CH 323

“Is he still not in a good mood today?”

“Shh! Keep it down, will you? People can hear us!”

“Can you blame me, though? It's too quiet, and that's making me feel weird, you know?”

Jo Gyu-Min heard the hushed muttering coming from nearby and quietly groaned. He had his own office within the Office of the Secretaries but also had a separate desk for his use located outside. Unsurprising, considering a lot of a secretary's work involved cooperation and information-sharing.

Hoping to observe the general mood in the office, Jo Gyu-Min decided to work on the outside desk for a change today. And... In less than five minutes, he began to regret his decision somewhat.

Honestly, though, this was what working in a huge group was like. Since lots of different types of people worked in such a company, one might imagine that various employees wouldn't really have a chance to feel the weight of the same atmosphere. But that was not true. Even a sneeze from the higher-ups was enough to send the temperature plummeting within the company.

The one who suffered the most from this effect was undoubtedly the Office of Secretaries, tasked with serving the Chairman of the Corporation. If Hwang Jeong-Hu fake-coughed for some reason while entering his office, the secretaries would spend the entire morning trying to figure out what could have potentially soured the Chairman's mood.

And no, it wasn't like they would shirk all their duties while figuring that mystery out. They would still perform their duties, all the while intensely thinking about the solution to that problem. But now...

“Just how many days has it been?”

“Yeah. Never saw our Chairman being like that before...”

It was almost like the State of Emergency had been declared among the secretaries.

No matter how bad he was feeling, Hwang Jeon-Hu would never show it on the surface as he didn't want the company morale to suffer. Yet, he was not even bothering to hide how upset he was for the past few days.

Every time he showed up for work in the morning, Hwang Jeong-Hu's expression was stiff and cold. No wonder the mood in the Office of the Secretaries resembled a horror movie.

“I heard the rumor that there will be a restructuring soon.”

“Restructuring? But didn't our Chairman say all employees are like his family and that he'd never personally fire anyone?”

“Hey, man. Just how long ago was that? With the era being what it is, even our Chairman has no choice.”

“Eiii, we're talking about our Chairman here, man.”

“Don't be so sure. Don't forget, he even ruthlessly kicked his own kids to the curb. He probably can throw away some measly employee or two without batting an eyelid.”

“Keuh-huh-hum!” Jo Gyu-Min suddenly cleared his throat, causing a bout of silence to descend in the office.

'Goddamn idiots!'

The ones busy gossiping included Jo Gyu-Min's seniors and even some people ranked higher than him. However, they were all cautiously gauging Jo Gyu-Min's mood right this moment.

Jo Gyu-Min knew he'd instantly create this kind of stiff atmosphere by making his presence known, so he tried to hold himself back, but these people had crossed the line just then.

He scanned his surroundings. “I think that's enough, don't you agree?”

“Y-yes, of course. Let's get back to work, shall we?”

"...Tsk." Jo Gyu-Min clicked his tongue, then got up to head to the stairwell.

The remaining secretaries frowned ever so slightly while watching Jo Gyu-Min wordlessly open the door and leave the office.

“What's gotten into him?”

“Isn't he trying to show off that he's not gonna get fired?”

“Maybe he's getting too full of himself lately because he's in the Chairman's good books. He probably doesn't understand how he'll turn into a kite with its strings cut once the Chairman stops favoring him.”

“Shouldn't you give him a stern warning before long, sir?”

“Why should I give him advice? It's not like I care about him or something anyway.”

***

Jo Gyu-Min sighed while leaning against the door.

'I can hear you, you dumb pricks...'

He wasn't originally intending to eavesdrop, though. He was just leaning on the door to rest his slightly-weary body, and their voices happened to be too loud, that was all.

Jo Gyu-Min shook his head and headed upstairs. The ones back in the office should probably say more crap about him, but he didn't want to hear their nonsense anymore. It was pretty obvious what they would say, anyway. What was the point of staying and listening in that case?

He kept walking up until reaching the roof. His ultimate destination was the smoking area located in the corner of the rooftop. After settling down on one of the benches, Jo Gyu-Min lit up a cigarette for himself.

'Well, at least the winds are refreshing...'

It was pretty nice up here on the roof due to the cool breezes. Thanks to the wide-open design of the Jaegyeong HQ building, cool winds always blew in from all directions. Sure, things did get mighty bone-freezing cold in Winter, but it was perfectly bearable at this temperature.

