CH92 | MCT

Cheongil Heavy Equipment (3)

Tae-soo pulled something from inside his jacket and handed it to Lee Chang-won.

He didn’t even glance at No Il-guk.

Unable to hold back any longer, No Il-guk cautiously asked,

“Um… President, why not me...?”

“You’re not affiliated with our company,” Tae-soo replied.

Come to think of it, that was true.

Unlike Cheongil Heavy Equipment, all the employees of Cheongil Oil Refinery were on standby for personnel transfers.

‘We’ve been marked as transferred from Cheongil Oil Refinery to the Cheongil Group headquarters, but our department and rank are not specified.’

This was an urgent move by Han Cheong-ho to strip the company down to a shell.

“Are you affiliated with Cheongil Oil Refinery? Let’s make that clear.”

That single question carried great meaning.

‘If you admit to being with Cheongil Oil Refinery, it means you want a superior-subordinate relationship. If not, it means you’re subject to immediate dismissal.’

No Il-guk showed a reluctant expression.

Tae-soo raised his hand and pointed to the door.

“Cheongil people should return to Cheongil now. The door is open.”

No Il-guk was momentarily dumbfounded.

Even if told to leave, he had nowhere to go.

He was temporarily relying on Cheongil Heavy Equipment precisely because he had nowhere else.

‘Damn it. I just can’t bring myself to leave.’

No Il-guk’s position was far worse than Lee Chang-won’s.

Wasn’t he the one who failed to secure an oil supply source?

Han Cheong-ho had sternly warned that he would hold him responsible for losing Cheongil Oil Refinery.

‘If it were the Chairman, he’d vent his anger on me before cutting me first in the restructuring.’

Fearing the predictable future, No Il-guk shut his eyes tightly.

‘No, that’s not the real issue. Even if I survive restructuring, I have no attachment to Cheongil. My heart belongs to that man’s leadership. If I leave now, I’ll regret it forever.’

He hesitated but began to approach the door.

Suddenly, he spun around.

“To be honest, I’m in limbo right now. I’m facing imminent dismissal due to responsibility for the bankruptcy of Cheongil Oil Refinery...”

Before No Il-guk could continue his complaint, Tae-soo cut him off sharply.

“Will you come to Taeyang Oil Refinery?”

That one sentence was enough.

No Il-guk answered decisively.

“Yes, I will join Taeyang Oil Refinery. I look forward to working with you.”

Having already lost his footing in the Cheongil Group, No Il-guk had no need to hesitate.

He, too, bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle.

Tae-soo nodded, looking down at the back of his head.

“Good.”

No Il-guk glanced sideways at Lee Chang-won.

“What will happen to my position?”

“One rank demotion. Do you need me to explain that again?”

“No. Will the pay cut remain the same?”

Lee Chang-won was the one who had carelessly spoken after Tae-soo’s warning.

No Il-guk kept his mouth shut and stayed cautious.

Tae-soo chuckled softly.

“There will be no pay cut.”

No Il-guk gave Lee Chang-won a meaningful look.

Lee Chang-won grimaced reluctantly.

No Il-guk answered confidently.

“I accept the executive director position at Taeyang Oil Refinery. I look forward to working with you.”

“Good. Executive Director No, you should also take this.”

Tae-soo pulled something from inside his jacket and handed it to No Il-guk as well.

“What is this?”

“What do you think? An employment contract. Sign it.”

“......”

Both men realized that the new young president was a thorough and strict person.

“There’s more.”

This time, Tae-soo pulled out the Saudi oil supply rights certificate issued by Khalid.

“You won’t have to worry about oil supply from now on.”

“Ah...!”

No Il-guk’s hand trembled as he held the oil supply rights certificate.

Memories of his exhausting journey around OPEC member oil-producing countries flashed through his mind.

The impenetrable wall of oil supply that no amount of effort could break through.

Yet Tae-soo had opened it as if it were nothing.

“Let’s focus on strengthening our foundations, refining oil, and securing gas stations as we’ve been doing.”

Those calm words struck deep into No Il-guk’s heart.

He had never heard such words from Han Cheong-ho.

• “You incompetent fool! What exactly do you do right? Do you think I gave you this presidency for nothing?”
  

• “Don’t even think about coming back until you bring the oil supply contract!”
  

• “Even if you have to bury your bones there, bring me that contract!”
  

