I’d Rather Live as a Villain

I’d Rather Live as a Villain – Episode 30

(Autumn was beginning)

“I was so out of it on my wedding day, I couldn’t even greet everyone properly.”

“Not at all. It happens to everyone. This gathering was arranged by the chairman so we could properly exchange those missed greetings. The couple couldn’t be more perfect.”

Kang Cheol-jin, owner of the Daeyoung Monsters.

With his help, I was able to naturally exchange greetings with many people.

“Brother.”

As I was about to follow Owner Kang Cheol-jin to greet others, Vice President Kang Young-jin approached us, champagne glass in hand.

Vice President Kang Young-jin.

A man more remarkable for his savvy than his skills.

During my three years living in Pyeongchang-dong, the Vice President Kang Young-jin I observed was certainly a man with many rough edges, yet in front of others, he knew how to hide those flaws, a sort of actor in his own right.

Because he was adept at navigating situations, he naturally possessed political power.

But…

But what should I say, that he tries too hard to cover his lack of ability with just his savvy? That he seems to run his business too politically?

That’s the strong impression he gives.

Such was Vice President Kang Young-jin, calling Owner Kang Cheol-jin ‘Brother’ as he came over to us.

“I’ll borrow our dear Yoon for a moment.”

In contrast, Owner Kang Cheol-jin was a figure without fault in both skill and savvy.

If the second son, Chairman Kang Man-ho, had not taken over the third-generation management of Daeyoung Group, and the eldest son, Kang Sang-ho, had, then without a doubt, the fourth-generation successor of Daeyoung Group would have been the team owner, Kang Cheol-jin.

“I also have some people I’d like to introduce to our Yoon husband. Is that okay?”

“Why are you asking me? Of course, it is.”

“Is Yoon husband okay with it too?”

“Yes, of course.”

I followed Vice President Kang Young-jin to where the people he wanted to meet were gathered.

The presidents of Daeyoung’s subsidiaries.

Especially those who were backing Vice President Kang Young-jin as the successor.

While formally greeting them, I thought to myself:

Even though they were appointed by Chairman Kang Man-ho’s Daeyoung, not the great Chairman Kang Ki-young’s, they still know too little about the absolute ruler of the Daeyoung family, Chairman Kang Ki-young.

Perhaps that’s why they’re backing Vice President Kang Young-jin, not Executive Director Kang Moon-jung.

Foolish people.

It was when I had just finished exchanging greetings with the people Vice President Kang Young-jin introduced.

A staff member from Daeyoung Hotel’s banquet hall, helping with the party event, was passing by us.

Vice President Kang Young-jin took a champagne glass from the tray being served and handed it to me, slowly moving as if to signal me to follow him.

We took our place in front of a small round table prepared with tea-time cookies.

“It seems they’ve clashed again.”

Where Vice President Kang Young-jin’s gaze stopped, Executive Director Kang Moon-jung and Director Joo Yeon-hee stood side by side, looking at us.

I immediately understood what he meant by ‘clashed again.’

The executive director, arms crossed over his chest.

And next to him, Director Joo Yeon-hee, her face flushed red.

On a day like today, one would usually hold back…

No doubt, he must have caught Director Joo Yeon-hee like catching a mouse.

It’s not a frequent occurrence, but these two periodically clash.

Seeing this, one might think Director Joo Yeon-hee is quite enduring.

If it were me, I would avoid or step back from a fight I couldn’t win.

But she’s not like that at all.

It makes me wonder if she feels a thrill from being scolded and hit.

“Whenever I see those two, I feel like I’ve become a sinner.”

Out of the blue, Vice President Kang Young-jin nonchalantly spat out those words as he picked up a cookie to taste.

Before I knew it, the Executive Director and Director Joo Yeon-hee, who had been standing side by side under the pine tree, were now turning their backs on each other, parting ways.

“Does Executive Director Yoon know? Those two used to be quite close.”

No way.

I’m listening as if to say, “Sure, if you say so,” but it can’t be.

They’re completely different types of people; even if they were close, how close could they have been?

And the Executive Director inherently dislikes making friends.

Should I say he’s quite dry when it comes to that?

They must have been just acquaintances, keeping a certain distance within the circle of conglomerate heirs.

“Our marriage was the problem. Ever since I married her, we clash every time we meet.”

“…”

“If she hadn’t married me, maybe she would have caught the bouquet that Moon Jung threw at Executive Director Yoon’s wedding.”

Vice President Kang Young-jin lightly touched the champagne glass to his lips and then pulled away.

And he continued.

“It’s quite a predicament for me. Every time we meet, there’s a problem. In any other household, I would tell Moon Jung to stop it, to try to get along, playing the role of a brother, but as you know, Executive Director Yoon, I’m not in a position to do that. Nor can I just tell my wife to endure it, to avoid it…”

What exactly does he want to say to me?

