Chapter 21. A Connection From Below Is Still a Connection 5.
Go Hwi-geun sat down on the sofa.
“Sit.”
“Thank you.”
“When are you going to get the scans?”
Go Hwi-geun was extremely curious about Hyeonwoo’s head.
It was because the parts of his brain that activated were somewhat different from other people’s.
Usually, when that happened, some unusual trait would appear depending on the activated area, but strangely enough, this guy had nothing of the sort.
All he had experienced were hallucinations and auditory hallucinations in the early stages after the accident.
He had been examined and tested countless times over a long period, but the result was the same.
While combining treatment with research, coaxing and placating him as he became absorbed in the matter, Hyeonwoo had suddenly cut off contact after his father died, only to get in touch now.
“I’m sorry, Doctor. I’m here on business today, not for scans.”
“Business? Hyeonwoo, did you get a job?”
“Yes. I joined Mancheon Corporation. It’s been a little over a week now.”
“Oh······ As expected······.”
[That kid······ I worried a lot when he went off the rails while suffering from auditory hallucinations, but he’s admirable. He even got a job at a major company like Mancheon. Well, he may have gone astray, but he was always an exceptionally bright child.]
“But what does your company work have to do with me?”
“We’ve come across a potential investment in a biotech company developing a cancer treatment. Since it’s such a specialized field, I was wondering if you could introduce me to an expert.”
“Is that so? Hmm······ Cancer, huh······. All right. I’ll look into it and contact you. But in return, you do me one favor too.”
Having heard his inner thoughts, Hyeonwoo already knew what he was going to say.
“Please tell me.”
He opened his mouth with an awkward laugh.
“Heh, let me take some pictures of your head.”
Hyeonwoo chuckled as well.
“All right, Doctor. If you set up a schedule around the weekend, I’ll come in for the scans. I’m still in my internship period, so it’s a little difficult to take time out on weekdays.”
“Got it. So, how are the auditory hallucinations and visual hallucinations? They haven’t relapsed, have they?”
The auditory hallucinations were inner thoughts, and the visual hallucinations were amoeba-shaped masses of light.
He heard and saw them every day, all day long. Ever since that time.
“Yes. I’m fine. I don’t have anything like that anymore.”
“Really? Any other symptoms?”
“None.”
He tilted his head and muttered to himself.
“Strange. There should be something······. Ahem······ But I can’t figure out what that something is······.”
[A symptom where, when the other person speaks, not only the auditory stimuli but even the visual regions of the brain cells become activated. It means human speech is being visualized inside his head, but he says there are no symptoms at all. This is really······.]
Sensing that the conversation was about to drift toward his head, Hyeonwoo quickly stood up.
“I think I should get going now, Doctor.”
“You’re leaving already?”
“Yes. I’m still on the clock.”
He stood up as well.
Hyeonwoo asked him something he had yet to bring up.
“By the way, do you happen to know a company called M Biotech? It’s a biotech company developing a dementia treatment.”
Doctor Go Hwi-geun was a neuropsychiatry specialist. Naturally, he would know.
“M Biotech? Why?”
As expected······.
“I wanted to ask what you think of the dementia treatment they’re developing.”
“Mm······ The news keeps making noise about how some incredible drug is about to be developed, but how would I know? It’s not as if I’ve seen their internal data.”
[I don’t believe it. Dementia treatments aren’t developed that easily. That’s the typical money game of a KOSDAQ company.]
Hyeonwoo quietly asked, his eyes having grown deep at some point.
“There’s no way for you to see their internal data, is there?”
“Of course not. That would be confidential among confidential matters.”
“······I understand, Doctor. Then please contact me once you’ve connected me with a cancer expert.”
Hyeonwoo left Doctor Go Hwi-geun’s house and got into his car.
It seemed this was as far as he could go in looking into M Biotech’s dementia treatment.
If he had time, he would find a way somehow, but he did not have that time.
The CEO’s misconduct he had heard about through the Sales Team 6 leader, and the personal opinion of Doctor Go Hwi-geun, who could be called the foremost authority in that field.
It was right to end the stock matter here.
He opened his stock trading app, sold the shares without looking back, secured an additional 420 million won in cash, and started the car.
* * *
Kim Inseop, the head of Sales Department 3, felt strangely uneasy.
The authority to make decisions on ordinary work belonged to the managing director in charge of the relevant division, but the managing directors for planning and sales management had gone on business trips.
It had been the same with M Biotech.
While the managing director was away, Senior Managing Director Choi Jeonggeun had suddenly stepped in, saying it was an urgent business that needed company-level support, and assigned M Biotech to Sales Department 2.
