Chapter 792: Return to Korea

Manager Ma was waiting for me when I arrived at Incheon Airport.

“Boss. Welcome back.”

“It’s been a while.”

Manager Ma bowed his head in greeting, just like always.

Seeing him, I felt a surge of warmth and chuckled, lightly patting his shoulder.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Manager. Don’t worry about it. No one could have predicted this. I didn’t expect them to use the military against me. It was a miscalculation on their part.”

“No, it’s my fault. I should have anticipated their actions and warned you, Boss. And I should have stayed by your side, no matter what.”

Manager Ma’s words, still spoken with his head bowed, were filled with self-reproach and regret.

“If you look at it that way, it’s all my fault. I trusted you and assigned you the task. Let’s stop blaming ourselves and just be more careful next time, including myself. Excessive worry only creates bigger problems. So, let’s just leave it at that for now. Let’s go to Pyeongchang-dong.”

I soothed Manager Ma, and we got into the car, heading towards Pyeongchang-dong.

Pyeongchang-dong welcomed me back unchanged, as if no time had passed.

I began receiving a report from Manager Ma in the study about what had happened while I was away.

“How did you deal with the opposition within Heavenly Group?”

“All the managers and higher-ups who sided with Yang Woo-guk have been taken care of. I haven’t killed them. I plan to send them to a deserted island in the West Sea to work until they die.”

They had all reached the level of executives and hadn’t done any physical labor in quite some time. I chuckled and nodded.

“They’ll have it rough working on a deserted island at their age. Well done.”

Yang Woo-guk and a few core associates were probably feeding the fish at the bottom of the sea by now.

I purposely didn’t bring that up.

“So, has Im Hwa-soo completely taken control of Heavenly Group?”

“Im Hwa-soo’s appointment as chairman was decided at the general meeting, and they’re planning to hold the official inauguration ceremony next week.”

If the inauguration is next week, it might not be bad for me to attend.

I pondered for a moment, then looked at Manager Ma and asked.

“Manager, I’m thinking of attending next week. What do you think?”

“I think it’s a great idea. It’s an opportunity to show everyone attending the inauguration who the real owner of Heavenly Group is. Most of the executives now know how terrifying you can be, Boss, but many of the lower-level staff members don’t know you.”

It seems like he’s done a perfect job cleaning up. When Manager Ma agreed, I made up my mind.

“Then, let’s attend the inauguration ceremony that day and have an interview with Chairman Im Hwa-soo.”

I had originally planned to meet with Im Hwa-soo separately, but there was no need to do things twice.

“Yes. I’ll arrange the schedule accordingly.”

“I’m glad I trusted and assigned this task to you, Manager Ma. You’ve worked hard. I’m also relieved you weren’t hurt.”

I praised him with satisfaction, and Manager Ma immediately shook his head.

He must have been thinking about what I went through in North Korea.

“No, it wasn’t me.”

“You did a good job and you should be told. If you hadn’t taken action, Manager, I might have abandoned Heavenly Group. I have enough headaches with other matters and I do not want to get caught up with Heavenly Group. I don’t want it to mess with my plans.”

The moment I heard there was trouble, I had considered abandoning Heavenly Group.

It’s better to cut your losses with risky business deals.

However, since Manager Ma had neatly resolved the situation, the chances of something like this happening again were much lower.

Just then, a knock came from the study door, followed by a familiar voice.

“Boss, can I come in?”

“Come in.”

It was Eva, who I had sent to Korea to oversee the markets in Hong Kong and Asia.

She opened the study door and stepped inside after receiving my permission.

“Boss!”

Eva smiled brightly as she approached me. She looked much healthier than the last time I saw her, having gained some weight.

“Did you have a good vacation?”

“Of course. Don’t you think I’ve gotten prettier?”

Eva winked and gave a playful smile.

“You’ve gotten a lot tanner. Did you tan your skin on purpose?”

“No, it’s just from the Middle East.”

“I told you to rest, but I heard you were still working in the Middle East.”

I lightly chided her, and Eva pouted.

