Chapter 18. An Unprecedented Special Promotion (1)
That evening, I set up a tent on the rooftop of the triangular building and looked up at the night sky.
About half a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue remained.
The side dish for tonight was naturally Kim Seokhun.
Ten years spent under him as my direct superior was far too long to simply forget.
He might be one of the people I had spent the most time with during my working life.
Was this what people meant when they said they felt both relieved and disappointed?
With him gone, it felt like the road ahead had suddenly opened wide.
But part of me still regretted not paying him back for everything he had done.
Ultimately, though, it was better with him gone.
Watching his downfall didn’t actually add anything meaningful to my life.
What would happen to the team leader position now?
Watching the Commercial District Analysis Team operate had always made me frustrated.
That was why I had wanted the team leader position.
But things were a little different now.
I had no intention of sacrificing myself for the company.
Now that I had the diary app that could show me the future...
I would use its ability to finish work quickly and live my own life.
An employee was still just an employee.
No matter how large Seongun Group became because of me, I would never become the owner.
Well...
If they offered me the chairman’s position, maybe I would work a little harder.
Obviously, that would never happen.
Even while thinking that, part of me still felt disappointed.
Ten years wasn’t a short time.
Before leaving, I wanted to turn the Commercial District Analysis Team, where I had spent that long period, into a normal team.
What if someone even worse than Kim Seokhun came above me?
Just imagining it was horrible.
But if that happened, I could simply take a year off.
Adding one year’s salary to the amount in my bank account wouldn’t change my life.
One year.
That was how long I needed before my building was completed.
I wasn’t aiming for simple rental income.
Copy and paste.
I wasn’t going to find one good business item and expand a franchise.
I would spread the perfect building I created across the country.
I wasn’t simply a building owner.
A building owner who could read the future could do almost anything.
Naturally, the first thing would be bringing my father back into business.
I searched through my phone and made a call.
I needed to lay the groundwork for purchasing Seongjin Logistics while simultaneously remodeling the triangular building.
Jeongseok Construction.
They used to handle smaller construction projects for Seongun.
These days, they had shifted toward remodeling work.
About two years ago...
There had been an incident that made me seriously question the company.
Even though Seongun constantly preached mutual growth, it had taken all the work back through Seongun Construction because it wanted to reduce construction costs.
Despite that, the president of Jeongseok Construction greeted me with his usual cheerful voice.
“Manager Kang! What brings you to call this late?”
“Sorry for calling so late. Is it okay to talk?”
“Hahaha. Of course! Even later would be fine! I heard Deputy Manager Kim stepped down?”
What an impressive person.
He no longer worked with Seongun.
Yet somehow he already knew about something that hadn’t even happened a full day ago.
“Where did you hear that? It hasn’t even been a day.”
“Hahaha. Apparently there are people who tell me things even when I don’t ask.”
Probably someone from the Space Design Team.
Even though they no longer did business together, many employees still contacted the president of Jeongseok Construction for advice.
He was a true expert in almost every construction skill used on-site.
Wait.
Had Kim Seokhun also harassed this man?
For a while, the president cursed Kim Seokhun while congratulating me.
“Let’s stop talking about someone who’s already gone. How’s business these days?”
“Terrible. Loans have dried up, so construction is a mess. Commercial buildings and apartments don’t sell even after you build them. It’s brutal. Still, thanks to you, we’ve been keeping busy here and there. Hahaha.”
I had given him some help when his work dried up.
I had advised him on which areas to target and what kinds of remodeling projects could still produce steady income.
It wasn’t a business that would suddenly make someone rich, but it could produce consistent profit with relatively little investment.
“I’m glad to hear that. It probably isn’t huge money, though.”
“Oh, no. What you told me was exactly right. Word spread through apartment communities that I’m a remodeling master, so business has actually been pretty good. Hahaha. I’ve been meaning to buy you a meal...”
If we were talking about who had made more money, I felt like I should be buying him dinner.
I decided to consider the meal already received and move to the main point.
The future diary entry that had appeared when I bought this building was still there without a date.
[XX/XX.
Halbaekase Branch No. 1 opened today.
I can taste Dad’s marinated ribs again.
I can see Dad’s happy smile again too.
Only a fragrant flower path lies ahead of our family.]
Just from the name "Halbaekase," I could already imagine what kind of restaurant it would become.
Hanwoo omakase.
It was perfect for this narrow triangular building.
Whenever I had free time, I had been drawing plans.
The rough concept was already complete.
First floor, restaurant.
Second and third floors, living space for my parents.
Rooftop, storage.
I decided not to build a rooftop room.
Until my own building was completed, I could simply continue using the Indian-style tent.
