Driving the car, Kim Jun-woo kept glancing at Park Jin-hyuk’s face in the rearview mirror.
Compared to someone on their way to meet the Chairman at headquarters, Park Jin-hyuk seemed far too nonchalant, making Kim Jun-woo himself feel more uncomfortable.
“Director, are you all right?”
“What is it?”
“As far as I know, if we proceed with a rights offering allocated to shareholders, the company could suffer a significant blow. Won’t the Chairman get angry?”
“Whether it’s a third-party allocation or a rights offering to shareholders, the objective is still capital expansion. The only difference is the route we take, but under no circumstances can we go with the third-party allocation. Who would benefit from that…?”
“Then wouldn’t it be better to ask the Chairman to have one of the heavy industry or chemical affiliates participate in the rights offering? Those are under his direct control, so even if Construction comes under them, there’s nothing to worry about, right?”
“That would mean I have to bow my head to the Chairman. I don’t like that either. The best option is the rights offering to shareholders. No change in ownership percentage, and we can expand our capital through the offering… Everything’s perfect.”
Kim Jun-woo said everything was good, but he knew all too well that the rights offering to shareholders was actually the worst move.
He was curious about what went on inside Park Jin-hyuk’s head for him to say such things after making such a bad move.
But since he couldn’t dare to say that aloud, Kim Jun-woo just silently focused on driving.
After crossing the Han River, they arrived at DS Group headquarters, where Secretary Hwang was waiting for Park Jin-hyuk.
“What’s with the special welcome? If people saw this, they’d think the Chief Secretary to the Chairman has nothing better to do.”
Not just Secretary Hwang, but all the secretary office staff were waiting outside. As soon as Park Jin-hyuk got out of the car, he smiled at Secretary Hwang and spoke.
But Secretary Hwang quickly pulled Park Jin-hyuk aside, speaking in a flustered tone.
“Is it true, Young Master?”
“What, what are you talking about?”
“I mean the rights offering to shareholders.”
“Rumors travel fast, I see. Or did you plant someone on our side? How did you know so quickly when I only made the decision and got in the car?”
Unlike the calm Park Jin-hyuk, Secretary Hwang kept pulling at him, obviously agitated.
“Please, go back. I’ll inform the Chairman myself.”
“Go back? You mean go back to DS Construction?”
“Yes. Just get back in the car right now. I’ll tell the Chairman you had to return suddenly due to an urgent matter at the company. So please, just go back and watch the situation for now. I’ll handle the rest.”
“Handle it? Tell me what you’re going to do first. If it sounds reasonable, then I’ll go back.”
“That is…”
Seeing Secretary Hwang unable to respond immediately, Park Jin-hyuk laughed.
“I didn’t come here to cause trouble. So you don’t need to be so nervous. I’d appreciate it if you trusted me just a little more.”
Park Jin-hyuk smiled reassuringly at Secretary Hwang, then strode into the building.
Secretary Hwang and the other secretaries followed behind, but none could stop Park Jin-hyuk.
The employees at DS headquarters, sensing the tension between Park Jin-hyuk and Secretary Hwang, stepped aside to make way, avoiding eye contact.
Park Jin-hyuk took the elevator to the top floor, the 35th, and, standing before the large door to the Chairman’s office, straightened his clothes, took a deep breath, and knocked.
“Come in.”
Chairman Park Jun-man’s voice came from inside. Secretary Hwang opened the door and gave Park Jin-hyuk a worried look.
Park Jin-hyuk gently squeezed Secretary Hwang’s arm, signaling that it was all right, and entered the Chairman’s office.
Park Jun-man, seated, watched as Park Jin-hyuk came in.
After greeting him, Park Jin-hyuk dragged a chair over and sat down across from Park Jun-man’s desk.
Watching this, Park Jun-man let out a hollow laugh.
“Did I say you could sit?”
Sitting, Park Jin-hyuk crossed his legs and brushed dust from his pants.
“Weren’t you going to tell me to sit anyway? Or were you really going to make me stand? If not, what does it matter? As long as the outcome is the same, right?”
