A Grudge Against the Ilhyeon Group
“Chairman.”
Lee Tak-hyeon, who had been watching the CCTV monitors in the private chamber, turned toward Hwang Do-beom as the man opened the door and stepped inside.
“Have they all gone?”
“Yes. Everyone has left.”
“Seong-ho as well?”
“Yes.”
Hwang Do-beom had briefly considered stopping Kim Seong-ho on his way out. It had occurred to him that the Chairman might need a moment alone with him once the others were gone. But Seong-ho, as if oblivious to that thought, had simply offered his farewells and walked out, leaving Hwang Do-beom no choice but to return to the chamber alone.
Lee Tak-hyeon clasped his hands behind his back and made his way to the sofa. Settling into his seat, he looked at Hwang Do-beom and asked,
“B&A, was it?”
He was asking about the company name Kim Seong-ho had mentioned only moments earlier. Swallowing his regret that Seong-ho had not been able to explain it himself, Hwang Do-beom answered the Chairman’s question.
“Mr. Kim has established an investment trust company called British & American Investment. From what we can determine, that is where his capital is concentrated—along with the buildings and his stake in Shilla Future Asset.”
“British & American?”
Lee Tak-hyeon rolled the name of Seong-ho’s company around on his tongue, sounding amused, then asked,
“What is that ‘British’ something supposed to mean? Why throw Britain and America in there out of nowhere?”
“It appears he chose it precisely because it has no connection to him.”
“Because it has no connection?”
Lee Tak-hyeon shot Hwang Do-beom a look that demanded further explanation. Recalling the brief remark he had overheard from Kim Seong-ho, Hwang Do-beom elaborated.
“He said he does not want the true owner of the company known for the time being. He wanted a name no one would ever guess—and what came out of that was British & American.”
“Hahaha.”
Lee Tak-hyeon clutched his stomach and burst into laughter, as if he had just heard a particularly good joke. He slapped his knee and could not stop laughing for a long while.
“Hahaha. It’s so funny I’m tearing up.”
Wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes with a finger, he went on,
“British & American. B&A, is it? Hahaha. Right. No one would ever imagine it. How could anyone look at that name and connect Kim Seong-ho to B&A? Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.”
Once he had caught his breath after the fit of laughter, Lee Tak-hyeon wiped the smile from his face and looked up at Hwang Do-beom. As if he had never laughed at all, he asked in a hardened voice,
“How do you rate Ilhyeon Securities’ chances of survival?”
“Once the rights offering is complete, the capital impairment will be resolved, so it should be stable for a while… But the market is still in poor condition…”
Hwang Do-beom trailed off, unable to bring himself to say aloud that Ilhyeon Securities’ odds of survival were slim. Even so, Lee Tak-hyeon understood the company’s condition perfectly well.
“In that case, from now on, refrain from providing support to Ilhyeon Securities as much as possible—including operational support.”
“You mean even work connected to the Group?”
Hwang Do-beom stared at Lee Tak-hyeon in surprise. He had not expected an order that would deny Ilhyeon Securities even the business the Group itself assigned.
“Dan Il-gyeong and Jang Chan-pyeong are both involved.”
Lee Tak-hyeon offered the brief reason, then drummed his fingers on the arm of the sofa as he continued.
“I don’t like the idea of Ilhyeon Securities surviving and those men making money off it, and I don’t like the idea of them using that to exert influence over our Group. Exclude Ilhyeon Securities from the Group as thoroughly as you can. Whether it fails or not, keep the impact on the Group to a minimum.”
“Chairman. Ilhyeon Department Store and Ilhyeon Hotel are already entangled in this. Is there any point in trying to separate the Group from Ilhyeon Securities at this stage?”
“Then keep it limited to Ilhyeon Department Store and Ilhyeon Hotel.”
Lee Tak-hyeon stopped drumming and fixed his gaze on Hwang Do-beom.
“They walked into that place of their own free will, so they can walk out of it the same way. If they can’t get out, so be it…”
Hwang Do-beom understood that Lee Tak-hyeon would rather see Ilhyeon Securities go down together with Dan Il-gyeong and Jang Chan-pyeong—and that he was even prepared for Ilhyeon Department Store and Ilhyeon Hotel to be swept away in the chaos.
