I Did Not Come to Negotiate
After pleading for a long while in a voice that bordered on wailing, Jeong Su-yeon finally opened her eyes when Kim Seong-ho still gave no reaction.
Seeing his cold gaze, she wiped her tears and spoke.
"I can't live without the child. If you take the baby from me…"
"One billion."
"What?"
"I'll give you one billion."
"What are you talking about? One billion? Do I look like I'm doing this for money?"
Jeong Su-yeon shot him a look of pure offense at the way he had brought up money out of nowhere. She wiped the rest of her tears and shouted sharply at him.
"I didn't come here to sell my child!"
"Nine hundred million."
"What do you mean by—"
Kim Seong-ho didn't so much as twitch an eyebrow. He simply lifted his wrist, checked his watch, and spoke.
"I'll give you ten seconds. If you don't answer within ten seconds, the amount keeps going down. Ten. Nine. Eight…"
"I—I can't be separated from the ba—"
Her voice trembled. Whether she spoke or not, Kim Seong-ho kept his eyes on his watch and continued counting.
"…Three. Two. One. Time's up. Eight hundred million. I'll give you another round. Ten. Nine. Eight…"
The woman who had been wailing only moments earlier could no longer form a single word. Her eyes wide, her lips moved as if she still had something to say, but nothing came out. Another ten seconds slipped away.
"Unfortunately, time's up again. Seven hundred million. Shall we start over? Ten. Nine. Eight…"
"W-wait! Wait a second!"
Supporting her belly with both hands, Jeong Su-yeon hastily raised a palm toward him.
"One billion isn't enough."
Kim Seong-ho, still looking at his watch, curled the corner of his mouth upward, then lifted his gaze to meet hers.
"So now you're finally ready to talk."
"One billion won't do it. Give me more."
"One billion is already a great deal of money, you know."
"The exchange rate has gone up. One billion isn't enough. Give me two billion. If it's two billion, I'll think about it."
"I think you're under a misunderstanding."
Kim Seong-ho tilted his head at a slight angle and looked at her.
"I didn't come here to negotiate. And what I'm saying isn't a proposal either."
"Not a proposal? Then what is it?"
"I came to inform you of the only option available to you, Ms. Jeong Su-yeon."
"Inform me?"
Her eyes flew open. Kim Seong-ho casually brushed off his knees with one hand and continued.
"It would be in your best interest to choose me."
"Are you threatening me right now?"
"Not a threat. I'm simply reminding you of a fact you already know."
"What do I already know?"
"That I'm the only person you can actually have a conversation with."
At those words, Jeong Su-yeon's mouth snapped shut. Kim Seong-ho watched her and smiled without speaking.
She's been at Lee Mun-jong's side for five years. She knows exactly what I mean.
Jeong Su-yeon understood better than anyone how few people within the Ilhyeon Group would even sit across from her like this. If she faced anyone else, Kim Seong-ho's "notification" would feel almost courteous by comparison. She knew that better than anyone.
After watching her silent face for a moment, Kim Seong-ho rose from his seat. Jeong Su-yeon startled at the movement and pushed herself up as well, still cradling her belly.
"Where are you going?"
"I've conveyed the gist of it, so I should be heading back. That way you can rest as well, Ms. Jeong."
"We haven't finished talking."
"Haven't we?"
He sat down again and simply looked at her. Jeong Su-yeon's expression grew complicated under that gaze before she finally opened her mouth.
"Fine… Just give me one billion and I'll disappear."
"A wise choice."
For the first time since entering the hotel room, Kim Seong-ho smiled as he spoke to her.
"Take the one billion, go somewhere new, and start a new life."
"Ah! What about the baby?"
It was the same question as before, yet her tone was completely different. Kim Seong-ho answered in a calm, steady voice.
"The child will live as a member of the Ilhyeon family."
"So you're accepting the child?"
"Yes. That's how it will be."
"That's a relief."
Jeong Su-yeon dropped heavily onto the bed. She had been certain the Ilhyeon Group would never acknowledge the child. She had braced herself for a long, exhausting fight and had returned to Korea determined not to be crushed by them. Of course, that resolve had nothing to do with the unborn baby. She had come back heavy with pregnancy solely to extract every last won she could from the Ilhyeon Group. If they refused to pay, she had fully intended to expose every dirty secret and then simply flee abroad. Yet to her surprise, they had agreed to pay without any fuss—and the sum they offered was one billion, more than she had expected. She let out a long breath of relief at how smoothly everything was going.
"As long as the baby can be with its father, that's enough."
The words sounded warm, but the emotion behind them was pure relief at being able to unload a burdensome child. Kim Seong-ho made no reply. He simply turned away.
"One of our people will accompany you to the hospital. After the child is born, you can recover, take the prepared money, and leave Korea."
"Um, but…"
Jeong Su-yeon called out just as he reached for the doorknob.
"Is there some other demand?"
Kim Seong-ho asked in a dry voice. She hurriedly shook her head.
"No. It's not another demand… Aren't you going to do a test?"
She found it strange that he was proceeding without even confirming paternity through a DNA test. Kim Seong-ho kept his hand on the doorknob and smiled.
"Why? Is the father of the child in your belly someone else?"
"No! No. The father is… definitely the Vice Chairman."
Terrified that he might suspect otherwise, she shook both her head and her hands vigorously, insisting that Lee Mun-jong was the father. Watching her, Kim Seong-ho slowly lifted the right corner of his mouth.
