The sudden appearance of Jinhyuk Park left the group’s executives in the conference room bewildered, exchanging only glances with each other, unable to understand the reason.
But unlike the others, Shin Guk-jeon quickly issued orders.
“Executive Director Jeong. Organize the related documents as the Representative instructed and bring them up. And Secretary Han and Team Leader Kyung, organize what was discussed with Cheongwoo Energy and bring it quickly. The Representative needs to see it, so just bring the key points. No need to make it pretty. Time is critical since he wants to review it before the meeting restarts. Don’t be late.”
After issuing rapid orders, Shin Guk-jeon straightened his clothes once and followed Jinhyuk Park out of the conference room.
Those remaining in the conference room only watched the retreating figures of Jinhyuk Park and Shin Guk-jeon.
As Jinhyuk Park walked, Junwoo Kim followed behind and spoke.
“We’ve cleared out the Chairman’s office for the moment, but do you really intend to use the Chairman’s room?”
“Since I’m the Acting Chairman, it’s only fitting that I use the Chairman’s office. Using a different place wouldn’t look right.”
“Even so…”
Junwoo Kim felt uneasy about using a room whose owner was absent, even if it was as the proxy for Junman Park.
Moreover, since the room’s owner was no one other than Junman Park, Junwoo Kim wished Jinhyuk Park would use a different room.
But Jinhyuk Park had no intention of doing so.
In his view, an Acting Chairman should converse with people in a place befitting that title.
The reason was that it would make both the speaker and the listener regard Jinhyuk’s words as Junman Park’s words.
When Jinhyuk Park arrived at the floor where the Chairman’s office was located, the secretarial staff all rose simultaneously and bowed to him.
Though he was a familiar face who visited often, until now he had been merely the Chairman’s son or a representative of an affiliate.
Now that Jinhyuk Park appeared not as a guest but as the owner of the room, the Chairman’s secretarial staff showed visible tension.
“I’m just borrowing the room for a brief conversation, so there’s no need to be so tense.”
Jinhyuk Park greeted lightly, opened the door, and entered.
“Every time I came in to see the Chairman, it feels peculiar to enter like this. Director Kim, this is your first time inside, isn’t it?”
“Yes. I’ve only seen it from outside when accompanying the Representative before; today is the first time I’ve come inside.”
“Get used to it. This will be my office soon.”
One of Junman Park’s secretaries entered carrying tea, but flinched at Jinhyuk Park’s words and stopped in her tracks.
Jinhyuk Park turned his head at the presence he felt behind him.
The female secretary, who had come in holding a tray with a teapot and teacups, stood frozen like a statue, staring at Jinhyuk Park.
Jinhyuk Park smiled brightly at her.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry. It’s nothing.”
She quickly placed the tea on the table and scurried out of the Chairman’s office. Once her back disappeared, Junwoo Kim spoke to Jinhyuk Park with wide eyes.
“Representative. Why would you say such a thing? Everyone here except me are the Chairman’s people. No matter how much you’re the Acting Chairman, coming in and demanding to use the Chairman’s office and then saying things like that—who knows how the Chairman will take it?”
“I said it precisely so he would think that. Otherwise, why would I bother saying it?”
“What? What do you mean?”
“I need to provoke them. It’s unfair that I’m the only one running around like this.”
Jinhyuk Park clasped his hands behind his back and surveyed the Chairman’s office from corner to corner.
Still unable to grasp Jinhyuk’s intention, Junwoo Kim followed behind and asked.
“You did it on purpose? Then, did you also call President Shin deliberately?”
“I called him for multiple reasons. There’s something I want to confirm, and I needed a place to do that confirmation… so I chose this room as the venue. And in the process, I deliberately brought up that topic in hopes it would reach the Chairman’s ears… This is nice. I’m coveting this.”
Jinhyuk Park stopped mid-sentence, picked up a fountain pen from the pen holder, admired it, and examined it from all sides.
At Jinhyuk’s words that everything was moving according to plan, Junwoo Kim simply stared at him with a blank expression.
Though he had never questioned Jinhyuk’s actions while working with him, he still couldn’t get used to it.
This was no exception.
No matter how much he thought about it, Jinhyuk Park was acting as if he had planned something that seemed to have no benefit.
Junwoo Kim could only follow behind Jinhyuk Park, who seemed to have everything in the palm of his hand.
