The Political Promise (2)
JSD’s office. There, JSD and Choi Ki-hyun were chatting over a cup of tea, as they often did. In the past, JSD would have been constantly on standby near JD, but not anymore. He no longer waited personally; instead, he had placed a trusted subordinate by JD’s side, and he had begun to frequently step away whenever he had business to attend to.
“Thank you, truly, for what you’ve done this time.” Choi Ki-hyun bowed his head and slid a watch toward JSD. It was a far more expensive timepiece than the one he had given JD previously. JSD had seen this very watch while shopping at YK Department Store with his wife, and he was well aware of the price of the one JD had received.
“Oh, Chairman. It was only natural that I do it for you, really…”
The value of the watch wasn’t the point. The fact that Choi Ki-hyun had given him something even better than what he gave JD—that significance moved JSD deeply.
“I would have given it to you even without that matter. Please, accept it. This old man hasn’t had much strength lately, so it’s hard for me to hold onto the box for long.”
How heavy could a watch box possibly be? Yet, at Choi Ki-hyun’s playful, whining excuse, JSD carefully accepted the box.
“Try it on once.”
“I wonder if I should really accept this…”
“The President accepted his, so you, Chief, must accept yours even more so.”
At Choi Ki-hyun’s masterful way of saying exactly what one wanted to hear, JSD chuckled and took out the watch. However, he did not put it on.
“Why aren’t you wearing it?”
“I think I need a little more time before I can wear this. There will be a time when I absolutely must wear it.”
JSD was thinking of the time after JD’s term ended. It was an imagination that would have been absolutely impossible in the past. But JSD was already maintaining a close relationship with YS. Although JSD hadn’t ordered it directly, his secretary was directing the surveillance of YS and had caught wind of YS meeting with Yoon-gi. Based on this information, he was orchestrating the union between JSD and YS. Even though the secretary wasn’t Yoon-gi’s subordinate, it was a fact that he was JSD’s loyal aide. Thus, the secretary was adjusting JSD’s actions to fit JSD’s own hope: ‘I love my son.’ The secretary was competent enough to predict what kind of outcome JSD would face in the future, and he judged that his actions would be helpful to the future JSD.
“If that time ever comes, I would certainly like to see it. The sight of that watch wrapped around your wrist, Chief.”
“Of course.”
How would JD react if he saw this watch in front of him after losing his power? Just imagining that scene was delightful, so JSD swallowed a laugh.
‘If I keep my relationship with YS close, I won’t be dismissed. The ANSP is under my direct command, after all.’
JSD was racking his brain in his own way, but whether the future he desired would actually come to pass remained to be seen. Therefore, their conversation focused more on the near future than the distant one.
“Come to think of it, Chairman.”
“Yes?”
“Are you aware that the Daehan Group has launched a massive litigation war against other chaebols?”
“A massive litigation war?”
“Yes. Daehan sat out the war between the business world and YK this time, didn’t they?”
JSD was also aware, to some extent, of the recent chaebol war.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“The other chaebols pushed a bit too hard to get Daehan to join the fray. Although the police are still investigating, members of the Daehan bloodline met with accidental or suspicious deaths, and companies trading with Daehan cut off their business significantly.”
“That must have been a significant blow from Daehan’s perspective.”
JSD nodded.
“Yes, so much so that I thought it wouldn’t be strange if Daehan joined YK at any moment. Yet, they stayed quiet, and now they’ve finally drawn their swords against the chaebols. Thinking about it, it seems like the perfect timing.”
“If even their own kin were harmed, Chairman Kim of Daehan must be quite furious.”
“Hmm… I don’t think so. The Chairman Kim I know doesn’t have much affection for his relatives. It should be seen as a purely strategic decision.”
This was high-level intelligence. In fact, the very act of giving such information meant JSD was burning bridges with Daehan, which served as an indicator of how much affection JSD felt for YK—or rather, for Choi Ki-hyun.
“I suppose there will be another round of turmoil.”
It was a remark that sounded like Choi Ki-hyun’s quiet soliloquy. JSD nodded at the words.
“That is correct.”
It hadn’t been long since the 1st Chaebol War ended, and now the 2nd was erupting in succession.
Civil litigation, by nature, takes an absurdly long time. On the internet, people say to “just sue” whenever something happens, but in reality, a civil suit can take as long as seven years. While criminal cases are supposed to be resolved within a legally mandated timeframe, civil litigation is essentially a battle of “who can hold out longer.” In that sense, one might have expected a long war regarding Daehan’s current litigation.
However, the timing of Daehan’s intervention was nothing short of brilliant. With the chaebols’ cash reserves completely depleted, Daehan had filed for the seizure of the corporate accounts of those very chaebols. Since it was the chaebols who had legally failed to pay for goods or unilaterally cut off trade, it was clear that Daehan’s seizure applications would be approved. For the chaebols, who were already struggling to generate cash, they were truly caught between a rock and a hard place.
“That’s the situation, apparently.”
At Yoon-gi’s words, Ryu Geun-tae, Choi Cheol-kyu, and Kang Seok-ho in the study nodded.
“Uncle?”
At Yoon-gi’s question, Jo Cheong-woo, who had been peeling a tangerine, hurriedly opened his mouth to answer.
“Huh? Uh?”
Because his mouth was stuffed with tangerine, juice naturally splattered here and there, but fortunately, Jo Cheong-woo was sitting at the very end of the study, so there was no disaster of it hitting anyone else.
“Why are you sitting so far away? There’s no one else coming today.”
