Byungjin Industries, Part 2
I asked Kim Cheol-woo, “Can you put the money you embezzled back?”
“Th-that’s……”
It had probably felt great when he was siphoning company funds to bet on horse racing. But that money was long gone now, so of course he had nothing left to repay it with.
I turned to Team Leader Oh Young-wook.
“What usually happens in a case like this?”
“Embezzlement is a serious crime. The obvious course is to file a complaint and hand it over to the courts.”
“How much time would he likely get for something like this?”
“Work-related embezzlement is punishable by up to ten years in prison or a fine of up to thirty million won. It depends on the amount involved, but in a case like this, it would usually mean at least three years behind bars.”
He answered smoothly, as if this was the kind of situation he’d seen more than once during due diligence.
I looked at Kim Cheol-woo and said, “So there you have it.”
At the thought that he might actually end up in prison, the color drained from his face.
Ignoring him, I spoke to my father. “You should report him to the police.”
“What?”
“Or should I do it for you?”
At my words, Kim Cheol-woo bowed his head to my father.
“Brother! I was wrong. Please, don’t report me. I’ll borrow the money if I have to and pay it back somehow.”
I said coldly, “Putting the money back doesn’t erase the embezzlement. You also have to account for all the opportunity cost he caused. You need to report this right away.”
My father opened his mouth. “Even so, reporting him……”
I kept speaking to him. “Forgiving the man who cheated you is your decision, Father. But a president should never forgive an employee who’s harmed the company. Because that money wasn’t your personal money—it was the company’s money. You told me before that every employee at Byungjin Industries trusts and follows only you. With that money, you could have hired more people, or at least given the workers better bonuses. Kim Cheol-woo stole all of that.”
“……”
My father couldn’t refute a word I said.
Kim Cheol-woo looked at me and pleaded, “Miru, please, don’t do this. I guess I got carried away for a little while. Can’t you just give me one chance? There’s that saying—hate the sin, not the sinner, right?”
“……”
It was a very nice saying, but not one a guilty man had any business using.
I remembered my father sitting in the living room, letting out a hollow sigh after the company went under.
When I thought about the emptiness and betrayal he must have felt, it wasn’t enough to just beat the hell out of Kim Cheol-woo here and now. But before that, there was something else I needed to do.
I held out the documents. “Sign here first.”
“What is this……”
“A contract stating that you’ll give up all your shares in Byungjin Industries. Then we’ll let you off without handing you over to the authorities.”
“W-what did you say?”
“You don’t actually expect us to keep working together after your embezzlement’s been exposed, do you?”
His show of remorse lasted only a moment.
Once he was cornered, Kim Cheol-woo showed his true colors.
He shot to his feet and shouted, “So this was all planned! You brought your son here to stage this whole act so you could throw me out of the company, didn’t you? Is that it? You think I wouldn’t figure it out?”
My father exclaimed in shock, “What are you talking about?”
“Do you have any idea how hard I’ve worked for this company? You’re going to kick out a man who’s busted his ass for more than thirty years?”
“Cheol-woo!”
He kept shouting, as if he were the one who’d been wronged. “Honestly, what has Brother even done all this time? Didn’t I build this company? If it weren’t for me, Byungjin Industries would’ve gone under years ago!”
“What? You—”
“Do you think this company will stay standing after what you’re doing to me!?”
I let out a sneer.
“Sounds to me like a threat to sink the company.”
Kim Cheol-woo ignored me and shouted at my father, “You really think you can keep doing business after kicking me out? Do you even know who my brother-in-law is? If I walk out, deliveries are finished, everything’s finished!”
He could talk that boldly for a reason. His brother-in-law was the president of Byungjin Industries’ most important supplier.
My father’s face turned ashen.
“Cheol-woo, calm down first……”
“Forget it! Let’s see who wins. You think I’m going to just leave quietly?”
“Hey! Kim Cheol-woo!”
My father shouted after him, but Kim Cheol-woo stormed out of the office without looking back.
As if he couldn’t believe what had just happened, my father sank heavily onto the sofa.
I almost thought this was better. If he had kept pleading and trying to earn sympathy, it would have been harder to throw him out. This way was cleaner.
“Have some water.”
Thirsty and clearly rattled, my father took the glass from me and gulped it down.
“I don’t even know what the hell just happened. Cheol-woo isn’t that kind of guy……”
“……”
He isn’t that kind of guy?
He was exactly that kind of guy, which was why he’d done it.
Still, I couldn’t entirely blame my father for thinking that way. Kim Cheol-woo had once been as diligent as my father, and he’d thrown himself into the company’s work with real passion.
Then, three years ago, he’d gotten hooked on horse racing and started falling apart. We were lucky we caught him now; if we’d let it continue, it would only have gotten worse.
Apparently, by the end, he’d been making excuse after excuse and spending most of his time at the racetrack instead of at the company.
My father hadn’t known any of this.
If I’d been a real investor, the moment I uncovered this kind of rot, I would’ve walked away from the deal and never looked back.
But Byungjin Industries was my father’s company, and this wasn’t an investment. It was filial piety.
Whether it turned into a feast or a disaster, I had to make this company successful.
“But what was that about making him give up his shares?”
“Exactly what it sounded like. We take back his shares and throw him out.”
