Chairman Jang Kyung-joon's eyebrows twitched when he received the note.
And I knew very well what that twitch meant.
"It seems whoever sent this note expected me to attack Chairman Jang Kyung-joon."
"Are you saying Young-jun actually gave you this note?"
"Yes, sir. If you want, you can even conduct a fingerprint test. Young-jun Jang's prints will be detected on the note."
Chairman Jang Kyung-joon clenched his fist and crushed the note.
Then, suddenly opening his eyes wide, he asked me,
"But isn't it possible that the content of this note is true?"
"If that were the case, would I have come here today? Tae-woo Group's intelligence capabilities are far beyond what you imagine, Chairman."
I already knew before receiving the note.
Out of habit, I checked the details and realized that Jang Young-jun was lying.
That was why the moment I got the note, I thought it was a brazen move.
"I am not underestimating Tae-woo Group's intelligence, but Young-jun wouldn't have acted so recklessly. He must have created suspicious circumstances on purpose and then handed you this note."
"That's true. Apparently, a Mr. Jang Soo-young, who was ousted from Tae-woo Construction, has been offered the CEO position at Hyundai Construction."
"The CEO of Hyundai Construction has already been secured. And there's no intention to appoint someone from Tae-woo Construction as the CEO at Hyundai."
"It must have been a prank by Chairman Jang Young-jun behind the scenes."
Although it could be seen as a conspiracy between Chairman Jang Young-jun and Representative Yoon Hyun-gil, that didn't mean Young-jun was in a position to appoint the CEO of Hyundai Construction at will.
"Why would Young-jun do such a thing? Is it really to pit me against you?"
"Perhaps he believes the 'Prince's rebellion' isn't over yet. Maybe he thinks if we fight, he can gain something as the unexpected winner, so he stirred up this trouble."
"Do you think Representative Yoon Hyun-gil is backed by Young-jun?"
"I doubt he is a true backer. Chairman Jang Young-jun is more likely using Representative Yoon Hyun-gil just to provoke a fight."
At first, I also suspected the relationship between Jang Young-jun and Yoon Hyun-gil.
But the deeper I delved, the clearer it became that they were not comrades in the same boat, and Chairman Jang Young-jun did not support Yoon Hyun-gil at all.
Even the support he claimed to give was nothing more than a lie.
Hyundai Construction fell into Chairman Jang Kyung-joon's hands, so how could Young-jun promise the CEO position?
"Sigh, I'm sorry. I truly didn't expect Young-jun to do such a foolish thing."
"That's not something you need to apologize for, Chairman."
"I will help with anything I can. You didn't just give me a note for nothing, did you?"
He's sharp, as expected.
I wouldn't waste my precious time just to sow discord between brothers.
"You only need to show Mr. Jang Soo-young, who dreams of becoming the CEO of Hyundai Construction, the reality of the situation."
"We'll announce the new CEO of Hyundai Construction right away and publish an article stating that the CEO position is guaranteed for at least five years. Would that be enough?"
"That's more than enough."
"But how do you plan to handle this matter?"
"You have to give back as much as you received. Otherwise, the same thing will happen again."
"Does that include Young-jun as well?"
"I have no intention of fighting Chairman Jang Young-jun. One Representative Yoon Hyun-gil is enough."
Chairman Jang Kyung-joon showed a slight hint of regret.
Why would I fight Chairman Jang Young-jun for anyone's sake?
In the end, Chairman Jang Kyung-joon himself would be the one to gain from it.
And even without me stepping in, the current group led by Jang Young-jun was destined to collapse.
"A person who has served five terms was too greedy. Does that mean we won't see that person in Yeouido anymore?"
"Probably, that will be the case."
When you step on something, you have to do it decisively.
That said, Representative Yoon Hyun-gil could survive.
If he chose to become a guard dog, protecting his own position, there was a chance I might spare him.
***
The next day.
Chairman Jang Kyung-joon kept his promise to me.
He held a grand inauguration ceremony for the new CEO of Hyundai Construction and publicly expressed his intention to trust and support the appointed CEO for at least five years.
"Chief of Planning, I think it's time to meet with President Jang Soo-young."
"Are you asking directly, Vice Chairman?"
"There shouldn't be any problems. By now, he's probably half-crazed with a sense of betrayal."
"In that case, I will arrange a quiet place for the meeting."
The Chief of Planning briefly left to contact President Jang Soo-young, and less than 30 minutes later, he returned to the Vice Chairman's office with good news.
"He said he wants to meet right now. His voice sounded very urgent."
"Then we can have lunch together."
"I will reserve a very quiet restaurant."
After finishing the morning's work, we headed to the restaurant.
As promised, the Chief of Planning reserved a quiet restaurant hidden deep in the mountains.
It was a place specializing in traditional chicken soup.
When I arrived, the owner was personally slaughtering and plucking the chickens.
Meanwhile, President Jang Soo-young arrived late at the restaurant and approached me awkwardly.
"President Jang, it's been a while. I heard your business is going well these days."
