As Park Jin-hyuk stood his ground, refusing to retreat a single step, Park Joon-man slammed his hand down on the armrest.
Bang!
The sound was so fierce that Oh Seo-young, who sat beside him, flinched in shock.
Park Jin-hyuk turned his gaze from Oh Seo-young to Park Joon-man.
Yet, Park Jin-hyuk’s eyes were filled only with utter calm, without a trace of surprise.
If anything, it was Park Joon-man, who had struck the armrest, that felt awkward and embarrassed.
Park Joon-man coughed awkwardly, attempting to persuade Park Jin-hyuk.
“Hmph. Anyway, we can’t just let Hanseong Group collapse like this. So I’ll speak with the government. You should also put in a word through the Ministry of Health and Welfare.”
“No, Chairman. I think you’re misunderstanding because I’ve kept silent, assuming I still hold some kind of trump card. I don’t. And I never once asked for Hanseong Pharm to be put in a difficult position.”
“Are you seriously saying you never said such a thing? Do you take me for a fool? Didn’t you say Hanseong Pharm was making things hard for Biologics, affecting the production and supply of Pitaflu? And you’re still denying it? If not, then say so.”
Oh Seo-young cut in, jabbing her finger as she raised her voice at Park Jin-hyuk.
But Park Jin-hyuk replied without so much as a change in expression.
“Yes. I said that. But did I make anything up? Isn’t it true? It was Hanseong Pharm that went as far as filing lawsuits to shut down DS Biologics’ factory. If the government hadn’t stepped in to stop Hanseong Pharm, it would’ve been a disaster if Biologics’ factory had halted…”
Park Jin-hyuk paused, glancing between Oh Seo-young and Park Joon-man.
He curled up one corner of his lips in a sneer.
“Would you have been able to handle it? With so many countries desperate to get even a single pill of Pitaflu, you tried to block it? Hanseong Group? And DS Group couldn’t resolve it? Whether it’s Hanseong or DS, their influence only extends within Korea. They don’t hold sway over the world stage, do they? And the business isn’t just limited to Korea either. Besides, everyone knows the two families are connected by marriage… With a bit of thought, people could come up with all sorts of stories.”
Finishing his words, Park Jin-hyuk turned his head and looked at Park Joon-man.
“That’s why the government stepped in. I never said a word about it. Whatever ‘trump card’ you’re looking for, I no longer have it. Of course, the government’s grateful to me for helping them get what they wanted. But what good is that gratitude? After the Bird Flu crisis, the government’s approval ratings fell below 20%, and on top of that, Hanseong Group acted as if they wanted the government to collapse. You want me to use that gratitude on Hanseong’s behalf? Or do you want DS Group to be dragged down too?”
“HanSeong is your mother’s side!”
“My mother’s family isn’t Hanseong Group. Dongjeong Industries is my maternal family.”
Finally, unable to bear it, Oh Seo-young shouted, and Park Jin-hyuk shouted back.
Park Joon-man watched the two argue for a moment, then shouted toward the door.
“Mr. Kim. Are you outside? Take Madam out.”
“Chairman. No—honey. Are you telling me to leave right now?”
“You’re too worked up. Just step out for now.”
“You say I’m too worked up? What about that brat? You know he’s the one who created this whole situation. And now you want me to leave because I’m upset? What kind of nonsense is that?”
Mr. Kim entered and tried to help Oh Seo-young up.
But Oh Seo-young desperately resisted, refusing to go.
Park Joon-man looked at her and spoke.
“Just step outside for a bit. I can’t talk with you here. Go and wait.”
“I’ll—”
“Stop blaming me for everything. And let me say it again: instead of wasting time trying to pin things on me, you’d do better to build connections with the government. I heard even the one in the Blue House threw an ashtray in anger.”
They owned a company with the license to produce and sell domestically, yet they hadn’t put it to proper use—it would have been stranger if the higher-ups hadn’t gotten angry.
And with a company constantly getting in the way, causing difficulties, it was no wonder tempers had flared.
While it may have all gone as Park Jin-hyuk intended, on the surface, it appeared the government was wielding a blade of retribution against Hanseong Group.
Dragged out by Mr. Kim and the maids, Oh Seo-young was forced to leave.
