Not a Swamp, But a Land of Opportunity
Section Chief Jeong Byeong-ju kept tilting his head as he packed his things.
The order had come from above, so he was complying, but the question of whether this was truly the right move refused to leave his mind.
“Hey, Assistant Manager Kim.”
Deciding he would never find an answer on his own, Jeong Byeong-ju stopped packing and turned toward Kim Seong-ho, who was likewise gathering his belongings from his desk.
“Is this… really the right call?”
“What do you mean, the right call?”
“Well…”
Jeong Byeong-ju paused and glanced around, then lowered his voice.
“I mean, is going to Ilhyeon Watch really the right move?”
Even speaking quietly did not ease his nerves. He stepped closer to Kim Seong-ho and tried again.
“Ilhyeon Watch has already entered the cleanup stage. Why would we go to a place like that? No—even if I understand Assistant Manager Kim going there a hundred times over, what about me? Why am I going?”
Kim Seong-ho was Lee Tak-hyeon’s son-in-law; whether he was sent to Ilhyeon Watch or somewhere even worse was none of Jeong Byeong-ju’s concern.
Surely they wouldn’t cast out their own son-in-law just for failing to produce results.
But he himself was different. Jeong Byeong-ju seized Kim Seong-ho’s sleeve and spoke in an even lower voice.
“Hey, instead of that, talk to Deputy Head Lee Gyeong-deuk… No—he’s the Director now. Talk to Director Lee Gyeong-deuk. Tell him not to send me.”
“I told Director Lee that I wanted to go with you, Section Chief.”
“What? Assistant Manager Kim said he wanted to go with me?”
Jeong Byeong-ju released the sleeve and took a step back.
“Why? Why on earth? Why drag me there with you?”
“You’re my senior, Section Chief. Of course we should go together.”
“Assistant Manager Kim…”
Jeong Byeong-ju approached with a tearful expression and pleaded.
“I have a family to feed and a mountain of loans still to pay off. Why are you trying to drag someone like me into a swamp…”
“Because it’s a land of opportunity.”
Kim Seong-ho answered simply, lifted his box, and smiled at him.
“I’m not dragging you into a swamp, Section Chief. I’m offering you an opportunity.”
“Opportunity? You’re calling Ilhyeon Watch an opportunity?”
“Yes.”
Speaking with absolute conviction, Kim Seong-ho turned away.
“So finish packing and come quickly. The land of opportunity—Ilhyeon Watch—is waiting for us.”
Realizing further argument was useless, Jeong Byeong-ju followed him with a face heavy with worry.
Just as they were about to leave the Strategic Planning Office with their boxes, Director Lee Gyeong-deuk—now fully installed as Head of the office—approached.
“Assistant Manager Kim. Contact me anytime if you need help. I’ll mobilize every resource in the Strategic Planning Office to support you.”
Director Lee Gyeong-deuk believed that his long-desired promotion to Head was entirely thanks to Kim Seong-ho. Twice Kim Seong-ho had cleared the blocked pathways that had kept the position vacant, and Lee Gyeong-deuk had risen into it. Even so, the fact that Kim Seong-ho—despite all the credit he had earned—was being sent not to a promotion but to the swamp known as Ilhyeon Watch weighed on him. He had already decided that if Kim Seong-ho ever asked for help, he would give whatever support lay within his power.
Kim Seong-ho smiled at him.
“I’m grateful just for the offer. The fact that I remain affiliated with the Strategic Planning Office hasn’t changed, so I’ll normalize Ilhyeon Watch quickly and return.”
“Right. I’ll keep your seat waiting for you, so take care out there.”
As if seeing off someone dear to him, Lee Gyeong-deuk came all the way down to the lobby to bid them farewell.
Ilhyeon Watch headquarters stood close enough to reach on foot, so once they left the building, Kim Seong-ho and Jeong Byeong-ju walked at a measured pace toward Taepyeong-ro, boxes in hand.
Halfway there, Kim Seong-ho spoke as though he had just remembered something.
“Ah—right. I forgot to mention this.”
“Huh? What…? What did you forget?”
Still anxious despite all talk of opportunity, Jeong Byeong-ju asked with wide, uneasy eyes.
Kim Seong-ho smiled at him.
“Would a regional assignment be all right with you?”
“Regional assignment? What do you mean, regional assignment?”
“I think we’ll need to do some work out in the provinces going forward.”
“What? Regional work? But headquarters is in Seoul.”
Jeong Byeong-ju’s expression said he could not make sense of the words. Ilhyeon Watch headquarters stood on Taepyeong-ro in Jung-gu, right in the heart of Seoul. For someone who claimed he was going to restructure a Seoul-based company to suddenly speak of provincial postings only deepened Jeong Byeong-ju’s unease.
Kim Seong-ho continued smiling at the baffled man.
“We won’t be heading down today or tomorrow, so just let your family know. It isn’t a full relocation, so there’s no need for everyone to move—only you, Section Chief.”
“No, Assistant Manager Kim. So what on earth does that—”
Unable to understand a word of it, Jeong Byeong-ju was about to press further when they arrived in front of the Ilhyeon Watch headquarters building. The sight of the company’s executives standing in a neat line outside the entrance froze every thought in his head.
