novelraw Chapter 85: First Button (3)
Chapter 85: First Button (3)
HJ Partners headquarters.
A black sedan quietly entered the underground parking lot.
I slowly got out of the car.
I took my bag and got on the elevator with Assistant Manager Moon Jong-beom.
When the elevator arrived at the floor of the office I used, Moon Jong-beom bowed his head.
“See you later, Representative.”
“Good work, Assistant Manager.”
The staff guarding the entrance bowed their heads and greeted me.
“Representative, good afternoon.”
“Hello, Representative.”I gave a light greeting and went inside the office.
I went into the dressing room, took off my school uniform, and changed into a suit.
I tidied up my clothes in front of the mirror, came out, took my documents and tablet, and headed to the meeting room.
Chief Jeong Jin-woo was waiting for me in the meeting room.
Jeong Jin-woo only nodded his head upon seeing me.
“Chief, hello. Are the materials ready?”
“Yes, there was a suspicious flow of funds between the Korea Development Bank and the Daehan Construction affiliates. This is the organized data.”
As I sat down and was about to check the materials Chief Jeong Jin-woo handed over, I heard a sound of knocking on the meeting room door.
Soon after, Assistant Manager Moon Jong-beom entered hurriedly.
“Representative, I am sorry.”
“What is the matter?”
Moon Jong-beom spoke with a troubled expression.
“Right now, Governor Min Kyung-ho of Korea Development Bank and Manager Cho Minki have come to the company.”
“To this place?”
“Yes. They are currently in the lobby requesting a meeting with the Representative. It seems Governor Min is being persistent, saying he must meet and greet you in person.”
Chief Jeong Jin-woo raised his eyes.
I spoke while brushing up my falling hair with one hand.
“They were confident until this morning, so they must be quite in a hurry.”
Saying so, I wore a smile as if it were nothing.
“I knew it would be so.”
Moon Jong-beom asked cautiously.
“Representative, what shall we do?”
I spoke while flipping through the tablet screen.
“Do not let them come up.”
“Pardon?”
“We are in a meeting right now. They are guests who came without a prior appointment. Convey it that way.”
Assistant Manager Moon Jong-beom wore a troubled expression, but Jeong Jin-woo wore a small smile.
Moon Jong-beom answered.
“Yes, I understand. I will convey it like that.”
After he left, I took a sip of water.
And I opened a file while looking at the tablet screen.
I muttered while checking the densely packed contents one by one.
“Nothing is clean.”
Jeong Jin-woo sat quietly beside me and finally opened his mouth.
“The most noticeable part is this section. It is the fund circulation structure between the Daehan Construction affiliate investment company ‘Daehan Prime Asset’ and the Korea Development Bank affiliate venture fund.”
He pointed to a specific item with his finger.
“On the surface, it is a real estate development project, but practically, the funds are flowing in quickly through an asset securitization structure. There are also circumstances where part of that fund flowed back into the private accounts of Manager Cho Minki and President Park Se-dong.”
I nodded.
“That means there is an informal connection.”
“Yes, if you look at the fund flow, the time difference is constant, and they move as if agreed upon in advance. Even if it just goes to the Board of Audit and Inspection, it could be made an issue.”
I quietly turned off the screen.
“Let us add this to the materials to report to the President as well. Please organize it so that a brief summary can be delivered before the meeting tomorrow.”
Jeong Jin-woo wrote it down on a memo pad.
“For a 3-minute meeting version, the core must be compressed. I will include Manager Cho’s account flow, the asset management corporation with Park Se-dong, and the circumstances of internal Korea Development Bank data leakage.”
“Good. However, avoid direct conclusions of corruption and keep it to the level of suspicion. Cutting them down with a single stroke is not yet time.”
My gaze shone coldly.
“Korea Development Bank will try to buy time, and Daehan Construction will try to find an excuse to back out.”
Jeong Jin-woo nodded lightly.
I pushed the tablet aside and slowly leaned back.
I spoke while lightly stretching with my hands clasped.
“Shall we head down slowly now.”
“…….”
Jeong Jin-woo understood what I meant and stood up from his seat.
***
Korea Development Bank headquarters.
Min Kyung-ho entered the office with a briefcase as he always did.
After exchanging a light greeting with the Chief Secretary, he looked at the morning sunlight shining through the curtains.
“Safely today as well….”
These are the words he has been saying constantly these days.
He was spending time quietly without any trouble ahead of his reappointment.
That was his current goal, and he had been doing well so far.
‘As expected, I saw that those who talk big do not last long.’
While taking a breather while drinking coffee, the bell rang from the cell phone placed on the desk.
[Minister of Finance]
The moment he saw the displayed name, his body stiffened slightly.
“What is it?”
He quickly pressed the call button.
“Yes, Minister. Good morning.”
-Good morning, my foot! Governor Min, how can you ignore the President’s instructions in such a way!
The voice hitting his eardrums lingered in his ears for a moment.
Min Kyung-ho was so surprised he even stood up abruptly from his seat.
“Pardon? Minister, what did I….”
-Have you not heard about the meeting today at Taeseong Hotel yet? Goodness. Have you forgotten what you said at the national policy bank consultation meeting last time? You said job protection for the people and prompt implementation of restructuring were the keys! But a person called the Korea Development Bank manager is disrupting the negotiations. I heard he opposed the organization of the management and even overturned the remarks on employment guarantee?
Min Kyung-ho was flustered and even stuttered.
“Tha… what do you mean by that… I have never received such a report….”
