A Certain Conspiracy (2)
President Jeong-hee had conferred with Planning Head Jang about the Chairman's unsavory affair.
No — the Chairman himself would surely have summoned Planning Head Jang and taken the matter up with him in person.
That was how completely the owner's family trusted the man.
Planning Head Jang, too, was a Seoul National University graduate from twenty-five years prior. He was a man whose mind moved quickly. And he was cunning besides. How else would a nickname like Jang Zhuge have stuck to him?
He had almost certainly answered on the spot. Give Bang Mihee enough to live on, and pair her with a capable elite employee who had no powerful backing behind him.
Anyone with a real family background would become a headache later if the truth ever came out.
That, he would have said, should be the condition attached to Bang Mihee's abortion.
And if they matched her with the best-looking, most promising young man in the company — one with no connections to speak of?
Then Bang Mihee would surely go along with it.
Of course, had Bang Mihee actually given birth to the child, she could have received not some small corporate entity but an entire department store, handed over whole.
But then the truth would surface, and the world would point its fingers at her.
It was hardly the best path for a young person's future. Marrying a handsome young man would, in truth, make for a happier life.
If President Jeong-hee had persuaded Bang Mihee, this was almost certainly the argument she had used.
Another week passed.
Kim Chirok took the tuition receipt from his Japanese language academy and went to the Administration Team. Submitting it there meant the company would subsidize the fees.
"If I pass the Japanese language certification exam, do I get a performance evaluation incentive?"
"You'll have to ask HR about that. I've heard they don't give one if it's your first foreign language, but they do if it's your second."
If he was going to study anyway, Kim Chirok wanted to earn the certification and pick up a few points on his performance review while he was at it. They wouldn't amount to much, but for a man with no connections, it seemed worth doing.
He returned to his desk and called the HR team.
Kim Chirok: "This is Kim Chirok from the Strategic Planning Team. I'm studying Japanese as a second foreign language — if I score high on the JPT, do I get a performance evaluation incentive?"
HR: "No, you don't."
Kim Chirok: "Excuse me? You don't?"
HR: "Not for the JPT. But if you achieve the highest grade on the JLPT, you get one point as a performance incentive."
Kim Chirok: "Ah, is that so?"
The JPT was a Japanese proficiency exam developed domestically in Korea. Tests were held frequently — as often as once a month. The JLPT, however, was administered directly by Japan, designed to measure the Japanese ability of non-native speakers.
The JLPT was not offered often, only twice a year. You could sit for it in several cities across Korea.
So Kim Chirok enrolled in the JLPT class at the academy. He did not join the conversation class.
The middle-aged student and the young man who worked at a real estate company went into the conversation class instead.
The instructor for the JLPT class was the very same woman who had taught grammar. She looked thoroughly delighted to see Kim Chirok. No matter how you looked at it, the woman seemed to have a thing for him.
Her dreams, no doubt, had been rather grand. Marry a Seoul National University graduate who worked at a major conglomerate, keep teaching Japanese herself, and they could live a comfortably middle-class life in Korea.
The next day arrived.
When lunchtime came, Kim Chirok went down to the company cafeteria with Deputy Song. Today, too, Bang Mihee was eating at the executives' table. Planning Head Jang was nowhere to be seen.
As they carried their trays looking for a seat, Deputy Song spoke up.
"Shouldn't you be sitting across from Bang Mihee over there, Kim Chirok?"
"I'll yield to you today, Deputy. Why don't you go sit there?"
"I told you, I can't handle a woman like that! Look at her clothes. She's wearing nothing but designer brands."
"If you can't handle her, Deputy, how am I supposed to? I'll sit over here too."
The two of them sat among the regular staff and ate.
Deputy Song spoke as he chewed.
"But Bang Mihee — she's good-looking and haughty, yet doesn't her face look a little shadowed?"
"Does it? I wouldn't know."
"She's not smiling, and there's a shadow over her face. She's either sick or she's got something on her mind, that's for sure."
"A beauty like that wouldn't have worries."
"Why not? It doesn't have to be her own problem — it could be family trouble. Still, even frowning, a beauty like that looks good."
"You think so?"
"The way she never smiles, she must think she's Bao Si or something — that Chinese beauty."
Bao Si was the woman who had brought down China's Zhou dynasty, famous as a beauty who never smiled.
At that moment, neither Kim Chirok nor Deputy Song had the faintest idea of Bang Mihee's complicated story. She was already a woman who had undergone an abortion.
Afternoon came. Kim Chirok was working on a projected income statement for a new business venture when Planning Head Jang summoned him. He had skipped the team leader entirely and called Kim Chirok directly.
"You'll need to come in for overtime this Saturday."
"Overtime, sir? Is there another new business plan?"
"Actually, this Saturday is the Chairman's birthday. There's a garden party at the Chairman's villa, and it looks like you'll need to be there. I'll need your help with the work."
"Me, sir? Shouldn't that be the Administration Team, or Team 1 of the Strategic Planning Office — the ones who handle protocol?"