“When the Chairman was around, I couldn’t look around freely, but now acting like the master in a masterless room gives a fresh feeling. Everything is good. Not a single bad thing—every trivial detail is made of good things. Seeing this makes me want it even more. I mean, the greed to sit in this seat.”
Jinhyuk Park stroked the chair.
At that moment, the closed door of the Chairman’s office opened, and Shin Guk-jeon entered and greeted.
Jinhyuk Park gave a slight nod in acknowledgment.
“You’re here. Fortunately, tea is prepared. Please come and sit.”
It had been less than five minutes since he entered the room, but Jinhyuk Park already showed the demeanor of a host inviting a guest to sit.
He offered Shin one side of the sofa and naturally sat in the seat of honor.
Shin Guk-jeon’s eyes glinted at how Jinhyuk Park made no careless movements.
“Representative. Why did you ask to speak to me separately? Is there something that displeases you?”
“I don’t think ‘displeasure’ is the right word. Since this has already been decided and the entire group is moving to support it, what meaning does my personal satisfaction or dissatisfaction have?”
“Then why?”
“Simply put, I wanted to understand this situation a bit more deeply, so I called President Shin and Team Leader Jeong, who are directing the project. I thought we should exchange opinions before going into the meeting. As you know, I am the coordinator for this project as instructed by the Chairman. How could I hear things at the same level as everyone else in the meeting?”
Jinhyuk Park sat with an air of entitlement, demanding more information than the others.
Shin Guk-jeon nodded at him and replied.
“Since the Representative is acting as the Chairman’s proxy, it’s natural to know the project details first. However, since this project is proceeding with the Chairman’s approval, I think the Representative need not worry too much.”
“Do you think I want to know the details because I’m worried? It’s because I don’t want to listen and react the same as everyone else in the meeting.”
Shin Guk-jeon frowned at the childish reason, but Jinhyuk Park remained utterly composed, sitting and pouring tea into his cup.
“As you said, since the Chairman approved and decided to push it, I’m not worried about the push itself. But this is proceeding after bringing Cheongwoo Energy into the fold. What’s the plan if we fail to bring Cheongwoo Energy in?”
“We’re proceeding without assuming such a scenario. The Chairman said it won’t happen.”
“Is that so?”
Jinhyuk Park nodded, lifted his teacup, and drank.
“Is there something on your mind?”
“No. Everything is flowing according to plan—what could be on my mind?”
Jinhyuk Park finished speaking lightly and simply sipped his tea.
Since what Jinhyuk Park truly wanted to see had not yet arrived, he just sat there passing time.
After some time passed, Jeong Byung-hyuk entered the Chairman’s office holding several bundles of documents.
It was the contract for the Brazil power plant project that Jinhyuk had been eagerly waiting for.
“I’m sorry. I was delayed picking up a few things.”
Jeong Byung-hyuk placed the document bundle in front of Jinhyuk Park and sat on the sofa, wiping sweat.
The sweat running down the side of his hair proved how urgently he had moved.
“This is what I wanted to see.”
Shin Guk-jeon watched Jinhyuk Park lift the business contract.
Even for a large-scale contract, it was no different from any other contract.
Only the parties involved and the scale of the contract differed; the contract itself contained only fundamental clauses.
The detailed contracts that followed were more important in some respects.
But that was from an ordinary person’s perspective; in Jinhyuk Park’s eyes, the main contract was more important.
Jinhyuk Park held up the contract, examining it from all angles as if appreciating an antique, then placed it on the table and asked Shin Guk-jeon.
“What is our profit from this contract?”
“If we consider the synergy effect…”
“No, excluding that. Just the pure profit from this business.”
“First, excluding what follows, the pure project cost is $7 billion.”
“$7 billion? That’s a little over 8 trillion won in our money.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
It was a fact everyone knew.
Because the stock market had been buzzing daily, news had been flowing out constantly.
Now even children knew this fact, and seeing Jinhyuk Park ask something so obvious, Shin Guk-jeon alternated his gaze between Jeong Byung-hyuk, the documents, and Junwoo Kim standing behind Jinhyuk.
He was trying to read Jinhyuk’s thoughts through them, but they seemed just as clueless as he was.
Jinhyuk Park hadn’t asked the obvious question to mock Shin Guk-jeon.
‘8 trillion, huh. But…’
What Jinhyuk Park saw was a number that didn’t exceed 2 trillion.
2 trillion wasn’t a small number, but if a contract that should show 8 trillion or more only showed 2 trillion, that meant there was a problem.
