The Fallen Giant (1)
The sudden announcements of departure from two people left the rest of the villa members stunned. The most flustered among them was Chae Hee-geon, the team leader. He was the type who always weighed the odds of success. With only the countermeasures Kwon Ho-gyun had presented so far, it seemed impossible to simultaneously defeat both Seong-gyun and Je-gyun. It was merely assigning tasks to the five gathered here according to their positions. He had expected more concrete additional measures, but now Ho-gyun was suddenly declaring he would return to Seoul. For him, this was nothing short of perplexing.
Chae Hee-geon mustered the courage to ask Ho-gyun, "How do you plan to handle communication going forward?"
Ho-gyun slipped on his coat and answered quickly and clearly, as if he had already prepared the response. "A group chat will be created involving only the people gathered here. However, due to the risk of leaks, please keep discussions light online. Once a month, on the 18th, we will meet here."
"Then can we receive additional instructions next month?"
"Something major has happened at the company, and it seems we'll need to factor that into what we're trying to do. We won't wait until next month. I'll arrange another meeting in between to discuss revising the rules on holding concurrent positions."
Choi Sang-seok, the president, who had been getting along well with Chae Hee-geon during the drinking session earlier, chimed in. "If something so serious has happened at the company that both the Chief of the Chairman's Secretariat and the young master have to leave in a hurry, shouldn't we all move together?"
Ho-gyun adjusted the hem of his coat, pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "No. It wouldn't look good if we all rushed over there together. And you shouldn't drink and drive."
Come to think of it, only the two who had said they were going to Seoul had not drunk at the banquet earlier.
"Understood. We'll stay here for now."
"Do that. Once you've sobered up and I've assessed the situation accurately, I'll meet you separately in Seoul. I'm sorry for inviting such distinguished guests and leaving first."
With those words, Ho-gyun hurried out of the villa with quick steps, as if truly pressed for time. Shortly after, the sound of two car engines starting could be heard, and Ho-gyun and Han Seung-woo's cars sped away from the villa grounds.
In the villa, where the atmosphere had suddenly gone flat just as the momentum was building, a phone vibrated once more. This time it was Oh Il-mu's. After checking the arrived message and furrowing his brow, Oh Il-mu stood up and called for Cha Ye-na. "Ye-na, could you call a taxi or a designated driver? It doesn't matter if the price is high, as long as we can get moving quickly."
"Are you heading to Seoul as well, Attorney Oh?"
"Yeah. It seems I should."
"Understood. Just a moment."
Chae Hee-geon couldn't hold back and jumped in again. "Is this because of the same matter that the young master just left for?"
While Cha Ye-na searched through the emergency contact list prepared at the villa, Oh Il-mu shrugged. "Well, I don't know why the young master left in such a hurry either, so I can't give a definite answer. But it's unlikely for two such major incidents to happen at the same time, so it must be the same thing."
Before long, the taxi Cha Ye-na had called arrived in front of the villa, and Oh Il-mu left, leaving his own car behind.
The people left at the villa each fell into their own thoughts, trying to figure out what had happened. The only hints the three who had left had given were that it was extremely urgent and important. If Ho-gyun, Secretary General Han Seung-woo, and Attorney Oh Il-mu were all involved in such a big incident, then... Their individual speculations converged into one. It seemed related to the Kwon Byung-do family.
Ho-gyun was clearly a member of the chairman's family. Han Seung-woo handled the chairman's personal affairs more than company business. And finally, Attorney Oh Il-mu had long dealt with Kwon Byung-do's legal issues.
* * *
Having left the villa, I was now racing toward Seoul along the Yeongdong Expressway, almost as if in a race with Han Seung-woo's car. The story I had heard whispered from Han Seung-woo earlier was so shocking that, if not for the speed limit, I would have wanted to floor the accelerator of the supercar.
— Chairman Kwon Byung-do complained of an intense headache and collapsed. He is currently unconscious. They suspect a stroke.
Damn it. That's why I kept telling him to stop drinking. It's not like he lacks money for food, yet he was guzzling strong whiskey like it was ice or snacks. So this was the cause of the stock price drop across all QS Group affiliates that I had seen in the future before regressing.
Combining the two events, the future situation became roughly clear. Since news of Chairman Kwon Byung-do's sudden unconsciousness would not be good for the group, they would issue a gag order to the employees. But Kwon Byung-do was no ordinary neighborhood store owner. Somehow, rumors would spread in the securities market, leading to a stock price decline.
Vroooooom—. I continued my thoughts while pressing the accelerator of the supercar. So what should I prepare for now? A drop in the stock prices of QS Group affiliates? No. While the news of Chairman Kwon Byung-do losing consciousness was certainly bad news, a stock price drop wasn't necessarily bad news for me. According to what I had seen in the future, the extent of that drop wouldn't affect the stature of a giant corporation like QS. As long as the company didn't go bankrupt, fallen stock prices would eventually rise, and that timing coincided exactly with when I planned to acquire shares in QS Life Insurance. Depending on how I handled the deal, it could even be an opportunity for me to exercise the right of first refusal on QS Life Insurance shares at a lower price.
