Planting the President as a Spy (3)
Oh? Kwon Seong-gyun, of all people. The bait I'd cast expecting to hook only someone like President Shin Ho-jung or Professor Im Su-chan had attracted a massive fish biting the tail and following it up. For now, Shin Ho-jung seemed to have plenty he wanted to volunteer, so I tossed out a question that would keep the conversation flowing naturally.
"President Shin, you mean Seong-gyun hyung? Is there some matter at the president level that requires coordination between QS Electronics and QS Telecom?"
"No, sir. I meet both Young Master Seong-gyun and Young Master Je-gyun separately in private quite often, but we almost never discuss work."
Seong-gyun, and now Je-gyun too? The presidents of the group's three flagship subsidiaries weren't meeting just to build camaraderie.
"Then what do you usually talk about?"
"Well, mostly the same sort of things you mentioned a moment ago, Third Young Master. Topics like who the next chairman will be, or who should act as chairman if something happens to Chairman Kwon Byung-do."
"So whom have you been supporting until now, President Shin?"
Shin Ho-jung answered before I even finished the question, as if this was the very point he'd been waiting to make.
"As I swore earlier, I support Young Master Kwon Ho-gyun. Until now I've been meeting both Young Master Seong-gyun and Young Master Je-gyun to gauge which side would be more advantageous for QS Telecom. I'm sorry. There won't be even the slightest hint of that from now on."
Right. I understood his firm resolve to pledge loyalty to me, but would it really benefit me if Shin Ho-jung stopped meeting Seong-gyun and Je-gyun?
"So you're saying you'll cancel your lunch appointment today as well?"
"Yes! I'll do that. Besides, Young Master Seong-gyun has only ever talked about Young Master Je-gyun until now, but today he suddenly suggested we discuss Young Master Kwon Ho-gyun, so I was already feeling uneasy about it."
Ah. So that was why he'd sounded so reluctant when I called earlier about meeting for lunch. Until this morning, to Shin Ho-jung I had been nothing more than a minor branch he could easily swat away in league with Seong-gyun. He must have worried that canceling on Seong-gyun to meet me would look bad from that side.
The fact that Seong-gyun had suddenly started showing interest in me was worth noting. It was probably because I'd been appointed head of the Central Management Headquarters' audit team. He was likely also considering that this might be Chairman Kwon Byung-do's preliminary move to elevate me to head of the Central Management Headquarters. If they were preparing to treat me as a serious rival and begin checking me, then I needed to prepare countermeasures as well.
The question I'd been mulling over—whether it would benefit me if Shin Ho-jung stopped meeting Seong-gyun and Je-gyun—now had a clear answer. Shin Ho-jung, firmly in my grasp, needed to keep meeting both Seong-gyun and Je-gyun.
Clap.
Shin Ho-jung's eyes widened at my sudden clap. The moment had come to issue my first order.
"President Shin, from now on, please move like this."
"Yes? What do you mean? I'll follow whatever you command."
"From now on, continue meeting both sides just as you have been, pretending to play both ends while keeping in touch with Seong-gyun hyung and Je-gyun hyung. Find out what schemes they're hatching regarding the group's succession and report it to me. If necessary, I'll feed them appropriate disinformation through you."
Only then did Shin Ho-jung's wildly shaking pupils gradually stabilize, and he nodded heavily. It wasn't that he'd received one-sided favor from me; it was that his usefulness had been recognized. He must also have gained certainty that I wouldn't suddenly change my mind and hand the corruption evidence on his desk over to the prosecution.
"Yes. I understand."
"Regarding the Im Yu-jin hiring corruption case, please drop just enough nuance so that they understand I couldn't find any evidence of wrongdoing. The actual audit results will be announced in that direction as well."
"Yes, Young Master."
"Ah, and make sure you attend the lunch meeting with Seong-gyun hyung today. Since you mentioned you'd be discussing me, listen carefully and let me know afterward. What time is the appointment?"
Shin Ho-jung checked the time on his left wrist with a far steadier gaze this time.
"One o'clock sharp. A little over an hour left."
"Good. Plenty of time. Before you go, take a look in the mirror and fix your hair."
Shin Ho-jung touched his head and gave an embarrassed smile, as if only now realizing how wildly unkempt it was.
"Aigoo, I can't believe I came to see you looking like this, Young Master. Thank you for letting me know."
* * *
After sending Shin Ho-jung off, I immediately moved on to hooking the next fish. This time it was Professor Im Su-chan of Hankook University, soon to become Minister of Information and Communication. Or perhaps the more accurate description was "the man I'm going to make minister"?
Returning from the consultation table to my desk, I opened the audit file on the hiring corruption case. After putting away the promised evidence of corruption, I pulled out Im Yu-jin's personnel record card that I'd received from QS Telecom.
Let's see. Im Su-chan's phone number was listed here under emergency contact, wasn't it? There it was.
- Relationship: Father / Name: Im Su-chan / Contact: 010-xxxx-yyyy
This case wasn't about uncovering the truth; it was about covering up a truth I already knew. Just like with Shin Ho-jung, speed was essential. There was no reason to hesitate, so I picked up my phone and dialed the number on the personnel record card.
