Episode 30: What Remains After the Fierceness Fades 3.
One day, an article appeared in the newspaper.
‘Local Small and Medium Businesses Dying Due to Major Corporate Tyranny!’
It was an article about how major corporations were entering industries run by small self-employed business owners and small-scale enterprises, devastating the market.
Several cases were mentioned in the article, and among them was Mancheon Passenger Transport, an affiliate of Mancheon Industries.
This was the beginning of this dirty machination.
* * *
The members of Sales Team 9 filled their trays with food and sat down.
Seeing Hyeonu's tray piled up like a mountain, Yang Gyeonghun remarked.
"Why are you eating so much? Does all of that even fit in your stomach?"
Hyeonu took a large spoonful and put it in his mouth.
"The company food is delicious."
To Hyeonu, the company food was truly delicious.
For Hyeonu, whose breakfast consisted of a piece of bread with milk and a bottle of a yogurt drink, and whose dinner was leftover kimchi stew or soybean paste stew that lasted a week once cooked, or three-minute curry, lunch at the company cafeteria was truly a feast.
"That's right, eat a lot. Our youngest should eat well and do lots of good work."
"Yes, Team Leader. I'll enjoy a big meal."
Yang Gyeonghun watched Hyeonu shoveling down his food with a fatherly gaze.
Nothing could have pleased him more.
A guy who hadn't even been with the company for two weeks had recovered stolen performance and even gotten rid of the thief.
And now this M-Biotech matter.
In this case, he had secured not only performance metrics but even a direct line to the President.
How could he not be pleased?
There had never been such a lucky charm.
With a deeply affectionate expression, Yang Gyeonghun, who had been looking at Hyeonu, turned his head toward Song Gaeun.
She wasn't on Hyeonu's level, but Song Gaeun was no slouch either.
If you only looked at the amount she ate.
She ate about as much as a sturdy male employee in his twenties?
Since he already knew Song Gaeun ate a lot, he said something else instead.
"How do you not gain weight eating like that?"
Song Gaeun answered diligently without pause, moving her utensils.
"I poop as much as I eat. If I eat little, I poop little, and if I eat a lot, I poop a lot. It's plus-minus zero anyway, and it's free, so I have to eat a lot."
"······."
Yang Gyeonghun's gaze moved from Hyeonu and Song Gaeun, who were busy eating, to Kim Byeongjun.
He never ate well to begin with.
He would only take a little of what suited his taste and often leave even that unfinished.
But today, he seemed to be eating especially little.
He would nibble and then just space out.
"Hey, is something wrong?"
"Huh?"
"What's with you eating like that? Nibbling, spacing out all the time."
"Huh? Ah, it's nothing."
Hyeonu glanced at Kim Byeongjun in the middle of eating and then went back to his food.
Kim Byeongjun had been like that all day.
Unable to focus on work, he was distracted somewhere.
When it was nearly time to leave work, he got up from his seat and approached Hyeonu.
"Hyeonu."
"Yes?"
"Are you busy?"
He didn't have anything particularly assigned to him yet, so he wasn't very busy.
"No."
"Then can we talk for a moment?"
"Yes, Assistant Manager."
Kim Byeongjun went out, and Hyeonu followed him.
Yang Gyeonghun quietly watched the two of them disappear around the partition.
Yang Gyeonghun thought that Kim Byeongjun's atmosphere seemed somehow different.
In front of the vending machine on the rooftop, Kim Byeongjun asked.
"What do you want to drink?"
Hyeonu's favorite drink was a carbonated beverage with milk in it.
"I'll have a Milkis."
Hyeonu got a Milkis, and Kim Byeongjun got a latte, then they went and sat on a bench to one side.
Clack.
Kim Byeongjun took a sip of his latte and lit a cigarette.
"Huu······."
After smoking silently for a few puffs, he turned his head toward Hyeonu and suddenly asked.
"Do you have ambition?"
Hyeonu thought for a moment and answered.
"It's a bit much to call it ambition, but I do have a goal."
"What is it?"
"To rise as high as I possibly can."
"Like President No Hyeoncheol?"
"Yes."
Kim Byeongjun scoffed and took a drag of his cigarette.
"Huu······ *kuk*, so you did have ambition after all. You looked like you had no ulterior motives whatsoever."
"It's not ambition; it's a goal for my corporate life."
"That's ambition, you punk."
"······."
"But do you know what it takes for a salaryman to rise to the very top?"
He didn't know very well.
So he answered honestly.
"I don't know."
