Sponsor of the Niece-in-Law (3)
The sliding door of the Korean restaurant I had arrived at first slid open with a rattle, and Chae Hee-geon stepped inside.
“Aigoo, Young Master. I’m late. My apologies. I was trying to finish all the tasks you assigned this morning before coming, but some reporter kept me on the phone and wouldn’t let go. They wanted proof of why we selected Da-hyun as our promotional model. Honestly.”
I almost laughed. I didn’t even need to hear the reporter’s name to know who it was. It had to be Jeong Ye-ju from No Mismatch, the very journalist I had been thinking about moments earlier.
“It’s fine. Come in and have a seat.”
“Yes, yes. Young Master.”
Once the staff member who had guided Chae Hee-geon to the room took our orders and left, we were alone. Chae Hee-geon spoke first, trying to dispel the awkwardness.
“Thanks to you, Young Master, that headache of a problem has been completely resolved. I got a call from Lee Jin-hyun, the president of Top Entertainment. He said Da-hyun will likely be reinstated on all the programs she was a regular on.”
“I’m glad things are being set right, even if it’s late. It would have been better for everyone if the broadcasters hadn’t been so hasty in dropping her.”
“Exactly. I see broadcasting people often while working in PR, and I can never understand why they’re always in such a rush. Also, after the recording file you gave me this morning spread online, the comment reactions have been quite entertaining. Have you seen them?”
“No. I trust the PR team to handle it, so I haven’t been monitoring separately.”
Chae Hee-geon looked pleased at my answer and pulled a tablet PC from his bag.
“Of course. Our PR team staff are still monitoring diligently, and I’ve selected a few of the more interesting comments from the reports. Would you like to see them together?”
He must have prepared these talking points so our first meal alone wouldn’t run out of conversation. Perhaps this was how the opportunist Chae Hee-geon survived in the company. There were things I was far more curious about than the comments, but keeping the atmosphere friendly didn’t seem like a bad idea. This was his way of showing submission, and since I had already decided to bring him in, it would have been strange for me to flatly refuse.
“Yes. Show me.”
At my nod, Chae Hee-geon tapped the tablet screen a few times and pointed to one section.
By the time I had nearly finished reading the captured comments, Chae Hee-geon picked up the bottle of liquor that had already been brought out and offered it to me.
“Our PR team works incredibly hard competing in image with the JB Group, but one move from you, Young Master, is more effective than ten moves from us.”
“Since I hit the home run, the PR team will have to run the bases to home plate.”
“Yes. I’ll run with everything I’ve got! Among the comments, this one was the most entertaining to me.”
Chae Hee-geon swiped the tablet screen, revealing a comment that Chairman Kwon Byung-do would have applauded.
Chae Hee-geon continued swiping through the tablet, showing more prepared comments. Among them were some about Cha Ye-na.
While we laughed together over the comments, the food we ordered arrived. The time had come to bring up a topic that was still amusing to me but would be uncomfortable for Chae Hee-geon.
* * *
The meat sizzled on the grill. Chae Hee-geon stopped laughing, sensing it was time to take his punishment, and asked first.
“Young Master, you mentioned earlier this morning that you had something to ask me privately.”
“I did.”
“Please ask me anything. I’ll answer everything I know.”
“Before that, there’s one thing I’d like to confirm. The reporter you spoke with just before coming here—was her name Jeong Ye-ju? The one who writes for No Mismatch?”
The meat continued to sizzle, steam rising from the grill.
“Yes, that’s correct. How did you know that, Young Master…?”
“I think I need to ask you the same question she asked. By what process was Park Da-hyun selected as our group’s image CF model? I’ve heard there was considerable opposition from other staff within the PR team, yet you pushed for her strongly.”
Chae Hee-geon’s face turned as red as the cooking meat.
“Well, the truth is…”
“The truth is, I met that reporter Jeong Ye-ju a few days ago. She said something quite strange about you, Team Leader Chae.”
“What did she say?”
“She said you were Park Da-hyun’s sponsor. She mentioned she’d heard it elsewhere and wasn’t entirely certain, but still.”
Clatter. Chae Hee-geon dropped the tongs he had been holding.
“That’s absurd. Absolutely not. Such a thing never happened.”
“I agree. However, as the head of the audit team, when a tip like this has come in, I thought it necessary to hear directly from the person involved and clear any reasonable suspicion. So let me ask again. Why did you appoint Park Da-hyun as a promotional model despite the opposition from other staff?”
