Chapter 4
After the storm had passed, silence settled over the conference room.
At first, more than twenty people had gathered there.
Now, only ten remained.
Less than half the original number.
Yet not a single one of them left their seat.
The head of Planning.
The head of Finance.
The head of Quality Control.
Managing Director Song Tae-jin of Corporate Planning.
They were the people who had come through the secret audit without a single blemish.
Not a speck of dust had been found on them.
Even so, their faces were tense.
The purge had come so suddenly it might as well have been called a surprise attack.
Watching their colleagues being dragged out right before their eyes was hard for anyone to accept.
In that icy silence, Kang Tae-seong slowly opened his mouth.
"...I'm sorry."
Everyone in the conference room looked up.
It was not what they had expected to hear first.
"I let the company become what it is today."
His calm voice continued.
"Since taking over as CEO, I neglected the company. And as a result..."
Kang Tae-seong looked at the empty seats.
"This is what happened."
"...."
After studying the empty seats with a grave expression, he looked at the executives who remained.
"Thank you all."
"..."
"I sincerely appreciate that, even in these circumstances, you never gave up on the company and stayed at your posts until the end."
The conference room fell quiet again.
Some of the executives still looked dazed.
'...He apologized?'
'CEO Kang Tae-seong?'
It hardly felt real.
Meanwhile, a few of the executives, including the head of Planning, still hadn't let down their guard.
'Could it be...'
'He has some other motive, doesn't he?'
It was hard to trust someone once they'd lost your confidence.
As if he understood their reaction, Kang Tae-seong spoke again.
"The company will be different from now on."
"Fair processes and transparent evaluations."
"People with ability will be rewarded according to their ability, and those who deliver results will be rewarded for their results."
There were no flowery words or empty promises.
His words were firm and plain, but seemed sincere.
They would linger in the hearts of the people remaining in the conference room for a long time.
That was when it happened.
Scrrrk—
The sound of a chair being pushed back rang out.
It was Song Tae-jin.
He slowly rose from his seat and walked toward Kang Tae-seong.
The executives' gazes all turned toward him.
Kang Tae-seong tensed for a moment, too.
'What's going on?'
Song Tae-jin.
A character who had barely featured in the game.
From the start, KJ Group was a company destined to fall because of the protagonist and Kang Tae-seong.
In the original, Song Tae-jin was only mentioned by name.
There was no way to know what he would do.
Song Tae-jin stopped in front of Kang Tae-seong.
He bowed deeply before him.
He bowed so deeply it was nearly a ninety-degree bow.
"...Mr. Kang."
His low, steady voice rang through the conference room.
"I look forward to working with you."
For a moment, the atmosphere in the conference room shifted subtly.
'What...?'
'The stiff-backed Managing Director Song...!'
'He acknowledged Kang Tae-seong?'
The other executives weren't the only ones surprised.
Kang Tae-seong blinked for a moment, too.
Song Tae-jin.
A senior executive who had served Chairman Kang Baek-ho since the early days of the company.
That was why a single word from him carried more weight than the words of two or three ordinary executives.
And now, at an official gathering, he had acknowledged Kang Tae-seong as CEO.
Kang Tae-seong looked momentarily flustered, then smiled gently and held out his hand.
"Likewise. I look forward to working with you."
Song Tae-jin took his hand without hesitation.
Clasp.
Their calloused hands clasped together.
The executives watching them began to murmur.
Kang Tae-seong silently met Song Tae-jin's eyes.
In truth, he was flustered.
He hadn't expected someone of Song Tae-jin's stature to bow first.
But no one knew what that expression really meant.
Kang Tae-seong's face was intimidating to begin with.
His lips were pressed tightly together, and his eyes were narrowed into a sharp stare.
All of it combined to create an overwhelming presence, as if he were testing the other man.
A quiet whisper slipped out from the back of the conference room.
"...Look at that stare."
"Is he sizing up Managing Director Song?"
"Even if Managing Director Song is a veteran..."
Someone swallowed hard.
"...He's saying he won't make an exception for anyone."
"He's drawing a line as CEO."
"He's making it clear he'll keep everyone in line."
The murmurs were quiet, but...
Every executive remaining in the conference room was thinking the same thing.
Even the veterans wouldn't be exempt.
At that moment, Kang Tae-seong smiled first and spoke.
"Likewise. I look forward to working with you."
Only then did the tense air begin to ease a little.
Song Tae-jin, meanwhile, kept studying Kang Tae-seong's face until he finally released his hand.
'...Just as I thought.'
Of everyone in the conference room, only Song Tae-jin saw the resolve behind Kang Tae-seong's fierce expression.
That intimidating face and imposing presence.
For a moment, the image of Chairman Kang Baek-ho in his youth overlapped with Kang Tae-seong.
'Chairman.'
