I've Been Waiting for You to Say That
In the chairman's office, where the entire Lee family of Ilhyeon had gathered around Lee Tak-hyeon, only Kim Seong-ho sat among them without belonging to any particular faction.
Lee Tak-hyeon looked over the children seated before him and slowly opened his mouth.
"The reason I called you all here this morning is none other than this."
He turned his head toward Lee Sang-jong, who was still frowning as if not fully sober, and continued.
"Sang-jong came to me with important news, so I had you assemble to hear it."
Lee Mun-jong stared at Lee Sang-jong with a look of disbelief. He figured that whatever "important" story Sang-jong had brought couldn't be all that significant.
Yet Lee Sang-jong spoke with a triumphant expression.
"I really did bring something important, so you all need to listen carefully."
"Chairman. This guy might just be spouting nonsense because he's been drinking."
Though he didn't know what Sang-jong had said, Mun-jong started with suspicion and studied Lee Tak-hyeon's face. Seeing not a trace of doubt on the chairman's features, he realized Sang-jong's story was true.
Just what kind of story is this...?
Lee Tak-hyeon spoke simply to the puzzled Mun-jong.
"Last night, Chairman Jeong of the Dubo Group met with Sang-jong."
"Chairman Jeong?"
"Yes. And at that meeting, he urged Sang-jong to invest in Dubo Steel."
"What?"
Completely unexpected, Mun-jong looked at Lee Tak-hyeon with a shocked expression. It wasn't just him. All of Lee Tak-hyeon's children present couldn't hide their surprise as they glanced back and forth between the chairman and Sang-jong.
Only Kim Seong-ho, who had already lived through this in his past life, maintained a natural expression as he sat there.
Chairman Lee Tak-hyeon nodded at the expected reaction and said, "The investment amount was 100 billion won for a 5% stake, apparently."
"But I turned it down and came back. Me."
Sang-jong cut in with an excited voice, as if spinning a heroic tale.
"100 billion for 5% is way too little. What am I supposed to do with a measly 5% stake?"
"So you demanded more?"
At Mun-jong's question, Sang-jong nodded with a delighted face and answered, "I asked for 200 billion and a 10% stake."
Mun-jong's eyes widened at Sang-jong's words. Sang-jong looked even more triumphant at Mun-jong's reaction.
On simple calculation, doubling the investment amount meant doubling the stake as well, but for a company to offer 10% of its shares was no ordinary risk. It could easily threaten management control, so if the stake increased, the investment should properly scale to double or even triple that amount. Yet Sang-jong had simply raised both the investment and the stake by the same ratio.
Mun-jong hurriedly turned to Lee Tak-hyeon and asked, "And Dubo accepted that?"
"They're deliberating on it."
"Deliberating... on it?"
Mun-jong turned to Sang-jong in astonishment. For them to be deliberating on a proposal they should have rejected on the spot meant there was a real possibility. And depending on what additional terms Ilhyeon offered, the chance of the deal closing would rise dramatically.
Sang-jong curled his lips and said to Lee Tak-hyeon, "Chairman. You know, right? That it's good to have at least one steel company."
"Having a steel company would create nice synergies across construction, heavy industry, and automobiles, so yes, it would be good."
"Exactly. That's what I'm saying."
Satisfied with Lee Tak-hyeon's answer, Sang-jong looked around confidently at his siblings. Lee Chang-jong, Vice President of Ilhyeon Distribution, gazed at Sang-jong with envy for a moment. He was jealous of how Sang-jong would score points with Lee Tak-hyeon. But deciding he couldn't just sit by enviously, Chang-jong actively tried to join the situation.
"Chairman. Please leave the investment negotiations to me." He thought he needed to get a foot in the door somehow. "I'll mobilize every employee at Ilhyeon Distribution and handle the negotiations well."
"Fourth. What has Ilhyeon Distribution ever done so well that you're jumping into negotiations? Father."
Lee Jeong-eun, who had seen through Chang-jong's intentions, cut in. "Please leave it to me. I know Chairman Jeong personally, and I'm classmates with his second son, so I've been to their house a few times and can approach them naturally."
Chang-jong looked at Jeong-eun with displeasure. "What does being classmates with their son have to do with negotiations? And you're in fashion—what business do you have butting into this?"
"And what does your Ilhyeon Distribution have to do with Dubo Steel?"
"Of course it does. Why wouldn't it?"
At Chang-jong's attempt to invent a connection where none existed, Jeong-eun snorted and countered. As the two continued bickering for a while, Mun-jong finally stepped in to settle it.
"That's enough. The Chairman hasn't even finished speaking yet—what are you two doing!"
At Mun-jong's words, Chang-jong and Jeong-eun fell silent. Lee Tak-hyeon watched the scene with mild amusement before speaking.
"So everyone agrees on investing in Dubo Steel? Then..."
As Lee Tak-hyeon was about to move on, Kim Seong-ho poked Lee Gyeong-eun in the side with his finger. At Seong-ho's signal, Gyeong-eun recalled what he had told her before leaving the house and hurriedly spoke up.
