Someone Who Prefers to Stay Quietly Behind
After a simple meal, Lee Tak-hyeon’s family gathered in the living room.
On the surface it looked like a happy family gathering, yet an indefinable tension hung between them.
“Ugh, I don’t care anymore!”
In the end, impatient Lee Jeong-eun was the first to snap.
“This is driving me insane. Just finish it already.”
Cha Yeong-su, sitting beside her, tried to stop her, but Lee Jeong-eun would not listen.
“Doesn’t this suffocating situation drive you crazy too?”
Instead of backing down, she scolded Cha Yeong-su as if he were the one in the wrong, then turned on Lee Tak-hyeon.
“Dad. Just tell us. Why did you call everyone here today?”
Lee Tak-hyeon frowned at her outburst.
“Can’t you wait until I’m ready to speak? How do you expect to accomplish anything if you can’t even manage that much patience?”
“The fashion industry dies if you don’t move fast. I’m the only reason we’ve survived there. If it were someone like Second Brother, we’d have gone under a hundred times already.”
Lee Sang-jong, who had been debating whether to reach for a piece of fruit, bristled at once.
“I was sitting here quietly—why drag me into it?”
“It’s true, isn’t it? Is there anyone in this room who doesn’t know Ilhyeon Construction’s results are terrible right now?”
Lee Jeong-eun swept her gaze around the others before continuing.
“Honestly, it’s only holding on because it’s Ilhyeon Construction. If he’d run Ilhyeon Fashion the same way, he’d have been kicked out long ago.”
She spoke, then turned her head slightly and muttered under her breath.
“Even if you’re incompetent, there should be a limit.”
“What?”
The so-called mutter was loud enough for everyone present to hear.
Lee Sang-jong shot to his feet, but Lee Jeong-eun only snorted and looked up at him.
“Did I say anything wrong? Everyone already knows Ilhyeon Construction’s problems come from your complete lack of a management philosophy. Why get so worked up?”
“You… is that any way to talk to your older brother?”
“Oh my, how terrifying. Running out of arguments so you scold me for speaking informally? Act like a real older brother if you want the respect.”
When Lee Jeong-eun snapped back, Lee Sang-jong’s wife could no longer stay silent.
“My goodness, sister-in-law. No matter what, an older brother is still an older brother. And incompetent? Who’s incompetent? Ilhyeon Fashion is a speck compared to Ilhyeon Construction—there’s no real way to even measure good or bad management. Compare apples to apples. And while we’re at it… strictly speaking, you’re only an executive director at Ilhyeon Fashion, not the president. What does the company’s success have to do with you?”
“Oh my, so the older brother is so stupid that the sister-in-law has to jump in? Shall we settle this properly?”
What had begun as sibling bickering spilled over to their spouses. Lee Gyeong-eun looked helplessly toward Kim Seong-ho for guidance.
Contrary to her worry, Kim Seong-ho watched the quarrel with genuine interest.
When I first saw them, I really did think they were a strange family.
He glanced sideways at Lee Tak-hyeon.
Lee Tak-hyeon was watching his children’s fight with an equally intrigued gaze.
In the past it had always struck Seong-ho as odd that the siblings who trembled at a single word from their father would still brawl even in his presence whenever they were all together—and that Lee Tak-hyeon, who normally snapped at any noise, would simply observe when the whole family was assembled.
After years spent under the vast roof of the Ilhyeon Group, he finally understood.
It’s another one of Lee Tak-hyeon’s tests.
Trample one another and snatch the Ilhyeon Group from my hands.
That was exactly the sight Lee Tak-hyeon wanted from his children, which was why he never intervened and simply watched.
A man who preferred the law of the jungle and winner-take-all over warm sibling bonds treated the brothers’ and sisters’ fights as little more than after-dinner entertainment, sitting on the sofa with a look of quiet enjoyment.
After a stretch of further shouting the quarrel finally subsided into an uneasy lull, and at last the mouth that had only been watching began to open.
“Are you all finished?”
Lee Jeong-eun’s eyes snapped back to her father.
