The Chairman Who Wants to Play and Eat

Chapter 22. Don’t Change the Children.

When the unexpected assembly order from Chairman Hyun Byeong-geon was delivered, the entire Seong-hyun Group was thrown into chaos.

No one could defy it.

“Tickets, tickets!?”

“If you miss the flight at eleven tonight, it will be a disaster, so you must leave immediately!”

If there were no tickets, they had to be obtained.

If there were no flights, they had to be arranged to arrive on time.

It didn’t matter if the destination was the North Pole or the summit of Mount Everest.

If you couldn’t manage it, you’d be told you were unqualified.

And,

In Seong-hyun, being told you were unqualified meant the same as being told to get up from your seat immediately.

In the Vice Chairman’s office,

“Why is he going to such lengths all of a sudden?”

Was that the reason?

Due to the tangled thoughts in his mind, deep wrinkles had formed on Vice Chairman Hyun Deok-jae’s forehead.

Presidents and vice presidents from all companies within the group departed for Germany at the same time.

The company was empty.

It had become an emergency management system.

All of a sudden.

Given Chairman Hyun’s belief that the control tower must operate 24/7, even he, who had experienced similar situations frequently, found this utterly absurd.

Of course, he had heard the backstory.

“They say the chairman is really angry.”

“It’s interpreted as an intention to refresh the group’s atmosphere and once again instill a vigorous corporate culture.”

This was something Director Jo Hyung-man said before leaving for Germany.

It was understandable.

It wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.

He had witnessed with his own eyes how Seonghyeon Electronics’ home appliances were treated like pariahs in European electronics stores.

‘He finally went.’

He had an inkling of it.

It was just that it was not something he could easily touch.

For the vice president to drag out the company’s shortcomings that the chairman, his father, had not yet mentioned, was not something one could easily decide to do, both as a son and as a subordinate in the organization.

However,

‘According to the secretariat, it seems that the university festival involving Young Master Sang-yoon was the catalyst for all of this.’

‘Once again, it is said that the chairman praised the young master greatly.’

That difficult clue was unraveled by his son, Hyun Sang-yoon.

And in a brilliant way he had never even dreamed of.

‘What? A festival?’

An unexpected answer emerged from an unexpected place. That answer led the company down the right path.

Could this really be a coincidence?

It couldn’t be.

The son he knew, Hyun Sang-yoon, was not that simple.

It was clear that everything was part of his plan.

Yet,

The question still lingered.

How could a mere story about a festival resonate so deeply with the chairman’s heart? How could he have been so certain from the very beginning?

‘I don’t know. Not at all.’

He couldn’t even begin to guess.

Even though it was something his own son had done.

Suddenly, a chuckle escaped him.

‘Is he already trying to leave my side? The kid who just turned twenty?’

In his eyes, his son still looked like a little child.

That’s how a father’s heart is.

But even as he thought it couldn’t be so, and hoped it wouldn’t be, Vice Chairman Hyun Deok-jae’s heart kept leaning that way.

Alright.

Now that it has come to this, I can’t just sit still.

‘I will help with that festival too.’

He rolled up his sleeves for no reason. The tendons stood out.

He wanted to show it to his son.

No matter how outstanding you are, your father is still alive.

Go ahead and try to break free with all your might,

This father will also do his utmost to support you,

He wanted his beloved youngest son, Hyun Sang-yoon, to realize this feeling of his.

It was his last pride.

It was love as well.

In just a few days, the bookings for three top singers were completed.

“Did you really manage to get all of them?”

It was unexpected.

Of course, he trusted Assistant Lee Beom-seok.

But still, could it really be this fast? An unintentional note of doubt slipped out.

“Yes, they all said they would come.”

“How did everyone manage to find the time?”

“Well, I’m not sure.”

Assistant Lee hesitated in his response.

“I don’t know the details, but when making the performance arrangements, their voices all seemed a bit stiff, as if they were a little nervous.”

Nervous?

Even if Seong-hyun has a good reputation, does my name as the youngest grandchild carry that much weight?

“Really?”

Did someone apply pressure?

Who knows?

But he quickly changed his mind.

After all, as long as it leads to Seoul, does it really matter how it gets there?

It would be somewhat ridiculous to nitpick when things were going well.

The school had been bustling for days.

“Welcome to the daily hop! Just three hundred won for a beer! So cheap!”

“Let’s play a game! If you survive the three-person tug-of-war until the end, you’ll win a prize!”

The atmosphere was thick with festival spirit.

Most classes had been canceled due to low attendance. There were even classes where the professor declared a break first.

Could it be the excitement for the newly changed festival?

From the law school to the engineering department, everyone was caught up in the festive mood.

‘Everyone just have fun.’

The more they played joyfully,

the more intensely they celebrated, the greater the shock would be when Grandpa returned to Korea.

*

Germany, Frankfurt,

[Emergency Joint Management Meeting of the President and Vice Presidents of Seonghyeon Group]

The day had arrived.

The lobby of the five-star Kempinski Gravenbruch hotel was already bustling with numerous suit-clad individuals from the East.

All had flown halfway around the globe to assist Chairman Hyun Byeong-geon at his summons.

Everyone exchanged a few words.

“What on earth is going on?”

“I only heard it was because of the electronics, but the details are…”

“It seems the chairman has something urgent to convey to us.”

They all knew.

They just pretended not to.

They were all presidents and vice presidents of the same company.

No one in that room was unaware of the importance of having accurate information.

