“…So perhaps in two months? We expect it to be around the time the extraordinary general meeting of DS Telecom concludes. After all, we need to confirm your appointment as CEO before organizing the rest of the personnel.”
“I see. Understood.”
Jinhyuk Park nodded and turned around, signaling Junwoo Kim, who was waiting by the car, to open the door.
“Just a moment, Young Master.”
Secretary Hwang stopped Jinhyuk as he was about to leave.
“What is it?”
“Young Master, as I have told you before, please do not try to oppose the Chairman.”
“What are you talking about?”
Jinhyuk just smiled, pretending not to know what Secretary Hwang was trying to say.
Even as Secretary Hwang looked at the elusive Jinhyuk, he still seemed like a child in his eyes. That was why he had stopped him once again, out of concern.
“Young Master, please just accept what the Chairman is trying to do and pretend you don’t notice. Then the Chairman will prepare everything for you on his own.”
“What exactly should I pretend to accept?”
“You are in too much of a hurry. From construction to pharmaceuticals and now telecommunications — it may look unstoppable on the surface, but in the Chairman’s eyes, you seem impatient. He seems uneasy about that side of you.”
“Uneasy?”
“Yes, he is uneasy.”
At Secretary Hwang’s words, Jinhyuk placed his hand on the open car door and stood still, staring at the ground.
Secretary Hwang, thinking Jinhyuk was reacting to his advice, tried to persuade him further.
“The path to the top may feel frustrating and slow to you. However, there is an order to things, and following it will eventually gather the trust of others toward you. Didn’t you face some backlash from the outside directors during your move to Telecom?”
“There was a little.”
“I do not wish to know what methods you used to suppress their dissatisfaction. But you cannot keep using such methods. Right now, it’s just a few outside directors, but over time, that number will grow to ten, then a hundred, and thousands of shareholders might look at you with anxious eyes. So, my wish is for you to build stone steps one by one and climb up calmly, even if it means going a bit slower than rising quickly.”
Jinhyuk listened quietly to Secretary Hwang’s words, merely nodding.
Seeing Jinhyuk listen so intently, as if taking the words to heart, Secretary Hwang believed that Jinhyuk had understood him. Thinking it was enough, he stepped closer and touched Jinhyuk’s shoulder.
“No matter what happens, you will be the one to take over this place. No matter what anyone says, the next owner of DS is you. So please, have some composure.”
Jinhyuk, who had been hanging his head at Secretary Hwang’s warm words, lifted his gaze.
“Thank you for saying that, Secretary Hwang. I suppose I haven’t been very composed. I will keep that in mind.”
“You will do well. You have already sufficiently proven your ability with what you’ve shown so far. So, it should be fine to take things a bit more slowly.”
“Yes, I understand.”
As if he had finished everything he wanted to say, Secretary Hwang took Jinhyuk’s hand with a relaxed expression, looked at him warmly, and then stepped back.
Jinhyuk bowed to Secretary Hwang with a smile and climbed into the car that had been waiting.
Once Jinhyuk was inside, Junwoo Kim took his seat in the passenger side. After them, the attendants boarded the following car, completing the preparations to depart.
“Tell the others to return to the company. Secretary Kim, let’s go to the Han River. Head somewhere close.”
At the sudden instruction to go to the Han River instead of the office, Junwoo Kim told the driver to head to a nearby spot and contacted the team behind them to instruct their return.
The closest riverside from the DS Telecom headquarters in Euljiro was near the Dongho Bridge, which was on their way anyway.
The cars moved in the same direction until the one carrying the attendants crossed the Dongho Bridge, while Jinhyuk’s car alone split off and headed toward the Han River.
When the car stopped, Jinhyuk got out. Junwoo Kim followed silently as Jinhyuk walked slowly, gazing at the river for a moment.
After walking for about ten minutes, Jinhyuk sat on a bench in a secluded area quite far from the car. He then spoke to Junwoo Kim, who stood by his side, not daring to sit.
“How is the establishment of the investment company going?”
Junwoo Kim didn’t understand why they had come all this way just to talk about this, but he answered the question immediately.
