The Fracturing Succession Plan (2)
"You can get more than 50 percent? How?" Park Gi-soo looked at Ryu Geun-tae, clearly intrigued. "Honestly, it’s only right that the older brother gets 100 percent. It doesn't make any sense for that younger brother of yours to take 50 percent."
"That’s true... even if it’s just the husk left after the technology has been stripped away."
"I’d rather blow up the remaining 50 percent than leave anything for that younger brother. It just makes your life feel so pathetic. Did that guy ever visit you while you were in Japan?"
Park Gi-soo shook his head. "No, never. He didn't even come to my wedding! He made the excuse that Father told him not to attend, but does that even make any sense?"
Because Park Do-cheol had opposed the marriage to his second wife, most of the senior executives of Cess could not attend. Only a few who had obtained tacit approval showed up to keep up appearances. But for Park Gi-soo, the person directly involved, it was a matter that made him resent both his father and his brother endlessly.
"How could he not come to his own brother's wedding?"
"Exactly. It’s too much, right? I’m not being overly sensitive, am I?"
"Not at all."
Seemingly pleased by Ryu Geun-tae’s firm response, Park Gi-soo downed another drink. "Ah, this alcohol tastes great!"
"Oh, why are you drinking alone? We should drink together."
Park Gi-soo clinked his glass with Ryu Geun-tae’s and drank another round. Perhaps a bit tipsy, he looked at Ryu Geun-tae with a sly grin. "Wow, our older brother is a little drunk."
"Drunk? I’m perfectly fine!"
His eyes were slightly unfocused, but he was just at that level of intoxication where he could still find his way home. Ryu Geun-tae opened the second box as he listened to Park Gi-soo’s reply.
"Brother, to continue from what we were just saying, how about we shake up the succession plan?"
"Shake up the succession plan?" Park Gi-soo blinked repeatedly to chase away the alcohol, staring at Ryu Geun-tae.
"Yes. Right now, you’re just planning to split it fifty-fifty and invest those resources in Japan. But what if you were to prove that your younger brother, Park Gi-ho, isn't qualified to be the successor of Cess?"
"Ho-ho...?"
A younger brother who couldn't even become the successor of a Cess left with nothing but husks. Park Gi-soo urged Ryu Geun-tae on, as if the mere imagination of it made him feel good. "Tell me more."
"We find his flaws, whatever they may be, and reveal them to the public. He’s an unfit candidate to be Chairman. What if we frame it like this: 'If an unfit person becomes Chairman, the country will fall'?"
"If we frame it?"
"Even considering the legal inheritance share your brother would take, you would be able to bring at least 75 percent of the resources to Japan."
"Oho...!"
Park Gi-soo, his appetite thoroughly whetted, imagined his brother left with nothing, but then looked at Ryu Geun-tae with a sullen expression. "Hey, brother."
"Yes? Brother, why are you looking at me like that..." Ryu Geun-tae answered, feeling tense, wondering if he had pushed things too fast.
"I have one question."
"Yes? What is it..."
"I know you’re good to me, but what you just told me is not an easy thing to do. Why on earth are you doing this much for me?"
Ryu Geun-tae sensed that if he said the wrong thing here, everything would be over. "Hehe, Brother, actually..." Ryu Geun-tae scratched the back of his head, putting on a deliberately servile expression.
"What is it? Tell me. There’s nothing you can’t tell me, is there?"
"Oh, of course not. It’s nothing else, but when you said you were giving up on the Korean side of Cess, I had a thought."
"What is it?"
"Cess Samgang."
At Ryu Geun-tae’s shy expression, Park Gi-soo looked even more puzzled. "Hm? What does that mean?"
"YK Department Store is, in a sense, a retail business. But right now, it feels too focused on luxury goods. So, assuming you move all of Cess's assets to Japan, I was hoping you would sell me the scraps—Cess Samgang."
"I’m a bit fuzzy on what Cess Samgang is. I feel like I’ve heard of it, but then again, maybe not..."
"It’s a food company Cess bought for 600 million won about four or five years ago. Cess Samgang products are probably in the department stores Cess operates, too."
