Translator: Dreamscribe
“CEO-nim. Here is the list.”
I tilted my head in curiosity at the list the Vice President handed over.
“What kind of list is this?”
"The Chairman is heading to the United States this ti, and they ca seeking advice on who it would be good for him to et while there."
“The Chairman requested this himself?”
“No, it seems the Strategy Team was the one seeking advice separately. I heard that over the past few years, they've been gradually expanding Kwangwoon’s network within the US. But since he can’t et everyone this ti, they sent this request hoping to hear your opinion on which governnt officials would be most worthwhile to et.”
To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I could offer any useful advice.
I don’t know much about politicians in the US, nor can I tell who would be beneficial to our company...
‘...is what I thought, but that wasn’t the case.’
The nas on the list began blinking with a subtle light.
These were people my hyung would et in person. I couldn’t let him waste ti eting the wrong people.
I carefully examined the list.
I made sure to check again and again only those nas that gave off a strong intuitive glow.
“Tell them to prioritize setting up etings with the people I’ve marked here.”
“Ah, yes. I’ll pass this on to the Strategy Team as is.”
“Good. Also, I’ve heard gun incidents are becoming more frequent in the US these days, so double the number of bodyguards and make security airtight. Even if people say it’s overkill, it’s fine. Please make sure they don’t try to save money on this.”
“Yes. I’ll be sure to convey that.”
It’s a dangerous era already.
The Russia–Ukraine war has broken out, the forr Pri Minister of Japan was assassinated, and in the US, gun incidents are continuously occurring from elentary schools to public facilities.
Given all that, I couldn’t help but worry about my hyung’s safety.
“By the way, does the Chairman have to keep going back and forth to the US from now on?”
“The Chairman does believe it’s better to build his network through direct etings.”
“He can do that in the beginning. But I’m not thrilled about him having to keep traveling back and forth so often. He already struggles quite a bit with jet lag every ti he cos back from a trip.”
Hyung doesn’t particularly enjoy business trips abroad.
He prefers staying at ho and playing gas over traveling overseas, and more than anything, he’s often ntioned how adapting to ti zone differences gets harder as he gets older.
That was on my mind now.
“Then rather than having the Chairman travel overseas for etings himself, we’ll need to appoint soone responsible who can handle the practical work abroad.”
“Yes. Unless it’s a really important eting, I also don’t want him traveling around so much. Could you check with the headquarters to see if there’s soone suitable for the role?”
“Would it be alright if the person isn’t internal? I think headhunting soone from outside who’s good at this kind of work wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
“Yes. Please look into it.”
“Understood. I’ll discuss it with the headquarters and investigate further.”
Wasn't he soone who had originally been planning to retire but was practically forced into the Chairman's seat?
That’s why I felt especially guilty seeing him working busily every day because of .
But with this arrangent, at least he won’t have to struggle with business trips anymore.
And no, it’s definitely not because his business trip this week is about to ruin my important raid plans.
***
“Is this the eting schedule?”
“Yes, Chairman.”
Chairman Hwang Dae-woon scanned through the schedule.
It was quite a tight itinerary.
But compared to what Jin-ho was doing for him, this level of hassle honestly ant nothing.
“So these are the people it would be efficient to et? According to the Strategy Office, I an.”
Below the schedule, there were detailed profiles of the people he would et.
Now it was up to Hwang Dae-woon to figure out how to win them over to Kwangwoon’s side.
“Yes. However... actually, this list wasn’t decided by the Strategy Office.”
“Hm? Then who?”
“CEO Jung Jin-ho personally selected the nas and handed the list to the Strategy Office.”
“What? Jin-ho did it himself?”
“Yes. The Strategy Office had drawn up a list to so extent, but they felt it would be better to seek CEO Jung Jin-ho’s advice.”
Hwang Dae-woon nodded.
He didn’t want to make him worry about things like this too.
Still, seeking Jin-ho’s advice had been the right move.
“At the very least, since Jin-ho gave his recomndation, I feel at ease.”
