The Price of Arrogance
Yoon-gi hadn't been targeting anyone in particular with his remarks. He was simply stating his own philosophy of life. Furthermore, since the real conversation was only just beginning, the true point he intended to make hadn't even been revealed yet. Yet, Kim Son-hwan, unable to contain his frustration, singled Yoon-gi out and twisted his words, sneering at them as a "petty act."
The students present were, naturally, intelligent enough to understand exactly what Kim Son-hwan was doing. Many of them wore expressions of disbelief, but Kim Son-hwan did not retract his behavior.
"A petty act, you say?" Yoon-gi asked back, his smile never wavering. In contrast, Kim Son-hwan nodded with a stiff, hardened face.
"That’s right. That statement is an insult to those who have achieved success. You should apologize."
It was a massive overstep. Yet, Yoon-gi didn't get angry.
"Well now... does that mean you are asking me to apologize to myself?"
"What?" Kim Son-hwan asked back, as if he couldn't comprehend the statement.
"How many people in this world have achieved more success than I have?"
It was an incredibly arrogant thing to say, but perhaps because it was Yoon-gi saying it, everyone felt a strange sense of conviction. Kim Son-hwan, however, continued to argue. Once he had stepped into the ring, there was no retreat for him. That was the pride of a man who had lived his whole life without lacking anything.
"Isn't that the success of YK Group, not your own?"
At Kim Son-hwan’s action—which wasn't just crossing the line, but driving a sports car across it at full throttle—Jin-su, sitting next to Won-hee, trembled.
"Hey, how is he planning to deal with the fallout of doing that?"
However, Won-hee felt like cheering Kim Son-hwan on. 'Yes! That’s it! Provoke him more! Keep pushing him!'
Won-hee and Jin-su knew that Yoon-gi’s success was never achieved solely through the halo of his family. Of course, it was true that he had reached his current position because of his background. Yoon-gi knew that as well, which was why he had set today’s main topic the way he did. But to claim Yoon-gi lacked ability was an absolute falsehood. Yoon-gi was a being whose personal ability and effort were beyond the reach of others. Yet, Kim Son-hwan had completely ignored all of Yoon-gi’s achievements.
"What do you mean by that?"
At Yoon-gi’s words, still delivered with a smile, Kim Son-hwan continued, looking triumphant.
"Honestly, is there anyone here who doesn't know that the real owner of YK Group is Chairman Choi Ki-hyun? There’s a very fitting term for people like Chairman Choi Yoon-gi. What was it... ah! A 'puppet CEO'! The term 'puppet CEO' suits you quite well."
At Kim Son-hwan’s words, a few of his followers scattered throughout the room let out awkward laughs.
'Is it because the military regime is gone? Freedom of speech has certainly arrived.'
If this had been during JD’s reign, Kim Son-hwan wouldn't have dared to say such things. But this was the era of democracy. Consequently, remarks mocking YK’s past closeness with the military regime often appeared on TV or in newspapers. Kim Son-hwan was the same. Thinking that YK, now without the military, had nothing to be feared, he continued to spew remarks that crossed the line.
"Ah, so you mean to say that YK Group was not built by me, but is entirely the achievement of my grandfather? Is that what you want to say?"
"I'm glad you understand."
Yoon-gi tilted his head at Kim Son-hwan’s display of utter lack of etiquette.
"Does that mean I can take your words as an insult, claiming that 'a person with no ability is sitting in the chairman's seat of YK Group'? As a public statement made by the successor of Gyeongwan Construction to the Chairman of YK Group?"
For a moment, Kim Son-hwan looked blank, then his face turned deathly pale.
"Th-that... no. That wasn't my, ah, intention."
Kim Son-hwan had simply stated his personal thoughts very honestly and obnoxiously. However, how one accepts such a statement is the listener's freedom. Yoon-gi dragged Kim Son-hwan’s remark into the realm of corporate relations, driving him to the edge of a cliff.
"Then what was your intention?"
"What? Ah, th-that... well... I mean..."
There was no way he could explain it. It was a remark meant to provoke from the start; how could he possibly clean up the mess? If Yoon-gi had truly been an incompetent chairman who just inherited achievements, he might have been hurt by Kim Son-hwan’s words. But Yoon-gi was a giant among giants, capable of conversing with Gorbachev and Reagan. He was not a being that someone like Kim Son-hwan could dare to defeat.
"You cannot answer. Well, I understand. So, you mean to say this was not a statement made as a corporate successor. Is that what you want to say?"
Kim Son-hwan eagerly grabbed the lifeline that had been tossed to him out of nowhere.
"What? Ah, yes! Y-yes, that’s right!"
However, after tossing him the lifeline, Yoon-gi promptly cut it with a pair of scissors.
"To summarize your personal opinion, it means that 'a person who will succeed will succeed anywhere,' correct?"
"Th-that's right!"
"Then why are you here?"
"What?"
Kim Son-hwan was completely unable to follow Yoon-gi’s high-level conversation.
"According to your own words, a person who will succeed will succeed anywhere. So, what did you come to Seoul National University to do?"
"What? That’s obviously..."
Kim Son-hwan felt his mind go blank, but he managed to wring out an answer.
"If I’m going to go to university, obviously I have to come to Seoul National University..."
Yoon-gi naturally cut him off.
