Chapter 8
Pushing Them Off the Cliff (1)
Chairman Kang came to the hospital and planted himself on a sofa in the lobby.
Among the people coming and going from the VIP ward, there had to be someone willing to provide a very important piece of information.
He carefully observed the nurses exiting the elevators.
Not the young ones.
Someone with a family.
Someone with children would be even better.
Most importantly, someone struggling financially.
People burdened by money carried a shadow beneath their eyes.
A money shadow.
When debt became overwhelming, even the ringing of a phone could make their heart sink.
He spotted a nurse pushing a cart loaded with medical equipment.
Unfocused eyes.
An expressionless face.
A constant stream of deep sighs.
That wasn’t the look of someone tired from work.
It was the look of someone struggling to bear the weight of another day.
Chairman Kang hurried over.
“Excuse me, just a moment.”
“Yes?”
“Could you spare five minutes? I have something important to ask.”
“I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can tell you.”
At least she didn’t ignore him and walk away.
That was already something.
“I’ll be waiting by the flower bed near the entrance. Please.”
Chairman Kang placed the shopping bag in his hand on top of her equipment cart and turned away.
The bag contained fifty million won.
She didn’t look wealthy enough—or principled enough—to refuse it.
Like most ordinary people.
***
“This is insane! What exactly are you doing?!”
The woman shouted while tightly clutching the shopping bag.
Good.
It worked.
She was yelling, but she hadn’t thrown the bag away.
Nor had she reported him.
Ignoring her anger, Chairman Kang asked the question he came to ask.
“Everyone knows who he is. There can’t be a nurse in this hospital who doesn’t. Kang Yongho, Chairman of Choi sung Group. Just tell me his condition. Don’t worry—I’m not a reporter.”
“Hey!”
She was still holding the bag.
“If you don’t want to tell me, then don’t. Keep the money anyway.”
The nurse’s eyes widened.
She fell silent.
“I don’t intend for this to be a one-time arrangement. If you keep me updated on Chairman Kang’s condition, you’ll continue receiving this much money. Isn’t it a waste to let it end after one payment?”
Her eyes grew even wider.
This wasn’t fifty million won once.
Twice would be one hundred million.
Eventually, it could exceed her annual salary.
“A chairman of Choi sung Group? There’s no way the entire hospital doesn’t know his condition. Someone will leak it eventually. It’s a secret that won’t stay secret. Wouldn’t it be better to at least earn something from it?”
The hand holding the shopping bag trembled violently.
So did her lips.
“His body is fine. The problem is that he’s in a coma. Nobody knows when he’ll wake up.”
A coma.
“Brain dead?”
“No. His brain activity is normal. The problem is that he’ll need long-term TPN nutritional support. That means continued muscle loss and physical deterioration. Given his age, his body may not last very long. That’s the scary part.”
“TPN?”
“Total Parenteral Nutrition. Nutrients are delivered through a major vein in the neck.”
“What are the chances of him waking up?”
“Nobody knows. It could happen right now. It could happen ten years from now. But as I said, because of his age, there’s a greater chance his body will fail before he ever wakes up.”
Matter that remains inactive eventually comes to rest.
That was nature’s law.
Unexpectedly, Chairman Kang found himself smiling.
More than anything, he was curious whether the consciousness inside that body lying in the VIP room would disappear when the body itself died.
There was another question.
If he continued living as the hopeless fool Hwang Junhyun...
Would that really be so bad?
The thought of living again in a young body wasn’t entirely unpleasant.
The bitter smile remained on his face.
***
“Hey! Hwang Junhyun!”
The moment he arrived at work, Team Leader Park shouted as if he had been waiting all morning.
One glance told Chairman Kang everything.
The man had never even reached the cliff.
When Chairman Kang stopped in front of Park’s desk, the team leader stared at his dramatically changed appearance and found himself speechless.
“Y-You...”
Assistant Manager Jo finished the sentence for him.
“Hwang Junhyun, looks like you bought yourself a new suit. Nice. What brand?”
“Ah... it’s custom-made.”
“Custom-made? One of those places that does two suits for four hundred thousand won?”
Two suits for four hundred thousand won?
Was that even considered custom tailoring?
“Those made-to-order shops, right? They take rough measurements and send them to a factory in Dongdaemun.”
Park chuckled.
“Still, it turned out better than I expected. Not bad.”
Sure.
Think whatever you want.
How could people living under the same sky possibly understand that some worlds were entirely different from others?
The clothes eased the atmosphere a little.
Park’s voice softened.
“Hwang Junhyun. Go apologize to the Sales Division. Tell them we’ll cooperate. And don’t forget to ask for the documents.”
So he really hadn’t even reached the cliff.
Interesting.
Where had he turned back?
Department manager level?
Executive director?
Or had he simply lost his nerve?
“Didn’t I say we were going all the way to the edge of the cliff?”
Park’s eyes widened again.
“The cliff? Do you know how badly Executive Director Kim chewed me out because of that?”
Ah.
Executive director level.
That’s where it stopped.
How odd.
According to Kim Jaehyun’s promotion evaluation report, he was sharp, politically savvy, and quick to read situations.
If that was true, there was no way he couldn’t understand the implications of Materials Department dealing directly with suppliers.
Yet all he did was yell at Park.
Perhaps Kim Jaehyun was more timid than he looked.
Or maybe slower.
“Hey! What are you standing around for? Why aren’t you running to Sales right now?”