"I think so too."
Jeong Su-yeon blinked at the complete absence of doubt in his face. She had no idea how to react to a man who so firmly believed the unborn child's father was Lee Mun-jong. Kim Seong-ho turned the knob, opened the door, and left her with one final remark.
"We'll handle the rest. You just move as promised. Then our relationship will be cleanly settled."
"Don't worry. I keep my promises too."
"I believe that. Well then…"
Leaving those words of trust behind, Kim Seong-ho closed the door.
Jo Byeong-jin, who had been waiting outside, asked what had happened the moment Kim Seong-ho stepped out. Kim Seong-ho answered briefly and began walking slowly down the corridor. Walking alongside him, Jo Byeong-jin spoke in a worried tone.
"Hey. Aren't you trusting her too much? What if she shows up again years from now?"
Kim Seong-ho turned his head. Jo Byeong-jin met his eyes with a serious expression.
"She might change her mind later. Nobody in your family even knew she was pregnant, right? She had the abortion arranged and still shows up full-term… She's no ordinary woman. She might come back."
"That would be interesting."
"What?"
Rather than worry, Kim Seong-ho found the idea of her reappearing amusing.
"Keep watching her from now on. Wherever she goes, whatever she does—keep an eye on her."
Jo Byeong-jin nodded, taking it as acceptance of his warning.
"Yeah. We have to keep watching. With a woman like that, you never know what she'll pull later. Leave it to me. I'll take full responsibility for monitoring her, so don't worry about a thing."
Kim Seong-ho patted Jo Byeong-jin's shoulder.
"I can't tell you how reassuring it is to have you by my side."
"What are friends for? Besides, thanks to you I've been climbing the ladder at the company. Of course I should scratch the itches you can't reach. If anything else comes up that you can't easily assign to other people, just tell me. I'll take care of it."
Kim Seong-ho smiled brightly and gave Jo Byeong-jin's shoulder a firmer squeeze, conveying his gratitude through the touch. Jo Byeong-jin understood perfectly. He gently laid his own hand over Kim Seong-ho's, answering the feeling without words. Side by side, the two of them walked down the corridor and stopped in front of the elevator.
News that President-elect Kim Dae-sang had summoned the heads of the five largest conglomerates spread widely through the media. With the country in crisis, many watched closely to see what solutions would emerge from the meeting he had arranged. After the gathering concluded, the presidential transition committee released a statement to the press about what had been discussed.
Leaving the Ilhyeon Hotel while the transition committee's announcement was still underway, Lee Tak-hyeon climbed into the car and closed his eyes the moment he sat down. From the front passenger seat, Hwang Do-beom signaled the driver to start, then turned toward the Chairman in the back.
"Thanks to the preparations we made in advance, the results were excellent. Doa Automobile is the company you've had your eye on for a long time, isn't it?"
Lee Tak-hyeon slowly opened his eyes and looked at Hwang Do-beom.
"Yes. I've liked it for a long time."
He exhaled softly and gazed out the window, watching the stream of cars pass by one after another.
"This tiny strip of land has far too many automobile companies. Five domestic makers alone, plus Japan, America, Germany—how many car brands are there in total?"
"You're absolutely right, Chairman."
"The domestic industry needs to be consolidated down to two or so. And I am certain that will happen eventually, whenever it may be."
"So you've been trying to grow the company's size so we won't be the ones weeded out when that day comes."
"Exactly."
Lee Tak-hyeon looked satisfied that Hwang Do-beom had grasped his intention.
"No one knows when it will happen. It could be this time, or ten years from now, or twenty. But when that day arrives, if we have the largest body of all—what do you think will happen?"
"We won't be the ones consolidated. Everyone else will gather under us."
"Hahaha."
Lee Tak-hyeon reached forward and patted Hwang Do-beom's shoulder.
"That's why I like you. Yes. Exactly. To bring them under us, we absolutely needed Doa Automobile."
He leaned back against the seat, looked up at the car's ceiling, and continued.
"If we had tried to acquire Doa Automobile when I first wanted it, it would have cost over ten trillion. Director Kim blocked that, and we saved an enormous amount of money."
"So it's confirmed that we'll acquire Doa Automobile?"
"It's confirmed."
Lee Tak-hyeon lowered his gaze to Hwang Do-beom.
"But the formalities still remain."
"Formalities?"
"The price hasn't been set yet. Setting the price comes first. Then we have to go through a competitive bidding process—a show for the outside world—so everyone can see it was decided through open competition. Otherwise those long-noses might start making nuisances of themselves."
"You're right. The IMF demands restructuring of entire industries, but when companies with tangled interests are involved, it can become a problem."
"Still, formalities are only formalities. The fact that we'll acquire Doa Automobile for far less than originally expected doesn't change."
Looking thoroughly pleased, Lee Tak-hyeon headed back to the company. The sense of satisfaction only grew stronger; he felt with growing conviction that the bailout was becoming a tremendous opportunity for both himself and the Ilhyeon Group.
"This is only the beginning. How much more we can extract from this will determine whether we complete a twenty-year plan—or the hundred-year foundation of the Ilhyeon Group."
Feeling that the first footprint of that century-long plan had been planted to his satisfaction, Lee Tak-hyeon turned his face toward the window once more. What he did not know was that, at the very same hour he was laying the groundwork for Ilhyeon's century, elsewhere forces were already moving to fling filth across the Ilhyeon family name.