Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Royal Family 13-1
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All eyes turned toward Kang Wook's mouth.
But Seo Ji-hyeok, the one who had thrown out the remark, pulled out his phone to check the time and shifted into a posture as if to get up quickly.
"Anyone can swing a sword. Didn't I tell you? You still have something to show me."
"Yes. I figured as much. Let me know if you change your mind. Then I'll take my leave first."
Kang Wook nodded, and Seo Ji-hyeok rose from his seat without a hint of lingering attachment and left the dining room.
He returned to his room, changed clothes, got into a cart, and arrived at the entrance parking lot.
The current time was six forty-five.
It was a bit early for work, but he had a place to stop by, so he had hurried a little.
"What civil servant comes to work at this hour?"
The place where Seo Ji-hyeok stood was in front of the convenience store where he had met Kim Seon-ho not long ago.
As soon as they agreed to meet, he got a call saying to meet here, so he had come and was waiting.
"Work? Don't make me laugh. I'm here to buy socks. Third day in a row."
"Must be your constitution. Your face looks good, though."
"You mocking me? What's up? Why'd you come at this hour?"
Kim Seon-ho got into the car, popped the lid off the coffee Seo Ji-hyeok handed him, and gulped it down like it was rice water.
"How far up have you gone?"
"Financial Services Commission. Negotiating now. Deciding how far to push."
"How much of your opinion is being reflected, senior?"
"Haven't checked yet. Who do you want me to go easy on?"
"Leave the Financial Services Commission Chairman out of it."
"Got it. So you can control the chairman yourself. That enough?"
Kim Seon-ho was sharp as ever.
This was why working with smart people was enjoyable.
Seo Ji-hyeok nodded at his words and opened his mouth again.
"And one more thing."
"Shoot."
"I want to find the Taesung assets that former Vice Chairman Kang Heon and his three sons have hidden away. This is Kang Jun-woo's money laundering data. Can you track it down?"
"Hmm... With this much data, it's plenty. They'll spit it all out once we hit them with sentences. But this isn't the only thing, right?"
"Yes. I want to crush the Kang Heon family so they never meddle with Taesung again. Squeeze them as hard as you can."
"Understood."
Kim Seon-ho took the ledger Seo Ji-hyeok handed over and gulped down more coffee.
"By the way, senior, do you know anything about National Assembly Speaker Shim Sang-seop?"
"No. Why? Something up?"
"If you hear anything, let me know."
"Got it. Anything else?"
"No. Take this."
"What's that?"
Seo Ji-hyeok reached into the back seat and pulled out a large shopping bag.
"Underwear, socks, and some ginseng tonics."
"You rascal. Thanks. I'll take good care of it. My body's not what it used to be lately. See you."
Kim Seon-ho chugged the rest of the coffee... emptied the cup, handed the empty one back to Seo Ji-hyeok, and got out of the car.
He then hurried back toward the prosecutor's office.
Seo Ji-hyeok watched his retreating figure with a smile and slowly started the car.
Now it was time for him to head to Taesung.
"Good morning, Executive Director."
"Executive Director. Good morning."
"Good morning, Executive Director."
As soon as he entered the first-floor lobby, greetings poured in, and Seo Ji-hyeok rode up to the 43rd floor.
When he entered the office, it was a bit chaotic inside.
The Special Task Force and Strategic Planning Office had merged into the Future Strategy Office, so they had done construction over the weekend to adjust the space.
With the personal desk arrangements changed as well, everyone was busily setting up their own stations.
But as soon as Seo Ji-hyeok entered, the employees who had been rushing about bowed toward him.
"Executive Director, you're here?"
"Yes. Good morning. Han Ji-young, Section Chief, Cha Dong-hwi, Section Chief, come to my office."
"Yes."
"Yes."
The two answered simultaneously, grabbed their notebooks and tablets, and followed behind Seo Ji-hyeok.
When Seo Ji-hyeok opened his office door, it was spotlessly clean and tidy.
"Nice."
"Han Section Chief put a ton of effort into it."
"You came in over the weekend?"
"It's fine."
Han Ji-young smiled brightly in response to Seo Ji-hyeok's question.
And Cha Dong-hwi, sitting next to her, gaped at her smile... his mouth hanging open.
'That fool... Well, yeah. That's Cha Dong-hwi for you. Go straight for it.'
Seo Ji-hyeok smirked as he looked at Cha Dong-hwi.
But the words that soon came out of his mouth made Han Ji-young and Cha Dong-hwi tense up a bit.
"You two will take charge of the financial sector. Above all, the top priority is restoring trust. From what I've checked, there were employee scandals popping up nearly once a month in life insurance, cards, and securities."
"Yes. I looked into it too and was shocked. If we hadn't kept the press in check, it would've been a disaster."
Han Ji-young agreed and responded, then Cha Dong-hwi followed up.
"It's a system problem. Outdated and old-school. From the outside, it looks like the financial sector is changing rapidly, but inside, it's a mess. Accounting audits hate that world the most. The reason is simple. The top brass hasn't moved an inch from the abacus era."
"Exactly. That's what I meant. You two focus on building the system part. Recruit as many team members as needed. But the deadline is three months."
"Three months?"
Cha Dong-hwi's eyes widened as he let out a yelp at Seo Ji-hyeok's words.
"Come on, no waaay... Gah!"
Cha Dong-hwi, trying to protest, took an elbow to the side from Han Ji-young sitting next to him and yelped.