“From now on, I need Executive Director Yoon’s help a lot.”

“Me? What can I…”

“It’s uncomfortable for us, and there’s no need to let others see that discomfort. What’s this? Inviting people over to the house, and in front of everyone. It’s senseless.”

It sounds right when I listen, but if you think about it a little, it’s quite funny.

Of course, it’s rude to show such a scene in front of guests who have been invited to celebrate a happy occasion in the family.

But among the guests invited here, who doesn’t know that the relationship between the two is strained due to the succession issue?

It’s ridiculous to make a fuss over something that everyone attending the party today already knows…

“We can’t avoid seeing each other for life. And it’s draining for both to act like this every time we meet. I think Executive Director Yoon is flexible in that regard. That’s why I’m saying this.”

“Yes, I understand. I’m not sure if it’s something I can do, but I’ll do my best.”

That was the only answer I could give Vice President Kang Young-jin at this moment.

“How’s married life?”

“What do you mean?”

“A lot must have changed. Your face even made it to the newspapers, and the photo of you at the baseball stadium is still floating around on communities and SNS.”

“I’m not sure. It seems like it, but I don’t think anything has changed from before.”

“Being busy with company work, I haven’t had time to go out, so maybe that’s why I haven’t noticed. Are you treating Mr. Yoon well?”

Vice President Kang Young-jin looked at me with a peculiar gaze, as if he knew all about my contractual marriage with Mr. Yoon.

Yes.

That’s all you amount to.

That’s the difference between you and Mr. Yoon.

In an unavoidable situation, I wouldn’t know, but Mr. Yoon isn’t someone who would go out of his way to create such a setting just to say and ask things he doesn’t mean.

On the other hand, you, who have become accustomed to covering up your lack of ability with social skills and political power, are someone who needs to create such occasions just to reassure your anxious heart.

I throw a bait towards Vice President Kang Young-jin.

“Mr. Yoon?”

“Mr. Yoon?”

As expected, Vice President Kang Young-jin bites the bait I’ve thrown without straying from my expectations.

With an exaggerated tilt of his head and a wrinkle between his brows, he asked,

“Do you still call him Mr. Yoon to Moon-jeong? Don’t tell me the two of you… even after getting married, are still formal with each other?”

The reason I threw the bait.

It was to convey the message that we should avoid such meaningless meetings in the future.

“Because you called him Mr. Yoon.”

“…What?”

“You called him Mr. Yoon’s husband in public, but Mr. Yoon when we’re alone, so I thought you meant to always keep a line… Just in case, I addressed Moon-jeong as Mr. Yoon.”

At my words, Vice President Kang Young-jin hesitated for a moment, then tilted his champagne glass with an unnatural smile on his face.

“Did I do that? Sorry. The name Mr. Yoon… just stuck with me.”

As if.

I might have pretended to believe you if you said it was Mr. Yoon’s assistant that stuck.

How long has it been since I started being called Mr. Yoon and hearing the title of director, for Mr. Yoon to have stuck already?

***

The thought I had when I first received the proposal for a contractual marriage from Executive Moon-jeong Kang and decided to jump into the queenmaker race.

I thought it would be a race with enough chances of winning.

Of course, for me, whether Mr. Yoon wins or loses in the succession competition, as long as I receive the promised 10 billion, that would be enough. But still, if I had thought it was a race without a chance, I would have felt guilty when accepting the proposal.

However, from what I saw, it was a race with enough possibility, a race with a chance of winning.

Many people misunderstand Chairman Kang Ki-young as a man of the old times, but his decision to personally choose his children’s succession is evidence that he is not so outdated.

On the contrary, he is quite innovative.

If he were truly an old-fashioned man, adhering to traditional methods, he would naturally have placed his eldest son, Kang Sang-ho, in the third-generation succession of Daeyoung Group.

There is no moral flaw in Kang Sang-ho, and while his in-laws may not be at the level of Hanshin Newspaper, they are not a family to be taken lightly either.

Yet, Chairman Kang Ki-young chose Chairman Kang Man-ho, who is considered the most qualified and outstanding, as the third-generation successor.

Chairman Kang Ki-young feels a greater sense of responsibility towards Daeyoung Group as its leader than as a parent towards his children.

Skills, ability, quality.

I was confident that he would not give the succession to Vice President Kang Young-jin just because he is his son.

And this confidence was not from the children or grandchildren who tense up at the name Kang Ki-young, but from a third party like me, who therefore could only be more objective.

I trusted my eyes.

Many people think Vice President Kang Young-jin has an advantage in the succession structure because he is a son compared to Executive Director Kang Moon-jung.

But ironically, if you strip away the layer that Kang Young-jin is a son and objectively assess the two, the only thing better about Vice President Kang Young-jin compared to Executive Director Kang Moon-jung is that he is a son.

