Park Jin-hyuk nodded after hearing the woman’s words.
“Is that so? So that’s why you mentioned things like daughter-in-law and son-in-law. I understand.”
The woman gazed intently at Park Jin-hyuk in silence.
It was as if she was searching for something in his smile, but she found nothing.
He truly reacted as if he was hearing these things for the first time, still treating her as if she were a stranger.
Cheongwoo Group, ranked eighth in the business world.
Like many conglomerates, they had overlapping businesses with DS, but the group’s foundation lay in oil refining and chemicals.
It wasn’t a group that had only recently made a name for itself; having grown alongside modern Korean history, its roots were deep and its influence in business was considerable.
“Well, I suppose with Cheongwoo, one might say that. But that’s Cheongwoo’s power, not necessarily yours, is it? As far as I know, Cheongwoo’s heirs haven’t entered management yet.”
“Just because we’re born into similar backgrounds doesn’t mean people are the same. Even if I’m not involved in management, don’t think I have no influence. I am still Cheongwoo’s eldest daughter.”
“Is that so? I’m the eldest son of DS.”
“I know. There isn’t a single person among the children of our generation in business circles who doesn’t know Park Jin-hyuk is DS’s eldest son.”
“Ah, am I really that famous? I just thought you might not know, so I mentioned it, but perhaps I was being silly.”
Park Jin-hyuk laughed, as if teasing, and cut the meat in front of him before putting it in his mouth.
He then poured some of the red wine into the woman’s glass and spoke.
“Do you like wine? For me, soju suits my palate more than wine, so it’s been hard to develop a taste for it.”
“Hohoho. Park Jin-hyuk himself says wine doesn’t suit him? Is the person in front of me really Mr. Park Jin-hyuk?”
“Was there anyone else who came in here besides me? Then I must be Park Jin-hyuk, right?”
“I can’t understand. I prepared Penfolds Grange, which I heard you like, but you say it doesn’t suit your taste. I suppose you don’t care for me very much.”
“Well… it’s not you, it’s this situation I don’t care for. Please think of it that way.”
Park Jin-hyuk forced a smile and wet his lips with the wine.
For a while, he ate in silence, then set his fork and knife down on the table and turned to her.
“Let’s do it this way. You don’t seem to like me much, and I don’t care for this either, so let’s just say we ate, didn’t like each other, and parted ways. Hmm… should we say you didn’t like me? That’s probably better, isn’t it?”
Looking at her silent expression, Park Jin-hyuk wondered if she disliked him so much that she didn’t even want to speak to him.
‘Well. Either way.’
Park Jin-hyuk smiled at her from time to time, ate his meat, and muttered as if talking to himself.
“Please understand why I’m acting this way. If I just stormed out, there’d be gossip for both of us, wouldn’t there? So let’s just spend enough time here that it looks like we talked, then leave. That way, others will think we had a proper conversation.”
Without even glancing at her, Park Jin-hyuk pulled out the documents he had set aside earlier.
He was planning to go over the paperwork he hadn’t finished earlier, all while eating.
“I hear your younger sibling is getting engaged to Daegwang. You don’t seem particularly interested?”
Park Jin-hyuk looked up at her with a surprised expression when her voice rang out—he hadn’t expected her to speak.
She sat there, still expressionless, simply looking at him.
Judging by the untouched meat on her plate, she didn’t seem interested in eating at all.
After watching her for a moment, Park Jin-hyuk shifted his gaze to meet her eyes.
Eyes that showed no emotion.
The eyes of someone most difficult to deal with.
“Do I look uninterested? I’m very interested. Honestly, that’s what’s been giving me a headache, which is why I’m reviewing documents while eating.”
“But for someone so interested, you’re sitting here with me but paying attention elsewhere?”
“Are you the answer?”
“Do you not think I could be?”
Park Jin-hyuk folded the documents again and held them up for her to see.
“I’m not a fool. I know you’re the model answer. But the model answer isn’t the only answer, is it? I’m looking for another answer within these documents.”
