Entering the Director's Office (1)
My request made the department head shake his head in discomfort.
"Pardon? An anonymous scan? I'm afraid our hospital's system makes that rather difficult. If you truly need an anonymous examination, it might be better to visit a smaller clinic. Shall I refer you to a private neurosurgery practice equipped with CT machines?"
I sat up and nodded at him. I needed to know whether a homunculus existed in my own head as well.
"I'd appreciate that. Please don't mention my identity to them, and I'll pay the full examination fee."
"Understood. I know exactly what you mean."
That evening, I visited a private clinic run by a junior colleague of the neurosurgery department head at Myungryun University Hospital and underwent a brain CT scan. The doctor who received my results asked with a grave expression,
"Haven't you been experiencing frequent headaches?"
I hadn't noticed much before, though the pain that afternoon had nearly killed me.
"Is there something abnormal on the CT?"
"It's not merely abnormal—this requires immediate surgery. Would you like to see it?"
"Yes."
The doctor turned the monitor toward me and pointed to one corner of the scan. Ha. Even when my expectations were confirmed with perfect accuracy, the shock still hit hard. There, just like the one visible on Chairman Kwon Byung-do's CT, sat a fetus-shaped homunculus.
"As you can see here, this is a tumor. It must be removed. You can have the surgery here or at a university hospital. We could likely schedule it sooner. What would you like to do?"
"No. I won't undergo surgery."
"Excuse me? Patient, if you don't operate immediately, this could become life-threatening. The tumor is already the size of a finger joint—quite large—and its irregular shape, with protrusions resembling limbs, suggests a high likelihood of malignancy. Of course, we'll confirm with a biopsy after surgery, but—"
Contrary to the doctor's warning, I knew all too well that this thing posed no threat to my health. Chairman Kwon Byung-do had lived with this homunculus in his head for a long time. Assuming it had appeared after I entered Ho-gyun's body, I had already lived the past two years without issue.
"Thank you for your concern, but I won't have the surgery. Could you show me my scan results now and permanently delete the file? Also, please don't mention what you saw here to anyone."
The doctor swallowed hard, as if holding back a flood of words, before replying.
"Understood. If your resolve is this firm, we cannot force treatment against your wishes. However, if you experience any discomfort, please visit a neurosurgery department—ours or another—without delay."
After paying with a large check that covered both the examination and confidentiality fees, I left the hospital and drove straight to QS Tower.
* * *
It was undeniable that an unfortunate event had occurred—one that would have been better if it had never happened to Chairman Kwon Byung-do. He had known far more than I realized, and I wished I had asked him more questions before the accident. Of course, the accident had already happened, and all that remained was to gather the broken pieces. Among those pieces were several quite useful ones. If I utilized them well, I could not only bring down both Seong-gyun and Je-gyun simultaneously but also rise to a position where I could exercise the chairman's actual authority by proxy.
The fact that Chairman Kwon Byung-do had empowered me through his will, prepared for the possibility of his coma, meant he wanted me to firmly seize control of the group. If passing the bar exam had been his first test, then the organizational control I would demonstrate from now on would be the final trial before succeeding the chairmanship.
Starting with Law Firm Seungbaek, the Central Management Headquarters had recently fallen into my hands as well. The time to devour the entire QS Group was approaching.
Vrooooom—. As the supercar crossed the Han River Bridge, the goal I had momentarily set aside came back into sharp focus, clearing my mind.
Upon arriving at QS Tower, I headed to the floor directly below the chairman's office, where the Central Management Headquarters offices were located. In the past, I would have naturally gone to the Audit Team Leader's office, but today my destination was slightly different. It was the Central Management Headquarters Director's office—long untouched by human hands—which I would now use according to the publicly disclosed will of Chairman Kwon Byung-do.
It was past nine in the evening, so few employees remained. After exchanging nods with several staff members assigned to the director's office, I entered the innermost space reserved exclusively for me: the director's office.
However, contrary to my expectation of simply turning on the fluorescent lights, someone I had been seeing quite often lately was already inside. It was Han Seung-woo, Chief of the Chairman's Secretariat, who oversaw the internal affairs of QS Tower.
"Young Master, you've arrived. Nothing unusual at the hospital, I hope?"
"The fact that Father is lying there is unusual enough. Everyone hopes he wakes up as soon as possible. This is the room I'll be using from now on, correct?"