And when the tent became uncomfortable, I could always go downstairs.
My parents could sleep comfortably in the living room together, and I could use the small bedroom.
There was plenty of room.
A small house had never been what made us unhappy.
The suffocating fear of being thrown out at any time would never return.
My parents would run a business in a building they owned, sleep with both legs stretched out comfortably, and have happy dreams every night.
Maybe I could eat Mom’s cooking for a while.
When I was younger, why had I been so desperate to become independent?
Just imagining us living together again filled my chest with warm memories from childhood.
After explaining the remodeling plan for the triangular building, I gave him a second order.
I wanted the Daeyoung Precision property completely surrounded by metal panels.
I wanted it to look as though construction was about to begin.
Especially to the owner of Seongjin Logistics.
“If you stack two EGI fence panels, that’ll make it about six meters, right?”
“It should. Are you constructing a building there?”
“For now, just put up the fence. This isn’t company work, so contact me directly.”
“What? Then this is your land?”
“Yes. Somehow, that’s what happened.”
“Whoa. That’s something that can happen ‘somehow’?”
“Hahaha. I was lucky.”
I left out the lottery and simply said I had been lucky.
Plenty of people became rich overnight through stocks or crypto.
The president of Jeongseok Construction spent a long time congratulating me and expressing envy.
He heard information from everywhere, but he wasn’t the type to spread it.
I didn’t need to worry about rumors.
After ending the call, I raised my glass again and looked down over Mullae-dong.
I needed to think bigger.
The second act of my life, filled with happiness, was beginning to move beneath the darkness of night.
Two days later.
Inside the director’s office.
Future Strategy Office Head Choi Taesik and Director Baek Kangjin could no longer hide their astonishment.
The document on the table was the result of the non-destructive inspection of the Freight Terminal site.
Exactly as Jinhyeok had feared, foundations from the early Baekje period were buried beneath it.
The media called it a discovery that could rewrite ancient Korean history.
The National Heritage Administration immediately declared the site unbuildable and announced a large-scale excavation.
A piece of gold-mine land that countless construction companies, including Seongun, had been drooling over had turned useless overnight.
After seeing the unbelievable results, Taesik drank cold water repeatedly.
“I had considered the possibility that there might be relics, but I never imagined something this significant would actually be there. Manager Kang Jinhyeok saved us.”
“Haha. Exactly. I knew he wasn’t someone who would make reckless claims, but it’s still astonishing that everything matched this perfectly. We nearly suffered a massive loss.”
It wasn’t only good fortune for the group.
For Taesik, it was practically divine luck.
What if he had trusted only the Future Strategy Office reports and pushed ahead with the purchase?
An astronomical amount of money would have been tied up.
And he would have been held responsible for placing the entire group in danger.
His two older brothers, who were simply waiting for him to fail, would have celebrated wildly.
The mere thought sent a chill through him.
Taesik took another drink of cold water.
“You must have been very worried.”
“Hahaha. To be honest, I barely slept for the last two days. I had no idea what to do.”
“Do you feel better now?”
“Yes. In a way, I’m glad the bomb was this large. At least I can completely give up on Yangjae-dong now. We need to find another site quickly.”
Kangjin looked at the visibly exhausted Taesik with sympathy.
Taesik had walked a thorny path because he was born outside the chairman’s official family.
And he would have to continue doing so.
Kangjin firmly believed Taesik should lead the group.
Unlike the two older brothers who only cared about their personal gains and losses, Taesik knew how to think about other people.
He was the one most capable of inheriting Chairman Choi’s business philosophy.
Helping Taesik establish himself.
That was Kangjin’s final duty before leaving the group.
Taesik had almost nobody supporting him.
Kangjin was practically alone.
That was one reason Kangjin’s interest in Jinhyeok kept growing.
“What if we start completely from the beginning?”
“What do you mean by the beginning?”
“Instead of using a vertical structure where the Future Strategy Office selects a location and then asks others to analyze it, why not let the people working in the field choose the location from the beginning? Aren’t they people you’ll eventually have to lead? You should at least know how to use them.”
Taesik fell into thought.
The Integrated Development Division belonged beneath the Future Strategy Office.
The four teams, including the Commercial District Analysis Team, were part of it too.
“You want me to give you orders directly.”
Kangjin smiled in satisfaction.
“Exactly. Your role is to be the commander who places capable people where they belong and controls the organization. You are not someone who should be responsible for only one team.”
That was what Kangjin sincerely wanted.
He couldn’t support Taesik forever.
If Taesik wanted to prove that he could lead the group, he needed to make not only the Future Strategy Office but the entire Integrated Development Division his own.
“But this is your division...”
