A Glorious Debut (1)
A jolt ran through me. Even without seeing his face, I could sense Choi Sang-seok's considerable surprise.
"I noticed your name matches someone I know. Are you perhaps one of Chairman Kwon Byung-do's sons?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Ah, greetings, young master. I heard a few years ago that you were attending law school. It seems you've become a full-fledged attorney and are now handling our case. It's an honor to speak with you like this."
I hadn't officially registered as an attorney yet, but the exam results would be out in a few days anyway. No point dwelling on unimportant details.
"You're not meeting the chairman's son right now. You're speaking with QS Resort's legal representative, so there's no need to be overly formal."
"Understood, Counselor. That absurd article claiming I embezzled funds came out today, and honestly, I have no idea what to do."
"You know that lies are absolutely forbidden between a legal representative and their client, correct?"
"Of course. You're an attorney, and standing before the chairman's son, how could I possibly lie?"
"Good. Then I'll speak freely. Have you ever received a wire transfer from Song Jeong-pil, the man who sold you the land, into your personal account?"
"Good heavens, no. I was so shocked when I saw the article that I even checked my main personal bank account. There's never been any money from that swindler Song Jeong-pil."
Spotting the flaw in Choi Sang-seok's statement was easy.
"It might not have been your main bank account."
"Well, I've been in business for decades, so I have dozens of bank accounts. I haven't checked every single one still under my name yet. There might even be accounts I opened and completely forgot about. Which bank did that swindler supposedly send the money to?"
Right in front of me lay the printed wire transfer receipt from Song Jeong-pil.
"It says it was sent to Cheonil Savings Bank."
"What? Cheonil Savings Bank is where I opened my salary account because they offered high interest rates on my first paycheck. That was how many years ago? Ah, I'm sorry. It's been over ten years since I last looked at that account."
A memory suddenly surfaced.
"Cheonil Savings Bank was acquired by JB Capital, wasn't it?"
Choi Sang-seok seemed to have reached the same conclusion.
"Yes. I saw that in an article a few years ago too, but surely...?"
"It appears JB Group headquarters or JB Construction obtained your account information. You'll need to visit the branch to confirm whether the funds were actually deposited."
"If the money really is there, what should I do? To avoid the embezzlement charge, should I transfer it to the QS Resort corporate account first?"
"No. If Song Jeong-pil truly sent the money to your Cheonil Savings Bank account, do not touch that account under any circumstances. Leave it alone. Tampering with it will only complicate matters legally. The chairman has given specific instructions, so I'll help clear you of the embezzlement allegations."
"Yes! Young master—no, Counselor. I'll head over right now to confirm and call you back immediately."
"Understood."
The promised callback came remarkably fast.
"Counselor, just as you said, the three hundred million won that QS Resort paid for the land purchase has been deposited into my Cheonil Savings Bank account. The sender is listed as that swindler Song Jeong-pil. What should I do?"
"As I mentioned, do not touch the money. Counselor, have you had any contact with Song Jeong-pil after signing the land purchase agreement?"
"Of course. We exchanged calls for two or three days while transferring ownership and drafting the contract."
"Did you mention contract termination at that time?"
"No, absolutely not. That land was purchased as the construction site for our new resort. Why would we terminate the contract? That makes no sense."
"This may sound absurd, but Song Jeong-pil submitted a contract termination agreement to the court. It bears the same seal as the one on your contract. Do you still have the message records from your conversations with Song Jeong-pil after the contract was signed?"
Choi Sang-seok stammered, clearly flustered.
"Ah, no. We only spoke over the phone. People our age tend to do that out of habit."
"So Song Jeong-pil did wire three hundred million won to your personal account, and you never discussed terminating the contract?"
"That's correct. This is the first time money in my account has caused such trouble."
"Understood. I'd like to call you as a witness at the next hearing. Would you be available?"
"Of course. I'll make time no matter when it is."
"Thank you. The next hearing is in three weeks, same day of the week at 9:20 a.m. I'll review our defense strategy further and contact you again."
"I'm the one who should be thanking you, Counselor."
After finishing the call with President Choi Sang-seok, I leaned back in my chair to collect my thoughts. The judgment from the land ownership dispute between QS Resort and JB Construction surfaced in my mind once more. Though it was the same document I'd seen before, many previously blurred passages had now become legible, likely because I'd gathered more information about the case.
