Blowing Your Nose with Someone Else's Hand (1)
"What? So Lee Jae-hyuk didn't act alone—there was someone backing him? No wonder he seemed so careless about covering his tracks after committing the crime. He must have had some big shot lined up to protect him if things went south. But the fact that he's calling me and begging instead of running straight to that big shot tells me things didn't go as planned between them after I blew the case open."
Since he was offering to name his backer himself, there was no reason for me to refuse. I pressed the phone back to my ear and asked, "All right. Who gave you the orders?"
"Well, that is... could we perhaps meet in person to discuss this?"
So he wasn't going to give it up for free. "Fine."
"Yes. I'll come to you right away."
When Lee Jae-hyuk arrived at my office in the law firm, he bowed deeply before the door had even closed behind him.
"Greetings, young master. Lee Jae-hyuk of QS Delivery."
He looked ready to drop into a full ninefold prostration if I let him. We'd just spoken on the phone—why the grand display now?
"Come in and sit down."
"Y-yes, sir."
Once we were seated across the consultation table, I asked, "You could have just given me the name over the phone. The fact that you insisted on meeting means you have something else to say, doesn't it, Director?"
"Yes. It wasn't my decision alone, and I felt it was unfair to take all the blame. I came to tell you the rest of the story and ask for leniency."
"Leniency isn't something I can grant. Given the amount embezzled, you're likely facing aggravated charges. Still, you said you had something to tell me, so I'll listen."
As I spoke, Lee Jae-hyuk's eyes drifted to the stack of documents on the desk—the corporate card statements and the records of cash advances from entertainment establishments I'd deliberately laid out.
"Is that...?"
"Yes. Evidence that you embezzled funds from QS Delivery. I was reviewing it one last time before handing it over to the prosecution."
His eyes lit up. "Couldn't you... not turn that over?"
"Gathering evidence is technically the investigators' job, so I'm not obligated to submit it."
Lee Jae-hyuk clenched his fists on his knees, visibly fighting the urge to reach for the papers.
"Please, I'm begging you. I was acting under Second Young Master's orders."
"Je-gyun hyung? Why would he order you to siphon company money?"
"To be precise, President Kwon Je-gyun told me to keep the employees of QS Delivery firmly under control so he could move the company through me whenever he wanted. He also said I could use the corporate card freely if necessary."
So Je-gyun had been laying the groundwork to seize QS Delivery, which was registered under my name. Since he held no official position there, he'd installed Lee Jae-hyuk as his puppet to control the staff. That explained why Lee Jae-hyuk had been throwing around company money on dinners and congratulatory funds, openly defying the president to build his own faction.
No wonder Je-gyun had casually mentioned taking over QS Delivery in front of Father at the rich men's gathering. He never expected that offhand remark to trigger a storm that would undo all his careful preparations.
"Je-gyun hyung doesn't even work at QS Delivery. How could he tell you to use the corporate card freely? And 'freely' certainly didn't mean embezzling billions, did it?"
Lee Jae-hyuk lowered his head. "I'm truly sorry for my greed. But that money isn't all in my possession. I followed Second Young Master's instructions to maintain performance, secure my position, and win employees over by distributing funds under various pretexts."
"So, to summarize, you're asking me not to submit those documents to the prosecution because you were following Je-gyun hyung's orders?"
"I would be deeply grateful if you could do that."
"Something doesn't add up, though."
Lee Jae-hyuk lifted his head slightly. "What do you mean?"
"By my logic, if you got into this much trouble while following Je-gyun hyung's orders, you should have gone to him first, not me."
"Second Young Master called me a few days ago."
"What did he say?"
Anger and betrayal flashed across Lee Jae-hyuk's face. "He said if my name ever came up in connection with his, he'd make sure I regretted it. Then he hung up. When I tried calling again, he wouldn't answer."
"So that's why you came running to me."
"Yes. Please, just this once, forgive me."
"But what you've told me so far isn't nearly enough to trade for those documents."
"Then... what else should I say?"
Something had felt off throughout this investigation. The tens of billions Lee Jae-hyuk had skimmed was a huge sum, but it didn't seem sufficient to explain why QS Delivery's delivery workers had been shortchanged to the point of repeated strikes that nearly crippled the company.
"Besides planting you at QS Delivery, what else has Je-gyun hyung done?"
