Does This Even Make Sense? (1)

Park Tae-il, the man behind the Primus scandal, was caught at Incheon Airport just before departure and had been held under arrest ever since.

Because the case had drawn so much public attention, the trial moved with unusual speed.

He apologized to the victims and promised to do everything he could to repair the damage, but somehow he still managed to put together an absurdly lavish defense team made up of former prosecutors and judges, and went to court with them at his side.

And at last, the first verdict was handed down.

Seong Yoon-ah read the comments as they kept piling up and found herself wondering the same thing.

Yeah. I wonder what that guy is doing now.

He’d said he was going to the United States, and after that there’d been nothing. She’d expected him to call once he got back, but if he still hadn’t contacted her by now...

Is he still in the U.S.? Or did he come back and just decide not to call?

If she wanted to know which it was, she had to contact him first.

She called Han Miru’s phone.

But it was switched off. The next day, it was the same.

Just in case, she sent him a message on KakaoTalk, but he didn’t even check it.

No, why is his phone off? Surely nothing happened to him in the U.S., right? Come to think of it, wasn’t there another mass shooting yesterday?

Worrying more than she needed to, Seong Yoon-ah went to the Research Department during lunch.

"Hello."

Her appearance made everyone visibly startled. Which made sense, because she was the granddaughter of the DA Financial Group chairman.

Or rather, now the only daughter of the future chairman.

Kim Su-won, the new department head who had taken over after Yoon Young-cheol was demoted to a provincial branch, looked flustered and said, "W-well, what brings you here... no, what can I do for you?"

"I’m just here to see Assistant Manager Lee Dong-ho for a moment."

Lee Dong-ho, who had been keeping his head down like an ostrich burying its face in the sand, jolted upright.

"Me?"

"I thought it was lunchtime, but if you’re in the middle of work, I’ll come back later."

At that, Kim Su-won hurriedly said, "Ah! It’s lunch already. Come on, everyone, go eat. Go on!"

Seong Yoon-ah turned to Lee Dong-ho and said, "Could I talk to you for a minute?"

"Ah, yes."

Once they were outside, Lee Dong-ho faced her stiffly, standing at attention. They’d greeted each other in passing before, but they’d never actually spoken one-on-one.

What on earth did she come looking for me about?

As he racked his brain, trying to think of anything he might have done wrong, Seong Yoon-ah asked, "Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"Not at all. I’m very relaxed right now."

"……"

Then why did he not look relaxed in the slightest?

"You don’t have to stand there like that. You can relax."

"Understood."

Lee Dong-ho immediately loosened his posture.

Seong Yoon-ah let out a small sigh. "I wasn’t telling you to stand at ease."

"……Yes."

Lee Dong-ho asked her, "So, what’s this about?"

He was Han Miru’s senior from university, and also his senior at work. She knew they were fairly close.

Seong Yoon-ah asked casually, "You’ve been in touch with Miru a lot lately, haven’t you?"

"Excuse me?"

Lee Dong-ho looked taken aback.

What am I supposed to say to that?

It wasn’t exactly a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠simple question, either. Han Miru had exposed the company’s internal scandal and quit. In the end, it had been the right thing to do, but plenty of people saw it in a bad light.

Is this some kind of test of my loyalty to the company?

To make sure he didn’t misunderstand, Seong Yoon-ah hurriedly added, "It’s nothing. He went to the U.S. not long ago, and I was just wondering if he’d come back by now."

Lee Dong-ho’s eyes widened.

"He went to America? Wait, what was he even doing over there?"

What? He didn’t even know he’d gone to the U.S.?

She’d come to ask a question and ended up being the one to explain things.

"Well... I heard it was for work, but..."

"Work? What kind of work does that guy do in the States? Is he opening a kimbap place or something?"

"……"

That was exactly what she’d been trying to find out. What on earth was he planning to do over there?

"But why not just call him? Don’t you know his number?"

"No. I’ve tried several times, but his phone’s off. I’m worried something may have happened."

"I see."

Lee Dong-ho nodded, then asked with a puzzled look, "But why are you worried about Miru?"

"That’s..."

Seong Yoon-ah replied as though making an excuse. "We were hired in the same class."

"He quit, though. Once someone leaves the company, they’re just an outsider."

"W-well, still, once you’ve joined together, you’re coworkers for life. Right?"