Swish, swish—
Since I'd already read it once, I skimmed through without difficulty, focusing only on the newly visible sentences. Then one particular passage made my eyes widen.
[Reason. (...) While a personal relationship between JB Construction executive Jang Gang-tae and witness Song Jeong-pil is acknowledged, this alone (...)]
Jang Gang-tae knew the swindler Song Jeong-pil? Jang Gang-tae was none other than the president of JB Construction and the eldest son of the JB Group family. Unlike QS Group, JB Group's current chairman was in his fifties—relatively young—so the succession structure hadn't yet come into clear view. Still, it was common knowledge in business circles that Jang Gang-tae, harboring an inferiority complex toward his younger siblings, would do anything to catch his father's eye. Anyone who paid even slight attention to economic news knew this.
Hah.
I finally understood who had written this meticulously crafted script. As a bonus, resolving this case would bring me one additional achievement. Chairman Kwon Byung-do despised losing to JB Group more than anyone. He also greatly enjoyed opportunities to strike at JB Group, particularly its ruling family. Therefore, if I could deliver a solid blow to Jang Gang-tae, the eldest son of JB Group, I would earn that much more of Chairman Kwon Byung-do's trust.
Jang Gang-tae would, unfortunately, have to become my sacrificial lamb for entering QS Group's succession race.
Recalling Chairman Kwon Byung-do's instruction to text him if I needed anything, I picked up my phone. JB Group and QS Group, fiercely competing for the top spot in the business world, showed clear differences in their core industries. While JB focused on large-scale sectors like construction, automobiles, and heavy industry, QS's strengths lay in electronics and telecommunications, which demanded more refined technology. For this reason, people often compared the rivalry between JB and QS to an elephant versus a human. Of course, an elephant was powerful enough to crush a person. However, that only held true if the human didn't use technology.
From now on, I intended to use QS's refined technology to hunt the elephant named Jang Gang-tae of JB Group.
It was easy to guess what Chairman Kwon Byung-do was concerned about. In a situation that had already escalated into a public opinion battle, getting caught hacking Jang Gang-tae could saddle QS Group with the damaging narrative of having hacked the eldest son of rival JB Group. Chaebol families were particularly vigilant about the security of their accounts and devices, making detection highly likely—and in the worst case, the hack could fail entirely.
Of course, I hadn't overlooked that possibility either.
"No. The hacking target will be the swindler Song Jeong-pil, who double-sold the land. Jang Gang-tae, who used his connection with Song Jeong-pil to orchestrate this incident, will naturally fall into our net."
"You've already figured that much out. Very well."
Since he'd decided to entrust me with this, he didn't add any further comments. The hacker would be sourced from either QS Electronics or QS Security.
At this point, I could have simply replied in agreement and ended the conversation with Chairman Kwon Byung-do. However, considering the upcoming succession battle within QS Group, there was something I needed to handle more carefully.
"Father, if possible, could you assign someone from QS Security rather than QS Electronics?"
Chairman Kwon Byung-do approved my request without objection.
"I'll do so."
In Korea, the fields with the highest demand for hackers were naturally security and defense, but the legal services sector likely came next. In legal disputes—aside from a small number of complex legal issues—the outcome ultimately depended on how much admissible evidence one could present before a judge. This was especially critical because Korea's legal system adopted the principle of free evaluation of evidence, leaving the assessment of evidentiary value to the judge's discretion.
For this reason, major law firms employed a considerable number of hackers to gather materials related to their cases. The hacker Chairman Kwon Byung-do was assigning me probably wouldn't be working on just this one case. I didn't know who would come, but if they possessed sufficient skill, I planned to actively recruit them for long-term collaboration.
However, it would be problematic if the person came from QS Electronics, which was firmly under the control of my eldest brother, Kwon Seong-gyun. It could mean bringing a subordinate of my rival into my fold. Fortunately, QS Security was significantly smaller in scale compared to other group affiliates, so neither of my brothers had shown interest in it, and it operated under a professional management system. Someone from there could be turned to my side and wield considerable influence in the upcoming succession war.
One thing I was curious about was how much Chairman Kwon Byung-do had guessed about my intentions. If his silent approval of my request for a QS Security employee rather than one from QS Electronics reflected an understanding of my motives, that would be a positive sign—potentially meaning the most important decision-maker in QS Group had approved my entry into the succession race.