Corporate Villain
Copyright© 2025 by K.W
Chapter 9
I’m offering you an opportunity.
It’s not about what I want to do, but what the chairman wants to hear and see.
I had to find that out.
Director Park Je-dong was demoted.
I should understand that he laid out the board for me.
Here, my revenge against Director Park Je-dong and Deputy Manager Jung Chang-ho means nothing.
What’s the point of doing it now?
It’s not like it’s going to make money, nor will it benefit me significantly.
After all, those people were out of my life the moment they proposed a contract marriage worth 10 billion to the executive director.
What benefits me.
Since he laid out the board, perhaps he means for me to find and create something beneficial for myself on it?
He gave me wings, and I shouldn’t waste time circling the same spot, entangled in past affairs, when I could be flying further and higher.
I must make the one who gave me wings feel proud and satisfied with their decision.
If I can’t satisfy them, these wings could be taken back at any time.
“I’m Yoon Tae-sik.”
“I know, I know. I remember you well. Saw you at Vice President Kang Young-jin’s wedding. Come, have a seat. Shall we have a coffee?”
“Yes.”
President Min Byung-jin.
To Executive Director Kang Moon-jung, who is competing for succession with Vice President Kang Young-jin, he is a definite ally.
But being an ally isn’t quite enough.
Among the group’s affiliates, the power of the trading company isn’t that strong.
Regardless of the sales volume, the trading company is where the shareholding structure is too complicatedly intertwined.
Moreover, since Vice President Kang Young-jin brought in a powerful ally from outside into the Daeyoung Group by marrying Director Joo Yeon-hee of the VR Group, President Min Byung-jin’s influence within the group is known to be waning.
The fact that he has been unable to ascend to the group’s headquarters for seven years, guarding the president’s office of the trading company, proves his capabilities as a businessman, but entering the group’s headquarters is a different matter.
We began our conversation over coffee.
“I heard from Team Leader Son that you were on your way up from Daejeon?”
“Yes, I went down to see my mother for a bit.”
“If I had known that, I could have arranged our meeting a bit more roughly.”
“No, I’m sorry for arranging it to fit my schedule, and I’m grateful you agreed so readily.”
Certainly, this person has some real skill.
Despite knowing the reason behind my greeting, there’s no sign of discomfort.
Even if they feel uneasy inside, they at least manage to maintain their authority when dealing with me.
“As you know, it’s an urgent external personnel directive from the group headquarters, and here we have an even more urgent personnel appointment to proceed with. If it were an internal appointment, there wouldn’t be a need for a separate meeting, but since it’s a directive directly from the chairman, I thought it would be appropriate to meet and greet the executive director and the head of our overseas construction division before your first day. There’s also the executive contract to be drafted.”
“I need to head over to the distribution headquarters by 5 o’clock.”
Upon hearing about another appointment with Executive Director Kang Moon-jung, President Min waved his hand, indicating there was nothing to worry about.
“Umm ... We can’t take too long either. We’re thinking of just having a brief greeting among ourselves.”
Networking.
The chairman, and the chairman who granted me this position, surely didn’t do so for such things.
“More importantly, Mr. President.”
“Yes?”
“If you’re arranging a meeting, since there will be plenty of opportunities with the executive director and the division head in the future, could we postpone those and arrange a meeting with Director Park Je-dong instead?”
At my request, President Min tilted his head in confusion.
“Right now, at this moment?”
“Yes. Once the appointment is confirmed, I intended to ask you to arrange a meeting with Director Park before my official start.”
“May I ask why you’re insisting on creating such an uncomfortable meeting separately?”
Was it just my imagination, or did President Min’s face look even more uncomfortable at that question?
“If we skip over matters that can’t wait just because they’re uncomfortable, won’t we have to deal with even more uncomfortable situations later?”
“More uncomfortable situations?”
I couldn’t bring myself to say that Park Je-dong should clean up his own mess before leaving.
I nodded and then spoke up.
“At the very least, shouldn’t we receive a proper handover of duties?”
I was well aware of how ridiculous and transparent it was to bring up the handover of work in this situation.
As expected, President Min gave a bitter smile and said,
“Director Park. There wouldn’t have been time to prepare for such a thing. Two days ago, the group secretariat issued an order to vacate the position, and this morning, the decision on his future was finalized.”
“In that case, as the successor to the European regional director, I should at least request the necessary details before officially starting my duties.”
“Hmm ... Yes, please continue.”
“If my first task as the newly appointed director, under the chairman’s orders, becomes erasing the traces of my predecessor, it would be awkward for you too, wouldn’t it, Mr. President? I’ll request that he clears his own traces before leaving.”
After a moment of consideration, President Min nodded and agreed.
When he was about to connect the internal phone, I first requested the personnel documents related to the European division.
“Did you receive a message through Manager Son that I wanted to check the HR documents in advance?”
“Prepared them for you. Here.”
“Thank you.”
It was about ten minutes later when Director Park Je-dong opened the door to the president’s office.
In the meantime, I had asked for understanding and was reviewing the HR documents for the European division that President Min had prepared in advance.
It was utterly shocking.
Ryu Seong-jin, Choi Ga-hee, Kim Mi-sun...
All the colleagues who I thought were quite skilled had resigned.
On the other hand, Deputy Director Jung Chang-ho was the prospective division head for the European division.
And Choi Moon-ho, my colleague who was just as serious about office politics and played a leading role in isolating me among our peers (despite being promoted to assistant manager later than I was), was confirmed for a posting as the team leader of Spain Team 3 in the Madrid office.
Securing the Andalusian mega olive farms.
That was indeed a significant achievement.
Securing long-term contracts with three of the major farms there was the real feat, and after that, the business operations were a piece of cake for Daeyoung Corporation’s organizational strength.
With at least five years’ worth of performance and results already secured.
Director Park Je-dong and Deputy Director Jung Chang-ho turning the European division into their kingdom was hardly a challenge, was it?