Season 3: Chapter 133: Pass It On (3)
An industrial spy? And not even for a tech company, but for a planning company? It was an exaggerated conclusion.
Lee Kyung-Ho hadn’t left his former job and joined as a spy. Accusing him of such a thing was just to warn him.
‘From a company’s perspective, it can be seen like this. That’s what I’m telling him.’
Lee Kyung-Ho would have suspected this if Ju-Hyeok had known nothing about him and actually came from the audit team.
Ju-Hyeok wanted to show him that Great Planning could see it this way and gave him a preview of what could happen. Even just the preview made the opponent snap to attention.
“What!?” the startled Lee Kyung-Ho jumped back. “An ind... industrial spy? What a wild accusation?” he whispered despite his shock.
Even though this wasn’t Great Planning’s headquarters, many related people were around. He couldn’t say such things loudly.
“Hey, don’t be so startled. It’s not officially determined. If it were, we wouldn’t be having coffee here.”
“No, I’m not like that at all!”
“Isn’t there enough suspicion? You won’t even acknowledge that?”
“Well, that’s...”
Indeed, it seemed odd considering the timing of the corporation’s establishment, his resignation, and his job switch.
“Sigh…”
Lee Kyung-Ho frowned and thought for a long time.
Then, he asked Ju-Hyeok, “Why are you here then? If there’s suspicion, you should be tearing through files and searching as you said. I’m innocent.”
“Oh?”
As if Lee Kyung-Ho could possibly be innocent. How naïve. It seemed he had never experienced an audit or even seen one. He hadn’t been in the corporate world for long, so that made sense.
“Do you think an audit only looks at one thing? Do you know how embarrassing it is if the audit team finds nothing? To avoid that, they keep certain safeguards.”
“Safeguards...?”
“You use your company card for gas, right? Because the company provides it.”
“Isn’t that normal?”
“Even when you use it for personal trips over the weekend?”
“!”
“You charge it all at once as if it’s for business, right? Is that too strict? It can’t be helped. That’s the rule.”
“...”
“And receipts for company related expenses? Sometimes you submit them. Sometimes you don’t. Usually, no one checks every little thing, but they save them for moments like this.” Ŕа₦ОＢÈʂ
“What, what?”
“If there’s a smell but no evidence, they latch onto that. Every little thing. And then you have to spit it all out.”
“…”
Lee Kyung-Ho’s face turned pale. It wasn’t just gas. Occasionally, he’d charge personal expenses like a sauna visit as a business expense. Many ambiguous situations like this existed. He had handled all of them with the company card.
Everyone did it. The company usually didn’t care about such small amounts. Over time, the line between personal and company money blurred. He did the same subconsciously and indiscriminately.
Then, he began to wonder.
‘Why is this guy telling me all this upfront?’
If Ju-Hyeok really came from the audit team, wouldn’t he just pounce on the issue immediately? Could there be a conflict of interest? Maybe something that he couldn’t reveal? Perhaps some internal company politics were involved?
More importantly…
‘Is this guy really from the audit team?’
Suddenly, Lee Kyung-Ho doubted the man in front of him. Starting with him working alone and intercepting him during work. It felt strange.
“What’s your name? Come to think of it, I haven’t seen your business card.”
“For matters like this, we don’t give out business cards.”
“...”
Was that so? Did audit teams not give out business cards?
Lee Kyung-Ho tilted his head, trying to fit this into his audit team image.
‘How would I know? I’ve never seen one.’
Putting everything aside, working alone seemed really odd. They wouldn’t handle such tasks solo without giving business cards.
Lee Kyung-Ho decided to ask why Ju-Hyeok was alone.
“Then, why are you here al—”
Thud.
At that moment, the man handed over a business card.
“?”
Didn’t he say audit teams didn’t give out business cards?
In the next moment, Lee Kyung-Ho realized why Ju-Hyeok had given him a card.
Ju-Hyeok wasn’t from the audit team.
“A... A manager? What the hell are you—?”
Bang!
Lee Kyung-Ho stood up furiously.
“What are you doing?”
“It says it all there. What I’m doing.”
Ju-Hyeok sneered.
“Why did you pretend to be from the audit team?”
“When did I? The idea that I was from the audit team was in your head.”
“You said you were from the legal team!?”
“In our company, I also handle legal matters~”
Now that he thought about it, this bastard had never mentioned Great Planning.
‘What kind of ridiculous guy is this?’
Lee Kyung-Ho felt dumbfounded.
“Shouldn’t you be relieved that I’m not from the audit team? Why are you so angry?”
He wanted to punch that smirking face, but his ten years of corporate experience held him back.
At that moment, another strange question flashed through his mind.
‘Wait.’
Wait, wait.
‘How does this bastard know everything?’
A chill ran down his spine.
If Ju-Hyeok wasn’t from the audit team, how did he know about when the corporation was established and how Lee Kyung-Ho was treated at the previous company.
That corporation was dead now. Even the flow of money. Could it be…?
“Who are you?”
Only one person came to mind, Seo Ji-Ah.
“Her current boyfriend,” Ju-Hyeok answered with a sly smile.
“!”
Unbelievable. It was indeed related to that person.
Ju-Hyeok stood up and pressed Lee Kyung-Ho’s shoulder.
“Hey, just sit down. I gave you a preview earlier, right? If you walk away now, the main feature will be much worse.”
His tone suddenly changed as if he became a different person.
“Preview?”
“Agh. My eyes hurt. I need to take these out.”
Swish.
He removed his contact lenses, took out his glasses from his inner pocket, and put on the rare pair of rimless glasses.
