Chapter 44. At a Crossroads (2)
“What did he say?”
Harok asked after listening beside Yubin while she spoke on the phone.
“He seems a little shaken, but I’m not sure.”
“Wasn’t he the person closest to Executive Director Ahn Changwan?”
“Yes. They worked together for almost twenty years.”
“Then there’s a chance.”
Harok hoped Kim Jongseok might give them some important testimony.
“But he still works for the company. You think this will be easy? If he makes one wrong move, staying there afterward could become impossible.”
“That’s true.”
Harok fell into thought.
This investigation kept looking as though it was about to end, only to drag on again.
They had inflicted plenty of damage.
But if it simply ended here, something about it would feel incomplete.
No.
Not incomplete.
It would mean Kwon Jaegwan had won.
Kwon Jaegwan would only suffer a few scratches and still inherit Handong Group as planned.
Then Handong Group would be thrown into unprecedented chaos.
While the liar Kwon Jaegwan continued living comfortably, Ahn Changwan, who had told the truth, would be dragged through hell.
Harok couldn’t allow that.
“Send him another message.”
“What should I write?”
“Make it heartfelt. Bring up his memories with Executive Director Ahn. Appeal to his conscience and hope it reaches him.”
Normally, Yubin trusted Harok enough that if he claimed red beans could be made into fermented soybean paste, she would probably believe him.
But this time, she didn’t immediately move.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m wondering whether it’s right to keep pressuring him.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re the ones who need him to blow the whistle. But we should think about his position too.”
Harok had thought about that as well.
Still, they couldn’t simply do nothing.
“You’re right. In the end, it has to be his choice. All we can do is give him a choice.”
“A choice?”
“Yeah. Whether he watches someone he respected and followed get destroyed by the company’s absurd attacks, or whether he stands up and chooses the truth.”
In the end, Yubin was persuaded.
She wrote Kim Jongseok a long message and left the choice in his hands.
“I sent it.”
“Good. Now we wait.”
“We can’t just sit around waiting for him, right?”
“Of course not. Keep contacting the others too. Momentum and atmosphere matter with articles.”
Kim Jongseok slowly read Yubin’s message.
Every few lines, he let out a deep sigh.
Who could sympathize with Ahn Changwan’s situation more deeply than Kim Jongseok?
When he arrived home, his younger daughter greeted him brightly.
“Where’s your mom?”
“She went to bed early. Dad, were you drinking?”
“Yeah, a little.”
His little girl, who had once seemed small enough to fit in his arms, had grown up and entered university.
People often said fathers and daughters grew distant as the daughters got older.
That had never happened in Kim Jongseok’s family.
He was close with both daughters, and especially with his affectionate youngest.
“Dad, take care of your health. Remember, you’re over fifty now.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Go wash up.”
Obeying his daughter’s command, Kim Jongseok headed straight to the bathroom.
As he showered, his thoughts churned.
If the Audit Office hadn’t made that offer earlier, Seol Yubin’s request would have shaken him badly.
No matter what anyone said, Ahn Changwan was the benefactor who had helped Kim Jongseok become the man he was today.
But he had to think about his wife and children.
If he lost this job at his age, there was no chance he would find another one paying this well.
And the company covered his daughters’ tuition.
Once he thought about those things, did he really have a choice?
Fine.
I’ll change my statement.
Executive Director Ahn had made plenty of money already.
He could live comfortably enough.
If he knew how difficult things were for a junior he cared about, wouldn’t he understand?
Kim Jongseok’s thoughts flowed steadily in a selfish direction.
When he finished showering and came out, a few simple snacks had been set on the dining table.
Hm? Did my daughter prepare these for me?
He was grateful for the care she showed him.
Right.
For a daughter like this, I can endure being called a traitor or human trash.
Kim Jongseok clenched his teeth as though making up his mind.
Click.
Just as he sat down, his younger daughter returned with beer.
