Bursting the Parasite (2)
Although it was already dinnertime, I had insisted on meeting two hours later for two reasons. First, Park Chung-geon, the union chairman, had refused the lunchbox I gave him at noon without even opening the lid. From the looks of it, things had taken a bad turn, and he hadn't been able to leave his post. Even now, long past dinner, he was holding out on nothing but water. Watching his face grow increasingly haggard through the window, I found a certain satisfaction in making him starve for another two hours. As for me? I had just finished a sushi set with President Seong Yun-hwan.
The second reason was more important. There were things I needed to prepare before meeting Park Chung-geon. Chief among them was his termination paperwork. Now that the root of the recurring QS Delivery strikes was clear, I had no intention of leaving Park Chung-geon in the company. Removing him completely was the only way to dismantle the situation where QS Delivery had become the rallying point for the national delivery union. He had already led multiple illegal strikes, so there was more than enough cause for dismissal.
I had nearly finished all the preparations when I heard a knock.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone was at the door of the QS Delivery executive office where I was waiting.
"Come in."
I answered casually, assuming the only person who would come here was President Seong Yun-hwan. But the person who entered was someone who stood on the opposite side of the president.
The man who had thrown an egg at me during the protest at lunchtime approached and bowed deeply.
"My name is Jin Sang-mun. I am truly sorry about earlier."
I remembered that face clearly. The egg he threw had hit my cheek with enough force to crack a rock, and it had hurt like hell.
* * *
When Park Chung-geon first heard that the QS Group chairman's son was getting involved in the situation, he had been optimistic. Even though the long-desired direct meeting with Chairman Kwon Byung-do had fallen through, he thought the son might grant his demands. But Kwon Ho-gyun's actions were completely different from what he had expected, and the project Park Chung-geon had been working on for years was now on the verge of collapse.
Usually, when management tried to end a strike, they avoided negotiating with individual workers. There were simply too many of them, and it would take too much time. Moreover, if each worker started voicing different opinions, management couldn't possibly accommodate them all. That was why strike negotiations were almost always conducted only with the union chairman or key executives who led the entire union.
That was exactly what Park Chung-geon had aimed for. He had spent years making countless efforts to sit at the table as an equal with the head of the massive QS conglomerate. He had deliberately transferred to QS Delivery, which was notorious in the industry for poor working conditions. Getting in had been relatively easy, probably because so many people quit. Then he had gone around persuading delivery drivers who had never even considered forming a union, one by one, until he finally succeeded in creating a proper union.
Once the union was formed, things seemed to proceed smoothly. Employees who had long been dissatisfied with the company volunteered to become union executives. Strikes were organized around them, and with each repetition, more delivery workers joined. For Park Chung-geon, strikes were nothing difficult—he had plenty of experienced friends who could help. Eventually, the media took interest, and at that point, he believed the group level would have no choice but to pay attention to QS Delivery.
That prediction had not been wrong. The third son of the group chairman had personally appeared to resolve the strike. However, for several days, Kwon Ho-gyun seemed to focus more on the work of company executives than on the delivery workers' strike. When Park Chung-geon started wondering what he was doing, Kwon Ho-gyun made a show of appearing at the strike site—without any consultation or even prior notice to the union chairman. Right there, he announced that the company would fully accept the delivery workers' strike demands. That made any further strike illegal, and the workers who had gained what they wanted began to leave the strike line.
When Park Chung-geon tried to use his last resort by calling in his hardened strike veterans to threaten Kwon Ho-gyun, the police arrived and dispersed them in an instant. At this rate, everything Park Chung-geon had worked toward for years was ruined. According to his plan, he was supposed to secretly meet with the group executive at the end of this and negotiate to receive money personally. In exchange, he would only push through a minimal set of conditions, end the strike, and return the delivery workers to work.
But that bastard Kwon Ho-gyun—who did he think the union chairman was, to ignore him so completely, to treat him with such utter contempt? The one silver lining for Park Chung-geon was that Kwon Ho-gyun had agreed to meet him this evening. He intended to settle things for good tonight.
Having skipped lunch, Park Chung-geon arrived first at Hwalin-gak, the restaurant where he was to meet Kwon Ho-gyun, and was already eating jajangmyeon with sorghum liquor when his phone rang. Checking the caller, he saw it was one of the union executives who had actively cooperated with the strike in exchange for a share of the money they planned to extort from QS Group. This man had been a well-connected figure among the delivery workers even before Park Chung-geon joined QS Delivery and had helped him greatly.
"Yeah, Sang-mun, what's up?"