"Fathe—... No. Chairman."
When the youngest, Lee Gyeong-eun, who had been listening quietly, opened her mouth, everyone's gaze in the room fixed on her. Lee Tak-hyeon, who had stopped mid-sentence, asked her,
"Yes. President Lee of Ilhyeon Hotel, do you have an opinion?"
"Chairman. I'm against it."
"What? You're against it?"
When Gyeong-eun expressed her opposition, Sang-jong looked at her with a face that didn't understand why. He couldn't think of any reason to oppose this discussion.
Gyeong-eun turned her head to look at Kim Seong-ho. She wanted to check his face to confirm this was the right move. Seong-ho nodded at her. Seeing that, Gyeong-eun looked back at Sang-jong and said once more,
"Yes, I'm against it."
"So what exactly are you against?"
"Everything—from investing in Dubo Steel to even trying to negotiate."
"You're against investing in Dubo Steel too? You..."
Just as Sang-jong pointed a finger at Gyeong-eun and was about to hurl curses, Kim Seong-ho stepped in front of her. Then he spoke to Gyeong-eun in a persuasive tone.
"Honey. The steel mill is what our Ilhyeon Group has been lacking. We've always been jerked around by the steel companies' terms. Now we can secure a stable supplier and hold the upper hand in price negotiations, and you're against this? Why on earth are you against it?"
Seong-ho mouthed to Gyeong-eun to play along with his act, and she caught his meaning. The rest of the family was behind Seong-ho, so only Gyeong-eun could see his face.
"We must not invest in Dubo Steel. No matter how profitable it looks."
Seong-ho smiled as he watched Gyeong-eun pick up on his cue and continue the performance right away. He mouthed "well done," wiped the smile from his face, and sat back down. Then, with an expression completely different from when he'd looked at Gyeong-eun, he said,
"You're saying we should be suspicious from the fact that Dubo Steel made such an offer in the first place, right? If the company were sound, they wouldn't try to attract investment by offering equity. And not just a little—we're talking hundreds of billions of won."
Seong-ho nodded solemnly up and down as he continued. "It's natural to be suspicious that they came to us when they should have borrowed from the banks and existing creditors first. If things go wrong, we might not only fail to recover the investment but also be unable to dodge the responsibility."
He then looked up at the in-laws who were glancing back and forth between him and Gyeong-eun. After hearing Seong-ho's words, the others nodded as if they now understood Gyeong-eun's reasons for opposing. There were several shady points, just as Gyeong-eun had claimed.
Even Sang-jong's expression had softened a bit compared to when Gyeong-eun first opposed it. But in his position as the one who stood to gain the most from investing in Dubo Steel, he had to push this investment through somehow.
"Still, this is something we should do." Sang-jong pointed a finger at Gyeong-eun and said, "As long as the company doesn't go under, it's fine. And if it comes to that, we can just take it over."
At Sang-jong's words, Seong-ho wordlessly lifted the corner of his mouth.
I've been waiting for you to say that.
The reason Seong-ho had Gyeong-eun voice the opposition was precisely to draw those words from Sang-jong's mouth.
Since he said it himself in front of everyone, he won't be able to wriggle out of it later.
Seong-ho couldn't suppress the smile tugging at his lips as he watched Sang-jong speak so confidently. And Lee Tak-hyeon watched that scene in silence.
Chairman Lee Tak-hyeon of the Ilhyeon Group had sent his children and son-in-law out and now sat alone in the chairman's office. He was spending time replaying the scene from the office just moments ago in his mind.
Knock knock.
At that moment, Hwang Do-beom knocked on the door and entered. Coming into the chairman's office, he greeted Lee Tak-hyeon, who was still seated on the reception sofa, and held out the papers he had brought.
"This is Dubo Steel's bank debt as assessed by the secretariat."
As Lee Tak-hyeon took the papers, Hwang Do-beom explained the contents. "Debts maturing within three years amount to about 200 billion won, and long-term bonds of ten years or more are roughly 100 billion."
"A lot of short-term bonds."
"Yes. That's why Dubo Steel seems to be struggling."
"What do you think they planned to do with the money if they got the investment from Sang-jong?"
Lee Tak-hyeon asked while examining the bond status of each creditor listed on the paper one by one.
"From what we've learned inside Dubo Steel and the Dubo Group, if they receive the investment, they plan to use some for debt repayment and the rest for facility investment at Dubo Steel's Incheon steel mill."
"They're giving a textbook-perfect answer."
At the flawless reply, Lee Tak-hyeon set down the paper he'd been reviewing and crossed his arms.
"It feels off."
"Is the Dubo Steel matter not sitting well with you?"
"Yes. It's too clean and too close to the correct answer... That's why I don't like it. And... Kim Seong-ho's expression keeps floating up in my mind."
Lee Tak-hyeon made a troubled face and told Hwang Do-beom how he felt. "I get the sense we might take a big loss. This whole thing might not be as clean as we thought."