Like Husband, Like Wife
The moment trading halted on the foreign exchange market, inquiries flooded into the Restructuring Headquarters from the finance departments of every affiliate.
"We have no problems. Tell them we proceed as planned."
"Tell them not to worry. The Group holds more than enough dollars."
"There will be no issues with payments, so they can continue their operations without interruption. That is what you should say."
Kim Seong-ho stood still, watching his staff handle the incoming calls one by one.
Then a secretary from the Chairman's office approached him.
"Director."
Seong-ho, hands clasped behind his back, turned to look at the man.
The secretary dipped his head slightly.
"The Chairman is asking for you."
Seong-ho nodded as if he fully understood why Lee Tak-hyeon would summon him amid the chaos.
"Understood. Go on ahead. I'll finish up here and come straight to the Chairman."
At Seong-ho's instruction the secretary left first. Seong-ho then sought out Deputy Head Lee Gyeong-deuk.
"Deputy Director."
"Ah. Director Kim."
Lee Gyeong-deuk, still deep in the middle of handling affiliate calls, wiped the sweat from his brow and turned to Seong-ho.
"What in the world is going on... Trading on the forex market suspended? Why is this happening?"
He had told every affiliate not to worry, yet he himself had no idea why the market had been shut down. He asked Seong-ho, certain the other man would know.
And Lee Gyeong-deuk was right. Seong-ho knew exactly why the situation had unfolded this way.
"It hit the daily limit, so they used that as the excuse to freeze trading and keep the dollar from climbing any higher."
"Will it even work?"
"Not a chance."
Drawing on the experience of his previous life, Seong-ho knew precisely what such measures produced. He shook his head firmly.
"Things like this are going to keep happening. Over and over."
"Trading suspensions are going to become commonplace?"
Lee Gyeong-deuk wiped the sweat that now ran down the side of his face. Moments earlier it had been the sweat of frantic work; now it was cold sweat.
Seong-ho rested a light hand on the man's back.
"So please tell everyone not to panic. We hold more than enough dollars, and there is still a considerable amount that has not yet been brought in from the overseas branches. Tell them to reassure any foreign partners who are worried about payment settlements."
"Right. Got it."
Lee Gyeong-deuk shook his head and clicked his tongue.
"Even we, who prepared and braced ourselves in advance, are this shaken. I can't even imagine what it's like elsewhere. I can't bring myself to call friends at other companies. I have no idea what answer I'd get..."
"You did the right thing. Better not to contact them for a while. It's going to be freezing cold out there right now."
Seong-ho patted Lee Gyeong-deuk's back, asked him to calm the staff as well, and left. He headed for the Chairman's office to reassure Lee Tak-hyeon, who would be just as rattled as everyone else.
Security guard Park, who had been watching the parking lot from the booth, widened his eyes and stepped outside. Guard Kim, arriving for the shift change, saw Park's reaction and hurried after him.
"Hey, Park. What's wrong?"
Park ignored the call, raised a finger, and pointed at the car that had just pulled in.
"That man over there... isn't that the prosecutor?"
"Huh?"
Kim looked where Park was pointing. There stood the man who claimed to be a prosecutor, bowing at the waist as he handed the car keys to the young man who lived on the eleventh floor.
Kim turned toward Kim Seong-ho with a puzzled expression and spoke to Park.
"I heard there was a huge scene this morning?"
"There was. I barely managed to stop him and even brought him the car keys."
"Then why are the two of them arriving together? And from the look of it, the prosecutor was the one driving the young guy's car."
"That's what I want to know."
Park stared in disbelief at the lawyer bowing repeatedly at Seong-ho's every word. The prosecutor who had swaggered as if he owned the sky was now a meek lamb in front of Kim Seong-ho, even reading the younger man's face for cues.
"They're coming."
Park spun around and gave Kim a shove. Kim understood at once and they both ducked back into the security booth. Moments later Kim Seong-ho appeared in front of the booth and offered a greeting.
"Hello."
When Seong-ho spoke toward the small window, both Kim and Park opened the door and returned the greeting together.
"Welcome home."
"You're later than usual today."
Seong-ho gave the two guards a brief nod.
"Yes. I'll head up now. See you tomorrow."
"Of course. Take care."
"Watch your step on the way up."
Seong-ho bowed to the two guards and went inside. After he disappeared, time passed and the lawyer walked up to the booth. Unable to contain their curiosity any longer, Kim and Park burst out.
"Prosecutor, what happened? Why did the two of you arrive together?"
At Park's question the lawyer raised his eyebrows and barked at him.
"Hey, you. You deliberately set me up, didn't you?"
"Sir? What do you mean...?"
"You didn't mention that the guy on the eleventh floor is the son-in-law of the Ilhyeon Group just so you could make a fool of me, right?"
"Son-in-law of the Ilhyeon Group? The... Ilhyeon Group? The one we all know?"
Kim, who had been listening from the side, stared at the lawyer in shock. The lawyer turned to him with a face full of misery.
"Yes. The Ilhyeon Group we all know. I walked right into their headquarters today... and the highest person there turned out to be that young fellow from the eleventh floor. The youngest son-in-law of Chairman Lee Tak-hyeon of the Ilhyeon Group. Well? How are you going to take responsibility for this?"
The lawyer stamped his foot and poured out his grievances. The guards took a step back and watched him with open amusement.
Serves him right. He always acted like he owned the place, and now he's finally met his match.
Exactly. Why does he think everyone else is just like him? When someone that young buys a house in this neighborhood, you ought to assume he's at least a step above you. Honestly, how did he ever pass the bar exam with a brain like that?