Jinhyuk Park tapped the contract with his finger and asked.
“So, roughly, what do you estimate the costs to be?”
“Are you asking about the cost of constructing the power plant?”
“Correct. How much we’ll have to spend. I don’t need details. There must be an amount that DS Heavy Industries has identified—I’d like you to tell me that amount.”
Shin Guk-jeon briefly turned to Jeong Byung-hyuk and said.
“Based on our own judgment, we estimate it to be around 2 trillion won. Of course, circumstances could change, but we believe 2 trillion is sufficient.”
“Is that so?”
Jinhyuk Park laughed dryly, not stopping his tapping on the contract.
‘If we only get back what we put in, there’s no profit? Then we’re just wasting time?’
His eyes wouldn’t misjudge value.
If so, this business wasn’t one that would yield 8 trillion or tens of trillions in profit, but rather a business that wasted time.
“Alright. Where is the contract we exchanged with Cheongwoo Energy?”
At Jinhyuk’s words, Jeong Byung-hyuk pulled out a binder containing the contract from among the document bundles and handed it to Jinhyuk.
Without opening the binder, Jinhyuk held it and asked Jeong Byung-hyuk.
“Is this correct?”
“Yes, it is. Is something wrong?”
“First, this is a preliminary contract stating that DS Technology and Cheongwoo Energy will be exchanged. It promises that the contract will be signed once the Chairman returns to Korea. Is there really something wrong that makes you ask?”
Seeing Jinhyuk’s expression, even Shin Guk-jeon stepped forward to explain.
But it seemed their voices didn’t reach Jinhyuk’s ears.
He held the preliminary contract, examined it from all sides, then opened the binder and read the contract inside.
As Shin Guk-jeon and Jeong Byung-hyuk had said, it was a contract promising a swap deal between Cheongwoo Energy and DS Technology.
It was a contract with fundamental statements about striving to fulfill mutual promises, but it didn’t look ordinary to Jinhyuk’s eyes.
Because he saw something even stranger than the Brazil power plant business rights contract he had just seen.
[-7,000,000,000,000]
Minus 7 trillion.
Jinhyuk Park had been seeing value for nearly two years now.
He had seen the value of countless things, and even now he could confirm the value of everything in sight.
But this was the first time he saw a minus.
The confusion over the minus value startled Jinhyuk Park.
Unable to show it outwardly, he slowly closed the preliminary contract and placed it on the table.
“I met the Chairman of Cheongwoo about a month ago. At that time, I heard from him, so I roughly knew and had an idea.”
Shin Guk-jeon nodded as if he expected that.
“I thought the Representative would know. It hasn’t been disclosed externally yet, but I figured the Representative would have heard through various channels.”
“Seeing that you disclosed it to other executives without much worry today, it seems the contract has progressed significantly.”
“Yes. It’s at a stage where we can disclose it externally now.”
“So, is it going to be a merger between DS Heavy Industries and Cheongwoo Energy?”
“Yes. Our plan is to absorb Cheongwoo Energy.”
“A mega-affiliate will be born.”
“That is the Chairman’s plan.”
If this happened, the power dynamics within the DS Group would undoubtedly change.
Until now, though there were size differences, DS Heavy Industries had been on the same level as other affiliates.
But if they absorbed Cheongwoo Energy, they could no longer be on the same plane.
It was expected that the holding company would have DS Heavy Industries under it, and the other affiliates would be reorganized under that.
But that was only if everything was normal.
‘Minus 7 trillion? What does this mean?’
If taken at face value, it meant absorbing Cheongwoo Energy would result in a 7 trillion won loss.
“What is Cheongwoo Energy’s performance?”
“Revenue of 2.5 trillion won, operating profit of about 130 billion.”
“And what about our DS Technology?”
“As of last year, revenue was 4.4 trillion won, operating profit about 50 billion.”
“One is an energy company, the other is an equipment company, so there’s a difference. This isn’t a one-to-one trade, is it?”
“Yes, that’s correct. In terms of the qualitative aspect of the subsidiaries, DS Technology lags far behind Cheongwoo Energy. The fact that DS Technology has a defense industry subsidiary was the driving force behind signing the contract, but we’ll probably need to add about 1 trillion won more to finalize the deal.”
“Adding 1 trillion to DS Technology…”
A smile involuntarily spread across Jinhyuk Park’s face.
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