Greed (1)
10 p.m., Haesol Textile.
Late at night, with every employee already gone home, the factory lay under a deep hush. The hands of the clock had long since passed midnight, and the only light left was the fluorescent glow leaking out from the president’s office, just enough to push back the dark.
“The latest trends in advanced textiles...”
Seung-hyun was studying from the monitor.
Like his father, he was jotting down important points in a small notebook.
Ever since his father died and he inherited the company, he had never once left work early.
What he had studied first were the fabrics Haesol itself produced. After that, he had expanded to fabrics the company had made in the past, and then to the materials produced by major conglomerates as well.
The more he studied, the more he felt the company’s scale was awkwardly in between.
If it had been a truly tiny operation, with only a dozen workers and a business model built on doing exactly what the client ordered, it might have been easier.
But Haesol Textile was not that small.
His father had kept modernizing the equipment over the years, so Haesol Textile had a few machines that were genuinely expensive.
In particular, the high-efficiency cutting machine capable of producing multilayer fabrics and the high-performance textile printer had both been installed less than three years ago.
On top of that, the design simulation software, the small experimental weaving machine, and the nano-finishing equipment were so excessive that he could hardly see why Haesol Textile would need them at all.
When he added up the purchase prices of all those machines, the total came to nearly 800 million won.
So his father had struggled and struggled, only to buy this kind of equipment with the land value that had risen after all that waiting?
Looking at the machinery, Seung-hyun could not help but tilt his head.
It seemed strange that he would have gone so far as to take out loans for equipment the company could probably have done without.
At first he had not understood it, and then he had forgotten it while dealing with the immediate problems of payroll and vendor payments.
Now that things were somewhat settled, his eyes drifted back to the fabric structure simulation program on the computer.
“Hold on...”
Wondering whether there might be something hidden in the program, he ran it.
Then he saw it.
[Linen Composite]
[Polyester Composite]
[Nylon Composite]
[Polyurethane Composite]
[Tencel Composite]
The base program held dozens of different files.
And with that, a memory suddenly came back to him.
Once, his father had come home drunk, muttering that he would someday create a new fabric that could become a game changer, and then he had fallen asleep...
It was obvious now that his father had researched these things on his own and saved the files away.
Seung-hyun clicked on the silk composite file, the one with a star in front of its name, and a remarkably detailed blueprint and conceptual theory appeared.
The idea was to mix special polymer resin into silk protein to increase both waterproofing and breathability at the same time.
By theory alone, it seemed like something that could bring innovation to the space between outdoor wear and fashion.
Just looking at it made his heart race.
“Wow... if this had been finished, it really would have been something.”
But unfortunately, at the end of the conceptual theory, his father’s frustration was written there.
[Patented in advance by an Italian company / 2017 / released as a finished product]
[Already launched overseas - “Failed. But we have to try again...”]
The note was heavy with disappointment.
After learning that another country’s company had already completed the same idea and even registered the patent, his father seemed to have given up.
As Seung-hyun read the file, he felt as though his father’s hollowed-out heart was being handed to him whole, and it depressed him.
His father had spent his whole life immersed in textiles, yet he had always been pushed around by giant companies like Taesung Apparel, and had never managed to produce a meaningful independent breakthrough. The resentment of that seemed to seep through the screen.
If he had finished this sooner, the foreign company would have already taken the lead and there would’ve been no opening to bring it to market...
One side of his chest went cold.
His father’s ideas had never seen the light of day. He had started before others, but because he could not finish in time, he had fallen behind.
And even carrying that pain, his father had rarely shown weakness in front of him.
Was it because he had not wanted to burden his son?
I’m really sorry, Father...
Emotion welled up before he could stop it.
Still, he felt that this was a point where he had to make a hard decision.
He had already resolved not to live like a subcontracting servant to Taesung Apparel and to break into the market on his own. In that light, simply selling existing fabrics and aiming for stable profits might only be a half-finished goal.