Park Gi-soo focused on the absurdly low price of Cess Samgang. "Only 600 million?"
"They went bankrupt while profitable during a management rights battle. Honestly, what I really want is Cess Confectionery, but that pricks my conscience, so I can't ask for that. If you could just let me have Cess Samgang at a low price, I’d be truly satisfied."
"Ah, I remember now! That company that isn't worth a few pennies?"
Park Gi-soo recalled a report he had heard from his aide, Jung Dong-yoon, a few years ago. It was something he had brushed off back then as unimportant. Now that he had almost completely abandoned his attachment to Korea, there was no reason to be stingy about such a cheap company.
"Hehehe, now that I see it, you had a plan of your own, didn't you, brother?"
Park Gi-soo felt even greater trust in Ryu Geun-tae, seeing that he wasn't just blindly being nice to him, but was helping him while weighing his own interests. "Is it... impossible? I want to make a name for myself thanks to you, Brother!"
"Go ahead! Do it! Make all the name you want! Confectionery is tough, but Samgang? I can give you that anytime!"
Contrary to his hot-blooded response, Park Gi-soo’s inner thoughts were filled with mockery. 'This guy is dumber than I thought. If he had insisted on Cess Confectionery, I would have had to give him something bigger than Samgang, even if not the confectionery division itself. Well, is this better for me?'
Thinking he had gained a good chess piece, Park Gi-soo boisterously permitted Ryu Geun-tae the transfer of the retail business, and Ryu Geun-tae was able to complete Yoon-gi’s mission.
Under the ironclad security of 'former US military' personnel, Yoon-gi, Ryu Geun-tae, and Choi Cheol-gyu were able to gather in one place. It might have seemed excessive, but they had set up the meeting this way following Guster’s advice that they needed to go to such lengths to deceive the information network of the Yamaguchi-gumi. It was just an ordinary house on the outskirts. The meeting began there.
"You’ve worked hard, Secretary Ryu."
"Thank you. However, the work isn't finished yet, so I will remain vigilant and not let my guard down until the very end."
"If you do that, I couldn't ask for more. But have you not told Park Gi-soo yet that we have Cess's old underground organization?"
Ryu Geun-tae nodded. "I thought about telling him in advance to show my sincerity, but I wanted to get the Chairman's confirmation first."
"Confirmation, you say?"
"Currently, Park Gi-soo has changed his policy from inheriting Cess to sucking Cess dry. The information that we have Cess's underground organization would only be known if Park Gi-ho tells Park Gi-soo, and frankly, I’m not sure if it’s better to tell him in advance or hide it."
The final decision-maker was Yoon-gi, anyway. Especially since he was painting such a big picture, Ryu Geun-tae judged that this was not a matter for him to decide.
"If you don't tell him and Park Gi-ho tells Park Gi-soo later, Secretary Ryu’s sincerity will be doubted by Park Gi-soo."
"That is correct."
"However, if you tell him in advance, the sincerity of the initial approach itself could be doubted."
"You saw it exactly right. Which of the two strategies should I choose..."
As Ryu Geun-tae trailed off, Yoon-gi smiled faintly. "It’s a simpler problem than you think."
"A simple problem...?"
"Yes. Park Gi-soo is already riding the tiger’s back. If he gets off, all that’s left is ruin."
"Ah... then does that mean it doesn't matter if our sincerity is doubted right now?"
"That’s right. And Masao seduced Park Gi-soo into treating his father disrespectfully. He committed a huge discourtesy over the phone, so the relationship between the Korean Cess and Park Gi-soo is already like a river between them."
"H-how did you know that?"
"That’s my livelihood, so I can't tell you."
Watching Yoon-gi with his knowing smile, Ryu Geun-tae clicked his tongue. 'How on earth did he find that out?' The answer was Choi Deok-bae, who was floating beside Yoon-gi, lying down and patting his belly, but unfortunately, Ryu Geun-tae lacked the ability to see or hear the answer.
"President Ryu, why don't we set the strategy as if you knew nothing at all?"
"As if I knew nothing at all?"
Choi Cheol-gyu nodded. "Yes. Just go with the story that President Ryu knew nothing, and that I absorbed that organization and didn't report it. Soon, President Ryu can say to Park Gi-soo, 'Brother! It turns out Cess's underground organization has been absorbed by YK!'"