“At around a hundred billion won each, the department store and the hotel won’t collapse. They’ll only stagger. We can step in and help them then. Just make sure nowhere else gets drawn in.”
Hwang Do-beom looked at Lee Tak-hyeon with a dark expression—and worried just as darkly about the road that lay ahead for Kim Seong-ho.
He means to bury Chairman Dan and Chairman Jang along with Seong-ho.
They had been forced to tolerate Dan Il-gyeong and Jang Chan-pyeong entering Ilhyeon Securities, but any reach beyond that—anything that touched the rest of the Group—was absolutely unacceptable. All Hwang Do-beom could do was hope, silently, that Kim Seong-ho would come back from Ilhyeon Securities alive.
But contrary to what Hwang Do-beom and Lee Tak-hyeon believed, survival was not Kim Seong-ho’s goal.
To him, Ilhyeon Securities was nothing more than a foothold—a stepping stone to somewhere far higher.
Leaving Pyeongchang-dong, Kim Seong-ho made his way to a restaurant on the outskirts of Seoul, where Jang Chan-pyeong was waiting.
“I’m a little late.”
“Not at all.”
Jang Chan-pyeong, who had arrived first, glanced up as Kim Seong-ho slid open the door and stepped in, then waved a hand to say it was fine.
“I figured you might be delayed, so I went ahead and ordered. Hope you don’t mind.”
“There’s nothing I can’t eat.”
Kim Seong-ho sat down across from Jang Chan-pyeong and took in the private room.
“A place you know well?”
“I come here often for maeuntang. Do you like spicy fish stew?”
“I do. A place that does freshwater maeuntang well is rare, though… Knowing you favor this one, I expect it’ll be excellent even without tasting it.”
Jang Chan-pyeong nodded at Seong-ho’s words.
“If you like maeuntang, you’ll be pleased. The freshwater stew here has no off-smell, and they do it extremely well.”
“I look forward to it.”
Jang Chan-pyeong studied Seong-ho’s face for a moment, then let out a short laugh.
“Chairman Lee has a sharp eye.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I’m saying I envy him for finding a son-in-law like you. If my own daughter had married a man like you, I wouldn’t have half the worries I do now…”
Jang Chan-pyeong looked at Kim Seong-ho with a gaze full of regret. What he had taken for a worthless lump of stone had turned out to be a glittering gem—and the fact that it was a diamond worth more than any other jewel left him nothing but regret.
You’ll never get a son-in-law like me. Your daughter isn’t the kind of woman who would spare a glance for an ordinary man like me.
Knowing full well what kind of woman Jang Eun-ah was, Kim Seong-ho was certain she would never take an interest in someone as ordinary as him. Jang Chan-pyeong, for his part, might feel regret looking back now—but even if he could return to the past, he would never have accepted Kim Seong-ho as a son-in-law. Of course, Jang Chan-pyeong himself did not seem to realize that.
Regret left him smacking his lips even though the freshwater maeuntang had not yet arrived.
“Thank you for thinking so highly of me.”
After offering the polite thanks, Kim Seong-ho glanced briefly toward the sliding door, then spoke.
“Chairman. Shall we finish our business before the food arrives?”
“Yes. That would be better.”
When Jang Chan-pyeong agreed, Kim Seong-ho set the document envelope he had brought onto the still-empty table and pushed it across toward him. Jang Chan-pyeong picked it up without asking what it was, as if he already knew.
“It’s as we discussed last time.”
At Seong-ho’s brief explanation, Jang Chan-pyeong nodded and opened the envelope. Inside was a contract. Drawing it out and examining it, he said,
“Why offer me terms this favorable?”
He asked while scrutinizing the contents carefully.
“I believe I already told you once.”
“I know you did.”
Jang Chan-pyeong looked up from the contract at Kim Seong-ho.
“I know, but I want to hear it again and confirm it. Why are you doing this?”
Holding Jang Chan-pyeong’s eyes for a moment, Kim Seong-ho gave a short smile.
“Then I’ll say it again.”
The smile drained slowly from his face. Looking straight into Jang Chan-pyeong’s eyes, he said,
“Because I have a grudge against the Ilhyeon Group. A grudge that cuts to the bone. To me, Ilhyeon is as good as an enemy.”
“Heh heh.”
Looking into eyes full of that grudge, Jang Chan-pyeong let out a hollow laugh without meaning to.
