The Disgrace of the Powerful (2)
"What? The Commissioner of the National Tax Service? Are you out of your mind?" Heo Do-il, who had been listening quietly until now, asked with a grave expression. In contrast to his usual playful demeanor, he looked incredibly serious, and the stark contrast only heightened the tension in the room.
"Out of my mind? What are you talking about! I’ve already lost my chance at the presidency anyway. Whether the President runs for another term or installs one of his cronies as a puppet, that seat is no longer within my reach!"
"Hey, shh! Even if this place is secure, you shouldn't say things like that so carelessly."
Heo Cheong-won chuckled and lifted his head at Heo Do-il’s warning. "Why, are you scared? Wow, can’t the 'Three Heos' of the 5th Republic even handle a joke like this?"
"If you keep acting like this, we’ll have no choice but to walk out!"
Faced with Heo Do-il’s ultimatum, Heo Cheong-won finally raised a white flag. "Alright, alright, I get it. Anyway, I’m going to request the President to send me to the National Tax Service."
Heo Do-il sighed and shook his head, and Heo Seong-su spoke up instead. "Why not just keep your post as Minister of Foreign Affairs? You’re in one of the most powerful positions among all the ministries, so why on earth would you want to be demoted? Sure, the Commissioner of the National Tax Service is a key position, but compared to the Foreign Minister, it’s a side track."
Heo Cheong-won shook his head. "I know that. But if I don’t get revenge on that old man, I’ll be so frustrated I won’t be able to sleep. Anyway, whether you guys take the Foreign Minister seat or not is up to you. I just need to get my revenge."
"This guy... I have a bad feeling about this..." Despite Heo Do-il’s clicking tongue and head-shaking, Heo Cheong-won refused to budge.
"You want to be sent to the National Tax Service?"
Unlike yesterday, JD’s complexion was normal, and Heo Cheong-won nodded in relief. "Yes, that is correct."
"Why?"
It was the question JD was bound to ask. Of course, Heo Cheong-won had prepared an answer. "Well, it’s a position I’ve always wanted to try at least once, and since I’m nearing the end of my career, I thought I’d finish my political life as the Commissioner of the National Tax Service."
"You, really. You’re still young. What do you mean by finishing your political life? Are you sulking because I hit you a few times?"
Hearing this, Heo Cheong-won waved his hands and shook his head frantically. "How could that be? Not at all. I truly just want to be the Commissioner of the National Tax Service."
JD smacked his lips and nodded. "Well, if you want it that badly, I suppose I have no choice. But don’t think of it as your last position. If you get bored, I’ll send you somewhere else. You have to stay by my side, don't you?"
"Thank you, Your Excellency."
Heo Cheong-won bowed politely and left the office. JSD, who had been present, asked JD a question for the first time in a while. "Your Excellency. Isn't Minister Heo's reason for wanting to go to the National Tax Service too obvious? Do you have something in mind?"
JD nodded. "I know. He wants to go to the National Tax Service to shake down YK and Samwoo, right?"
"Yes, I think so too. As expected, Your Excellency has great insight."
JD, looking satisfied, added a kind explanation. "Anyway, his pride has been wounded, so I have to give him a way to recover it. If he goes too far, I’ll step in and put on the brakes, and if he digs around and finds nothing, isn't that a good thing?"
It was JD’s way of restoring a bit of his second-in-command’s pride. He had no intention of appointing him to any major positions in the future, but he wanted to offset some of his dissatisfaction. However, JSD couldn't help but feel uneasy, so he added a little more. "What should we do if YK or Samwoo suffer significant damage?"
"Why do you care about that?"
"Ah, no. I was just curious."
JD’s eyes narrowed slightly. Time began to flow with the atmosphere in the office having shifted in a strange way.
YK Department Store was always bustling. It was a place one had to visit to build connections with the powerful. Today, Heo Cheong-won appeared at the crowded YK Department Store.
"Welcome."
The YK employee greeted him naturally. However, Heo Cheong-won was not there as a customer, but in his capacity as the Commissioner of the National Tax Service.
"Start."
It was a raid led personally by the Commissioner of the National Tax Service. Since the number of personnel mobilized was the largest in the history of the National Tax Service, the department store was instantly thrown into chaos.
"Eek!"
"Te-tell the President!"
The employees were in a panic, so they rushed to the President's office to inform Ryu Geun-tae. Ryu Geun-tae also ran over with a bewildered expression and stood before Heo Cheong-won.
"Hello, Minister."
"It’s Commissioner, not Minister."
"Ah... I, I apologize."
Ryu Geun-tae bowed his head again. "Hello, Commissioner. But what... is going on? Did we do something wrong..."
The title 'Commissioner' and the sight of the officials currently raiding the department store led Ryu Geun-tae to deduce that Heo Cheong-won’s position had changed to Commissioner of the National Tax Service. And that something had gone wrong between YK and Heo Cheong-won. But that was it. With no way of knowing what had happened between Choi Ki-hyun and Heo Cheong-won, Ryu Geun-tae was on the verge of dying from frustration.
"If you did something wrong, it’ll come out when we dig. Go back. I have nothing more to say to you."
