novelraw Chapter 120
Chapter 120
Hye-seon was in the middle of working in the office.
At that time, the ringtone of the cellphone rang.
Her gaze turned to the cellphone.
The caller was Chief Secretary Kang Cheol-woo.
She pressed the call button right away.
Kang Cheol-woo asked cautiously.
-President, is a call okay right now?
“It is okay. Please speak, Chief Secretary.”
Hye-seon answered calmly, but she felt that something was unusual.
-An executive meeting is urgently being called this evening.-An official notice is scheduled to go down soon, but I thought you should know in advance, so I am contacting you first like this.
Hye-seon's eyes shook for a moment.
However, she soon caught her breath briefly then composed her voice.
“They are hurrying more than I thought.”
Kang Cheol-woo paused for a beat then spoke.
-Since they are the ones in a hurry.
-Just as you expected, the meeting agenda is aimed at you head-on.
-The atmosphere among the executives is unusual as well.
-Will you be okay, President?
A short silence flowed, and Hye-seon put strength into her hand holding the cellphone.
After that, a resolute voice flowed out.
“Do not worry. I have not merely spent my time without any preparation either.”
-President, this meeting will be quite fierce.
-As long as the opponent is President Lim Do-hyun, even a small mistake will not be tolerated.
Concern was buried in Kang Cheol-woo's way of speaking.
Hye-seon stared at the window while wearing a smile.
“Chief Secretary, I too am a person who shoulders the name of Taeseong. I cannot be shaken by this much.”
“Rather, today is the time to clearly show it.”
-I understand. I think you will do well, President.
-However, if there is anything you need at the meeting hall, please just give a signal anytime.
-I shall help with whatever I can do.
Hye-seon answered.
“Thank you.”
***
Time flowed by quickly without mercy.
Hye-seon arrived at the place where the executive meeting was being held.
As she drew close to the area, the sound of buzzing inside was already leaking out faintly.
Hye-seon caught her breath for a moment and organized her collar, then opened the door and entered inside.
Inside the wide-open meeting hall felt familiar yet exceptionally bloodthirsty today.
The first thing that entered her gaze was President Lim Do-hyun sitting comfortably in a chair.
He looked at her while slowly raising his head as if he had been waiting for a long time.
A peculiar laughter was spreading around his eyes.
Before Lim Hye-seon could even sit in her seat, Lim Do-hyun stood up and approached her.
Then he greeted her first.
“Sister, you came without being late. It was worth the wait.”
Hye-seon replied quietly as usual.
“You came earlier than expected. Your heart must have been very impatient.”
Lim Do-hyun said with a nasty expression.
“Impatient, it is not that. I am merely very much looking forward to what kind of conclusion will be reached today.”
“Conclusion, you say….”
Hye-seon said while calmly meeting his gaze.
“Do-hyun, do not think things will flow as you want. You will soon know the reason why I am sitting in this seat.”
Lim Do-hyun's gaze settled coldly.
“Sister is still noble. However, the world cannot be lived only with dignity. Especially in a moment like today.”
Hye-seon continued speaking without shaking.
“It is better than spreading maneuvers from behind. I am a person who shoulders the name of Taeseong. I have no intention of crumbling easily.”
It was Lim Hye-seon, who had always stayed quietly in the background.
While growing up, Lim Do-hyun had only watched the eldest son, Lim Do-kyung.
He had not expected at all that Lim Hye-seon would block his path like this.
That was why he felt even more like he had been caught off guard.
Lim Do-hyun's expression turned cynical.
He retracted his smile and revealed his hostility.
“Heh, you are finally revealing your true colors. I never dreamed in my sleep that my sister would step out to this extent.”
Hye-seon looked straight at her brother.
“You must have mistakenly thought I was powerless just because I had been silent all this time.”
Lim Do-hyun snorted and slowly circled around her once.
“The hearts of the executives have already tilted. Do not show an unseemly appearance.”
Hye-seon wore a dignified smile.
“I am not afraid even if I fight alone. Rather, the reason why you are trying to push me this far, the executives will soon find out.”
Lim Do-hyun's face stiffened for an instant.
“Are you daring to test me?”
“It is not a test, but trying to show the truth.”
Hye-seon added resolutely while slowly walking toward her seat.
“Taeseong is not a toy. Just who is the one that is bringing shame to the name of the family.”
“It will be clearly revealed in this place today.”
Lim Do-hyun could not laugh anymore.
His gaze froze coldly, and explicit hostility was loaded in his voice.
“Fine. Try to hold out until the end. Because today will become the most cruel night for my sister.”
Hye-seon wore a relaxed smile at those words.
“Whether it will become a cruel night, or a new day will dawn, will soon be known.”
The short but sharp conversation of the two people ended, and the air inside the meeting hall already settled heavily like the eve of a storm.
Soon after, one by one, the executives began to enter.
The major executives leading Taeseong took their respective seats.
A few of them secretly exchanged gazes with Lim Do-hyun and nodded.
To anyone looking, it was a signal that they would explicitly take his side.
Lim Do-hyun seemed satisfied as a leisurely smile spread across his lips.
He sat comfortably with his arms crossed as if the board had already tilted before the start.
He intentionally cast a gaze mixed with sarcasm while looking at Hye-seon.
In contrast, Hye-seon sat in a straight posture in the chair and calmly folded her two hands.
Looking only at her expression, no shadow of any fear could be seen.
Rather, she was calmly catching her breath and waiting for the approaching moment.
At the point where most of the executive level filled the seats, the meeting hall door opened and attention was focused that way.