"Oh, no, not really."
"It's a shame. I was hoping someone from Tae-woo Construction would take the CEO position at Hyundai Construction, but I heard that Representative Yoon Hyun-gil's claim was just a bluff."
President Jang's eyes widened at the mention of Representative Yoon Hyun-gil's name.
Surely, he hadn't expected a five-term congressman to lie.
In truth, Representative Yoon Hyun-gil hadn't exactly lied. The whole situation was caused by Chairman Jang Young-jun's scheming behind the scenes.
"Everything happened because we were all deceived by sweet words and false promises."
"Are you thinking of apologizing? There's no need. The damage is done, and what would an apology change? It won't change the fact that the chairman has to stand in front of the prosecutor's photo line."
"Is the chairman going to be investigated by the prosecution?"
"Of course. How could he just let accounting fraud charges slide? Although, since no further findings will come out from the investigation, it will probably end with a fine at worst."
President Jang Soo-young bowed his head deeply.
As the chairman's right-hand man, he wore a sad expression hearing that the chairman would be investigated by the prosecution.
But would he really feel sorrowful?
If he had such feelings, he wouldn't have handed the accounting fraud documents over to Representative Yoon Hyun-gil.
"I truly had no such intentions. The Representative's side only said they would use it as a bargaining chip."
"Have you only met a politician once or twice? You should have assumed half of what they say is a lie."
"I was foolish. I honestly had no intention of harming the chairman."
President Jang Soo-young even had tears welling up in his eyes.
Seeing him now, he looked somewhat pitiful.
Honestly, I didn't understand why he left Tae-woo Construction out of pride and caused all this mess.
"Well, that's beside the point. It looks like Representative Yoon Hyun-gil is planning to step back now, but what are your plans? It's obvious he'll try to pin the blame on you for providing false information, so you have to defend yourself."
"Are you saying they will try to pin a crime on me?"
"Why are you pretending to be so naive? Do you really think Representative Yoon will take responsibility? He's probably going to boost his own profile just enough and then back off. Tossing out a single scapegoat for the sake of show."
"I truly am innocent. I never handed over false documents."
"That's something you'll have to say to the prosecutors. But fighting a mudslinging war with Representative Yoon won't be easy."
Thud!
President Jang Soo-young dropped to his knees.
"Please spare me. I will do anything I can. Please, just once, spare me."
"Do you see that? The precious chicken is being brought to the table because a special guest has arrived. But there are more than ten chickens in the coop. Why do you think that particular chicken was chosen?"
"...I don't know."
"It was chosen because it was a docile one. The other chickens pecked and flapped their wings to resist being caught, but that chicken quietly accepted the owner's hand. That's why it ended up like that."
If you resist, you become the prey.
To survive, you have to do your best to peck and flap your wings.
"Are you saying I should peck at Representative Yoon?"
"That way, you might find a way to survive. If you survive the chicken coop, you'll get a chance to meet a new owner. And that new owner might even give you freedom in the yard and much more feed."
"I will definitely survive. I will be chosen by a new owner."
President Jang understood my meaning at once.
Attack Representative Yoon and survive. Then, I will provide for you.
It was not an impossible mission.
I had already cut off one of Representative Yoon's hands attempting to capture President Jang.
While dodging two hands is difficult, avoiding one hand and surviving is not that hard.
***
Representative Yoon Hyun-gil's office was in a state of emergency.
President Jang Soo-young had suddenly shown up at the office without warning and was causing a commotion.
"How could you do this! Didn't you agree not to attack the chairman with the materials I provided? And now someone else has been appointed CEO of Hyundai Construction—what is the meaning of this? Do you think I'm a pushover?"
President Jang shouted loudly, raising his voice in anger.
His outburst left the aides pale, and Representative Yoon was sweating nervously.
"Please calm down. Everything is almost resolved. If you wait a little longer, I'll bring you good news."
"I'm not someone who just listens. You may be doing fine, but you're throwing me out as the scapegoat. But I'm not an easy target. I will never go down alone."
"President Jang, why are you so upset? Why would I throw you to the wolves?"
"I've taken out insurance in several places. Just know that the moment you touch me, we all go down together."
President Jang stomped out of the office, still huffing.
After the storm swept through, heavy sighs echoed throughout the office.
"President Jang really showed his bad temper just now."
"But it doesn't sound like empty threats. He was CEO of Tae-woo Construction; we shouldn't take him lightly."
"This is troublesome. We'll have to revise our plans."
"If President Jang acts first, the situation will get complicated. We should consider changing the scapegoat to throw to the Tae-woo Group."
"Chairman Jang Young-jun hasn't been reachable lately, and nothing's been going right."
Representative Yoon was planning to sacrifice President Jang Soo-young as the scapegoat.
However, with President Jang causing such a wild scene risking his life, Yoon had no choice but to revise his plan.
He was looking for another chicken before his own beak got pecked.
But did he realize?
That there were only a few chickens left in the coop.
And that when all the scapegoats were gone, he would be the next prey.