I’d Rather Live as a Villain

79 Be prepared for what’s to come.

“The Goldline’s daily sales report for yesterday has just been posted. We’ve finally surpassed 5,000 units in daily sales.”

Nationwide, Goldline stores have finally surpassed a total of 5,000 units in daily sales of the Marco coffee machines.

Director Choi Jang-ho brought this pleasant news to my office.

It was just as lunchtime ended and we were transitioning into the afternoon work hours.

“If we keep up this pace, we might even expect to reach 6,000 or 7,000 units, don’t you think?”

There’s a limit to how many machines can be sold.

They’re not consumables, after all.

Moreover, the Marco brand is known for its durability.

It’s virtually unknown how long this upward trend in sales can continue.

Director Choi isn’t one to make such comments without knowing this.

It’s evidence that the excitement has risen, and I felt the need to match that enthusiasm.

“6,000 units, 7,000 units. We must reach that, no matter what.”

Director Choi was very positive about the current situation, where the machine sales, which had been stagnant for a while, were climbing steeply again, especially with the capsule machines following the launch of the Hirate.

Over the past six months, Goldline’s franchise business has spread rapidly across the country like wildfire.

Eventually, in the coffee franchise market, it ranked first among domestic brands and third overall, starting to fiercely chase Ediya Coffee, which is second in the industry in terms of the number of franchises.

“How about the offline sales, excluding the Goldline ETC products?”

“They are also climbing sharply. The influence of Shinlong coffee capsules is significant at the moment.”

“What about the sales of the semi-automatic machines?”

“The sales of the semi-automatic machines are also on a steady rise, albeit gradual.”

Now is the time to prepare an aggressive deal with Marco’s parent company, CMG.

Goldline’s expansion into the Chinese market is about to begin.

The Distribution FP division is also rapidly preparing for the entry into the Mongolian market, where the Daeyoung Mart and Daeyoung convenience store brands are making a significant impact, and at the same time, they are fully prepared to target the Southeast Asian markets of Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam, which are under the influence of the Korean Wave.

“First of all, it seems like we’ve proven all the confident claims we made when we first won the brand contract with Marco, right?”

“More than enough. Right now, there’s even talk from CMG that their chairman wants to visit Korea personally. He says he needs to see for himself how such sales volumes can occur in the Korean market, as he can hardly believe it even with the monthly reports.”

“We can’t skim off the margins from CMG, but let’s try to increase the credit note ratio a bit more.”

At that, Director Choi nodded confidently, considering the current sales momentum and the simultaneous overseas market expansions of Goldline, indicating that there was enough content to put in a deal.

“That’s what we have to do. We’re breaking through the ceiling, and in the coffee machine industry, we’re playing a major role in CMG’s market share game. We have to take as much as we can. The credit note issue is already being prepared by Assistant Manager Son for the next business trip.”

“Assistant Manager Sohn, are you going on another business trip?”

“Because of the Tomhas case, it seems I’m traveling even more than when I was a manager. Hahaha. This time, I’ll request a different cover design for the same model from Marco, and since the semi-automatic machines are so popular, I’ll check out other models in a similar price range as well.”

Having become such seasoned players, there really wasn’t much for me to directly handle regarding the Marco machines once the business had gotten on track.

I was in the middle of a meeting, having just heard some pleasant news through Chief Choi, when we were about to move on to other matters.

Knock. Knock.

The sound of knocking was heard, and unexpectedly, Joo Dong-jin entered and stood by the door.

“Director, Executive Na Dae-woong is outside.”

I doubted my ears for a moment.

Up until then, neither Chief Choi nor I knew that Executive Na was at our headquarters.

At his words, both Chief Choi and I sprang up from our seats without a moment’s hesitation.

“What? Why? Oh, no. How?”

“It seems he was in a meeting with the president just before.”

What more was there to say?

I quickly told Joo Dong-jin to bring him in, and together with Chief Choi, I went up to the entrance.

“Executive Na!”

Now, the owner of the European Regional Headquarters office had changed to me.

