I'll Create Groups Under the Group

Gathered in the living room, Lee Mun-jong and the others reacted fiercely to Lee Tak-hyeon's words.

"What about me? I'm not doing anything right now, so why is Gyeong-eun getting the department store on top of the hotel?"

Lee Jeong-eun, who still had not been assigned any work after Ilhyeon Fashion was sold off in the restructuring, pushed back the hardest.

"If it's a department store, it should go to me. Don't you remember I was at Ilhyeon Fashion? I know department stores better. What does she even know that you're giving her the department store too?"

"Chairman. Entrusting Ilhyeon Department Store to the youngest as well might be going too far. As Jeong-eun says, wouldn't it be better to give it to her instead?"

"Chairman. Neither Eldest Brother nor any of us brothers has ever held two affiliates at the same time. Third and Fourth haven't even sat in a president's chair. Yet only the youngest is getting both Ilhyeon Hotel and Ilhyeon Department Store. It's unfair."

After Lee Jeong-eun, Lee Mun-jong and Lee Sang-jong voiced their opposition as well. Lee Tak-hyeon, who had simply been listening, turned to Lee Sang-jong, the last to speak.

"What's unfair about it?"

"It just seems like... special treatment..."

Lee Sang-jong finished and glanced sideways at Kim Seong-ho. He couldn't shake the feeling that Lee Gyeong-eun was receiving preferential treatment because of Kim Seong-ho.

Lee Tak-hyeon snorted at him.

"Then will you take them?"

"Pardon? Me?"

"Yes. You take both Ilhyeon Hotel and Ilhyeon Department Store. Of course, that means Gyeong-eun sits in the president's seat at Ilhyeon Construction."

"I..."

Lee Sang-jong could not answer at once. Even holding both Ilhyeon Hotel and Ilhyeon Department Store was nowhere near enough to trade for Ilhyeon Construction, a core pillar of the Ilhyeon Group.

Lee Tak-hyeon snorted again at Lee Sang-jong, who averted his eyes without answering, then turned to Lee Mun-jong.

"I've been thinking for some time about consolidating our finely divided affiliates into a few larger ones."

"You've been thinking of consolidating the affiliates?"

"Yes."

Lee Tak-hyeon looked around at his children seated before him.

"You all know that Director Kim's Restructuring Headquarters has been cleaning up overlapping work and making the group more efficient."

At his words the children turned their eyes toward Kim Seong-ho. Lee Tak-hyeon continued.

"I believe you have all felt how much more efficient our group has become through this restructuring. But I intend to take one more step."

"One more step? You mean you're already thinking about the stage after restructuring?"

"Yes. I intend to create groups under the group."

"Groups under the group? What does that mean?"

Lee Mun-jong and the rest of Lee Tak-hyeon's children wore blank expressions at the unfamiliar idea. None of them could picture what "groups under the group" actually meant.

Only Kim Seong-ho understood. He had already lived through the affiliate grouping that Lee Tak-hyeon had directed in the previous timeline.

"Right now every affiliate of our group is finely sliced. There are more than seventy companies that simply carry the Ilhyeon name. To handle such fragmented affiliates efficiently, I believe we need intermediate-level groups."

"You mean grouping similar affiliates together?"

Lee Tak-hyeon nodded.

"For example, card, insurance, life, securities—anything that deals with money—would become a financial group."

He paused and looked at Kim Seong-ho.

The plan had been in place for a long time. Under Hwang Do-beom's lead it had already been drafted as a way to make the swollen Ilhyeon Group more efficient; only the final decision remained. Yet Lee Tak-hyeon had hesitated at the last moment, uneasy that placing groups beneath the group might one day split the whole conglomerate. So he had kept postponing the decision.

Kim Seong-ho had opened the floodgates. By asking that Lee Gyeong-eun also take Ilhyeon Department Store, he had given Lee Tak-hyeon the push he needed to decide on the grouping.

Thinking the request clever, Lee Tak-hyeon glanced at Kim Seong-ho once more, then returned his attention to Lee Mun-jong and the others.

