Episode 29. What Remains When the Fierceness Fades 2.
As always, Hyunwoo came to work early and was studying for the TOEIC when his team members began entering the office one by one.
After finishing a brief morning meeting over coffee, he was returning to his seat when Song Gaeun’s monitor screen suddenly caught his eye.
Charcoal burning with bright orange flames, a grill, and deliciously cooked meat sitting on top of it.
The coarse salt dotted across the meat made it look even more appetizing.
Mmm… The cuts looked like ribeye cap and outside skirt, maybe?
For some reason, that image was set as Song Gaeun’s desktop background.
As Hyunwoo stood there blankly staring at it, Song Gaeun tapped him lightly on the shoulder.
“Hyunwoo.”
“Yes, Senior?”
Song Gaeun met Hyunwoo’s eyes, smiled brightly, and gestured toward the monitor as naturally as could be.
“Come here and take a look, Hyunwoo.”
“At the beef?”
“No, what beef… I was going to teach you about the buyers and outside vendors our team manages. It’s about time you started handling vendors little by little too.”
“Ah, yes.”
For nearly thirty minutes, Hyunwoo listened to Song Gaeun’s explanation while looking at the beef on her monitor.
He hadn’t meant to look, but Song Gaeun kept placing the documents toward the monitor, so he had no choice.
Yang Gyeonghun, who happened to be passing by, saw the monitor and let out a dumbfounded snort of laughter.
“Senior Song, what is that?”
“What is what?”
“Your computer screen.”
“What about my computer screen?”
Yang Gyeonghun shook his head.
“Do you really want to go that far?”
“What did I do?”
[Do you really want to go that far, Team Leader? Who was it that shoved chicken in front of us when we were supposed to be eating beef?]
“Your intentions are written all over your face.”
“You saw them?”
“Do you think we’re idiots? Like we wouldn’t notice.”
“Hehehe.”
Song Gaeun laughed like a villain caught plotting a conspiracy.
Kim Byeongjun, who was sitting across from them, cut in.
“I told you I’d buy you beef.”
“Oh, forget it. What money do you have, Assistant Manager?”
“Senior Song, you look down on me too much.”
[I have more money than Hyunwoo, though…]
“Yes, yes, next person. One volunteer to treat us to beef.”
Hyunwoo was about to raise his hand, but Yang Gyeonghun stopped him.
“Forget it, you punk.”
“Tch…”
“Enough of that. Kim Hyunwoo.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
“Call Yangwoo Bio and set up a meeting with their CEO.”
“For when?”
“As soon as possible. Today would be good too.”
Hyunwoo immediately made the call, and a meeting was scheduled for that very day.
* * *
Han Yunseok, the CEO whom they had not met during their previous visit, welcomed them.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Han Yunseok.”
“Good day. I’m Yang Gyeonghun.”
Hyunwoo also greeted him, exchanged business cards, and then sat down.
“We should have come to see you sooner, but there was a bit of commotion. You know about it, right? M BioTech.”
“How could I not? We’re in the same industry.”
[Stupid bastard. That’s what happens when you do something like embezzlement. There are so many ways to make money without doing that.]
“I sincerely hope there won’t be any such noise this time.”
“Haha, of course. To be honest, I was worried that the incident might affect our partnership, so I’m truly relieved that you came to see us like this.”
“That’s that, and this is this. However, we have received instructions from above to examine things more closely. I ask for your understanding, even if it causes some inconvenience.”
“Not at all. That’s only natural.”
[You think you’ll figure anything out just because you look into it? Even experts come here and get fooled completely.]
Hyunwoo’s face turned cold.
It was exactly the same as M BioTech.
“A little while ago, I spoke with Executive Director Choe Jeonggeun about an MOU. Just because the team changed, I assume what we discussed before won’t be changed, correct?”
They had not heard anything about an MOU from that group.
“You discussed an MOU? There shouldn’t have been time for that… May I ask what kind of agreement you were coordinating?”