‘He looks familiar. Could it be…?’
Lee Kyung-Ho finally remembered where he had seen Ju-Hyeok before. That guy was really from Seo Ji-Ah’s side. What? These people were really ridiculous.
Lee Kyung-Ho started to laugh.
“Is your threat merely to reveal to my company that I have a corporation?”
“What threat?”
“You called it a preview.”
“Ah. Is that a threat? Well, as you said, it can fit within the mere scope of a threat.”
“...”
Was there more to it? But there couldn’t be. Ju-Hyeok said it himself that it was a dead corporation with no income.
“What more can you do? As you said, it’s dead.”
Lee Kyung-Ho’s corporation had no income. From the beginning to the end, it made nothing. It was a dead entity from the start.
“Can you accuse a dead person of a crime? Is it even possible for them to commit a crime?”
Applying the law to such an entity was pointless.
“Trying to do anything more would be close to a crime itself.”
It would be close to a crime if they forcibly tried to do anything more.
“Isn’t what you’re doing right now on the edge? You’re impersonating. You’re a criminal, you punk.”
Despite provocative words like impersonation and being a criminal, Ju-Hyeok responded without showing any sign of being affected.
“Impersonation? What impersonation?”
“...”
Right, what impersonation?
“Even if I did impersonate, what did you lose?”
“...”
“Even voice phishing cases aren’t reported if no money is lost. Are you going to report the impersonation you imagined?”
Lee Kyung-Ho snarled until the end.
“You punk, don’t you know to fear the law?”
“Not fearing the law is the stalker’s problem.”
“St-stalker? How is this stalking?”
“I didn’t say it was you.”
“You crazy bastard. Are you going to jump in like a moth to a flame just because of a woman? Is that why you’re doing this?”
Lee Kyung-Ho seemed almost out of his mind. He was foaming at the mouth over Seo Ji-Ah more than the scary corporate audit.
“What are you going to do? Hit me? What are you here for? You insolent brat…!”
“...”
The opponent became more agitated than necessary.
Ju-Hyeok took a moment to pause.
‘This is troublesome for both of us.’
Both sides needed to calm down to continue the conversation. Lee Kyung-Ho wouldn't understand a word if he lost his temper too much. It would also increase the damage on their side.
“People are watching. Let’s stop.”
“...?”
When made aware of the surrounding people’s gazes, Lee Kyung-Ho quickly quieted.
“Ha. Ha… Fine. I’m leaving. Do whatever you want among yourselves.”
He packed his bag and tried to stand up.
“You said your corporation has no income, right? What if it does?”
As he was about to leave, Lee Kyung-Ho turned back in disbelief.
“Income? From what? The company isn’t even operational. What income?”
Operations could resume anytime.
“Ji-Ah will generate income.”
“What?”
Lee Kyung-Ho sneered as if hearing nonsense.
“She’ll generate income? So she hasn’t generated it yet, but will?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think a planning business can generate significant income through such a person? Even if she tries, it would be a pittance. What could a mid-level contractor do…?”
If the income were too small, it would be ambiguous. However, Ji-Ah’s income wasn’t average.
“A pittance? As an editor, she sometimes earns five to six times your salary. What are you talking about? She’s already making money, just not under the corporation’s name.”
“What?”
‘I’m a manager at Great Planning. Several times my salary?’
Lee Kyung-Ho’s eyes shook more than when he faced the fake audit.
Ju-Hyeok grinned mockingly.
“Ji-Ah really didn’t tell you anything, did she?”
“Ridiculous...”
Lee Kyung-Ho growled in disbelief, but Ju-Hyeok brushed it off.
The important part hadn’t even come out yet. This was just the tightening process.
“That’s not important. Ji-Ah redirected her upcoming income to that corporation, so there will be income for your corporation.”
“!”
Ji-Ah, as a freelance editor, decided to receive the upcoming income as the corporation’s representative. That would instantly give the corporation revenue.
“So you’re employed at Great Planning. Your corporation, where you’re the representative, suddenly starts generating revenue? What now?”
“Exactly how much income? What is she making?”
Was he really curious about her income at a time like this? Even though his job was at stake.
Ju-Hyeok found it absurd but continued, “You’ll find out soon enough. The source of the income is more important to you, right?”
“The source?”
“We’re placing a big one this time. From an ad we received.”
“...?”
The ad they received from Hitman Simulator, but who planned the ad?
“It’s an ad planned by Great Planning.”
“What…? Wait…”
Could it be the ad they were about to shoot?
“So the revenue source recorded in Great Planning’s account and your corporation’s account will be from the same advertiser. You idiot.”
“!”
Lee Kyung-Ho finally understood why this guy appeared at this ad shoot. This ad was related to him.
‘This crazy…’
Everything fell into place in the worst possible way.
“A manager secretly owning a corporation with suspicious timing for its establishment and a job switch, but you’re also receiving separate payments from the same advertiser as your company? What does that look like to you? Huh? Does this seem like a simple side job?”
Sweat trickled down Lee Kyung-Ho’s forehead. He finally grasped the seriousness.
He asked with trembling lips, “No… Are you really going to channel that income to the corporation?”
“Of course.”
“You, you crazy bastards… You’re doing this just to mess with me? With your own money?!”
It was for a far more important purpose, but the opponent didn’t need to know that. Ju-Hyeok simply remained silent.
“What do you… want? What are you going to do with this?”
Everything had been tightened.
Ju-Hyeok moved to the main point. This was the main point and the conclusion.
“Hand over the company.”
This would solve everything.