"Ah, then was your ultimate life goal to enter Seoul National University? Not to inherit your company?"
"...!"
"Surely the goal is to inherit the company, right? According to your logic, you are a person who will succeed anyway. In that case, there was no need for you to enter university, let alone high school, middle school, or elementary school. Because you were 'a person who would succeed anyway.' Am I wrong?"
"Ughhh..."
Kim Son-hwan’s logic had been completely dismantled. If he hadn't said "a person who will succeed will succeed anywhere," he wouldn't have been in such a crisis. But Kim Son-hwan had a firm belief that he was a person who would succeed anywhere. That was why he had argued against Yoon-gi with such malice. Of course, that argument ended up tightening the noose around his own neck.
"No... I mean... my point was... it doesn't mean a successful person goes to the exact same position, but that a successful person does their best in given conditions to create the best results."
Kim Son-hwan wrung his brain once more to express his logic. But even so, it was a logic that had already retreated a step. Originally, Kim Son-hwan’s logic was "they reach the exact same position," but now it had changed to "the best conditions as a given condition." Even so, he was still in the palm of Yoon-gi’s hand.
"But why are you here?"
Yoon-gi’s question was no different from before.
"What...?"
Kim Son-hwan looked bewildered again.
"You said you create the best results in given conditions, so I’m asking why you are here. As the successor to Gyeongwan Construction, this is a position that lacks nothing. So why are you here? According to your logic, shouldn't you be attending an Ivy League school in the United States?"
The more one chewed on Yoon-gi’s words, the sharper the attack became.
[To come to Seoul National University just like everyone else despite receiving that much support. Doesn't that mean your talent is lacking?]
As some students interpreted this and chuckled, Kim Son-hwan’s face turned beet red. At the same time, his gaze turned toward Seo Gyu-young. Seo Gyu-young was the person who had entered the Seoul National University Department of Business Administration under extreme circumstances. When Kim Son-hwan heard the news that Seo Gyu-young, whom he had treated like a toy since high school, was entering the business department, he had thought, 'Heh, I won't be bored at university.' But now, after hearing Yoon-gi’s words? Kim Son-hwan couldn't find the words to respond to Yoon-gi’s logic that Seo Gyu-young, whom he had considered far below him, was actually a more impressive person than himself.
"Grrr!"
In the end, Kim Son-hwan couldn't overcome his anger, kicked his chair back, and stormed out. Everyone watched Yoon-gi with intrigued eyes. What would Yoon-gi do now? But Yoon-gi didn't act with anger as people had expected. Instead, he naturally continued his next words to everyone.
"Now, shall we begin the real story?"
Yoon-gi was a person who knew how to read the time and place.
Kim Son-hwan had made a fatal mistake. Because he had touched Yoon-gi.
In fact, even when Won-hee was talking, Yoon-gi hadn't really intended to interfere. If the kid named Seo Gyu-young that Won-hee mentioned had come to him and begged for help, he might have considered it. Or if Won-hee had asked him directly to "help," he really would have helped. But since that hadn't happened, he hadn't paid much attention to the existence of Kim Son-hwan.
However, since he had made up his mind to openly humiliate him during the lecture, Yoon-gi had no intention of leaving Kim Son-hwan alone.
"Hmm? You want me to order a tax audit on Gyeongwan Construction?" Choi Cheol-kyu asked Yoon-gi.
"Yes. Something happened at school."
Yoon-gi recounted the events at school. He also relayed the story he had heard from Won-hee to Choi Cheol-kyu.
"Wow, that kid has some nerve."
No matter how much YK’s ties to the military regime had vanished, its ties to the government had not. Honestly, if they had been below the military during the military regime, they were now a presence equal to, or even above, the government. But the public didn't know this fact, and because of that, people began to look down on YK. Kim Son-hwan was the representative figure of that.
But the price for that misunderstanding would be enormous.
"I’ll supervise it very thoroughly. There will probably be a lot to find if we dig."
Choi Cheol-kyu wore a dark smile. Attacking Yoon-gi was the same as attacking YK, and that was the same as attacking himself. Therefore, Choi Cheol-kyu, with a wicked smile, decided to thoroughly tear Gyeongwan Construction apart. Since it was a bit ambiguous for Yoon-gi to ask N directly for something like this, it was only natural for Choi Cheol-kyu to step in. Because of this, Choi Cheol-kyu was filled with motivation for the first time in a while.
"Ah, are you going to end it with just a tax audit?"
"No, that wouldn't be any fun."
Yoon-gi was the type to thoroughly crush anyone who became his enemy. In that regard, Kim Son-hwan had chosen his opponent very, very poorly.
Yoon-gi mobilized Im Si-chan’s group to investigate Kim Son-hwan’s family thoroughly. More thoroughly than Won-hee had used the secretary’s office of her parents' company. It didn't matter if it was important or unimportant information. All data regarding Kim Son-hwan’s family was gathered, organized, and delivered to Yoon-gi. Especially since the officials at Gyeongwan Construction were in a state of chaos due to the sudden tax audit by the National Tax Service, it was even easier to extract information.
Thanks to that, Yoon-gi was able to find one piece of information that smelled fishy.
'Ho-ho, Kim Son-hwan’s uncle is a professor at Seoul National University?'