'No, hang on. It's a bit warm, isn't it?'

Jo Gyu-Min sat there, smoking while not thinking about anything important. When he heard the footsteps of someone approaching him, he slightly turned his head.

“C-chairman, sir!”

Hwang Jeong-Hu nodded slightly, prompting Jo Gyu-Min to jump up from his seat.

“It's fine. Sit.”

“Sir, what brings you up here?”

"It's a smoking area, so I obviously came to smoke. What? You thought I came here to take a nap?"

Jo Gyu-Min was slightly puzzled by that and stared at Hwang Jeong-Hu.

'To smoke?'

Hwang Jeong-Hu smoked in his office, so why would he bother to come up here? Jo Gyu-Min was no better than a gopher, so it was normal for him to smoke on the roof unless Kang Jin-Ho was visiting the HQ. But that wasn't the same situation with Hwang Jeong-Hu, so why?

“...I came up to get some sun and fresh air.” Hwang Jeong-Hu muttered, a faintly-bitter expression on his face.

Jo Gyu-Min wisely didn't pry any further after noticing that. He wouldn't dare to ask if Hwang Jeong-Hu felt disinclined to speak about it.

“You know, Gyu-Min... A man being jealous is an ugly thing.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You know what I'm talking about, don't you?”

“...Oh.” Jo Gyu-Min ruefully licked his lips. “I... I see it as the price to pay, sir. The price that I don't mind paying.”

“Really? You do?”

“Yes, sir. If one enjoys privileges exceeding their abilities, then well... They should lose something in return.”

“Hmm...” Hwang Jeong-Hu stared at Jo Gyu-Min as if he wanted to praise the younger man.

This thing called male politics was surprisingly treacherous, dangerous, and shockingly narrow-minded. Once men began having negative opinions about someone, they would become even more chatty and inquisitive than women could get.

Jo Gyu-Min currently occupied a position a bit too high for his age. In Hwang Jeong-Hu's view, this position made perfect sense, but from other people's perspective, they probably thought Jo Gyu-Min was riding on the boss' coattails to land a cushy job.

For now, Hwang Jeong-Hu's charisma and authoritative air had suppressed the suspicion regarding Jo Gyu-Min's abilities, but...

Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

'...I've made him focus on Kang Jin-Ho too much.'

Practically no one knew what Jo Gyu-Min's job description was. A handful of people at the highest level of Jaegyeong did know the importance of Jo Gyu-Min's work, yes. However, other people were probably thinking that even though he looked like he wasn’t really doing any work in the company, he still pretended to be busy all the time and frequently abandoned the office. In other words, they thought he was a freeloader.

No wonder Jo Gyu-Min couldn't help but feel the pressure of all the eyes watching him.

Thankfully, no one suspected Jo Gyu-Min as the Chairman's hidden offspring since they had all seen how Hwang Jeong-Hu treated his own sons. But now, the level of gossip had gone up, and people were now wondering if Jo Gyu-Min was in charge of managing Hwang Jeong-Hu's slush funds.

Something like that should've never happened when considering Jo Gyu-Min's work experience or status. It only indicated how bad the rumors surrounding Jo Gyu-Min were at the moment.

“Gyu-Min, is there something worrying you?”

"No, Chairman. I'm fine." Jo Gyu-Min responded firmly. "I believe that I'm giving my absolute best, sir. And I feel quite satisfied with my current life as a result. That is why you don't have to worry about me, sir."

“Is that right?”

“Yes, sir.” Jo Gyu-Min replied without a single shred of uncertainty in his face or voice. “If you acquire something, you have to lose something in return, sir. That is the principle of our world. I've received so much from you and Mister Jin-Ho, so hoping for everything else to unfold as I want them to is just too unrealistic, that I'm being too greedy, sir. I'm not sensitive enough to get hurt by stuff like this. And I'm certainly not hung up on human relationships to want to clarify every little misunderstanding. This is nothing more than me being petty about... hoping to do my best as well as I can, so don't worry about me, sir."

Hwang Jeong-Hu suddenly guffawed loudly.

'That's not you being petty but being ballsy, young man!'

Jo Gyu-Min probably thought he was being modest and respectful right now, but his words sounded a lot like he was bragging about himself to Hwang Jeong-Hu's ears.

“Fuu-woo...” Hwang Jeong-Hu leaned back on the bench and let out a slow sigh.

Jo Gyu-Min cautiously, oh-so cautiously, tested the waters. “Sir... Is there something on your mind lately?”

