At the Center of the Controversy 4
A quiet restaurant in the south of Gyeonggi Province.
Outside, the late-summer heat was still in full force, but inside, the air-conditioning was working overtime, keeping the room pleasantly cool.
On the terrace, where a blue glow shimmered beyond the river and a soft breeze drifted through the air, Lt. Col. Mok Jae-gyun of the Ministry of National Defense sat across from Kim Tae-young, president of Daeyang Trading.
The two men had, until very recently, shown each other a fair amount of discomfort, but now they were unexpectedly warm and genial.
Lt. Col. Mok had been uneasy ever since the Defense Acquisition Program Administration posted the combat uniform bid notice, so the fact that Daeyang Trading, the very company that had supplied uniforms for the past five years, had stepped forward put him greatly at ease.
Lt. Col. Mok spoke first.
"I'm truly grateful that you made such an important decision."
The food had not yet arrived, so only water glasses sat on the table.
Kim Tae-young let out a short sigh and smiled.
"Yes. I had a lot to think about... but we don't exactly have many choices, do we? We can't just let the factory go under... so I applied. Though there were all sorts of rumors. Is this something you're taking the lead on, Lt. Col. Mok?"
Lt. Col. Mok shook his head.
"It's less that I'm leading it than that the Ministry of National Defense is putting into action the new combat uniform improvement plan they wanted. Haesol Textile has the technology, but they've refused several times to take on additional supply, saying they can't. So in the end, the DAPA decided to move forward with a public bid."
"I see."
"It must have been hard on you all this time."
Kim Tae-young looked up at the sky for a moment, then gave a bitter little laugh.
"Don't mention it. Half the time I thought I was going to die, but then I couldn't because of the people at the factory and my wife and kids at home... Then just when I was telling myself to keep my head up, there wasn't any work to be had, and there was nothing I could do about it. Honestly, there was a moment when I felt like I might just jump off a building. Then, like some golden rope dropped from heaven, the bid notice suddenly appeared at DAPA, didn't it?"
Hearing that he would be dead if this did not work out, Lt. Col. Mok gave a wry smile.
Daeyang Trading, which had supplied the uniforms for five years without any real problems, was clearly the most likely candidate, but it was obvious that he was using this tearful act to cover all his bases just in case.
"I see. That is unfortunate. I was sorry to hear it."
"No, no, I understand completely. This is the military, isn't it? If the people above tell you to strip, you strip. So don't feel bad for me. Ah, you're hungry, aren't you? Let's eat first and talk after."
"Yes, yes."
The two men set about filling their empty stomachs, their spoons moving steadily back and forth.
Once the spicy stew, which had been bubbling hot and overflowing the pot, had cooled completely and shown the bottom of the bowl, they set their spoons down and resumed the conversation.
"How could we possibly... be the ones chosen?"
"Well, both the higher-ups and I would feel very reassured if Daeyang Trading took that slot instead."
He nodded with a satisfied smile, then asked in a casual tone, "Would there be any room to adjust the royalty rate? If we can coordinate with Haesol Textile, I was wondering if we might be able to bring it down below 5 percent... To be frank, 7 percent is like giving a thirsty man one sip of water and calling it survival. Couldn't you do 5 percent?"
Lt. Col. Mok frowned as if embarrassed.
"Unfortunately, that's difficult. The Ministry of National Defense has already agreed to recognize a 7 percent royalty as standard for Haesol Textile's patented technology, and Haesol Textile's position is that they can't lower it any further. Isn't that also specified in the DAPA bidding documents?"
"Haa..."
Kim Tae-young let out a deep sigh. He knew he would have to swallow the 7 percent royalty, but he had still held out a little hope, only to have it cut off in one stroke.
Still, better to have it than not, so he made one last effort to tie things down.
"Understood. Even so, I really hope Daeyang Trading is selected as the supplier. We have plenty of experience in mass-producing combat uniforms, and we're confident in our quality control. You know that, Lt. Col. Mok."
At that, Lt. Col. Mok nodded.
He knew that, even if only in part, Daeyang Trading had never done a careless job on military supply.
"Yes, I have a favorable view of you as well. But the process has to be fair, so... if you show yourselves properly in the review, you should be able to get a high score."
Just then, Lt. Col. Mok's phone rang.
When he looked at the screen, it was the number for Choi Min-sung, the representative of Pacific Industries.
Lt. Col. Mok told Kim Tae-young, "Excuse me for a moment," and answered the call.
"Yes, Mr. Choi."
[Lt. Col. Mok! There may have been some trouble between us before... but if it comes to this, you're telling us all to go die. At least let us live first.]
"Ah, well... the order came down from the Ministry of National Defense, so there's nothing we can really do about it."
[Just give us one more chance. We'll pay the royalty. We'll accept the 5 percent royalty you wanted last time. So let's talk again, okay? At this rate, we're really all dead!]
Choi Min-sung's desperate voice came through the receiver in full.
Hearing that almost wailing tone, Lt. Col. Mok's expression softened with pity.
"I'm sorry, but it's already too late. Since Haesol Textile said it can't take responsibility for supply, we posted the DAPA notice. From here, the supplier will be chosen through a fair process in line with that notice. There isn't any room for my discretion. It's out of my hands now."
[No, how does that make sense? Lt. Col. Mok, I really was sorry back then. And the money thing too... I won't ever do anything like that again, so-]
Lt. Col. Mok could not bring himself to answer at length.
"The public bidding has already started, and it can't be reversed. Don't give up before you've even tried; you should enter the process. If you really want to, submit a bid. Then it will be evaluated on the overall score."
[Haa... weren't we supposed to be talking about 5 percent? Can't we renegotiate?]