-Does this make any sense! If KDB picks a fight on a matter where the President’s instructions were given, what will those above think? Settle it immediately and have the person in charge submit a statement of explanation.
Click.
The call was cut off unilaterally.
Min Kyung-ho stared at his cell phone blankly.
The hand holding it was trembling.
‘What on earth happened.’
He slowly inhaled.
He put down the cell phone with trembling fingertips and pressed the intercom.
“Tell Manager Cho to come in right now.”
A day that had been peaceful was completely ruined.
A moment later, Manager Cho Minki opened the door and entered.
His expression was relaxed as usual.
However, seeing Min Kyung-ho’s chilling expression, he gradually stiffened his expression.
“Governor, did you call?”
“What on earth did you do to make the Minister even call?”
Min Kyung-ho asked in a voice that was quite angry.
Whether Cho Minki was not lacking in quick-wittedness, he realized immediately and laid out excuses.
“It was nothing much. I just said a few words because the meeting flow was a bit tight, and it seems that caused some misunderstanding.”
“What, a few words? Yet the Minister suddenly contacts me out of anger?”
The corners of Cho Minki’s mouth stiffened.
He tried to pretend to be calm.
“Representative Lim Hyunjun kept trying to push it forward excessively. So I just balanced it by restraining him a bit, and there was nothing else. There is no need to boost his morale for no reason. Furthermore, the young guy was so arrogant and had no manners.”
A sneer escaped Min Kyung-ho.
“You did it because there was no need to boost his morale? And by doing so, you completely crushed my morale? Huh! Huh!”
Cho Minki slunk away from his gaze.
“That is… I did not think that far ahead.”
“That is always your problem. Why can you not think of such things.”
Min Kyung-ho stood up from his seat, leaned his body slightly while placing his hands on the desk.
“Do you not know who Lim Hyunjun is? He is a third generation Taeseong Group. Furthermore, the President gave direct instructions.”
Min Kyung-ho glared at Cho Minki and spoke.
“You touch a guy who even goes in and out of Cheongwadae? Are you in your right mind? Right now, the government is making a fuss about saving the shipbuilding industry, and you go there and push back to break his spirit! Just how stupid are you to do such a thing!”
Cho Minki’s face stiffened.
It seemed he realized the seriousness of the situation only then.
“Governor, I did not know there was such a backstory. There was no information in advance….”
“Look here, I do not need such excuses. It is obvious if you see how things are going. What information did you not know? If you do not know that, you yourself are…. No, it only makes my mouth dirty.”
Min Kyung-ho’s blood pressure rose, making the back of his neck feel stiff.
After catching his breath for a moment, he spoke in a cold voice.
“Contact Representative Lim Hyunjun right now. Whether you apologize or get on your knees, make contact!”
At Min Kyung-ho’s sharp voice, Cho Minki was flustered and hurriedly took out his cell phone.
He made several calls while searching through the call list.
But the other party did not answer.
He tried sending a text message as well, but there was no response as expected.
“…Why is he not answering?”
Cho Minki tried to pretend to be calm and glanced at Min Kyung-ho.
“It seems he has turned off his phone.”
Min Kyung-ho let out a sigh.
“Do not just stay still because he is not answering in this situation, but use whatever means necessary to meet and resolve it within today.”
“I will keep trying.”
However, it did not flow as he expected.
As the contact could not be reached as time passed, it was Manager Cho Minki who became anxious.
He regretted answering confidently when President Park Se-dong met him in the morning and asked him to scold Lim Hyunjun.
Governor Min Kyung-ho was just as anxious as Cho Minki.
When there was no contact from Manager Cho, he even went to the office personally and asked.
“Is there still no contact?”
“Yes….”
Min Kyung-ho could not stand still in his seat and moved here and there with his hands behind his back.
“I cannot do this. I must visit the company immediately. Surely he would not reject me if I go in person. His heart will soften once he sees my face.”
“Yes, I will have the car wait right away.”
Thus, the two of them went to HJ Partners in a car in a hurry.
All the way there, Cho Minki kept looking into his cell phone and waiting for an answer.
It was when my classes ended.
The answer he had been waiting for came, but what returned was the answer he had heard in the morning.
‘I have nothing to say.’
He heard only a straightforward answer.
The more it was so, the more Min Kyung-ho glared at Manager Cho Minki as if he would kill him.
Arriving at the HJ Partners headquarters, they headed to the lobby.
Approaching the information desk staff, they said cautiously.
“We have come from the Korea Development Bank. We request a meeting with Representative Lim Hyunjun. Since it is an urgent matter, you must convey it immediately.”
After checking, the staff’s expression darkened.
“I am sorry. The Representative said he had already conveyed everything he wanted to say this morning and told you to just go back.”
Min Kyung-ho could not even say anything and just blinked his eyes.
He had not known he would act so firmly.
Cho Minki said while checking his mood.
“Could you perhaps ask the Representative once more….”
The staff member shook their head.
“I am sorry.”
This time, even Cho Minki’s expression completely stiffened.
This situation did not feel real at all.
Silence flowed for a moment, and they had no choice but to leave the place at the gazes of people as if they recognized them.
Min Kyung-ho walked with his shoulders drooping and soon turned around and looked up at the HJ Partners building.
The tall building suddenly came across as intimidating.
‘I touched a person who should not be touched.’
As Min Kyung-ho did not say anything, Cho Minki’s expression became darker.
If only he could turn back time, he would never make the same choice.
However, time only continued to flow relentlessly.