Asking that first to Hwang Jeong-Hu would've been considered disrespectful in any other situation, but Jo Gyu-Min noticed from Hwang Jeong-Hu's attitude how the Chairman of Jaegyeong wanted to unload something from his chest right now.

Hwang Jeong-Hu grinned brightly. "Sometimes, I wonder how great it'd be if you were my son."

“I'm sorry?” Jo Gyu-Min's jaw dropped, his expression paralyzed in shock.

Hwang Jeong-Hu guffawed again while elaborating on what he meant. "Hahaha. I'm not expecting someone on the level of Kang Jin-Ho. It's already tough to deal with that guy, you see? No, not Kang Jin-Ho, but someone on your level, Gyu-Min. If only my kids were as smart as you... How wonderful would it have been? That's what I was thinking about."

"...Chairman, every one of your children is a genius, sir."

"Knowing lots of stuff and being wise aren't the same thing, Gyu-Min. Being intelligent does give you a higher chance of being wise, but that doesn't always mean you will be wise, now does it? Unfortunately, my sons are intelligent but not wise."

Jo Gyu-Min clamped his mouth shut at that. Since ancient times, one should not respond when a parent was criticizing their own kids.

“I don't know if my education has been all wrong or if those idiots were born with bad personalities... Look at you, Gyu-Min. You are admirably doing your job, aren't you? Compared to you...”

"Sir, if I may..." Jo Gyu-Min, who had been seriously weighing the pros and cons up until then, finally decided to say something. "This is my personal opinion, Chairman."

“Mm? Sure, go ahead.”

“If I was born as your son, then... I wouldn't have become this easygoing, sir.”

“Huh? How come?” Hwang Jeong-Hu asked back in surprise.

Jo Gyu-Min had to swallow back his wry grin. “It's because you are you, sir. You are Hwang Jeong-Hu.”

Hwang Jeong-Hu furrowed his brow slightly.

However, Jo Gyu-Min continued to explain anyway. "Chairman, with how you are, you don't know just how incredible the pressure you exert on other people, sir. Being born as your child is a huge luck, yes, but it's also a major misfortune the way I see it, sir. Especially more so... when you are decidedly so much stricter with your children than with anyone else. If I were in your sons' shoes, without a doubt, I would have never survived the pressure."

“...Are you implying that it's my fault?”

“No, sir. It's not your fault. I can't possibly call that. It's... It's simply how things turned out. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Hwang Jeong-Hu dazedly stared at Jo Gyu-Min. “...Look, Gyu-Min.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“Don't you hate my son, Min-Jae? Didn't he almost completely ruin your life?”

“Yes, that did happen.”

“In that case, wouldn't it better for you to play along with me instead of speaking up for them? If I listened to you and give those idiots another chance, it's not gonna be such a good result for you, no?”

“Of course, sir. You're right. However...”

“However?”

Jo Gyu-Min replied while making a slightly refreshed face. "Sir, I can't lie to you and give you a false report even if harm could befall my way. That will be committing a grave sin against you. I won’t make up stuff to advocate for them of course, but I will not hesitate to report on the facts and truths, sir."

"Tsk, tsk. I see that you aren't the type to make it big in life, then. My evaluation of you was wrong."

“It seems that's my nature, sir.”

“What a fool...” Hwang Jeong-Hu shook his head and stared in disapproval at Jo Gyu-Min, but the light in his eyes was warmer, kinder. The opposite of his expression, in other words.

'Huh. I guess... I taught them wrong, then?'

Hwang Jeong-Hu should have taught his kids the value of trust and being faithful before how to pursue profits and avoid losses. However, he didn't do that. He taught them how to avoid making losses since they were little kids.

Things that remained cloudy after talking to Kang Jin-Ho suddenly became a lot clearer with a few words from Jo Gyu-Min. Hwang Jeong-Hu ruefully licked his lips as if he found it all so unfortunate.

“Gyu-Min, is it fine to ask you a question?”

“Chairman, you can ask me anything anytime, sir.”

“Let's stop with that pretense nonsense, okay?”

“Of course, sir. I'll try to be as sincere as possible with my reply.”

Hwang Jeong-Hu seemed hesitant and turned his head to stare at the sky above. He remained quiet for a long time before finally looking straight at Jo Gyu-Min.

Hwang Jeong-Hu, with focus back in his eyes, slowly raised his voice.