Gathering Forces (2)
The knock on the door drew the quickest reaction from President Shin Ho-jung.
“It seems like everyone who’s supposed to be here has arrived, but I don’t see that woman—the secretary to the young master we met last time?”
President Shin Ho-jung, who had previously asked Cha Ye-na if she had any interest in his son, apparently still hadn’t let go of his desire to set the two of them up. If they got together it wouldn’t be bad for me either, so as long as Cha Ye-na didn’t clearly say she hated the idea, I decided to simply watch how things developed.
Of course, the person waiting outside wasn’t Cha Ye-na. There was no need for me to explain that myself.
The door to the inner room behind the living room where we were seated opened, and Cha Ye-na emerged from inside, where she had been helping set up the food.
“Hello, President Shin Ho-jung of QS Telecom. I’m right here. It looks like we have another guest. I’ll go welcome them.”
Shin Ho-jung’s face, which had soured at his mistaken assumption, quickly filled with embarrassment. That embarrassment spread through the entire villa living room in an instant, and for good reason—the person who entered under Cha Ye-na’s guidance was a complete stranger to everyone except me.
Jung Ju-seong, the Finance Director of QS FnB—who had a timid personality but didn’t seem like someone who would be easily intimidated anywhere—became even more daunted at the sight of the group’s stellar executives. He fidgeted nervously as he greeted them.
“Hello. My name is Jung Ju-seong.”
In normal greetings between company employees it would be standard to include one’s affiliation and title, but Jung Ju-seong’s position and title were currently quite ambiguous. Although I had promised him a new title, it wasn’t finalized yet, so he seemed hesitant to mention it.
Pfft—.
The villa members, who hadn’t expected Director Jung’s introduction to end there, exchanged awkward smiles and glances at one another as the silence stretched on.
I had met Director Jung Ju-seong again after processing the resignation letter from Jo Dae-hyun, the finance team leader of Junggyeongbon.
Part of it was that my network in finance and accounting wasn’t particularly wide, but no matter how I looked at it, there was no one more suitable than Director Jung Ju-seong for the new finance team leader position.
His loyalty toward me had already been proven beyond any doubt when he handed over the file labeled “Ledger Regarding Representative Director Kwon Je-gyun.” As the greatest contributor to Kwon Je-gyun’s downfall, he was someone who could never become entangled with Je-gyun’s remaining forces or Kwon Seong-gyun’s faction.
Besides, hadn’t he personally declared that he would work until his bones wore down to repay the debt he owed me?
On top of that, his financial expertise came from being a former certified public accountant with years of hands-on experience, so there was no need for me to verify it separately.
With that in mind, I had decided to appoint Director Jung Ju-seong as the new Junggyeongbon finance team leader. I dialed the number I had saved and, after a long time, heard his voice on the other end. It sounded utterly dejected.
Jung Ju-seong: “Hello. You’re not a team leader anymore—I heard you received a promotion. Congratulations, Director.”
Me: “Have you been well, Director? Is your mother-in-law’s treatment progressing smoothly?”
Jung Ju-seong: “Yes. My mother-in-law has started a new chemotherapy regimen, and for the first time since diagnosis, the cancer cells have decreased. I owe you an enormous debt, Director. But… sigh.”
Until our last meeting, Jung Ju-seong’s greatest worry had been his mother-in-law’s health. Now that the problem was being resolved, why did he still sound so deflated?
“Is there another concern? Is it something I can help with?”
Jung Ju-seong: “Ah, no. I do have a worry, but I can’t make a personal personnel request to you, Director.”
“What? A personnel request? Is there a position you want to transfer to? I think we’re close enough to share our worries. Go ahead and tell me. I won’t consider it a personal favor.”
The answer that followed was the opposite of what I had expected. It wasn’t that he had a place he wanted to go, but that his existing position had disappeared.
With Kwon Je-gyun’s collapse, the QS FnB he had created as a personal siphon was scheduled to be merged back into QS Food as a single business division. Naturally, discussions were underway for QS Food to succeed the employment of QS FnB’s staff.
The problem was that Jung Ju-seong had originally belonged to the QS Food finance team. While he was assigned to QS FnB, his old position had been filled by another accounting specialist. Jung Ju-seong had suddenly found himself with nothing to do at QS Food. A high-caliber talent reduced to surplus, he was now worrying about his future like a moody teenager.
QS Food wouldn’t refuse to accept his employment succession, but they were considering placing him as sales manager in the outsourced cafeteria operations division. The man who had already suffered from handling sales in addition to finance while at QS FnB was now losing sleep at the prospect of doing sales work full-time.
On top of that, a sales manager had to coordinate with external clients and mediate all the big and small conflicts within the sales department. He said that with his personality, he couldn’t imagine doing the job well.
Hearing all this, I felt a twinge of guilt. After all, I was the one who had destroyed QS FnB while toppling Kwon Je-gyun. It could be said that I hadn’t taken proper care of the greatest contributor to that outcome.
A normal employee might have called me immediately to demand to know what would happen to his job. Yet he had waited until I called first, hesitating for a long time before finally revealing his worries. He really was the type to shoulder everything alone.
Sigh—.
As if he could no longer hold it back, Jung Ju-seong let out another sigh and added his true feelings about recent events.
