TSG 81

Se-hyun smiled slightly at the cozy warmth of the jacket that heated his shoulders and back. It seemed Shin Tae-oh wanted to show that they were wearing the same thing, and Se-hyun didn’t mind. It also felt like it was filling the emptiness of not being able to wear a suit.

“Why did you close the door?”

The factory manager, having collected his thoughts, fixed his gaze on Shin Tae-oh. Se-hyun couldn’t shake the feeling that the manager’s rigid posture was an attempt to deliberately avoid looking somewhere. The initial shock of seeing the CEO seemed to have faded. Instead, it appeared he was trying to continue the conversation, but for what reason?

“Because there’s some very good information that should stay between us.”

At Shin Tae-oh’s secretive whisper, Se-hyun unconsciously touched his ear. Focused on the factory manager, he hadn’t avoided Shin Tae-oh’s breath so close to him. It wasn’t clear who this good information was for.

Se-hyun took a small step to the side. It might appear to Shin Tae-oh as an attempt to escape, but making excuses would seem even more pathetic.

“I can’t come all this way and leave empty-handed. So I was thinking of giving the factory manager some good intel and receiving something in return…”

The factory manager, who had been so wary when Se-hyun asked for the balance sheet, was now listening intently to Shin Tae-oh. His eyes darting back and forth clearly showed he was considering something, even though he didn’t know what kind of information he might receive.

Should Se-hyun have tried Shin Tae-oh’s approach?

‘No.’

To conclude, it wouldn’t have worked for him. He couldn’t have eased the factory manager’s wariness anyway. Still, a small hope arose that they might be able to resolve this peacefully.

While Shin Tae-oh dealt with the factory manager, Se-hyun took a quick look around the office. It was a space he hadn’t been able to enter earlier. It was no different from a typical office, with simple furnishings like desks, chairs, and a sofa, and a few decorations here and there.

“What kind of information are you offering…”

“You must have been so anxious having to work double duty until now. So I want to take some of that burden off your shoulders with this opportunity.”

He didn’t explain in detail what working double duty meant. There was no need to spell it out anyway. Shin Tae-oh was also giving the factory manager an opportunity. If he understood that, he would do as Shin Tae-oh said, and if not, Shin Tae-oh would use whatever means necessary.

Having looked around the entire room, Se-hyun fixed his gaze on the factory manager. More precisely, on his hand…

It looked like he was trying to press the call button. It seemed the factory manager had no intention of accepting Shin Tae-oh’s offer.

“Pressing it won’t do any good.”

Se-hyun shook his head at the factory manager, signaling him not to do it. He seemed to be trying hard not to be caught by Shin Tae-oh, but it was all too apparent.

Why wouldn’t Se-hyun know about the emergency call button that everyone has installed for emergencies? He was the one who had gone around comparing and buying desks when Shin Tae-oh suddenly wanted to change them. He recognized it as one of the desks he had seen.

“If you call someone else now, we’ll officially file a lawsuit against you, Manager.”

Se-hyun spoke on behalf of Shin Tae-oh. From the start, if the factory manager didn’t comply willingly, this was the only answer.

“If that’s not what you want, I have nothing more to say. Secretary Ahn, I’ll call some people, so please take care of the rest.”

Shin Tae-oh took a step back and gave Se-hyun a look of observation, as if handing over all authority to him. For the factory manager, the jackets that had been bothering him all along finally proved that these two were not in an ordinary relationship.

“Lawsuit… What lawsuit could you file when you have nothing?”

The factory manager snorted as if it wasn’t even funny, but still pressed the call button. Since he was caught, he pressed it openly, and not satisfied with that, he pressed it again. The effect of pressing the bell was significant. Someone immediately came knocking on the factory door. They seemed to be trying to enter, touching the handle, then knocking again when they found it locked. Eventually, they would probably break in when they decided they couldn’t wait any longer.

As Se-hyun looked towards the office door, the factory manager’s snort was heard.

“Go ahead and sue me. But I won’t sit idly by either.”

The factory manager waited with a leisurely gaze, as if saying ‘let’s see you try’. The knocking on the factory door grew more intense, and now the intervals between knocks shortened as if something was wrong.

“If they break in, things will get quite complicated.”

The factory manager made a point to imply that both Se-hyun and Shin Tae-oh could be put in a difficult situation. Even though Shin Tae-oh was the CEO, the factory manager acted as if he ruled this place.

“You should know that power abuse is a serious matter these days…”

Fearing that Shin Tae-oh would move, the factory manager became even more arrogant as he hinted to him to stay still.

“Unfortunately, you’re mistaken this time, sir. Even a mutt has the upper hand in its own territory.”