Lee Tak-hyeon met her gaze and asked,
“May I speak now?”
With her excitement drained, Lee Jeong-eun could no longer hold his stare and merely lowered her head.
Lee Tak-hyeon regarded her for a moment, then spoke.
“I called you all here for no other reason than that man over there—Director Kim. No, our Director Kim.”
The moment Lee Tak-hyeon called him “our Director Kim,” every pair of eyes in the room changed.
The possessive “our” made Kim Seong-ho feel like a rival in the succession contest.
Lee Tak-hyeon smiled faintly at their altered gazes and continued.
“The results at Ilhyeon Hotel, which Director Kim restructured, are expected to be extremely positive. Therefore…”
He turned his gaze on Kim Seong-ho.
Looking straight at him, the corner of Lee Tak-hyeon’s mouth lifted.
Kim Seong-ho saw the rising smile and thought to himself,
Just as I expected. The Chairman isn’t the type to simply hand me something out of pure generosity.
He realized his prediction had been correct, and knowing that the preparations he had made were not wasted, he waited for Lee Tak-hyeon’s next words.
“I intend to place Director Kim in the president’s seat at Ilhyeon Hotel. I called you here to inform you of that. Keep it in mind.”
“Father!”
“Chairman!”
“What do you mean, president?”
The instant Lee Tak-hyeon finished, voices of protest erupted from every side.
“What has that guy even done to deserve being president?”
Lee Jeong-eun’s objection was the loudest of all.
She jabbed a finger straight at Kim Seong-ho and shouted,
“A man who never received a proper education from a decent family, who doesn’t even have a master’s or doctorate, who came into Ilhyeon Distribution and ran errands for supermarket managers—he’s going to be president of Ilhyeon Hotel? Dad, are you feeling all right?”
“Lee Jeong-eun!”
Chu Suk-ja, who had sat silent beside Lee Tak-hyeon, finally raised her voice at her daughter.
She shared the same thoughts, yet she still had to stop her daughter from speaking so bluntly in front of her husband. Only that would keep the scolding from growing worse.
Lee Tak-hyeon merely laughed lightly at the question about his health.
“Hahaha. Yes, perhaps I’ve gone senile.”
“Father, what are you saying? Jeong-eun, hurry up and apologize to Father.”
Lee Mun-jong cried out in alarm, but Lee Tak-hyeon raised a hand and cut him off.
“No. Jeong-eun is right. I really have gone senile.”
He turned his head toward Lee Jeong-eun.
“Leaving you as executive director of Ilhyeon Fashion all this time proves I’ve lost my mind.”
“What… what do you mean…?”
“How are Ilhyeon Fashion’s results this year? Still stuck in place? Still in the red?”
“That’s…”
“And you have the face to criticize Ilhyeon Construction? A company I debate twelve times a day whether to shut down or leave alone, and you’re not even the president—just an executive director—yet you dare lecture about management?”
Lee Jeong-eun could find nothing to say.
“Compared to you, Director Kim not only turned Ilhyeon Hotel profitable, he delivered double the sales as promised. Do you think that’s all? Next year’s projected sales for Ilhyeon Hotel are 350 billion won. Three hundred and fifty billion. In two years he has grown the company nearly tenfold. Do you understand what that means?”
“Th… three hundred and fifty billion?”
Lee Jeong-eun stared at Kim Seong-ho in disbelief.
The other siblings wore the same expression.
“Not 250 billion—350 billion?”
Even the 250 billion mentioned at the presidents’ meeting had been startling; hearing that 350 billion was now expected left Lee Sang-jong looking utterly incredulous.
Lee Tak-hyeon snorted as he looked around at his children.
“None of you has ever done it, and none of you ever will. He accomplished it, so of course I intend to give him the presidency of Ilhyeon Hotel. Does anyone here object?”
He expected no one to dare oppose him. The objection came from an unexpected quarter.
“Chairman. I am not suited for the presidency of Ilhyeon Hotel. I am deeply grateful, but I would ask that you withdraw that decision.”
Kim Seong-ho, who had remained quietly seated, voiced his refusal.
