Chairman Jang's Summons

Deputy General Manager Cho printed out the pre-qualification bid documents that Young-hoon had reported on and headed upstairs to Managing Director Kim's office.

The report itself was a mere formality — the real reason for the visit was to brief him on what had happened with President Jung of Kyungin Distribution the day before.

"So, you've wrapped up the business with President Jung nicely? Good work, Cho."

"As long as the phone dumping matter gets settled cleanly, I don't foresee any major problems."

"Ugh, running into a lowlife leech like that — it's an embarrassment, honestly. How about you introduce me to one of those mongrels sometime, Deputy General Manager Cho?"

"I had no idea President Jung was that kind of man. For that, I sincerely apologize."

Having slyly shifted the blame onto someone else, Managing Director Kim stared pointedly at the approval board in Cho's hand and changed the subject.

"What's the document you're holding there?"

"Ah, there's a pre-qualification bid for Myeongseong University this Friday. This is the advance bid report for it."

Managing Director Kim gave the papers Cho handed over a cursory skim.

"Isn't this a complete lottery of a bid?"

"That's correct. Still, with a little luck, we could take it."

"All the better, then. When I reported our win over Samjung Electronics on the Hankook University tender, the Vice Chairman was delighted. Let's grind those Samjung bastards into the dirt again this time. Somewhere between 3.2 and 3.4 billion won — that's no small amount, is it?"

"Even so, pre-qualification bids usually run a discount rate of around 20 percent, so you won't need to consult with the factory on this one."

"And it falls within my approval authority, doesn't it? Then give it your best shot."

Once the atmosphere had thawed considerably, Deputy General Manager Cho cautiously raised the subject that weighed on his mind more than anything else — the audit.

"Managing Director, sir — how are the discussions with the audit office progressing?"

"For now, we've agreed that they'll only audit the supply documentation from every marketing team nationwide. Given the year-end crunch, there's no time for on-site inspections. It's still being kept secret from the other teams, so make sure your paperwork is in order. Especially your team — thanks to that leech at Kyungin Distribution, there's a very good chance they'll scrutinize you the hardest."

"Understood, sir. I'll prepare thoroughly so there are no gaps."

"Still, thanks to you, Deputy General Manager Cho, it feels like a tooth that's been aching for months finally came out. Now get going."

From Managing Director Kim's perspective, the matter may well have been resolved. For Deputy General Manager Cho himself, it was anything but.

He had signed a written pledge for President Jung of Kyungin Distribution — which meant he was carrying a time bomb pressed against his chest.

After leaving the managing director's office, Cho couldn't keep his mind on a single task, the phone dumping scandal gnawing at him constantly. Sitting at his desk only made him more anxious, so he kept finding excuses to wander out of the office.

If Deputy Hong had been around, the two of them could have at least gone off to play somewhere, but the man was off at training all week. Cho decided he might as well go sweat it out at a sauna somewhere.

Back in the office, Deputy General Manager Cho summoned Young-hoon and instructed him to pour everything into the bid. Then he barked a few words at Manager Kim and left on a business trip.

Young-hoon waited for the group chat message that was due from the Five Girls members. These days, if the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠message ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠didn't arrive, he actually felt a little let down.

He was waiting, thinking of nothing else, when the group chat began arriving at almost exactly the usual time.

There was an established rule to this group chat: it always had to begin with Hye-in, the leader. Presumably they'd set some internal policy about it.

While Young-hoon was secretly trading KakaoTalk messages with Five Girls, Park Dae-ri at the next desk complained that his blood sugar was crashing and suggested they go grab a coffee. Young-hoon moved with him to the break room.

Park Dae-ri glanced around, confirmed no one was within earshot, and opened his mouth at once.

"Deputy General Manager Cho's been way off lately. It's like he's let go of everything, isn't it?"

"It is a little strange how he doesn't show any drive for the work anymore, like he used to."

"A little? Until last month he'd personally lead the charge on every big bid, but at morning briefings he just runs through the motions."

"That's true. Something's clearly come loose in his head."

"Well, if Cho's off gallivanting around, isn't that easier on us?"

"There's some of that, sure, but Manager Kim's working himself to death in his place."

"Now that you mention it... I suppose we should pitch in and help him out, huh?"

"Agreed. Manager Kim's waiting on us."

"Oh, hold on. When we go out for lunch later, I'm buying the coffee — you bring the herbal powder. Plain coffee's gotten so bland I just can't drink it anymore."

"Goodness — if my dear colleague is buying the coffee, how could I possibly fail to bring a little herbal powder? Worry not."

Manager Kim Jong-seok was hard at work on the weekly operations report, which had to be submitted to the Planning and Management Team by Wednesday morning each week.

Under the rules, the team leader was supposed to summarize everything happening within the team and deliver the report personally. But with Deputy General Manager Cho out and about every single day, Manager Kim had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no choice but to write the weekly report himself.

Watching it all, Young-hoon suspected this was exactly what Cho had been instructing Manager Kim about before heading out on his trip.

When Young-hoon and Park Dae-ri returned from the break room, Manager Kim gathered the team in the conference room.