“Ah, yes, of course. One moment, please.”
Han Yunseok brought over documents he had prepared on his desk and handed one copy to each of them.
“Here you are.”
“Thank you.”
It was a draft MOU containing the agreement with Choe Jeonggeun.
Yang Gyeonghun and Hyunwoo slowly read through the contract-format document.
Its contents were not particularly different from the one they had signed with M BioTech.
There had been one thing Hyunwoo hadn’t understood while dealing with the M BioTech case.
Why hadn’t Sales Team 6, the department in charge, noticed that something was strange about M BioTech?
If they had looked carefully, they should have been able to find out that the experimental report had been fabricated.
Just in case, he had searched portal sites for biotech company fraud.
He had been surprised to find far more cases of biotech company fraud than he expected.
Not only in Korea, but in numerous developed countries, entire populations had been deceived. There had even been an article about how, not long ago in the United States, prominent investment banks and experts had suffered losses of more than ten trillion won, as if they had all gone blind.
So he had simply assumed that was how it was.
Sales Team 6 had merely been deceived, just like everyone else.
But after seeing the draft MOU with Yangwoo Bio in front of him, he realized that wasn’t the case.
M BioTech and Yangwoo Bio were clearly different companies, yet the exact same conditions had been written down without any thought whatsoever.
That meant they had never intended to do any real work from the start.
They would use contracts like this to create news, secretly make a killing, and replace actual performance with profits from their soaring shares.
They were no different from the CEOs of these fraudulent biotech companies.
[What am I going to do about M BioTech? First, I need to unload the shares I bought under borrowed names. My wife’s sixth cousin, my university classmates… And then I need to get out fast. I can’t go down with them.]
Just like those inner thoughts of the Sales Team 6 leader.
As Hyunwoo had that thought and clicked his tongue bitterly, Yang Gyeonghun’s voice reached his ears.
“The terms don’t seem bad.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
“However, I would like to add just one more clause.”
“What kind of clause?”
“A clause stating that the source data for the new drug experiments will be shared with Mancheon Mulsan, and that the technical advisor we designate may view that source data at any time.”
Han Yunseok flinched.
His panic was visible.
“If you add just this clause, we will pay fifty percent above the market price for the equity purchase. That’s twenty percent higher than the amount written in this MOU. I believe it’s a good condition in exchange for confirming a few numbers. It will also increase transparency for both sides. That should be all right, shouldn’t it?”
After glaring at Yang Gyeonghun for a moment with a hardened expression, he opened his lips, which had turned purple.
Those lips trembled faintly.
“I think I’ll have to consider that. Source data is our company’s most important asset, after all.”
Yang Gyeonghun snorted and met Hyunwoo’s eyes.
The look in his eyes seemed to be saying this.
“This bastard’s a fraud, isn’t he?”
When Hyunwoo gave a slight nod, Yang Gyeonghun turned his head back again.
“Is that so? Then we would appreciate it if you would contact us after thinking it over carefully. In the meantime, we will put this MOU on hold. Then, thank you for your time.”
Yang Gyeonghun rose from his seat.
“Let’s go, Hyunwoo.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
Looking at Han Yunseok, who sat there stiffly without even saying goodbye, Hyunwoo turned away.
He didn’t think they would ever see him again.
In the car on the way back to the company, Yang Gyeonghun said this.
“Isn’t the world a scary place?”
“······.”
“Why does the world get scarier the older I get? Damn it.”
“······.”
“When we see a rest area, let’s stop for a bit. It’s cold out, and I could use a sip of some fish cake broth.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
Perhaps because the clouds had settled so gloomily overhead, it felt strangely colder than usual.
At times like this, a warm cup of broth sipped off to the side for a moment sounded absolutely perfect.
* * *
For the first time in a while, Hyunwoo got off work on time and stepped off at the subway station near his home.
When he came up through the exit, he saw the public phone booth that always stood there forlornly, never used by anyone.