Lee Tak-hyeon showed a flicker of surprise.
“What did you just say? You’re refusing?”
“I am not a man suited to be president of any company.”
Lee Tak-hyeon fixed him with a piercing stare.
Meeting that sharp gaze, Kim Seong-ho began the speech he had prepared.
“As I told you before, I am a man who finds enjoyment in restructuring. For someone like that to become a president… it simply doesn’t fit.”
“So you don’t want to stand out in front—you only want the role of cleaning up the messes other people leave behind?”
“The wording is a little crude, but… yes. I simply wish to work quietly behind the scenes for the sake of the Ilhyeon Group.”
Lee Tak-hyeon regarded him with unexpected satisfaction.
He was annoyed at the refusal, yet Kim Seong-ho’s words pleased him greatly.
From Seong-ho’s position, it was nearly the model answer.
“Father.”
Right after Kim Seong-ho’s model reply, Lee Mun-jong spoke.
“Director Kim has said from the beginning that he has no interest in management. So at this point, please withdraw the offer of the Ilhyeon Hotel presidency.”
Lee Tak-hyeon looked at him as if to say, I knew you’d say that.
But the words that followed were ones even he had not anticipated.
“That doesn’t mean we can ignore Director Kim’s achievements. So instead of him, why not place Gyeong-eun as president of Ilhyeon Hotel?”
“The youngest?”
Lee Tak-hyeon stared at Lee Mun-jong in surprise.
Lee Mun-jong nodded, glanced briefly at Kim Seong-ho, and continued.
“Yes. From ancient times people have said that husband and wife are one body. So elevating Gyeong-eun to president of Ilhyeon Hotel is, in effect, the same as seating Director Kim there. And if difficulties arise, Director Kim—who already operated on the hotel—will be right beside her to help, so she will adapt far better than anyone else.”
Lee Tak-hyeon looked back and forth among Kim Seong-ho, Lee Gyeong-eun, and Lee Mun-jong.
Then, with a twitch at the corner of his mouth, he said,
“But wouldn’t that dilute the meaning of the gift I intended for Director Kim? Wouldn’t outsiders see it as a miser who used his son-in-law to put his own daughter in the president’s chair?”
“Not at all.”
Lee Mun-jong shook his head and pressed his case.
“If we make it absolutely clear that the hotel belongs to Gyeong-eun… no one will be able to criticize the decision.”
Lee Tak-hyeon’s eyes narrowed.
“Without Director Kim, Ilhyeon Hotel was on the verge of being withdrawn entirely. He saved it, so I believe Ilhyeon Hotel should be considered the youngest’s share.”
“You…”
Lee Tak-hyeon started to ask whether Lee Mun-jong understood the weight of those words, then realized that neither Mun-jong nor Seong-ho had said anything further. He nodded.
“I see. So that’s how it is.”
He wore a meaningful expression and nodded again.
“Very well. That isn’t bad either. As of today, Ilhyeon Hotel belongs to Gyeong-eun. Keep that in mind.”
“Dad. Then what about me…?”
Lee Jeong-eun looked at him as if to demand her own share. Lee Tak-hyeon rose from his seat.
“Bring me the same clear results as Director Kim. Then I’ll hand Ilhyeon Fashion over to you entirely. And Director Kim.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
“I can’t very well give you nothing, so we’ll do this.”
Lee Tak-hyeon lifted his chin for a moment, arranging in his mind what he would give, then spoke.
“Around the time you married, I bought some land near Nonsan. I’ll give it to you so your parents can farm more comfortably. How can the in-laws of Ilhyeon still be working someone else’s land as tenants?”
“Thank you, Chairman.”
When Kim Seong-ho offered his thanks, Lee Tak-hyeon nodded and looked around at the children still seated.
“My business is finished. Rest a while and then leave, or do as you please.”
With that he turned and headed up to his study. Everyone rose and bowed their heads.
And each of them struggled to grasp exactly what had just taken place.
Once Lee Tak-hyeon had left, the siblings—except for Lee Mun-jong—could only stare at one another with bewildered faces.