Former Mastermind To Chaebol Son-in-Law

Chapter 42

A Call Has Come

There was noise over which company would acquire Chulsan Capital, a major financial firm in the southern region.

During this time, Oh Kang-goo, the executive vice president of Taeshin Asset Management, sat in his office together with Managing Director Yang Chan-woo.

"The atmosphere in the company has been a bit unsettled lately."

"It's all because of the MP division. They're brokering the Chulsan Capital bid, and the funds moving from the PEF side, without Organization's approval, are huge. The employees are worried, so there seem to be all kinds of rumors spreading."

MP was the abbreviation for M&A/PEF.

"Hmm... Come to think of it, has the audit team found anything on Division Director Kang?"

At that question, Yang Chan-woo fell silent for a moment before opening his mouth.

"... They say there's nothing to pick at for now."

"Nothing at all? When he's pushing things forward so recklessly, shouldn't something have come up?"

"The profits for the fund side are huge. According to sources, there's been a lot of requests from clients of other divisions, asking if they could be connected to Kang In-hyuk."

"Then why hasn't there been a report?"

Originally, it should have come up already.

"They say the audit team lead has been using annual leave due to personal reasons from two days ago until today."

"Taking time off at a time like this? Things really are turning crazy."

"I'll make sure to tell them to pay more attention once they're back tomorrow."

Oh Kang-goo's expression became severely distorted.

"Tell them not to hold back and dig by any means necessary. No matter how good someone's intel is, it's not easy to rise this fast. So if they're getting solid information from somewhere, it definitely can't be through legal means. That means something is bound to turn up."

He was convinced there had to have been insider trading that they didn't know about. But since there hadn't been any evidence so far, it was simply frustrating.

"Understood. And... yesterday, Director Bong Joo-hyung completed the delivery."

"I made sure it wouldn't be known that I gave the order, right?"

"I said it was a matter being handled at my level. But... who is the MP division data being delivered to?"

Yang Chan-woo was also acting on Oh Kang-goo's instruction, so he wasn't sure of the details.

"I'm just following orders from above too."

"By above, do you mean... is it definitely Executive Vice President Tae Seok-ho?"

"Be careful what you say in other places."

Yang Chan-woo gave a worried look and voiced his doubts.

"... Are we really not in trouble? I'm not doubting Executive Vice President Tae, but if things go wrong, you and I could all get swept away, right?"

Currently, Taeshin Group was at the start of a whale fight, so he was afraid they might end up like the shrimp caught in the middle. Oh Kang-goo clicked his tongue and replied.

"Tsk! Will we really be safe anyway, once the eldest son sits in the chairman's seat? So, we can't just sit by. Besides, we can't expect to succeed without any risk."

"Come to think of it, haven't there been strange rumors lately? That the chairman is considering CEO Tae Ju-ha..."

"Do you think that makes sense? She is a child brought in from outside. If it were a son, maybe, but even the eldest granddaughter, Tae Su-jin, is only the executive vice president of Taeshin Department Store. On the other hand, the eldest grandson, Tae Yeo-jun, is the electronics division director, and the second son's son is the construction CEO."

He meant that Chairman Tae Gun-seung was strictly enforcing a male-preference ideology.

Yang Chan-woo, who had heard similar stories during his time at Taeshin Asset Management, could only agree.

"At most, CEO Tae Ju-ha might be allowed to take over just Taeshin Asset Management as a subsidiary."

"That wouldn't last long, either. Most of the shares here are held by Holdings, so if the group ownership changes, that will be temporary, too..."

Riiing— riiing—

Just then, the internal call rang, cutting through their conversation. Losing his energy, Oh Kang-goo pressed the button roughly.

"What is it?"

[The CEO is calling. They want to see you in the office right away.]

"... Did they say what it's about?"

[No further details were given.]

"Alright. I'll go soon."

The unexpected summons was puzzling, filling him with questions.

Shortly after, he ended the conversation and headed towards Tae Ju-ha's office.

...

...

As the door to the CEO's office opened, Oh Kang-goo stepped inside.

"Division Director Kang, you're here too. May I ask what this meeting is about?"

Sitting on the sofa beside Tae Ju-ha was In-hyuk.

Exuding a sense of discomfort, Oh Kang-goo took a seat across from him.

In-hyuk, meanwhile, handed out documents that were on the table to both of them.

"Please take a look at this."

The office fell silent for a moment. After reading the documents first, Tae Ju-ha formed a subtle expression.

"You're applying a new security system only to the MP division? Is that really necessary?"

From beside her, Oh Kang-goo echoed her question.

"The CEO is right. No matter how much you strengthen security, there's no problem with the current system, isn't this just a waste of money?"

Taeshin Asset Management, while a Taeshin Life subsidiary, used the same security system as Taeshin Group.

Of course, In-hyuk didn't expect the two of them to be pleased. But he hadn't submitted the proposal without reason.

"If there really is no problem, then yes, it's a waste. I didn't give an advance report, but ever since the new division was created, there've been people working with impure intentions."

"Did something happen?"

At Tae Ju-ha's question, In-hyuk nodded and answered.

"With the increased handling of company confidential info, I've been paying close attention to internal security since the division's creation. Recently, evidence came up that internal documents were leaked outside during that process."

Oh Kang-goo furrowed his brow and, before Tae Ju-ha could speak, asked,

"How exactly were the documents leaked?"