Just like someone visiting their beloved hometown, Executive Na Dae-woong entered.

“Oh my! Choi Jang-ho! It’s been a while?”

“Executive Na!”

Chief Choi, more surprised than I, had his shoulders lightly patted by Executive Na Dae-woong, who then spoke.

“I hope I’m not intruding on an important discussion with my untimely visit?”

Neither Chief Choi nor I could say it wasn’t so, and we were both quite flustered by the unexpected appearance of Executive Na in my office.

“The president suggested we have lunch together. I got hooked. After lunch, I was dragged all the way here.”

“Then, have you finished your discussion with the president?”

“If that were the case, it would be a shame to just go back, so I thought I’d take a look around this office, which I haven’t seen in a while, just for old times’ sake.”

Soon, Chief Choi Jang-ho grasped the overall picture of the situation and tactfully offered to leave the room first.

“Then, I’ll be heading down.”

* * *

He said he already had coffee with President Min.

I offered to prepare some water, but he declined that as well.

“I’ve come this far, and it would be a shame to just turn back, so I stopped by to say hello. I can’t keep a busy person sitting around for too long.”

Though he said that, there must be a significant reason for him to have come all the way to the Mulsan headquarters.

Did President Min finally persuade Executive Director Na?

“Did your meeting with the president go well?”

“Director Yoon Tae-sik.”

“Yes.”

“Let me ask you a few things.”

“Yes, please feel free to speak.”

It seemed like he had already made up his mind.

“Division Chief Jeon Chung-heon said he recommended me to the president, but I know him, and he knows me. I can’t believe that in the current situation, he would recommend me for the president’s position at Mulsan. He’s not the political type. Is this your doing, Director Yoon?”

“It could be seen that way, or maybe not.”

“I don’t like beating around the bush. Let’s talk straightforwardly. Things get more bothersome as you age.”

“It was Division Chief Jeon Chung-heon who recommended Executive Director Na to the president. I haven’t directly brought up Executive Director Na to the president.”

Executive Director Na looked at me with disbelief, narrowing his eyes.

“I just asked if you could help me out. No matter how much I think about it, it seems right for the president to assist President Kang Moon-jung at the group headquarters, but now it seems there’s no justification for moving up to the group headquarters.”

After listening to me, he nodded briefly and then looked at me, indicating for me to continue.

“Vice President Kang Young-jin has moved to electronics. If President Min immediately expresses a desire to move to the group headquarters, the grounds for opposition become too clear. It’s obvious to anyone that it’s a move to prevent Vice President Kang Young-jin’s faction from dominating.”

“That’s why I was needed.”

“If Executive Director Na returns to Mulsan, especially to the president’s office, President Min Byung-jin’s move to the group headquarters will gain that much more momentum. Executive Director Na’s very presence in Mulsan is a probability. A business genius. We’re bringing such a person back to the president’s office at Mulsan. From the chairman’s perspective, if Executive Director Na takes charge of Mulsan, there would be no hesitation in welcoming President Min’s move to the group headquarters. I only discussed that much with Division Chief Jeon Chung-heon.”

“So, it is your doing after all.”

He didn’t come here to argue about that.

“Hey, Tae-sik.”

“Yes.”

“It’s just the two of us here, no one else around, so it’s okay to call me informally. I’m not affiliated with Mulsan, nor do I receive a salary from Daeyoung.”

“Yes, please speak comfortably.”

“Don’t you resent me?”

“Me? Resent you? Why?”

“You know… when I was transferred from Mulsan to the group secretariat. Ultimately, all that happened because I, who was overseeing the European region at the time, failed to see the truth about the Andalusian farm case, foolishly giving all my support to Bak Je-dong.”

To that, I replied.

“Thanks to that, I was transferred to the group secretariat and married President Kang Moon-jung.”

The executive seemed incredulous, letting out a hollow laugh.

“Someone deliberately cut it out in the middle, how could you have known, sir? I’ve never once resented you. And now, I’m actually so grateful for that crisis back then. It’s all in the past, why dwell on it?”