"Listen up — I'm passing along the instructions the team leader gave before he left on his trip. This audit is likely to proceed as a supply documentation audit rather than a general operations audit. He says a full on-site inspection probably won't happen, so first priority is going through and shoring up all the supply-related paperwork we've handled over the past year. In particular, he says our team is very likely to be audited with a fine-tooth comb, so he wants us to prepare for that thoroughly."

Park Dae-ri clapped his hands together with a bright grin.

"Well, that's a relief — a documentation audit only. If they'd gone ahead with a full operations audit, the year-end really would've been a nightmare. Thanks to that, our workload just shrank considerably."

"Even so, if they flag enough items and start digging deep, it'll get painful — so prepare in advance, all of you. And if there's anything that needs to go into the weekly report, tell me beforehand."

"Manager Kim, did you include the Myeongseong University project?"

"Of course. It's one of our team's most important tasks this week. Also — anyone with a business trip planned today, clear it with me before you leave."

"Yes, sir. Understood."

"All right then, everyone, let's go get some lunch."

Under Manager Kim's lead, Marketing Team 3 enjoyed a rare meal together, and then at Park Dae-ri's suggestion the whole group trooped off to a coffee shop.

Young-hoon knew exactly what Park Dae-ri was after, so he'd already brought the Magic Seasoning along. When everyone's coffee arrived, he added the barest pinch of the herbal powder to each of his teammates' cups.

"Mmm~ herbal coffee, every time. I swear, I can't drink anything else now — plain coffee just tastes like dishwater."

"Assistant Manager Kim, when do you suppose we'll get to drink this herbal coffee as much as we want?"

"Drink this and you're not tired at all in the afternoon. Assistant Manager Kim, let's quit this company and open a coffee shop together, you and I."

"Park Dae-ri, you're the one who said it before — the pine caterpillar eats pine needles. So buckle down and be a good office worker. Don't you have to see it through to section chief, deputy general manager, director, executive, and chairman before you quit?"

"Assistant Manager Kim, you can go be loyal to LK Electronics forever. I haven't the slightest intention of doing so."

"Hey, there's nothing you won't say right in front of the manager. Manager Kim, I am loyal to this company unto death. Park Dae-ri, he's the only one like this, I promise you."

"I know, Assistant Manager Kim. Your devotion is well noted. Park Dae-ri, company life is about to get a little harder for you."

"Huh? Assistant Manager Kim, are you betraying me?"

And so, amid a fresh round of cheerful commotion, Marketing Team 3's lunch hour drew to a close.

Back at his desk, Young-hoon analyzed the construction cost breakdown that Namseoul Distribution had sent over. True to a dealership that did heavy procurement business, the itemized estimate was impeccably clean.

Young-hoon called President Kim of Namseoul Distribution and informed him that he intended to apply the submitted construction costs as-is when calculating the bid price. After that, he dug through past pre-qualification bid records, old and recent, to arrive at a fair product price.

He would have to review it once more before finalizing, but he settled on a preliminary bid price of 2.173 billion won for the products and 1.289 billion won for construction — 3.462 billion won in total.

In the meantime, Park Dae-ri had apparently gone out on a business trip; his desk sat empty.

With nothing particular to do, Young-hoon decided to write up an information report and was combing the internet for competitor intel when a call came in from Director Park of Chunghyo General Hospital.

Selling the elixir, Young-hoon had somehow amassed the staggering sum of 150 billion won — but the amount was so enormous that it refused to feel real.

He had unmistakably moved into a new house and acquired a luxury foreign car, yet adapting to it all would clearly take a while longer.

He gathered himself and returned to drafting the information report, when this time the phone rang with a call from Secretary Byun.

No doubt it would be a summons from Chairman Jang.

Young-hoon reported to Manager Kim that he was heading out on business, then rode his beloved motorcycle to the address Secretary Byun had given him.

The Synergy Building stood on Teheran-ro in Gangnam — a structure of just under forty floors with a spotless, polished exterior.

After parking, he came up to the lobby and called Secretary Byun. As it happened, the man was already waiting and came over to greet him.

"Good to see you, Secretary Byun."

"Welcome, Mr. Kim Young-hoon. The Chairman is waiting for you."

Secretary Byun escorted Young-hoon to the elevator. It appeared to be a private one, rising to the 35th floor without a single stop along the way.

When the doors opened, the entire floor turned out to be a single office.

The secretary's office, presumably. A pretty young woman gave Secretary Byun a bow and opened the door for them.

Beyond the door stretched the classic chairman's office, steeped in a stately, old-world atmosphere. Chairman Jang sat on the sofa at the center of the room, with two middle-aged men Young-hoon had never seen before seated at his side.

"Welcome, Young-hoon my boy."

"It's good to see you, Chairman. Is this your office, then?"

"Well, of course it is. Did you imagine I'd be playing with money in some cramped little walk-up in Jongno?"

"It's not that — I just never dreamed your office would be in a building this grand."

"The whole ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠building is mine. I'm the head of Synergy Venture Investment, you see. I hold a number of other titles besides, but this is the company people know me by."

"I see. That's truly remarkable, sir."

"None of that — come over here and sit down. The ceiling isn't going to collapse."

Once Young-hoon had taken his seat, Chairman Jang introduced the two men to him.

They were the two men who would come to play a pivotal role in Young-hoon's business from that day forward.