"I can't do anything about that either. I'm sorry."
Choi's voice broke out angrily, nearly a sob, but Lt. Col. Mok could not keep listening any longer and ended the call with a final, perfunctory line.
Kim Tae-young, who had watched the entire exchange in silence, felt a surge of grim satisfaction inside.
So these bastards thought I was the only one who'd die, huh? Go on, then. Try dying yourselves, you bastards...
But he showed none of it, and simply remained silent until Lt. Col. Mok finished the call.
"I'm sorry. The calls kept coming in."
"No, it's fine."
Kim Tae-young smiled comfortably, looking as if he had not been bothered in the slightest.
They had blown it themselves, and now the bid notice had gone back out.
Would DAPA really use them again?
Forget DAPA. Would Haesol Textile even take back a company that had unilaterally refused to honor an agreement?
With decades of experience and countless things seen and heard, Kim Tae-young could have staked every last won he owned on the fact that, even if Choi's group reentered the bid, he would win without question.
*
A restaurant in Cheongdam-dong.
Inside a private room toward the back of the place, Seung-hyun sat with Cha Hee-ju and Han Saet-byeol.
It was a meal in honor of Han Saet-byeol after the huge success of the Lesser Factory advertisement, and the atmosphere was far softer than it had been when they first met.
"So it hasn't even been two years since you took over the factory?"
Han Saet-byeol asked with wide eyes.
She had always been full of curiosity, and questions spilled out of her without pause.
"Yes, that's right."
"Then how did you grow it so fast?"
"Ah, with Lesser Factory, I really didn't do much myself. There's an employee named Lee A-young. She started out as an office temp, and her mother worked in our sewing team. Anyway, we made this new functional fabric, and she took the unfinished material and whipped up clothes with it before we even knew what happened. She said it would be a waste to throw the fabric away... Lesser Factory actually started as work clothes for our employees."
"Ah... I see."
Saet-byeol was not the only one who looked impressed.
Cha Hee-ju, who had been listening closely to Seung-hyun from beside her, asked, "Then how did you develop the fabric in the first place?"
"That was just a coincidence..."
"Wow. Secret, huh?"
"It's not a secret, but it's hard to explain specifically. It gets technical... like how even if a scientist says they developed something, it's hard to lay out the logic behind it in detail..."
"I'm joking, I'm joking."
"You're blushing."
"...The food is good."
Having lived in a perfectly ordinary middle-class household, Seung-hyun had never once been to such an expensive restaurant, so his hands were trembling a little. But when he actually tasted the food, he understood why it cost so much.
Was this what it was like to taste something for the very first time in his life?
"Oh, Representative. You received the revised interior design draft for the GyeolBit booth, right?"
Even at a meal, work naturally could not be avoided.
"Yes, I got it. It looks good."
"If you'd sent the domestic bedding pattern a little earlier, it probably would have changed sooner."
"I've been swamped, so I was a little late."
"Still, I had no idea you'd make new domestic bedding and send it over. I was really impressed. Everyone loved it, too. The department store is saying it would be fine to promote the bedding as something even more luxurious."
"More luxurious?"
"Yes, like European luxury brands."
"How exactly?"
"For example, by selecting a brand ambassador or something like that...?"
As she said that, Hee-ju's face turned toward Han Saet-byeol sitting right beside her.
"What? Why are you looking at me?"
"Because there happens to be exactly the right person next to me."
"Me? But does bedding even have ambassadors?"
"That's why I'm saying we should make one."
"Ah..."
She nodded as if it made perfect sense, then immediately turned to Seung-hyun and asked, "How much will you pay?"
"...As you can see, I only just heard about this myself."
"Well, then contact me when it's decided."
"You'll do it?"
"We're not running a separate campaign for bedding, so I don't think I'll need to coordinate with my agency. I don't know the amount, though."
Seung-hyun was delighted at how readily she agreed.
He also thought Cha Hee-ju was amazing for coming up with the idea, and said to Saet-byeol, "Ah, and Lesser Factory will be entering Japan soon."
"Already?"
"Yes. The local Japanese corporation wants Saet-byeol to keep doing the advertising, so we'll probably need to do additional ad shoots for the campaign there. Your agency will be contacted soon with the details."
"Mm-hm~ That's great for me. But you're already expanding into Japan... you'll end up becoming richer than Hee-ju before long."
"Oh, that's impossible. The Hanil Group is enormous."
Saet-byeol said it without the slightest hesitation, even with Hee-ju sitting right beside her.
"She's actually not that rich. She probably doesn't even have much money right now. Honestly, Seung-hyun might already have more than she does."
But Cha Hee-ju took her friend's comment seriously.
"That's true. I only own stocks, and I don't even have that many of those... If I think about Haesol Textile's current value, I probably wouldn't come out ahead. Thinking of it that way, there was an enormous rich person right in front of me all along. Can I order a more expensive wine today?"
"Huh? Ah, yes..."
In a way, it was a joke, but Seung-hyun was deeply shaken inside.
Cha Hee-ju was a granddaughter of a chaebol family, so he had assumed the assets she possessed were on a scale he could never hope to match.
But when he thought about it again, he was already someone building up a major company, and after LVMH's investment, the company value had reached 50 billion won.
What was it worth now?
Could it really be over 100 billion won?
"Oh? This wine's 200,000 won a bottle."
Seung-hyun flinched when Han Saet-byeol smiled and picked it out, but then he remembered that he might be richer than Cha Hee-ju and gave an awkward laugh.
"Haha, well... go ahead and order it. Yes..."
Even after becoming a chaebol, it looked like his habit of being stingy would not be easy to fix.