Chapter 20: Are You Going to Keep Using Informal Speech?

“Everyone checked the ledgers well, right? Get the bank account bundles and documents out quickly and prepare,” Twin Blades urged.

“Yes, Boss!”

The office staff responded energetically to Twin Blades’ hurrying.

Twin Blades muttered to himself while exhaling cigarette smoke.

“Sigh… Why did it have to start with me, damn it?”

* * *

As Chief Ha and I entered the office, the seated secretary stood up.

“Hello, Chief Ha.”

“It’s been a while, Miss Seong.”

“Yes, please go right in.”

“Alright, see you later.”

Inside the president’s office, five or six men were standing, and Twin Blades was sitting in the center chair.

Seeing Chief Ha and me, he jumped up from his seat and approached.

“Oh my! Chief Ha, it’s been a long time!”

Chief Ha simply nodded without saying much.

Only then did Twin Blades look at me.

“Is this the Chairman’s grandson? Nice to meet you, I’m Kim Ho-sik. I heard you just entered university? Seoul National University Law School at that! I graduated from Yeonsung University, so if you have any questions about college life, feel free to ask me anytime. I’ll give you some advice as a senior.”

He spoke to me informally from the start, perhaps trying to establish dominance.

The smile disappeared from Chief Ha’s face.

However, Chief Ha didn’t say or do anything in particular.

This was because of a request I had made before coming up.

“Chief Ha, no matter what happens, please don’t intervene. I’ll handle it myself.”

“Are you sure? He’s not an easy character. He graduated from a prestigious university and rose to that position in just a few years after entering this field.”

“He’s still just the Chairman’s underling, right? If I can’t handle people like him, how will I deal with CEOs of large corporations?”

Chief Ha sighed softly.

“I understand.”

“…Alright. But I’ll intervene if there’s any safety issue.”

“Okay, I won’t stop you from that.”

It was an obvious ploy.

I didn’t get flustered and responded with a smile.

“Haha, so you’re my senior. Nice to meet you. Let’s sit down, shall we, Senior Kim Ho-sik?”

“Sure, sure, junior. Come on, sit down.”

Twin Blades sat prominently in the main seat.

And the burly men standing behind him.

‘This bastard’s been like this from the start, huh?’

I sat down with a smile on my face.

Chief Ha remained standing behind me.

“Is Chief Ha going to keep standing?”

Twin Blades asked. But Chief Ha ignored his words and continued standing.

Feeling awkward, Kim Ho-sik picked up the phone.

“Miss Seong, bring some coffee here. Oh, just two cups.”

As I saw Twin Blades put down the phone, I immediately spoke.

“Then, could you show me the ledger first?”

“Junior, are we starting already? Shouldn’t we take it slow?”

“I’m not used to this yet, so it might take me a while. Let’s start quickly. Could you give me the ledger first?”

Kim Ho-sik nodded to one of the burly men behind him.

The man brought the ledger and held it out to me.

“Thanks.”

I leisurely opened the ledger I had received.

The door opened, and the secretary entered with coffee.

The secretary placed a cup of coffee in front of me and another in front of President Kim, then left.

“Junior, have some coffee while you work. Is there anything to see?”

“Yes.”

I answered but continued reviewing the ledger.

‘The ledger seems to have no problems at all… But this bastard can’t be this clean, can he? Hmm…’

After thoroughly scrutinizing it, the ledger appeared to have no issues.

I put down the ledger and smiled.

“As expected of a senior, you’ve organized everything neatly. Now, could you give me the Chairman’s bank accounts?”

Twin Blades nodded to his men again, and one of them approached me with a bundle of bank books.

A total of 12 bank books.

I looked at Chief Ha, who nodded.

“Twelve, that’s correct. I’ll be taking these now. It’s the Chairman’s orders.”

“What?”

Twin Blades’ eyes widened.

“The Chairman ordered all the proxy bank accounts used to manage the branch managers to be collected and brought back. Is there a problem?”

“The Chairman said that?”

“Yes.”

Twin Blades’ expression changed at the mention of collecting the bank accounts.