“Are you being arrogant or have you just grown a thicker skin?”
“Let’s just say it’s the result of working at DS Construction.”
At Park Jin-hyuk’s words, Park Jun-man let out a loud laugh.
“Puhahaha.”
It was so loud it seemed even the dust on the rafters would shake.
Park Jin-hyuk sat across, expressionless, waiting for Park Jun-man’s laughter to subside.
After a good while, Park Jun-man picked up his tea to wet his throat.
At that moment, Secretary Hwang came in with black tea for Park Jin-hyuk, then stepped aside and watched him with concern.
Park Jun-man looked at Park Jin-hyuk as he sipped his tea and spoke.
“Did you really come thinking I’d approve a rights offering to shareholders?”
Park Jin-hyuk tilted his head from side to side, trying to shake off the pressure emanating from Park Jun-man.
He looked Park Jun-man straight in the eye, completely unfazed.
“I’ve been agonizing over this lately. I couldn’t figure out why, and it kept me up at night. But after a few days, things became clearer.”
“What did you see?”
“From the Chairman’s perspective, it probably doesn’t matter whether Construction is a subsidiary of the headquarters or attached to the telecommunications affiliate. Either way, it’s still under the holding company.”
“Heh. That’s right, from my perspective, it doesn’t matter.”
“Looking at it that way, I realized you probably don’t care where it ends up. And I also saw that you never intended to split off the affiliates.”
Park Jun-man kept smiling as Park Jin-hyuk spoke, clearly in a good mood.
In contrast, Park Jin-hyuk hadn’t relaxed his stern face once since entering.
“Affiliate split-off? In so-called conglomerates with many subsidiaries, each generation chops off pieces to hand over to the siblings of the previous generation. After two, three generations, all that’s left is chaff. That won’t be tolerated at DS. The designated successor takes it all. The previous generation’s people all step down and don’t burden the new leader. That’s the DS ideology.”
“Your siblings don’t seem to accept that.”
“Accept? You’re mistaken. They have no choice. The decision is mine.”
“Does Director Oh feel the same?”
Park Jin-hyuk was subtly implying that Director Oh might think differently.
Park Jun-man understood his meaning.
After another hearty laugh, he looked at Park Jin-hyuk.
“I know you don’t like your stepmother. You two seemed to get along when you were younger, but lately things are strained. I have no desire to meddle in that. But remember this: Director Oh isn’t as simple as you think. Affiliate split-off? She’d rather take the whole DS Group for herself than split it. That’s the kind of person Oh Seo-young is, as far as I know.”
Hearing Park Jun-man’s words, Park Jin-hyuk finally felt the heavy doubts in his mind dissipate.
‘Right. Oh Seo-young never cared where DS Construction ended up.’
As Park Jin-hyuk listened, he bowed his head for a moment. Park Jun-man smirked at the sight.
To him, Park Jin-hyuk still seemed like a child.
Though he’d recently done many unexpected things, Park Jun-man still felt he wasn’t ready yet.
“So quit your pointless thoughts and just go back. Whether it’s a third-party allocation or a fourth, just do what Soo-man asks. Either way, it’s not something that’ll end up in his hands. Construction, telecommunications, whatever.”
Park Jun-man thought Park Jin-hyuk would understand by now.
But when Park Jin-hyuk looked up, his eyes were smiling—contrary to what Park Jun-man expected.
Seeing that, Park Jun-man’s own eyes wavered.
“I don’t care either way.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just as you and Director Oh don’t care where DS Construction ends up, I don’t care what either of you thinks about DS Construction. I just want to end this game of bouncing Construction around like a ping-pong ball.”
“You think you can end it?”
“As the largest major shareholder in the rights offering, please give your approval. When we hold the special shareholders’ meeting, I want you to clearly express your agreement so there’s no unnecessary talk.”
“What are you planning?”
In truth, from DS Group’s perspective, even if DS Construction did a rights offering to shareholders, it wouldn’t be a serious blow.