What his father had struggled so hard and failed to achieve: not just ordinary fabric production, but a textile innovation on an entirely different level. Maybe that was Haesol Textile’s real potential.
Then he clicked on another file marked with a star, polyurethane composite.
Just like the silk composite, it continued with the concept and structure of a fabric his father had researched.
But even after reading it to the end, there was no lament like the one before.
When he checked the file date, he saw that the most recent modification had been made three days before his father died. This was the fabric he had researched most recently.
What his father had tried to create was a new fabric with a special double-weave structure that formed an air layer, made from 30 percent polyurethane and 70 percent polyester in the outer layer, and 20 percent polyurethane and 80 percent cotton in the inner layer.
The outer fabric was meant to handle waterproofing and stretch, while the lining would provide a soft feel against the skin. The real key was forming that air layer between the two.
That was the part that still had not been completed.
“Father, I’ll finish it for you.”
Seung-hyun, staring at the monitor, held back the heat stinging at his eyes.
*
Just after 9 p.m., in a corner of an old downtown parking lot that no one ever used.
A black sedan was parked on a patch of cracked pavement where weeds had grown sparsely through the broken ground.
The car door opened, and a middle-aged man stepped out.
Neat suit, sharp expression. It was Lee Sang-moo, a department manager at Taesung Apparel.
Waiting there already, crouched tensely in the darkness, was Team Leader Jo Han-gyeol, standing at the edge of the lot with his shoulders hunched.
After being driven out of the company, he could not even set foot near Haesol Textile, and it was awkward to go home as well, so he had chosen this secluded place.
But now that Manager Lee had arrived, it felt as though the air itself had been squeezed out of his lungs.
“Team Leader Jo.”
Lee Sang-moo approached, calling him by his title in a low voice. He still used the title, but the tone was in no way friendly.
In the parking lot, where even the streetlights were faint, his gaze was cold as a blade.
“Y-yes... hello.”
Jo Han-gyeol fumbled as he took off his cap.
The whole scene was wrapped in something frightening, like an animal standing with its neck bared at the slaughterhouse.
Without a word, Lee Sang-moo searched Jo’s body, checked that he had nothing suspicious on him, then put a cigarette between his lips, lit it, and said, “Hoo... what exactly are you good at? From what I hear, you made a complete mess with the CCTV and everything, and got caught by Jung Seung-hyun and all.”
“Th-that’s... I didn’t realize the president would be so sharp, or that he was monitoring every employee with CCTV.”
Jo Han-gyeol wiped away cold sweat.
He had never imagined he would be put through something like this, so he kept protesting with an aggrieved face.
“I was as careful as I could be, but I never thought he’d be watching so closely... Jung Seung-hyun even checked the entire list of employees scheduled to resign and pushed it into legal action, so now I’m the only one facing an immediate lawsuit.”
“What, you’re scared of being sued?”
Lee Sang-moo asked, exhaling a stream of cigarette smoke.
Through the rough, cold haze, his voice flew out like a knife and sank in.
“Taesung doesn’t exactly love this situation either. Team Leader Jo, no, Jo Han-gyeol, shouldn’t you have handled this a little more cleanly in the first place? There were other people on the inside too, weren’t there?”
“I-I had a few people around me, but... Haesol is harder to bring down than expected. And I honestly didn’t expect that young president to be so vicious.”
Jo’s lips trembled.
For years he had played the part of the powerless subcontractor, and just as he thought he might be moving into a position under a major conglomerate affiliate, Taesung seemed ready to discard him too. His whole body curled inward.
“In the end, everything fell apart because of you! What are you going to do about this, huh? How are you going to take responsibility for it?”
Lee Sang-moo jabbed a finger at him and glared as if he could devour him whole.
Jo Han-gyeol could not lift his eyes and only stared at the ground.
“I’m sorry. But... there was nothing I could do. No matter how much I tried to explain myself, once they brought out the CCTV footage... our plan stopped working.”
