Return as President
The study had fallen quiet once Lee Mun-jong and the others left with Kim Seong-ho. Lee Tak-hyeon sat discussing what had just unfolded with Hwang Do-beom.
“The eldest looked like he’d come in here ready to bite through his own tongue, yet Seong-ho just let it all slide right past him. Amusing, isn’t it?”
“I… I’m not sure Director Kim didn’t make an overly reckless promise.”
“You mean the part about doubling the revenue?”
Hwang Do-beom nodded at the Chairman’s words and answered carefully.
“Yes. Doubling the revenue… it feels like an absurdly inflated figure.”
No matter how he turned it over in his mind, Hwang Do-beom was convinced Kim Seong-ho had been cornered into answering under Lee Mun-jong’s pressure. He ventured a cautious question toward Lee Tak-hyeon.
“If Director Kim fails to deliver, what do you intend to do?”
Lee Tak-hyeon gave a faint smile.
“Didn’t I say we’d cross that bridge when we come to it?”
“You already have something in mind, don’t you?”
Having served at Lee Tak-hyeon’s side for so long, Hwang Do-beom knew the Chairman had already finished thinking the matter through. And just as he expected, Lee Tak-hyeon had already settled on a course regarding Kim Seong-ho.
“What’s there to think about? Naturally I’ll have him step down and throw him out.”
“Is it really necessary to go that far?”
“Of course it is.”
The smile vanished from Lee Tak-hyeon’s face.
“I agree with Mun-jong on this. What is restructuring supposed to be? I put him in that seat to lance the company’s boils. If I tell a man to lance a boil and he ends up killing people, he deserves punishment.”
“But he only meant to do his best. It wasn’t deliberate.”
“When people are dead, does mitigating circumstances still mean anything? Even good intentions have a limit. Once the company itself is dead, good intentions become worthless. Am I wrong?”
“That is…”
Hwang Do-beom swallowed the words Isn’t that too harsh? He knew Lee Tak-hyeon’s nature too well—brilliant as Kim Seong-ho’s accumulated results might be, the Chairman would never tolerate even a single mistake.
“Then… if he truly records double the revenue, what do you intend to give him?”
“Hmm, if he succeeds…”
Lee Tak-hyeon’s lips twitched as though the mere thought delighted him.
“Then I’d have to give him the hotel president’s seat.”
“Pardon? You truly mean to hand him the presidency of Ilhyeon Hotel?”
Hwang Do-beom stared at him in open shock.
Ilhyeon Hotel was an entirely different weight class from the Ilhyeon Watch company they had discussed last time. Even if it was currently bleeding red ink and mired in poor management, it still owned one of the handful of five-star hotels in the country, and under the Ilhyeon name its brand recognition ranked among the highest in Korea. Compared with Ilhyeon Watch, the gap was as wide as heaven and earth. Offering the presidency of such a place was nothing short of astonishing.
“Isn’t that… a little soon? He’s barely had the business-card title of director for any time at all. If he jumps straight into the Ilhyeon Hotel presidency, people around him are bound to talk.”
“He went from assistant manager straight to director. What’s the difference?”
“Even so, Mun-jong and the others will voice their dissatisfaction over the hotel presidency. Jeong-eun, Vice President Cha, and Chang-jong will certainly raise their voices. And Madam… she won’t stay quiet either. Chairman, please reconsider the president’s seat—”
Lee Tak-hyeon raised a hand, cutting Hwang Do-beom off before he could finish the plea. The gesture made it clear that no other opinion would be entertained.
Hwang Do-beom could already picture the chaos that would engulf them for a good while even if Ilhyeon Hotel normalized after doubling its revenue. Absolute as Lee Tak-hyeon’s power might be, seating Kim Seong-ho as president of Ilhyeon Hotel was certain to provoke fierce resistance from every side.
Whether Kim Seong-ho kept his promise or failed it, a difficult future was racing toward him. Hwang Do-beom shook his head at the thought.
Yet contrary to all of Hwang Do-beom’s worries, every development remained well within Kim Seong-ho’s expectations.
While Lee Tak-hyeon and Hwang Do-beom spoke downstairs, conversation about Ilhyeon Hotel was also unfolding in Kim Seong-ho’s room on the upper floor.
“Seong-ho, are you really all right?”
“Of course I am. Are you that worried?”
“Of course I’m worried.”
Lee Gyeong-eun came and sat beside Kim Seong-ho on the edge of the bed, the exchange from the study still vivid in her mind.
“Ilhyeon Hotel… is there really a way to double its revenue?”
Kim Seong-ho smiled softly and leaned close to whisper in her ear.
“Of course there is. So you don’t need to worry about a thing, Gyeong-eun.”
“What kind of method is it?”
“Come on. If I just tell you, where’s the fun? Just watch. I’ll deliver something even bigger than double.”
The Kim Seong-ho she knew never made empty boasts, so Lee Gyeong-eun believed he truly had a plan. Still, the anxiety would not leave her; she asked once more.
“You really do have a way?”
“Yes. So stop worrying so much.”
Kim Seong-ho lightly brushed the leather diary lying beside him.
Everything’s written inside the diary, after all.
The diary that held every detail of the previous life naturally contained the story of Ilhyeon Hotel as well. That was why he could speak so confidently of doubling the revenue. In truth, the target of double was an extremely conservative estimate; the last time he had applied the methods recorded in the diary, Ilhyeon Hotel’s revenue had soared well past fourfold.
Unable to explain any of that, Kim Seong-ho merely repeated the reason to himself and steered the conversation elsewhere.
“More than that, Gyeong-eun—doesn’t staying home all the time… get boring?”
“What are you talking about? Why would staying home get boring?”
When she looked at him in genuine puzzlement, Kim Seong-ho answered with an expression that said he already knew everything.
