Chapter : 09
The video conference with the U.S. branch, which had started at five, gradually grew more serious. The situation was worse than expected, and before long, lawyers from the legal team and even Chairman Do Won-seok joined the meeting.
“A member of the U.S. branch’s channel sales team has been found to have attempted to leak confidential documents. We discovered evidence that more than several hundred security-related documents stored on the server had been accessed, and we are currently investigating.”
As Seo-yoon translated, the atmosphere in the conference room turned icy. As more details of the incident gradually came to light, Chairman Do’s face slowly twisted.
“What have you all been doing until things got this bad? We spent tens of billions of won building the security system just two years ago.”
“Tsk.” Chairman Do clicked his tongue as though he found the whole thing pathetic. His pitch-black eyes slowly swept over each employee gathered in the conference room. His cold gaze finally stopped on Director Kang Min-gyu, the head of the Business Division.
“You were the one managing the U.S. branch’s channel sales team, weren’t you, Director Kang? I hear the Business Division sent quite a few people to the U.S. branch.”
The man who supposedly leaked the confidential documents was someone you personally selected and sent there, wasn’t he? Chairman Do’s pitch-black eyes seemed to be asking the question.
The corner of Director Kang Min-gyu’s eye twitched slightly. He quickly curved his eyes into a smile and answered calmly.
“We are currently investigating the facts. So far, it is only circumstantial evidence, and we have not confirmed whether an actual leak of confidential information took place. I will give you a detailed report as soon as the investigation is complete.”
“All right, Director Kang. I’ll be expecting it.”
The wrinkles around Chairman Do’s eyes curved into a long smile. Between those narrowed eyes, his firm gaze sharpened like a blade.
Just then, the conference room door opened and Manager Han Ki-yeol entered. He approached Hyun-jun and whispered something in his ear. Hyun-jun nodded and spoke.
“It seems that several reporters have already started looking into this incident.”
“It wouldn’t be good to get caught up in unnecessary rumors just as we’re starting our overseas business. Executive Director Do, go and smooth things over.”
The meeting continued late into the night. By the time the five-hour-long meeting finally ended, even breathing felt difficult in the heavy, stifling air.
Hyun-jun entered his office, leaned deeply against the backrest, and spun his chair around. Beyond the glass windows, the view was swallowed by complete darkness, without even the faintest trace of light.
The channel sales team at the U.S. branch, which was at the center of the problem, had been organized under the leadership of Director Kang Min-gyu, head of the Business Division. More than half of its members were employees dispatched from Korea, and all of them belonged to Dowonsoft headquarters. It was supposed to serve as the central pillar of the company’s overseas expansion.
The timing was suspiciously precise, almost as if someone had deliberately set the whole thing off. Once morning came, it would probably be best to start by having the legal team review the employment contracts.
The incident had already happened. All he had to do was contain it before it grew any bigger. Even as he thought that, however, the back of his neck felt hot.
Who the hell was behind this? There was no way an employee could have carried out something of this scale alone. Unless Kang Min-gyu had completely lost his mind, he would obviously be the first person suspected, so there was no way he would have handled things this carelessly.
As though cutting off the thoughts that kept chasing one another, Hyun-jun got to his feet. He rubbed the stiff back of his neck as he walked.
The suspicious circumstances were obvious, but still. It wouldn’t be too late to make a judgment after the investigation results came in. Out of habit, he raised his wrist to check the time as he left his office.
One in the morning. In the dark, empty hallway, the sound of Hyun-jun’s footsteps rang out clearly. As he walked toward the elevator, he noticed light leaking through the gap beneath the door of an office diagonally across from him.
That looked like the temporary office used by the TF team. Who could possibly still be here at this hour…?
Thinking it strange, he continued toward it. He grabbed the doorknob and opened the door with a click. The rapid tapping of a keyboard immediately reached his ears.
About halfway into the spacious office, he saw the back of a woman sitting between the partitions, staring at a monitor displaying moving geometric graphics.
It was Lee Seo-yoon.
His question of why she was alone here at this hour quickly faded. He was the one who had asked Lee Seo-yoon, who was handling both TF team and public relations work, to interpret the meeting as well.
A ridiculous laugh escaped him. Then she should have refused when he asked her to interpret. He would have understood perfectly well if she had refused. He had only asked because he had expected the meeting to end quickly.
For a moment, he remembered Lee Seo-yoon’s packed, suffocating résumé. It was a brutally crammed résumé, filled so thoroughly that it made him wonder if she had even had time to breathe while living her life.
Was she the type who pushed herself all the way to her limits?
It didn’t exactly fit with the image of her he had seen so far, though.
A quiet chuckle escaped him. How much did he really know about Lee Seo-yoon? He had only seen her a few times, mostly during meetings.
Maybe she wanted to add one more line to her résumé saying that she had worked as an interpreter. She did seem to have a surprisingly meticulous side to her.