“We are currently splitting the funds from DS Pharma into small pieces and circulating them. Following your instruction to delay the Chairman’s notice as much as possible, we are making sure the investment company isn’t immediately visible if someone tracks the funds.”
“Let’s move a bit faster.”
“Faster? Dongjeong Industries said the funds only need to be settled within this year… Did something happen?”
“We should assume that the relationship between the Chairman and us has fractured.”
“Fractured?”
Junwoo Kim looked at Jinhyuk in surprise.
It was true that a gap had formed between Junman Park and Jinhyuk. However, Junwoo had thought it was merely a difference in the direction they wanted to take, not a matter of their relationship falling apart. He believed that if Jinhyuk achieved more results and prepared thoroughly to get the outcome Junman Park wanted, the Chairman would eventually have to acknowledge him.
“Haven’t there been no major problems so far?”
“No major problems? Problems started the moment I stepped into the DS Group on my own.”
“I’m not sure what you mean…”
“At first, when I said I would work on my own, he might have found it admirable or even proud. But as I worked, he must have realized that I wasn’t moving according to his will.”
“Isn’t that something that has been ongoing until now?”
“Yes. It has been ongoing. That’s why his initial feelings of pride and accomplishment gradually turned into something that annoyed him and didn’t sit right with him.”
Junwoo Kim felt that Jinhyuk might be overthinking something that wasn’t exactly new.
“But didn’t the results always turn out well in the end?”
“That’s exactly why it’s a problem.”
“Pardon?”
Junwoo Kim’s eyes widened.
Even if Jinhyuk had gone against Junman Park’s wishes, the results were always the best they could possibly be. Hearing that this was a problem made no sense to him.
“The results were too good. If they had been just okay, he could have offered advice or suggestions to influence me, but the situation didn’t allow for that.”
“Is it a problem if he can’t influence you?”
“It’s a huge problem. He realized that I am an entity he cannot control. And the moment he realized that, he felt that I could become an obstacle to him.”
Jinhyuk turned his gaze from the Han River, which was glowing red with the sunset, to look at Junwoo Kim. Junwoo was still looking at him with eyes full of questions.
“Do you know why Secretary Hwang came to the board meeting today? It wasn’t to influence the board’s decision or to support me. He was sent to give me a warning.”
“Secretary Hwang? What… wasn’t everything he said just what he told you before you left Telecom? And I heard it as him asking you to follow the Chairman’s wishes.”
“No. That wasn’t it. He was telling me not to block what the Chairman is trying to do.”
“What is the Chairman trying to do? What’s happening now isn’t what the Chairman wanted; didn’t you move to DS Telecom to get your hands on a new business? It’s not about blocking the Chairman. Is he perhaps misunderstanding something?”
“No. The Chairman is not the kind of person who misunderstands or thinks wrongly.”
The Junman Park that Jinhyuk experienced was not someone who made misjudgments due to misunderstandings. He felt that the Chairman was a man who might lead others to misunderstand, but never made the wrong call when it came to judging people.
“How is the monitoring of Blue Rain Chemical going?”
“There hasn’t been any particular movement. It’s so quiet that it makes one wonder if the Chairman has abandoned his intention to acquire Blue Rain Chemical.”
“No. That’s impossible. Keep watching. And the moment the Chairman finishes the executive reshuffle and leaves for his retreat, we have to move as quickly and as much as possible. Tell President Hyun to come in tomorrow. We need to finalize the investment company.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jinhyuk looked at the riverside, now shrouded in darkness, for a long time with his hands behind his back before turning away.
***
Hisoo Hyun didn’t even have the leisure to offer congratulations to Jinhyuk Park, who had been nominated as the CEO of DS Telecom.
As soon as he arrived at Jinhyuk’s office, he received instructions one after another, starting from the establishment of the investment company to the order of funds to be paid to Dongjeong Industries, and the funds to be moved to Sail Hub.
“The payment for the sale of Nobo will be finalized within this week. I want you to use those funds immediately to establish the investment company and sign the business agreement with Dongjeong.”
“Yes. Since the discussions with Dongjeong Industries are already complete, there shouldn’t be any issues in proceeding.”
