Chapter 826. Sequence 10

“He says he’s not doing it.”

Hong Janghae’s eyes twitched. Not doing it? That wasn’t the answer he wanted. Until just a while ago, that man said he would wait for the scenario to decide, so what made him refuse all of a sudden? He told the fellow sitting on the sofa to explain.

“He said that he liked the contract terms, but unfortunately, he had something he wanted to do. Apparently, he was going to shoot a movie or something.”

“What the hell does that mean? Are we not offering him the chance to shoot a movie?”

“He wanted to create a piece for himself without concerning himself with money.”

“Park Joongjin, wasn’t that guy obsessed with money?”

“Looking at his actions in the past five years after his comeback, he definitely isn’t someone who hates money. I checked to see if he got any other offers for work, but no, other production companies haven’t reached out to him. When I looked more into it, it seems like he really plans to shoot a movie out of his own pockets.”

“The money printing machine is suddenly talking about doing his own thing, huh.”

“I heard that he used to shoot some whimsical movies like this right after shooting commercial movies. I heard that the reason he picked up the megaphone five years ago was to refill his empty bank account.”

“He’s full of himself. This is why I don’t get close to those that are obsessed with art. They’re going to crawl back into this field once they run out of money, so why do they even bother straying?”

“Should I try to persuade him otherwise?”

“Probe him about two more times. If that doesn’t work, then hand it over to someone else. I do want Park Joongjin, but I’m not so hung up on him. Make a list for me. Find the ones who are decently capable and obsessed with money. I don’t want foolish ones that extend the shooting time to rip more human resources fees from me.”

“I’ll look into it.”

Janghae stroked his beard as he calmed himself down. Whenever a wrench was thrown into his flawless plan, an inexplicable vexation perked its head up from deep within him and flipped him over. He only managed to calm himself down after a deep breath as this was a trivial matter. Had he heard that a large-scale contract was called off, he would have picked up his baseball bat and gone to the ‘shed.’ He would have stuffed dogs into some bags and beat them up to relieve his anger. Sometimes, he missed that sensation and thought about going to the shed, but he was so busy these days that he didn’t have the leisure to go. It was quite unfortunate that he wasn’t able to visit the solace of his heart.

“Are things going well in regards to Garam production company?”

“Yes. For now, the loans have gone well. The employees of the production company have been asked to shut up as well. The president-in-name this time is doing quite a good job.”

“Put an end to it once it reaches a moderate point. We’re bound to get hurt if we try to make too much off of it.”

“The joint surety matter has been dealt with as well, so the trial should begin soon. He’ll probably get a year and a half. He doesn’t have good health nor is the company in a good financial condition, so he should be able to apply for a personal bankruptcy rescue procedure once he’s done with his sentence[1].”

“Redistribute the money as you see fit so that they don’t complain. Also, he’s going to jail for everyone else, so you have to feed his family at least.”

“I’ll make sure to handle it properly so that there will be no words about it later.”

“The movie scene isn’t like before. Distributors are also playing the role of production companies so there is no gap. Until just seven years ago, I was able to rip 10 billion won off of individual investors.”

“People are becoming smarter now. That kind of business won’t work anymore.”

“Is the fellow in charge from back then doing well?”

“He’s running a hotel in Taiwan. I just heard that he will come and see you once he comes to Korea in October.”

“It’s fine as long as he’s doing well; he doesn’t have to come see me. It doesn’t feel bad to know that a member of the family is doing well.”

Janghae looked at the YM Group’s motto on the wall: Honesty and Charity. As he sat down in this place every single day, he reminded himself not to become honest and not to become charitable. The fact that it was used as a motto meant that it was the ideal, and idealisms didn’t exist in real life. What didn’t exist had no value. Being obsessed with invaluable stuff was something that uneducated people did. If one under the classification of ‘social animals’ did not know how disgusting ‘honesty’ was, then they might as well remove the ‘social’ part and just become animals. This was why honest people were exploited. Only those that exploited the gaps in the law, the incompleteness of rules, and the dark sides of customary practices could be regarded as having perfectly adapted to society. Janghae was ready to treat capable people like a human and give them love. The person on the sofa, head manager Kim, was very ‘humane’ in that sense. Humans saved up, while animals spent. Just as society was before, it would continue to be so in the future.

“What’s that female journalist doing?”

“She’s living a quiet life in that flower shop. I’ve had some men watch her a few times, and I don’t think she’ll open her mouth. From how she’s continuing to receive psychotherapy, I think she’ll be quiet.”

“What a pity, that woman. It had been a while since I met a true journalist.”

“She was a pitiful woman who didn’t know how to use her pen properly. If she got her direction right, she would’ve been very successful.”

“That’s just how life is. There are no suspicious activities, right?”

“Yes. I think she has completely cut all ties with journalism.”

“That’s fine then. What can an isolated fellow do? Let’s let her go now.”

“Understood.”

“President Kang is opening up a store soon, so order some congratulatory flowers from that flower shop. We should raise the sales of the pitiful flower shop owner.”