What I needed to focus on now wasn't external matters to the group, but the massive power vacuum that would occur internally. Chairman Kwon Byung-do, who monopolized not only the group chairmanship but also the position of head of the Central Management Headquarters, stood tall at the very center of the group's power. But that massive mountain had suddenly disappeared. Since it was a stroke rather than death, it was too early to conclude there was no chance of recovery. However, at least until Chairman Kwon Byung-do regained consciousness and could express his will, waves would surge from all directions into the spot where that great mountain had stood, creating a vortex. And I must not avoid that vortex. Instead, I must grit my teeth and survive in its midst, standing tall at the center of the group's power.
Just as I resolved to wage an all-out war with my two brothers, the entire group had turned into a battlefield at precisely that moment. If this period had come even a little earlier, I would have been forced into war unprepared. Even though the current situation was sudden, it had been inevitable that Chairman Kwon Byung-do could not remain at the group's center forever. Rather, if I looked only at the timing of this inevitable event, it could even work in my favor.
I will win. I will definitely win.
* * *
Almost simultaneously, Han Seung-woo and I arrived at Myeongnyun University Hospital under the QS Group and quickly rushed to the neurosurgery ward. Thanks to Chairman Kwon Byung-do's influence, even though it was past 10 p.m., the hospital director himself came out to greet us.
"How do you do?"
"Yes, hello. I'm Kwon Ho-gyun, the third son of Chairman Kwon Byung-do, and this is Han Seung-woo, the Chief of the Chairman's Secretariat, who has always served at his side. We came after hearing such urgent news, so I'll skip the lengthy greetings and first ask about my father's condition."
While I was firing off the necessary questions like a machine gun, Seong-gyun and Je-gyun had appeared behind the director and stood side by side. Then, both of them simultaneously shot me a glare. It felt as if they wanted to say things like, "What took you so long?" or "You were the last to be born, and you're the last to arrive when Father collapsed," but were holding back because of the location. Since Seong-gyun and Je-gyun had been in Seoul, even if they heard the news around the same time, they must have arrived at the hospital before me.
The hospital director glanced behind him before answering. "I've already explained to the two gentlemen here, but—"
That didn't mean I could hear about Chairman Kwon Byung-do's condition from Kwon Seong-gyun or Kwon Je-gyun. Having arrived late and already losing momentum, it would be even worse to create a scene where those two rivals stood between Chairman Kwon Byung-do and me. I quickly pressed again before the director could say anything else. "I'm sorry, but could you explain it to me once more?"
Fortunately, the hospital director did not refuse and did not put on any airs. "Yes, I will. Would you like to come to my office for a moment? I didn't bring any paper or pen. It would be easier to understand if I draw a diagram while explaining."
Han Seung-woo and I followed the director, whose shoulders were slumped, into his office. With the emperor having collapsed, perhaps the person most psychologically intimidated right now was this hospital director, the highest-ranking among the imperial physicians.
The diagnosis the hospital director gave for Chairman Kwon Byung-do was a ruptured cerebral aneurysm, one of the conditions commonly called a stroke. A part of the cerebral blood vessel bursts, causing blood to leak and pool, which then presses on the brain. If left untreated, it leads to brain death—a terrifying disease. After finishing his explanation of Chairman Kwon Byung-do's condition, the hospital director let out a deep sigh. "We've been monitoring the chairman's heart steadily at our hospital, but he refused brain examinations, which made me anxious. And now it's come to this."
To tack on such a self-protective remark in this situation—the hospital director must be quite timid. "What are the chances of recovery? And how long would recovery take?"
The hospital director glanced at his watch, suppressing another sigh that was about to escape, and answered my question. "This is the most critical moment. We have begun a procedure to insert a wire through the blood vessel to block the ruptured vessel. If this procedure succeeds, the chances of recovery will be very high, and it won't take much time."
"It has to succeed, but hearing you speak in hypotheticals makes me a bit uneasy. What happens if the procedure fails?"
"To be honest, the success rate of the current procedure is about fifty-fifty. If it fails, we will have no choice but to open the chairman's skull and perform surgery to directly block the ruptured vessel. In that case, the prognosis is not very good. Of course, our hospital will do its utmost."
In summary, there was a fifty-fifty chance he could wake up perfectly fine soon, but we also had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
Knock, knock—. At that moment, a knock sounded at the office door.
"Yes, who is it? Please come in."
The person who entered following the hospital director's response was none other than Oh Il-mu. Why was someone who should have been at the villa in Gangwon-do here?