“Why go down a harder path?”
“Who says the model answer is the easy path? It’s just an explanation tailored to the test-maker’s intention—sometimes there’s an even easier answer than the model answer. And… your answer isn’t really…”
“Is this because of what I did to you before?”
“Before?”
Park Jin-hyuk tried to recall the things she had said since arriving.
‘She definitely seems like someone who knew the old Park Jin-hyuk.’
There’s a difference between having just heard of someone and actually meeting them.
And from her words, it was clear she had met Park Jin-hyuk before.
Still, he pretended not to know and shook his head.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have no memory of you.”
She stared at him with an incredulous expression, then laughed.
“Alright. Fine. Let’s leave the past aside.”
“Put it aside, leave it out, do as you please—I have no memory of it. If I did something wrong, I’ll apologize now. But truly, I don’t remember, so I hope you’ll understand.”
Hearing Park Jin-hyuk speak so earnestly, she realized he wasn’t lying.
She found it strange—how could someone just forget?
“Well, since you say you don’t remember… I’ll believe you. And since you’re clearly not enjoying this meeting, that’s perfect. I agree with passing the time as you suggested. Let’s just spend our time here and go our separate ways. Of course, let’s say the meeting ended because you disliked me.”
“Thank you for agreeing. Well then…”
Park Jin-hyuk gave a nod of farewell and picked up his documents again.
He spent his time looking through the paperwork and eating.
Who knows how much time passed like that—dessert was served, and when the woman across from him stood and pulled out her chair, Park Jin-hyuk finally looked up.
She stood and quietly gazed down at him.
When their eyes met, she gave a slight nod and turned to leave the private room.
Park Jin-hyuk watched her departing figure and thought to himself.
‘Does Cheongwoo only have one child? Why is she trying to inflate the numbers like that?’
She was showing numbers he couldn’t ignore, but they weren’t high enough to make him drop everything and focus on her.
Right now, there were more important things piled up before him.
*****
Park Jin-hyuk was finishing up his last tasks at DS Construction.
Once the year turned over, he’d have to move to DS Pharmaceuticals, so he was wrapping up everything before then.
Knock knock knock.
There was a knock, and as the president’s office door opened, Secretary Kim came in.
He greeted Park Jin-hyuk and began his report.
“Executive Director. The DS Group’s New Year executive appointments have been announced.”
“Nothing unexpected, right? We already knew about it in advance.”
“Yes. Nothing unusual. However, the press has started making interview requests.”
“The press? Who do they want? Me?”
“Yes. Calls keep coming in, asking to interview you or get DS’s official thoughts.”
“Is it because I’m leaving DS Construction, and they’re disappointed since I was the one bringing them juicy stories about Dongjeong Industries? Why are they suddenly so interested in the New Year appointments?”
Whenever something unusual happened, the media would gossip about the executive changes, or sometimes even contact the company directly.
But they’d never reached out to him directly like this, so Park Jin-hyuk found it odd, but laughed it off.
He didn’t think it was a big deal, but Kim Jun-woo had a complicated look on his face.
Seeing this, Park Jin-hyuk asked, puzzled.
“What’s wrong? Is there something else?”
“After the DS executive appointments were announced, media reports started coming out before we even sent out our press release. Here’s what’s being said.”
Kim Jun-woo handed him a tablet, showing him an article.
[Abnormal Signs Emerge in the DS and Dongjeong Industries Succession Structure]
[Heir to DS Group Becomes Key to Dongjeong Industries’ Succession]
[Will a Big Deal Happen Between DS and Dongjeong Industries?]
After glancing over the headlines, Park Jin-hyuk handed the tablet back.
“I thought the rumors would die down after I left DS Construction, but they’re still going strong. And these guys—how many times have they written these wild stories? Why are they bringing up old rumors again? That story’s stale already.”
The stock exchange had requested a disclosure from DS Construction.
It was about a possible merger between DS Construction and Dongjeong Industries. After the disclosure request, DS Construction’s stock price soared.