He was trying to maintain his composure, but his eyes were darting back and forth.

‘This bastard must have touched the anonymous accounts.’

Twin Blades, who had been fidgeting, confronted me.

“Junior, come on now. How can you suddenly collect them like this? Are you sure it’s really the Chairman’s order?”

“Yes, why would I lie to you, senior? Especially about something that would be discovered over time.”

“Hmm…”

“Or is there a problem with collecting the bank accounts? If there is, please tell me now.”

Twin Blades jumped up and exclaimed.

“What? No, there’s nothing like that! How could you think that? It’s just sudden, that’s all.”

As Twin Blades waved his hands and laughed, I laughed along with him.

“That’s good then.”

“Of course, of course.”

Handing over the bank books to Chief Ha, I said,

“Chief Ha, I’d like to have a private conversation with President Kim… These gentlemen in the back are a bit distracting. Could you clear them out?”

“Yes.”

Chief Ha looked at the burly men standing behind Twin Blades.

“The young master wants to speak with President Kim alone, so everyone except President Kim, please leave.”

But the burly men didn’t budge at Chief Ha’s words.

Chief Ha’s brow furrowed.

Seeing his expression change, Twin Blades hurriedly shouted at the men,

“Hey! You guys, get out!”

“Yes, Boss.”

Trying to act like gangsters when they’ve clearly seen better days.

After the thugs left, only three people remained in the quiet office.

“Chief Ha, could you please wait outside for a moment too?”

“Pardon?”

“I’d like to have a one-on-one conversation.”

“Hmm…”

“Please.”

“Understood. I’ll wait by the door.”

“Yes.”

After Chief Ha bowed and went outside, I wiped the smile off my face and looked at Twin Blades.

But Twin Blades just snorted.

“Hey, junior? What kind of conversation are you trying to have by setting the mood like this? Are you trying to scare this senior? Hahaha.”

I leaned towards Kim Ho-sik and whispered in a low voice,

“Hey, Kim Ho-sik. If you’re a servant, act like one. Are you trying to see if I’m shit or soybean paste by tasting me? Can’t you read the room?”

Kim Ho-sik shouted at my words.

“What did you say, you bastard?”

I pressed down on Kim Ho-sik’s shoulder as he tried to stand up.

“Hey, Twin Blades, stop pretending to be tough and listen carefully. I know all about your little games. Look, I understand you need to make a living, so I might be able to turn a blind eye to some extent. But touching the Chairman’s accounts? That’s crossing a line.”

“…What?”

“The Chairman’s proxy accounts, the ones even Chief Ha doesn’t know about. Why didn’t you bring those?”

“…”

“What? Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

“Did the Chairman tell you?”

“Figure that out yourself. Now, bring those accounts too. Quickly.”

“…Give me some time.”

I removed my hand from his shoulder and said,

“Looks like you still can’t read the room. Bring the accounts right now. If you don’t bring them within 10 minutes, I’m reporting to the Chairman.”

These were the Chairman’s secret proxy accounts, four of them, each containing 100 billion won.

Chairman Cheon had entrusted a total of 400 billion won in proxy accounts to the Myeong-dong branch managers, without even Chief Ha’s knowledge.

I learned about this after the real-name financial system was implemented. The anonymous accounts were under names of non-existent people, so the 400 billion won inside had simply evaporated.

“…Please give me a month. I’m begging you.”

“Begging me?”

“Please give me a month, young master.”

“Prepare it within two weeks. Not a single won should be missing.”

“…Yes.”

Patting Kim Ho-sik’s shoulder, I said,

“Senior, take it easy. The Chairman knows but is pretending not to. You’ve worked hard to get to this position, why go back down to the bottom of Myeong-dong? You’re a university graduate, unlike the other managers. Why are you acting like this? Let’s make good decisions.”

Twin Blades’ expression soured, but his words were respectful.

“Yes, young master. I’ll be more careful from now on.”

“The same goes for other managers, and if I hear any strange rumors from my uncles, things will get really complicated. You understand, right?”

“Yes.”

I put a smile back on my face.