The executive’s response was a masterpiece.

“It’s embarrassing.”

“What?”

“Wouldn’t you be embarrassed? Imagine a friend, who had to wrap up their life in commerce because you didn’t take care of things properly, recommended you for the president’s position. Wouldn’t that embarrass you?”

“If it were me, I’d take the president’s position and do my utmost for that friend.”

“That’s what I would do too… but I feel sorry that I didn’t recognize your hard work during the Andalusia incident, and you had to leave without proper compensation.”

“…”

“Sigh, really… Why call me at a time like this?”

“What timing are you referring to?”

The executive spoke with a look that said, ‘You know what I mean, why pretend you don’t?’

“Right now, whether it’s the European Division or the Overseas Construction Division, aren’t they all hitting their peak with Billing’s pick? If you called me when things weren’t going so well, I’d at least feel like a relief pitcher. But calling me when everything’s peaking, from my position, even if I do well, it’s just breaking even, and if not, I’m a traitor.”

“Have you decided to take the president’s position?”

I mustered the most sly charm I could and approached the executive warmly, asking.

“You said you’d do your best for that friend, right? I think that’s the right thing to do, Taesik.”

“Yes.”

“Just to let you know in advance, I’m different from President Min.”

“Yes, I’m aware.”

“I’ve already left commerce once. I’m just stepping in temporarily to help President Min move up to the group headquarters. I won’t be here for more than a year or two.”

“…Yes.”

“In those one or two years, I’ll only focus on Billing’s turnover for commerce. You can’t expect more from me than that.”

“Of course.”

“In that sense, I might nurture an ace, but I won’t nurture a supporter.”

It didn’t take long to understand what that meant.

“The head of the European Division for commerce needs to be commerce’s ace, not a supporter for distribution. I don’t know much about being Daeyoung’s successor… but the moment I take the president’s position and start at commerce again, I’ll solely focus on promoting and growing you.”

“I understand.”

“It’s not just something to be aware of.”

“…Yes?”

“It’s something to be prepared for.”

“Instead of using the word ‘resolve’ which sounds too solemn, how about we use ‘anticipation’?”

Pleased with the reaction I showed, Executive Director Na continued with a smile.

“I didn’t know you were such a sly friend before. It’s a pity. If I had known you earlier, and thus could have seen the whole situation more objectively, I might have been able to do so much more with you… that’s what I think.”

“We can do it from now on.”

At that, Executive Director Na nodded several times and stood up.

“Get to work. We’ll see each other again soon, so let’s save the greetings for then.”

After seeing Executive Director Na to the elevator corridor, I immediately knocked on the president’s office door.

President Min greeted me comfortably, as if he knew I would come looking for him.

“Are you done talking with Executive Director Na?”

We moved to the sofa.

“Did you already discuss with the chairman about moving up to the group headquarters?”

There’s an order to everything, and it’s unlikely that he promised the president’s position to Executive Director Na without any permission granted for the move to the group headquarters yet.

“I had dinner with the chairman yesterday.”

“What did he say?”

“He told me to come up. He said he would leave the head of HR vacant, so let’s start life at the group headquarters as head of HR for now.”

The head of HR at the group headquarters.

It’s a weighty position.

It might even be more significant than the position of the group’s secretary-general.

I’m already looking forward to seeing how the people on Kang Young-jin’s side will react the moment President Min moves up to the group headquarters.

“Did he just tell you to go ahead with it?”

“Of course. I sold the chairman’s son-in-law right in front of him.”

“What?”

“Don’t you know the chairman? The moment I requested a position at the group headquarters, he was sharp about the reason. How could I fabricate or omit words in front of such a chairman?”

“You sold me out?”

“Just as it is. I conveyed to the chairman exactly the request that the division head had made to me.”

“…”

“He actually liked it. That’s just the kind of person he is, the division head’s father-in-law.”

Isn’t this getting more and more exciting?

What kind of ripple effects will occur when President Min like this moves up to the group headquarters?