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Chapter 20




The Genius Grandson of the Loan King - Chapter 20 (20/840)
< Will you keep talking to me informally? >
#20
Will you keep talking to me informally?
“Everyone, have you all checked the ledgers? Take out the bundles of bank statements and documents, and get ready quickly.”
“Yes, Mr. President!”
In response to Sangkal’s urging, the office staff answered energetically.
Sangkal, puffing out cigarette smoke, muttered to himself.
“Sigh... Why me, of all people? Damn it.”
* * *
As I entered the office with Secretary Ha, the secretary who was sitting stood up.
“Hello, Secretary Ha.”
“Miss Sung, it’s been a while.”
“You can go in now.”
“Sure, see you later.”
Inside the president’s office, about six men were standing, and Sangkal was sitting in the middle chair.
He saw me and Secretary Ha, then quickly got up and approached us.
“Oh! Secretary Ha, it’s been a while.”
Secretary Ha just nodded without saying anything.
Sangkal Kim Hosik then looked at me.
“This is the chairman’s grandson? Nice to meet you. I’m Kim Hosik. I hear you just entered university this year? And even Seoul National University Law School! I graduated from Yonsei University, so if you have any questions about university life, feel free to ask. I’ll tell you as a senior.”
He seemed to be trying to assert his dominance by speaking informally to me from the start.
Secretary Ha’s smile disappeared.
But Secretary Ha didn’t say or do anything in particular.
This was because of a request I had made before we came in.
“Secretary Ha, no matter what happens, don’t interfere. I’ll handle it myself.”
“Are you sure? He’s not an easy person. He graduated from a prestigious university and rose to this position in just a few years.”
“He’s just a pawn for the chairman. If I can’t handle someone like him, how can I handle the CEOs of major corporations?”
Secretary Ha sighed softly.
“I beg of you.”
“...I understand. But if there’s any safety issue, I will definitely intervene.”
“Yes, I won’t stop you from doing that.”
It was a transparent ploy.
I didn’t flinch and smiled back at him.
“Haha, you’re a senior. Nice to meet you. Let’s sit down, Senior Kim Hosik?”
“Sure, sure, come on, sit down.”
Sangkal sat in the seat of honor, and the big men stood behind him.
‘So, this is how he’s been all along?’
I smiled and took my seat.
Secretary Ha stood behind me.
“Secretary Ha, will you keep standing?”
Sangkal asked, but Secretary Ha ignored him and continued to stand.
Feeling awkward, Kim Hosik picked up the phone.
“Miss Sung, bring some coffee. Oh, just two cups.”
Seeing Sangkal put down the phone, I immediately said,
“Could you give me the ledgers first?”
“Junior, are you starting already? Take it easy.”
“I’m not familiar with it yet, so it will take a while. Let’s start quickly. Could you give me the ledgers first?”
Kim Hosik nodded to one of the big men standing behind him.
The big man brought the ledgers and handed them to me.
“Thanks.”
I opened the ledgers calmly.
The door opened, and the secretary came in with coffee.
The secretary placed a cup of coffee in front of me and another in front of Mr. Kim, then left.
“Junior, have some coffee while you work. What do you need to look at?”
“Yes.”
I answered but continued to review the ledgers.
‘The ledgers seem to have no issues... but this guy isn’t usually so clean. Hmm...’
I carefully examined them, but they appeared to have no problems.
I smiled as I put down the ledgers.
“Indeed, as a senior, you’ve organized them neatly. Could you give me the chairman’s bank statements now?”
Sangkal nodded to the big men again, and one of them brought a bundle of bank statements to me.
A total of 12 bank statements.
Looking at Secretary Ha, he nodded.
“Twelve, that’s correct. I’ll take these now. It’s the chairman’s instruction.”
“What?”
Sangkal’s eyes widened.
“The chairman instructed me to collect all the nominee bank statements managed by the presidents. Is there a problem with that?”
“The chairman said that?”
“Yes.”
Sangkal’s expression changed at the mention of collecting the bank statements.
He tried to maintain his composure, but his eyes darted around.
‘This guy must have tampered with the nominee accounts.’
Sangkal, unable to contain himself, confronted me.
“No, Junior. Even if that’s the case, can you suddenly collect them? Is it really the chairman’s instruction?”
“Yes, why would I lie to a senior? Especially a lie that would be exposed over time.”
“Hmm...”
“Or is there a problem with collecting the bank statements? If there is, please tell me now.”
Sangkal jumped up and said,
“What? No, there’s no problem! How can you look at people like that? It’s just sudden.”
He waved his hands and laughed, and I laughed along with him.
“That’s a relief.”
“Sure, sure.”
I handed the bank statements to Secretary Ha.
“Secretary Ha, I’d like to have a private conversation with Mr. Kim... The people behind him are a bit distracting. Could you ask them to leave?”
“Yes.”
Secretary Ha looked at the big men standing behind Sangkal.
“Mr. Kim, the young master wants to talk to you. Everyone else, please leave.”
But the big men didn’t budge.
Secretary Ha’s brow furrowed.
Seeing his expression change, Sangkal quickly shouted at the big men.
“Hey! You guys, get out.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
It’s like I’ve seen this before. He’s just pretending to be a gangster.
After the big men left, the office was quiet, and only three of us remained.
“Secretary Ha, could you wait outside for a moment?”
“Huh?”
“I want to have a private conversation.”
“Hmm...”
“I beg of you.”
“I understand. I’ll wait by the door.”
“Thank you.”
Secretary Ha bowed and left.
After the door closed, I wiped the smile from my face and looked at Sangkal.
But Sangkal just snorted.
“Hey, Junior? Why are you setting such a serious mood for a private conversation? Am I that scary? Haha.”