Had he done it deliberately?
Of course he had······.
Because Senior Managing Director Choi Jeonggeun, Sales Department 2 Head Lee Taehyeong, and the Sales Team 6 leader had all graduated from the same university.
Right, I can’t just wait innocently and have it taken from me.
Because nothing is more disgusting than being naive at my age.
Kim Inseop picked up the receiver.
“Is the senior managing director in? (······) All right.”
* * *
Kim Inseop knocked on the door of the senior managing director’s office.
[Who is it?]
“It’s the head of Sales Department 3.”
It felt strange.
Because there was no immediate answer.
After an oddly gloomy silence passed, Choi Jeonggeun’s voice came through.
[Come in.]
Kim Inseop opened the door and stepped inside, then flinched.
Sales Department 2 Head Lee Taehyeong was sitting on the sofa.
It seemed the strange feeling he’d had had not been misplaced.
Over Lee Taehyeong’s face as he gave a slight bow, Choi Jeonggeun’s voice rang out.
“What is it, Department Head Kim?”
“I have something to tell you.”
“Go ahead.”
“Have you heard of a company called Yangwoo Bio?”
A brief silence passed.
“How do you know about that?”
“A team under my management took an interest in Yangwoo Bio and looked into it a bit.”
Choi Jeonggeun met Lee Taehyeong’s eyes and gave a faint, greasy smile.
Because Kim Inseop had lied as though he had investigated it on his own, without any information.
When they already knew everything······.
“Huh, now that’s one strange coincidence. I also received a report on Yangwoo Bio from the planning team and was in the middle of discussing it with Department Head Lee.”
In that instant, Kim Inseop’s face hardened.
“Are you planning to hand Yangwoo Bio over to Department Head Lee again?”
“I’m thinking of it. Why, is something wrong with that?”
Kim Inseop glanced once at Lee Taehyeong, who was smiling greasily, then shifted his gaze back to Choi Jeonggeun.
“There’s nothing wrong with it, but this is a matter my people have taken an interest in and are investigating, so I think it would be better to entrust it to our side.”
Once again, a silence that felt strange settled over the room.
Choi Jeonggeun turned his head to Lee Taehyeong.
“Department Head Lee, what do you think?”
“I don’t mind either way. We are already handling M Biotech, another biotech company. Please let Department Head Kim do as he wants.”
At Lee Taehyeong’s words, Kim Inseop felt a jolt inwardly.
‘He’s yielding Yangwoo Bio?’
He could not understand it at all.
Why would he yield a company on the verge of passing Phase III clinical trials?
It was far too strange.
The odd feeling he had had ever since knocking on the door would not leave him.
“Hmm······ I don’t think so. Hmm······.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Department Head Kim, as you know, this is quite a big business. For that reason, I think it would be better to give it to Department Head Lee, who has built up experience in biotech while handling M Biotech. Is my judgment wrong?”
Lee Taehyeong, the person in charge of the actual work, had yielded, but Choi Jeonggeun, his superior, was turning it back around?
Kim Inseop was extremely displeased.
It was because he felt as though he were sitting in on a rigged game of Go-Stop.
And if so, the sucker was none other than himself.
He had to be careful not to become one.
Choe Jeonggeun’s voice came again.
“This is for the company. Right now, we’re at an important stage, preparing the ground to grow bio, our future business field. This isn’t the time to argue over you or me. If we do that, nothing will get done.”
Gim Inseop could not back down either.
“Even so, wouldn’t it be wrong to funnel everything only to Sales Department Two? Other teams need to gain experience as well for the company to achieve broader growth.”
“Hmm, this is troublesome. Experience, is it······. Hold on.”
Choe Jeonggeun’s face took on the look of someone who had just thought of something.
“Director I.”
“Yes, Executive Director.”
“M Biotech’s work is more or less wrapped up, isn’t it?”
“Yes, we’re only waiting for approval of the treatment. If everything until now was the investment stage, from here on the actual sales activities will begin.”
“So the results will start coming in from now on.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“How about this, then? Since Director I has experience making the initial investment in M Biotech, he can put that experience to use and take charge of the initial investment work for Yangwoo Bio, while Director Gim takes over M Biotech, whose approval will be coming through soon.”
Both I Taehyeong and Gim Inseop were startled.
Of course, I Taehyeong was only pretending to be startled.
In any case, for Gim Inseop, this was truly an extraordinary proposal.
He was being told to take the business whose performance was about to explode.
It was no different from scooping rice up and putting it straight into his mouth.
Which made it all the harder to understand.