“What? Are you saying I’m in your way?”
“N-No. I just wish you could remain in your position a little longer.”
Kangjin narrowed his eyes and slowly shook his head.
“Do you really have that much time? Surely you haven’t become satisfied with the present and given up on your dream?”
Taesik bit his lip hard.
The humiliating years of hiding his identity because he was born outside the chairman’s marriage.
He wanted to make Seongun his own, even if only for the sake of his mother, who had never been able to openly approach the chairman’s home or workplace.
“Did you keep the president’s position at Seongun Development empty for me?”
The seat had remained vacant since the former president was removed for embezzlement.
It was a reasonable question.
But Kangjin shook his head.
“If I had kept it empty for you, could you even take it?”
That simple question stabbed Taesik in the chest.
Chairman Choi wouldn’t allow it.
Neither would his older brothers.
Thinking about his brothers, who had started directly as affiliate presidents, felt unfair.
But Taesik’s mother was not the official lady of Seongun.
He needed justification nobody could oppose.
Taesik understood that better than anyone.
His fist tightened.
“Understood. Let’s start from the beginning.”
“Good. You made the right choice. It’s time you built your own people too. Hearing more opinions also widens your choices.”
“You want to assign this to the Commercial District Analysis Team? To Manager Kang Jinhyeok?”
“Exactly. The more I watch him, the more remarkable he becomes. He rarely wavers, and most importantly, he aligns better than anyone with Seongun’s core values.”
Taesik tilted his head at the almost excessive praise.
“He was certainly impressive this time, but is he really that capable?”
“This isn’t only about this incident. I told you, I read every report Kang Jinhyeok ever wrote. Read them yourself.”
“Hahaha. Is that so? Now I’m curious. I want to see what kind of reports can make you praise someone this much. You think he could become a great help to your work?”
The corner of Kangjin’s mouth twitched with amusement.
“This decision is for you, not me.”
“For me?”
“Yes. Didn’t I just say it? It’s time for you to build your own people. How long do you think I’ll remain here?”
Hearing Kangjin hint at retirement again, Taesik swallowed dryly.
“It’s simply the natural order of things. Build relationships with younger people. You know the saying that personnel decisions determine everything, don’t you? If you place talented people where they belong, things naturally begin to work.”
Personnel determines everything.
Chairman Choi often used that phrase too.
Taesik understood it.
But putting it into practice was difficult.
Whenever a talented employee appeared, one of his two brothers immediately grabbed them.
“So you want me to keep that man near me.”
“Not only Manager Kang. You should lead all four teams. The entire Integrated Development Division.”
Taesik fell into deep thought.
Chairman Choi had told him not to reveal that he was his son until he had proven his own ability.
Sometimes it felt like concern.
Other times, it felt like the chairman was looking down on him.
He needed to grow.
Like Kangjin said, Taesik couldn’t fight his brothers, who had started far ahead of him, if he remained trapped inside the Future Strategy Office.
“Understood. From now on, I’ll give instructions to the Integrated Development Division. That’s fine with you, right?”
“That is exactly what I wanted.”
“One more question first. Have you decided Manager Kang Jinhyeok’s new rank?”
“He’s definitely becoming team leader, so shouldn’t he at least become deputy manager?”
The Integrated Development Division had no department heads.
That was because Kangjin had transferred every team leader when he first arrived.
Taesik had known that from the beginning.
He gave Kangjin his first instruction.
“Promote Kang Jinhyeok to department head.”
“Straight to department head? Is there a reason? A moment ago you almost sounded jealous of him.”
“Hahaha. I wasn’t jealous. I just didn’t understand why you trusted him so much.”
“And now you sound certain?”
“There are several reasons for promoting him to department head. First, performance above everything else. I want everyone to see that they don’t need to flatter people. If they simply perform well, they’ll receive a reward that matches their results. I don’t want people who rely on personal connections beneath me.”
It was a clever decision.
People who built factions through school ties and regional connections.
Those people could always choose one of Taesik’s older brothers over him.
With Kim Seokhun gone, the people who depended on company factions had practically vanished.
Rewarding strong results now would also motivate ordinary employees, not only department leaders.
“All right. We’ll do that.”
“One more thing. Give this assignment to all four team leaders.”
“You want them to compete?”
“That too. But I want to see their abilities properly. Especially Kang Jinhyeok.”
“Haha. You won’t regret it. He’ll become your wings.”
Taesik had always wanted someone like that.
Just as Chairman Choi had Baek Kangjin beside him, Taesik wanted a trustworthy talent who could lead the group with him.
His heart pounded pleasantly.
The person they were discussing, meanwhile, was planning to resign in one year.
