Chapter 176
“CEO Han, first we need to get that article taken down.”
CEO Kim Eunkyung spoke urgently.
“If Quantum sees it and misunderstands the situation...”
Han Taesung snapped back to his senses and immediately grabbed the internal phone on the table.
“Connect me to Legal.”
A moment later, a lawyer from the legal team answered.
“Yes, CEO Han. Did you see the article? We just confirmed it too...”
“I already saw it, so I’ll keep this short.”
Han Taesung’s voice hardened.
“Call Hanju Daily immediately and demand that they take the article down.”
“And tell them we’ll sue for spreading false information and defamation.”
“Yes, understood.”
“We’ll respond immediately.”
Han Taesung hung up and let out a short sigh.
Kim Eunkyung looked toward him.
“This is completely absurd.”
“The financial statements were audited by an accounting firm, and every procedure was carried out legally.”
I carefully spoke to the two of them.
“CEO Han.”
“I think this article came from an internal tip.”
Their eyes immediately shook.
“An internal tip?”
Han Taesung frowned.
“You mean someone inside the group...?”
“The article says, ‘According to multiple industry sources.’”
I continued.
“And the number of people who would know financial details this specific is limited.”
Kim Eunkyung stared at me in disbelief.
“But who...?”
“And why?”
“I don’t know.”
“But whoever it is clearly doesn’t want Mega Cinema to be sold.”
Han Taesung’s brow tightened.
“I know there are executives who dislike me.”
“But no matter how much they hate me, how can someone damage the company’s own reputation just to drag me down?”
His jaw clenched.
“If this really was leaked by someone inside the group, I will not let it go.”
Bang!
Han Taesung slammed his fist down on the table.
I had known him for almost ten years.
But I had never seen him this angry.
“I know a reporter in Hanju Daily’s culture desk.”
“I’ll see if I can find out anything about the source.”
Han Taesung nodded immediately.
“Yes, please do.”
“Whoever would sacrifice the company’s interests just to bring me down needs to be found.”
“For Hanshin Group’s sake too.”
“And once we find them, they need to pay the proper price.”
I nodded.
Then Han Taesung’s phone started ringing loudly.
He checked the screen.
His face hardened.
After a brief hesitation, he answered.
“Yes, Chairwoman.”
Han Myunghee’s furious voice boomed loudly enough to be heard even outside the receiver.
“Get to headquarters right now!”
“We’re trying to get the situation under control.”
“If you give us a little time...”
“Time?”
“The entire group is being humiliated and you’re asking for time?!”
“What the hell happened?”
“Financial statement manipulation?”
“How badly did you handle things for an article like this to even come out?!”
Han Taesung took a breath and forced himself to speak calmly.
“The article is completely false.”
“Our legal team has already begun taking action...”
“False or not, get to headquarters and report to me in person!”
Han Taesung roughly loosened his tie.
“Chairwoman, I’m sorry, but I can’t come in right now.”
“First I need to resolve this issue and properly finalize the agreement with Quantum.”
“After that, I’ll come in.”
“So please give me a little time.”
For a moment, silence filled the other end.
Then Han Myunghee’s voice returned, cold and low.
“So you’re defying me now?”
“I’m not defying you.”
“I’m saying solving this problem is more urgent right now.”
Silence again.
Then,
“Fine.”
“Do it your way.”
“Finish the Mega Cinema sale agreement and resolve this mess.”
“Then come in.”
Her voice sharpened.
“If you fail...”
“You’ll be writing your resignation letter on the spot.”
The call ended.
Han Taesung lowered the phone and smiled bitterly.
“Well.”
“If I really can’t resolve this, I suppose this is where it ends.”
Kim Eunkyung looked worried.
“CEO Han...”
“It’s fine.”
Han Taesung shook his head.
“I came this far to make this work.”
“There’s no backing down now.”
I nodded.
“Of course.”
“Don’t worry too much, CEO Han.”
“I’ll find whoever leaked this somehow and get the situation back under control.”
Then another thought occurred to me.
“And now that I think about it...”
“I don’t think this is something we should hide from Quantum.”
Han Taesung looked at me.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re saying we should tell Quantum ourselves?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“There’s no such thing as a secret anymore.”
“And the article is already online.”
“There’s no way Quantum won’t hear about it.”
“It’s better if we tell them first and explain that the report is false.”
Kim Eunkyung spoke cautiously.
“But what if they don’t believe us?”
“They might not.”
“But if that happens, we deal with that problem then.”
Han Taesung thought for a moment before nodding.
“All right.”
“Let’s do it your way.”
I immediately called Ha Sangdo.
After a few rings, he answered.