"Yes. I've been cleaning it periodically, but since a new occupant has been assigned to the director's office, I was considering how to handle the interior. Now that you're here, please feel free to tell me if you have any preferred style or items you'd like added."
Having passed through various offices until now, I had never really thought about how to decorate them. As long as it didn't interfere with work, the design of an office had never mattered much to me. Besides, none of the offices I had occupied so far had been my final destination. The same applied to this Central Management Headquarters director's office. It was merely a waypoint—a place to pass through briefly. My true destination was the chairman's office, one floor above.
Still, since Han Seung-woo had asked, I glanced around the interior of the director's office. I could understand why he had brought up redecorating in the first place. Although Chairman Kwon Byung-do's actual workspace had been the chairman's office, this room had formally been assigned to him as well. As a result, every item and decoration reflected his tastes. The large desk was crowded with orchid pots, and the surface of the cabinet against the wall was inlaid with mother-of-pearl. In polite terms, it was antique; in modern slang, it was a bit old-fashioned. Well, whether old-fashioned or new, my opinion remained unchanged—as long as it didn't hinder work. However, there was one item that bothered me.
"Could you store that somewhere else?"
Han Seung-woo followed my gaze to the nameplate on the desk. It was three times larger than the standard plaques used by executives—an enormous size. In dramas, nameplates were often picked up and thrown at someone's forehead, but this one looked like it would provide a full workout just to lift, let alone throw. Written on it in white letters against a black background were the words:
Central Management Headquarters Director Kwon Byung-do
The size of the plaque and the imposing Chinese characters felt burdensome, as did the idea of conducting business under Chairman Kwon Byung-do's name. Sensing my thoughts, Han Seung-woo quickly nodded.
"Understood. I'll have a new nameplate made with your name right away. Do you have a preferred style or font?"
Honestly, since I would stop using it soon after moving up to the chairman's office, I would have preferred not to have one made at all. Still, I didn't want to argue over such a trivial matter, so I compromised.
"Make it as plain as possible. I'd like the title and name in Hangul rather than Chinese characters."
"Understood. I'll have it made accordingly. Is there anything else you'd like changed?"
"The space is spacious, the table over there can accommodate multiple people, and it looks good for work. The cleaning has been done well too. I'll use it as is. I don't want to make things complicated by changing things around when I'm about to start working right away. I'll just bring over the computer I was using and connect it myself."
"Pardon? You'll be handling the director's duties already?"
I nodded firmly at Han Seung-woo's puzzled expression.
"There's something the Audit Team was looking into that would be cleaner to handle with the director's authority, so I'd like to wrap it up."
"Understood. Please contact me anytime if there's anything I can assist with."
* * *
After Han Seung-woo left the director's office carrying the massive nameplate, I brought over the laptop and several document files I had been using in the Audit Team and sat down at the director's desk. The truth was, I had another reason for rushing like this. It wasn't as if I wanted to collapse in the afternoon and then dive straight into work at night. Setting aside my physical condition, I also wanted time to properly mourn what had happened to Chairman Kwon Byung-do and to reflect alone on several incidents connected to him. However, Seong-gyun and Je-gyun would never grant me such leisure. Now that the will had been made public and it was clear I would succeed the chairmanship, they would no longer settle for mere probing attacks—they would band together and come at me with everything they had.
Even the brief moment of mourning Jeongjungan had shown before reading the will had been Je-gyun trying to stop him so he could learn its contents faster. Regardless of how unfilial that act was, it was clear proof of how desperate Seong-gyun and Je-gyun had become. I had to strike first. The plan I had announced at the villa meeting remained unchanged. I would ensure the company rule prohibiting executives from holding other positions was passed. Through that, I would sever the representative director titles they had planted across a total of twenty-eight affiliates. Of course, bringing this agenda to the executive meeting would feel like banging my head against a wall. If I did it that way, however, I couldn't guarantee the "odds of success" that Chae Hee-geon valued so highly. Before the motion to oust Seong-gyun and Je-gyun from their affiliate president positions became public, I would undermine them from below. Then, if the entire group caught wind of it, the already-wavering pair would collapse with a single push.
I reached out and picked up one of the document files I had brought from the Audit Team. Inside were the materials that would turn Je-gyun into nuclear waste after use.