novelraw Chapter 53
Chapter 53
I left school early.
I, who had lived my school life with a sincere and exemplary attitude, rarely skipped classes.
But for today, I had no choice but to leave my seat.
"I'm sorry, teacher. I'm not feeling very well today."
The homeroom teacher, knowing my usual appearance, nodded quietly without saying much.
A worried look flashed momentarily, but I deliberately avoided his gaze and picked up my bag.
And I walked out slowly along the quiet hallway.
As I stepped out of the school's main gate, a black sedan arrived in front of me.
"Representative, please get in."
Choi Seo-jun had come out to meet me personally.As soon as I climbed into the car, we moved immediately.
About 30 minutes later, tension hung in the conference room of the HJ Partners headquarters.
Even though I was wearing a school uniform, no one there looked at me strangely.
As soon as I sat down, Choi Seo-jun opened a report.
"The Financial Supervisory Service has launched an investigation into the source of funds and the gift structure. Seeing as the media reacted at the same time, it seems like something prepared in advance."
On the paper I turned over, there were phrases written in large letters.
[Black investment organization. What is the identity of HJ Partners?]
[Allegations of expedient gifting. National Tax Service plans to conduct a detailed tax audit]
I nodded without any particular reaction.
"It is indeed like the Daehan Group. Starting with the Financial Supervisory Service to the media and the National Tax Service. This must be the step-by-step pressure they speak of. And behind that, they will put pressure by joining with political elements."
Choi Seo-jun’s complexion gradually darkened.
"We are still a startup company that hasn't been established for long. With just this much suspicion, investor withdrawal could occur. In the financial sector, money leaves just due to uncertainty."
I slid up the tablet screen without a word.
On the screen, the main account flows of HJ Partners and the asset holding status were organized.
"I expected that much. Anyway, it's time for the breakaway forces seeking short-term profits to be organized, so the damage on our side won't be that great."
At those words, Choi Seo-jun felt something deeper than relief.
The fact that I was taking it as an opportunity for organization rather than fearing the crisis reassured him.
I continued my words.
"As we expected, Daehan has now pulled out a knife. Although it seems like that knife is currently aimed at us. What we must do from now on is to make them realize they wasted their efforts."
"Wasted efforts?"
"We make them believe we started this work and make them unable to even think of the link connected by it."
The inside of the conference room became quiet again at my words.
In a situation where no one could readily give an answer, I raised my head and said.
"Representative Choi, is the material I requested last week ready?"
Choi Seo-jun nodded briefly and connected his laptop to the main screen of the conference room.
After a moment, the title of a document called Asset Allocation Simulation Draft appeared on the screen.
At the bottom of the document, a small notation saying ‘For internal sharing within the D Asset Management Risk Management Team’ was also visible.
The eyes of those who saw this changed.
"This is...."
Lee Hyeon-seok, the Risk Management Team Leader, raised his head and spoke quietly.
"This is not an official operation plan, but material run as an unofficial simulation internally. To put it simply.... You can think of it as a blueprint where you can see who is putting money in and taking it out, where, and how."
Choi Seo-jun continued as he turned the laptop screen.
"Putting funds into a reviving company itself is not a problem. However, looking at this structure, it is excessively biased. Above all, the SPC (Special Purpose Company) is strange."
Lee Hyeon-seok pointed to the right corner of the screen.
"Do you see? That paper company called GL Partners over there. This is absorbing 26% of the assets. The problem is that the final profit attribution of this company strangely overlaps with the private equity affiliate on Vice President Nam Yoon-kyung’s side."
Silence hung in the conference room.
Han Seung-woo, the Strategic Planning Division Head, cautiously opened his mouth.
"This is content that can only be accessed from a fairly high position even internally. It is impossible for the Risk Management Team to have simulated this data alone."
I nodded and continued.
"That's right. This was not done at the working-level staff level, but the decision-maker directly intervened. In other words, the pressure we are receiving now is not a simple warning, but a signal revealing that they are in a hurry."
Choi Seo-jun asked cautiously.
"Then are you going to hand this over to the media as it is?"
I shook my head firmly and replied.
"No, if we blow it up right now, we will look like the side that has been driven into a defensive position. We must grasp the initiative of the attack, not the defense. First, let's just leak information slightly. On purpose, so they feel appropriately uneasy."
Team Leader Lee Hyeon-seok added heavily.
"Once rumors start to circulate, they will soon try to find the real culprit internally. While they suspect and fight each other, a gap will be created. We just need to wait for that moment."
I looked at the screen with calm eyes.
The next move was already drawn in those eyes.
"Now Vice President Nam Yoon-kyung will also move soon. While they suspect someone who leaked this internally, they will strangle themselves with the string we have caught."
Division Head Han Seung-woo laughed lowly.
"It will be quite a sight once Daehan realizes it late."
I nodded and said.
"The blade Daehan is holding will now be aimed at themselves."
At that moment, the door to the conference room opened and a staff member from the Chief Secretary’s office came in to announce new news.
"Representative, Vice President Nam Yoon-kyung is going to hold a press conference according to breaking news just now."
The air in the conference room changed in an instant.
I spoke with a confident smile.
"...They have started to move."
