think they might go after Representative Kim Ju-seong, Team Leader."
Yeon-woo nodded heavily at Hae-un's words.
"If their plans go sideways, that possibility exists. There's a lot of money on the line this time, unlike before. Now that we know their objective, just have Kim Su-hyeok keep tabs on Hwang-geum's movements."
"Understood."
When Yeon-woo had signed with LN Entertainment, the market cap of the parent company LN Media had been around two hundred billion won. After Yeon-woo joined and successive successes followed, it had ballooned to four hundred billion within a few years.
Moreover, LN Media was on the verge of an earnings surprise.
Once the performance of White Blood was reflected, it would drive a stock price surge far beyond market expectations.
That was also why Baeksol, intent on acquiring the shares held by Representative Kim Ju-seong, was rushing to get this done.
They meant to seize control by any means necessary before the stock price rose high enough.
"As I said, this is just a rough plan. We need to refine it further. We have to use every means at our disposal to deal them a major blow with this opportunity."
"Understood."
Not long after giving Hae-un his instructions, the shareholders' meeting convened as scheduled.
Representative Kim Ju-seong rode the elevator up from the LN building's parking garage.
Team Leader Jeong Hyeok, wearing an expression of pure disbelief at the sudden CEO dismissal agenda, fell into step beside him as he stepped off the elevator.
"Representative, what on earth is going on? Dismissal? What possible grounds could there be for dismissing you?"
Kim Ju-seong gave a dry chuckle at Jeong Hyeok's words.
"The grounds are probably that I stand in the way of someone else's interests."
"Who is this 'someone'? None of the directors seem like the type to harbor ulterior motives…"
Most of the directors had long since retired from active duty and hadn't even attended board meetings for years, leaving everything to Kim Ju-seong — so Jeong Hyeok's thinking wasn't unreasonable.
"After I heard about the dismissal resolution, I did some digging of my own. There are traces of stock purchases split across multiple investment firms."
"Even so, you hold the majority, don't you?"
"Well."
Convinced there had to be a reason the other side had opened their jaws, Kim Ju-seong started walking toward the grand conference hall where the shareholders' meeting was being held.
Just then, someone called out to him from the side.
"Representative."
Kim Ju-seong turned and saw Yeon-woo approaching.
"Ah, Yeon-woo. I received the report that you've been doing theater work lately."
Yeon-woo nodded.
"Looks like there's a play going on inside as well."
"Hmm. So the news reached you too."
Understanding what Yeon-woo meant, Kim Ju-seong looked toward the conference hall doors.
Yeon-woo glanced between Kim Ju-seong and Team Leader Jeong Hyeok beside him, then spoke again.
"Whatever result unfolds in there, please remember — I'm not on LN's side. I'm on yours and Team Leader Jeong's."
"……"
After a brief silence, Kim Ju-seong quietly nodded.
"Thank you. I'll remember that."
With a nod, Kim Ju-seong opened the conference hall doors and went inside.
He looked around, and his eyebrows twitched.
"…What's with all the heavy-hipped people showing up for once."
Every director who had been absent all this time was present at the meeting.
And the CEO dismissal resolution passed without a hitch.
Without so much as a change in expression, Kim Ju-seong rose from his seat and walked out of the conference room with unhurried steps.
He had no secret trump card prepared, nor any intention of filing a claim to cancel the CEO dismissal resolution.
"Representative…"
When Team Leader Jeong Hyeok called to him from the side, Kim Ju-seong looked at his face and smiled faintly.
"I'm not the representative anymore. Is this what they call burnout? The passion that burned for decades just… suddenly goes cold."
When he had opened the conference room door and looked at the other directors avoiding his eyes, everything he had worked for until now had felt meaningless.
Feeling a dull throb in his head, Kim Ju-seong looked at Team Leader Jeong and patted his shoulder.
"Ah, I think I'd like to rest a little today. Team Leader Jeong. I'll head down first."
"…Yes, Representative."
Smiling at Jeong Hyeok, Kim Ju-seong took the elevator down to the parking garage.
When he arrived, James Choi was waiting and approached him.
"Mr. Kim Ju-seong."
Kim Ju-seong stared blankly at James Choi, who addressed him by name rather than title.
This was the man who had just been elevated to the position from which Kim Ju-seong had been dismissed.
"The new CEO of LN, I take it?"
"We'd like our company to have first rights to acquire the shares you hold. We'll offer a price more generous than the current market rate."
"And why would I do that? As a shareholder now, I know an earnings surprise is coming soon. Waiting would be smarter."
James Choi chuckled at Kim Ju-seong's words.
"I imagine a friendly transaction with smiles all around would be the best approach for everyone."
"Threats, in the Republic of Korea — a nation of laws? By all means, give it your best shot."
With that, Kim Ju-seong ignored James Choi and walked to his car, where the waiting driver opened the door.
Kim Ju-seong got in and drove out of the LN building.
In the parking garage he had just left, James Choi made a phone call somewhere.
"Yes. He refused the deal."
"Is that so? Can't be helped. He's choosing the hard road."
"Are you planning to kill him?"
"Since when did you start taking an interest in that sort of thing?"
At the low voice from the other end of the line, James Choi bowed toward empty air.
"I apologize!"
"Kill him? Who's killing anyone. Just a little scare, that's all. Though if he digs in his heels all the way, who knows."
The change was detected immediately.
Kim Su-hyeok, monitoring Hwang-geum's movements, relayed it to Han Hae-un, and of course it reached Yeon-woo's ears.
"They're on the move."
"They move the moment the CEO is dismissed. Must be desperate. Tell Lee Gyu-jin and Park Jung-hyeon to get ready. Have Kim Su-hyeok track Hwang-geum's route and join them."
"Understood."
After speaking with Representative Kim Ju-seong, Yeon-woo had gone straight home. Through the monitors linked to the operations command center, he was watching the field through the eyes of each of the four agents in motion.
There are two methods of VIP protection.
Finding the threat factors in advance and neutralizing them at the source.
And waiting, then resolving the danger when it arrives.
Hwang-geum's objective — Baeksol's objective — is ultimately to purchase the shares from Kim Ju-seong. They won't start with violence. He's a civilian, so intimidation will come first.
In this case, they couldn't make the first move.
For the next phase of the operation, they needed to step in and resolve things only when the enemy tried to harm Kim Ju-seong.
Whether Kim Ju-seong sold his shares to Baeksol or not, plans were prepared for either outcome.
If Representative Kim Ju-seong sold his shares to Baeksol, things would be easier — but the gains Yeon-woo would reap and the damage dealt to Baeksol would be relatively small.
But if he refused the share sale even under threat, the path would be harder — yet both the rewards and the damage would be greater.
For the easy road, it would be better if our Representative Kim were a little less tough. But either way works fine.
Events were unfolding at lightning speed.
There had been signs of Baeksol probing and attacking LN bit by bit before, but no one had expected them to move this abruptly and replace the CEO until the investigation was done.
But most operations are like this by nature.
That was why they had been selecting agents and preparing equipment for a long time, steadily getting ready.
Kim Ju-seong heading home after the shareholders' meeting.
Hwang-geum and the disposable hired thugs trailing behind him.
And behind them all, Yeon-woo and his agents, who had set the entire board.