Park Jun-man looked as if even taking a deep breath was somehow uncomfortable for him.
But soon he wiped away that look, straightened up, and spoke to Park Jin-hyuk.
“I planned to sell off Biologics to raise funds. Just at that time, I learned Han Sung was eyeing Biologics, and well, the talks were going smoothly at a decent price. With the money from the sale, I was going to support Chemicals, which I believe is the future of our group. That was the plan, until you started playing games with Biologics.”
“Chemicals? Not Heavy Industries?”
The core of the company, and the place with the largest stake in the group, was Heavy Industries.
That’s why, even if you combined all the other affiliates, it was hard for any to compete with Heavy Industries. DS’s position in Heavy Industries was unshakeable.
But now, Park Jun-man was talking about the future being with Chemicals, not Heavy Industries.
To Park Jin-hyuk, the idea that the future lay in Chemicals was even more surprising than the claim that he had been meddling with Biologics.
And on top of that, he was bringing up Chemicals along with the matchmaking discussion.
If it was Cheongwoo, their main focus was in Chemicals.
Park Jin-hyuk frowned, glared at Park Jun-man for a while, then quietly asked,
“Don’t tell me you intend to join hands with Cheongwoo?”
“That’s right. I’m joining with Cheongwoo. That’s why I wanted to match you with Cheongwoo’s daughter.”
A faint smile appeared on Park Jun-man’s face, who had maintained a stiff expression since sitting down.
But unlike Park Jun-man, Park Jin-hyuk scowled and shook his head under his father’s gaze.
“After Sang-hyuk, you want to tie me up with marriage as well?”
“If you’re born into a chaebol family, it’s your fate to make the biggest deals. At least be grateful you were born a man. If you’d been born a woman, I wouldn’t even have given you a say in the matter.”
“That’s why you haven’t shown interest in anything else. Whether it’s DS Construction, DS Pharmaceuticals… No matter what Second Uncle is up to, or whatever plans Director Oh might have.”
Park Jun-man nodded in response to Park Jin-hyuk’s words.
“I remember hinting at this the last time we met, didn’t I? Those things are just trivial matters to me. The real business, the one that matters, is the one you’ll handle in the future. All these little things that happen in front of me—they’re nothing but children’s games.”
“Is selling Biologics the first step, then?”
“That’s right. Pull out the money you invested in Novo and break the contract. And sell Biologics. You just need to step up and close the deal. The price is already set; all you have to do is show your face.”
“I refuse.”
“What? You refuse?”
Park Jun-man frowned for a moment, then suddenly burst into loud laughter.
“Hahaha! I think you’re misunderstanding something. You have no choice. You have to do as I say.”
“And why is it that I have to obey your orders, Chairman?”
“The fortune in your name is gone, swept away to that Novo or whatever. So you have nothing in your pocket. The rest of your wealth is just your stake in DS, isn’t it?”
“And what does that have to do with anything?”
“You need to inherit DS, right? Don’t you? But you need money to do that. Do you have any? You tried to secure funds using Biologics, but you can’t even do that now, can you? You have no money to invest in Biologics, and even if you did, it’s likely to fall out of your hands.”
What Hyun Yi-soo had originally planned was now coming out of Park Jun-man’s mouth.
Everything was moving according to Park Jun-man’s will.
All the worries and struggles had been well within his expectations.
But that was only until Park Jin-hyuk went to San Francisco.
Park Jin-hyuk went to San Francisco, met with Novo, and had already invested money there.
“I don’t need your help.”
“What?”
Park Jun-man’s smiling face darkened once again.
“I intend to inherit DS on my own.”
“And how? Are you counting on that Novo? That company that’s teetering on the brink of collapse? If I don’t step in, you might not even get your investment back. Are you really betting everything on that?”
“You’ll see. Whether my words are just bluff or I’ve really struck gold, we’ll find out soon enough.”
Park Jin-hyuk trusted his own judgment.
Even though Novo had three co-CEOs, each one’s numbers at the conference far surpassed anyone else’s.
Considering what their numbers would look like if they worked together, his investment wasn’t all that big.
He believed value would prove their ability, and judged they were likely to become leaders in the bio industry.
Moreover, Park Jin-hyuk saw the value of the new drug in the documents they’d handed him.
[10 trillion]
Once the new drug hit the market, the value it would bring far exceeded the amount Park Jin-hyuk needed in hand.