"First, you need ability. You'll probably need political sense too. And one more thing······."
Hyeonu lowered the can of Milkis he had been about to drink and pricked up his ears.
"You need to be in the Chairman's good graces. Or in the good graces of the person who will become Chairman······. Because this is a kingdom. A kingdom within the worldview of capitalism. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Hyeonu thought for a moment and asked back.
"You're saying that President No Hyeoncheol also reached his current position because he was in the Chairman's favor, right?"
"It can't be said to be everything, but it's certainly the most important factor. Of course, if he hadn't had ability, he wouldn't have caught the Chairman's eye or been able to sit in that seat."
"Then to become a second President No Hyeoncheol, I would need to be in the next Chairman's good graces."
As expected, a quick-witted guy.
"That's right. But there's one thing you need to think about."
"What is it?"
"It's different from President No Hyeoncheol's time. The king has grown old and frail, and there are many princes aiming to become king. They fight fiercely to take the seat of the retiring king."
The words he had heard from James Wang yesterday suddenly came to mind.
"Once that fierceness ends, elegance will emerge, I suppose."
"Elegance?"
Kim Byeongjun tilted his head, then soon let out a snicker.
"Yes. Elegance······. Anyway, the one who emerges victorious from that fierceness will take the retiring king's throne. The next No Hyeoncheol will be the one who fought fiercely alongside the next king."
"······."
"Do you know what they call someone who fights alongside them like that?"
"What do they call them?"
"Running mate······. They call them a running mate."
"······."
Kim Byeongjun took the last drag of his cigarette and threw it into a large cylindrical can ashtray.
"If someone approaches you someday and asks you to be their running mate, what will you do?"
Hyeonu looked at Kim Byeongjun with a deep gaze for a moment and answered.
"If that person is someone qualified to become king, I will devote everything I have and fight fiercely alongside them."
"Really?"
Kim Byeongjun was about to say something, but Hyeonu spoke first.
"However, for now, I just want to remain in this position. Until I've learned more and honed my skills enough to become capable."
A soft smile formed at the corners of Kim Byeongjun's eyes, and he took a sip of his latte.
A sweet, mellow taste lingered at the tip of his tongue.
"I see······. I understand, Hyeonu. Is there anything else you want to say?"
Hyeonu also took a sip of his Milkis and thought quietly.
Though it wasn't very long, after a moment that felt quite long, he opened his mouth.
"If I've made up my mind to fight, I don't think there's any need to deliberately reveal my intention to fight to the opponent first. I think the intention to fight should be kept only in my heart. There are more people in this world than you'd think who make fools of themselves."
Whether surprised by Hyeonu's words, Kim Byeongjun's widened eyes soon returned to their original subtle smile.
"Did you know who I am?"
"You're Assistant Manager Kim Byeongjun."
"And?"
"What else?"
Kim Byeongjun was confused.
It seemed as if Hyeonu knew his true identity, and yet as if he didn’t.
But he didn’t bother asking.
Since Hyeonu had already made his intentions clear, there was no need to say anything right now.
“Heh. Anyway, I get it, Hyeonu. I’ll take what you said to heart. Go on down first. I’ll finish this and head down after.”
“I’ll finish mine too, and then...”
Hyeonu took a sip of Milkis and sat there quietly.
A cold wind went whoosh over the two of them.
Kim Byeongjun, who had been staring at Hyeonu, opened his mouth.
“Can’t you just down it and go? Let me think for a bit.”
[This punk seems incredibly sharp sometimes, but at moments like this, he’s seriously clueless.]
“Ah! I’m sorry, Assistant Manager.”
Hyeonu immediately downed his drink and got up.
* * *
Vice President Ha Taeseong slammed the newspaper down on the table with a smack.
“What the hell are you doing, you bastard! How could you let something like this spread this far? Do you want to get fired? Want me to make sure you spend every morning hiking with a bottle of makgeolli strapped to your waist?”
PR Director Jo Seeun wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said,
“I’m sorry, Vice President. It spread so suddenly through social media that there was nothing we could do.”
“So? So what are you going to do about it? You think saying there was nothing you could do is the end of it?”
“For now, we’ve put the viral marketing team into emergency operation. We’re blocking it as much as we can, but the speed of its spread is just too fast...”
Ha Taeseong’s face twisted and flushed red.
“You... fucking idiot! So I’m asking what you’re going to do! You’re supposed to come up with an alternative! An alternative! Is this somebody else’s problem? That’s why we pay you, you bastard—to come up with alternatives for things like this!”