Fine, then. Let’s see just how long she can hold out.
At the sudden thought, a thin smile spread across Hyun-jun’s lips. He walked into the office.
“Assistant Manager Lee Seo-yoon.”
Startled, Seo-yoon turned her head. Her eyes widened when their gazes met, but she quickly composed her expression and answered.
“Yes, Executive Director.”
He had wondered why she was so startled when she must have sensed someone approaching, only to realize that she had earphones in. Looking at the English script file displayed on the monitor, she seemed to be creating English subtitles to overlay on a video.
Hyun-jun asked as Seo-yoon removed the earphones from her ears.
“It’s very late. What are you doing here instead of going home?”
Seo-yoon’s eyes moved toward the wall clock over Hyun-jun’s shoulder.
“Oh, it’s already this late… I’ll leave now.”
“It’s late. Shall I give you a ride?”
“No, it’s okay. I brought my car.”
“All right. Then go home now, and don’t stay this late too often. You’ll wear yourself out.”
Hyun-jun said it with a gentle smile. Seo-yoon quietly answered, “Yes,” and began organizing the files open on her monitor.
He watched her close the saved files one by one before turning away. Hyun-jun walked several steps, then stopped.
“Assistant Manager Lee Seo-yoon.”
Hyun-jun called her again. Half-turning his body to meet her eyes, he gently raised the corners of his lips.
“I think I need to ask you for a favor.”
“Yes, Executive Director.”
“It’s difficult to arrange the schedule of our in-house interpreters this week. If it’s okay with you, I’d like you to assist with interpreting meetings for the time being.”
He deliberately did not tell her that she could refuse. Seo-yoon blinked several times and let out a small sound, almost like a sigh. She seemed to think it over for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
“Yes, I understand.”
“All right. Then get home safely.”
Hearing her calm voice as she answered that she understood, Hyun-jun turned away again.
All she had to do was say that she had too much work and it would be difficult. Yet all he got was that faint little “Ah,” like a soft sigh. A thin smile spread across Hyun-jun’s lips.
The employee lounge was peaceful in the morning sunlight. Seo-yoon bought a can of coffee from the vending machine and sat down in a chair in the corner.
Perhaps because it was still early, the lounge was quiet. Seo-yoon took a sip of coffee and slowly closed her eyes.
“It’s difficult to arrange the schedule of our interpreters this week. If it’s okay with you, I’d like you to assist with interpreting meetings for the time being.”
Her workload was already overwhelming, but it was a request she couldn’t refuse. She had received personal help from him before, and now that something serious had happened to the company, she could understand Executive Director Do Hyun-jun’s difficult position, so she had readily nodded.
Three days. She only had to do it for exactly three more days. Seo-yoon took a deep breath and calmly settled her mind.
She opened her eyes and took another sip of coffee when she saw Manager Cha Yu-rim from the TF team entering the lounge. Spotting Seo-yoon, Manager Cha happily waved at her.
“Assistant Manager Lee Seo-yoon, you came in early. Were you having coffee?”
“Yes, Manager. Good morning.”
Seo-yoon greeted her with a smile. After getting a can of coffee from the vending machine, Manager Cha promptly sat down beside her.
“I heard the atmosphere in the meeting room yesterday was pretty brutal?”
“Yes, it wasn’t good.”
“I heard Chairman Do even attended?”
Seo-yoon nodded. Given that something so serious had happened at the company, the tense atmosphere was only natural. Chairman Do Won-seok’s crushing tone of voice carried such heavy authority that it made her fingertips tingle.
Manager Cha subtly rolled her eyes around the room. After glancing around once, she moved close to Seo-yoon and whispered in a low voice.
“I heard it from Director Kang Min-gyu. Company confidential documents were leaked, right?”
Manager Cha Yu-rim, who had transferred from the Business Support Team to the TF team, knew everything that happened in the Business Division.
“Yes, it hasn’t been confirmed exactly yet. I think they’re investigating it now.”
“That’s serious. Executive Director Do Hyun-jun is going to be incredibly busy again. No, I guess he was already busy to begin with. Still, what a terrible time for something like this to happen, especially when things are so important right now.”
“I know.”
“Whenever something happens at the company, Chairman Do always goes looking for his second son first. You know how he ignores his eldest son and only dotes on his second son, right?”
“Yes, I’ve heard that. I heard the head of the Strategic Planning Division used to be Executive Director Do Young-jun.”
“Do you know why Executive Director Do Young-jun was kicked out?”
Seo-yoon shook her head. She had only heard that Executive Director Do Hyun-jun had replaced him as head of the Strategic Planning Division a year ago. She didn’t know the details.
“You don’t know? Well, I suppose they keep quiet about it even inside the company.”
Manager Cha looked around once again. After making sure there were no listening ears nearby, she leaned toward Seo-yoon’s ear and spoke in a hushed voice.
“He got two female employees pregnant at the same time.”