"Oho... would that be okay?"
At Ryu Geun-tae’s intrigued reaction, Choi Cheol-gyu nodded. "According to Yoon-gi, it should be fine, right? Of course, Park Gi-soo might have suspicions, but President Ryu’s acting skills will determine the difference in degree, right?"
Ryu Geun-tae gave a sheepish smile and nodded. "I will do my best."
"Good. Then that problem is solved!" At Choi Cheol-gyu’s cheerful words, both Yoon-gi and Ryu Geun-tae smiled lightly.
"But Yoon-gi."
"Yes."
"Currently, the communication channels are connected between you and Masao, and President Ryu and Park Gi-soo, and Masao and Park Gi-soo are connected, right?"
"That’s right. As of now, Park Gi-soo doesn't know of my existence, and Masao doesn't know of Secretary Ryu’s existence."
"How long do you intend to keep that up?"
"As long as possible, if I can."
"Hmm... once this is over, your identity will at least be revealed to the Korean business world."
"That’s not something we know yet."
At Yoon-gi’s reply, Choi Cheol-gyu’s eyes widened. "Hm?"
"If we finish the work while the channel between Masao and Park Gi-soo is connected, we’ll be 100 percent caught, but if we cut off the channel between the two and finish the work, there’s a possibility."
"Finishing it with the channel between the two cut off... that sounds very difficult."
"It’s difficult, but if we can do it, we should. I’m not thinking 'we must do it,' but rather 'let’s do it if we can.'"
"If we can complete it to that point, it would truly be optimal, but..."
"Let’s take this opportunity to test how far our ability and luck can go, a test sent from heaven. We all got almost perfect scores on tests back in our school days, right?"
At Yoon-gi’s joke, the two smiled, and a moment later, the three began to move to their respective places.
"Why did the Chairman suddenly convene a board meeting?"
"I don't know. I don't think anything special happened. Could it be that he heard something from the Blue House last time?"
"Well... I don't know about other places, but we wouldn't be at the level to get such important information..."
The directors entered the conference room, guessing the reason for today’s board meeting, and their conversation was relayed to Park Do-cheol through the ears and mouths of the security guards.
'These damn bastards! If I tell them to come, they should just come, why is there so much talk? And what? We’re not at that level? If we’re not at that level, we should be thinking about how to grow the company, not already being infected with defeatism. You’re out as soon as your contract period is over!'
Struggling to suppress his boiling anger, Park Do-cheol entered the conference room last, accompanied by his second son, Park Gi-ho.
"The Chairman is entering."
As the directors stood up politely, Park Do-cheol sat in the seat of honor, acting pompous, and Park Gi-ho stood politely right next to him, only sitting down after Park Do-cheol had taken his seat. Then, the directors followed suit. It was a scene that clearly showed who was number one and number two in this room right now.
"The reason I called you all together today is none other than to officially announce the next successor of our Cess."
In an instant, the directors sensed the situation, rolling their eyes and observing the reactions of the other directors.
Since most had predicted Park Gi-ho’s victory, the shock to the directors wasn't actually that great. But there was one fact that everyone thought of equally.
However, Park Do-cheol had decided to completely dismiss Park Gi-soo after confirming his eldest son’s very disrespectful attitude last time.
'The Watanabe family? The Yamaguchi-gumi? You dared to rebel against this father, trusting in things like that? I will show you clearly what kind of results rash actions bring!'
Park Do-cheol brought his mouth to the microphone in front of him and began to speak in a solemn voice.
"At a time when Cess needs to move forward into the global era, the successor our Cess needs is precisely..."
Park Gi-ho naturally stood up and prepared to bow slightly to everyone. However, at that moment, the door to the conference room slammed open, and Park Do-cheol’s chief secretary ran in, breathless.
"What is the meaning of this!"
The sound, amplified through the microphone, pierced everyone’s ears, and Park Do-cheol was no exception to the pain.
"Ugh! S-sorry. But, I think you must see this!"
The newspaper the chief secretary held out had a shocking article on the very front page.