Chapter 34
“That place...”
Ma Juncheol sighed deeply.
“Lee Sesang's company closed years ago.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“And there was a good reason.”
I focused on him.
“They went bankrupt.”
“It's been a ghost company for years.”
My eyes widened as if lightning had struck inside my head.
“Bankrupt?”
“Yeah.”
“I actually did some business with Lee Sesang in the past.”
“About ten years ago, he ran an agency selling frozen foods for a major corporation.”
“He lived pretty well back then.”
So not everything Lee Sejun had said was a lie.
His father really had operated an agency for a major corporation.
And apparently...
He really had made good money at one point.
“What caused the bankruptcy?”
“He got greedy.”
“He was earning well, but then tried to expand the business too aggressively.”
“His promissory notes defaulted.”
“After that, he practically fled from creditors in the middle of the night.”
“Wow...”
A sigh escaped me.
“Lee Sesang became a credit delinquent.”
“I've heard he can't even show his face in the distribution industry anymore.”
“There are only rumors that he's hiding somewhere.”
“So he still hasn't repaid the debt.”
“I don't know whether he has no ability or no intention.”
“SS Distribution exists only as a legal name now.”
“The actual business collapsed under debt years ago.”
I slowly nodded.
Only then did Ma Juncheol ask me.
“Assistant Manager Choi.”
“Why are you asking about them?”
“Did something happen?”
My heart started pounding.
Lee Sejun's father...
Supposedly a wealthy distribution tycoon...
Was actually a credit delinquent.
His family had already collapsed years ago.
Now the puzzle fit perfectly.
“No, nothing happened.”
“I heard the name while visiting clients and got curious.”
“Really?”
“Nothing serious?”
“No.”
“But as expected of President Ma.”
“You really know everything.”
“Haha. This industry is small.”
“Anyway, don't get involved with that family.”
“Creditors are still looking for them everywhere.”
I nodded repeatedly.
“I won't.”
Ma Juncheol suddenly snapped his fingers.
“Come to think of it...”
“I think Lee Sesang said he had one son.”
“Ah...”
Lee Sejun.
Of course, Ma Juncheol had no idea that Lee Sesang's son was working with me.
“I wonder if that kid is hiding too.”
“Poor bastard.”
Ma Juncheol clicked his tongue.
“If there hasn't been any news about Lee Sesang all these years, the creditors probably haven't found the son either.”
“If they had, they would've gone after him for repayment too.”
“Probably.”
“Yeah.”
“The kid must be living on the run too.”
“I wonder if he even eats properly.”
“Poor thing.”
I sighed quietly.
Eating properly?
He's wearing luxury brands, driving imported cars, and living like a king.
I obviously could not say that aloud.
“Anyway...”
“Stay away from SS Distribution, Lee Sesang, his son, all of them.”
“Yes. I'll remember that.”
The moment the conversation ended...
A cold chill ran down my body.
Lee Sejun... so this was your real situation.
The glamorous lie that he only worked as a hobby because his family was wealthy.
In reality...
His family had gone bankrupt years ago.
He must have borrowed the names or connections of people who had dealt with his father back when SS Distribution was still active.
Then he used them to create ghost accounts.
Through those ghost accounts...
He received legitimate WG Food sauces at nearly half price.
Then dumped them into wholesale markets off the books.
The cash likely paid for his parents' living expenses.
And his own luxurious lifestyle.
WG Food was not a hobby to Lee Sejun.
It was his family's lifeline.
And the perfect cash machine.
Just thinking about it made my head ache.
The moment I returned to the office...
I saw Lee Sejun.
He seemed unusually happy while joking with junior employees.
He was still spinning the keys to his imported car around his finger as he spoke.
Luxury suit.
Expensive watch.
Now...
All of it looked like shiny wrapping around something rotten.
That fake image you've wrapped around yourself...
I'll tear it apart completely.
I almost laughed while watching him.
Then I returned to my seat.
I immediately opened the account ledgers again.
The Gwangju and Honam accounts Lee Sejun had created.
Their owner names.
Registered business addresses.
I began comparing them one by one with the dumping-related files and receipts I had found.
At a glance...
Lee Sejun's lies looked almost perfect.
But when someone created more than ten ghost accounts to hide bankruptcy and off-the-books transactions...
There would inevitably be cracks.
I still did not know where all those ghost accounts were redirecting the products.
But I needed to discover the final destination too.
It was obvious the goods were not being used for anything good.
And depending on where they went...
The damage to WG Food could become much more serious.
At that moment...
Manager Jang Woojin entered the office with a stiff expression.
Thud!
He threw his bag onto his desk as if something had upset him.
The sound made Lee Sejun stop laughing and look toward him.
Their eyes met.
A secret glance passed between them.
Then, as if they had already agreed...
They both grabbed files and headed toward a meeting room.
There was a strange nervousness in their steps.
Perhaps they had begun sensing it.
My position inside the company had become much stronger because of WG Instant Rice.
And as my authority over the Honam distribution network expanded...
Their hidden network was beginning to feel threatened.
Thanks to the pathetic explanation statements released by the three major corporations...
WG Instant Rice sales had shot into the sky.
