A Dreamlike Reality

"Why did you apply to our company?"

The most ordinary question an interview could ask, and at the same time the one it could not do without. I swallowed, relief and tension knotted together in my throat.

"I applied because I got to wondering what I might squeeze out of the Chairman."

"I'm sorry?"

The other applicants stared at me as if I had lost my mind, but I didn't regret the answer. I could only give it because the Chairman himself had come to the final interview, insisting he would choose his own secretary.

"Kahahahaha!"

Seated at the center of the interviewers, who were gaping in sheer disbelief, the white-haired Chairman threw his head back and laughed so hard it seemed the room might shake apart.

"Ch-Chairman?"

The panel floundered, utterly at a loss. Lee Jinhyeok, Chairman of High Group, went on laughing for a long while.

"Ah, forgive me. That was rude of me."

When he finally managed to stop, he apologized to the staff around him, wiped away the tears the laughter had wrung from his eyes, and turned his gaze on me. Strange as it was for the chairman of a conglomerate to conduct an interview in person, that very fact had made the answer worth trying.

"All right. Good. Then what, exactly, do you intend to squeeze out of me?"

Not mockery. The tone of a man asking because he was genuinely intrigued. Instinct told me that whatever came out of my mouth next would matter enormously.

"Everything."

"Everything?"

"Yes. Your management know-how, your ability, your judgment—all of it. I'll learn it, and I'll wring it dry."

"And once you have, what is it you want to do?"

"Well... I'm not entirely certain."

I let the words hang, then drew a long breath.

"At the very least, I want to become someone you can trust enough to leave things with, when you're no longer here."

"You've given me quite an interesting answer."

That was the story of my interview.

"Secretary Lee. What's got you so lost in thought?"

"Ah—I'm sorry, Chairman."

The number one company in the country. Secretary to the chairman of High, standing at the very summit just as the name promised. That was me.

"Haha. Even our Secretary Lee has moments when he stares off into nothing?"

On the surface, the Chairman was hardly different from the day of that interview. The same easy, good-natured smile.

"Yes. I'm only human, after all."

"Well then. What were you thinking about?"

"The interview you gave me, when I first joined the company."

"Ah. I remember. That answer of yours was something else."

He nodded as the memory returned, then grinned at me like a child who had just thought of something amusing.

"So. Do you feel you've squeezed a great deal out of me, the way you said you would?"

"...I'm not sure. I still think my ability falls short."

Working at his side had only made it clearer. His eye for what was coming, his judgment—those were not things I could ever catch.

"But I like to think I've at least become the person who shares your ideals more than anyone else."

The one who could feel, more deeply than anyone, the world the Chairman dreamed of and longed for. Surely I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had become that much.

"Hahaha! Is that so? At this rate I may have to write your name into my will."

"You're trying to get me killed."

I said ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it lightly, laughing, but the last of it was sincere. In the country's foremost company, the power struggles among the heirs and everyone tied to them were fiercer and filthier than anywhere else. Being dragged into that filthy fight was something I would refuse, if only for the sake of my life.

"Hahaha! Your judgment really is excellent. But what I just said—I meant it."

"Let's head to the next meeting."

"There you go, refusing to take me at my word. No fun at all."

I was grateful he thought so well of me, but we couldn't afford to lose any more time. I cut the joke short and guided him on. I had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no idea that conversation would be the last I ever shared with him.

The messages were piled up again today, same as always. Dozens of them, hundreds—coaxing and threats, all of it aimed at dragging me, the Chairman's closest aide, over to someone's side.

"Sick of these bastards."

Fresh from the shower, I handled only what concerned actual work, sidestepped the heap of messages, and flung the smartphone across the room.

So that's why the Chairman has looked so bitter lately.

Talk of writing my name into his will—words he would never have spoken even in jest. Some of that bitterness had surely been in them. Once a month the whole owner family gathered, and those meetings were no warm reunions. They were wars fought in silence.

"Whose side are you on, Secretary?"

The question someone had put to me, when I accompanied them to a family gathering, flickered up—and I shook my head, cast the thought off, and fell asleep as I was.

Brrrrrrt.

How much time had passed? A vibration drilled through the dark. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I fought free of sleep and groped for the phone.

"Chief of Security?"

A call from the security office at this hour of the morning. Something was wrong.

"Yes, I have it. This is Lee Jinwoo."

Being told to prepare to leave in the middle of the night was hardly proper, but the commotion leaking through the line was more than enough to tell me something had happened at the company.