The next day, as soon as the market opened, DS Construction responded to the exchange that there was no basis for the rumor.
But the market continued to be suspicious, and the stock price kept climbing.
Thanks to the high stock price up until the subscription price for the rights issue was confirmed, participants didn’t withdraw their subscriptions.
As a result, hardly any unsubscribed shares were left, and those didn’t even end up with Park Jin-hyuk.
Since then, DS Construction had kept denying any connection with Dongjeong Industries, and months later, the story had become nothing more than an unfounded rumor.
Kim Jun-woo didn’t reply, but instead operated the tablet and handed it over again.
Park Jin-hyuk glanced at him, then looked down at the tablet.
He read the headlines and turned to Kim Jun-woo.
“What’s this?”
Now there were headlines saying the opposite.
[DS’s Executive Appointments Confirm Distance from Dongjeong Industries]
[DS Draws a Line with Dongjeong Industries Through New Executive Announcements]
[Market, Once Expecting a Big Deal, Can’t Hide Its Disappointment]
As he retrieved the tablet, Kim Jun-woo spoke.
“Conflicting articles are coming out from various media outlets at the same time.”
“What’s wrong with them? They’re publishing these stories before we’ve even sent out our press release? Am I that much of a newsmaker?”
“From what I’ve confirmed, Dongjeong Industries sent out a press release.”
“What? Why are they sending out a press release? Wait—could it be the old man’s pulling some strings again? But the stories are contradicting each other. Are both sides of Dongjeong Industries leaking different stories to the media?”
“The sources of the stories are a bit…”
Kim Jun-woo hesitated.
Seeing that, Park Jin-hyuk spoke first, as something came to mind.
“Don’t tell me—Dongjeong Industries is contacting the media through separate channels? The old man and the aunt are each leaking stories to the press?”
Kim Jun-woo nodded.
“Yes. It seems both sides are feeding their own opinions to the media.”
“What the heck? I said I wasn’t interested, so why are they making a fuss on their own?”
“That’s why we’re getting flooded with interview requests from the media, asking whether we’re concerned about a possible succession dispute at Dongjeong Industries.”
Park Jin-hyuk listened to Kim Jun-woo and leaned back in his chair for a moment.
Once the year turned, it would all begin in earnest.
Park Sang-hyuk’s engagement was scheduled for February, and in March, the joint venture between DS and Daegwang would be established, with Park Sang-hyuk moving over there.
They had already signed a contract to lease airplanes, with one or two already coming in, and test flights being conducted before official operations.
Once Park Sang-hyuk settled in, Oh Seo-young was expected to make her move.
And Park Jin-hyuk thought that Park Soo-man might join forces in that movement.
That meant Park Jin-hyuk also needed to have his preparations in order before spring arrived, but now fires were being lit in the most unexpected places.
“What should we do?”
“What does President Hyun say?”
“He said, when you were at DS Construction, we needed Dongjeong Industries’ name for support, but once you move to pharmaceuticals, it’s meaningless. If you really have no interest in Dongjeong Industries, the sooner we draw a clear line, the better for your next steps.”
“That makes sense. Drawing the line might be good for me, too. But how should I do it?”
“Why not make an official statement to the press that you have no interest in Dongjeong Industries?”
“No, that’s too extreme.”
Park Jin-hyuk shook his head at Kim Jun-woo’s suggestion.
Back in the days of Yu Jeong-geol, he’d learned something from working in a company.
Society isn’t just made up of ‘yes’ and ‘no’.
Park Jin-hyuk didn’t have the luxury to worry about Dongjeong Industries right now, but you never know how things might turn out in life.
If he said ‘no’ too publicly now, he might end up regretting it down the line.
Even when drawing a line, Park Jin-hyuk thought it best to leave an escape route.
“For now, let’s not say anything from our side. Since the story leaked from their end, let’s wait until they’ve said all they want to say. If we jump in now, we might get caught up in something messy.”
“Yes, understood.”
Kim Jun-woo took notes on what Park Jin-hyuk said, then set the tablet aside.