Park Joon-man gazed after her for a moment, then picked up the pack of cigarettes in front of him and put one in his mouth.
He lit up, inhaled several times, and finally broke the silence.
“Do you think I’m helping Hanseong Group just because it’s my in-laws?”
“I don’t think you’d be so shortsighted.”
“Right. Whether Hanseong collapses or not, it doesn’t really matter to us. They’re of no help, and there’s no need to help them.”
“But didn’t you try to do business with them?”
“I’m sure you’ve figured it out by now.”
Park Joon-man stubbed his cigarette into the ashtray.
Park Jin-hyuk simply watched Park Joon-man’s hand in silence.
For a while, the two sat wordlessly, gazing at the smoke rising in the air.
After some time had passed, it was Park Jin-hyuk who spoke first.
“Were you so eager to get Hanseong Group’s duty-free business license?”
“That’s not what I was after.”
“Oh, right. What you really want is chemical.”
Through Kim Jun-woo, Park Jin-hyuk had discovered why Park Joon-man intended to sell Biologics to Hanseong at a bargain.
He’d also recently confirmed that Hanseong and Cheongwoo were negotiating over the duty-free business license.
It seemed that Biologics, the duty-free license, and even the chemical joint venture Park Joon-man had mentioned in the past were all in play.
“Cheongwoo is pursuing business diversification, and we’re aiming for business concentration. You know why I left construction and pharmaceuticals alone, don’t you?”
“I remember you said it didn’t really matter to you.”
“When running a business, you can’t take care of every little detail. Even just focusing on the major things, twenty-four hours in a day isn’t enough. In my eyes, construction, pharmaceuticals, even telecommunications—they’re all minor fields. Nothing more.”
DS was a massive group, boasting over 80 trillion won in annual revenue.
Most of that 80 trillion and its 4 trillion won in operating profit came from heavy industry, with the rest divided between chemicals and finance.
Telecoms might provide a steady cash flow, but it was just a rat race within a limited domestic market.
Electronics, construction, and pharmaceuticals were even less significant—though they seemed on equal footing, within the group, they didn’t even make the top three.
“So you plan to grow the chemicals sector?”
“Heavy industry is already stable. It runs itself, practically. So, what’s next? If only the car industry your grandfather once pushed for had been in my hands, that’s what I would’ve chosen next. But it slipped away.”
Park Joon-man spread his hand, making a gesture as if smoke were spreading from his palm.
“So I spent years searching. Looking for what the next big industry would be. Narrowed it down to areas where we have high potential and expertise. What I settled on was batteries. I’m going to focus all the group’s capabilities on the battery business.”
“Batteries?”
Park Joon-man’s words caught Park Jin-hyuk off guard.
Batteries were a field entirely unrelated to DS’s traditional businesses.
While batteries could be considered a sub-division of chemicals, DS had never entered the battery business before.
Back in the 1960s, DS had followed government policy to foster the petrochemical industry by refining and exporting oil.
But now, with the sudden announcement of pouring the company’s might into batteries, Park Jin-hyuk couldn’t easily judge whether Park Joon-man’s decision was right or wrong.
“So you tried to sell Biologics to Hanseong at a bargain, in exchange for Hanseong handing the duty-free license to Cheongwoo?”
“A bargain? At 700 billion won, it would’ve at least broken even. That is, before you got your hands on Pitaflu. Things are a bit more complicated now.”
Park Joon-man rinsed his mouth with tea, then stared quietly at Park Jin-hyuk.
He wanted to read what Park Jin-hyuk was really thinking, but Park Jin-hyuk gave nothing away.
“It’s odd. The more I look at you, the more I find ways you’re both like me and not like me at all.”
‘That’s because I’m not your son.’
Park Jin-hyuk repeated the words he wanted to say only in his mind, meeting Park Joon-man’s gaze with composure.
Park Joon-man watched him for a while, then spoke slowly.
“I can’t just let Hanseong fall. We need that duty-free business license they hold.”
“I can’t agree. I refuse to let go of Biologics.”
“That’s only natural. Even I don’t want to hand over Biologics, now that it’s become a goose that lays golden eggs.”
“Then?”
“Put in a word to lower Hanseong’s punishment just a little. Then, using that favor, I’ll force Hanseong to hand the duty-free business license to Cheongwoo.”