I leaned towards Kim Hosik and whispered in a low voice.
“Hey, Kim Hosik. If you’re a servant, act like one. Can you tell the difference between shit and soy sauce? Can’t you read the room?”
Kim Hosik shouted at me.
“What! This guy?”
I pressed down on his shoulder as he tried to stand.
“Hey, Sangkal. Don’t act tough and listen to me. I know all about your tricks. Sure, you have to eat, so I can overlook it to some extent. But you shouldn’t touch the chairman’s accounts.”
“...What?”
“The chairman’s nominee accounts. There are some that even Secretary Ha doesn’t know about. Why didn’t you bring those?”
“...”
“Why? Did you think I wouldn’t know?”
“Did the chairman tell you?”
“Figure it out yourself. Bring them. Quickly.”
“...Give me some time.”
I removed my hand from his shoulder.
“Still can’t read the room? Bring the bank statements now. If you don’t bring them in 10 minutes, I’ll report to the chairman.”
The chairman’s secret nominee accounts, four of them, each with 100 billion won.
Chairman Cheon had entrusted a total of 400 billion won in nominee accounts to the Myeongdong presidents without even Secretary Ha knowing.
I found out about this after the financial real-name system was implemented. The 400 billion won in anonymous accounts, which were in the names of non-existent people, had completely disappeared.
“...Give me a month. I beg of you.”
“You beg of me?”
“Give me a month, young master.”
“Prepare them in two weeks. Not a single won should be missing.”
“...Yes.”
I patted Kim Hosik’s shoulder.
“Senior, be reasonable. The chairman knows but pretends not to. You’ve worked hard to get to this position. Do you want to go back to the bottom of Myeongdong? You graduated from a prestigious university, so why do this? Make a good decision.”
Sangkal’s expression was rotten, but his words were polite.
“Yes, young master. I’ll be more careful from now on.”
“Other presidents and even your uncles, if they hear anything strange, it will complicate things. Understand?”
“Yes.”
I smiled again.
“Senior, the ledgers have no issues, and the nominee accounts seem fine. I’ll come back in two weeks.”
“I understand, young master.”
“And don’t try to imitate gangsters. Why are you bringing in those big men and pretending to be a gangster? Use proper people.”
With that, I got up from my seat.
“I came to see Mr. Kim because I thought we could work together. You graduated from a prestigious university and are smart, so you understand, right?”
“...”
As I walked towards the door, Sangkal didn’t move.
Secretary Ha was waiting by the door.
“I heard some noise...”
“There were no issues. We had a good conversation. Let’s go back.”
“Yes, young master.”
On the way out of the office, the big men, who seemed to have been ordered to intimidate me, had fierce expressions.
Ha ha ha, they’re so cute.
I smiled inwardly and walked past them.
I reported back to my grandfather at home.
“I’ve checked all the ledgers and received the nominee accounts. There are 12 in total, right?”
“Yes, were there any issues?”
“He’s a reasonable person.”
“Haha, reasonable?”
“Yes, I received the handover without any trouble. We agreed to report back every two weeks.”
“Good job. It wasn’t easy, was it?”
“Thank you.”
“Since you have school tomorrow, go upstairs and rest.”
“Yes, I’ll go upstairs. Good night, Chairman.”
Back in my room on the second floor, I lay on the bed and thought.
‘I’ve found Sangkal’s weakness... I wonder if the others have also tampered with the accounts. If they have, it will be easier... I need to collect the accounts and convince my grandfather to move the money before the financial real-name system is announced. How can I convince him?’
I fell asleep, lost in thought.
* * *
Meanwhile, in the study, Chairman Cheon and Secretary Ha were having a conversation.
“Are you sure it ended with a conversation?”
“When I was there, Mr. Kim spoke to the young master informally, treating him like a subordinate.”
“What?”
Secretary Ha reported in detail what he had seen.
“So? What happened then?”
“He wanted a private conversation, so I left with Mr. Kim’s subordinates. I don’t know what they talked about inside. Mr. Kim shouted, but only for a short time. They talked for about 10 minutes and then came out.”
Chairman Cheon seemed to be deep in thought, tapping his fingers on the desk.
After a while, the sound stopped.
“I understand. Who’s next?”
“I plan to visit President No next week.”
“Can you cook a snake? I see. Go and rest for now.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
After Secretary Ha left, Chairman Cheon picked up the phone and called someone.
— Yes, this is Kim Hosik.
“It’s me.”
— Yes, Chairman.
“How was it with Muhyuk?”
— ...
“Why no answer? How was it?”
— He’s a tiger cub. He’s more like the chairman than the two presidents.
“Hmm, that’s what you think?”
— Yes.
“What did you talk about?”
When there was no answer from the other end, Chairman Cheon asked again.
“You’re making me ask twice. What did you talk about?”
— ...The chairman mentioned the bank accounts that no one knows about.
Chairman Cheon’s eyes widened.
“What? How did he know?”
— What? Didn’t the chairman tell me?
“...Forget it. So?”
— I agreed to give them in two weeks.
“Hmm, I see.”
— Can I hand them over?
“Yes, give them to him.”
— Yes, Chairman.
After a moment of silence, Chairman Cheon spoke again.
“Hosik.”
— Yes?
“You spoke to my grandson informally, right?”
There was a pause.
— ...I apologize.
“Hosik, just because you’re doing well, don’t forget who gave you your position. Remember that.”
— I apologize, Chairman.
“Don’t do it again.”
With that, Chairman Cheon hung up the phone.
“Look at this guy. How did he know and demand the accounts? Even my children and Myeonghun don’t know about it...”
A smile spread across Chairman Cheon’s face as he leaned back in his chair, lost in thought.
< Will you keep talking to me informally? > End