There was nothing but harsh scolding and insults.

Han Cheong-ho often threw objects in frustration.

“Securing the oil supply is my responsibility... I’m sorry,” No Il-guk said, burdened with guilt over losing Cheongil Oil Refinery.

“This is an oil shock. When unusual difficulties arise, it’s the job of superiors to break through them. Pressuring your subordinates won’t solve anything.”

Tae-soo said calmly.

“Just do your job diligently in your assigned position. I believe a capable person like you will handle it well. I’ll be watching.”

“…I will work hard.”

As president, Tae-soo gave his first proper order.

“Now, it’s time for our two executive directors to prove their abilities and worth.”

“Now? Immediately?”

“If you suddenly ask me to prove it...”

Tae-soo gave a sly smile.

“Let’s move all the secret documents from Cheongil Heavy Equipment and Cheongil Oil Refinery.”

“...!”

“We need to hurry before Han Cheong-ho barges in.”

“...!”

This was Tae-soo’s true purpose in coming to the president’s office.

“Since this is the Heavy Equipment company, let’s take everything — cabinets, filing drawers — load them onto trucks and leave immediately. It’s a simple task; I’ll give you 20 minutes.”

“Tw-twenty minutes?”

“What are you waiting for? There’s no time. Find the secret ledgers, move the files, and get the trucks ready in advance.”

Tae-soo hurried them along with practiced urgency.

“Do you have time to dawdle here? Run! Announce it on the broadcasting room or command your subordinates, handle it however you want. Are you really going to move only when the seconds count down?”

The time limit was a mere 20 minutes.

The two executive directors grew frantic.

“Where are we moving them to?”

“Myung-dong.”

They planned to pile the documents at Jang Mal-dong’s house.

‘Information broker Jang Mal-dong is perfect for this job.’

If it were Jang Mal-dong, he’d be excited to jump right in.

Vroom.

A truck loaded with Cheongil’s secret documents departed for Jang Mal-dong’s house in Myung-dong.

With no time to spare, they moved entire cabinets and desk drawers as they were.

“We barely finished on time.”

“Our first mission is to transport documents? This is absurd.”

“What’s absurd about it?”

Tae-soo cut between them.

“There’s no time to fool around. Now that the documents are moved, go collect the employees’ contracts.”

“Huh?”

There was no time to rest.

The truck had just left.

The dust hadn’t even settled yet.

“Today, let’s finalize the employment contracts for all employees of Taeyang Heavy Equipment and Taeyang Oil Refinery.”

“Today?”

“All employees?”

How many employees were there anyway?

And the contracts weren’t even ready yet!

“Th-that’s...”

“We can do it. Go get their signatures right now.”

“Couldn’t we have a bit more time...?”

Tae-soo glanced at his watch.

“I’ll give you one hour.”

“W-what? One hour? Is that even possible?”

“Don’t you think it’s possible?”

“......”

Tae-soo just said it was possible.

“Aren’t these your subordinates who will be your hands and feet? Chairman Han Cheong-ho will storm in soon. Are you just going to watch your subordinates get taken away with your eyes open?”

“But how many employees are there? That’s too much...”

Tae-soo cut in sharply.

“Do as you please. If you want, you can pick and choose just a few to take. I won’t stop you.”

“Then we’ll just pick some...”

“As I said earlier, we’re planning to expand the business. Staff expansion? Not for the foreseeable future.”

“......”

“If you’re short on subordinates, your workload as executive directors will increase. Who will you blame if you can’t manage your subordinates? Work hard now or work hard later. It’s up to you.”

“......!”

The thought of what was ahead made their heads spin.

Both executive directors were left speechless and parched.

“We’ll bring all the employees over to Taeyang. But the time is really tight...”

“If time is tight, then use your brains. Use your body if you have to. There’s no time to waste. What good is an in-house broadcast? What good is a multi-level organizational system? Can’t you manage your subordinates? Why are you still here? Run.”

The two dashed out of the office and sprinted to the broadcasting room.

They realized the new president was a brutal type who demanded a relentless workload.

* * *

There, in the distance, stood the Cheongil Heavy Equipment building.

Han Cheong-ho loosened his necktie, feeling a tightness in his throat.

“To think we’d be the ones stuck with the deficit. Meeting with bank presidents is such a tiring ordeal.”

The loan freeze that had been tied to Cheongil Oil Refinery was finally lifted.