Vice Chairman Lim Do-kyung entered with slow steps.
His appearance, in which a heavy dignity was still buried, captured the atmosphere of the meeting hall at once.
Following behind him, I, Lim Hyunjun, also entered inside.
Because of my appearance, the air changed somewhat.
Some executives stiffened their expressions, and some whispered while looking at me.
Lim Do-hyun seemed to have expected this as well, as his confidence was revealed intact.
Hye-seon looked around her surroundings slowly for the first time.
As Lim Do-kyung and I took our seats, the meeting hall was full of a tense air as if signaling the full-scale start.
In the heavy silence, Chief Secretary Kang Cheol-woo, who was standing beside the podium, took one step forward.
After lightly organizing the file of documents held in his hand, he picked up the microphone.
“From now on, we shall begin the Taeseong Group executive meeting.”
In that moment, the small buzzing that had been filling the meeting hall disappeared in an instant.
Usually, it would have started with Chairman Lim Man-seok's voice, but right now the Chief Secretary took that place instead.
Even so, there was no one who raised an objection.
If it were not Chief Secretary Kang Cheol-woo, Lim Hye-seon would have taken the place instead, but since she was the protagonist of today's agenda, the authority was given to the Chief Secretary.
Kang Cheol-woo's gaze slowly scanned the audience.
He did not give a long look to any one person, but it was a keen gaze as if to penetrate into the hearts of the executives.
“Currently, the Chairman could not attend personally due to health reasons.”
“However, I think he knows the importance of the agenda to be handled today better than anyone.”
“Afterward, the meeting results are scheduled to be reported immediately.”
A few executives nodded cautiously.
Kang Cheol-woo went straight to the main point.
“The first agenda of this meeting is the problem regarding the recent controversies surrounding Taeseong Department Store and the resulting locus of responsibility.”
A stir occurred in the meeting hall once more.
Even though it was a matter everyone already expected, as it was submitted as a formal agenda, the hidden tension was revealed starkly above the surface.
Lim Do-hyun still entrusted his body comfortably to the back of the chair while harboring a leisurely smile on his lips.
As if he had even foreseen all these situations, not a trace of shaking could be found in his expression.
On the other hand, Hye-seon had a determined look in her eyes and radiated a resoluteness as if she had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
The war had started.
As soon as Chief Secretary Kang Cheol-woo's proceeding was finished, Lim Do-hyun raised his hand.
In his hand gesture requesting the floor, not a trace of hesitation could be found.
“I shall speak.”
Lim Do-hyun's voice was enough to fill the entire meeting hall.
He continued speaking while looking around the audience.
“The essence of this controversy is very clear.”
“It is the fact that the person responsible for the operation of Taeseong Department Store is Representative Lim Hye-seon.”
Tension flowed inside the meeting hall.
Lim Do-hyun continued speaking leisurely without hurrying.
“Are you not the one who should know better than anyone how heavy a responsibility it is to operate a business while carrying the name of Taeseong!”
He stopped speaking for a moment and stared straight at Hye-seon.
“However, all these noises and scandals that surfaced recently are not simple rumors that can just be passed over.”
“It is as good as shaking the credibility of our entire group at its roots.”
As the statement ended, small movements occurred in various places in the meeting hall.
A few executives showed appearances of nodding and agreeing.
The Vice President of Taeseong Finance looked at Lim Do-hyun first.
Following that, the President in charge of group distribution stiffened his expression while his arms were crossed.
The President of Taeseong Food also showed signs of approval while his lips were firmly closed.
Hye-seon did not miss a single one of those scenes.
Her gaze was still staring head-on, but her keen senses captured every single movement inside the meeting hall one by one.
Who explicitly stood on Lim Do-hyun's side.
Who was merely watching for reactions and feigning neutrality, everything was clearly visible.
Lim Do-hyun, confirming that an atmosphere favorable to himself was being created, wore an even more leisurely expression.
And he put on weight by lowering his voice one step further.
“Everyone, if we continue to go on like this, not only Taeseong Department Store but our entire group could receive an irreversible blow.”
“Now, when the Chairman is on his sickbed, is exactly the time when all of us, the executive level, must make a clear decision.”
Hye-seon kept her lips tightly closed and strength entered her fingertips placed on the table.
She let out a cold laugh on the inside.
‘Finally, you are revealing your true colors, Do-hyun. Now I can clearly know just what you are thinking. And what you are trying to do.’
Hye-seon, who was in silence, slowly raised her hand.
She did not hesitate.
Like a person who had prepared for this moment for a long time.
“I shall also speak.”
Hye-seon's soft voice echoed through the meeting hall.
In an instant, all eyes were focused on her.
She approached with a firm attitude while maintaining a straight posture.
“Just as President Lim Do-hyun said just now, the sense of responsibility of carrying the name of Taeseong on one's shoulders.”
“I too know that weight better than anyone. That is why I have worked more silently than anyone until now.”
She caught her breath slowly, then looked at the faces of the executives sitting in the meeting hall one by one.
Among them, there were those who wore cold expressions as if they had already made up their minds.
“However, I have never once defiled the honor of Taeseong.”
Hye-seon's voice rose one step further.
“Rumors without basis and unconfirmed scandals.”
“If such things are the reason that placed me in this seat today, I would rather* welcome them gladly.”
Hye-seon spat out a cold voice while looking at Lim Do-hyun now.
“Because it is in this place today that it will be clearly revealed just who is a person for the sake of Taeseong and who is a person that is shaking Taeseong with personal greed.”