“Sigh. I’ll tell you everything. I don’t know who came up with such an outrageous imagination about the sponsor story, but Da-hyun is my wife’s niece.”
What? So Chae Hee-geon was being suspected of having a sponsor relationship with his own niece? That was genuinely something to feel wronged about.
“So you did this because you’re related to Park Da-hyun by blood.”
“Yes. I’m sorry. My wife kept pestering me at home to help Da-hyun advance in the company, so I said I’d look into getting her a CF model spot, but things got complicated.”
“Even if you made that promise, did it have to be the group image advertisement model? You could have asked for her to be a product model for other affiliates.”
Chae Hee-geon poured drinks for both of us and placed some meat on his personal plate, as if he needed to steel himself for a difficult conversation.
“I actually considered the QS Electronics new product model first. But as you know, Young Master, QS Electronics hasn’t been releasing flagship new models worth running on public airwaves lately. The only affiliates that could handle public broadcast ads besides QS Electronics are QS Telecom and QS Foods, but I couldn’t even ask because of my own past mistakes in conduct.”
“Your conduct, Team Leader Chae?”
“Yes. I’m truly sorry to say this in front of the Third Young Master, but I’ve been supporting the First Young Master as the next chairman all this time. Recently, however, QS Telecom has been taking all the national projects that should have gone to Electronics, and the First Young Master has become uncomfortable with QS Telecom. Since QS Telecom knows I support the First Young Master, they’re not exactly welcoming toward me either.”
I see. So the QS Telecom model spot was eliminated. This was getting interesting. I needed to keep listening.
“I suppose you couldn’t even bring up QS Foods for similar reasons?”
“Yes. I know better than anyone how much the Second Young Master dislikes the First Young Master. After supporting the First Young Master all this time, how could I make a personal request to the Second Young Master’s company? In the end, I gave her the headquarters promotional model position that I had the authority to decide. Once again, I’m truly sorry.”
With Chae Hee-geon psychologically cornered, this was the perfect moment to drive in the final question and get a definitive answer.
“After going through all that, do you still support Seong-gyun hyung as the next chairman?”
Chae Hee-geon’s eyes trembled violently as he read the enormous unspoken threat behind my words. If he said yes, I would launch a formal audit based on everything I had just heard. If he withdrew his support for Kwon Seong-gyun here? I could choose to overlook it. Chae Hee-geon’s possible answers were already decided.
“No, I—”
“Yes? Team Leader Chae?”
“If the Third Young Master intends to succeed Chairman Kwon Byung-do, then I support you.”
That unnecessarily long and uncertain answer didn’t sit well with me. I needed something more definitive.
“Yes. I will succeed my father.”
Chae Hee-geon bowed his head deeply, filled with the meaning of submission.
“If there is anything you need for your entry into the chairman’s office, I will help with whatever I can.”
I chuckled. With this, even the PR team—the only hostile faction left in the Central Management Headquarters—had fallen into my hands. I clinked glasses with Chae Hee-geon and emptied mine.
“Thank you.”
After several more rounds of drinks and an entire platter of meat had been cleared, Chae Hee-geon asked with a genuinely troubled expression.
“We can’t keep using Da-hyun as our company’s promotional model, can we?”
“I don’t think the headquarters image model position is appropriate either.”
“You’re right, but there’s no affiliate I can reasonably place her in. Da-hyun’s parents—well, my wife’s side of the family—really wanted her to continue as a major corporation’s promotional model.”
“Earlier, I asked you to find out what I could do for Park Da-hyun. Is that what you were referring to just now?”
“If you see it that way, I would be truly grateful.”
Park Da-hyun was a model we couldn’t afford to lose either, and it would look bad to drop her after we had cleared the false school violence scandal. Fortunately, there was a perfect position for her.
“QS Telecom is about to renew its ipTV service, right? I understand the current promotional model’s contract is also expiring soon.”
“Aigoo, if it’s the QS Telecom ipTV service advertisement, I would be more than grateful. But as I mentioned earlier, I’m not sure if QS Telecom will accept my request. Could you perhaps speak to them on my behalf, Young Master?”
“No. Ask them yourself.”
“Ah, but in that case…”
I looked Chae Hee-geon straight in the eye with certainty.
“I’ll be arranging a gathering with several executives soon. If you make your request there, no one will refuse. Let’s see… about three weeks from now.”
Even as he met my gaze, Chae Hee-geon’s eyes rolled around, clearly having no idea what would happen in three weeks.