At most, they’d have to inject around 200 billion won more, but for headquarters, that was no problem.
The only downside was that doing a rights offering would publicly reveal that DS Construction was struggling, which was uncomfortable.
“I can’t stand the thought of DS Construction coming under Telecommunications. Maybe it doesn’t matter to you, but I can’t just stand by when I haven’t even started the fight yet. Or, could you designate me as the successor and announce it? If so, I’ll step back. But if not, I won’t yield my position.”
“You’ve really lost your mind. If the holding company, which owns 30% of the shares, steps out of the rights offering, it will fail. Are you okay with that?”
“I don’t care if the rights offering fails. I intend to publicly declare that I’ll take responsibility for the forfeited shares.”
At that, Park Jun-man started, nearly leaping from his seat.
“What did you say? You’ll take the forfeited shares? With what money… don’t tell me?”
“Yes. That’s what I came here to say. I’ll use my own shares as collateral to raise the funds.”
“Are you insane? You could lose all your DS shares. Just because I gave them to you doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want—they’re just in your name.”
“There’s no risk of losing them, so don’t worry. I’m only telling you this so you won’t be caught off guard if you hear it in the media. My mind is made up, and I intend to move forward, so I hope you won’t oppose me.”
“You… you…”
Park Jun-man pointed at Park Jin-hyuk with a trembling finger.
He wanted to say so much, but none of the words made it out.
At a loss over Park Jin-hyuk’s unpredictable words and actions, Park Jun-man shook his head and sighed.
“Hoo. Fine. I give up. What on earth are you thinking? Tell me your plans first. Let’s talk in detail.”
No matter what situation might arise, Park Jun-man couldn’t let Park Jin-hyuk put up his shares as collateral.
Though the shares were in Park Jin-hyuk’s name, they were like blood to Park Jun-man.
He couldn’t let them be lost in vain, so he was first to raise the white flag.
Park Jin-hyuk looked at Park Jun-man and spoke.
“I intend to take responsibility for the forfeited shares to provide a safety net for the stock price. Putting DS shares up as collateral is just for show—for media play. There won’t be any real injection of capital into DS Construction using the holding company’s shares as collateral. So you don’t need to worry.”
“That so? That’s a relief. But is it really necessary? Even if we do the third-party allocation, it makes no difference. There will be no affiliate split.”
“That’s your view. I don’t want to leave even a one-in-a-million chance unaddressed. I hate the possibility of ‘just in case.’”
In the past, during the Yoo Jung-geol era, he’d lost deals he’d almost secured due to rival sabotage.
From those experiences, Park Jin-hyuk made a habit of tying up any loose ends that bothered him.
Maybe there would be no affiliate split even if Construction went under Telecommunications through a third-party allocation, as Park Jun-man said, but that was only Park Jun-man’s opinion.
No one could predict the future, so Park Jin-hyuk didn’t want to leave any room for Park Soo-man to exploit.
Seeing Park Jin-hyuk’s resolute face, Park Jun-man let out a small chuckle.
He raised his hand and called for Secretary Hwang.
“Bring it.”
Secretary Hwang, as if waiting, brought over some documents and handed them to Park Jun-man.
He took the envelope and offered it to Park Jin-hyuk.
“That stubbornness is just like mine. Consider it a gift.”
“What is it?”
Park Jin-hyuk accepted the envelope without even looking inside.
Park Jun-man nodded and smiled.
“I figured you’d struggle taking charge of Construction, so I prepared this. But it seems you didn’t need it after all. Still, better to have it than not. Now that I’ve heard what you’re planning, I have a good idea of your intentions. Even if you claim you’ll take responsibility for the forfeited shares, it’s obvious you won’t actually use your shares as collateral.”
Park Jun-man gazed at Park Jin-hyuk.
Unlike earlier, he now smiled with genuine amusement.
“Use this as well. Better to have a lot of cards than not enough.”
Hearing this, Park Jin-hyuk realized that Park Jun-man had seen right through his plans.