31- Thieves (4)
#31. Thieves (4)
Lee Hye-ji, who checked the envelope Lee Myung-hee handed over, allowed her to leave work, leaving behind a snort of contempt.
Then, leaving Ji-hyeok alone, he left work in the corporate car.
Looking back at Lee Hye-ji’s daily routine, Ji-hyeok was speechless.
I go to work at 9:00, sip morning coffee, and at 10:00, I chat for hours at a dessert cafe, saying that it is work welfare time to improve work efficiency, then have a leisurely lunch and return to the office at 2:00 pm.
Then, I went straight out of work, looked around three or four stores, and went home.
‘Is this God’s office worker?’
It was surprising that the company was still running without bankruptcy.
After exiting the store and walking along the streets of Myeong-dong for a while, Ji-hyeok looked at the shopping bags carried by the crowds of tourists who filled the streets and was convinced that the cosmetics business itself had a very bright future.
the problem is······.
‘I don’t think it’s something that can be solved by just catching a few thieves…’
Ji-hyeok, who entered the cafe and fell into contemplation for a long time, realized that it had been a long time since he had been alone like this since he came to Korea.
In Tongyeong, her new mother Jang Soon-deok was always with her, and Dong-soo was always by her side after she came up to Seoul.
‘I have to visit my mother once…’
Come to think of it, it was the first time I had been to a place called Myeong-dong.
When Jihyeok recalled the fact that he had never experienced the subway in Seoul, his expression turned a little embarrassed.
There were no taxis on the crowded streets.
The moment I was contemplating whether to call a fellow practitioner or walk to a place where I could find a taxi.
Just then, a phone call came from someone who would ease Ji-hyeok’s trouble.
– Mr. Jihyeok, that’s me. How was your first day at work? Did you find out who the thief was?
“Let’s ask one question at a time.”
– Ah… I’m sorry. So how was your first day at work? yes?
“Um… where are you now?”
– At our hotel. why?
“Let’s eat some rice.”
– really? Then will you come here? The new head chef at our hotel restaurant is here, so let’s eat together as a tasting.
Ji-hyeok left a brief reply to Seo-yeon, who was in a good mood at the suggestion of having a meal together, and hung up the phone.
“I will send you the address. Hurry.”
– Pop!
– Hey, Jihyeok? hung up? Ha… What is the bad boy concept?
***
When Seoyeon entered the restaurant, the eyes of the people around her instantly focused.
It wasn’t because of the tweed jacket that looked exceptionally luxurious with the tight-fitting pencil skirt.
There was some quarrel between the couple who visited the restaurant due to the appearance of a rare beauty, but they soon regained peace after confirming that Seoyeon’s party was also incredibly handsome.
“Are you here? It just came out, so listen before you blow.”
As Jihyeok said, there were two bowls of kalguksu and a plate of dumplings on the table.
“Hey, did you invite me to eat this?”
“Don’t you like kalguksu?”
“…”
When Seoyeon couldn’t answer and mumbled, Jihyeok smiled and said,
“Do you ever try kalguksu for the first time?”
“Oh, no. I ate it a few times when I was young.”
“Um… I heard chaebol also eat ramen… The Yoowon group seems a bit unusual.”
“It’s not like that. It’s just that my dad doesn’t like food with flour, so I rarely had a chance to try it. Until recently, it was more difficult to watch because I was abroad.”
Jihyuk smiled and said.
“Then try it. Actually, I’m trying it for the first time, and it tastes good.”
“yes? Are you trying it for the first time?”
“Yes, actually, I prefer vongole pasta rather than clam kalguksu…”
Seoyeon pursed her lips and said.
“By the way, did you order in advance knowing when I would arrive?”
“I must have thought about what to wear for about 20 minutes, 10 minutes to fix my makeup, and 20 minutes to get here from the hotel. It looked like it would arrive in about an hour.”
“What are you talking about? Why are you worrying about what to wear when I meet Jihyeok?”
“What is it? I was saying this because I thought I wouldn’t be wearing a tracksuit when I was in a crowded neighborhood.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Blow the noodles. Please eat.”
– Sluruk!
Seoyeon, who reluctantly lifted her chopsticks, picked up a few strands at first and seemed to just taste them, then took the bowl and completely emptied the broth.
Seoyeon ate well enough to add a plate of dumplings in the middle.
“Even if you eat that much, you don’t seem to gain weight.”