Song Tae-jin murmured to himself.
'The tiger cub... has finally come back as a tiger.'
In his eyes, the hope he'd held for so many years had come alive again.
*
A wave of purges swept through KJ Group.
News of a sweeping personnel reshuffle spread through the company in an instant.
Legal Department employees rushed back and forth, and the Audit Office stayed lit late into the night.
The entire company was in an uproar.
It was impossible for the employees not to notice the atmosphere.
To cap it all off, a large notice went up on the company bulletin board.
「Disciplinary and Personnel Actions」
Employees began gathering in front of the board.
"Wow... What's this?"
"They really lined their pockets, didn't they?"
"The head of Production got caught, too?"
The notice listed the misconduct and those facing disciplinary action.
Embezzlement.
Breach of fiduciary duty.
Taking kickbacks from partner companies.
Fraudulent contracts.
Personal use of company credit cards, and so on.
The severity of the disciplinary action varied according to the offense.
At the most severe end were dismissal and suspension from duty.
At the lesser end were pay cuts or overseas assignments.
These measures carried two main messages.
First, they served as a warning.
CEO Kang Tae-seong was warning them that this was their last chance.
The company couldn't go back and punish everyone for every past wrongdoing.
If they punished everyone who'd committed even the smallest offense, the company wouldn't be able to function.
But from now on, things would be different.
No more stealing from the company would be tolerated.
Those who'd been quietly planning to line their own pockets, though their names weren't on the notice, swallowed hard.
Second, the measures served as a signal flare for reform.
From now on, the company would be run properly.
Those who delivered results would be evaluated according to their results, and those with ability according to their ability.
In particular, with so many executives having stepped down, capable employees now had more opportunities for promotion.
A few ambitious employees eyed the newly vacant positions, watching for a chance to claim them.
"The CEO's finally getting to work."
"So the rumors were true."
"I guess people really can change."
"Looks like he's serious this time."
The crowd in front of the bulletin board quickly grew.
People murmured as they shared their opinions.
Among them, Assistant Manager Park So-young from Human Resources quietly stepped up to the board.
Normally, she wasn't very interested in rumors like this.
But with the company turned upside down to this extent, she couldn't help looking.
A conversation from the company cafeteria a little while ago came to mind.
'The CEO seems to have changed.'
That was what her colleague Lee Ju-hee had said.
She'd been skeptical then, but now... Had it really been true?
Park So-young scanned the notice with mixed feelings, then suddenly widened her eyes.
"...What?"
As if she couldn't believe it, she checked the list again.
『Sales Team 2, Assistant Manager Lee Jun-ho』
『Disciplinary action: Overseas assignment』
"...Jun-ho oppa?"
He hadn't been dismissed or dragged away by the authorities like the senior executives.
But an unexpected overseas assignment?
Even to someone in Human Resources, it looked much like a demotion.
Her fingertips turned cold.
'No way...'
Had Jun-ho done something wrong, too?
Park So-young pulled out her phone with trembling hands.
Then she immediately called Lee Jun-ho.
-So-young...
His voice on the other end of the phone sounded weak.
It wasn't the confident voice Lee Jun-ho usually had.
That one remark was enough for Park So-young to realize her hunch had been right.
"...Oppa."
-What... What am I supposed to do now?
"..."
-They're sending me overseas...
"So it was true."
His voice had lost its strength with every word.
Normally, he would have told her it would be okay and that they'd find a way.
But this time was different.
It seemed he'd heard that the transfer was already finalized and that the CEO himself had approved it.
An assignment to an overseas branch was essentially a demotion, and there was no telling when he'd be able to return to Korea.
Since Lee Jun-ho was the one who'd done wrong in the first place, if he had a problem with it, his only option was to leave the company.
"...Oppa."
Park So-young fought back the lump in her throat as she spoke.
"I'll... I'll find a way somehow."
-So-young, no. I'm... I'm fine, okay?
"You're not fine!"
Her voice rose before she could stop herself.
"Just stay put, okay? I'll... I'll figure something out."
The call ended.
Park So-young stared down at her phone for a while.
'Somehow...'
As she saw it, there was only one way.
She slowly closed her eyes.
A memory she'd never wanted to revisit flashed through her mind.
Until recently, whenever Kang Tae-seong saw her, he made no effort to hide the way he looked at her, even if he never made it overt.
He'd call her over under some pretext, speaking in a suggestive tone.
Moments when he came close enough for their fingertips to brush.
He hadn't gone so far as to touch her, but anyone could tell what his disgusting intentions were.
"...."
Park So-young bit her lip.
'Was that really the only way?'
She squeezed her eyes shut.
If, truly, that was the only way to protect Lee Jun-ho...
She thought she would have to bear it herself.
Park So-young slowly opened her eyes, then drew a determined breath,
and headed for the CEO's office.