The Chairman's Calm
Park Deputy Manager entered the division chief's office and hesitated before approaching the desk.
“Um… Director-nim.”
“Yes. Deputy Manager Park.”
Director-nim. It was a strange title. Park Deputy Manager thought it over as he stood before the division chief.
Ji Okhyeon, the Unamjae lady, had bound the director's hands and feet. So she should be anxious and looking for a solution, yet he was acting as if nothing had happened.
Was it because he was her only son that her interest would never fade? Or was there something else he was relying on?
“Madam Unamjae has completely excluded the Management Strategy Division from operations and set up a special direct line for the Adjustment Planning Room. All reports from every subsidiary go through there. After inquiring, the presidents of Electronics, Construction, Materials, and Automotive, along with the chairmen of sixty subsidiaries, are all included in the Adjustment Planning Room's lineup.”
His words meant the director had been completely sidelined from all duties.
For Jeong Seonwu, who already held a significant portion of the shares of the late President Jeong, it might cause no real damage. He had no need to worry about livelihood.
But for himself, who worked as the director's secretary, the situation was different. If the division chief was ousted like this, he too would become a broken branch.
Along with him, every person in the division chief's line would become a victim of Madam Unamjae's decision, turning them into dogs chasing chickens.
“Perhaps Madam Unamjae intends to eliminate the Management Strategy Division…”
Park Deputy Manager had once believed that the path ahead was paved with flowers the moment he received his assignment to the division chief's office. Jeong Seonwu was the undisputed heir to Samjeong Group, and he himself had become the director's personal secretary.
But how could he have imagined that less than a year after receiving the assignment in spring, Seonwu-nim would be openly sidelined by the eyes of Madam Unamjae?
“It looks like Mother has made up her mind to strip me of my position.”
Looking at Seonwu-nim speaking so calmly, Park Deputy Manager sighed heavily.
It wasn't just the division chief who would be resting; the entire sausage chain might fall—himself, Deputy Manager Kim, and even Real Director Yoon, who was hospitalized. To say such things so casually.
“Rather than that, you should come up with a plan. You can't just let your position be taken away like this.”
“So, Deputy Manager Park, you're urging me to stand up to Mother?”
At the mention of standing up to Mother, Park Deputy Manager's eyes nearly popped out in shock.
Stand up to Madam Unamjae…? Who was Madam Unamjae? After President Jeong Geuncheol's passing, the iron lady who had ruled the shadows for over ten years and led Samjeong Group.
Ji Okhyeon's only official title was chairman of the Samjung Kiwoom Foundation, yet that foundation's influence was truly immense.
Graduates of the foundation were placed in key positions within the judiciary, legislature, and executive branches of the country.
They were the ones she had raised using Samjeong's money, and she had turned those students into her own blades.
They moved to protect Samjeong's interests. Whenever the Samjeong Group faced trouble, the judiciary delivered not-guilty verdicts, and the executive branch implemented advantageous national policies for Samjeong.
Moreover, the foundation students embedded in the press flooded the country with articles supporting Samjeong, allowing the group to wield absolute power.
To stand up to Madam Unamjae like that was unthinkable.
“Y-you can't possibly be asking me to push the director against Madam Unamjae…”
“I agree. Standing up to Mother would yield no gain. All we can do is wait under the eaves until the storm passes.”
“Could it be that you know why Madam Unamjae made this decision…? If you know the reason, there might be something we can—”
“Just a moment.”
Seonwu interrupted him and picked up the phone charging on the table.
Park Deputy Manager waited for Seonwu to finish writing the message.
After completing the message, he had planned to investigate the cause and find a solution. But suddenly Seonwu turned to him and spoke.
“Deputy Manager Park.”
“Yes, Director-nim.”
“If my wife doesn't like a dish, shouldn't I just not cook it?”
“Yes?”
“Or is it better not to say anything at all?”
In this time when the position might be taken away from him, the issue of food? The rice bowl was about to fly away!
Yet Park Deputy Manager, who was establishing his identity as the director's personal secretary, could not bring himself to voice it.
“I think not saying anything would be better.”
He gave a cautious answer, contrary to his true feelings.
“Haa…”
Seonwu sighed again and continued typing the message at lightning speed.
It seemed his wife had sent a message about dinner. Park Deputy Manager's gaze lingered on Seonwu's fingertips.
He couldn't help understanding that their separation had left them with shattered eggs, but at a time like this…
“Deputy Manager Park.”
“Ah, yes, yes.”
“Do you have anything to say? You've been staring at me since earlier.”
Seonwu set the phone down and looked at Park Deputy Manager as if urging him to speak his mind.
“It's like this. I've been wondering why Madam Unamjae is treating you this way. I was cautiously speculating that perhaps the separation between you and your wife is the cause…”
“Correct.”
“N-no way?”
Park Deputy Manager's voice rose.
“Mother is doing this because I have not received permission for the separation.”
