Everything, on My Own
"Johwa Group is preparing a savings bank?"
Department Manager Lee Jinhee's eyes moved briskly, no doubt sorting through the information she already had and putting it back into order.
"Why?"
"Because they need one."
"That's not the kind of company they are. Aren't they mostly a B2B business? They deal with companies, not ordinary consumers. And now they're suddenly moving into B2C? Of all things, finance?"
"Yes."
"Hmm... Chairman Han Gangho of Johwa Group has three children. I know the two sons are vice chairmen of Johwa Group, and the youngest daughter runs the hotel and resort business. You're not telling me Johwa Group's madam is going to run a savings bank?"
"No chance."
"Then who, exactly? I don't know the details, but Han Gangho is the sort of man who runs everything through family. Every subsidiary president is a blood relative, even if they're just a figurehead."
"Han Suyeong."
"Who's that?"
Meeting Han Suyeong was something Department Manager Lee Jinhee would do far in the future, when she and the old Do Jaehyun built a major conglomerate together. Naturally, the Lee Jinhee of now had no reason to know him.
"Chairman Han Gangho's hidden youngest son. In the social circles where chaebol families gossip, he's infamous as a complete wastrel."
"Really? So what, a mistress's son, a bastard. In plain terms, he's just some rich son of a bitch?"
"Exactly."
"Man... sure. When it comes to moving cash around, nothing beats a card company or a bank. And if something happens, you can always deny it, say you don't know the kid because he isn't even in the family registry, and cut him loose. I get it. But if you're right, then even if Johwa Group sets up a savings bank, the representative director would obviously be Han Suyeong. So what does that have to do with me?"
"It has plenty to do with you."
"Jaehyun. I'm seriously not following you here... no, let me ask just in case."
Lee Jinhee scratched at her forehead with an index finger.
"Are you, by any chance, engaged to Johwa Group's youngest daughter, Han Minyeong?"
"...."
"No, that doesn't make sense. How long has it been since you quit here, and now you've already got that much capital? And now you're telling me to go work for the Johwa Savings Bank that Johwa Group's making. If you're Johwa Group's son-in-law, the whole puzzle comes together."
"...."
"Come on, be honest. Am I right? Chairman Han Gangho's family story is famous. His eldest son married a daughter from another chaebol family, and the second son's wife passed the foreign service exam at the top of her class and came from a famous political family. He's known for picking daughters-in-law based purely on ability. Is that what you're doing too? Huh? Am I right?"
"I'm not."
"You're really not?"
"Would that even make sense? I like younger women too."
"....Han Minyeong's only just over thirty, isn't she?"
"Let's stop there."
Lee Jinhee narrowed her eyes at him. There was half a joke in that look, and half a serious appraisal.
"Johwa Savings Bank, Director Lee Jinhee."
"What?"
"Sounds good, doesn't it? Being a director of a major conglomerate affiliate."
"Are you mocking me?"
"No. I'm serious. To be blunt, you don't have any other option besides me."
Lee Jinhee let out a dry laugh.
"Man, what happened to you? Back then, you couldn't even hide your emotions."
I didn't smile.
"Yeah. Back then, I didn't know the world. So I rushed, I collided, and I broke."
"...."
"That's why I move with numbers now."
"You're really saying you have no ties to Johwa Group?"
"If you want to call it a tie, then yes. We have a very rotten kind of connection, but it seems the other side doesn't think of it as rotten. They think it's fate."
"Then why hand this to me? You could take all of it for yourself."
"Right now, I need someone to take it with me."
At that, Lee Jinhee's eyes moved again, quick and calculating. This place, this moment, might have been a turning point in her life.
I rose slowly and set a business card on the table, then said lightly, "One is the card of Kim Museong, the representative director of Yeonhui Credit Union. The other is Shin Gilwoo's card, representative director of WH Entertainment."
"The savings bank is only the beginning. There's a much bigger game inside it. And the owners of those two cards are people who work with me. Not Johwa Group's personnel office. Call them and check for yourself."
Lee Jinhee picked up the cards.
"What am I supposed to say when I call?"
"Tell them Do Jaehyun sent you."
"Are you kidding me?"
"No. Say my name and tell them you'd like to work together, then ask what their relationship to Do Jaehyun is. You know Yeonhui Credit Union, right?"
"Of course. That illegal lending office near Yeongdeungpo Station. Run by gangsters."
"It's grown huge. Look up the corporate registration and then call them. Seeing once is worth a hundred hearings."
"So what now?"
There was no need to say more. Lee Jinhee's temperament was the kind that would bolt if pushed too hard, and the best way to win her trust was the way he liked to say it himself: not by talking a hundred times, but by showing her once.
"Think about whether you'll work with me over drinks tonight."
"With you?"
"No."
I slid one of the two cards across the table toward her, Kim Museong's card from Yeonhui Credit Union.
"With this guy."
"A gangster?"
"Tonight, 8 p.m., 42nd floor, Gangnam Parkville Penthouse. You can clear your schedule, right?"
