Chapter 33: When the Pipe Swings

Go, the Chief, swung the steel pipe in a full arc.

As the sharp sound of air being sliced rang out, everyone flinched.

Go, the Chief, strode forward without hesitation, swinging the steel pipe toward the tangled group of people.

He showed no sign of stopping at all.

It was obvious anyone who got hit would be in serious trouble, but Go, the Chief, didn’t even bat an eye.

Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk!

Before anyone realized it, not only the Taeseong Hotel security guards but also Go’s own security team had lined up in two rows behind him.

“Wh-who are you people! Are you gangsters?”

“Why are you swinging a steel pipe around in broad daylight! What if someone gets hurt!”

“Don’t come closer! Get away from us!”

Go, the Chief, paid no attention to the shouts.

“Oooh? Hey!”

So, naturally, people scattered in all directions to avoid Go’s steel pipe.

The commotion was subdued in no time.

Step, step, step.

Go, the Chief, approached the Japanese man sitting on the floor.

“Mr. Yoshimoto.”

Go, the Chief, lowered the steel pipe and instead offered a handkerchief.

Yoshimoto snatched the handkerchief and wiped his sweat.

“Damn it!”

“Would you like a hand?”

“I’ll be fine!”

Yoshimoto stood up irritably and dusted off his wrinkled suit.

At Chairman Cha’s signal, Taeseong Hotel staff rushed over to gather the Japanese men’s luggage scattered on the floor.

The Taeseong Hotel manager immediately bowed and apologized.

“We sincerely apologize for the shortcomings in our service at Taeseong Hotel.”

“Why is Taeseong Hotel apologizing? The ones who barged in and made a mess were from WooKwang.”

Yoshimoto spat phlegm onto the floor.

“Those bastards, I’ll never associate with them again!”

“WooKwang, huh…”

Now that he looked closely, the Vice President of WooKwang Construction was among them.

Naturally, Chairman Cha’s eyebrows rose.

“Why is WooKwang causing trouble at someone else’s place of business? What kind of grudge do you have?”

“Well, that’s…”

Chairman Cha turned his head.

“Mr. Yoshimoto, are you on your way to the airport?”

“Yes. Thanks to these bastards, I’m pressed for time for my flight. It’s even snowing, and the taxis are useless.”

“Chief Go, have the security team escort Mr. Yoshimoto and his party safely to the airport!”

“Yes, understood.”

At Go, the Chief’s signal, Taeseong Group’s bodyguards immediately opened the car doors.

Before getting in, Yoshimoto and the other Japanese men bowed politely.

“Thank you, Chairman Cha. I will never forget this debt.”

Then he shot a sharp glare at the Vice President of WooKwang Construction and his group.

“WooKwang Construction, I will never forget this debt!”

Yoshimoto and the Japanese men left without hesitation in the car Chairman Cha had provided.

Vroooom!

No sooner had the car carrying the Japanese left the Taeseong Hotel than a black car came speeding in at a tremendous speed.

Screeech!

The moment the car stopped, the door flew open.

The President of WooKwang Construction sprang out like a coiled spring.

“Vice President, where are the Japanese? Why are you just standing there, dazed?”

“Well, look who it is.”

Chairman Cha looked at him askance.

“Saw you yesterday, seeing you again today. You’re really showing up at Taeseong Hotel a lot lately. Looks like you’ve become one of our regulars.”

“Chairman Cha, why are you…”

The President of WooKwang Construction fell silent.

He remembered the answer he got the last time he asked the same question at the hotel coffee shop.

‘Damn it!’

The President of WooKwang Construction realized instinctively.

‘Everything’s gone wrong!’

No Japanese to be seen, the Taeseong people glaring at him, his own WooKwang people hanging their heads in embarrassment.

He could grasp the situation at a glance.

Still, just in case, he asked.

“Did we lose them after all?”

“I’m sorry, sir. We failed.”

His anger boiled up.

“I told you to do whatever it takes to hold them until I got here, and you couldn’t even manage that…!”

“Stop wrecking other people’s business and just get lost already, will you?”

It was Chairman Cha.

“If you want to scold your staff, go back to your own company and do it there. Why are you making a scene here?”

Only then did the President of WooKwang Construction snap back to his senses.

‘The Subway Line 2 project!’

Having lost the Japanese, he was in serious trouble.

Without technology for underground civil works, how could they possibly undertake a subway construction project?

WooKwang had no other way.

“Chairman Cha, I’m truly sorry. Actually, I came to Taeseong Hotel today to meet with you.”

“Save your nonsense for your own company. Why are you acting up with me?”

Chairman Cha snorted and turned his back.

Secretary Kim and Chief Go followed behind him.

The President of WooKwang Construction rushed after them, panting.

“I’d like to propose a joint bid with WooKwang!”

“Not interested.”

“I guarantee you won’t lose out. I’ll offer conditions so favorable you won’t feel slighted. Isn’t it better for Taeseong as well?”

“Hmph!”

“Instead of competing with us in the bid and cutting into your own profits, why not join hands with us and pull off this great project in style! This will be a historic achievement!”

“You’re funny.”

Chairman Cha crossed his arms and looked at him askance.

“What’s wrong? Lacking confidence? Things not going well for you lately?”

“That…”

“Didn’t you say before that contracts are won on ability? Why are you whining now?”

The President of WooKwang Construction struggled to hide his grimace.

But Chairman Cha turned his back on him.

“Do your best till the end. It won’t matter, though—Taeseong will still win the Subway Line 2 project!”

“Chairman Cha! Please reconsider a joint bid with WooKwang, just once more…!”

“That’s enough! That joint project! I get chills just thinking about it these days!”

Even just Taeseong Chemicals, which had been established jointly with WooKwang, was already a major headache.