Ring ring, ring ring—
Beep.
The call connected after a long stretch of ringing, only to be cut off immediately. The ringing had lasted twenty-two seconds—not thirty, not sixty. He'd deliberately hung up while holding the phone. Well, not answering unknown numbers was common enough. In that case, I'd just have to tell him who I was.
I quickly tapped the text message button on the disconnected call screen.
- Hello. This is Kwon Ho-gyun, head of the Central Management Headquarters Audit Team at QS Group. Your daughter, Im Yu-jin, is involved in a hiring corruption case our team is investigating. There is a matter I'd like to discuss with you regarding this, so please reply.
Yet even after the second hand on my office clock completed a full circle and the minute hand had turned more than ten, the reply I'd requested never came. He was probably extremely busy preparing for next week's confirmation hearing, but wasn't this case the very thing he needed to handle most carefully for that hearing? If he'd been going to fumble from the very first contact, I should have just called through Shin Ho-jung. He would at least answer a call from his former student, the one he'd asked to hire his daughter through connections.
Still, it would look pathetic to call Shin Ho-jung now and complain that Professor Im Su-chan wasn't answering. Besides, Shin Ho-jung was probably busy right now with the work I'd just assigned him as a spy planted in Seong-gyun's camp. That said, just because it wasn't Shin Ho-jung didn't mean I had no way to pressure Professor Im Su-chan. He seemed eager to take the first hit to his most painful spot, so as the one holding the club, I should oblige him.
I dialed the other number listed on Im Yu-jin's personnel record card—Im Yu-jin's own number.
Ring—
This time the call was answered before it had even rung a few times. However—
- Yes. I've received your call.
Startling. Wasn't this during work hours? The standard manual for answering a business call would be company name plus team name plus one's own name, yet "I've received your call"? For a split second I thought it was Chairman Kwon Byung-do on the line. This was awkward. Having to introduce myself first to someone far below me in rank was making my skin crawl.
"This is Kwon Ho-gyun, head of the Central Management Headquarters Audit Team at QS Group. Is this Im Yu-jin?"
- Yes? The Audit Team? I don't know why you're calling me, and I'm quite busy with work right now, so I'll be hanging up.
What? This defensive attitude was completely at odds with her first words. And the arrogance—refusing to even hear the purpose of a call I'd made and declaring she'd hang up herself—was that just her unfixable nature? Besides, during her internship she'd done zero work and only gotten converted to full-time through her father's connections, so what work could possibly be keeping her busy?
"Don't hang up. Responding sincerely to an investigation by the headquarters audit team is also part of your duties as a member of QS, Im Yu-jin."
- Please don't say such scary things like "headquarters" or "audit team." It makes me feel like I'm being bullied at work, and I'm already experiencing severe emotional distress. I'm just diligently doing the work my team leader assigned me, so please don't interfere.
Wow. I hadn't expected Im Yu-jin to be this hopeless. Now I understood all too well why Hwang Sang-hyun had been so indignant that Im Yu-jin had been converted to full-time instead of him.
"Could you put your team leader on the line? The one who gave you that work assignment?"
- ...... Yes.
A moment later, the person claiming to be the team leader took the call in an extremely urgent voice.
- This is Byun Ji-hoon, team leader of QS Telecom R&D Business Team 3. You said you're from the headquarters audit team?
His voice made it sound as though he were clutching the phone with both hands while sweating profusely.
"Yes, that's correct. This is Audit Team Head Kwon Ho-gyun."
- Aigoo, Young Master. I'd heard through the grapevine that you'd joined headquarters. What brings you to call our team?
"I thought visiting the team you lead might be burdensome, so I called as a courtesy. I'd like to meet separately with Im Yu-jin in your team, but she said she's too busy with the work you assigned to even speak with me. Is it something very important?"
- No, no. What important work? I just told her to organize receipts for office supplies purchased within the team.
Pfft. I couldn't help laughing and had to pull the phone away from my face for a moment. She'd tried to hang up on me while claiming to be busy organizing receipts? Well, with her father's and the president's parachute backing, dropped into an R&D team that required technical expertise, there probably wasn't much else she could do besides compiling receipt scraps.
"Then could you send Im Yu-jin to the address I'm about to give you? It would probably be less awkward for you as team leader if she came to me rather than the other way around."
- Yes, of course. Absolutely.
"Good. I'll text you the address from this number. You can hang up now."
- Yes, Young Master. Thank you for considering our team.
Beep.
After hanging up, I thought that Team Leader Byun Ji-hoon might actually be desperately hoping I'd fire Im Yu-jin. After all, if he tried to say anything to her, she'd immediately cry workplace bullying and emotional distress, despite being completely useless to the team and having parachuted in on the president's connections.
* * *
About an hour later, Professor Im Su-chan still hadn't replied to my text, but Im Yu-jin—who was so sensitive to emotional distress—had arrived at my office.