“Fuck, enough with the excuses...” Lee Sang-moo cut himself off and then added, “You didn’t leave any evidence behind, did you? Documents, recordings, messages saying you were moving for us... If that gets into Jung Seung-hyun’s hands, we’re in trouble.”
Jo Han-gyeol hurriedly waved both hands.
“There was nothing like that from the beginning. You and I only met outside, Manager. You know very well that there was no way I could’ve had anything like that on me.”
“Really?”
Lee Sang-moo lowered the cigarette he had been smoking and stared straight into Jo’s eyes.
“Really. I truly have nothing. So please, help me somehow. Jung Seung-hyun is really planning to report me. If I end up in prison like this, what happens to my kids?”
Jo Han-gyeol’s voice was shrinking, and his feet were trembling so badly it was visible.
“What do you want us to do? If we help you openly, then Haesol Textile will instantly think, ‘Ah, this guy has something to do with Taesung Apparel,’ won’t they?”
“I’ll keep my mouth shut no matter what. If you could at least help me find a lawyer somehow...”
Unable to listen any longer, Lee Sang-moo suddenly snapped, “Dammit!”
Jo Han-gyeol crouched like a mouse before a cat.
“I’m trying to talk nicely to you, and you still can’t follow me. For now, just hold out. If Haesol goes under after that, you’ll become the factory manager there. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“R-really?”
“That’s what I said, didn’t I? You don’t trust me? That’s how this kind of thing works. What we can give you is a proper reward. Hm? If we handle the cleanup ourselves, the whole thing gets complicated. It turns into a headache. Then once the job is done, even if we wanted to do something for you after the fact, we wouldn’t be able to.”
“...”
“You get what I mean, right?”
“Yes...”
When Team Leader Jo gave a reluctant nod, Lee Sang-moo drew a thin smile at the corner of his mouth.
“Good. That’s how it should be. And if you have any records or evidence of what was exchanged between us, and that somehow ends up at Haesol Textile, do you know what happens?”
Lee Sang-moo’s face remained expressionless, but killing intent clung to the end of his words.
He looked directly at Jo Han-gyeol and explained slowly, clearly.
“Taesung Apparel loses any reason to protect you. No, we’ll go on the offensive and brand you as a ‘substandard subcontractor employee’ and end it there. We’ll drive you harder, and more viciously, than Haesol Textile ever could, until you’re the one carrying all the responsibility in court.”
“W-wait... no way...”
Jo Han-gyeol’s hands shook violently as he heard that, and cold sweat poured down him like rain.
His company had already kicked him out, and Taesung showed no intention of protecting him.
He was completely cornered.
“...I understand.”
He lowered his head.
To him, the situation was horrifying.
He did not belong anywhere. If he got caught in legal action, he would have to swallow astronomical damages, and if even a trace of Taesung remained on him, then Team Leader Jo himself could end up in even greater danger.
“Good.”
Lee Sang-moo smiled as though pleased, then took a white envelope from inside his jacket and placed it in Jo Han-gyeol’s hand.
“Go buy some beef for your family. Let’s keep smiling. If a person looks like he’s been crying, people start to think something happened.”
“Yes...”
Jo Han-gyeol could not even lift his head. With trembling fingers, he only clutched the white envelope and answered.
It felt as though a corner of his chest had collapsed.
His former company was demanding damages, and Taesung was threatening him not to open his mouth...
No matter how much he blamed himself for what he had done, it was far too late to turn back.
“Let’s meet again with a smile next time.”
Lee Sang-moo ground his cigarette out underfoot and got back into the black sedan.
As the door slammed shut and the car began to pull away, Jo Han-gyeol stared blankly at its retreating back.
When the car had vanished around the alley corner, Jo Han-gyeol tucked the white envelope into his coat, then sat down on the bench with unsteady steps.
After bowing his head, he groped beneath the bench and peeled away the tape holding a mobile phone in place.
He bit his lip and looked at the recording phone with complicated eyes.