In Park Joon-man’s smile, Park Jin-hyuk saw that the earlier outburst with Oh Seo-young had been an act.
It was clear that this had been Park Joon-man’s intention from the start.
But by playing the part of someone who wanted to save Hanseong in front of Oh Seo-young, he could justify his next move to her as the best possible choice.
“You’re practically getting chemicals for free.”
“For free? Cheongwoo gets what it wants, and so do we. That’s hardly for free.”
“HanSeong just loses the duty-free license. Won’t that be a problem?”
“HanSeong’s not our concern. If you commit a crime, you should be punished. Their growth was always limited, since their focus is pharmaceuticals. If they collapse from this, it means they never deserved their current place.”
“Director Han might take offense at that.”
“Hehehe. He should’ve been more modest in his ambitions.”
He seemed almost delighted by Hanseong’s misfortune.
Park Jin-hyuk, who had left his teacup untouched, absentmindedly traced the rim with his fingers.
“I don’t want to marry.”
“Fine. I won’t force you if you really don’t want to. But remember, you can’t just get chemicals from Cheongwoo for nothing. That family needs to reorganize their subsidiaries. I hear Chairman Han’s wives are no pushovers. That’s why he’s trying to hand chemical over to his daughter as a dowry—to send her to a husband who can be her support.”
“If I keep refusing, won’t Cheongwoo just get the duty-free license?”
“That’s not your concern. Leave the rest to me—all you have to do is make one phone call.”
Park Jin-hyuk picked up his teacup and drank the now-cold tea.
He’d sat down knowing he couldn’t insist on his own way here.
Even if he couldn’t bring Hanseong down with this opportunity, weakening them would still be a success.
But Park Joon-man wasn’t satisfied with just weakening them—he aimed to snatch away the duty-free business license as well.
What kind of deal he planned to strike with Cheongwoo, Park Jin-hyuk didn’t know, but that was for Park Joon-man to handle.
“Fine. I’ll do as you wish. But please promise me just one thing.”
“You mean about marriage?”
“No. I’ve made my position clear on that, so I trust you won’t pressure me any further. What I want to ask is about my uncles.”
“Hm…”
Park Joon-man closed his eyes.
He knew well enough what his younger brothers and Oh Seo-young had been plotting against Park Jin-hyuk.
But to him, that was the fate of the eldest son of a chaebol family—something inevitable, to be ignored.
If Park Jin-hyuk couldn’t overcome such shallow crises, he wasn’t worthy of inheriting DS Group anyway.
So Park Joon-man had simply watched, never intervening.
Yet, without anyone’s help, Park Jin-hyuk had rapidly grown and now sat here discussing the fates of his uncles.
“What do you want?”
“I’m not asking you to help me. But please, just as you’ve done so far, don’t help my uncles either.”
“What do you mean?”
“Director Oh’s power has been checked, so I’m preparing for what comes next.”
Park Joon-man cast an unreadable look at Park Jin-hyuk.
Park Jin-hyuk brushed some dust from his knee and stood up.
“With things as they are, I can guarantee my uncles are burning with anxiety. They’ll definitely try something, and I intend to seize that opportunity. When that happens, please don’t get in my way. I have no intention of going against you. Not yet.”
“Not yet, huh…”
Park Joon-man repeated Park Jin-hyuk’s final words and let a slight smile creep onto his lips.
“Now you finally look like someone aiming for the top. Good. Do as you wish. As you requested, I’ll just watch from the sidelines.”
“Thank you.”
“But don’t forget. Remember your place.”
“I will.”
Park Jin-hyuk understood that Park Joon-man meant not to sully the name of DS.
With a bow, Park Jin-hyuk left Park Joon-man’s study.
He left the house without so much as a word to Oh Seo-young.
As soon as he got into the car waiting out front, he called the Minister of Health and Welfare.
He explained the situation between DS and Hanseong, asking in a roundabout way for moderation, not to press too hard.
As soon as he hung up, Park Jin-hyuk called Kim Jun-woo.
“It’s time to start preparing to strike at my uncles. Get things in order, and talk it over with President Hyun for the details.”
Park Jin-hyuk’s blade was now aimed at his uncles.