“Doesn’t this look familiar?”
Kim Seong-ho pointed at the lined-up executives with his chin.
“How consistently they all behave…”
He reminded Jeong Byeong-ju of what had happened at Jisan Cement and walked forward. Only then did Jeong Byeong-ju recover enough to nod and hurry up beside him.
“Yeah, it was like that back then too. But Jisan Cement needed to look good to us. Ilhyeon Watch doesn’t. Why are they out here like this? It’s not as if we came to fire anyone.”
Kim Seong-ho gave a light laugh.
Well, this is still an era when lifelong employment feels natural.
It was a time when the belief that once you entered a company you stayed until retirement was still widespread—job-hopping was the act of traitors, and resignation was something people did only when they wanted to start their own businesses. Restructuring, therefore, amounted to little more than locating the places where money was leaking and sealing them shut. The executives had no real need to curry favor with Kim Seong-ho and Jeong Byeong-ju simply because the two men had arrived talking about restructuring.
“That’s exactly why I called Ilhyeon Watch a land of opportunity.”
“That’s why? What do you mean?”
“If I am the first to do something no one else has done, the effect will be that much more dramatic. That makes it a land of opportunity.”
“Because it’s the first time the effect is dramatic? I still have no idea what you’re talking about…”
Jeong Byeong-ju was about to say he truly did not understand when the Ilhyeon Watch executives approached. They greeted Kim Seong-ho with bright faces and welcomed him to the company. Jeong Byeong-ju could only stand behind him, watching the smiling exchanges and sending a gaze that said he still did not understand a thing.
“This is really something… I never imagined we’d meet like this. The Chairman’s youngest son-in-law coming as our company’s officer in charge—and as the restructuring officer, no less.”
The President of Ilhyeon Watch laughed as though he found the situation amusing and offered Kim Seong-ho a glass of water. He handed another to Jeong Byeong-ju sitting beside him, then settled into the seat opposite them.
“It’ll be more comfortable resting here than at headquarters. Take it easy for a while and then head back. I’ll handle everything else, so if you have personal business you can take care of it without filing any reports… If you want to take the young lady on a trip, that’s fine too… In short, do whatever you like.”
Do Eun-cheol, President of Ilhyeon Watch, kept talking without ever losing his smile.
“Frankly, there’s no better place for you than this. Getting to live like a freeloader for a while, away from the center of the group—how nice is that? Right, Section Chief Jeong?”
At the question, Jeong Byeong-ju hurriedly took his mouth from the cup he had been drinking from and nodded awkwardly.
“Yes, well… If it’s rest you’re after, there’s nowhere better than here. But…”
No matter how he looked at it, Kim Seong-ho did not seem to have come with rest in mind, so Jeong Byeong-ju let the sentence trail off. Unaware of those thoughts, Do Eun-cheol simply continued urging Kim Seong-ho to make himself comfortable.
Kim Seong-ho set down his empty glass and spoke.
“Then would you show us to the office we’ll be using? And introduce the staff who will be working with us.”
“Office?”
Do Eun-cheol looked puzzled that the man who had just been told to rest and leave was asking to be shown an office, but he called in the secretary waiting outside.
“Anyone out there? Guide Assistant Manager Kim to the office we prepared.”
A secretary soon entered, unable to hide a reluctant expression.
“Yes, sir. Please follow me.”
Kim Seong-ho bowed his head toward President Do Eun-cheol.
“Then the moment we check the office, we’ll begin work at once. If anything is needed, I’ll let you know.”
“Right. Well… do that.”
Do Eun-cheol could not imagine what they might possibly need, but given who the other party was, he simply agreed with a smile.
Before leaving the presidential office, Kim Seong-ho spoke one last time.
“And here, I am not an Assistant Manager. I am the Officer in Charge. I would appreciate it if you address me that way from now on.”
With that, he offered a brief farewell and followed the secretary out.
Not long after Kim Seong-ho left, the executives of Ilhyeon Watch filed in through the same door he had just used.
“President. What did he say?”
Executive Director Bang Ju-gyeol, Managing Director Ju Seong-su, and several other directors all directed the question at Do Eun-cheol. The President tilted his head and looked toward the door through which Kim Seong-ho had departed.
“He seems to have come intending to restructure in earnest.”
“In earnest?”
Executive Director Bang Ju-gyeol asked back, startled.
“Is he really serious?”
Do Eun-cheol looked from Bang Ju-gyeol to the other executives staring at him with curiosity, then gave a short snort of laughter.
“Hmph. So he claims.”
“Then what do we do?”
“What do you mean, what do we do?”
“Well… what if…”
“What if what?”
Do Eun-cheol glared as if daring him to finish the sentence. Bang Ju-gyeol could not bring himself to ask what would happen if they were caught taking rebates from clients—money that never appeared in the books. Do Eun-cheol knew exactly what the man was thinking. He smirked at Bang Ju-gyeol’s helpless expression, then turned to the assembled executives.
“Don’t worry. At best he’s nothing more than a live-in son-in-law with no real backing. And don’t forget where some of the money we take ends up. There’s no way anything can go wrong for us.”
Do Eun-cheol wore a look of complete confidence as he quietly regarded the door Kim Seong-ho had left through.