***
Inside the press room of the Daehan Group headquarters in downtown Seoul, an unusually large number of reporters and broadcast station cameras were gathered.
The lights were turned on, and the microphones of each broadcasting station covered the table for a long stretch.
Recently, Vice President Nam Yoon-kyung took charge of the financial sector of Daehan Group.
With her hair neatly tied and wearing a pure white suit, she slowly climbed onto the podium.
The camera flashes went off.
She closed her eyes for a moment and then quietly opened her mouth.
"Through this matter, I stand here with a truly regrettable and devastated heart."
At her first greeting, the reporters' hands became busy.
"The fact that my name was mentioned regarding the allegations related to GL Partners raised by the media is an insult in itself."
When Nam Yoon-kyung raised her head, her gaze flashed sharply.
Soon, her voice also turned cold.
"The entity in question is completely unrelated to us, and rather, I judged that it is now time to tell you who the real mastermind is."
A moment of silence flowed in the press room.
Reporters who were constantly moving their fingers raised their heads.
"I reveal it here. I have secured evidence that President Jeong Tae-jun of Taeseong Ilbo, a media affiliate of Taeseong Group, and one internal person who moved closely with him have been embezzling private interests through several paper companies, including GL Partners."
A murmur began to spread gradually.
The gazes of some reporters also flashed sharply.
"The individual in question had recurring controversies over internal transactions in the past, manipulated investment flows using the media as a front until recently, and there are circumstances of misusing my name and the name of Daehan Group for their own wealth accumulation."
Then someone raised their hand high.
"Who is the internal person you pointed out? Can you reveal the name?"
Nam Yoon-kyung turned her gaze toward the camera.
And as if she had been waiting, she said firmly.
"The person whose close financial transaction details with President Jeong Tae-jun were confirmed is... a close aide of President Lim Do-hyun of Taeseong Group."
The audience stirred at the enormous story.
At the point where President Lim Do-hyun was directly mentioned, everyone could guess who she was referring to just by the words "close aide."
Daehan’s attack was unexpectedly aiming straight at the internal corruption of Taeseong Group.
"This matter is currently being reviewed through a law firm, and all materials are scheduled to be submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service and the prosecution."
Nam Yoon-kyung finished her last words and bowed her head.
The sound of camera shutters rushed like a storm.
***
The President’s office of Taeseong Ilbo.
Jeong Tae-jun watched the press conference on the television screen as usual.
Listening carelessly to what Nam Yoon-kyung was saying, he muttered.
"Why is that woman Nam Yoon-kyung suddenly holding a press conference. Surely she isn't planning to throw a word about HJ Partners?"
He laughed as if it were very interesting.
He was well aware of the subtle psychological warfare between HJ Partners and Daehan Group recently.
And he considered HJ Partners as just an annoying startup capital company.
He never dreamed that Nam Yoon-kyung would mention him.
"President Jeong Tae-jun of Taeseong Ilbo, a media affiliate of Taeseong Group...."
In that one sentence, Jeong Tae-jun dropped the coffee cup he was holding just like that.
Crash!
The pieces of the broken glass cup flew everywhere, and the coffee flowed onto the floor.
He just stared at the screen for a while without being able to say anything, like a dazed person.
"...Wh-what?"
He slowly stood up from his seat.
His lips became parched and his throat felt dry.
Nam Yoon-kyung’s voice was still flowing from the television screen.
"An internal person who moved closely with President Jeong Tae-jun...."
Only then did he realize.
Jeong Tae-jun had been caught in the trap set by Daehan.
The first time he met Shin Jung-woo was a few months ago.
It was a place he stopped by to see the face of an acquaintance who said they had opened a new shop.
He was there by chance.
They exchanged business cards and greeted each other, and that's how they got to know each other.
When the title of Strategy Planning Chief of Daehan Group caught his eye, Jeong Tae-jun judged that there would be nothing bad about getting to know him.
Daehan Group was a place still evaluated as being a step above Taeseong Group.
Shin Jung-woo’s first impression was clean and neat.
The way he combed up his hair neatly as if he would not tolerate even a single strand being out of place, along with his sharp impression, showed what kind of person he was.
But what remained in his memory more than anything was his gaze.
He was always smiling on the outside, but his eyes were not.
The cold and dry gaze seemed to pierce through the opponent’s heart.
Jeong Tae-jun thought to himself.
'Well, is he a guy who has had a taste of some government agency?'
He was a person who gave off that kind of impression.
Shin Jung-woo reached out his hand first and said.
"President Jeong, it is an honor to meet you."
The way he spoke to Jeong Tae-jun was polite and humble.
Despite the very courteous attitude, somehow no emotion was revealed.
"Your name, President, will not even be mentioned. You just need to touch up the structure of the media a little. In the current situation, we just need a little of the information power that Taeseong Ilbo has. Instead, I will make sure the compensation for that is certain."
Jeong Tae-jun did not feel particularly guarded even after hearing those words.
What was important to him was whether it was beneficial to him, and he really had no interest other than that.
"If it's as you say, I just need to rake in the profits without getting blood on my hands, right?"
Shin Jung-woo smiled.
Finally, a hint of a smile appeared around his eyes for the first time.
"That is exactly what we want, President."
Jeong Tae-jun did not know at all that the matter at that time would turn out like this.