I’d Rather Live as a Villain

I’d Rather Live as a Villain – Episode 18

(Anything is fine, so speak up)

When did time slip by like this?

The vigorous twenties, the ambitious thirties, and the forties when I took office as the vice-chairman of Daeyoung Electronics, securing my succession—it all feels like just yesterday, yet now I’ve reached the age where I must neatly wrap up the last page of life.

Chairman Kang Ki-young was steeped in regret.

And there, as always, stood Son Jung-hyun, the group’s secretary and head of strategic planning, with his hands clasped in front of him like a statue.

“Did you send him on a business trip?”

“Yes.”

Back when Chairman Kang Ki-young was confirmed as the second-generation leader of Daeyoung, there was a task he absolutely had to accomplish.

His father, who had first planted the flag of Daeyoung on the impoverished land of Korea.

His father’s constant reminder, almost like a mantra, that semiconductors were the future bread and butter of Daeyoung, urging him to carefully nurture and grow the business?

The task of adding another signboard in front of Daeyoung’s name, proclaiming it as the top domestic company, a global corporation?

No.

It was a business that took precedence over those, one that required more care.

It was preparing for the perfect third-generation management for the next era of Daeyoung.

In this country, Korea, if ten companies stand tall, eight or nine of them will crumble under second-generation management—a peculiar structure.

Of those surviving second-generation management companies, only one in ten will safely transition to the third generation.

That was precisely why Chairman Kang Ki-young had to be strict and thorough with his children.

Every morning at breakfast, he received business reports from his children and gave his evaluations.

And he made sure to deliver work instructions face-to-face at the dinner table.

The child who succeeded as the third-generation heir of Daeyoung was none other than the second son, Man-ho.

He may not have been as academically inclined as his older brother, but he was quick with calculations and knew how to hide his ambition.

He may have lacked the aggressive drive born of desperation compared to his younger siblings, but he had the ability to read the overall situation and command people.

Man-ho, the second son who was considered for succession, was tied to the Hanshin Daily through marriage.

When no heir had come from his son after more than eight years of marriage, there was no choice Chairman Kang Ki-young hadn’t considered.

There was a plain-looking but upright and smart accounting employee in the company.

Koo Young-sook.

It was none other than Chairman Kang Ki-young himself who had made his son go out and father a child, even if it meant doing so outside.

His own impatience, his haste, had led to the biggest and most painful mistake of his life.

When the daughter-in-law finally became pregnant, the seed of her child had already blossomed elsewhere.

After countless business failures and bitter defeats, there had never been a time when he wished to turn back the clock more than now.

Time.

It’s always about time.

Despite having everything, possessing it all, and being in a position to acquire anything at any moment, Chairman Kang Ki-young knew all too well that time was the one thing that couldn’t be bought with Daeyoung’s power or his own abilities.

“Team Leader Son.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“If it were Moon-jung, what decision do you think she would have made in that situation?”

Chairman Kang Ki-young, who had been closely following the issue with the Madrid branch of Mulsan Trading Company since the initial report last week, asked. It was a sector under the responsibility of Executive Director Yoon Tae-sik.

Upon hearing that the Spanish olive farm owners were colluding to secure better terms, he immediately called a video conference with all the overseas branch managers of Mulsan in Europe.

He conveyed the troubling news from the Madrid branch and sternly warned to prevent the same issue from arising in other branches.

And just yesterday, he sent a deputy chief from the European division to Spain.

Even forming an inspection team for the task.

Chairman Kang Ki-young, seeing Team Leader Son unable to answer, changed the subject and asked again.

“If it were Young-jin? What decision do you think Young-jin would have made? Would he have entered the fray as decisively as Director Yoon?”

“Executive Director Kang Moon-jung, Vice President Kang Young-jin. Both have their pros and cons. They have different strengths and weaknesses, so I don’t think it’s fair to compare them.”

“That’s what comparison is, weighing those strengths and weaknesses.”

It was only natural for Team Leader Son to be at a loss for words.

How could he honestly express his thoughts on such a question, taking responsibility for his answer?

Chairman Kang Ki-young began to search for the answer that Team Leader Son couldn’t provide.

If Moon-jung had been in that seat, she wouldn’t have sent someone else; she would have gone to the Madrid branch herself.

And without regard for means, she would have stamped the re-contract within the limits she allowed herself and returned to Korea.

What about Young-jin?

Re-contracting. With still a year left, it probably took him months just to grasp the importance of the re-contracting of a core business, even sitting as the head of the European division.

Even if a problem like this had surfaced, he would have been more concerned with covering it up than resolving it.

Thinking that beheading the branch manager would solve everything.

But Yoon Tae-sik had sent people to look into alternative businesses to olives.

How should one interpret this move?

After three years away, returning to Mulsan, and barely a month into his role as an executive director, could he really make such a bold decision?

In Chairman Kang Ki-young’s eyes, the decision made by Executive Director Yoon Tae-sik was not to rectify the problem, but to prove himself.

It wasn’t about the 12 percent of the total billing that Mulsan was handling, nor was it about the 12 percent of the total billing in the trading sector.

