Preparing the Liquor Company & Ha-yeon's Father (1)

President Lee Jae-man had been so busy lately that he hardly knew how each day was slipping by.

Until just two weeks ago, both his cell phone and his office line had been dead silent. But ever since the press exposure at the pre-production announcement for Love After Separation, things had caught the wind, and now the phone rang without pause from morning to night.

He had no idea there were so many festivals across Korea in November. And he certainly hadn't known there were that many corporate events, either.

Even people he'd brushed past only once, years ago, were calling him out of the blue, and he suddenly felt like a star.

This morning, even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠during a brief phone call with Young-hoon, the office phone rang nonstop.

It was time to ride this momentum and get to work in earnest.

"Hello, this is Lee Jae-man of Girin Entertainment."

Booking requests were pouring in without end.

All three major terrestrial broadcasters were strongly requesting that Five Girls appear on their programs.

If the group appeared on only one network, the others would take offense and their future appearances could be restricted. So they either had to appear on all of them, or none at all.

A music show appearance meant there was no room left for other events — it would swallow nearly a whole day. But right now, Five Girls needed to secure some financial income by doing events more than they needed broadcast activities.

He had asked Young-hoon for his opinion, but as always, the answer was to use his own judgment.

President Lee Jae-man clutched his head and sank deep into thought. It was the kind of happy dilemma he couldn't have imagined only a short while ago.

When Young-hoon returned to the office after hanging up, his colleague Park Dae-ri questioned him with a suspicious look on his face.

"Kim Dae-ri, who have you been talking to on the phone all morning? Don't tell me — a girlfriend?"

"A girlfriend, my foot. Don't spout nonsense first thing in the morning."

"Don't give me that. It's seriously suspicious. You're always on the phone or checking texts around this time. There really is someone, isn't there?"

Young-hoon flinched inwardly but refused to let it show, quickly steering the conversation elsewhere.

"Hey, would a guy in my position have a girlfriend? Anyway, Deputy Head Cho's coming out. Let's sit down quick before we catch another earful."

As soon as Cho Cha-jang arrived at the office, he asked Lee Ji-young for a cup of coffee, glanced over his emails and approval documents, and signed off on them right away. Strangely enough, though, he didn't call a meeting.

He used to hold at least three or four meetings a week, even if they were short ones, but since Monday there hadn't been a single one. Judging by the way things were flowing, today looked to be no exception.

Sure enough, he took a call from someone and slipped ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out of the office. Something was definitely going on with him personally.

The moment Cho Cha-jang vanished, Park Dae-ri lured Young-hoon out for a morning coffee. Young-hoon had already had one and wasn't keen, but wasn't a colleague's friendship as dear as one's country? He couldn't quite bring himself to refuse.

The moment Park Dae-ri sat down in the break room chair, he launched into his own theory.

"Kim Dae-ri, Cho Cha-jang's been really weird lately, hasn't he?"

"You noticed it too? And did you catch that we've only had one team meeting this whole week? A guy who loves meetings that much."

"I bet the dumping scandal's got him running hot under the collar."

"Right. The atmosphere's anything but normal. The dealership owners are taking this one seriously, too."

"The audit team's probably already contacted the Planning and Management team by now."

"It'll come down sometime in the next day or two. We'd better get our own documents in order so we don't get caught in the crossfire."

"Must be nice for you, though. You barely have any supply contracts."

"What? It's not like there are no big ones — I've got plenty of smaller amounts too."

"Oh come on, Kim Dae-ri. Even if the audit team had nothing better to do, would they bother with anything under ten million won? They'd need at least fifty million. From that standpoint, you've got nothing to worry about."

"Ugh, somehow I don't think that was a compliment."

At that very moment, Cho Cha-jang sat face to face with Managing Director Kim, exchanging grave words.

"The audit team leader called me in yesterday, so I stopped by the audit office. Apparently the Dealership Association had requested an audit. He asked if I was involved in any way, and I told him the truth."

"You what?!"

"Of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠course it was fine. What are seniors for? Anyway, since I confessed everything outright, he agreed to let it slide this once and scaled the audit down. They'll only review the paperwork on contracts over 100 million won with a discount rate of 25% or higher. The official notice will go out to each team within a day or so. The document prep period runs until the end of next week, then a week of document review, and all supply audits will be wrapped up by the end of November."

"Well then, that's a relief."

Managing Director Kim picked up the coffee cup on the table, took a sip, and continued.