As he said it, Kim Chirok thought of his old classmate Jeong Chan-young, who worked in Team 1.
Planning Head Jang gave a little shrug, then spoke with his neck stiffened.
"President Jeong-hee, sir?"
"President Jeong-hee remembered your name. She remembered the connection from meeting you in Osaka."
"Well, that's true, but—"
"She probably likes your looks, that's what I think. And isn't this a good thing? A chance to score points in front of important people!"
"So I'm going alone?"
"Alone. No need to tell anyone else."
"Understood."
"No need to mention it to Deputy Song, who sits with you, either. I don't want people gossiping about us dragging employees out for a birthday party."
"Understood."
"They said this birthday party will be a modest affair at the villa in Seojong-myeon, Yangpyeong. That's why they didn't even call in the Administration Team. Just so you know."
"Understood."
"Of course, I'll put you down for overtime pay."
Overtime pay. There was no reason to refuse.
Kim Chirok was a man who needed every last won.
Saturday arrived.
Kim Chirok met Planning Head Jang in the company basement parking garage. They took Planning Head Jang's car and headed for Seojong-myeon in Yangpyeong County, Gyeonggi Province.
The Chairman's villa overlooking the Bukhan River was truly magnificent. The grounds looked to span well over three thousand square meters, and the pines in the garden had the bearing of trees five centuries old.
Kim Chirok found himself wondering whether a place like this even existed in Korea.
Back in school, he had believed the kids living in the Raemian apartments in Dogok-dong were the richest people around. They were not. Set against the Chairman here, they were nothing at all.
The catering company had arrived. The birthday party appeared to be an outdoor buffet.
Kim Chirok helped with the setup. Then Secretary Bang Mihee arrived, carrying an enormous flower basket.
Kim Chirok gave her a slight bow of the head.
Bang Mihee, realizing a company employee had come today, widened her eyes. Then, as if returning his greeting, she gave a slight bow of her own.
Huh? She's actually bowing back today.
Once the setup was more or less complete, the Chairman's car glided in. President Jeong-hee arrived as well.
President Jeong-hee had brought her husband and children. She must have married young — the kids already looked old enough to be in high school.
President Jeong-hee looked at Kim Chirok and Bang Mihee and smiled.
"You've both worked hard."
Kim Chirok bent deeply at the waist toward President Jeong-hee.
Bang Mihee, however, did not seem to bow that deeply. She even wore a chilly expression toward President Jeong-hee.
Huh? She's giving President Jeong-hee a halfhearted greeting. Is it because they see each other all the time?
The presidents of the affiliate companies arrived. The president of H Chemical came as well. Glad to see him, Kim Chirok offered his greetings.
Worried the H Chemical president might not remember his name, Kim Chirok spoke in a loud voice.
"I'm Kim Chirok. I used to be in the Planning Office at H Chemical."
"Ah, is that so? Out on support duty today, I see."
The president grinned and shook his hand.
The H Chemical president was not a business school graduate. He had come out of a chemical engineering department.
A former Prime Minister arrived, along with a veteran actor and other figures from the business world. A few elderly women who seemed to be relatives came as well. There was also a young musician who had brought a violin.
The Chairman sat in the center.
On the table in front of him sat the enormous flower basket Bang Mihee had brought. President Jeong-hee's children sat beside it.
Kim Chirok guided the guests to their seats, wearing white gloves as he did so. The gloves and other props had been prepared by the villa's caretaker.
The white-haired Chairman was a man fully entered into old age. Even so, his face gleamed with a well-fed sheen — the look of a man who had eaten well and lived well.
The Chairman gave a brief greeting, thanking everyone for coming. The guests raised the wine glasses in front of them and offered their birthday congratulations.
Then the young musician who had brought the violin began to play.
As the music started, Planning Head Jang nudged Kim Chirok.
"You know what that piece is, don't you?"
Kim Chirok had no idea. He had only ever studied from books; he had never immersed himself in classical music.
Having grown up poor and spent his school years as an outcast, Kim Chirok liked trot music. He hadn't thrown himself into K-pop the way young people did these days, either. You needed something exciting in your life to love that kind of music, and he hadn't had it. So he couldn't give Planning Head Jang a proper answer.
"I'm not sure, sir. I don't really know what piece it is."
"That's God Save the King. Music wishing His Majesty the King victory and blessings."
What? Wishing His Majesty the King victory and blessings? So the Chairman sitting over there is His Majesty the King? Talk about the height of flattery.
Still, when the performance ended, a round of applause rose from the gathering.
The guests toasted with wine and ate the food the catering company had prepared. Kim Chirok helped carry dishes as well.
People circulated with glasses in hand, working the room. It was at gatherings like this, it seemed, that business and politics actually got done.
As Kim Chirok helped carry out the food, his eyes met Bang Mihee's. He offered her a smile.
But Bang Mihee did not smile — no more than Bao Si, the legendary Chinese beauty, ever had.