“I thought it’d be nice to have a drink with Dad for once.”
“You were just telling me to stop drinking.”
“Drinking with me is an exception. I can control how much you have.”
She smiled brightly and set up the table.
Glug, glug.
She poured beer into two glasses.
“Come on, cheers.”
“Cheers.”
Gulp, gulp.
Maybe because he was drinking with his adorable daughter, the beer went down more smoothly.
“Beer tastes sweet when I drink with my daughter.”
“Hehe, really?”
They talked happily for a long time.
Her school life.
Little things happening around them.
Nothing especially important.
“How are things at your company?”
“What do you mean?”
“Even when I try not to watch, it’s all over the news.”
“Ah. It’ll quiet down soon.”
His daughter kept fidgeting with her glass as though she had something to say.
“Something on your mind?”
“N-No...”
She quickly raised the glass to her lips.
“You’re acting strange.”
“But Dad, just in case... can I ask you something?”
“Ask.”
“Are things really hard for you these days?”
Why was she suddenly asking that?
Kim Jongseok rarely talked about work at home after being demoted.
His thoughtful younger daughter had probably figured out a long time ago that he was being humiliated at work, yet deliberately pretended not to know.
“N-No. What would be hard?”
“Really?”
“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“You just seem like you’re having a hard time lately...”
He didn’t want to burden his daughter too.
Wasn’t that the fate of the Korean breadwinner?
“No. Why would Dad be having a hard time? I’m fine.”
Kim Jongseok exaggeratedly thumped his chest.
“Things are going to improve at work anyway. I’ll probably return as a team leader soon.”
His daughter’s eyes lit up.
“You’re going back as a team leader?”
“Yeah. And maybe by the year after next, I could even become an executive.”
Deep down, Kim Jongseok had begun hoping for an executive promotion.
If he was going to become a traitor, he thought he deserved at least that much compensation.
He expected his daughter to be delighted.
Instead, her expression darkened.
“Dad isn’t making this up. It’s true.”
“Really?”
“I’m telling you. Don’t you trust your father?”
“I do, I do. Dad, eat this before it gets cold.”
Her smile looked forced.
Kim Jongseok couldn’t understand why she was reacting that way.
The next morning.
Kim Jongseok left home with his mind firmly made up.
Even his wife noticed that something about him was different.
“What’s wrong with you today?”
“What do you mean?”
“You look like someone going off to a fight.”
“Do I?”
“Look in the mirror. See what kind of face you’re making.”
Kim Jongseok looked into the mirror beside the entrance.
A tired middle-aged man stared back at him.
His hair had turned noticeably whiter in just one year.
How much stress have I been under?
He pitied himself.
He had never looked especially young for his age, but he had at least looked like a man in his early fifties.
Now, at fifty-two, he almost looked sixty.
Kim Jongseok deliberately raised the corners of his mouth.
Smile. Smile.
No matter how he arranged his face, the expression looked awkward.
Great. If I get fired, I’ll do wonderfully in sales looking like this.
“Tsk.”
“I’m off.”
“Have a good day.”
When he arrived at the office, the atmosphere was cold.
Apparently, Lee Hyeonuk was in one of his foul post-drinking moods again, prickly as someone suffering from severe PMS.
It was a familiar office routine after he drank too much.
Whatever.
Soon, he wouldn’t have to endure humiliation from that rude young team leader anymore.
Part of him even wanted to slap Lee Hyeonuk across the face before leaving.
He imagined asking the Audit Office whether he was allowed to beat the bastard up on his way out.
The thought made him smile without realizing it.
“Oh? Someone’s in a good mood.”
Lee Hyeonuk glared at him.
Normally, Kim Jongseok would have looked away.
Not today.
He glared back as if inviting a staring contest.
“What are you trying to do? You want to fight me?”
“You were the one staring at me like that first. Am I not allowed to look back?”
Lee Hyeonuk could only stare at him in disbelief.