"...."
I didn't drag it out any longer and stood up.
"Take it as a gamble and have a drink tonight. And I hope you give me the answer I want, Department Manager. Once you find that answer, then..."
"Then what?"
As I opened the cafe door and stepped out, I waved at her.
"You won't even look twice at being a director at Johwa Savings Bank. Or its representative director."
Left alone after Do Jaehyun left, Lee Jinhee toyed with Kim Museong's card, then ended up pocketing both his and Shin Gilwoo's.
"Did he come to recruit me, or to beg me to beg for a job? Find the answer and show it to him?"
A smile settled at the corner of Lee Jinhee's mouth.
"Interesting."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"How? Even the police say debt disputes are supposed to be settled amicably between the parties. So what now?"
"...."
The stray dog Yoo Hobin faced Team Leader Kim Donggeon and sneered. But by then the police had already withdrawn, and the other employees had turned back to their monitors as if they were watching someone else's trouble, stealing glances at Team Leader Kim Donggeon all the while.
Worse, their eyes were full of contempt for him.
Those damn bastards... even you idiots are looking down on me?
Kim Donggeon wanted to shout at them to keep their eyes down and do their jobs, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
"Team Leader Kim Donggeon."
"S-speak..."
"This is marked as paid in full, right?"
"Paid in fu..."
Kim Donggeon barely swallowed the stream of profanity rising in his throat and lowered his head. The first thing that caught his eye was the scattering of coins strewn across the clean white tile floor.
There were especially a lot of ten-won coins, and they were so disgusting it felt as if he were staring at thousands of cockroaches swarming across the floor. Kim Donggeon fought back the nausea rising in his throat.
"...It has been processed."
But the only thing he could say was that it had been paid in full. Throwing a bigger fit here would get him nothing and only make the matter more complicated.
"All right. Then please prepare the paperwork."
"Paperwork? What paperwork?"
"A certificate of full repayment."
"What?"
"Isn't it obvious that if a customer requests a certificate of full repayment, you issue one?"
"...Assistant Manager Oh."
"Yes? Yes, Team Leader."
Assistant Manager Oh, who had happily brought in Bulgom and his men, claiming they could clear this out perfectly, turned in alarm and looked at Kim Donggeon.
"Print the certificate of full repayment and bring it here."
"Yes, Team Leader."
"Ah, hold on. You there, employee?"
Just then, Yoo Hobin grabbed Assistant Manager Oh.
"We've got the certificate of full repayment and we've brought exactly 12 million won, right? There should be some change left over. I'll give you the account number for the balance return, so please deposit it by tomorrow before the bank closes. Here, into this account."
"...."
"What, were you just going to keep it? Isn't that illegal? Anything more than principal plus interest is illegal, isn't it?"
Yoo Hobin's expression changed. True to his nickname, he looked like a stray dog ready to grab another opening and chew it down to the bone.
"Assistant Manager Oh. Take care of that too."
"H-however..."
"Just do it! If something goes wrong, I'll cover it with my own money!"
Team Leader Kim Donggeon barked at poor Assistant Manager Oh instead.
"A-all right..."
Shoulders slumped, Assistant Manager Oh soon brought back the paperwork Yoo Hobin wanted, complete with AK Capital's corporate seal, and Bulgom Gong Hyeongtae folded the documents neatly and tucked them inside his jacket with a satisfied look.
"Let's go."
"Yes, Director."
Gong Hyeongtae left the office without another word, and the gangsters filed out after him in a long line.
"Team Leader Kim Donggeon?"
Yoo Hobin, leaving last, called out as he shut the office door, and Kim Donggeon glared at him with a murderous look that could have killed a man on sight.
But...
"Thanks for the fun. From now on, try to keep a proper sense of your place."
Yoo Hobin even winked, landing the final blow on Team Leader Kim Donggeon.
"Heh."
"Heh-heh..."
"Pfft..."
At his mockery, snorts of derision leaked out from all over the office as people tried to hold in their laughter, and Team Leader Kim Donggeon's face turned an ugly, feverish red.
And then...
"Fuck... fuck... FUCK!"
Once the gangsters were gone, Team Leader Kim Donggeon finally lost control. He started hurling the items on his desk to the floor in a rage, and the employees of Personal Credit Management Team 1 hastily put distance between themselves and him, afraid of being hit by flying debris.
"Huff, huff. Fuck it, I won't let this go. You sons of bitches."
Trying to keep the boiling anger inside him from spilling over, Team Leader Kim Donggeon turned around and opened the roller blind by the window. He meant to calm himself by looking at the view outside. But then, reflected in the clean glass, he saw the office door quietly opening.
And then...
"Nice work."
"Eek..."
Team Leader Kim Donggeon's head snapped around like an arrow.
"D-Department Manager."
It was Lee Jinhee returning to her office.
"This isn't a mess that's five minutes before disaster. The office looks like hell. No, it's already hell."