“No, Director-nim! Then you must return to Unamjae!”
Seeing Park Deputy Manager finally confess his thoughts, Seonwu smiled with half-closed eyes.
“Am I supposed to give up on Mother?”
“Of course! If the director falls out of Madam Unamjae's eyes, Deputy Manager Park, Deputy Manager Kim, and Real Director Yoon, who is hospitalized, will all be gone!”
Park Deputy Manager felt like dying from frustration as Seonwu-nim looked at him with amusement.
How could he be so at ease as to casually speak of the fire in someone else's house?
“No, you can't just laugh. It'll really be a disaster. I have to repay my apartment loan for another two hundred forty months, and Deputy Manager Kim's husband is quitting his job to chase his dream as a web novelist before it's too late.”
“Really?”
“Yes. And Real Director Yoon's son is graduating from university this year. He still has three more years to go, but if the director falls here, the three of us in the secretariat will fall like dominoes. We'll be completely ruined at home.”
Seonwu-nim looked at Park Deputy Manager, still smiling, then suddenly wiped the smile away.
“But Deputy Manager Park, didn't you receive any training on the work manual from Real Director Yoon?”
Park Deputy Manager lowered his voice at the serious gaze.
“The work manual?”
“Yes. The work manual.”
“I don't know what mistake I—”
“I heard in the secretary manual not to discuss personal matters with the boss.”
“Ah…”
“I believe Real Director Yoon is meticulous, so she probably instructed you during the handover.”
Park Deputy Manager hung his head like grass in frost.
“If that's the case, I'm sorry. I've been remiss.”
“Go now.”
Park Deputy Manager bowed and left after opening the door.
At the sound of the door clicking shut, Seonwu turned and burst into laughter.
After the large accident that nearly overturned the car, the people around Seonwu had changed.
Since the accident, everyone by his side had been replaced.
It was the day of the inspection of the Samjeong Electronics Display Factory. Seonwu had woken early and pulled a memo from the nightstand, scribbling chaotic thoughts on the bed.
The price of LCD panels had plummeted in the first half of the year due to China's production offensive.
But global demand for TVs and monitors had surged due to unusual cold waves in North America and Europe, and prices had skyrocketed.
While agonizing over whether to cease production in Korea, Seonwu had considered continuing production until the price of LCD panels fell again.
Having remembered the industrial spies planted in Chinese competitors, he received reports on production trends through an IP card assigned to a specific IP.
After returning home from picking up Jaye in the car, Seonwu headed back to the display factory when he spotted Jaye walking along the hill.
Despite the cold weather, she wore a single coat and walked briskly. He got her in the car.
Even though time was tight, Seonwu had put her in the car. After dropping her at school, he sped toward the display factory.
After a whirlwind of a schedule, on the way back to Seoul. A truck suddenly crossed the center line on the national highway.
To avoid the truck, the business sedan had rolled over. It was a major accident that overturned a two-ton Samjeong Automotive high-class sedan.
The person most severely injured was the real director. Seonwu in the back seat had been safe thanks to his seatbelt, and fortunately the driver had only minor injuries.
Everything had changed after the accident that day.
Real Director Yoon had become Mother's person, and Seonwu's every move flowed to Mother through her.
With Real Director Yoon's absence due to the accident, Park Deputy Manager had taken over performing for Seonwu, and at the same time Seonwu had become free from Mother's gaze.
She thought she didn't control her son, but Seonwu thought differently. Mother had set up the entire board and placed him on it.
After the real director's accident cut off reports, Mother's mood had become acutely sensitive, and the dignified mask she wore toward Jaye had cracked.
While Seonwu rushed to protect Jaye from a mother who had lost her dignity in desperation, this time Jaye, who had been keeping distance, began breaking down the wall toward him.
Mother believed she had fulfilled her duty with five hundred million won, but he knew not a single won had reached Jaye.
Seonwu, who felt responsible for Jaye's life, had planned to spend the three years after the divorce supporting her in a way that compensated for his absence.
At this point, with less than a month left in their marriage, separation was a reasonable choice. He could watch over her alone.
Seonwu's phone vibrated briefly on his desk.
[I'll be boiling beef stew tonight. If you want something else, let me know.]
It was a message from Jaye. When he said he would eat at home, the words had risen to his throat.
Living together wasn't uncomfortable, but he wasn't satisfied with Jaye's cooking skills. He would have eaten food made by professional chefs at Unamjae.
Although he wanted to suggest using a delivery service, Jaye took cooking as her mission, so he couldn't say it.
Just then, another message appeared on top of the one from Jaye.
[Let's talk.]
This message had come from Mother. By now he had expected Mother to act.
Still, it was fortunate that Mother's blade was aimed at him rather than Jaye.
His wish was that during the remaining days of their marriage, Jaye would live in peace like now and find her own life.
No longer wanting to feel guilty toward Jaye, he could even gratefully accept the harsh treatment he had never experienced from his mother for the first time in his life.