Outwardly Kim and Park wore expressions of worried concern, but inside they were thoroughly satisfied. They looked at the sulking lawyer and already planned how quickly they would spread the news to the other residents.
While the lawyer sulked near the security booth, Kim Seong-ho stepped out of the elevator and entered his home. The lights were already on, and Lee Gyeong-eun's soft humming drifted from inside.
"Oh? You're home, Gyeong-eun?"
Seong-ho passed the entryway and looked toward the kitchen with mild surprise. There stood Lee Gyeong-eun, humming as she set dishes on the table.
"Didn't you say you'd be late today?"
"Things worked out this way. You must be starving. Just wash your hands and come sit. Everything's ready, so let's eat first."
At her words Seong-ho draped his bag and coat over the sofa, washed his hands in the bathroom, and returned, sending her a look that clearly asked what had happened.
"Well, it turned out there was nothing for us to do."
"Nothing to do?"
Lee Gyeong-eun sat down at the table and explained what had happened at the hotel that day.
"They said everything was confidential and wouldn't even let us near them. Even room service—their own staff came out to the elevator to take it. We wanted to offer proper service, but we couldn't get close enough to do anything. So I just told the staff to be careful and came home early."
"Where did you say they were from? The United States?"
"Yes. They said they came from Washington... but they didn't seem to be U.S. government people..."
Seong-ho paused with his spoon in hand as something clicked into place, then asked her,
"Could they have been from an international organization?"
"Ah! That's right. It sounded like some kind of international body. Under the UN—International Mone... something..."
Lee Gyeong-eun tilted her head, trying to recall the name. The unfamiliar title rolled around on her tongue but refused to come out.
"Honestly, I can't remember. All I remember is something about currency or money."
Seong-ho simply watched her frustration. The name that felt foreign to her was one he knew all too well.
"IMF. The International Monetary Fund. That must be it."
"Yes! That's the one. Seong-ho, how did you know?"
"I heard recently that the IMF team had gone to Thailand and Indonesia."
"Is that so?"
Lee Gyeong-eun accepted the explanation without suspicion, lifted her spoon, and began eating her soup. But that was not the real reason Seong-ho knew.
So it's beginning now.
In a calm voice he said to Lee Gyeong-eun as she tasted the soup,
"The hotel may get a little noisy for a while."
"Noisy? What do you mean?"
"Government officials will flock there wanting to meet the IMF people, and a lot of reporters will come to cover the story. The IMF officials will try to avoid them, so there could be some commotion. Businessmen might show up as well."
Lee Gyeong-eun understood and nodded.
"So you're saying a lot of people may come and I should be careful. Got it. I'll keep an eye on it. More importantly, eat. Your soup will get cold."
She took his caution as ordinary professional advice. She would learn the very next day that it had been anything but ordinary.
When Lee Gyeong-eun arrived at work the next morning, a bewildering sight greeted her.
"President, you've arrived."
"What... on earth is all this?"
Stepping out of the car, she stared at the throng packed in front of the hotel entrance and turned to the general manager in confusion.
"Press from every country, people from government ministries, and even people from various companies—all of them are pouring into our hotel."
"Why are they all gathering at our hotel?"
She looked at the cameras lined up outside and the broadcast vans that filled the parking lot. The general manager wore the same helpless expression as he answered.
"Remember the UN-affiliated organization that checked in yesterday? Everyone is creating this chaos trying to meet them."
"That... International something-or-other place?"
She still could not quite get the name out, but the general manager understood immediately. Only one group had checked in yesterday and caused this uproar.
"Yes. People here seem to call them the IMF for short. Anyway, they're all raising hell demanding to meet them."
"What is that place supposed to be..."
Lee Gyeong-eun shook her head in disbelief and started toward the hotel, issuing orders as she walked.
"Unless they are hotel guests, do not let anyone inside."
"Even government officials?"
"Even if someone from the Ilhyeon Group shows up, do not let them into the hotel. And make sure our own staff stay as far away from those IMF people as possible."
With that she pushed through the crowd and entered the hotel. Standing in the lobby, she looked out at the dense mass of people outside and said,
"This might actually be an opportunity for us."
"An opportunity?"
"Yes."
She remained where she was, studying the scene.
"If we show that we manage this situation well, and if that image spreads through the cameras across the whole country—no, across the whole world—that alone will be enormous publicity for us. So make sure you impress that firmly on every staff member."
"Understood."
Lee Gyeong-eun turned and headed upstairs toward the offices, continuing her instructions along the way.
"Pay extra attention to their meals, and if they want anything at all, give it to them. It looks like they're conducting business here, so ask whether they need more equipment—printers, fax machines, whatever—and if they want something, provide it. Also..."
She kept issuing orders without pause as she and the general manager walked toward the office. The general manager did not even reply; he was too busy committing every instruction to memory.
"I'll leave it to you, then."
Having finished her instructions outside the office door, Lee Gyeong-eun left the final request and went inside. Only then did the general manager, who had followed her all the way up from the hotel entrance, feel the tension leave his body. He exhaled a long breath, turned, and began walking to carry out her orders, muttering to himself.
"Most people would panic first if this many people suddenly showed up..."
He clicked his tongue.
"Well, the President did look a little startled when she first saw it. But to turn it into an opportunity right away—are there many people like that?"
As he spoke, another face rose in his mind.
"Yes. There is one person. Haha. They say couples grow to resemble each other, and that saying is exactly right. The two of them are completely the same."
The general manager felt Kim Seong-ho's face overlap with Lee Gyeong-eun's and shook his head. Then he gathered the busily moving staff and relayed her instructions.