“You said the same thing when we met last time. That’s why I accepted your proposal. But when I went home and thought it over quietly, it all seemed far too strange.”
Jang Chan-pyeong set the contract down on the table. Taking the pen Seong-ho held out, he signed it. After studying the signed page for a moment, he handed the pen back to Seong-ho and continued where he had left off.
“Why would a man like Kim Seong-ho—riding high inside Ilhyeon—harbor such a deep grudge against them? Was he trying to deceive me? Had Lee Tak-hyeon figured out that I wanted revenge on Ilhyeon and sent you to me? Every kind of thought crossed my mind.”
He slipped the contract back into the envelope, pushed it toward Kim Seong-ho, and said,
“When those suspicions were rising so thick I couldn’t sleep, your eyes came back to me out of the middle of them. Those same eyes you have right now.”
Jang Chan-pyeong pointed at Kim Seong-ho’s eyes with a finger, then stared into them without blinking.
“Those aren’t the eyes of a man telling a lie. They’re the eyes of a man who wants revenge as badly as I do. That’s why I wanted to confirm it once more.”
“And now that you’ve confirmed it? Do I still seem like a man telling lies?”
“No. Those eyes don’t lie.”
A smile touched Jang Chan-pyeong’s lips as he spoke.
“I’ve spent a lifetime in the private-lending business and seen countless people, but I’ve never seen eyes burning with vengeance the way yours do. Your eyes are the truth. They hold a grudge against Ilhyeon as deep as mine—or perhaps even deeper.”
At those words, Kim Seong-ho smiled back and opened the envelope. He drew out the contract and checked Jang Chan-pyeong’s signature.
“As stated in the contract, three years from now B&A Investment will acquire your stake at a price twenty percent higher than what you paid.”
“Principal guaranteed and interest on top of it—there’s no reason to turn down an offer like that.”
“Until the three years pass and B&A takes the stake, no one can know about the contract between you and me.”
“That’s something I’d rather ask of you myself.”
A thin, cold smile flickered across Jang Chan-pyeong’s laughing face.
“If we’re going to settle the score with those Ilhyeon bastards—especially with your father-in-law and that son-in-law of mine—no one can know that the stake will vanish in three years.”
Kim Seong-ho returned the contract to the envelope, set it aside, and laid his coat over it.
“Ilhyeon Securities’ power within the Group will keep growing. For three years, you can wield that power however you like.”
“You truly don’t care if the Group falls apart?”
“Didn’t I tell you?”
Kim Seong-ho rested his arms on the table and leaned toward Jang Chan-pyeong.
“My desire to see the Ilhyeon Group broken is greater than yours, Chairman.”
“Hahaha.”
Jang Chan-pyeong burst into loud laughter.
“Fine. Then for three years, I’ll do as I please. But I’ll make you one promise.”
He raised a finger toward Kim Seong-ho.
“Whatever comes of it, I’ll follow your lead.”
Having said that, he closed his hand around the finger, straightened his back, and looked at Seong-ho.
“I may have a deep grudge against the Ilhyeon Group and your father-in-law, but that doesn’t mean I hate money. A man who guarantees my principal and pays interest on top will always come first, so don’t worry.”
Kim Seong-ho smiled and bowed his head toward Jang Chan-pyeong.
“I’ll be counting on you for the next three years.”
“I’m the one counting on you. Be sure to tear the Ilhyeon Group down.”
Still bowed toward each other, Kim Seong-ho and Jang Chan-pyeong lifted their heads at the same time. Their eyes met, and both of them broke into broad smiles.
After they had laughed for a while, a question full of curiosity left Jang Chan-pyeong’s mouth.
“There’s one thing I’m curious about, though. Whatever we mean to do, the precondition is that Ilhyeon Securities has to survive, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. That has to happen first if we’re going to exert any influence over the Group.”
“Do you have a plan to save Ilhyeon Securities?”
As Jang Chan-pyeong asked the question, the sliding door opened and a pot of maeuntang was carried in. Watching the stew begin to bubble on the gas burner, Kim Seong-ho smiled.
“Would you like to hear my plan?”
Jang Chan-pyeong pulled his gaze away from the maeuntang. Seong-ho’s words sounded more tempting than a dish whose flavor he already knew by heart.