Lee Jae-hyuk's eyes trembled violently. As expected, he had more to say. A severed tail always had plenty to reveal if not properly cauterized.
"If I tell you everything, will you promise not to turn those documents over?"
"I will. I don't particularly enjoy handing company materials to outsiders either."
The severed tail opened its mouth once more.
* * *
In the president's office at QS Food, Kwon Je-gyun was massaging his temples.
Where did it all go wrong?
When he'd first mentioned the QS Delivery strike to Chairman Kwon Byung-do, he never imagined things would spiral this far. He'd only wanted to curb Ho-gyun's growing momentum and use the opportunity to position himself as the one to take over QS Delivery. Even when Ho-gyun stepped in to resolve the strike, Je-gyun had been surprised but not overly concerned. He'd assumed Ho-gyun would let the media do the work, take a few eggs to the face for sympathy, then quietly resolve things the usual way by tweaking the wage structure.
But what in the world had happened? Not only had Ho-gyun uncovered the strike issues, he'd also exposed Lee Jae-hyuk's embezzlement—something Je-gyun had never expected anyone to find without a deep, thorough audit of QS Delivery's operations. Even when Je-gyun tried to intervene through the Central Management Headquarters, Ho-gyun had been granted full internal audit authority and was tearing through everything. Rumor had it he was working like a professional investigator.
Je-gyun had warned Lee Jae-hyuk to keep his mouth shut, but without further action, the deeper involvement Je-gyun had in the matter could be exposed to Ho-gyun at any moment.
"Aaaagh! What am I supposed to do?"
Just as Je-gyun muttered in agony, staring at the ceiling, the very thing he'd feared happened far sooner than expected.
Knock knock.
At the sound from the door, Je-gyun quickly lowered his feet from the desk. "Come in."
"Sir, your younger brother is here. What should I do?"
Je-gyun only had one younger brother—Ho-gyun.
"He's here? Why?"
"He didn't say. He just wants to see you. Should I send him away?"
"Did he come alone? Was he carrying anything?"
"No one with him, but he had a document envelope."
Je-gyun groaned, deliberating, then made his decision. He was the one cornered now. Refusing to talk when the other side wanted a conversation wasn't an option.
"Let him in."
"Yes, sir."
* * *
What Lee Jae-hyuk had confessed made the back of my neck burn. QS Delivery—my company—had been thoroughly exploited by Je-gyun all this time.
Je-gyun had been routing all transportation needs for the subsidiaries he presided over through QS Delivery. Products sold online by QS Food were delivered exclusively via QS Delivery. When QS Food's own trucks or drivers had issues, QS Delivery handled last-mile deliveries to stores. To manage the food shipments, QS Delivery had invested heavily in refrigerated and frozen vehicles along with the drivers to operate them.
That wasn't all. QS Delivery also transported filming equipment for QS EnM, another subsidiary under Je-gyun that specialized in film and drama production and distribution. In total, thirteen subsidiaries under Je-gyun's control used QS Delivery for any transportation needs.
At first glance, it might seem like Je-gyun was simply funneling work to QS Delivery. The real problem was that he'd used Lee Jae-hyuk to sign unfair contracts, effectively using QS Delivery's resources for free. Je-gyun had been converting QS Delivery's operating profits into performance figures for his own companies. Taking on such massive volumes of work without compensation had left a gaping hole in QS Delivery's finances. According to Lee Jae-hyuk, the annual losses reached the tens of billions.
After promising Lee Jae-hyuk I wouldn't submit the evidence and sending him off, I headed to QS Food where Je-gyun was. I identified myself to the secretary and waited briefly before being told to enter.
Thud.
I set the documents I'd brought on the table and sat on the sofa facing Je-gyun.
"While I wasn't paying attention, you were sucking QS Delivery dry, weren't you?"
Was he going to play dumb? "What are you talking about?"
"All those unfair contracts QS Delivery signed with your companies are about to be terminated."
Je-gyun's head snapped up, eyes wide. "Who said you could terminate contracts? You can't."
"It wouldn't look good for companies in the same group to go at each other's throats at the Fair Trade Commission, would it? Lee Jae-hyuk spilled everything about what you've been doing to my company."
Je-gyun's hands, resting on the sofa armrests, trembled as they clenched into fists.