VR Group as in-laws?

Is that content of any value from the perspective of Chairman Kang Ki-young, who established the Daeyoung Republic in South Korea?

Even if you combine the market capitalization of all VR Group’s subsidiaries, it cannot surpass that of our Daeyoung Corporation.

The influence of Vice President Kang Young-jin’s in-laws may help him ascend to the succession, but that’s only when the half-siblings’ abilities are equal, and in the current situation, it cannot play a decisive role.

It doesn’t matter if Executive Director Kang Moon-jung is the only legitimate successor of Daeyoung, or if Vice President Kang Young-jin is a son.

The forces within Daeyoung Group that support the Executive Director or the Vice President are meaningless, just nonsense created by connoisseurs interested in other people’s affairs.

Only skills, ability, quality… and how much trust you can give to Chairman Kang Ki-young will determine the fourth-generation succession.

In two days, on Monday.

As soon as I arrived at work, I had Secretary Joo Dong-jin call in Chief Choi Jang-ho of the European Division, Deputy Chief Oh Ji-won, and Manager Son Jae-kyu of Ebuldog (Italy, France, Germany) to my office.

First, I instructed Deputy Chief Oh Ji-won.

“Daeyoung Distribution says they will assign a wine MD in charge of liquor.”

“Yes.”

“Include that person in the inspection team going to Andalusia. Here’s the business card of the person in charge.”

“Yes, I will contact them and coordinate the schedule.”

Even then, Manager Son Jae-kyu of Ebuldog had no clue why he was called to this room with Chief Choi Jang-ho and Deputy Chief Oh Ji-won.

“And this.”

Among the two envelopes received from Pyeongchang-dong, I handed the one from Chairman Kang Man-ho to Deputy Chief Oh Ji-won.

“The Madrid branch. The chairman personally took care of this as a token of appreciation for the big achievement with the olive re-contracting, and he expects more good news in the future.”

The chairman’s special bonus.

At the gathering, Chief Choi, Deputy Chief Oh, and Manager Son were taken aback by the unexpected group-level recognition.

“And the chairman mentioned high expectations for the current Sherry Wine project. Deputy Chief Oh Ji-won will take this with him when he crosses over; let’s all have a dinner together with it. I’ve exchanged the contents for euros.”

“…Yes.”

Then, he brought out the special bonus given by Chairman Kang Ki-young.

“This is the special bonus Chairman Kang Ki-young personally prepared for our entire European Division to have a dinner.”

At the mention of Chairman Kang Ki-young’s name, Chief Choi, Deputy Chief Oh, and Manager Son’s eyes widened as if they were about to pop out, frozen for a moment.

“A dinner needs a pretext, and this time, the pretext for the dinner is…”

After glancing at Manager Son Jae-gyu, he turned his gaze back to Chief Choi Jang-ho and said,

“I think it would be good to celebrate the promotion of Manager Son Jae-gyu to Deputy Chief.”

“…!”

Only Deputy Chief Oh Ji-won, who seemed to have anticipated my thoughts, smiled faintly, while Chief Choi Jang-ho and Manager Son Jae-gyu’s jaws dropped, blinking several times in disbelief.

“The personnel announcement will be made around lunchtime today. From now on, the European Division will be split into two: the first part led by Deputy Chief Oh Ji-won, including the Spain team and the ETC team, and the second part led by Deputy Chief Son Jae-gyu, awaiting the Bulldog team.”

Before long, Chief Choi Jang-ho, seemingly indifferent to the new organizational chart of the European Division, nodded his head with relief at the fact of Manager Son’s promotion, which had been a burden on his mind.

However, Manager Son Jae-gyu kept alternating his gaze between me and Chief Choi Jang-ho, and then between me and Deputy Chief Oh Ji-won, as if he couldn’t quite believe what I was saying.

“I’ll also attend the dinner for a short while, just to show my face. Once the dinner location is decided, please inform me of the time and place through Secretary Joo.”

There was no need to explain in detail to me how important the European Division is right now, why they need to do well, or how much performance they need to deliver.

All I had to do was provide them with the motivation to bring out the level of performance and results I wanted, to ensure they would do their best.

Two months later.

Unbelievable news came from Deputy Chief Oh Ji-won, who had gone to Andalusia for the fourth inspection.

The Kinzone Winery, which accounts for one-third of the global Sherry Wine production.

The news that he had secured a five-year exclusive contract with them at a very cost-effective margin.

Deputy Chief Oh Ji-won’s project, which had been overshadowed by the Olive Project I had planned five years ago.

Just three months after I entered as the head of the European Division of Mulsan, and only two months after carrying out the project, it bore fruit.

A result more fitting to be called a miracle than a lie.

And so, autumn was beginning.