“I’ll have it done.”

He liked people who put in effort but gritted his teeth in pity whenever he looked at people who made an effort in a strange direction. They were humans who didn’t even become animals and chose to become lesser than animals instead. He wanted to fix their foolishness himself, but it was a pity that he couldn’t do it. A few massages with a bat should solve the problem, so it was such a pity. That female journalist was a foolish human as well. Her observation skills to discern the important point of the incident as well as her proactivity in finding out was impressive, but her disadvantage was that she didn’t have any situational awareness. It was such a big disadvantage that all of her advantages were eclipsed by it. For those who had a taste of ink and had proud shoulders, he could figure out a way to deal with them after shaking them up a few times. For journalists that would glare at huge companies and pick a fight with the resolve to go to jail, the best thing was to avoid them. Those people were monsters who couldn’t be controlled through social means. The only way to stop them was to use a physical method, but that was too risky. Burning a whole house down to catch a few bugs wasn’t really an option, wasn’t it? On the other hand, there were journalists who would kneel down if their pens were broken and their social foundation was shaken. The female journalist belonged to this area. It wasn’t even that difficult. All he needed was a little paperwork. The good thing about living in a constitutional state was that a few sheets of paper could flip a living person’s life upside down several times. How efficient was that?

“Anything else to report?”

“I do have something to report about Junghwa Hotel.”

Janghae felt a headache as soon as he heard the words ‘Junghwa Hotel’. Junghwa Hotel was the playground of high-class ladies. It was the place where ladies from famed colossal companies held parties with good-looking boys, and Janghae became responsible for that work as he was put in charge of Soul. His job was to create a safety net so that those high-class ladies can play around without getting into trouble. Once, he tried visiting that party room. It was flabbergasting. A man who had half lost it because of drugs was shaking his nether region in front of ladies while those high-class ladies were giggling as they watched. The smell of cigarettes and booze was everywhere, and moans and bass-heavy songs never ceased. It was a place that made his hands itch. If he had a bat, he would have smashed the heads of everyone present.

“What is it now?”

“Lee Miyoon is holding an event, and she said she needs some new faces. She wants people desperate for sponsors.”

“That hag keeps getting on my nerves.”

“Should I tell her no?”

“If you do that I’m sure those above will nag me again. The chairman seems to look out for her quite a lot. I heard that those two meet pretty often. Have you checked that?”

“I’ve put people on them, but it’s hard to catch a tail. They seem to be using some people as well. Also, the chairman’s influence is quite big even though he has stepped down from the front lines.”

“Forget it then. Let’s not put our positions in jeopardy by getting on the chairman’s nerves. I think he’s already turning a blind eye to some things.”

“Then what should I do about Lee Miyoon’s matter?”

“Try looking into some from the trainees. I’m sure there are a lot of boys who are in difficult situations. I heard that they welcome sponsors like that these days, don’t they? Quite ambitious, I must say.”

“I’ll try to gather some of them who have tight mouths.”

Head manager Kim stood up, saying that he was done with his report. His way of work was as clean as ever and didn’t disappoint him. This was why he looked after him a lot. Just as he was about to leave, head manager Kim stopped and spoke,

“President.”

“Anything else?”

“It’s about Kang Giwoo.”

“What about him?”

“He’s been obedient for the past few years, but I think his prankster nature has kicked in again.”

“He was docile for a while. Why do you think he’s like that all of a sudden?”

“I don’t know either. I thought there would be no problems since he knows his own position and was acting obedient, but he seems to be stressed out recently as he’s contacting his old friends again.”

“How bad is the prank? If it’s on the level of breaking someone’s arm, I don’t think we should be mindful of it.”

“He didn’t cause any big problems that would make us worry. He’s not doing anything himself and is having other people do it, so it’s easy to take care of.”

“If it’s on a tolerable level then let him be. He’s grown up now, so I’m sure he won’t do something risky. He would probably be reminded of his grandfather’s face too.”

For Janghae, Kang Giwoo was a burden. The problem was that the burden was so expensive that he couldn’t handle it as he wanted to.

“Keep tabs on him and report to me once you find out why he started that thing again. It should be easier to deal with it if we know the reason.”

“Should I prioritize it?”

“He’s the son of the chairman, so it’d be good to find out about it quickly. I am in a position to look good to him for the time being.”

“Understood.”

After head manager Kim left, Janghae turned around the chair and looked outside. When he was assigned here from logistics, he thought that he was getting exiled, but it wasn’t like that. Soul was a new business line that received great attention from the former chairman. As long as he could consolidate his foundations here and prove his skills, he should be able to return to logistics. This was why he couldn’t miss the smallest mistakes. That was especially true when it came to the chairman’s grandson whom he cherished more than his own life.

“I wonder what irked him this time.”

Janghae pondered over it as he drank the orange juice in front of him.

[1] “Personal bankruptcy rescue procedure” (개인회생절차) is the procedure in which an individual debtor (not a business debtor) is legally rescued from his/her debts due to his potential to earn money in the future.

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