But Jo Cheong-woo only shook his head vigorously.
“Are you not coming over?”
Jo Cheong-woo finally gulped down the tangerine he had been chewing.
“If I go over there, I feel like you’ll just give me more work…”
Recalling the mountain of books from the past, Jo Cheong-woo shivered, but unfortunately, there was nowhere for him to run.
“Secretary Ryu.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
“Please call his wife.”
“Understood.”
Ryu Geun-tae, wearing a devilish smile, stood up and opened the study door.
“Ah, no! Okay. I’ll go, I’ll go. Ugh, sob…”
Though no tears actually fell from Jo Cheong-woo’s mournfully crying eyes, Choi Cheol-kyu felt a bit of pity for him.
‘He’s capable, but having no ambition is his downfall.’
Even if Jo Cheong-woo were to submit his resignation later, Yoon-gi wouldn’t permit it. Even if Jo Cheong-woo committed corruption, Yoon-gi wouldn’t fire him; he’d just give him more work. Of course, Jo Cheong-woo couldn’t quit his job—not because of Yoon-gi, but because of his wife.
[What? You’re quitting because work is hard? Then do you want to go back to the days when we couldn’t even pay the office rent?!]
Recalling the tiger-like eyes of his wife glaring at him, Jo Cheong-woo sighed and sat down next to Choi Cheol-kyu.
“Did something happen in the past?”
At the question from Kang Seok-ho, who didn’t know the history, Jo Cheong-woo nodded.
“Just… I want to cut my salary by nine-tenths and do one-tenth of the work…”
“Should I ask your wife?”
“No, no! I’m just… saying…”
Jo Cheong-woo, looking thoroughly depressed and twiddling his index fingers together, looked very pathetic.
“Yoon-gi once gave him a few weeks and made him study dozens of books.”
At Choi Cheol-kyu’s words, Kang Seok-ho nodded.
“Is that so? Indeed, someone who passed the bar exam is different. To think that was possible.”
“It’s an experience I never want to have again… Ah, wait, that makes it three times…”
After watching Jo Cheong-woo’s soul-less sigh for a moment, Yoon-gi spoke again.
“Anyway, you heard what we were talking about just now, right?”
Professional when it came to work, Jo Cheong-woo nodded.
“Yeah.”
“What are the chances of Daehan’s current attack succeeding?”
No matter how much one knows about the law, seeking advice from an expert is necessary. Especially when it comes to important decisions.
“Probably, they’ll succeed in most cases. The justification is on Daehan’s side. When the chaebols had cash, they might have been able to drag this into a war of attrition, but now they don’t have the capacity for that. Daehan, on the other hand, still has plenty of cash.”
“You’re assuming they’ll use corporate funds for the litigation war?”
Jo Cheong-woo nodded again.
“Naturally, they’ll use corporate funds for the lawsuits. But right now, if the chaebols don’t receive large dividends, they’ll face immediate liquidity problems. In such a situation, it’s hard for them to increase corporate spending.”
“So you see Daehan winning?”
“Yeah.”
As Yoon-gi nodded, Jo Cheong-woo carefully continued.
“Then, can I go back over there now?”
“…Go ahead.”
Yoon-gi gave a wry smile, but having watched Jo Cheong-woo for a long time, he didn’t say anything else and let him go.
“…Even to me, my brother-in-law is a bit peculiar.”
From a distance, what Jo Cheong-woo was doing was nothing other than picking the white, stringy bits off his tangerine.
[Hehe, gotta eat a clean tangerine.]
Everyone could imagine the monologue running through Jo Cheong-woo’s head. Even Kang Seok-ho, after a brief “Uh…,” quickly changed the subject.
“Chairman. If our war with the chaebols was the 1st Chaebol War, then the war between Daehan and the chaebols could be called the 2nd Chaebol War.”
“That’s right.”
“Although Daehan’s power is weaker than ours, the chaebols’ power is significantly weaker than it was during the first war. Besides, Daehan hasn’t declared war on all the chaebols.”
In reality, Daehan hadn’t burned bridges with every single chaebol. They had only targeted those connected to the bloodline incidents and the trading partners involved. Of course, all the top-tier chaebols were involved, but it wasn’t a situation where the mid-tier and lower-tier chaebols would join in like they did during the first war.
“Indeed.”
“Then what is Daehan’s goal? Honestly, I have no idea what they’re after. If they were going to side with us, YK, they should have joined us during the first war, and if they were going to side with the chaebols, they should have joined them then, too.”
Unless one knew Kim Nam-ik’s true intentions, Daehan’s current moves were, in truth, highly puzzling to others. Because they were voluntarily throwing away options that could have yielded greater profits.
“Could it be that since they feel they might be pushed out of the number one spot, they’ve decided to take out all their competitors and become the undisputed number two instead?”
At Ryu Geun-tae’s words, Choi Cheol-kyu wore a slightly ambiguous expression.
“Even so, their current actions are causing Daehan’s own scale to shrink. In fact, during the 1st Chaebol War, Daehan’s stock price fell a bit, and their revenue dropped significantly. I don’t know why they would choose to be a damaged number two, even if it is an undisputed one.”
They exchanged opinions a few more times, but the three of them could not reach the true heart of Kim Nam-ik’s intentions.
“Chairman, what do you intend to do? If we can’t know Daehan’s true intentions, I think it would be best to decide whether to support Daehan, support the chaebols, or remain neutral.”
At Ryu Geun-tae’s words, Yoon-gi, who had been silent until now, smiled and nodded.
“We are going to support the chaebols.”