A company organization was an invisible jungle where some ate and others were eaten.
This was like a leopard that had caught its prey carrying the meat over to a bear.
Choe Jeonggeun asked I Taehyeong,
“If you would only yield on this, I don’t think there could be a greater benefit for the company······. Come on, give way just this once. In return, I’ll make sure you’re compensated for this later.”
“No, Director. Even so······.”
Choe Jeonggeun’s gaze sharpened.
“What, you don’t want to do it when I’m asking?”
“Ah, no······.”
I Taehyeong, flustered, reluctantly bowed his head deeply.
“Understood. I’ll do as you say, Executive Director.”
Only then did Choe Jeonggeun smile in satisfaction and turn his head toward Gim Inseop.
“What about you?”
Gim Inseop was simply dumbfounded.
‘This is how this turns out? Why are they giving up results that are right in front of them? Why on earth are they doing this? Wait······. Could it be!’
Strength entered his fists, and his molars clenched tight.
Because it was obvious at a glance that Choe Jeonggeun and I Taehyeong were putting on a laughable little play.
The reason they were doing this was simple.
‘Do they want Yangwoo Bio that badly?’
Yangwoo Bio had to be a far bigger business than he had thought.
Big enough that they would hand over M Biotech to take it.
After gathering his thoughts, Gim Inseop asked in a quiet voice,
“M Biotech—what happens if I refuse?”
“Then I’d be very disappointed. Director I is yielding this much, and I’m being this considerate. You can’t act like that.”
He spoke of yielding and consideration without so much as wetting his lips, but all he had done was create a justification that left him no other choice.
It wasn’t as if Gim Inseop had never seen office politics before. The petty trick was plain as day.
But there was nothing he could do.
They had laid a trap that would make him look strange if he refused here.
The answer was already decided.
They would swallow Yangwoo Bio, which clearly had something enormous about it, though he did not know what, and throw M Biotech to him instead······.
What could he do? He had no choice but to accept······.
He had merely failed to get the bigger prize; M Biotech was certainly big as well.
“Understood, Executive Director. Then I’ll do that.”
“You’ve made the right choice, Director Gim. Director I, hand over the work quickly.”
“Yes, Executive Director.”
Their smiling faces looked unbearably vile.
From the moment he had opened the door and entered until this moment as he left, he felt terribly strange, uneasy, and filthy.
After Gim Inseop left, a knock sounded a short while later.
“Who is it?”
[It’s the Sales Team Six Manager.]
“Come in.”
As soon as the Sales Team Six Manager entered, I Taehyeong asked,
“Is it true that M Biotech’s CEO is going to be indicted?”
“Yes, it’s true. I heard it from a reliable source.”
“Who knows about it?”
“Judging by the atmosphere, it seems only the CEO himself knows.”
“When do they say the indictment will happen?”
“I don’t know exactly, but they say it’ll be soon.”
Silence flowed for a moment, and then I Taehyeong stroked his chest in relief.
“Phew······ What a relief. We almost ended up in serious trouble. Somehow, we barely managed to pass off the bomb.”
Choe Jeonggeun rebuked him.
“That’s why you should have looked into it properly! Don’t you know all bio companies are full of swindlers?”
“I’m sorry, Executive Director. I thought I checked thoroughly, but I don’t know how it ended up like this. I’ll verify it myself one more time.”
“Verify what? We’ve already handed it over to Director Gim. Tell that side to do the verifying, and you focus on your own work.”
“Understood, Executive Director.”
The Sales Team Six Manager cautiously opened his mouth and cut in.
“But apart from the scandal involving Yun Minyeon, the CEO of M Biotech, what if the new drug is successfully developed?”
Choe Jeonggeun looked at the Sales Team Six Manager with a stern face.
“Then what if, by any chance, the new drug development fails?”
“······.”
“Just imagine even the slightest problem arises with the new drug development on top of the CEO’s misconduct. It’s delisting, no question. Delisting. Then what happens to the eight percent equity stake we invested in? Then we’re finished. Rather than take that risk, it’s better to keep the equity investment as your side’s performance and eat up Yangwoo Bio while it’s still fresh.”
“Then when do you plan to dispose of the eight percent stake invested in M Biotech······?”
“As soon as we hand M Biotech over, we’ll clean it up. If we do it before then, that bastard Director Gim might catch on and refuse to take it.”
Silence flowed for a moment, and then Sales Department Two Director I Taehyeong turned his head toward the Sales Team Six Manager.
“You heard him, right? M Biotech—send the work materials over to that side quickly. Within today.”
“Yes, Director.”