“Yeah, Director Min.”
“We were supposed to have lunch together today.”
“I’ll text you an address.”
“Would you come there instead?”
“I’ll treat you to a proper Korean full-course meal.”
The other end went quiet for a moment.
Then Ha Sangdo answered.
“All right.”
“I’ll get ready and head out.”
“See you soon.”
The VIP room of an upscale Korean restaurant.
Quantum Vice President Richard, Asia Team Leader Frank, and CAI Team Leader Ha Sangdo entered together.
“Welcome.”
“Was it difficult getting here?”
Han Taesung and I, who had arrived first, greeted them.
“Not at all.”
“The taxi dropped us right in front. Hahaha.”
Ha Sangdo smiled.
But there was a strange tension in his face.
They’ve definitely seen the article.
The awkward expressions on all three of them made it obvious.
Once everyone sat down, a server entered and poured water into the cups.
“Shall I begin serving the meal?”
“No.”
“Take your time.”
“We’ll call you again.”
The server left.
For a moment, awkward silence filled the room.
Richard broke it first.
“This is a very elegant restaurant.”
“I know you must be busy, so thank you sincerely for arranging a farewell meal like this.”
Han Taesung waved it off.
“Not at all.”
“It’s only natural.”
“A farewell meal. Hahaha.”
He laughed awkwardly and glanced toward me.
I gathered my thoughts and spoke.
“There’s something I need to tell you before we eat.”
At my words, Richard, Frank, and Ha Sangdo exchanged brief looks.
“Please.”
Richard’s voice was calm.
But his eyes already suggested he knew.
“This morning...”
“An article was published regarding the Mega Cinema sale.”
Ha Sangdo glanced at Richard before carefully answering.
“Actually, we saw it earlier.”
As expected.
Han Taesung looked startled.
“Then why didn’t you say anything?”
Richard picked up his cup, took a sip of water, then slowly answered.
“Of course, we were surprised at first.”
“But the article itself seemed absurd.”
“Manipulated financial statements?”
He shook his head.
“That part had already been independently verified through our accounting firm.”
“So we assumed there had to be some story behind it.”
Frank nodded and added,
“We already reported it to headquarters as well.”
“But for the moment, we decided to watch how Hanshin responded.”
Then he looked directly at us.
“To be candid...”
“If the two of you had sat here today and pretended not to know anything, we would have had to reconsider the deal.”
“Ah...”
Han Taesung immediately looked toward me.
If he hadn’t listened to my suggestion that we disclose the issue first...
The entire agreement might already have been in danger.
Ha Sangdo, not noticing Han Taesung’s reaction, continued.
“But because you brought it up first, we’re actually relieved.”
“In a situation like this, facing the issue directly instead of hiding it...”
“That’s exactly the kind of attitude we want from a partner.”
“Relieved?”
Han Taesung shook his head.
“If anything, we’re the ones who should apologize for getting you involved in such ridiculous controversy.”
Ha Sangdo nodded as though he had expected that response.
“Still...”
“Who exactly published something this absurd?”
“We’re trying to identify the source right now.”
“And we’re also taking legal action against the reporter who published it.”
Richard spoke slowly.
“There is something I’m curious about.”
“Could there be people within Hanshin Group who oppose the sale of Mega Cinema?”
As expected of a vice president at a global IT corporation, Richard had read the situation sharply.
“Ah...”
Han Taesung hesitated.
“It hasn’t been confirmed.”
I answered instead.
“But yes, that seems possible.”
“This is close to internal corporate politics, so it’s a sensitive subject for us.”
Richard nodded immediately.
“I understand.”
“I won’t ask any further.”
“Thank you.”
“Especially for trusting us.”
Richard smiled faintly.
“No need to thank me.”
“If anything...”
“After what happened during the negotiations, I came to believe something about you, Director Min.”
I looked at him.
“Even if you sometimes say things that annoy the other side in the short term...”
Richard chuckled.
“You’re not the kind of person who stabs someone in the back or deceives them.”
For a moment, I was speechless.
“Th-Thank you.”
“I really didn’t realize you saw me that way.”
Truthfully, back then I had simply been making a calculated move to provoke Quantum and improve our negotiating position.
I never expected it to build trust like this.
Richard continued.
“And more importantly...”
“We aren’t acquiring Mega Cinema based solely on its financial statements.”
He looked around the table.
“We evaluated the value of the cooperation you proposed.”
“And we decided that value justified seven hundred billion won.”
His voice was calm but certain.
“We’re not only buying numbers.”
“We’re investing in the future we intend to build together.”
Hearing that a global IT company like Quantum was willing to invest in a future with us made my heart race.