"I've had this idea for a long time. But I still wonder whether it will prove as efficient as I hope. So I intend to test it first through Gyeong-eun."

The moment they understood that giving her the department store while she already ran the hotel was merely a trial, the opposition from Lee Mun-jong and the rest subsided. Relief even flickered through them that they themselves had not been chosen as the first test subjects.

Lee Jeong-eun, who had been protesting that the idle sister rather than herself should not receive the department store, closed her mouth and simply watched the situation unfold. The first of any such experiment was a thankless, dangerous role—success only broke even, failure could cost the hotel she already held. And with the market sinking and the road ahead invisible, there was no reason to gamble.

"Both the hotel and the department store are service businesses that deal with customers. I will watch how well you perform in the service sector and then decide what larger responsibilities to give you. Conversely, if you fail to satisfy me... I will have to rethink you as well. So you had better not treat this lightly."

"Yes. Don't worry. I don't think hotels and department stores are all that different. I'll show you I can do it well—please watch me."

Already briefed by Kim Seong-ho, Lee Gyeong-eun answered her father with quiet confidence.

Lee Tak-hyeon glanced at Kim Seong-ho sitting silently beside her, then waved a hand.

"Fine. That settles it."

Having closed the department-store matter, he turned to Lee Chang-jong.

"What about your wife?"

Mention of Jang Eun-ah twisted Lee Chang-jong's expression into something bitter. Her absence even from the Sunday family gatherings felt like a deliberate slight not only to him but to the entire family.

"If it's really impossible, just divorce her."

With the Gyeong-eun discussion finished and the talk shifting to Jang Eun-ah, Lee Mun-jong offered his younger brother advice.

"You're living worse than a married couple already—what's the point of staying together?"

"That's right, brother-in-law. She even brought a child born outside into the house. Your sister-in-law won't want to live with her either. Just split while you can."

"How can you say that? It sounds as if Chang-jong is the one at fault."

"So he did the right thing?"

When Lee Mun-jong rebuked Bang Hyeon-ju, she lifted her chin and glared straight at him. Burdened by his own secret guilt, Lee Mun-jong could not meet her eyes. He looked away; Bang Hyeon-ju continued to stare as though she knew everything.

Once Lee Mun-jong retreated, the couple's quarrel died down. Lee Tak-hyeon spoke again to Lee Chang-jong.

"It's about time you decided."

Lee Chang-jong seemed to share the thought; he nodded and listened carefully.

"Within a month, come back with a decision—whatever it is."

"Yes. I'll decide as quickly as possible and report."

"Good. That will be all."

Lee Tak-hyeon rose, making clear he had nothing further to say. His children stood with him and bowed as he headed for the study. He accepted their farewells and walked away. Kim Seong-ho watched his retreating back in silence.

The sale of Doa Motors sank into deeper chaos.

Press reports emerged claiming that the atmosphere at the German automaker once considered the frontrunner was not what people believed.

Word spread that the Seonwoo Group likewise had no interest in bidding for Doa Motors. Once the German automaker and Seonwoo Group both stepped back, second-tier contenders such as Dugyeong Group began abandoning the race entirely.

The moment the first round failed, the market atmosphere turned brittle. Anxiety began to spread that Doa Motors might never find a new owner and would simply enter bankruptcy proceedings.

As the possibility of Doa Motors' bankruptcy rose, every arrow of blame flew toward the Doa Motors union. Panelists appearing on broadcasts spoke with one voice in condemning them. Workers at second- and third-tier subcontractors—companies that would collapse like dominoes if Doa entered bankruptcy—also turned their backs on the union. They aimed every shaft of criticism at the labor leaders who had discarded the most promising card, the Ilhyeon Group, before bidding had even begun.

Union Chairman Park Geun-yong, rattled by the atmosphere, shouted at Park Don-su, president of Modu Bank.

"How did this happen? Didn't you say that if we blocked the Ilhyeon Group, the chances of a German automaker taking over would be high?"

"Well…"

Park Don-su wiped his forehead with a handkerchief, looking trapped. The deputy president spoke in his place to Union Chairman Park Geun-yong and Advisor Kim Gwang-myeong.