That’s why he worked so hard to become the largest shareholder, even investing such a large sum in Novo.
The potential of Biologics, and Novo’s new drug.
If he could grasp both, it would be a huge advantage in taking control of the DS Group.
There was no need to be swayed by something as ridiculous as a forced marriage.
He had secured things with his own strength, no longer needing to be at the mercy of others.
But Park Jun-man shook his head.
“Don’t do this. You shouldn’t do this. Step onto the board I’ve set up and do as I tell you. Do you know why I haven’t prepared the succession procedures? It’s because I’ve let go of the trivial things just for this moment. If you were upset because of Sang-hyuk, don’t worry about that either. Didn’t I tell you? You can do the same. And you should aim even higher and go for bigger things. So stop thinking otherwise.”
Park Jun-man’s face had become expressionless, showing no emotion as he looked at Park Jin-hyuk.
The frown, the smile, and even the fleeting look of disbelief from a moment ago had all disappeared from his face.
Park Jin-hyuk felt this was Park Jun-man’s true face.
And to this man, Park Jin-hyuk spoke from his own heart as well.
“Is it really necessary for me to be a puppet, moving according to the script you wrote, Chairman? If that’s what you want, use Sang-hyuk. I don’t want to do that. I’ll make my own preparations for succession, so you just need to prepare to hand it over. There’s no need for you to go through the trouble of preparing everything from start to finish.”
“I’ve already settled things with Cheongwoo.”
“Then you can go ahead and finish those talks. I’m not interested at all… Sang-hyuk isn’t engaged yet, is he? So… Ah! Don’t you want to keep Aviation as well? Then there’s a good way. Why not send the youngest, Seo-eun? I heard Cheongwoo has three sons? Although, I suppose that wouldn’t please you either. Sending Seo-eun means we’d be giving rather than receiving.”
Looking at Park Jun-man, who was silently listening, Park Jin-hyuk stood up from his seat.
“From now on, I’ll draw the picture myself.”
“Don’t try to go up against me. I still hold the keys, after all. Shouting like that in front of the person holding what you want isn’t wise.”
“You’re right. I don’t want to do this either. But I’d rather live as I please than be someone’s puppet. If you don’t like it, you can back Sang-hyuk for succession. But you’ll need to judge wisely. The number of eyes watching who is fit for DS isn’t just a pair, but hundreds, thousands.”
Threats aren’t Park Jun-man’s exclusive privilege.
Park Jin-hyuk had subtly threatened that putting the wrong person in charge of DS would bring public criticism.
Park Jun-man clearly understood the meaning, his face twisting.
“Well then, I’ll be going to ‘work hard’. And… please, don’t do that. Expanding the business by using your children’s marriages—surely that’s not a good thing.”
Park Jin-hyuk bowed his head and left the chairman’s office.
Park Jun-man silently watched his son leave, then took out a cigarette and lit it.
Secretary Hwang saw Park Jin-hyuk off and immediately entered the office.
Reading from Park Jin-hyuk’s face that the conversation hadn’t ended well, Secretary Hwang hurried to soothe Park Jun-man’s temper.
But to Secretary Hwang’s surprise, Park Jun-man, smoking in his office, looked not only calm but almost pleased.
“Chairman.”
“Yes. Did Jin-hyuk leave well?”
“Yes, I watched him go. Um… are you all right?”
“Hmm? What’s that? What are you asking if I’m all right for?”
“I just thought maybe you and Master Jin-hyuk had an unpleasant conversation.”
“What unpleasant conversation… What could be unpleasant between father and son? Sometimes we have different opinions, but isn’t that true for every family? That’s how fathers and sons are, after all. Hahaha.”
Seeing Park Jun-man’s unaffected face, Secretary Hwang glanced back at the door.
Not knowing what had been said inside, Secretary Hwang could only think that Park Jin-hyuk’s weary look was from exhaustion.
“Then, Chairman, what do you want to do about Cheongwoo?”
“What do you mean? Keep moving forward.”
“Couldn’t the plan to sell Biologics go awry?”
“Didn’t you hear earlier? They’re expecting a 60% operation rate at best. That’s actually perfect for inflating the sale price. If it goes over 80% and we start talking about building a third and fourth plant, then selling gets tricky.”
“I think Master Jin-hyuk intends to grow Biologics.”