“I know the reason you aren’t going to the company is because of me.”
“Seong-ho…”
Lee Gyeong-eun’s face registered surprise at the sudden remark. Kim Seong-ho continued in a calm voice.
“You’re staying home for the sake of my dignity, aren’t you? I’m a director now, Gyeong-eun. You don’t have to do that anymore.”
“I… I like staying home and taking it easy. Really.”
After a brief hesitation she waved both hands in denial. But Kim Seong-ho knew perfectly well why she had quit.
Back then I actually believed those words.
In the previous life he had truly thought she simply preferred leisure to work. She was the youngest daughter of the largest conglomerate in Korea; of course she would rather play than labor. He had even wondered whether using marriage as an excuse to leave the company made her all the happier.
He only learned the truth at the moment of her death.
Kim Seong-ho looked at her steadily.
“I know you stepped down in advance because staying at the company would have damaged my face. You don’t have to lie.”
“Seong-ho, that’s not—”
“Thank you. I realized far too late how carefully you’ve been looking out for me.”
He was thanking both the Lee Gyeong-eun of the present and the one from the previous life.
Lee Gyeong-eun watched him bow his head and wore an embarrassed little smile. He was right: she had quit because of him. In a household already heavily tilted, Kim Seong-ho had entered as a live-in son-in-law. If he also joined the company later than she did and held a lower rank, people would only look at him as more of a fool. Even before the wedding he had already heard the open sneers about a man becoming a live-in son-in-law. She had known exactly what they would say if he remained at the same company in a lower position than his wife.
So she had left without a shred of regret the moment they married. Work mattered far less to her than Kim Seong-ho did.
Even while she felt shy, the fact that he recognized what she had done filled her with quiet pride. When Kim Seong-ho raised his head and met her eyes, she smiled brightly.
“Still, I don’t regret my choice at all. Watching you do so well gives me plenty of vicarious satisfaction. I’m genuinely content with my life right now.”
She was truly happy that he was succeeding, and she felt not the slightest regret about leaving the company.
Kim Seong-ho smiled back at her.
“Then rest for one more year… just one year, and come back.”
“What? Rest one year and come back?”
“Yes. As president of Ilhyeon Hotel.”
Lee Gyeong-eun stared at him in open astonishment. It was not merely a call to return to the company; it was a call to return as president of Ilhyeon Hotel.
“For that year I’ll put the hotel in perfect order so you can come back comfortably. So in one year, return as president of Ilhyeon Hotel.”
“Seong-ho, what… what are you saying? President of Ilhyeon Hotel? How could I possibly… take that seat?”
When she had left the company she had only been a department head. Even that early promotion had been possible solely because her father was the Chairman. But department head had been the absolute ceiling; without solid results of her own, becoming an executive would have required more time. To be told to return not even as an executive but as president of Ilhyeon Hotel left her completely bewildered.
Kim Seong-ho, however, had a clear reason for the idea.
“Once I raise Ilhyeon Hotel’s revenue by more than double, the Chairman will offer me the president’s seat.”
“You as president of Ilhyeon Hotel?”
After a moment’s thought she clapped her hands lightly.
“If it’s Father, he absolutely would. Turning around a company drowning in losses and then doubling its revenue would give him more than enough justification. No one would be able to complain.”
Kim Seong-ho smiled, knowing she still did not fully understand what her siblings were like.
“But I don’t want the presidency of Ilhyeon Hotel.”
“What? You don’t want it?”
Her voice rose even higher than when she had heard that her father would make the offer.
“Seong-ho, this isn’t some ordinary post—it’s Ilhyeon Hotel. Even my older sister and youngest brother never managed to sit as presidents of affiliates. Why would you turn it down?”
“I’m better suited to the Strategic Planning Office than to running an affiliate.”
He said it with a smile, but Lee Gyeong-eun looked pained.
“Seong-ho, you don’t have to be so careful. If Father offers it, it means you’ve earned it, so take it. My brothers and sister won’t be able to say a word against his decision.”
Kim Seong-ho looked at her thorough misunderstanding and smiled silently.
It’s precisely because of those brothers and that sister that I’m doing this.
He fully expected Lee Mun-jong and the rest of her siblings to refuse to stay quiet, which was one reason he planned to decline the hotel presidency. But it was not the only reason. If he was to complete the revenge of his previous life and devour the enormous prize that was the Ilhyeon Group, he could not afford to be tied down in one place. Restriction of movement was unacceptable; that was why he meant to refuse the seat.
Still, he had no intention of ignoring so tempting an offer completely.
For the future I need to build Gyeong-eun’s strength as well.
If he was going to seize the Ilhyeon Group with Lee Gyeong-eun in the lead, her position had to be elevated first, and the presidency of Ilhyeon Hotel was the perfect vehicle.
Concealing most of his plans, he offered her only the smallest of reasons.
“Ever since we married I’ve been running without a break just to prove myself. Suddenly dropped into Strategic Planning, then Ilhyeon Watch, then Ilhyeon Hotel… I want to catch my breath for a while.”
The words about catching his breath made Lee Gyeong-eun’s chest tighten. More than anyone she knew how uncomfortable he felt living in Pyeongchang-dong.
Seeing her nod, Kim Seong-ho smiled again.
“Besides, I don’t really suit a hotel. A hotel suits you far better.”
“Do you really think so?”
“Of course.”
When he put it that way, Lee Gyeong-eun’s heart seemed to lean a little. Imagining herself seated as president of Ilhyeon Hotel brought an involuntary smile to her lips.
Kim Seong-ho watched her and smiled without speaking. Then his gaze drifted to the leather diary at his side, and he began turning over the methods that would raise Ilhyeon Hotel’s revenue.