Jung Ju-seong: “To repay the grace you’ve shown me, Director, I know I must work hard, but I have no confidence that I can do this new job well. At the same time, after saying I would devote this body to the company, I can’t just quit. Hehe—”
Of course. I knew very well that Jung Ju-seong wasn’t suited for sales. But there was naturally no need for him to change jobs in search of finance or accounting work elsewhere. As a bonus, I wouldn’t have to carry this sense of guilt toward him for long.
“Didn’t you say last time that you would work hard for both the group and for me?”
Jung Ju-seong: “Yes. Of course. Even if it’s sales, I’ll do my best.”
“No. Don’t do that.”
Jung Ju-seong: “Yes?”
At that moment, Jung Ju-seong’s voice over the phone rose sharply. Perhaps my words not to work hard at sales had sounded like a dismissal notice. In any case, the man really was timid. That wasn’t what I meant at all.
“Don’t go to QS Food. I’d like you to move to the finance team at the headquarters’ Junggyeongbon. What do you think, Director Jung?”
Jung Ju-seong: “Me, at headquarters? I vaguely heard that the headquarters finance team would undergo a major reshuffle, but I never imagined there would be a spot for me there.”
In reality, starting with Team Leader Jo Dae-hyun, the senior employees in the finance team had been successively expressing their intention to resign. Since they were in the same industry, he must have had his own channels to know without hearing it directly from me.
“Yes. I want you to come as the finance team leader of Junggyeongbon.”
Jung Ju-seong: “What? Would it be all right for someone like me to take on such an important responsibility? I’m not confident I have the ability for it yet.”
“I’ve decided this with confidence as the head of Junggyeongbon, so you can trust me and come.”
After listening to me, Director Jung seemed lost in complicated thoughts. He hemmed and hawed for a moment before speaking again.
Jung Ju-seong: “This is unofficial, but if it’s the headquarters finance team, you’ll also be handling the secret funds for the chairman and the director’s family, right?”
That was correct. Broadly speaking, the reason so many positions in the finance team were now vacant was precisely because of that role as keeper of the slush fund vault.
Gulp—.
Apparently quite nervous, Director Jung swallowed audibly and continued with extreme caution.
Jung Ju-seong: “But I’m truly terrible at anything involving political sense, so I’m not sure if I can handle that part well. I haven’t learned anything except how to read and write the books accurately.”
This was the final reason I had wanted to recruit Director Jung Ju-seong as Junggyeongbon’s finance team leader.
To be honest, I had no need for illegal slush funds. The money that moved at a single word from me already exceeded hundreds of billions of won. Moreover, if we were talking cash, tens of trillions—possibly even hundreds of trillions—would soon be secured in bitcoin. When my personal funds would rival the nation’s annual government budget, what possible use could I have for slush funds amounting to mere billions or tens of billions?
That didn’t mean I had no need for a company vault keeper. There would be many people aiming for even that relatively modest sum, and I needed someone who would protect my company’s money from them through meticulous ledger management.
Those who coveted my company’s money would be people who already held a grudge against me, and I would punish them strictly, just as I had always done. The ability to “read and write the books accurately” that Director Jung had just mentioned fit this last condition perfectly.
“You can speak comfortably. I have not the slightest intention of personally embezzling company funds.”
Director Jung realized that his previous words had implied I might be a potential embezzler and hurriedly apologized.
Jung Ju-seong: “Ah, that wasn’t my intention at all. I’m sorry.”
“Once you join Junggyeongbon, just manage the funds inflow and outflow thoroughly as you’ve done until now. The only thing I ask is that if you detect any strange signs while managing them, you inform me personally first.”
Jung Ju-seong: “Thank you, Director. I really don’t know how to repay all the great favors I’ve received multiple times.”
“If you manage my company’s money well, that is how you repay me, Team Leader.”
This was the process by which Jung Ju-seong had come to this villa today—as the next finance team leader and the person responsible for managing the funds of my faction.
It seemed he felt an enormous burden at the thought of introducing himself as the Junggyeongbon finance team leader, so I decided to sort it out for him.
“I believe you’ve all heard that Team Leader Jo Dae-hyun of the Junggyeongbon finance team has submitted his resignation. The person who just arrived is the newly appointed Team Leader Jung Ju-seong, who will lead the headquarters finance team.”
Only then did the existing villa members nod in understanding.
Team Leader Jung Ju-seong, now freed from the position of uninvited guest, went around offering handshakes and bowing to each person.
“Please take care of me. My name is Jung Ju-seong. My assignment to headquarters isn’t officially confirmed yet, but if I do join, I will devote myself completely.”
When it was Chae Hee-geon’s turn to shake hands with him, the PR team leader offered a helpful comment.
“Since you’ve come all the way here, your assignment to our Junggyeongbon is definitely confirmed. Unlike subsidiary personnel matters, Junggyeongbon personnel decisions are one hundred percent at the discretion of the Junggyeongbon director. Welcome. From now on, introduce yourself as the finance team leader with some confidence. Earlier I thought you were someone who got lost and came to spend the night at a mountain villa.”
“Yes, PR Team Leader Chae Hee-geon. I’ll be imposing on you a little once I enter the headquarters.”
“Hahaha, impose as much as you like. I’m the resident ghost of QS Tower, after all.”
Once Team Leader Jung Ju-seong had taken his seat on the living room sofa, President Shin Ho-jung prepared to move on to the main agenda.
“I heard that today we’re sharing and reviewing the list of newly appointed representative directors for the subsidiaries among ourselves first. Is that correct?”
It was. That was the most important task for today. But not yet. There was one more person we all needed to meet before that.