“How can I properly rest when the boss I serve is a workaholic? Still, I enjoyed my vacation while traveling around Europe.”

“That’s why I was going to give you a sabbatical this year. I’m sorry. Things were moving so fast, and I needed someone I could trust.”

Han Gyeong-yeong was handling things in the U.S. and Europe, but Eva was in charge of Asia.

And Asia was where this whole mess had originated. So, I had no choice but to bring Eva in.

Eva, who looked touched by my words, opened her arms.

“I’m actually happier that you trust me that much.”

I stood up, gave her a brief hug, and told her to sit down.

Manager Ma stood up and said.

“Boss, I’ll take my leave.”

“Alright. Please arrange the schedule… Oh, I think I’ll be dining at the Blue House tonight.”

“Yes. I already received the message. I’ll take care of that as well.”

He bowed slightly, and Manager Ma left.

As soon as Manager Ma left, Eva sidled up to me and said.

“Boss, are you okay? I heard it was dangerous.”

“It was. But I was lucky and survived.”

“If anything had happened to you, Boss…”

Eva couldn’t finish her sentence and looked at me with worried eyes.

“It won’t happen again, so don’t worry. How are things in Hong Kong and Japan?”

“Well, it’s actually strange how quiet things are.”

Eva reported in detail what she had found out after her return.

“If there was such a big incident in China, the Hong Kong market should be the first to react, but there’s no movement at all. Even when looking at European banks, there’s no significant change.”

“Really? That is odd.”

According to Han Gyeong-yeong’s report, a group that had preemptively obtained the information on Wall Street had signed a large number of short option contracts.

But it was strange that there was no movement in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

If a sudden crisis were to happen in China, it was obvious that the Hong Kong stock market would collapse.

“Withdraw the funds invested in the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets slowly.”

It was also time to withdraw the funds scattered around for the event that was to happen in a few years.

I was going to watch a little longer, but the market’s movement was different from what I knew so it was time to minimize risk.

“Withdraw?”

“Reduce the proportion gradually, without causing a shock to the market. By the end of next year at the latest.”

“I see. There’s an event coming up. I understand. I’ll reduce the proportion little by little as you said. But you know it’s difficult to liquidate everything, right?”

“I know. Just try your best to recover the funds.”

Eva tapped on her pad and nodded. Then, as if something had occurred to her, she clicked her pen and asked.

“Investing in the stock market is one thing… But what are you going to do with your investments in Chinese companies, Boss? Should we withdraw them too?”

I shook my head at Eva’s question.

“Leave them. No, I plan to invest more.”

The stock market might falter during the economic crisis that was about to happen in a few years.

However, companies that haven’t gone public yet would continue to grow, and their value would continue to rise.

“Once Chinese politics stabilize, I plan to invest more, so be prepared.”

“Is that okay? After experiencing this incident, I can’t trust China as much as I did before.”

Eva said, sounding worried.

Of course, I didn’t trust China either.

But it would be foolish not to invest in China, which was expected to have high growth.

I talked with Eva for a while longer, then stood up and said.

“Let’s get some food. I have to go to the Blue House, so I don’t have much time.”

I had lunch with Eva and listened to her stories about what had happened in the Middle East.

Eva, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, looked much brighter than before.

* * *

Late at night.

I had a meal and drinks with Yoon Chang-ho in his presidential residence.

“I was shocked when the U.S. Embassy informed me that you had been attacked.”

He filled my glass with liquor and spoke with a concerned tone.

“I immediately issued an emergency order to the military even though your safety wasn’t confirmed. Despite many objections.”

I took the liquor bottle and poured liquor into Yoon Chang-ho’s glass while smiling.

“I heard the story from Myeong-su. You went too far. If you had moved the military at that time, China would have been forced to move their military as well.”

“I didn’t have time to think about that. My mind went blank. How else would the U.S. President have tried to stop me through the direct line?”

Yoon Chang-ho sighed, as if it pained him to even think about it.

“Did you get a call from President Bush?”

“Yes, he said that he could never allow any attack on the North.”

