Chapter 165
The April sunlight had grown noticeably warmer, but a chill still lingered in the air.
New Moon’s launch had been an overwhelming success.
The explosive traffic on opening day hadn’t been a fluke.
The paid model quickly settled into place, and word began spreading among writers that New Moon handled settlements transparently and reliably.
Once New Moon’s operations stabilized, I quickly returned to my usual routine.
As always, I had just finished another long meeting and returned to the office when someone called out to me.
“Team Leader, is your meeting over?”
“Yes. Is something wrong?”
“No. CEO Han was looking for you earlier.”
“He said to come see him as soon as your meeting ended.”
“Oh, really?”
“Got it.”
I tossed the file folder I was carrying onto my desk and immediately left again, heading up to CEO Han’s office on the sixth floor.
When I entered, Han Taesung was sitting deep in the sofa, staring intently at a document envelope on the table.
Embossed in gold on the front was a clear logo.
[HANSHIN GROUP]
“You wanted to see me?”
“Yes.”
“Sit over there.”
Deep wrinkles.
A worn complexion.
Han Taesung looked much more tired than usual.
“Would you like some tea?”
“No, thank you. I’ve already had plenty.”
“I see...”
I waited for him to continue.
But Han Taesung kept staring at the envelope without saying anything.
“Um, CEO Han.”
“Why did you call me...?”
In the end, my impatient nature won out.
Only then did Han Taesung look at me and smile faintly.
“Ah, sorry.”
“Executive Director Kim will be here shortly.”
“We’ll talk once she arrives.”
“Ah, all right.”
I studied his face.
“But you look really tired today.”
Han Taesung rubbed his chin unconsciously.
“Do I?”
“I didn’t sleep very well.”
“I suppose age really does catch up with you. Hahaha.”
Then he changed the subject.
“By the way, is everything with New Moon finished now?”
“Yes.”
“Though there isn’t really anything to call ‘finished.’”
“The operation has entered a stable phase, so now I just need to keep an eye on it.”
“I see.”
Han Taesung nodded.
“When you first told me you were investing in a web novel platform, I honestly had my doubts.”
“If it had been something in our own industry, that would be one thing.”
“But web novels came out of nowhere.”
He smiled.
“Still, after reading the recent articles, I found myself thinking that once again, your choice wasn’t wrong.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“The web novel market still has a long way to go.”
Just then, there was a knock.
Kim Eunkyung entered the office.
“Ah, Team Leader Min is already here.”
She sat down.
Even then, Han Taesung remained silent for quite a while, idly touching the teacup in front of him.
What exactly happened for him to hesitate this much?
His behavior was so unlike usual that I found myself glancing awkwardly between him and Kim Eunkyung.
Then, after a short silence, Han Taesung finally spoke as though he had made up his mind.
“I was wondering where I should start explaining.”
“But since I’ve decided to bring it up, I think it’s better to tell you everything.”
I still didn’t understand what he meant, but I decided to listen.
“You may already have heard rumors about this.”
“I’m the youngest son of Chairman Han Geonsik, the second chairman of Hanshin Group.”
He paused.
“Though I’m an illegitimate son.”
I had already more or less suspected both facts.
Still, hearing it directly from him left me unsure how to react.
So I simply pretended this was new information, nodded, and waited.
“I have an older brother and sister.”
“But there’s a large age gap between us.”
“And since I was the child our father brought home from outside the family, I wasn’t exactly welcomed.”
He paused again.
“And more than anything...”
“When my father died and I watched my brother and sister go to war over the throne, I decided I would never involve myself in that mud fight.”
“So I left that house.”
Kim Eunkyung remained calm, apparently already aware of everything.
I patiently waited for Han Taesung to explain why he was telling me this now.
“But as you know, the situation changed three years ago.”
“My brother handed the chairman’s position over to my sister.”
Three years earlier, Hanshin Group’s stock price had shaken badly when Chairman Han Gicheol’s health deteriorated.
The media had covered it so extensively that practically everyone knew.
Han Gicheol had no obvious successor.
His two daughters, Han Yoonjoo and Han Hyejoo, had no interest in management, while his youngest son was still in high school at the time.
Given the circumstances, Han Gicheol eventually handed the chairman’s position to his younger sister, Han Myungsook.
“But after my sister became chairwoman, she kept reaching out to me.”
“By reaching out, you mean...?”
This time, Kim Eunkyung answered.
“Chairwoman Han wants CEO Han to take over Hanshin Media.”
“Hanshin Media?”
The unexpected development immediately sent my thoughts racing.
Hanshin Group was currently ranked sixth among Korea’s major conglomerates.
The giant corporation had grown through construction, retail, and food businesses.
Hanshin Media, by comparison, had largely been maintained for the sake of appearances.
It operated several cable channels and a theater business.
The cable channels had been permanently in the red.
The only profitable division was the Mega Cinema theater chain, which was practically keeping the company alive on life support.
“I kept refusing.”
Han Taesung gave a dry laugh.
“But this time, she gave me an ultimatum.”
“If I refuse again, she says she’ll strike me from the family registry. Hahaha.”
I couldn’t tell whether he was joking.
Still, I could more or less understand the situation.
Until three years ago, Hanshin Group had been ranked fourth among Korea’s conglomerates.
Now it had fallen to sixth.
Han Myungsook needed to prove her management ability somehow.
And Hanshin’s media business, which was neither profitable enough to cherish nor worthless enough to discard, must have been a major headache.