"But there's a problem. Your team and the Gyeongbuk team have clear evidence against them, so there's no dodging it. We'd agreed that you'd receive a reprimand — a light disciplinary action — and the Gyeongbuk team leader would get six months' suspension, a heavy one, but the audit team leader says that's unfair."

"Hmm, I see."

Cho Cha-jang was displeased inwardly, but he didn't let it show.

"In the end, we've decided one dealership manager on your team will get six months' suspension — the heavy penalty — and the Gyeongbuk team's dealership manager will take the reprimand. But we can't touch Hong Dae-ri, can we? That's my dilemma. Give me a solution. And your promotion to department head next year is cancelled. Well, a promotion's out of the question once you've been disciplined, so keep that in mind. This is the best I could do."

"Understood. Though, as for the scapegoat…… who did you have in mind?"

"This kid? A junior from my university days — do you know how hard I worked to save your hide? Six months' suspension is practically being fired. So you'd better come up with a scapegoat yourself!"

"I understand. I'll look for an alternative."

"Good. And don't get depressed just because your promotion's been pushed back a year. You're still moving up faster than the rest of your cohort anyway. Now get out there and work."

Cho Cha-jang considered it the least bad outcome.

If fairness was the standard, he should have been the one receiving the heavy penalty of six months' suspension. Laughably, Managing Director Kim — practically the ringleader of this whole affair — seemed to be facing no punishment at all.

Well, that was the veteran hero who'd survived every mountain, river, and aerial battle for you. And since Kim would have drawn too many eyes if he walked away completely untouched, he'd likely directed the blame toward Cho's light penalty instead.

But the real question was who to pick as the scapegoat.

Ideally, he'd have loved to make Kim Dae-ri — whom Hong Dae-ri despised — the scapegoat, but Kim had no connection whatsoever to this incident. The only person with even a marginal link was Manager Kim.

After all, it had been Manager Kim who'd handled Kyungin Distribution's phone sales at the end of October.

That's it, decided. Survival first.

Young-hoon had just returned to the office and was about to start work when Cho Cha-jang called a meeting.

"I just came back from the Managing Director's office. The approval for the Myeongseong University pre-bid report will come down shortly. Pass it along to the dealerships so there are no hitches in tomorrow's bid. Also, the supply audit everyone's been whispering about has been finalized — but it's been replaced with a document review. Only contracts over 100 million won with a DC rate of 25% or higher will be audited. The prep period runs until next week, so make sure your paperwork is ready. Don't get penalized for nothing. If there's nothing else, get back to work."

A one-way lecture, as expected.

Young-hoon decided it didn't apply to him and checked his email. Managing Director Kim's approval had come through.

He immediately called President Kim at Namseoul Distribution and told him the amount to bid tomorrow. Just in case, he sent it by email as well.

He'd finished his tasks and was taking a breather when Park Dae-ri's whining drifted over from beside him.

"Must be nice, Kim Dae-ri. You barely have anything over ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠100 million, right?"

"Eh, maybe two or three? What about you?"

"Just under ten. Anyway, that bastard Hong Dae-ri probably has the most — who's going to patch up his paperwork?"

"I'd die before I did it. You'd better refuse too. Got it?"

"Hey, Kim Dae-ri, didn't Cho Cha-jang's voice sound like it had some real force behind it at this morning's meeting?"

"You think so too? There's definitely something going on between him and Managing Director Kim."

"Detective Park is on the case, so just sit tight."

When Park Dae-ri returned to his desk, Young-hoon placed a call to PD Lee Hyo-young.

Young-hoon hung up the phone, relieved, as if a weight had been lifted from his chest — and found a group chat waiting from the Five Girls members.

When Young-hoon finished the group chat with Five Girls and looked around the office, Park Dae-ri and Jin-man were both out on field work.

Young-hoon also had to head out for an appointment with Ha-yeon's father, but he felt bad that Manager Kim was the only one left behind.

"Aren't you going out on field work, Manager?"

"Me? I have to prepare the supply documents for the audit."

"What about Hong Dae-ri's paperwork? Who's handling that?"

"He's back next week, isn't he? He can deal with it himself then. Heading out?"

"Yes. I'm going to stop by Namseoul Distribution."

"Got it. Good luck out there today too."

He'd arranged to meet Ha-yeon's father at the Synergy Building lobby around eleven. He'd left in good time, and managed to arrive at the building ahead of schedule.

He escorted Ha-yeon's father up to Chairman Jang's office on the 35th floor. When they reached it, the secretary showed Young-hoon's party into the conference room.