“Well, the U.S. government has no choice but to do that. Still, I heard that information was shared well.”

The U.S. government had exceptionally shared information immediately with the Korean government through the embassy.

Thanks to that, the Blue House was able to understand the situation quickly.

“Even so, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy. If something had happened to you, there’s a high chance that everything we’ve set in motion would go to waste.”

The relationship with North Korea, the business with Russia, and the negotiations with the Japanese government were all achievements that I had led.

Of course, since I valued practicality over fame, I gave all the credit to the Yoon Chang-ho government, so all these matters would be recorded as Yoon Chang-ho’s achievements.

Perhaps what Yoon Chang-ho was worried about was that all of the things that were packaged as his achievements might be in vain, more than my safety.

“I suppose so.”

Of course, everything wouldn’t fall apart if I disappeared, but the results wouldn’t be known during President Yoon Chang-ho’s term.

“I was greatly relieved to hear that you had safely crossed the Russian border. I also thanked the Russian government. Although, it’s not ideal that Russia, not us, was the one to save our citizen…”

“It was the mercenaries who directly rescued me. I requested them to come save me, and I was able to cross the North Korean border quickly with the help of the Russian government.”

For Russia, there was no diplomatic damage even if my rescue operation failed.

No, there might have been. If the operation had failed, the Russian military would have moved.

“I told them that if the rescue operation failed, the owner of the Kremlin would move the military. I’m so glad it succeeded. I’m tired of diplomatic disputes, now.”

“Hahaha. He and I are alike, aren’t we?”

Yoon Chang-ho laughed loudly as if he was pleased that there was someone who had the same thoughts as him.

“Let’s have a drink.”

We clinked our glasses at the same time. Yoon Chang-ho, having put down his empty glass, asked me subtly.

“Is everything mostly settled now?”

“Yes. For the most part, I’ve done everything I can do. I heard that the coup in North Korea has been completely suppressed, and now only the formalities remain.”

I explained the situation in North Korea in detail to Yoon Chang-ho.

This information was unknown to anyone in any other country besides Jang Seong-taek and me.

Yoon Chang-ho’s eyes widened several times as he listened to my explanation.

He seemed quite surprised as he emptied his glass repeatedly and concentrated on my story.

“Amazing. Truly amazing. Now, it seems like Jang Seong-taek has completely taken control of North Korea.”

“That’s correct. This might even be an opportunity. Although my safety was greatly threatened, I don’t think the relationship with North Korea will worsen within your term, President. It could actually improve.”

Yoon Chang-ho nodded and was about to pour liquor into his glass.

I took the liquor bottle and filled his glass while continuing to speak.

“It seems like Hu Jintao will start a counterattack. If Hu Jintao wins this battle, the relationship with Korea will likely recover.”

“…I still can’t believe that people around me were leaking information to China.”

It was something I couldn’t say a word about.

This was something Yoon Chang-ho had to endure entirely on his own.

“Still, I have to say it’s a good thing that we’ve caught them all, even now.”

Yoon Chang-ho smiled bitterly and spoke in a deliberately bright voice.

He used this opportunity to conduct an audit of everyone working at the Blue House.

People who were leaking information not only to China, but also to Japan and the U.S., were all exposed.

“You should think of it as a blessing in disguise.”

Thanks to that, all the spies in the Blue House were found, so it wasn’t bad in the long term.

“And I heard that Heavenly Group was quite noisy as well.”

“I guess you can’t change how they’re born. I heard they did some cleaning this time.”

“It seems like it’s been resolved well.”

“Yes. There’s an inauguration for the new chairman next week. I’m planning to go there myself.”

I continued to exchange drinks with Yoon Chang-ho and talked about many things.

The night grew deep, and it was time to end our meeting for tomorrow’s schedule.

Before leaving the presidential residence, Yoon Chang-ho spoke.

“Boss Kim, please be more careful from now on.”

It sounded like words of pure concern, without any ulterior motive.

I could tell by looking at Yoon Chang-ho’s face illuminated by the moonlight.

I looked at him silently for a while, then said that I would be careful, and left the Blue House.