“Is Sail Hub ready as well?”
“Yes. We have already signed a provisional contract with them.”
“Good.”
Seeing Jinhyuk trying to push things through so quickly, Hisoo Hyun wanted to ask questions several times but couldn’t bring himself to do so. Everything was ready, so there were no problems with the execution, but he couldn’t understand the intention behind such a rush.
“Who do you have in mind to lead the investment company?”
“How about Team Leader Kwak?”
“Will that be alright? Isn’t Team Leader Kwak in charge of the finance team at DS Construction?”
“DS Construction is settled now, so there’s some room. And I don’t feel comfortable leaving it to anyone else. Team Leader Kwak will do a good job.”
“I feel at ease with Team Leader Kwak as well. Then let’s make him the head of the new investment company.”
“Understood.”
Jinhyuk picked up the tea in front of him and took a sip.
“Then I will immediately put the funds into Dongjeong Industries to enter the bidding for the Lamchatann project.”
“It must not be revealed that I am behind Dongjeong Industries.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jinhyuk stared at the tea, now only half-full after a few sips. After a moment of thought, he spoke to Hisoo Hyun while holding the teacup.
“When I move to DS Telecom, the first thing I plan to do is weed out people.”
“Do you mean you’re considering a restructuring?”
“It’s not quite a restructuring. But since it has been under my uncle’s control for a long time, I suspect most of them are his people.”
“Yes, I was keeping that in mind as well. I will organize the names of the executives at DS Telecom who are believed to be Vice Chairman Suman Park’s people and hand them over to Secretary Kim.”
“And…”
Jinhyuk placed the teacup back on the table and looked at Hisoo Hyun. Seeing Jinhyuk’s expression suddenly turn heavy, Hisoo Hyun realized the next words would be serious.
“The union. I’m thinking of cleaning up the labor union.”
Hisoo Hyun couldn’t hide his shocked expression. He knew Jinhyuk was about to say something big based on his face, but he didn’t expect this kind of topic.
“Executive Director, what do you mean by that? Cleaning up the union?”
“Do you remember the last DS Telecom general meeting?”
“Yes. How could I forget that? But what does that have to do with the union… Surely, you aren’t holding a grudge because they supported Suman Park at the time?”
Jinhyuk nodded with a smile.
“There’s something called a yellow union, right? A union established for the company’s benefit rather than for the rights and interests of the workers. I believe the union at DS Telecom is exactly that. No, to be precise, calling it a yellow union is a luxury. It would be more accurate to say it has been privatized by Suman Park.”
“Executive Director, still, touching the union is dangerous. If something goes wrong, it could become a public issue and you could become a target for the media and public opinion. Once the details are known, people might realize you are right, but the damage you would take during that period is beyond imagination.”
“I suppose so. Touching a union was something done during the days of military dictatorships; nowadays, if you mess with a union, the damage is immense. Still, I can’t just let it slide. The first thing I will do is blow away the union at DS Telecom.”
Hisoo Hyun didn’t dare try to break Jinhyuk’s strong will. He knew that once Jinhyuk decided to push through with something, he would get results one way or another.
But this time was different.
“Executive Director, wouldn’t it be better to prioritize settling into DS Telecom first? It won’t be too late even after you’ve built up your strength calmly.”
“No. Just watch. Even if I don’t want to touch them, they will move first.”
“The union will move first?”
“Who was it that supported Suman Park until the very end at the general meeting? Only the employee stock ownership gathered by the union stayed by Suman Park’s side and supported the spin-off until the end. And if I am appointed as the next CEO, it’s obvious they can predict what will happen next. In that case, they will try to block me first, and if that fails, they will constantly harass me even after I join. They and I cannot coexist.”
“That is… destroying… the union… Executive Director.”
Hisoo Hyun was so worried he couldn’t even speak properly. This was on a different level than taking down a competing company or a specific person. A CEO trying to dismantle the union of the very company he was taking over — the ripple effect if this story got out was something he didn’t even want to imagine.
Hisoo Hyun could only swallow hard, his throat dry.