But strangely, today there was someone using the pay phone.
It was the first time in years he had seen someone using one.
Was this person using the pay phone for the same reason as me?
After waiting quite a long time, Hyunwoo entered the phone booth and dialed the number he had looked up in advance.
From the other end of the receiver came the apathetic voice typical of a middle-aged man.
[Yes, this is Prosecutor Kim Jin-ho’s office at the Southern District Branch.]
“This is the prosecutor in charge of corporate and financial cases, correct?”
[Yes, that’s correct.]
“Are you the prosecutor?”
[I’m an investigator. If you have something to say, you can tell me.]
“Ah, yes. It’s about someone connected to the recent MBiotech case.”
[You, sir?]
“······No. Someone I’d like to report.”
[Ah, yes. Go ahead.]
“At Mancheon Mulsan, which made an equity investment in MBiotech, there’s a man named Oh Jae-gwon, the manager of Sales Team Six.”
The man’s voice, which had changed slightly from the moment the word MBiotech came up, now turned eager.
[Yes! Oh Jae-gwon, manager of Sales Team Six at Mancheon Mulsan. Continue.]
“He’s the working-level person in charge of MBiotech, and he obtained internal information in advance, acquired shares at a low price, then sold them before the problem broke. He did it under the names of people like a sixth-degree relative on his wife’s side and a college classmate. That’s illegal, right?”
Hyunwoo stepped out of the phone booth.
This seemed like the best way to deal with that hateful, revolting bastard.
* * *
On his way home, he had bought a pack of probiotic drinks, various ready-made foods, milk, and beer, and after shoving them into the refrigerator, he roughly fixed himself a meal.
After washing the dishes and doing some light cleaning, he took a shower, and by the time he came out, it was exactly time for his one-on-one English conversation session.
He had only done it a few times so far, but for some reason, Hyunwoo found himself looking forward to this time.
Perhaps it was because even though they spoke face-to-face, he couldn’t hear the other person’s inner thoughts; talking with James Wang put his mind at ease.
And there was a lot he learned from it, too.
When he logged into the site and clicked, James Wang’s face appeared, wearing a gentle smile.
[Looks like you got off work on time today. You haven’t been logging in again lately.]
“Yes, I’ve been too busy these days. A lot happened.”
[Really? What happened?]
Hyunwoo told him about MBiotech, keeping it to an appropriate level.
James listened to Hyunwoo’s story with great interest and offered suitable advice here and there.
As their scheduled time was nearing its end, Hyunwoo suddenly brought this up.
“If I keep working at the company and climb higher, this kind of office politics will only get worse, won’t it?”
[It can’t be helped when people gather together. Everyone has their own desires, and those desires are bound to collide in the end.]
“······.”
James quietly looked at Hyunwoo’s face through the screen, then spoke again.
[Just accept it as natural. It’s simply the rules of the game. Let yourself move with the current and fight fiercely. Elegance is something that emerges after the fierceness is over.]
After finishing his one-on-one English conversation with James Wang, Hyunwoo passed by the second-floor jeonse rental unit and went up to the rooftop.
This house, too, was an inheritance from his father.
It was Hyunwoo’s house.
The weather had grown quite cold now.
On the rooftop, the first snow that had fallen a few days ago still lay quietly settled.
Crunch, crunch······.
He walked across the piled snow, stood before the railing, and looked up at the sky.
Elegance is something that emerges after the fierceness is over······.
He felt like he understood what it meant.
It was probably the same as when he had only gained peace of mind after fiercely confronting his mental problems in order to overcome them.
Company life seemed to be the same.
If so, there was no need to avoid it.
Because he understood better than anyone what that fierceness meant.
The passing wind chilled the tip of his nose.
After gazing at the sky for a while like that, Hyunwoo came down from the rooftop.
In the midst of such fierceness, there were surprisingly many fools who, with half-hearted resolve, went easy on others only to get stabbed in the back.
Of course, Hyunwoo was not one of those fools.