A Sister-in-Law's Desperate Request
Is there anything I can do to help Kim Majin with whatever personal illness or emotional problem she's dealing with? I'm not a doctor or a therapist, after all. Still, she must have judged that I could solve her problem, or she wouldn't have come all this way despite the risk of having to apologize.
“How can I help you?”
At my question, Kim Majin took a deep breath, as if it was difficult to bring up her husband again, then continued.
“My husband… he seems to be in worse shape than I mentioned earlier. I visit him every day, and every time, he only talks about you, young master.”
“About me?”
“Yes. He keeps saying that once he gets out of the hospital, he'll destroy you somehow. He'll hire a killer with his entire fortune if he has to. I don't even know if that's possible, but he talks about calling a shareholders' meeting to impeach you so often that it terrifies me.”
Wow. Kwon Je-gyun really can't get his head straight.
“There are no bylaws in the QS Group that allow the impeachment of the head of the Central Economic Headquarters.”
“I thought that part sounded ridiculous too, but he's already tried to hire a killer once. And because he's a man with money, I'm terrified he might try something like that again. I can't sleep, and I've lost all appetite.”
I couldn't completely rule that out either. Seok Dong-hoon had once mentioned that if someone tried to harm me by hiring people from overseas, even he wouldn't have a way to stop it. If Je-gyun really mobilized his entire fortune like Kim Majin said, it would be hard to call the odds of success zero.
“So what you're saying, sister-in-law, is that you're worried because of the assets Je-gyun holds—whether it's cash or company shares.”
“Yes. Other people worry because they don't have money, but my husband keeps trying to spend his on strange things. That makes it an even bigger problem. When you think about it, the reason you almost got hurt was all because of that money.”
So Kim Majin wanted me to use the power of the QS Group to somehow prevent Je-gyun from exercising his property rights. Handling it that way would make things far too complicated. No law in this country allows a private company to restrict an individual's exercise of property rights.
But from a lawyer's perspective rather than the head of the Central Economic Headquarters, there was an extremely simple solution to this matter. Before using that method, however, I needed to confirm one thing—because if I did, Je-gyun's vast property rights would transfer to Kim Majin.
“Sister-in-law, you don't resent me, do you? You might think what happened to your husband was because of money, and in a way, you could blame me.”
“Oh my, what are you saying? That was entirely his fault. You nearly suffered something terrible, and it's a relief you escaped. I'm just so scared he'll try something like that again. He can't stay in the hospital forever—he has to be discharged in three months.”
Okay. Whether from the context of our conversation so far or from what she'd just said, Kim Majin wouldn't use the transferred property rights against me. The way she was apologizing on her husband's behalf made it seem possible she could even become an ally going forward.
“Then how about you take over managing Je-gyun's assets?”
“Pardon? How?”
“By designating him as an adult ward.”
“Pardon? An adult… what did you say? I must have misheard.”
Adult ward. Aside from minor legal differences, it was the same as the old civil law term for a person under legal disability. In simple terms, it was a measure that legally restricted most rights of someone judged incapable of normal reasoning. Those rights didn't simply disappear—they were delegated to a guardian until the adult ward status was lifted. The restricted rights naturally included the large cash transactions and voting rights over owned shares that Kim Majin had been worried about moments earlier.
Moreover, from what she'd said, Je-gyun's intermittent explosive disorder had already proven he lacked normal reasoning ability. The risk of him harming others due to that impaired judgment was also clear. In such cases, the family court could recognize him as an adult ward with relative ease. That was exactly what the law was for. The worry Kim Majin had brought with her already had a legal safeguard in place to prevent it from becoming reality.
After hearing my explanation, Kim Majin nodded.
“If that's all it takes, I'll be able to breathe easier. So my husband becomes the adult ward, and you become the guardian?”
As much as I wanted to seize all of Je-gyun's voting rights for myself, that wouldn't work. If I volunteered to be the guardian, the judge handling the adult ward petition might easily interpret it as an attempt to abuse the law for a management dispute. On top of that, if Seong-gyun stepped forward with the same qualifications to become Je-gyun's guardian, things would get extremely messy.
“No. It's better if you become the guardian, sister-in-law.”
“Me?”
“That way the legal issues will be cleanly resolved, and it also fits with family obligations.”
Kim Majin let out a sigh as if steeling her resolve, then answered firmly.
“All right. I'll do it. How long does the legal process you mentioned usually take?”