“You have to exercise as much as you eat. It’s a secret, but my friends think I’m blessed to not gain weight no matter how much I eat. But where in the world is there such a person? After eating, I exercise to die for that calorie.”
After chattering for a while, Seoyeon suddenly picked up her chopsticks and put them down as if tossing them.
“Gee, how much have I eaten?”
“I ate half of a bowl of kalguksu and a plate of dumplings.”
“Kyaaak!”
“Lower your voice. Why are you like that all of a sudden?”
“I’m crazy, really. How many calories did you eat? ha······.”
“I hope you ate well, what calories are you counting? I think it would be okay to gain some weight.”
“really?”
Jihyeok smiled and said.
“If you see a guy who says, avoid it at all costs. Because it’s all lies Today’s concept was a bit that way, so that comment came out without me knowing.”
“By the way, why did you even mobilize the late secretary to act like that? According to the late secretary, both of them are very good at acting, so no one seems to have been fooled…”
“In the first place, it’s okay because I let them hear what they wanted to hear, whether it was a balm or something. Whether it’s true or not, the boss’s secret spreads quickly.”
Seoyeon nodded and asked.
“Have you had any success? It’s the first day, so I don’t think it was anything special, but…”
“Let’s talk about it over a cup of coffee. I will buy it.”
“is it so. I will live here.”
“I will buy here too. let’s go.”
“Hey, did you even get free money? Yes, then.”
After a while, Jihyeok and Seoyeon headed to the checkout desk tilted their heads and said,
“Were the prices in Myeongdong so expensive? It’s as expensive as our hotel Korean restaurant…”
“Keuheum… I guess it’s expensive because it’s a restaurant. let’s go.”
Two bowls of kalguksu and two dumplings came out at 82,000 won, so it was reasonable to think so.
Actually, it happened because Seoyeon ordered kalguksu several times because she didn’t know when she would arrive, but it didn’t seem necessary to tell her.
***
Seoyeon, who was drinking hot Americano while blowing on it, brought up the story again.
“How was the sales team atmosphere?”
Jihyeok said with his signature subtle smile.
“It was very good. It’s almost God’s job, right? I didn’t have anything to do, and I went out on the first day of work, but the manager of a directly managed store took care of my pocket money.”
“yes? What does that mean? You mean the store manager bribed Mr. Ji-hyeok?”
“Well, I was a little disappointed that the amount was only 100,000 won, but it was amazing anyway. For that purpose, I played it to look a little flimsy, but I wasn’t overly cautious for a thief.”
“No, how could that be? You know for sure that Mr. Ji-hyeok joined the company as my back in some way, right?”
“Psychologically, this is called the ‘optimism bias’. Do you know what the human brain usually decides between optimism and negativity?”
“well. Was it because I was optimistic that I thought Ji-hyeok would not be my spy?”
“Similar, but a little different. The human brain does not think in an optimistic way, but works to erase negative thoughts. The acting I did just made it a little bit easier.”
Jihyeok took a sip of coffee and spoke again.
“By the way, why are you doing such a ridiculous ‘Women’s Tea Time’ event? That too, almost once a week. It seemed like everything was just drinking coffee and chatting while eating dessert.”
“Ah… that’s not only our company, but also places like L’Oreal.”
“Is Yuwon Cosmetics that big of a company? Even right now, except for the name Yuwon, it is at the level of a small business.”
“Yeah, that’s true, but…”
Jihyuk sighed and said.
“Did you know that employees are listing overtime and overtime pay according to the maximum working hours without actually working?”
“Yeah, it’s customary that it’s difficult to attract talent with just the annual salary…”
“Seoyeon, this is not a management simulation game. Just because you’re bankrupt doesn’t mean you can hit the reset button and start over. Ah, since it’s a conglomerate, even if you fail, you can start over. If this is the case, then the result will be the same.”
Seoyeon put down the coffee cup with trembling hands and said.
“Was it that messy?”
“What the hell have you done since taking over the company?”
“That, that might seem like an excuse, but I didn’t pay much attention to the cosmetics side because the hotel side has a large asset size and a high possibility of revival. Not too long ago, I finally started sending Secretary Go to check on the internal situation.”
“First of all, appoint the professional manager I recommended as the president next week. And go see President Moo-Seok Cha tomorrow.”
Seoyeon asked with a slightly surprised expression.
“Uncle Moo-seok?”