I had just agreed and was about to hang up when he added that last part in a rush, as if he had remembered something forgotten. The line went dead with the words.

"What in the world is that supposed to..."

Whatever it was, it was sudden. That much was certain. I washed up quickly and changed my clothes.

The car that pulled up in front of my place tore off at speed, the windows covered. Maybe it was only my heart racing in the sudden crisis, but the ride seemed to take longer than usual.

"This way."

Befitting the country's top firm, High's building was enormous. It rose so high it seemed to have forgotten to fear the sky—people called it the Tower of Babel of the modern age. And in that vast company, after some six years of work, I was being led into a room I had never once entered.

"Chief?"

"Thank you for coming out so late, Secretary."

Unlike the frantic rushing outside, this room—a bed, a few simple necessities—was utterly still.

"It's a Safe Zone we prepared, just in case. Walls and door both were built with real care. Completely soundproof, and no ordinary tool is getting through these walls."

The Chief tapped the wall lightly, as if knocking, while he spoke.

"Will you tell me now what's going on?"

The words came out sharper than I meant. Dragged in at dawn with no information at all, told not even to use my phone—I was not in a pleasant mood.

"...First, please use this from now on."

A smartphone that had not even been released yet. A new product High Group had prepared with considerable ambition.

"We put a great deal of work into the security as well. From here on, no one will be able to dig any information out of your phone."

"Why are you suddenly—"

"Next, if you'll turn on the screen and look through the installed application..."

Ignoring my question entirely, the Chief of Security calmly explained how to use the app. Through it, approval documents and confidential materials from every affiliate could be seen at a glance.

This is different from anything I've seen.

Something was off. As Chief Secretary I had reviewed the Chairman's papers and carried them back to him before, but this was something else. I could now see classified files a full level higher.

"Chief Im."

Midway through his explanation, he stopped at my call and looked at me.

"Yes, Secretary."

"Enough circling. Get to the point. What on earth is going on?"

The Chief said nothing. Im Jangho, who had served the Chairman for so long. A man of few words even on ordinary days—but in this moment the silence felt longer than ever.

"Very well. You're about to find out anyway."

Chief Im opened the door and gestured for me to follow. Even in the corridor, people were running, moving in a frantic rush.

An accident?

From the snatches of talk around me, I could piece some of it together.

Who in the world?

A bad feeling began to crawl up my spine. An accident big enough to throw the whole company into an uproar. People with that kind of influence were few, inside the company or out.

"Chief Im. Where is the Chairman?"

Again, Chief Im didn't answer.

No. It couldn't be. He was resting. He had to be.

"Please, go in."

The chairman's office was silent. Fine furniture filled the wide room, but with its owner gone, even the furniture could not fill the stillness.

"Secretary. First, I'm sorry for bringing you here like this, without a word of explanation."

"...So you did know."

I answered his formal apology with a sigh.

"Please look at this first."

A television mounted high in the corner of the office flickered on. The news was showing some fire scene, flames raging.

The scene looked desperate. The ominous feeling that had been climbing my back now ran through my whole body.

"Chief... don't tell me..."

"In the terrorist attack at Incheon Airport at two this morning, the Chairman and the presidents—no. The young masters. All of them have died."

"What?"

The dread became real. I locked my trembling legs and barely managed to stay on my feet.

"And the one who did it?"

"The investigation is underway. The fire was so severe that they're having difficulty with the inquiry."

"I see."

"Checks are being conducted for now, but... they said they would contact us the moment there was any progress, so I believe you'll have to wait."

My head was too tangled to know what to say. I had thought I'd learned a great deal at the Chairman's side, but in this moment I could not make myself cold.

"So what is it you want to say to me?"

"Chief Im Jangho. I'm asking why you brought me to the chairman's office."

When I asked again, Chief Im let out a long sigh. Then, as if he had made up his mind, he met my eyes.

"A will was left behind."

"A will?"

"The moment the Chairman's death was confirmed, the will was transmitted automatically to Secretary Choi, who was on night duty."

Documents handled at night all went to the secretary on duty, so it must have been sent the instant the Chairman died.

"That's why I gave you the smartphone in the Safe Zone, and then brought you here."

"What?"

Chief Im kept speaking, his eyes locked on mine. There was nothing of a lie in that gaze, but my mind refused to take in the situation in front of me.

The Chairman's manner of speaking left Chief Im's mouth as naturally as if he had memorized every word. And then—

"Accordingly, Secretary, as of this hour you must assume the office of this company's chief executive."

Chief Im delivered to me the words I wanted, desperately, to be a lie.