“The adult ward petition and guardian designation normally take about three months. In this case, Je-gyun's condition is so clearly documented and there's no dispute over who the guardian should be, so it should finish much faster. I'll make sure to expedite it so you can rest easy.”
“Even after hearing your explanation, I still don't have a clear sense of what I need to do right now. Could you handle the procedures for me?”
Nope. Having me act as legal representative in this matter was out of the question for the same reason. I absolutely could not create the appearance of turning Kwon Je-gyun into a legally incapacitated person to gain an advantage in the management succession. Besides, if I handled it, it would honestly take longer. I already had too many other things to do, and when it came to speeding up court processing times, the best approach was to hire a highly reputable lawyer. The reason court cases dragged on was usually simple—judges were simply overloaded with assigned work. In principle, cases were supposed to be handled in the order they were filed, but things didn't always work that way. Judges were human too; they naturally wanted to handle easier cases first and prioritize work from people they knew.
From the moment I first brought up the adult ward idea, there had been one person I'd had in mind as the legal representative: Kye Chan-sik, the pinnacle of the jeongwan-yeou practice, former Chief Judge of the Seoul High Court.
“Someone other than me will provide procedural assistance. I'll have them contact you first.”
“Thank you.”
Whew. That was one less thing for me to worry about. Honestly, the shares Je-gyun held in QS Food and QS EnM weren't insignificant, and since he clearly held a grudge against me, I'd been concerned about what would happen if he kept interfering at every turn. But if Kim Majin exercised those rights instead, that enormous authority would actually become an asset on my side.
Then a thought suddenly occurred to me—I might be able to resolve another worry I'd had before Kim Majin arrived.
“By the way, sister-in-law, you used to work at QS EnM, didn't you?”
“Pardon? QS EnM? That was a long time ago. I had some contracts from my acting days, and I worked in an administrative role for a short while before I got married and had the children.”
Contrary to how casually Kim Majin spoke about it, the work she'd done at QS EnM had generated enormous profits for the company. From what I'd gathered, she'd majored in arts management in graduate school, joined QS EnM, and briefly served as a team leader. The project she'd been assigned was establishing QS EnM's directly operated movie theaters. That venture had been a tremendous success, elevating QS EnM's distribution power to an unmatched level. The business she'd started had since become its own affiliate, QS Movies, which continued to generate profits. Moreover, once Je-gyun's adult ward petition was finalized, the voting rights over QS EnM's substantial shares would pass to Kim Majin. I'd just found the perfect person to fill the endlessly troublesome position of CEO at QS EnM.
“Have you ever considered returning to QS EnM?”
“Oh my, I've been out of that world for so long that I'd only cause trouble if I went back.”
My thoughts were somewhat different. In any case, if Kim Majin became CEO of QS EnM, there was one additional massive benefit for me regardless of how she performed. Not every affiliate that had followed Je-gyun would have switched sides as decisively as President Baek Seung-guk. Even if they couldn't express it openly, they probably harbored various complaints about me ousting Je-gyun. But if Kim Majin—Je-gyun's wife—took charge of QS EnM, it would serve as an excellent symbolic measure to quell their discontent. By leaving the company Je-gyun had led in his wife's hands, I could slightly distance myself from accusations that I'd driven out my brother and seized his role for myself.
“I'm not asking you to return as a regular employee. I'm hoping you'd take the position of president. You don't need to answer right now—just think it over while you handle the matter we discussed earlier.”
“President?”
“Yes. After thinking about it for days, I couldn't find anyone more suitable for that position than you.”
Despite my persuasion, Kim Majin shook her head.
“I'm sorry. I've been so overwhelmed with family matters lately that I don't have the courage to start something new.”
“Je-gyun needs to recover quickly.”
“Thank you. On top of his situation, I'm also worried sick about our daughter.”
What? There was more family drama at the Kim Majin household?
“You mean your second daughter, Shinyong? She's at that age where she's bound to cause trouble and worry her parents, but what's going on?”
“I'd rather she caused trouble. At least then I could clean up after her. She's suffering something terrible out there, and I only found out recently. Actually, I only came here to tell you about my husband, but this is the real reason I imposed on you by coming all this way.”
“If you tell me what's happening, I'll try to find a solution.”
Kim Majin bowed her head in greeting and wiped away tears that had welled up again.
“Thank you. My father-in-law once told my husband that if any legal issues arose in the family, he should consult you first. Shinyong doesn't want this matter to become public, so it's fortunate that you're a lawyer.”
If it was a legal problem, I was confident. But what kind of legal issue could a high school student possibly have?