If there were such a person, they would have been cut loose long ago.

Seonghyeon was that kind of place.

They all instinctively realized.

This was no joke.

While the executive position could be swept away with the wind, everyone understood that in such a serious situation, even a small mistake could lead to double or triple the consequences.

Thus, it didn’t take long for them to enter the room one by one and take their seats on time.

The staff of the secretariat took charge of the reception.

“Welcome, Mr. Ko.”

Among them was the head of the secretariat, Joo Yong-hoon.

“Director Joo. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Hard work? It’s only natural that I do this. I’ve specially prepared milk tea for you, since you can’t have coffee.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

And so, the time had come.

At three o’clock in the afternoon,

exactly on the dot, not a second late,

the chairman, Hyun Byeong-geon, who hosted this gathering, walked up to the empty central podium and took his seat.

His lips were tightly pressed, and his eyes were wide open.

No matter how you looked at it, he seemed poised to make a significant decision today.

It was then.

“Oh dear, I’m sorry. I’m late.”

Without grasping the atmosphere, Hyun Seung-jae, the president of Hyun Sung Materials, burst through the closed door.

He mixed in a nervous joke with his words, oblivious to the tension.

If it had been a more typical moment, perhaps they could have laughed it off.

But the timing was far from right.

“What are you doing here!”

Chairman Hyun’s thunderous voice rang out.

“I’m sorry, Chairman. My flight was delayed… No, I didn’t have a ticket, so I had to get a ticket to another city…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’ll go sit down right away.”

“Sit? What are you talking about? You have no seat left, so get out! Right now!”

Chairman Hyun’s anger showed no signs of abating.

Hyun Seung-jae had no choice but to be hurriedly thrown out. Everyone broke into a cold sweat.

Among them,

‘My father’s anger isn’t just because of being late.’

Especially Hyun Hee-jae felt a chill run down her spine.

She instinctively sensed that this whole mess was due to the conversation she had had with her brother, Hyun Seung-jae, not long ago.

I’m glad I passed the buck earlier.

What if it had been me who brought up Hyun Sang-yoon?

The one who would be embarrassingly chased out of here wouldn’t be my brother Hyun Seung-jae, but rather Hyun Hee-jae herself.

In the meantime, Chairman Hyun began to speak.

“You all worked hard to get here.”

“No, Chairman!”

Everyone shouted in unison.

“Quiet. I’m not deaf, so speak softly.”

“······.”

“You must have heard by now. Do you know why I came all the way to Frankfurt, and why I called you all here?”

This time, no one answered.

The main point had arrived.

“I told you.”

Chairman Hyun continued his reprimand.

“We are no longer just a company in Korea; we are a global company. I have no intention of remaining a business that is satisfied with playing the local big shot and has no desire to grow further.”

“······.”

“Why did we start in semiconductors? Does anyone know?”

There was no response.

“Hyun Hee-jae.”

The spotlight fell on Hyun Hee-jae.

“Yes, Chairman.”

“Answer me. Why does our company need to be in semiconductors?”

“W-well, semiconductors are the 21st century…”

“Not that kind of answer!”

“······.”

She couldn’t find her next words.

“How is it that people who have been in business for decades can’t do better than a mere twenty-year-old college student?”

Looking at his daughter with disappointment, Chairman Hyun clicked his tongue.

“Semiconductors are innovation itself.”

It was a question and answer all in one.

“While the money we could make from a successful development is important, it’s the determination to challenge ourselves with something no one in our company has ever attempted and to succeed that can fundamentally change the fabric of our company!”

The room fell silent.

It was as if water had been splashed over them.

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Hyun Hee-jae’s flushed face, along with the tense expressions of others, could no longer produce any sound.

“Do you know what my grandchild said?”

Chairman Hyun suddenly threw it out there.

“Change everything.”

“······.”

“That’s right. Everything must change.”

Fiery gazes swept across everyone.

“Names, everything except for your wife, must change. I’m not joking. From now on, I want you to work with that mindset!”

Ah, one more thing,

“Even if you change everything, never change your children. This is an order.”

Don’t change your grandchild either,

At this moment, Chairman Hyun was thinking that his grandchild was a precious treasure that must never be altered.

No one among those gathered failed to grasp the underlying meaning.

“Understood, Chairman!”

The response echoed loudly throughout the grand hall.

The more than a hundred executives gathered here had nothing they could do but respond loudly.

‘What is this?’

At that moment, in the office of the Vice Chairman of the Jeong Sang Group,

‘It feels like something very important has been taken away from me?’

It was an ordinary day, just like any other.

True to its name, the company was running very normally.

Nevertheless,

The heir apparent, Vice Chairman Park Do-won, was seized by a foreboding sense that something was going wrong.

His hand turned the page.

[ Daily Report on Other Groups’ Movements ]

It was a report that the group’s strategy office sent to him every day.

⋮

— Daewoon: No special notes.

— Geosan: No special notes.

— Seonghyeon: Emergency meeting convened for executives at the vice president level and above during the overseas trip in Frankfurt, Germany.

⋮

‘Hmm?’

Frankfurt, executive meeting.

Those two words caught Park Dowon’s attention.

It’s nothing special.

It’s probably just a hurried gathering of executives for some mental training disguised as a meeting.

Such things happen occasionally at the top.

But it feels strange.

It’s hard to explain, but the feeling is somewhat different.

‘It feels like someone has said what I wanted to say for me. What is this?’

He shook his head.

It must be just his imagination.

Or he decided to think that way.