“That’s why you need to move fast. Push the sale forward quickly, match him with Cheongwoo’s daughter quickly… No matter how much he acts up, once he’s branded as DS, he can’t disobey me. And if I push hard enough, he’ll eventually have no choice but to follow.”
“What if he keeps resisting, Chairman?”
Troubled by strange worries, Secretary Hwang uncharacteristically questioned Park Jun-man.
Annoyed, Park Jun-man turned his head to look at Secretary Hwang.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t apologize. As you say, the boy is stubborn enough to ignore me. Hmm… Yes, that could happen.”
Whether it was because Secretary Hwang had persistently pointed out something he hadn’t considered, Park Jun-man crossed his arms, cigarette in his mouth, and nodded.
After a moment’s silence, he spoke.
“Set up a meeting with Chairman Han of Cheongwoo.”
“You’re planning to step in personally? Wouldn’t it be better for you to stay in the background, Chairman? If we take the initiative, it might reduce our share of the deal.”
“It’s fine. Once Sang-hyuk is tied up with Daegwang, Cheongwoo will have a lot to think about. Don’t they want to get into hotels and duty-free shops? If we connect, we can link up with Daegwang too. They’ll come running, calculators in hand.”
“Understood. I’ll make the arrangements.”
“Yes, do that. Let’s see who wins. Competing with my own son—just thinking about the race gives me a surge of energy!”
Secretary Hwang was happy to see the chairman so lively, but uneasy that Park Jin-hyuk, of all people, was being seen as his rival.
Park Jin-hyuk was spending restless, sleepless days.
After hearing he’d invested all his funds in Novo, Hyun Yi-soo rushed over in the morning and caused a commotion.
Sitting him down, Park Jin-hyuk calmly explained Park Jun-man’s plans.
After hearing everything, Hyun Yi-soo broke out in a cold sweat, shocked to realize everything was in Park Jun-man’s hands.
He then offered some worried advice about Park Jin-hyuk’s gamble.
[Still, please don’t go too hard against the chairman. In the end, he’ll be your greatest ally.]
Nodding, Park Jin-hyuk accepted Hyun Yi-soo’s words.
He thought the same, so he could take that advice to heart.
After talking things over with Hyun Yi-soo and just as he was about to have lunch, Kyung Dae-yong came over with Sa Jung-man to discuss Biologics.
Thinking they needed to normalize Biologics before Park Jun-man could meddle, Park Jin-hyuk asked Kyung Dae-yong and Sa Jung-man to focus their efforts there.
He also contacted Novo to push up the trial production schedule.
Kyung Dae-yong and Sa Jung-man thought it might not be enough with just Novo and Pfizer.
Park Jin-hyuk agreed, and told them to find a product that could boost factory operations, even if it wasn’t profitable.
Since Novo’s new drug was practically guaranteed, even if they sacrificed a bit of profit, increasing factory output would make it harder for Park Jun-man to sell Biologics.
The three racked their brains into the evening, and agreed to continue the deeper discussions after Park Jin-hyuk returned to work next week.
Just when Park Jin-hyuk thought he could finally catch his breath, Park Sang-hyuk came to him, whining about not wanting to go through with his engagement.
With the engagement ceremony just around the corner, Park Sang-hyuk said he wanted to run away, and even staged a protest by hugging Park Jin-hyuk’s blanket and refusing to leave.
After pacifying Park Sang-hyuk and sending him home, Park Jin-hyuk tried to wind down his exhausting day with a glass of soju.
But then Kim Joon-woo showed up, not letting Park Jin-hyuk rest.
“Do you know what time it is? Can’t you let me rest, huh?”
Flushed from a few drinks and lingering fatigue, Park Jin-hyuk greeted Kim Joon-woo less than warmly.
It might have been nice if he’d come to drink together, but Kim Joon-woo never touched alcohol.
From Park Jin-hyuk’s perspective, it felt like he had two nagging housekeepers hovering over him.
Regardless, Kim Joon-woo came right in, sat Park Jin-hyuk down on the sofa, and, standing before him, explained why he’d come.
“Executive Director. I got a call from Secretary Hwang.”
“Secretary Hwang? Why?”
“Apparently, DS headquarters will soon officially announce the sale of Biologics.”
“What? Officially announce it?”
The slight tipsiness in Park Jin-hyuk’s head was instantly washed away, replaced by a cold clarity.