"Documents don't just walk out on their own, so obviously, someone intervened."

"Then, did you find out who it was?"

In-hyuk let out a long sigh.

"Hoo—! M&A Team 2 Leader Shim Kang-hyun, PEF Team 1 Manager Lee Sang-won, and PEF Team 2 Leader Oh Joon-myeong. These three."

At the mention of these names, Oh Kang-goo's expression did not soften.

"They all just got picked for the new division. Who did they leak the information to? And do you have proof?"

"The documents were leaked through those three to Director Bong Joo-hyung. Of course, Director Bong has no relation to our division's business. There were suspicious signs, so I put surveillance on him."

In-hyuk pulled photos from an envelope he had prepared.

The pictures showed Director Bong Joo-hyung handing something to a man in a dark place.

Upon seeing this, Oh Kang-goo's face hardened.

"Are you saying you tailed Director Bong Joo-hyung? More than that, you're saying Director Bong ordered the data leak. How are you sure of that?"

"Our division uses a program that embeds a special code into every digital file. If something is printed or copied without my approval, the security server is automatically sent the IP of the device where the last action happened."

Listening to the explanation, Oh Kang-goo raised his voice in protest.

"You're telling me you used a program at the company without the higher up's approval?!"

"We used it because it was approved. Isn't that right?"

At the same time, Oh Kang-goo's gaze shifted from In-hyuk to Tae Ju-ha.

Meeting both their eyes, Tae Ju-ha nodded.

"Yes. I approved it to sample the security. I never thought it would come in handy like this so soon."

"Can you really do that without the other executives' opinions?"

"Division Director Kang In-hyuk reports directly to me. It's not being shared with other divisions, just used there—do we really need an executive meeting for that?"

"I can't say you're wrong, but this is closely tied to company security. The CEO can't make such decisions alone."

"Isn't this problem more urgent now? So, to whom did Director Bong deliver the MP division materials?"

Tae Ju-ha's question smoothly redirected the flow to In-hyuk.

"The name is Lee Seung-jin. Turns out he's an employee at an errands agency. There's even evidence that the item Director Bong gave him was delivered to Kim Chan-hyung, the secretary to the CEO of Omega Finance."

"Omega... that's the firm bidding for Chulsan Capital, which the MP division is brokering, right?"

Tae Ju-ha recognized the name as soon as she heard it. At the same time, Oh Kang-goo looked caught off guard.

"I never thought Director Bong Joo-hyung would do something like this. To prevent this from happening again, we'll need to take firm action."

At that instant, In-hyuk nearly let out a bitter laugh.

'Are they cutting off the tail as soon as it's caught?'

It was obvious that Bong Joo-hyung couldn't have acted alone in what happened with Omega Finance.

But, hiding his inner thoughts, In-hyuk brought up the meeting's purpose once more.

"That's why I recommended the new security system. If implemented, material control will tighten, and even if there's a leak, the designated IP and GPS will make it impossible for anyone else to use."

But Oh Kang-goo didn't readily agree.

"Decisions about the system shouldn't be made here. Also, shouldn't there be action against the MP division employees who leaked information with Director Bong? Looks like Division Director Kang's staff management skills need to be called into question too."

He was now trying to rope in Division Director In-hyuk's responsibility, probably because he'd lost a pawn in the form of Bong Joo-hyung.

It was too obvious, so In-hyuk didn't back down.

"Of course. I'll share details with the audit team so this can be handled quickly and thoroughly. We don't know who else might be behind Director Bong, so it's worth a proper investigation."

With a meaningful look, he stared right at Oh Kang-goo.

Their eyes met, and Oh Kang-goo's eyelids twitched slightly.

"If this situation gets out, it'll seriously damage our image at Taeshin Asset Management. Especially since the new MP division hasn't built up much yet, it could be even riskier. Are you prepared, if the investigation reveals more and more people involved, to deal with that?"

This question, almost like a threat, was directed at Tae Ju-ha, not In-hyuk.

He thought, as CEO, she would hold the line for the company's sake.

But Tae Ju-ha looked completely unfazed, contrary to Oh Kang-goo's expectations.

"No. I find it strange too. If Director Bong Joo-hyung were really behind this, he wouldn't move directly—he'd have someone else do it. We need to get to the bottom of this matter."

"Group HQ isn't going to stay quiet anyway. Since an executive is involved, you, the CEO, won't be able to escape responsibility."

"That would apply to you as well, wouldn't it, Executive Vice President Oh? Director Bong Joo-hyung is one of your people, together with Managing Director Yang Chan-woo."

Oh Kang-goo's brow furrowed even deeper than before. In-hyuk, inwardly amused, interjected.

"If anyone truly cares about the company, they should be more worried about substance than saving face."

"So, are you saying we should overturn everything, regardless of the company's reputation?"

"It's better than covering it up and having it blow up even bigger later."

Bzzz— bzzz—

While the sharp conversation continued, Oh Kang-goo's cell phone vibrated in his pocket.

Pulling it out quickly, he saw it was a call from Managing Director Yang Chan-woo.

For him to call knowing he was in the CEO's office, it had to be important.

"Excuse me for a moment."

Stepping out for a moment, Oh Kang-goo walked to a remote corner in the hallway before pressing the call button.

"What's the reason for this call?"

[The audit team leader has contacted us. And...]

As he listened to Yang Chan-woo's words over the receiver, Oh Kang-goo's expression hardened further.