And even several weeks later...
The graph was still climbing almost vertically.
Marketing and planning screamed happily each time another sales record was broken.
CEO Jeong patted my shoulder almost every morning while talking about extraordinary incentives and a special year-end bonus.
He did it deliberately where everyone could see.
An assistant manager had created a massive success.
Managers and senior staff should feel pressure and work harder.
Other assistant managers should feel competitive.
Junior employees should think...
I can do that too.
It was meant to motivate everyone.
“Thank you, CEO.”
“If you work this hard and produce results like this, what wouldn't I give you?”
CEO Jeong laughed loudly and patted my shoulder.
I was standing at the center of all that success.
But I constantly reminded myself not to get carried away.
This was exactly when I needed to look at everything carefully.
Of course, I needed to watch the instant rice sales graph.
I needed to see where sales rose and where they slowed.
But another thing mattered to me even more.
Sales of other WG Food products.
Especially sauces.
I needed to see how badly Lee Sejun's scheme was affecting our sauce business.
The moment the sauce sales trend appeared on my monitor...
I froze.
“Huh?”
Something was wrong.
This isn't the normal timing for an entire distribution network to weaken at once.
I immediately returned to my desk and began checking records.
Everyone had overlooked it because of the explosive success of WG Instant Rice.
But two of WG Food's long-running bestsellers...
WG Spicy Seasoning Sauce.
WG Galbi Sauce.
Their official order volume was suddenly dropping sharply in Honam.
Starting from last week...
Orders from legitimate major clients throughout Honam had been cut almost in half.
Including the food section of Shinwoo Department Store.
WG Food's brand awareness was at an all-time high because of the nationwide instant rice craze.
Yet sales of our long-standing bestsellers were collapsing only in one specific region.
That could mean only one thing.
Something enormous had gone wrong inside the distribution structure.
I was about to reopen the account ledgers for Lee Sejun's suspicious Gwangju clients when...
Bzzzt.
Bzzzt.
My phone vibrated nonstop beside my mouse.
[Caller: Ma Juncheol, Honam Food-Supply Mart]
“Why is he calling at this hour?”
I had visited his mart only the previous day.
I had talked to him.
Taken new orders.
There should have been no reason for him to call again already.
“Did something happen with today's shipment?”
I immediately answered.
“Yes, President Ma.”
“Your ordered goods should've arrived by now.”
“Did something happen?”
I spoke in my usual dependable business tone.
But...
The voice on the other end was not the loud, cheerful Ma Juncheol I knew.
His breathing was rough.
His voice shook with anger.
“Assistant Manager Choi.”
“Are you playing games with me?”
“What?”
“What do you mean...?”
I had never heard him this angry.
“Just because WG Instant Rice became a huge success doesn't mean your company can do business like this!”
I had no idea what he was talking about.
His shouting was so sharp that even Lee Sejun, who had been acting arrogantly on the other side of the office, flinched and looked toward me.
“President Ma...”
“What happened?”
“If there was a problem with the goods you ordered yesterday, I'll check it immediately...”
“Not the instant rice.”
“The sauce!”
“The sauce?”
“Yeah!”
“Your damn galbi sauce and spicy sauce.”
“Those are the problem!”
“...”
I immediately looked at my monitor.
The two exact products displayed in front of me.
WG Spicy Seasoning Sauce.
WG Galbi Sauce.
“Did something happen to the sauce?”
“Gwangju, Damyang, Suncheon, Yeosu...”
“The wholesale markets all across Honam are in chaos right now!”
Ma Juncheol still sounded furious.
“WG products have flooded the market at prices lower than what my mart pays directly to headquarters!”
“Huge quantities are being dumped onto the market for almost nothing!”
“Haah...”
The moment I heard that...
Only one thing came out.
A deep sigh.
Lee Sejun, you insane bastard.
I had expected he was dumping the goods.
But part of me had still hoped I was wrong.
This was the worst possible outcome.
The most damaging thing Lee Sejun could have done.
“So the sauces are being sold on the open wholesale market for less than your contracted price?”
“That's right.”
“Anyone can see it's dumped inventory.”
My eyes sharpened.
“Our food-supply mart handles enormous volume across Honam.”
“You promised us a good supply price because of that.”
“That's correct.”
“But now unknown wholesalers are throwing the same product into restaurant districts for almost half our price.”
“Our sales have gone to hell.”
“Yes.”
“All the wholesalers and restaurant suppliers who used to buy through us have moved over there.”
“This is the first I'm hearing about it, President Ma.”
“I'll investigate immediately...”
He cut me off.
“This isn't headquarters secretly pushing excess stock through illegal dumping channels, is it?”
“No.”
“That's a misunderstanding.”
“Find out for certain.”
“Because if WG Food is behind this, then both your company and you personally stabbed me in the back.”
“I won't let that go.”
“Yes, President Ma.”
“I'll investigate immediately and call you back.”
“First, I'm truly sorry.”
Click.
The call ended.
I slowly turned and looked across the office.
Everyone was watching me in surprise.
Except two people.
Manager Jang Woojin.
And Lee Sejun.
Their eyes looked different from everyone else's.
It was finally time to expose them.