“After WooKwang jumped into the steel business four years ago, they’ve been trying to cover their snowballing losses by selling off Taeseong Chemicals, right? It’s been a pain in the neck dealing with your constant interference, and now you want help with construction too? Ha!”

Because of that damned Taeseong Chemicals, he’d just had a major argument with his son earlier!

Chairman Cha looked over at Secretary Kim.

“Secretary Kim, sprinkle some salt! Use the coarse stuff—dump in a whole scoop! Pour it on thick!”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“This is just my luck, starting off the morning with a mess. Chief Go, what are you doing? I told you to handle that earlier commotion!”

“Yes, I’ll take care of it.”

Chief Go and the security team blocked the President of WooKwang Construction’s way.

“President Kim, you should go back now.”

“Chief Go!”

“You get only one warning. Even if you’re the President of WooKwang Construction, if you cause a scene in our hotel, I won’t let it slide.”

The steel pipe in Chief Go’s hand gleamed menacingly.

The President of WooKwang Construction called out loudly to Chairman Cha as he walked away.

“I’ll be waiting! With the best possible terms…!”

“I said I’m not interested!”

Chairman Cha walked away without looking back.

But a satisfied smile curled on his lips.

‘Thanks to my precious child, I can finally speak my mind like this. It feels like a decade’s worth of frustration is finally cleared away.’

To see that annoying face of the WooKwang President so crumpled.

He remembered how that man had brazenly marched into the Taeseong Hotel coffee shop with the subway project official yesterday.

The one who’d left, seething with humiliation, was none other than Chairman Cha himself.

How could he not laugh now?

‘It’s not over yet! I’ll pay you back for everything you tried to gain with Taeseong’s money to curry favor with others!’

It wouldn’t be long now.

The bidding for the Subway Line 2 project was less than a month away, the New Year’s luncheon at the Blue House was scheduled for two weeks later, and in just three days there was the year-end charity banquet sponsored by political and financial circles.

‘At the year-end banquet, I’ll make sure you break out in a cold sweat! Surrounded by a pack of vicious hyenas, let’s see how you like being bitten from all sides! Hmph!’

The year-end banquet was a charity bazaar and sponsorship event to help the needy at the end of the year.

Not only high-ranking political and government figures would attend, but also key figures from the business world and all walks of life.

Naturally, the head of WooKwang Group and the President of WooKwang Construction would also be there.

‘WooKwang declared war, so why can’t we? Let’s do it too! At this year-end banquet!’

Just then, a short, chubby middle-aged man came waddling over behind the President of WooKwang Construction.

Despite it being midwinter, the man was sweating buckets.

“Huff, huff, huff, what brings President Kim of WooKwang Construction all the way here?”

“And what’s President Cha of Taeseong Construction doing here again…?”

Chief Go opened a path for President Cha of Taeseong Construction.

“President Cha, please go inside. The Chairman is waiting for you.”

Chief Go’s gaze was cold and sharp.

The President of WooKwang Construction sensed it again.

‘President Cha, you’re really in for it today!’

He should have checked his position before making a move.

It seemed he’d picked the wrong day.

‘Things are really taking a strange turn.’

He felt as if something was tightening around his neck.

The President of WooKwang Construction irritably loosened his tie.

---

The Taeseong Hotel bar was especially empty and dark.

The place had opened earlier than usual only for a private meeting between Chairman Cha and the President of Taeseong Construction.

Clink.

Chairman Cha set down his glass.

“Yoon-seong, only three glasses left now.”

“You seem to be handling your drink well today, sir. You’ve finished off a whole bottle of deodeok wine by yourself. Hahaha!”

The President of Taeseong Construction laughed heartily as always, oblivious to Chairman Cha’s mood.

“Brother, why do you keep counting the remaining glasses?”

“When this deodeok wine is gone, so is my loyalty.”

He meant it.

But the President of Taeseong Construction didn’t take his words to heart.

Chairman Cha had kept saying things like that all evening, but he hadn’t gotten angry or argued, just quietly drank.

“Brother, you must be very busy these days, leading the Taeseong Construction team and preparing for the subway project bid, right?”

The younger brother personally poured deodeok wine into Chairman Cha’s glass.

Golden liquor streamed smoothly into the cup.

“That was originally supposed to be my job, but because of my own shortcomings, you’ve had to work so hard.”

“At least you know that.”

“Of course I do. Every time I took charge of a Taeseong affiliate, starting with Taeseong Lumber, it always ended up in the red, but you always covered for me.”

“Good, at least you realize it.”

Unlike Chairman Cha, his younger brother had no real knack for management.

“There’s really no one like you, Brother. Even though I’m a useless younger brother, you made me president of the construction company just so I wouldn’t embarrass you when my children got married and I met my in-laws.”

The President of Taeseong Construction scratched the back of his head and laughed.

“I really should try harder to repay your kindness. But, as you know, that’s easier said than done.”

“…”

“Still, with you personally taking the lead on the Subway Line 2 project, I feel so reassured! An 180-billion-won mega-project! If we win this one… Hahaha!”

“Right, an 180-billion-won mega-project. That’s the thing you keep going on about every time the deodeok wine runs low.”

Chairman Cha quietly fiddled with the glass his brother had poured for him.

“Yoon-seong, I told you this is your last chance. So let’s stop talking about the subway project and have a real, honest conversation for once. I’ll listen.”

“Brother, you really are something. You hate repeating yourself, but today you keep saying the same thing over and over. What’s wrong? Is something on your mind? Is it about the youngest’s marriage?”

The President of Taeseong Construction fiddled with his soju glass as well.

“You married WooKwang’s daughter and even got Taeseong Chemicals in the bargain. Meanwhile, all I managed was to marry my children off to a politician’s daughter or a judge’s daughter. Your money-making skills are really something else.”