“Ah... yes.”
Chairman Kang turned around.
But instead of heading toward Sales, he walked straight to Executive Director Kim Jaehyun’s office.
***
He worried briefly about being stopped by a secretary.
But today he learned that only executive directors and above had dedicated secretaries.
A mere managing director didn’t.
Usually some competent female employee from a lower department handled the miscellaneous tasks.
Knocking once, Chairman Kang entered immediately.
“What is this?”
Kim Jaehyun stared at the young employee who had barged into his office.
“Did you not like Team Leader Park’s proposal yesterday?”
“What?”
“I thought it was an excellent opportunity. Wasn’t it?”
“And who are you?”
“I’m the intern who proposed it.”
“What? You’re the one who—”
He stopped himself before saying,
The guy who ran over the chairman?
“Are you afraid of a power struggle with the Sales Division?”
“What?”
“Or do you simply not understand what kind of game board this is?”
“What?”
Kim had never imagined hearing his own words repeated back to him by an intern.
“Do you even know what you’re talking about?”
“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have suggested it. Collecting inventory reports isn’t difficult. It’s just annoying. Isn’t that right?”
Kim’s expression hardened.
“Close the door.”
“Huh?”
“The door is open! Close it and sit down.”
“Ah. Right.”
There it was.
No way someone at his level could be completely oblivious.
Chairman Kang sat down across from him.
“Fine. Tell me. What kind of game board do you think this is?”
“The struggle between Sales and Management, the two pillars of Choi sung Trading. A battle over who controls the company’s hegemony. Right now Sales overwhelmingly holds the knife.”
“Choi sung Trading is a trading company. And the center of every trading company is Sales. Of course they hold the knife. Don’t tell me even an intern doesn’t understand that.”
“The Sales Division’s grip on that knife has an expiration date.”
“Expiration date? What nonsense are you—”
“That’s true while a company is growing. But Choi sung Trading has already hit its ceiling. Revenue has been stuck at five trillion won for years.”
Kim’s gaze changed.
An intern knew this?
“Without a major catalyst, growth won’t come easily. I’m sure the president loses sleep over it.”
“Listen, intern. Just because I’m listening doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want. Watch your mouth.”
“What difference does that make? Anyway, once growth reaches its limits, doesn’t management become more important?”
“Read a few business textbooks, have you? Fine. Let’s assume that’s true. What does it have to do with supplier inventory reports?”
“You’re asking even though you already know?”
“Stop acting smart and answer.”
“When people need time to get their stories straight, reports are delayed. And if they’re getting their stories straight, that means there’s a problem.”
“What, did you hear rumors about salespeople taking kickbacks from suppliers?”
“If inventory reports require coordination, then it’s not an individual corruption issue.”
“It’s company corruption.”
“What?”
“The supplier itself probably belongs to someone. Maybe an executive. Maybe a department manager with guts.”
Kim was startled by how directly the intern cut to the heart of the matter.
To conceal it, he joked.
“You’ve been watching too many dramas. Did you watch Misaeng too?”
Misaeng?
What was that?
A microorganism?
Not a parasite?
“Fine. Let’s say you’re right. What does that have to do with management?”
Come on.
You already understand perfectly well.
Why keep pretending?
Was this how people taught subordinates these days?
Or was he simply hesitating?
“If we start cutting into Sales, power naturally shifts toward Management. And if we cut deeply enough, the entire company could be turned upside down.”
For the first time, Kim wondered why this intern was wasting his time in Materials Department.
Not only did he understand internal power struggles, he understood exactly where to strike first.
This wasn’t a sales-oriented mind.
This was the mind of a strategist.
Leaning back in his chair, Kim said,
“Interesting story. Now get out.”
Chairman Kang understood why he hesitated.
A struggle for corporate hegemony could easily become an accusation of treason if it went too far.
Especially if the president became involved.
“Executive Director. President Choi is clean when it comes to that sort of thing. If this fight grows large enough, he’ll have no choice but to support you.”
With that, Chairman Kang stood up.
Ignoring Kim’s astonished expression, he walked out.
After all, Chairman Kang knew better than anyone that the reason President Choi had ruled Choi sung Trading for more than five years was because he wasn’t obsessed with money.
***
“Proceed with it?”
“That’s right.”
“But... Director...”
“Park Jaewoo.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Why do you look so shocked? You’re the one who wanted this.”
Park could barely meet Kim’s smiling gaze.
Something felt wrong.
He still hadn’t fully recovered from yesterday’s verbal beating.
Yet only one day later, everything had reversed.
“I’m telling you to do it properly. So how should we proceed?”
In a company, there was only one correct answer.
The proper way.
“We’ll issue an official memo. Inform everyone that Materials Team 2 will collect inventory reports directly from outsourced suppliers from now on.”
Only then did Park finally look up.
Kim looked pleased.
“Of course, we’ll need your approval, sir. Or should we process it under the department manager’s authority?”
The team leader still understood less than the intern.
If you wanted to make the conflict bigger, the lower ranks needed to disappear so only the leaders remained.
The moment Kim signed the document, this stopped being a fight between departments.
It became a fight between the head of the Support Division and the head of the Sales Division.
“I’ll sign it myself. Send the memo to everyone from the Sales Division executive director down to every department manager.”
“Yes, sir!”
Park’s face brightened instantly.
An official memo signed by an executive.
From now on, whatever chaos followed would be the executive’s responsibility.