My father kept letting out long, weary sighs. “Still, Cheol-woo really did suffer all these years. Back when we were young, he stayed up with me for days at the factory so we could meet delivery deadlines, sleeping and eating there, running around after executives and begging them for work. Tossing him out after he made one mistake feels……”
It was true that Kim Cheol-woo had struggled alongside my father all those years.
But that was that, and this was this.
“Remember this, Father. Business and personal matters are separate. If we don’t cut him loose now, it’ll become an even bigger problem later.”
Once I made up my mind, Byungjin Industries would be more than a hundred times larger within a few years.
There was no way I could bring a parasite like that along for the ride. Before we started growing in earnest, I had to cut him off.
That was why I’d used the due diligence process as an excuse to catch the embezzlement.
People don’t change easily.
That applied to my father, too.
He was too soft-hearted, and that wouldn’t change. Which meant I needed someone beside him who could keep him in line properly.
“Cheol-woo handled all the client relationships, too. If he’s gone, the company won’t be able to function.”
“I understand why you’re worried, but there’s no need to be.”
“Let me think about this by myself for a while.”
“Yes, sir.”
I stepped out of the office.
Team Leader Oh and the KSGI employees were waiting outside.
“Thank you for your hard work today.”
“Not at all. More importantly, what are you going to do now? Looking at the financial statements, if the business with N6 Engineering falls through, it’ll be dangerous.”
I reviewed the materials on N6 Engineering.
People tended to think all small and medium-sized businesses were basically the same, but just like major corporations, companies could vary enormously in size.
A first-tier vendor doing direct business with a conglomerate might employ thousands of people, and even a third-tier vendor was large enough for its president to carry himself with some confidence wherever he went.
N6 Engineering was exactly that sort of third-tier vendor.
With 350 employees and two subsidiaries, it was a respectable-sized company.
Its founder and CEO was Chairman Yuk Ho-kyung.
In his younger days, Kim Cheol-woo married the chairman’s younger sister, and through that connection they’d kept doing business ever since.
“How much of your revenue comes from them?”
“Thirty-six percent.”
If that disappeared, Byungjin Industries would go straight into the red. It might even really have to shut its doors.
Kim Cheol-woo hadn’t been bluffing.
He’d had a card up his sleeve after all.
In truth, even throwing Kim Cheol-woo out wouldn’t solve everything.
There was no way my father could run the company by himself. If I poured in investment money, it would solve the immediate problem, but it’d be like pouring water into a bottomless jar.
This incident alone had made it clear that my father simply didn’t have the ability or qualifications to run the business properly.
I made up my mind for good.
I’d keep my father on as a figurehead.
And I’d bring in someone competent to run the company for real!
“Hey, brother.”
“Did you look over the materials I sent?”
“Yeah, I skimmed them.”
“What do you think?”
Heo Min-woong answered in a bored voice.
“What do I think? It’s just your average shitty little company. Though, man, the company name is kind of hilarious.”
“What’s so funny about Byungjin Industries?”
“It sounds way too much like byungjin. What kind of company name is that?”
“My father’s name is Han Byung-jin. That’s why it’s called Byungjin Industries.”
“Ah…… that explains it. I knew there was something unusual about the name. Byungjin—like advancing in step together, right? Strategy starts with byungjin, doesn’t it? It’s the kind of name you can’t forget once you hear it. Just saying it gives off this grand, powerful vibe. Anyway, if your father’s been running this crappy…… no, excellent company, you should’ve told me sooner. I would’ve helped somehow.”
He was working hard to walk that one back.
“I called because I actually need help.”
“You need my help? With what? Something like getting you in with Hwaan Energy?”
He sounded oddly excited.
“As you can see, this company isn’t even big enough for me to ask for that kind of favor.”
“Still, I can at least introduce you to some clients.”
“Let’s save that for later. First, introduce me to a person.”
“A person?”
“Yes. Is there anyone who could take over this company and grow it? Ideally someone who understands subcontractor businesses well.”
“You mean someone who could play the role of a professional manager?”
“Exactly.”
“But it’s your father’s company. Won’t your father be running it?”
“If it were just a matter of running a factory or two, maybe. But he doesn’t have the ability to grow a business.”
“Cold.”
“I’m not being cold. I’m being objective. So, do you know anyone suitable?”
“Hmm. Someone willing to go work at a crappy…… no, a strong small company like this? You know everybody tries to avoid those shitty…… strong small companies.”
“Strong small company, my ass.”
“If you keep talking like that, I’ll just call it a shitty little company.”
“Anyway, if someone’s going to handle management, they’d at least need to be executive level, right? The problem is, most executives already have a place lined up when they retire.”
Executives usually knew the inner workings of a company inside and out. That was why, after retirement, they were often given some kind of position to keep them from joining a competitor.
Most of them ended up as outside directors or advisers at first-tier vendors.
They’d use their connections for a few more years, then quit once those connections lost their value.
“Ah! I’ve got someone in mind.”
“Who is it?”
“Vice President Park Yong-jin. He started as a regular employee at Hwaan Heavy Industries and handled client management. He was so capable that he rose through the ranks fast.”
“Oh!”
If he’d managed clients, he’d have a broad network and a good understanding of how subcontractors worked.
“But?”
“Later he moved over to Hwaan Solutions, but when the Thomas Motors scandal broke, he took responsibility and resigned.”
“……”
So he’d basically been fired because of me?