As Ha Taeseong shouted with veins bulging in his neck, Jo Seeun answered in a rush.
“We’ll prepare a countermeasure as quickly as possible and stop it no matter what.”
When Ha Taeseong said nothing, Jo Seeun stood there awkwardly, gauging his mood, and Ha Taeseong glared.
“What are you doing?”
“Pardon?”
“You said you’d stop it no matter what.”
“Ah, I...”
“Why aren’t you running off already? Can you stop it by standing there? Are you some kind of psychic?”
“Yes, Vice President.”
Jo Seeun turned around and hurried out of the vice president’s office.
Jo Seeun burst into the PR office and shouted,
“Did you speak to that bitch of a reporter?”
The head of PR Team 1 answered.
“Yes, Director. I just got off the phone with her.”
“What did she say?”
“She’s basically daring us to do whatever we want. She’s a brand-new rookie, but she won’t listen to reason at all. Ugh...”
“That clueless, goddamn bitch of a reporter. If she’s going to write an article, she should at least check her facts properly. Does she think she can just scribble out a completely wrong article and then tell us to do our worst?”
“I thought I was going to lose my mind too. I have no idea what she’s relying on, but she was incredibly haughty and shameless.”
“Ah, fuck, just my luck...”
Jo Seeun strode into his office at the back of the PR department.
He intended to call and confront the social affairs editor at Donghae Ilbo, the country’s top newspaper and the starting point of this incident.
Just as he was about to pick up the receiver, the phone rang.
“Yes, this is the PR Director.”
[It’s the director of PR Strategy.]
He was startled.
The director of PR Strategy was an executive in charge of publicity for the entire group.
“Yes, Director.”
[I’m meeting the editor-in-chief of Donghae Ilbo tomorrow morning, so organize the materials on Mancheon Passenger Transport and send them to me. Right now.]
“Yes, understood. I’ll prepare them immediately and send them over.”
[We’ve also mobilized our viral unit, so it’s going to be chaos fighting it out on social media. Don’t move rashly. For now, watch how the situation develops. No matter what kind of shit they pull upstairs. Got it?]
“Yes. Understood, Director.”
After hanging up, Jo Seeun was truly at a loss.
He couldn’t understand why this had suddenly turned into such a mess.
To think all of Mancheon had to be shaken by some absurd article written by a rookie reporter.
He could only feel bewildered.
* * *
Unlike the urgent atmosphere in the PR department, Sales Team 9 was peaceful for once.
The sound of mouse clicks, the tapping of computer keyboards, the rustling of papers, and the occasional sound of someone drinking coffee.
There was no tension whatsoever.
Then Song Gaeun spoke up.
“It looks like Mancheon Passenger Transport is in an uproar right now.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Song Gaeun, and Yang Gyeonghun asked,
“Why Mancheon Passenger Transport?”
“They’re saying it’s the main culprit destroying small business districts.”
Kim Byeongjun frowned and asked,
“Mancheon Passenger Transport?”
“Yes. It even hit number one on the real-time search rankings.”
“Huh? You’re right. But that can’t be...”
Yang Gyeonghun, who had been listening to their conversation, cut in.
“Right. Didn’t you investigate Mancheon Passenger Transport back then?”
Every employee of Mancheon Mulsan had to submit two corporate improvement proposals a year, and the topic Kim Byeongjun had submitted last time was none other than “A Plan for Rationalizing the Management of Mancheon Passenger Transport.”
“Yes, I did.”
After the brief chatter came to an end, Kim Byeongjun clicked on the file titled “A Plan for Rationalizing the Management of Mancheon Passenger Transport” and looked it over once more.
Then he carefully searched through the articles as well.
He couldn’t understand it.
The articles didn’t match the reality.
Then why had the issue grown this big?
As he looked into various places with that question in mind, before he knew it, it was time to get off work.
Yang Gyeonghun rose from his seat and put on his suit jacket.
“All right, let’s call it a day.”
Song Gaeun also got up from her seat.
“Good work today.”
She asked Kim Byeongjun, who was still sitting there focused on something.
“Aren’t you leaving, Assistant Manager?”
“Yeah, go on ahead. I’ve got something to do.”
This was a common sight in Sales Team 9.
Once Kim Byeongjun got hooked on something, he was the type to dig into it until the end.
“Ah, looks like our Assistant Manager Kim has gotten absorbed in something again. Let’s go first. Good work, Assistant Manager Kim.”
“Good work today.”
As he pushed in his chair and came around his desk, he saw Hyeonu still sitting there.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m planning to leave a little later too.”