“Yes. After reviewing the list, the Strategy Office also said it was an excellent selection. It’s composed solely of people who would truly be helpful if they cooperated with our company.”
Just looking at the list, their credentials were impressive.
Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Director of the Departnt of Justice’s Antitrust Division, Chair of the Senate Committee on Comrce and Science, Speaker of the House, and so on.
Among them, the one that stood out was the Secretary of Comrce.
“The Secretary of Comrce has ties to our company too?”
“The Comrce Departnt’s main focus of containnt is China. It oversees the U.S.’s industrial competitiveness, especially the technological hegemony struggle with China. If they cooperate with Kwangwoon, they might see it as a way to more effectively contain China.”
“Does this person have strong influence internally?”
“Yes. The Aiden administration considers competition with China a top priority. That’s why they appointed a close aide as Secretary of Comrce.”
Aiden had been vocal about containing China since his vice-presidency.
Even after becoming president, he passed nurous laws aid at checking China and remained cautious of China overtaking the global economic hegemony.
Looking at his core legislation, it was clear that they were foundational efforts to contain China.
“If Kwangwoon is going to work with the U.S. governnt, we’ll need to clearly show how that cooperation can put pressure on China.”
“Yes. That seems to be the key point. The Strategy Office has prepared materials on that as well.”
“Then is there anything else we should know about this Secretary of Comrce, Lee Henderson? Like his hobbies or sothing. If he enjoys golf, we could bond over that while talking.”
“Yes. Secretary Henderson does play golf, but not frequently. From what we’ve gathered, he generally prefers staying at ho. When he works, he works. When he rests, he rests only at ho. So his hobby is said to be gaming.”
“What? Gaming?”
“Yes. It’s sothing they found from an old interview.”
Gaming, huh.
For so reason, that gave him a good feeling about how things might go.
There’s just sothing about old-school gars connecting with each other.
“Do we know what kind of gas he plays?”
“No. Not yet... Shall we find out?”
“Find out quickly. Before the eting.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
But suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.
All the people on this list must be so busy they hardly have ti to sleep. Would they even have ti to et him?
“There’s no need to worry about that. We made inquiries, and they responded that they would et you even if it ant canceling all prior appointnts.”
Even those extrely busy individuals were canceling plans just to et Hwang Dae-woon.
It was a clear indication of Kwangwoon’s stature.
All thanks to Jin-ho, no doubt.
“Ah. And by CEO Jung Jin-ho’s order, the security personnel in the U.S. have been tripled.”
At those words, Hwang Dae-woon let out a short laugh.
“What? That much? That’s unnecessary.”
“Yes. But he said that because he’s worried about your safety, it’s non-negotiable.”
“Well, if Jin-ho says so, there’s no helping it. He’s only doing it out of concern for .”
Truly, he was a younger brother who worried about his hyung to an extre degree.
And so, today again, he was deeply thankful.
To have soone right by his side who cared for him even more than family.
***
“Did you all see it this ti? The Chairman of Kwangwoon Group visiting the U.S.”
“There’s probably no one here who didn’t. It was such big news that even Wall Street was shaken.”
“Did you see the security detail guarding Chairman Hwang Dae-woon? At first, I thought a president was visiting or sothing. I an, how could anyone bring that much security...”
“He’s a high-priority figure. And I’m sure he wanted to demonstrate his power as well.”
Accompanied by an extravagant security detail, Hwang Dae-woon was busily moving about, eting political figures.
Usually, etings with political figures were held in secret, but he didn’t care about public scrutiny.
“It must be intentional. And from what I heard, he arranged the etings right before his U.S. visit, when even setting appointnts months in advance wouldn’t be enough. As a result, many people canceled their prior appointnts just to et Chairman Hwang Dae-woon. From start to finish, every bit of it is laced with ulterior motives. It’s all to flaunt Kwangwoon’s power.”
However, there was no legal basis to sanction this.
How could you stop soone from visiting the U.S. and eting people?
