He threw the remote control towards the TV, but the monitor remained intact. It was as if the TV itself was mocking him.
"From now on, make sure I don't see the name 'Sunyang' in front of my eyes."
In the conference room, the chairman and executives of Sunyang Electronics began to feel uneasy about the Sunyang mobile phones in their pockets. Fortunately, they had turned them off.
"Did no one know about this? Didn't you put people on Song Hyun-chang and Oh Se-hyun?"
"Until last night, there was no sign of any unusual activity."
"Were you all blind? What can't you see?"
Someone spoke up with a creeping tone, but all that followed was the chairman's furious outburst.
"How many phone calls did it take for those three to negotiate such an agreement? They must have met dozens of times. What on earth are you people doing?"
After ranting for a while, the chairman seemed to realize that now was not the time for tantrums.
"We didn't see this sneak attack coming. Now, tell me how we can make up for it."
No one was quick to speak up.
Bidding on an item in an auction is not like buying a single item. It's more like calling out the highest price and winning the bid. If 1 trillion won isn't enough, then you can spend 2 trillion or 3 trillion.
However, the bidding documents include a very important item called "non-price factors."
Especially in the case of acquisitions by top-tier conglomerates like A-jin Group, it is an extension of high-level political maneuvers.
They need the support of the Blue House, government ministries, and the National Assembly.
The merger of Sunyang and A-jin looks good on paper and seems reasonable. Isn't it obvious that if Daehyun swallows it, tens of thousands will lose their jobs?
The presidential election is the day after tomorrow. How much of a burden would it be for the ruling party candidate to create tens of thousands of unemployed?
"Aren't you all too quiet, even the ones with your eyes wide open? Have you turned into honey-drinking mute bees? Why aren't you saying anything?"
Chairman Ju Young-il, after scanning the conference room once, looked at the speechless executives and let out a bitter laugh.
"Starting now, I'm giving you two hours. Find every possible way to turn the situation around. Mobilize every possible lobbying effort, even if it means using relatives and friends. Apply pressure, whether they're 9th-grade government employees or bank clerks. Use all means necessary."
The chairman took out his mobile phone and left the conference room.
First stop: the Blue House!
"Father, we can't let this happen."
"Just sit down for now. Would you like a drink, at least?"
Vice-Chairman Jin opened the study door abruptly and entered, Chairman Jin looked at his eldest son with a displeased expression.
"You're abandoning the automobile industry? Won't you regret this?"
Jin Yeong-gi, the vice chairman, struggled to hold back what he really wanted to say, and his forehead showed signs of irritation.
Cars that couldn't escape from the bottom of the heap for years, cars drowning in deficits, they could all be abandoned. But having to learn about such a critical decision for the group through the TV!
As the eldest son of the founder and vice chairman of the group, if he were young, there would be no words to say. However, he was already in his mid-fifties. How long did he have to be treated like a child?
"I threw it because there's nothing to regret. The deficits in the car industry can all be attributed to them, and we can toss them aside together..."
"Father!" Due to his father's seemingly indifferent words, Jin Yeong-gi finally exploded. He couldn't hold back what he wanted to say any longer. "How could you not say a single word to me? Should I find out about such an important matter for the group through TV? Is that all I'm worth? Will I be too embarrassed to use my title of vice chairman somewhere?"
As he raised his voice and spoke assertively, Chairman Jin watched him in silence for a while.
"President Cho Dae-ho has brought me all the approval documents until now. A person like that personally announced the enormous event of the Sunyang Auto merger. If you think about how much he must have laughed while getting my approvals... wouldn't you have considered me a mere scarecrow?"
The louder his son's voice became, the colder Chairman Jin's expression became sterner.
If Jin Yeong-gi had managed to calm down a little, he might have noticed his father's change. But once emotions erupted, they clouded his vision.
"Are you going to continue? Do you have more to say?"
"What?" Jin Yeong-gi only realized when he heard the icy tone in Chairman Jin's voice. He had gone too far.
"After letting out your disappointments and anger, should we move on to the next topic?"
"...?"
Jin Yeong-gi couldn't grasp what the next topic was.
"What's wrong? Is getting angry all there is to it?" The amused laughter was unmistakably mocking. Jin Yeong-gi's clenched fist trembled.
"Father!"
"Calm down, you brat!" As Chairman Jin slammed the desk, Jin Yeong-gi's fist slowly relaxed.
"What? Are you embarrassed by the title of vice chairman? And what's this about a scarecrow?"
"Oh, Father... That's not what I meant"
"No way! You received the vice chairman's business card at the age of over forty. If you weren't my son? If someone crawled up from the bottom and grabbed that business card, they wouldn't feel ashamed for even a second. No... wouldn't you be eager to have any kind of board member's business card?"
Jin Yeong-gi couldn't bring himself to respond, but he trembled with intense humiliation.
"Out of what you said, one thing sounds reasonable. Scarecrow, there's probably no better word."
"Really... you're going too far."
"I'm going too far? Me? Aren't you acting like a scarecrow yourself? Right now too." Chairman Jin, who had somewhat softened his voice, seemed to pity his somewhat inadequate son. "Yeong-gi."
"Yes."
Approaching Jin Yeong-gi, who couldn't lift his bowed head, Chairman Jin placed his hand on his son's shoulder. "Even if you only do one-tenth of what others do, that position can become yours."
At the tip of the hand Chairman Jin was pointing with, there was a desk chair.
"Don't be impatient. Focus solely on the future of Sunyang, on nurturing and protecting it with all your might. That's all you need to do."
Chairman Jin, still looking at his son with bowed head, was a father who, despite his old age, was teaching his grown-up son, feeling sorry for himself.