"Section Chief Cha, this is the office. Refrain from casual language."
"Yeees... But I can't breathe..."
But Han Ji-young didn't even glance at Cha Dong-hwi as she answered Seo Ji-hyeok.
"We'll do our best to meet the schedule."
"Yes. The new executives will cooperate as much as possible. Proceed, and if you need to adjust the timeline, let me know then."
"Yes. Understood."
"Make sure to deliver results. So I can promote you two without hesitation. Once this is done, Han Section Chief will head the Strategy Team, and Section Chief Cha will head the Financial Team. Your next assignment after that will be Taesung Bank. You get what that means, right?"
"Yes. You're talking about separating industry from finance?"
"Correct. But for now, focus on restoring trust in the financial sector and system improvements. That'll be your report card."
"We'll definitely deliver results."
"Then you two can go. Have Section Chief An come in."
"Yes. Understood. We'll be going."
Han Ji-young forcibly pulled up Cha Dong-hwi, who was clutching his side and groaning, and they left the room.
A smile appeared on Seo Ji-hyeok's face as he watched them.
Now, it was clear to see that the two had grown quite close.
Han Ji-young didn't seem to dislike Cha Dong-hwi entirely either.
A short while after the two left the room, there was a knock, and Section Chief An Chang-hee entered.
"You wanted to see me, Executive Director?"
"Yes. Have a seat."
An Chang-hee, forty-two years old, was a HR specialist brought over from Electronics by Executive Director Oh Tae-hyung.
He was the first person Oh Tae-hyung had brought to the Special Task Force, showing the level of trust.
"How far along is the financial sector executive selection?"
"Vice Chairman has decided to reject the resignations of 64. We're coordinating with the financial HR department on the rest to prepare a recommendation list."
"I want to shake things up a bit."
"How much?"
"I hear there were no executives in their thirties out of 145."
"Yes. The financial sector is quite rigid in personnel matters."
"I want to fill at least 20% with thirties. Draft a list. We'll discuss it with the Vice Chairman based on that."
"Understood. But Executive Director."
"Yes. Speak."
"Executive Director Kang Jin-young from Trading recommended her eldest son, Gong Sa-woo, Section Chief of Public Affairs, for a life insurance board seat. And Hotel CEO Kang Mi-young wants Park Eun-seok placed in securities. What should we do?"
Gong Sa-woo was Executive Director Kang Jin-young's eldest son.
At 34, he was currently PR Manager at Trading, and his reputation wasn't bad.
Of course, it might be thanks to Kang Jin-young managing it, but as someone even rumored to be adopted by Chairman Kang Wook, he seemed to care a lot about his image.
And Park Eun-seok was Kang Mi-young's sore spot, so to speak.
At 27, Park Eun-seok was a typical chaebol wastrel.
He had already made headlines three times as "scion of a major corporation," earned Chairman Kang Wook's utter disdain, but didn't care and kept going wild.
"I'll handle that. And if any more requests like this come in, tell me."
"Yes, understood."
"Then back to work."
As Section Chief An left the room, Seo Ji-hyeok fell into thought for a moment.
Now, the real sorting of friends from foes would begin.
Who was the enemy, who was the ally.
Who had driven his father to death.
To draw that truth from someone's mouth, he needed a very sharp key.
And the first key would be their children, the weak spot of all parents.
It was some time later when Seo Ji-hyeok emerged from the room.
That in itself showed how much he had agonized.
Gong Sa-woo had a cold impression.
Even among the family, his company reputation wasn't bad because his work style was as neat as his personality.
And since he kept a distance from everyone without playing office politics, he scored big points with employees.
Of course, with the adoption rumors by Chairman Kang Wook, he was probably just being cautious.
As soon as such a Gong Sa-woo entered the coffee shop near Taesung Trading and sat in front of Seo Ji-hyeok, he spoke.
"Is there any reason to seek me out specifically?"
"Since we're outside the company, should I call you brother?"
"Do whatever. Titles won't affect our relationship much anyway."
"You want to go to life insurance?"
"Here to test me? What do you want to hear? Should I beg?"
"No need to put up walls like that."
"Then what's your angle in coming all the way here?"
"I wanted to have a talk at least once. Yesterday, you wouldn't even meet my eyes."
A hint of emotion finally crossed Gong Sa-woo's icy face.
It was anger.
"Yeah, enjoy it. Feels like your world right now, huh? But it won't last. I guarantee it. Asked for shares? Think the chairman will hand them over easily? No way. Talk of adopting me has been around for twenty years. Twenty years. He's kept me on trial for twenty years. Try it yourself sometime. Being under a microscope, every cell scrutinized."
Gong Sa-woo's lips trembled as he finished speaking, then he stood up as if no reply was needed and left the coffee shop.
Seo Ji-hyeok stared at his back and let out a smirk.
'Good. Let's see if you work as well as you snap.'
He took a sip of the remaining coffee and picked up his phone.
"Section Chief An, it's me. Assign Trading's Gong Sa-woo Section Chief to the Future Strategy Office."
"........."
"Yes. Not life insurance, Future Strategy Office. Appoint him as head of the Management Diagnosis Team."
Just from Section Chief An Chang-hee's voice, one could tell how radical Seo Ji-hyeok's order was.
It was provocative, beyond unconventional.
After hanging up, Seo Ji-hyeok left the coffee shop and got into his car.
And the place he headed to was Taesung Hotel.