"They were high—until you two did something that defied common sense."

"Defied common sense? What are you talking about?"

"You should have kept it within reason."

The deputy president clenched a fist and rapped the desk, raising his voice in frustration.

"With so many eyes watching, did you really have to turn the Ilhyeon Group man into a laughingstock right out in the open?"

"What on earth are you saying?"

"I'm talking about throwing rotten eggs at Director Kim Seong-ho of the Ilhyeon Group!"

"What does that have to do with a German company buying us?"

"How can it not have anything to do with it?"

The deputy president looked at Union Chairman Park Geun-yong with open contempt.

"Because you pulled that stunt in front of the cameras, every second of it was recorded. And through the press it reached not only this country but Germany across the sea."

"So what if it did?"

"You still don't understand? The people at the German automaker saw it and are now hesitating to bid. Those people have had their fill of hard-line unions."

Advisor Kim Gwang-myeong could no longer stay silent and cut in.

"If we're talking hard-line unions, aren't European ones worse? I hear they set fires and burn police cars at the drop of a hat. All we did was throw a few rotten eggs. How is that the act of a union that makes people run screaming?"

At Kim Gwang-myeong's words, Bank President Park Don-su exploded.

"At the very least they don't publicly humiliate a party that has expressed interest in bidding!"

"Wasn't that whole thing something you ordered?"

When Park Don-su raised his voice, Union Chairman Park Geun-yong shouted even louder. Face flushed crimson, he jabbed a finger at the bank president.

"You told us to do it, didn't you? Block the Ilhyeon Group, you said. Only then can the company go to a German firm—that was your order!"

Bang!

The deputy president slammed his fist on the desk.

"I told you to block them—who told you to humiliate them? You eat grease for a living, so is your head so full of oil that it doesn't work right?"

"What did you just say? Who do you think you are… Hey! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠You looking to die?"

"Looking to die? You're the ones who'll die. If Doa Motors goes bankrupt, you, the union that follows you, and all their families will die with it."

"You son of a…"

Union Chairman Park Geun-yong shot to his feet; the deputy president rose just as fast. The air turned ugly enough for fists to fly at any second. Kim Gwang-myeong stood to mediate.

"Let's not lose our tempers—sit down and talk. Fighting among ourselves solves nothing, does it?"

Kim Gwang-myeong held Park Geun-yong back while trying to calm the deputy president. The deputy president glared at Park Geun-yong.

"If you stop pinning the blame on us, I'm willing to sit and discuss. Chairman Park. Do you still intend to keep arguing over who is responsible?"

"You people brought it up first!"

When Park Geun-yong raised his voice again, Kim Gwang-myeong patted his shoulder firmly and spoke to the deputy president.

"Understood. We will not press the matter, so please let it go on the Modu Bank side as well."

"Very well."

The deputy president agreed and sat. Kim Gwang-myeong soothed the still-snorting Park Geun-yong into his chair, rested a hand on the man's heaving shoulder until the anger settled, then addressed Bank President Park Don-su.

"Is there no plan for the German automaker to re-enter the bidding?"

"You can regard it as a complete withdrawal. And not only the German company. Domestic firms including Seonwoo are all preparing to pull out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as well."

"Then… what are we supposed to do? Is bankruptcy really our only answer?"

Kim Gwang-myeong asked with a face ready to cry. Even the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠once-agitated Park Geun-yong had no choice but to calm down; when life and death hung in the balance, anger at the deputy president meant nothing.

Park Don-su glanced briefly at his deputy, then opened his mouth.

"Right now the only path that lets Doa Motors survive is for the Ilhyeon Group to enter the bidding."

"The Ilhyeon… Group?"

Park Geun-yong and Kim Gwang-myeong squeezed their eyes shut at the news that Ilhyeon was the sole remaining option. The memory of throwing rotten eggs at Kim Seong-ho when he visited the Gwangmyeong plant—and of screaming at him to stay out of the bidding—rose as vividly as if it had happened yesterday. Neither man could open his eyes; both simply regretted the past.