Heo Cheong-won didn't show more hostility than necessary toward Ryu Geun-tae. Judging by his expression, he had determined that it was unlikely Ryu Geun-tae was involved in this matter.
"Bu-but... at least come to my office and have some coffee..."
"I said it’s not necessary!"
At Heo Cheong-won’s sharp, shouting tone, Ryu Geun-tae had no choice but to step back.
Usually, four or five people would gather in the study. But today, everyone except Nakayama and Jung Dong-yoon, who were in Japan, gathered there. The reason was, of course, the raid. Heo Cheong-won’s raid was not limited to YK Department Store but was taking place across all sectors of the YK Group, and thanks to this, sales were trending slightly downward.
"It’s really fortunate that we aren't a publicly traded company, isn't it?" Yoon-gi smiled, showing composure in front of everyone. He had promised to re-list the Shin-sang Group he had absorbed in the future. However, since the YK Group hadn't gone public yet, there was no stock market crash caused by the newspaper articles laid out on the table.
As numerous newspapers carried this on their front pages, it was causing a massive social stir.
"Phew, I really didn't think the newspapers would publish articles to this extent." Seeing Ryu Geun-tae shaking his head, Yoon-gi shrugged his shoulders.
"It is true that we are close with the newspapers. But if someone puts a knife to your throat and tells you to write an article, can you really refuse? This isn't so much a betrayal as it is Heo Cheong-won playing hardball. We have to understand."
Seeing Yoon-gi, who didn't look angry at all, the others in the study felt a sense of relief without even realizing it.
"Aren't you worried, Chairman?" Ryu Geun-tae, who was at the department store during the raid, was relatively more depressed than the others. Sensing this, Yoon-gi felt the need to boost his morale and grabbed Ryu Geun-tae’s left shoulder.
"Secretary Ryu."
"Yes?"
"I expected all of this. So don't worry."
At the reassuring words, Ryu Geun-tae smiled involuntarily and straightened his posture.
"Understood."
Seeing Ryu Geun-tae’s expression, Yoon-gi looked at the others. "You must be confused by the sudden raid by the National Tax Service. The reason is simple. We didn't cast Commissioner Heo’s eldest granddaughter in the movie MEV is currently filming."
Shin-sang’s Kang Seok-ho, who was listening to Yoon-gi, tilted his head. "I heard Commissioner Heo’s eldest granddaughter retired from the entertainment industry a while ago... Does this have something to do with that?"
Yoon-gi nodded. "Commissioner Heo was aiming for the presidency."
"He was planning to use his eldest granddaughter’s popularity for his campaign. But his ambition for the presidency reached JD’s ears, and it incurred JD’s wrath."
"So he forced her to retire..."
"Yes. It was JD’s order. Whatever the reason, Commissioner Heo, having lost his dream of the presidency, turned the blade of revenge toward us."
"Hmm..."
Yoon-gi smiled at Kang Seok-ho, who let out a groan. "Don't worry. I expected all of this."
Thwack! Yoon-gi lightly tapped the table with his palm. "One month."
Everyone’s gaze focused on Yoon-gi. "Everything will be normalized within a month. So everyone, don't worry and just keep working as usual."
A month was a time they could endure. Because of this, everyone’s expressions brightened a little. However, Yoon-gi’s expression shifted from bright to something more ominous.
"After a month, Commissioner Heo will regret having made us his enemy."
[A leader must always appear to have a plan.]
Advice his grandfather had given him when he was young. Yoon-gi recalled this fact in the study as he dealt with his aides.
'Actually, I don't really have a plan yet.'
Since this whole situation was based on waiting to see the opponent's reaction before making a plan, there was no way he could have one yet. However, Yoon-gi wasn't worried. He was confident.
'He should have just gone to the Minister of Justice and tried to dig up something related to criminal cases. Attacking like this just shows he thinks YK is just another company.'
If Heo Cheong-won had really set his sights on them, he might have been able to latch onto the parts related to Im Si-chan’s group. But Heo Cheong-won chose to become the Commissioner of the National Tax Service, the grim reaper of corporations, and as a result, he was making YK and Samwoo very noisy.
Of course, Samwoo was on the dangerous side. Since Yoon-gi hadn't really touched Samwoo, it was impossible for them not to be caught in matters related to tax evasion. But YK was different. YK’s greatest strength. That is, there is no need for tax evasion to offer bribes. If you give away a mini department store, that becomes the bribe, so why bother with tax evasion?
Therefore, even though they had been raiding YK for over a week, no 'touchable' weaknesses had been revealed.
'It’s not like there are no weaknesses, though.'
Of course, YK wasn't perfectly clean either. But the way it was structured meant YK never did anything voluntarily. In other words, they had made it so that the powerful were involved in some way, making it a disgustingly difficult situation for the National Tax Service employees to touch. If they touched it, it could involve JD himself, so how could they proceed? It wasn't for nothing that Yoon-gi had recently increased his intimacy with the next presidential candidate, N.
'Still, it’s about time Heo Cheong-won’s patience ran out.'
A whole week. His aides could endure a month, but Yoon-gi calculated that Heo Cheong-won’s patience wouldn't last ten days. In fact, at the very moment Yoon-gi was thinking this, Heo Cheong-won was raining down fire on the National Tax Service employees.