"Chairman Park, aren't we completely screwed now? Forget getting any money—we won't even be able to keep our jobs at the company, will we? I can't believe you told me to throw those eggs earlier. Seriously."
"Just wait. I'm about to meet Kwon Ho-gyun, the one who was giving that speech while handing out lunchboxes at noon."
"That guy agreed to meet you?"
"What do you mean, 'that guy'? He's just some green kid. Anyway, I'll make sure to handle things properly here and get your share too, so just wait."
"Let's just stop here. Don't push it anymore, okay? They're giving us all the back pay anyway."
"We're talking about hundreds of millions here, and you're worried about back pay? We've been busting our asses for years organizing the union and strikes for this one shot. You're going to quit at the last second? Everything's ready on this end. I'm not asking you to do anything, so don't make me nervous too. Just wait."
Jin Sang-mun let out a sigh on the other end of the line.
"...Fine. Just don't do anything too dangerous."
"No risk, no return. If you don't take risks, you don't get anything. Don't you know that?"
"I really don't know anymore. I'm hanging up."
* * *
After sending Jin Sang-mun away, I finished preparing to meet Park Chung-geon when the court verdict for this case appeared before my eyes.
Order. The defendant is sentenced to two years in prison.
Hmph. Not only could I get Park Chung-geon fired from the company, but I could also secure a guilty verdict in court. The only thing that felt slightly off was that the sentence was quite heavy compared to the charges I had prepared. It seemed something else was bound to happen when I went to Hwalin-gak later. The beautiful conclusion to the QS Delivery strike situation I had set out to resolve was drawing near.
I drove to Hwalin-gak, gave Park Chung-geon's name, and was guided to his room. The smell of alcohol hit me as soon as I entered. On the table sat an empty bowl of jajangmyeon and a nearly drained bottle of sorghum liquor.
Creak.
After the staff member who had guided me closed the door and left, Park Chung-geon stood up from his chair, swayed once, then approached me and offered a handshake.
"You're late?"
"Yes. Something came up right before I left. It looks like you already had your meal."
Park Chung-geon glared as if to ask why there was no apology. I deliberately omitted one, knowing that pointing out the missed appointment time was meant to seize the initiative. When I met his eyes without apologizing, he quietly backed down and gestured to the table.
"Have a seat."
Once seated across from him, I took the lead.
"I believe I've already conveyed everything I had to say, both verbally and in writing at lunch. The fact that you insisted on meeting me separately suggests you have something personal to discuss with me, Chairman Park Chung-geon?"
"That's right."
"Let me guess what that might be."
Park Chung-geon seemed to have intended to steer the conversation by holding the initiative, but now looked noticeably flustered.
"Pardon?"
"You're going to ask me for money, aren't you? Not just the unpaid wages and raise I promised at lunch, but a much larger sum."
"H-how did you...?"
I took out my phone and showed him an audio file on the screen.
"Jin Sang-mun came to see me before I arrived and handed this over."
"What's that?"
"Let's listen to it together."
When Park Chung-geon realized that his recent phone conversation with Jin Sang-mun had been handed over to me, his expression twisted.
"That son of a bitch Jin Sang-mun!"
"That's quite harsh language for a fellow strike participant."
Park Chung-geon leaned forward aggressively.
"Fine. Give me the money. Our asking price was one billion won. A chaebol heir like you can afford that much, can't you? If you do, I'll guarantee there won't be any more strikes at QS Delivery."
"No. Workers have every right to take collective action when they want to raise issues with the company regarding labor conditions. However, I cannot accept the manipulation of strikes and protests for personal gain, the way you do it."
"So you won't give me the money?"
Park Chung-geon was finally showing his true colors. He was a parasite. Pretending to represent the workers' interests while sucking the company dry for his own benefit using their rights. Such trash needed to be removed from the company immediately. Otherwise, he would only bring harm to both the workers and the company.
"I'm not giving you money. Instead, I have something prepared."
"What is it?"
Park Chung-geon's eyes lit up with anticipation. Did he think I was going to hand over a check, jewelry, or company shares instead?
I took the prepared documents from my bag and held them out.
"This is the termination notice from QS Delivery regarding Park Chung-geon. And this is the complaint we will soon file with the prosecution against Park Chung-geon."
Crash!
Unable to contain his anger, Park Chung-geon knocked over his chair as he jumped up and pointed at me.
"You bastard!"
He then pulled out his phone, made a call somewhere, and hung up immediately. Moments later, the violent protesters I had seen earlier during the day began filing into the room with menacing expressions, apparently having been waiting in the next room.