“Yes, since you are an expert in restructuring, you must have many swordsmen under your command. Just ask to borrow a few people. It’s a small scale, so I’ll finish it quickly, but please take care of the labor cost.”
“all right. I’ll come right over tomorrow morning. What else can I do? I heard that they are only thieves, is there anyone who needs to be cut off in advance?”
Jihyeok took a deep breath and stared at Seoyeon for a while.
“Seoyeon, from now on, I will talk about something a little different.”
“Yes, I’m ready for more scolding.”
“Do you remember what I said the first time Seoyeon showed me pictures of executives and staff members?”
“Did you say they were all thieves?”
“No, don’t say that. I mean, where did you get these people from?”
“That’s mostly public loans…”
Jihyuk shook his head and said.
From noble mtl dot com.
“I mean who led the company when it was first established.”
“That’s right, CEO Ki-seok Hwang, who is now managing director… Ah… did Hwang, by any chance, participate in the embezzlement?”
“Wrong. Executive Director Hwang is also a thief, but he is not a real thief.”
“yes?”
“Listen. In the first place, the reason I called the people in the photos Seoyeon showed me thieves was not because I was looking at them, but because I felt anxiety, nervousness, and guilt from their expressions and postures.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means they are thieves, but there is no big thief or leader of the thieves. In other words, most of the people who lead companies today are driven by someone’s orders. But, that wouldn’t be Hwang Ki-seok, executive director.”
Seoyeon tilted her head and asked.
“Even though Executive Director Hwang Ki-seok is now executive director, he has been in charge of the representative position since the launch of Cosmetics. Who is higher than him to do such a thing?”
“Executive Director Hwang Ki-seok is not such a shy person in the first place. He has a pointed head and chin, blurry eyebrows, and almost no beard for a man, which means he lacks the virtue to lead something. Even if you give orders for embezzlement, your subordinates will not obey.”
“Then who is it?”
“well. Seoyeon has to figure it out. First of all, find out which affiliate Ki-Seok Hwang worked for before coming to Cosmetics and which line he came to Cosmetics on.”
Seoyeon chewed her lips and said.
“all right. wait a minute.”
Seo-yeon, who ordered the late secretary to investigate the background of Executive Director Hwang Ki-seok, said while touching her coffee cup with a drooping face.
“I’m sorry, Jihyeok. I don’t want to, but I keep relying on Jihyeok.”
“It’s okay to depend. In the first place, what a shaman does is to become someone someone can rely on. However, if you don’t try harder as much as you are greedy, the saju or coronation will be nothing but useless nonsense. Do you know what I mean?”
Ji-hyeok knew better than anyone that there were many people in the world who could not properly enjoy blessings even with good fortune-telling, and he pointed that out to Seo-yeon.
“…Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Jihyeok got up from his seat and grabbed Seoyeon’s wrist and said.
“Now let’s stop talking about the gloomy things and let’s go figure out the tricks of the thieves.”
“yes? Where?”
“It will be closing time by now, so it will be just right. Please follow me.”
***
As expected by Ji-hyeok, store manager Lee Myung-hee was preparing to close with the staff.
“Manager, leave the deadline to the staff and let’s talk for a while.”
“All, you…”
“Yes, this is Kang Ji-hyeok, a new employee.”
After Lee Myung-hee said a few words to the staff, Ji-hyeok followed him to the table inside the shop.
“Sit.”
Lee Myung-hee glanced at Seo-yeon and said to Ji-hyeok as if begging.
“Is what you said true? Is it true that you said you could save my child?”
“Well, at least I don’t think you’ll get any worse if you just quit the crime you’re committing.”
Lee Myung-hee’s eyelids trembled.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Ji-hyeok looked at Lee Myung-hee and raised his spirits.
“Children grow up eating the virtues of their parents, so how can you hope that your children will be fine after covering themselves with all kinds of feces?”
Lee Myung-hee looked at Ji-hyeok and Seo-yeon alternately with an expression that there was nothing to be surprised about.
“Hey, what the hell are you doing? why are you doing this to me? They said she was a new employee… Who is this woman next to you?”
Jihyeok said.
“Oh, I didn’t introduce myself. I am Jin Seo-yeon, CEO of Yuwon Cosmetics. Didn’t Manager Kang tell you? CEO Jin and I are close.”
“Who… who are you?”
Ji-hyeok said to store manager Lee Myung-hee, who was still unable to close his gaping mouth.
“Now, then, which would you like to start with: breach of trust or embezzlement?”