The factory manager was utterly nonchalant, knowing the conditions were inevitably more favorable to him than to the two outsiders.

Interestingly, neither Se-hyun nor Shin Tae-oh seemed tense either. Even though a headline about Shin Tae-oh’s abuse of power could hit the news any moment, they remained calm.
Their lack of tension had a reason.
“Since you mentioned ‘these days,’ let me show you something.”

Se-hyun calmly took out his phone.

“What ultimately happens to those who commit crimes.”

“What? Wait.”

“Yes, Mr. Attorney. We need you to come here right now.”

Se-hyun continued the call while watching the flustered factory manager.

“As I mentioned earlier on the phone, we’re proceeding with the lawsuit regarding embezzlement and corruption.”

-Do you have evidence?

Even though the speaker wasn’t on, the other party’s voice reached the factory manager’s ears.

“We have evidence related to the 3rd quarter balance sheet and inventory assets.”

As Se-hyun recited the amounts he had memorized from Ha Jin-seong, the factory manager’s eyes widened.

“How did you…”

He couldn’t hide his shocked expression as what Se-hyun was saying was exactly the part he had tampered with. Behind him, Shin Tae-oh was smiling as if he had expected this.

“I’ll explain the rest in detail when we meet…”

“Wait a moment.”

The factory manager hurriedly snatched Se-hyun’s phone. He looked up at Se-hyun while tightly gripping the phone.

“Let’s not do this. Let’s talk it out.”

Seeing the factory manager finally becoming cooperative, Shin Tae-oh stepped forward.

“It seems you called someone. What are you going to do about them?”

The continuous knocking on the door now sounded like pressure on the factory manager. With everything turning against him, the factory manager’s judgment was becoming clouded.

His eyes darted around nervously before he finally spoke in a resigned tone.

“I’ll accept that offer from earlier.”

As the factory manager gave in, Shin Tae-oh patted Se-hyun’s shoulder as if to say ‘well done’. Taking this cue, Se-hyun requested the documents he wanted. The factory manager hesitated momentarily before replying.

“I’ll give them to you when the manager arrives.”

He was creating an escape route even in this situation. He’d probably try to find another way while waiting for the manager to arrive.

“Is that so? That’s good.”

Shin Tae-o’s casual response cut off the factory manager’s thoughts.

“Come in.”

With Shin Tae-oh’s loud call as if summoning someone, the knocking stopped and someone appeared. It was Kim Chul-soo, who had lied to Se-hyun that the factory manager wasn’t there and whom Shin Tae-oh had ‘accidentally’ encountered while entering.

“The manager… how did…”

“I told you there would be people outside.”

Shin Tae-oh had already informed him, though he hadn’t specified it was Kim Cheol-su.

“It’s not just the manager, we also need Kim Kyung-mi who’s in charge of accounting…”

The factory manager tried to cover up his surprise at seeing Kim Cheol-su, but then Kim Kyung-mi appeared.

“My hands hurt from all that knocking.”

She was blowing on her reddened hands.

“Kyung-mi.”

im Cheol-su, whose hands were equally red, told Kim Kyung-mi to stay put.

⍣⍣⍣

“I didn’t expect to receive this so quickly…”

Se-hyun expressed skepticism as he looked at the documents in his hand. He hadn’t expected the factory manager to hand them over easily, thinking it would take around three days, but now they had extra time.

“Thanks to you, sir, it was resolved quickly. Thank you.”

“It’s my company’s business, so I should be the one thanking you. Since he said he’d go in for questioning himself, let the lawyer know.”

Shin Tae-oh replied as if it was no big deal, but he kept sending expectant glances.

He must have something he wants to say to him, right? Like boasting, perhaps. Must be boasting.

“What about Kim Cheol-su and Kim Kyung-mi?”

“I had a hunch it would be good to keep them around. Plus, we needed people to knock on the door.”

He said he chose them as helpers to put psychological pressure on the factory manager, and it worked perfectly. In fact, the factory manager was too anxious about the people he had called not showing up to think more deeply.

The factory manager’s last words about their presence didn’t work, so Shin Tae-oh’s intuition worked.

“Did I do well?”

“Yes.”

“I think I did really well too.”

Shin Tae-oh showed his joy, then once again looked expectant. Did he need more praise?

Then what does he want?

“Do you have something to say?”

Just say it.

“The business trip was for three days, but how are you going to spend the remaining two days?”

“Of course, that’s…”

“You’re not going back to the company just because we finished early, are you?”

Shin Tae-oh interrupted what Se-hyun was about to say with a ‘you can’t be serious’ expression.