It was merely the Madrid branch, holding 12 percent of the total billing in the trading sector’s European region.

Even within that, the sales contribution of the Olive part was known to be not so high compared to the importance of the business.

“Call Moon Jung immediately, and have Director Yoon come in as well.”

“Yes, I understand.”

***

Following Chairman Kang Ki-young’s orders, I received a call from Team Leader Son Jung-hyun saying I needed to come to Pyeongchang-dong right away.

Since the director was also summoned, I called him immediately.

-I don’t know. There was no word from him even when I went to work this morning.

The director also had no idea why the chairman was urgently looking for him and me at this hour.

We set a departure time simultaneously, met at the Pyeongchang-dong garage, and entered the study where Chairman Kang was waiting.

“Director Yoon.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

Sitting side by side with the director, facing Chairman Kang, who was seated on a wheelchair used as a chair, with a desk between us.

“Madrid branch. You sent someone there?”

“Yes.”

I naturally knew that from Pyeongchang-dong, Mulsan, especially the European region division, would be closely watched.

But I didn’t expect to be called by the chairman just a day after Deputy Chief Oh Ji-won formed an inspection team and crossed over to Andalusia.

“I want to hear the story. Team Leader Son says that even President Min only reported to you that you sent someone to the Madrid branch because the dependency on the Olive-related business was too high, and you were preparing a wine-related business that could reduce that dependency while balancing it out, but he seemed unaware of the specifics of what exactly you plan to do?”

“…Yes.”

“It’s good to reduce the dependency that’s too focused on one side, and the intention to balance it out is also good, but isn’t it the order to first rectify the situation rather than starting a new business that requires a lot of money?”

“Yes, I think so too.”

“Then why didn’t you send someone to rectify it, but instead sent someone to prepare for another business?”

To that, I answered as calmly as possible.

“The wine business. Like with the Olive, it will be a business that takes more than a year just for the minimum preparation period.”

“Of course. That’s why I’m asking. If you were going to send someone, you should have given them the Olive-related materials.”

“I sent a person who could bring about a more effective result than showing the headquarters’ strong intention to rectify the issue, or than me going there myself.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s no one who doesn’t know why I’m in charge of the European region head position at Mulsan.”

The office of the secretary and the strategic planning team had already spread rumors as far as the financial district’s gossip columns.

It was about the marriage of Executive Kang Moon-jung; it was impossible for the people of Daeyoung not to know.

Especially since there were no executives of Daeyoung’s affiliates who didn’t know about the process of my appointment as the head of the conglomerate division, where I ousted Park Je-dong and simultaneously cut off his right and left-hand men.

How could the overseas branches of the conglomerate, even amidst the noise from other affiliates, be unaware of such matters?

“The employee I sent to Spain this time was promoted directly by me from assistant manager to deputy manager.”

“I heard as much.”

“From the perspective of the branch there, he will be a more uncomfortable presence than if I had gone myself. They’ll think of him as my man. And since he wasn’t sent for anything related to Olive, the issue will become even more uncomfortable.”

“…”

“I believe I have already kindly conveyed my intentions and will to the branch manager by sending my man there. How they approach and resolve the matter related to Olive is purely a testament to the branch manager’s capabilities.”

At those words, Chairman Kang Ki-young let out a chuckle.

“I’ve already conveyed my intentions and will, so from now on, I’ll see how the branch manager handles the olive farm re-contracting issue. It will be a measure of that person’s capabilities, the olive business, and their sincerity towards me.”

Chairman Kang Ki-young opened the lid of a small box that was on his desk.

Inside were two walnuts, their luster betraying how often they had been handled.

He took them out, held them in his hand, and rubbed them together, creating a sound as if he were doing a grip strength exercise.

Then, the chairman slowly opened his mouth.

“Set a wedding date for the two of them, without pushing it to next month.”

It was a topic that had already been underlying my promotion to head of the conglomerate division, but it was the first time Chairman Kang Ki-young had mentioned a specific timeline.

“Moon-jung.”

“Yes, Grandfather.”

“What should this old man do for you as a wedding gift?”

Vice President Kang Young-jin received a promotion to vice president of the chemical division as a wedding gift for his marriage to Director Joo Yeon-hee.

“Three years. You would have grasped all there is to know about distribution in three years. Do you want to try more within it, or are you interested in looking at other businesses?”

“Grandfather, it’s not about that. My marriage. Please give me the opportunity to announce it myself. As a wedding gift, that would be enough for me.”

“You want to make the announcement yourself?”

“I would like that. I’m not a celebrity, and I don’t fancy announcing my marriage through planned media reports. Please let me announce our marriage to the world in my own style.”

“That’s really all you want? No changing your mind later?”

“I won’t.”

And then he asked me.

“Do you know what Daeyoung gave as a wedding gift to the VR Group when we arranged the vice president’s marriage?”

I know.

I know all too well.

That gift had put Kang Moon-jung, the sole legitimate heir of Daeyoung, at a disadvantage in the succession race against Vice President Kang Young-jin.

“Yes, I am aware.”

“What should I give you as a wedding gift then? What would be enough?”

“…”

“Don’t you want anything? You can have anything, just tell me.”