It had been a measure aimed at pressuring Han Cheong-ho by Park Jeong-hwan.

“Such shameless and spineless bastards. They tremble at the president’s word, wavering back and forth. Unbelievable, tsk.”

It was no wonder—Park Jeong-hwan’s slightest gesture sent them scattering like leaves in the wind.

Secretary Park, seated beside him in the passenger seat, spoke up.

“Still, it’s fortunate. The government agreed to pay the construction costs in advance. The bank presidents guaranteed the payment.”

Thanks to securing the construction project for the Charlotte Hotel in Euljiro.

But that wasn’t all.

“They also supported loans for part of the funding and land for building the soccer stadium, so that helped put out the fire.”

“Indeed. Thanks to that, we avoided a complete collapse of the Cheongil Group.”

“If all goes well, we might manage with restructuring instead of selling off subsidiaries.”

“Exactly. That’s why I’ve been running around so much.”

That was why Han Cheong-ho had been urgently meeting with the bank presidents.

As a result, his arrival at Cheongil Heavy Equipment was delayed.

“Has Lee Chang-won heard anything yet?”

“Probably not. Thanks to the chairman’s preemptive moves, the newspapers and broadcasts have remained quiet. I haven’t reached out to him separately either.”

Han Cheong-ho closed his eyes.

“This has become troublesome, in more ways than one.”

It was all because of that bastard Kang Tae-soo.

If only that photo, that film, hadn’t existed!

If that were the case, things wouldn’t have escalated this far.

‘How did Kang Tae-soo get in contact with my driver? When? How did he bribe him?’

What baffled him most was that part.

“To think the darkest place was right under my nose.”

Han Cheong-ho clenched his fist tightly.

A trusted subordinate he saw every day had betrayed him.

Yet he had not sensed even the slightest sign of betrayal.

“I guess I got too comfortable and complacent.”

That was why this young upstart had dealt him such a painful blow.

“Kang Tae-soo holds a secret that could bring down Cheongil. If I rashly touch him, Cheongil will be shattered instead. It’s a frustrating situation all around. How should I make him pay?”

Screech.

They arrived in front of the Cheongil Heavy Equipment building.

Han Cheong-ho got out of the car.

Thud-thud-thud.

Something felt off.

Despite the chairman’s arrival, nobody came rushing out to greet him.

Instead, everyone was scurrying around busily and anxiously.

“Is the client list ready yet?”

“Have you finished checking the inventory?”

“Reports! No time to proofread typos! Move!”

He was stunned by the completely different atmosphere.

“What’s with them? Why such a mood?”

“Well, it seems the unrest started among Cheongil Oil Refinery employees and has spread to the Heavy Equipment staff.”

“They’re pretending to be busy even though there’s no real work. What’s all this fuss about?”

They had hurriedly moved the Cheongil Oil Refinery employees and brought them here to the nearest Cheongil Heavy Equipment building.

Since the personnel transfers hadn’t been properly processed, many hadn’t even been assigned offices or desks.

So it was understandable that the employees were in a state of confusion.

“We need to fix this quickly. The major personnel reshuffle must be completed soon.”

It would likely be a bloodbath.

There was no escaping restructuring.

Most of those gathered here would probably be cut.

Han Cheong-ho took a step forward.

“It’s supposed to be the job of the presidents to calm the employees, but these useless bastards can’t even do that.”

He showed no attempt to hide his displeasure as he headed toward the Cheongil Heavy Equipment president’s office.

Han Cheong-ho frowned as he opened the door to the president’s office.

“Kang Tae-soo, what are you doing here...!”

Tae-soo was occupying the president’s desk.

He was even working at it.

“Maybe you’re starting to get dementia. How long has it been since you signed the merger contract? Have you already forgotten?”

“Is that so? So now this is your company?”

“Good enough if you understand.”

Han Cheong-ho clenched his fists tightly.

“You’re later than I expected. The roads weren’t even that congested.”

“Kang Tae-soo!”

“A guest has arrived. Shall I bring some tea? We don’t have corn tea here, but there’s coffee.”

When Han Cheong-ho had visited the molybdenum mine before, Tae-soo served him corn tea.

When Han Cheong-ho had requested tea then, Tae-soo allowed a five-minute private talk.

‘That annoying bastard!’

Han Cheong-ho ground his teeth in frustration.