"……"

For someone who says that, doesn’t she seem to care surprisingly little about the coworkers who actually stayed behind?

Somehow I’d lost my appetite, so I decided to skip lunch and just have coffee instead.

Maybe it was the stress, but I was craving something sweet.

Seong Yoon-ah sipped on a chocolate chip frappuccino she normally wouldn’t have ordered and thought about it again.

No, seriously, why is his phone off? He’s making people worry.

She was absently fiddling with her phone when it suddenly started vibrating. For a split second, she wondered if it might ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be Han Miru, but the disappointment on her face came just as quickly when she saw the caller ID.

"Hello?"

His name was Ju Hyun-jin.

She had met him as a child because of her mother, who had connections with the Hanjeong Group. They were only the kind of people who exchanged a casual call every so often, but lately he had been contacting her much more often than before.

"What is it?"

[What are you doing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this weekend? You know Jae-yoon, right? SL Group’s Lee Jae-yoon. He’s throwing a party this time, so why don’t you come with me?]

"I’m busy with work, so please go by yourself."

[Aw, come on. You need to get out once in a while. That’s how you end up working better, you know? A lot of chaebol people are going, so I’ll introduce you around one by one. It’ll all help you later.]

She turned him down several times, but he kept on pushing as if he hadn’t heard a word.

At this point, shouldn’t he get the hint? Is he just clueless?

"I’m at work right now, so I’ll call you back later."

[Really? Then I’ll call after work...]

She hung up before he could say anything else. But then her phone rang again immediately.

Seong Yoon-ah said, a little irritably, "I told you I’m at work right now."

[I see. I thought it was lunchtime, so I apologize for the interruption.]

The voice was different from before.

Startled, she looked at the name on the screen and nearly dropped the phone.

"Ah! Hello, Chairman."

[I’ll contact you again later. When would be a good time to call you?]

"Oh, no, it’s fine. I’m available right now."

[Didn’t you just say you were working?]

"That... Ah! I only said that because I got one of those loan consultation calls."

He chuckled softly.

[I see. I get those sometimes too. They tell me they’ll lend up to 50 million won without any collateral.]

The caller was none other than Chairman Yoo Jae-ho.

She had almost hung up on the chairman of Yuseong Group without realizing it. Fortunately, he didn’t seem offended, and Seong Yoon-ah quietly patted her chest in relief.

[You’ve been well, I hope?]

"Yes. I hope you’ve been well too, Chairman."

At that, her eyes flew open.

"Really?"

For a midsize securities firm like DA Securities, it wasn’t easy to jump into a large overseas M&A deal with no experience of its own.

There were due-diligence reviews, negotiations, approval processes in the target country, legal issues, and everything else besides.

But in this case, Yuseong Securities would be taking the lead, so DA Securities could simply ride along. On top of that, the staff involved could gain valuable experience from the deal.

In other words, it was being handed to them from start to finish.

[You can participate at whatever amount DA Securities wants. The publicity effect should be considerable, too. It’ll generate a lot of articles.]

Profit was one thing, but just getting your name on a consortium of this scale created enormous publicity value.

If they played it right, they might even be able to turn the ugly image left by the Primus scandal around.

[We’ll send a proposal ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to DA Securities within the next few days. Of course, management will review it and make the final decision, but I wanted to let you know in advance.]

Even if she was the chairman’s granddaughter, she was still just an ordinary employee right now.

There was nothing she could decide on her own.

And yet he was telling her first anyway, which practically meant he was making the offer for her sake.

Chairman Yoo Jae-ho said, almost like a joke, [I won’t take it badly even if you turn us down.]

"Ah, no, Chairman. Turn it down? Not at all."

For a midsize securities firm, this was the sort of opportunity that came once in a blue moon. Refusing it would be idiotic.

"Thank you so much for giving us such a great chance."

[I’ll pass on the thanks. Just think of it as me repaying a favor from last time.]

"Huh? A favor?"

[Didn’t you introduce me to Miru? I really owed you for that.]

She shook her head at once.

"N-no, that’s too much. I only introduced you."

[Dongwoo Precision was a huge help, but other things were too.]

"Pardon?"

Other things besides Dongwoo Precision?

At that moment, something clicked in her mind.

"Don’t tell me the companies Yuseong Electronics has been acquiring lately...?"

[That’s right. They’re companies Miru recommended.]