“Senior, the ledger seems fine, and the proxy accounts look good too. I’ll come back for the rest in two weeks.”

“Understood, young master.”

“And let’s stop imitating gangsters. Why keep those thugs around trying to act like mobsters? Use some proper people if you must.”

With those final words, I stood up.

“I came to you first, President Kim, because I thought you were worth working with. You’re a graduate from a good university and you’re smart, so you understand what I mean, right?”

“…”

Twin Blades couldn’t do anything as I walked towards the door.

When I opened the door, Chief Ha was waiting.

“I heard some shouting…”

“There wasn’t any problem. We had a good talk. Let’s go back now.”

“Yes, young master.”

On the way out of the office,

The thugs lined up were wearing fierce expressions, as if they had been ordered to intimidate me beforehand.

Hahaha, how cute.

I passed by them, laughing inwardly.

After returning home, I reported to my grandfather.

“I’ve checked all the ledgers and received the proxy accounts. There are twelve in total, correct?”

“Yes. Were there any problems?”

“He seemed to be a person we could reason with.”

“Haha, you could reason with him?”

“Yes, I received the handover without much trouble. I’ve arranged to get reports every two weeks.”

“Is that so? It must not have been easy, but you did well.”

“Thank you.”

“You have to go to school tomorrow, so go up and rest.”

“Yes, I’ll go up now. Rest well, Chairman.”

Back in my room on the second floor, I lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.

‘I’ve got leverage on Twin Blades for now… I wonder if the others have been tampering with the accounts too? That would make things easier… First, I need to collect the accounts and before the real-name financial system is announced, I should convince grandfather to move the money elsewhere. But how can I convince him?’

Deep in thought, I soon fell asleep.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the study, Chairman Cheon and Chief Ha were talking.

“Are you sure it ended with just a conversation?”

“When I was there, President Kim spoke informally to the young master, treating him like a subordinate.”

“What?”

Chief Ha reported in detail what he had seen.

“Is that so? And then?”

“The young master asked to speak alone, so I left with President Kim’s subordinates. I’m not sure exactly what conversation took place inside. President Kim did shout at one point, but it was brief. They talked for about 10 minutes before coming out.”

Chairman Cheon seemed lost in thought, tapping his fingers on the desk.

After a while, the sound that had been filling the large study suddenly stopped.

“I see. Who’s next?”

“I was thinking of visiting President Noh next week.”

“I wonder if he can handle that Viper… Alright, you can go rest now.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

As soon as Chief Ha left, Chairman Cheon picked up the phone and dialed a number.

– Yes, this is Kim Ho-sik.

“It’s me.”

– Yes, Chairman.

“So, how was Mu-hyeok?”

– …

“Why aren’t you answering? I asked how he was.”

– He’s a tiger cub, Chairman. He resembles you much more than the two presidents.

“Oh? You think so?”

– Yes.

“What did you two talk about?”

When there was no response from the other end, Chairman Cheon asked again.

“You’re making me ask twice. I asked what you talked about.”

– …He mentioned the accounts you entrusted to me secretly, without anyone’s knowledge.

Chairman Cheon’s eyes widened.

“What? How did he know about that?”

– Pardon? Didn’t you tell him, Chairman?

“…Never mind that. What happened then?”

– I promised to hand them over in two weeks.

“Hmm, I see.”

– May I pass them on?

“Yes, hand them over.”

– Yes, Chairman.

After a moment of silence, Chairman Cheon spoke again.

“Ho-sik.”

– Yes?

“I heard you spoke informally to my grandson.”

There was a moment of silence.

– …I’m sorry.

“Ho-sik, just because you’ve become well-off doesn’t mean you can sit at the same table, you know? Don’t forget who helped you all get to where you are.”

– I’m sorry, Chairman.

“Don’t let it happen again.”

With those final words, Chairman Cheon hung up the phone.

“Look at this kid, how did he know to ask for those accounts? Even my own sons and Myung-hoon don’t know about this…”

Leaning back in his chair, lost in thought, a smile spread across Chairman Cheon’s face.