What’s more, those people canceled their own schedules just to et Hwang Dae-woon.
“Kwangwoon is acting as if they have nothing to fear right now. We have to crush this company before it’s too late. You all know, don’t you? Just how influential Kwangwoon is. Wall Street is trembling over their every move.”
Eileen, the Director of the Antitrust Division, was wary of how large Kwangwoon had grown.
After swallowing up FaceWeb, they had now devoured Bluezone as well.
“FaceWeb was one thing, but letting them take over Bluezone too is absolutely unacceptable. We need to implent strong regulations to make them spit it back out and break it up.”
“That would cause even greater backlash. Just look at public opinion right now. So many people suffered from the recent Elliott crisis. And Kwangwoon helped our citizens by donating a whopping 1 billion dollars. While other companies just stood by and watched.”
“Are you defending Kwangwoon right now? You know very well that their actions weren’t out of goodwill.”
“Even if it wasn’t goodwill, it was still a billion dollars. What company gives out that kind of donation? And Kwangwoon didn’t stop there, they’ve already announced additional donations to help even more Arican citizens.”
“You do know those donations are being made entirely through KW Coin, don’t you, Secretary?”
“What does that matter? What matters is that they’re helping people!”
Eileen shot back with a fierce glare.
“I'm aware of the eting between Secretary of Comrce and Chairman Hwang Dae-woon. Seems like you’ve already decided to side with them.”
“Ahem. That phrasing makes a little uncomfortable. I’m simply putting Arica first, as always. And my job is to prevent China from taking global supremacy. In that regard, we desperately need Kwangwoon’s power.”
“There are plenty of companies that can replace Kwangwoon.”
“Are you sure about that? What if Kwangwoon decided to side with China? Their infrastructure, semiconductors, resources, and more, if those fall into enemy hands, it would be devastating for us. I’m not here to pander for votes like the rest of you. This is about Arica’s national security and future.”
“I agree with that statent.”
"No. Is everyone here out of their minds right now!?"
It wasn’t just the Secretary of Comrce defending Kwangwoon.
At the mont, rather than checking Kwangwoon, many believed it was more important to leverage them to counter China and Russia.
Eileen was frustrated.
Kwangwoon was trying to swallow up all of Arica, yet these people still thought Arica’s main enemies were China and Russia.
But the real enemy was already inside!
“Mr. President, please say sothing. You know better than anyone that this situation isn’t normal.”
That’s why Eileen turned to Aiden for help.
Aiden had always led his close aides with strong leadership.
He was also a stubborn man, once he made up his mind, he never changed it.
If he could use that sa strong leadership now, he could rally his scattered inner circle, currently in disarray because of Kwangwoon.
“.......”
But Aiden said nothing.
His eyes looked dazed, as if he wasn’t all there.
Word had already spread that he was deeply shaken by the sudden resignation of his Chief Secretary, one of his closest aides.
Still, he had always stayed focused during etings like these, so what was going on?
“Mr. President...?”
“Ah.”
Only then did Aiden co to his senses.
“Eileen.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
"Did we, um......."
Everyone, including Aiden’s aides, leaned in to listen.
“...have dinner yet?”
“......Excuse ?”
The flustered aides couldn’t co up with any response.
“Mr, Mr. President. We all had a light al together before the eting, rember? Just sandwiches.”
“Hm? We did?”
“Yes. If you're feeling hungry, shall I ask the secretary to bring you sothing?”
“.......”
Eileen quietly observed Aiden’s eyes.
How should she put it?
They looked unfocused.
“Ah, ah. Right. I must have been confused for a mont. Haha.”
With that, Aiden stood up from his seat.
“That’s enough for today. I’m tired, so I’m going to go rest now.”
“Pardon? But, Mr. President, regarding this matter, you need to give us your opinion-”
“Next ti. Let’s talk next ti, Eileen.”
With those words, Aiden actually left the conference room.
“.......”
They could only stare at each other with blank expressions.
And there was one thing they all understood.
They were all thinking the sa thing.
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