“Department Head Kim. Did you eat something strange?”
“No. I ate just fine.”
The entire team was watching.
What exactly was going on?
No matter how much a superior wanted to torment a subordinate, even the superior became unsettled if the subordinate stopped caring.
It wasn’t as though a company manager could beat someone or physically punish them.
The only cards a superior really held were work assignments and performance reviews.
If someone gave up on promotion, why would they fear their boss?
“Huh. Looks like Department Head Kim already picked his resignation date.”
“Think whatever you want.”
Kim Jongseok gave Lee Hyeonuk one final glare and sat down.
Ding. Ding.
Messages arrived on his phone in rapid succession.
They were from Na Seunghyeop in the Audit Office.
[Na Seunghyeop: Have you decided?]
[Kim Jongseok: Yes.]
[Na Seunghyeop: You made the right choice. Write the statement according to the example I gave you yesterday.]
[Kim Jongseok: Understood.]
[Na Seunghyeop: Is there anything else you’re curious about?]
[Kim Jongseok: When can I return to my original department?]
[Na Seunghyeop: We’ll move as quickly as possible.]
[Kim Jongseok: Honestly, I don’t trust the company.]
[Na Seunghyeop: What do you mean?]
[Kim Jongseok: Give me something in writing that I can trust.]
[Na Seunghyeop: ...]
[Kim Jongseok: To put it bluntly, if you take my revised statement and then change your story, I’ll be left with nothing.]
[Na Seunghyeop: You have a point. I’ll see what arrangement can be made.]
[Kim Jongseok: Please get back to me quickly.]
Good.
If he could at least secure a written guarantee from the head of the Audit Office, that would serve as insurance.
Now all that remained was to return triumphantly as a team leader.
Lee Hyeonuk.
It was unpleasant knowing you.
Let’s never meet again.
Kim Jongseok looked toward Lee Hyeonuk’s distant desk and gave him a bitter smirk.
Ding.
Another message arrived.
Who is it?
It was a long message from his younger daughter.
They normally messaged often, but she almost never sent anything this long.
[Youngest: Dad, I wanted to tell you this last night, but I’ll say it through text instead. You’ve always been someone I’m proud of, and that will never change. Yesterday, while you were showering, your phone kept ringing, so I tried to switch it to silent and accidentally saw your messages...]
Kim Jongseok read on with wide eyes.
She had seen Na Seunghyeop’s messages.
And directly beneath them, Seol Yubin’s message urging him to follow his conscience.
[Whatever choice you make, I’ll support it. But I hope Mom, me, and our family aren’t factors in that choice. If you make a cowardly choice because of us, I think I’d be really sad. I know how hard you’ve worked as the head of our family and how much you’ve sacrificed for us. But I’m in university now. I’m grown up. I can take out loans for tuition and work part-time for living expenses. Please don’t let yourself be forced into making the wrong choice because of us. I want you to make the choice you believe is right, based only on your own judgment. I trust you, Dad. I love you ♥♥♥]
Tears welled in Kim Jongseok’s eyes.
He had always thought of his daughters as children.
Somewhere along the way, they had grown up.
I want you to make the choice you believe is right.
Those words kept circling in his head.
But the ending to a righteous choice was rarely a happy one.
He would have to leave the company.
And just like what was happening to Ahn Changwan now, Handong would probably dig through everything in his life.
They would start with his corporate card.
Who could confidently say that over twenty years of work, they had used a corporate card in perfect accordance with every company rule?
There had to be something they could use against him.
If things went badly, he could be dismissed without even receiving his full severance.
There wasn’t much time left.
He had to rewrite the statement and submit it to the Audit Office.
Yet his daughter’s message would not leave his mind.
Tick. Tock.
Time kept passing.
He couldn’t sit at his desk any longer.
Kim Jongseok grabbed his cigarettes and headed outside.
From across the office, Lee Hyeonuk watched him leave with obvious displeasure.
