Chapter 41: A Confident Step

At last, Friday arrived—my first day reporting to Korea Investment. I wanted to head there full of enthusiasm, but the morning struggle with Saho had completely ruined my mood. The little rascal had clearly decided he was coming with me and had latched onto my pant leg with all his might, refusing to let go.

“Saho, I'll come home from work and play with you, I promise. Can't you just stay home quietly?”

“...Rrrr!”

“You little brat! What if Hyeonji wakes up and hears you?”

Bzzz.

At that moment, the phone in my hand vibrated. Looking at the screen, I saw that it was Chief Secretary Kang Inhan calling.

“Chief Secretary Kang, good morning.”

“I've already arrived downstairs to pick you up.”

“...What?!”

“Don't forget, you are the second most important person at Korea Investment.”

“That may be true, but I'm still not used to receiving this kind of treatment from you.”

“You'll gradually get used to it. When can you come down?”

“I've been ready to leave for a while, but Saho won't let me go.”

“Perhaps he's simply tired of being cooped up inside?”

Usually, before my sister and I left home, we left the veranda window open about thirty centimeters. Saho constantly went in and out through it. Once outside, he would spend more than an hour running around and playing, so there was no way he was bored inside the apartment. There had to be another reason.

“Ah, this is so difficult. If only he were human and could talk, things would be so much easier!”

“I don't think that's the issue.”

“Then how about taking Saho with you to work?”

“What? Is that even allowed?”

“There isn't a single employee in our company who would dare complain to you.”

“I understand. I'll be right down.”

Click.

I hung up and sternly addressed the cat.

“If you cause trouble there, I'll skin you alive. Follow me.”

Then something happened that left me utterly speechless.

Saho jumped up nimbly and pressed the button on the electronic lock beside the front door himself. At the same moment, a short beep sounded, and the door unlocked.

Completely dumbfounded, I opened the door and stepped outside.

After going downstairs with Saho, I could hardly believe my eyes. Several men led by Chief Secretary Kang Inhan stood in a perfectly straight line in front of the building entrance. Upon seeing me, they simultaneously bent into impeccable ninety-degree bows and shouted loudly,

“We greet you, Cha Jiham!”

“......”

While I stood there awkwardly, unsure how to react, Kang Inhan stepped forward and spoke on behalf of everyone present.

“Mr. Cha, the men standing with me are responsible for secretly protecting your younger sister, Cha Hyeonji.”

“I see. Please do your utmost and remain vigilant so that no harm comes to her.”

“We will do everything in our power to protect her.”

“Good. For now, let's head to work. When we have time, we should all share a few drinks of soju together.”

After greeting each member of the protection team, I entered the luxurious sedan whose engine was already idling quietly. Naturally, Saho had climbed inside before I did. To my surprise, Jeong Gwangseok, the head of the security team, sat in the front passenger seat.

Unable to contain my curiosity, I asked why.

“I'm here to report on the matter you entrusted to me last week.”

Late last Saturday night, a black sedan had parked in the alley in front of my house for two or three minutes before leaving. At the time, Saho had sensed danger, rushed to the veranda window, and adopted a fighting stance. Kang Inhan had promised to identify the people inside the car and report back.

“Team Leader Jeong, were you able to determine who was in the vehicle?”

“Mr. Cha, I understand your curiosity, but please bear with us for a little longer.”

Instead of Team Leader Jeong, Kang Inhan himself spoke.

“There's a good reason for that.”

“There is?”

“This afternoon, we intend to give you a comprehensive report directly connected to the hit-and-run incident involving Cha Hyeonji.”

“So...”

As though he already knew why I had stopped midway, Kang Inhan continued immediately.

“We have confirmed that the bastard in that car is directly related to that accident.”

“Ah, now I understand what you're getting at.”

“Driver Kim, let's go.”

While we were talking, our luxury car had quietly arrived at the headquarters of Korea Investment.

Something strange was happening outside.

Dozens of employees led by Cho Myeongjeong were gathered at the entrance. Before I could make sense of it, the car stopped right in front of them.

Kang Inhan got out swiftly and respectfully opened my door. He was clearly overdoing things, trying to demonstrate my exalted status to all the employees of Korea Investment.

Since I had already seen through his intentions, there was no point in embarrassing him.

The moment I stepped out of the car, dozens of people standing in rows bowed ninety degrees and shouted in unison,

“Welcome, Director Cha Jiham!”

“Director Cho, what does all this mean?!”

In truth, Cho Myeongjeong had never intended to arrange such a grand reception. However, Chairman Park Yeongil had personally ordered him to strengthen Cha Jiham's authority on his very first day. Since the instruction was entirely reasonable, Cho Myeongjeong had organized the ceremony without objection.

“Today is your first day at work. Pretending that nothing special was happening would have been a failure on our part.”

“I understand. But why are you calling me Director?”

“We are merely carrying out the Chairman's wishes.”

Which meant that Chairman Park Yeongil had personally approved my position as department director.

“I see. May I greet the people who came out to welcome me?”

“First, you should pay your respects to the Chairman. We have arranged separate time for you to meet the employees.”

“Very well. Shall we go inside?”

Korea Investment occupied the entire thirty-story building, and the Chairman's office was located on the top floor.

Following Kang Inhan and Cho Myeongjeong, I entered the office, where Chairman Park Yeongil rose from his desk and warmly greeted me.

“Welcome. Greeting Director Cha in my own office feels entirely new.”

“It feels the same for me.”

“Sit down. Let's talk.”

After we sat down, Chairman Park's eyes fell on Saho.

“And why did you bring this rascal?”

“He was so desperate to follow me that I had no choice.”

“Hmm. By the way, when you first brought him home, wasn't Hyeonji frightened?”

“My sister thinks Saho is just an ordinary cat.”

“Ha-ha-ha! Then there's no problem.”

“But how much longer do I have to keep him with me?”

“At the latest, I'll come up with something next week. Just endure a little longer.”

Suddenly, the atmosphere changed.

Saho bared his sharp fangs and adopted an aggressive posture aimed directly at Chairman Park Yeongil.

“You little brat!”

Smack!

I shouted and mercilessly smacked Saho on the head.

The cat froze for a second. Then, with the most innocent expression imaginable, he leapt onto Chairman Park and rubbed against him, begging for affection.

After petting him gently, Chairman Park asked,

“Saho, do you really want to live with Director Cha that badly?”

As though he understood human speech, Saho obediently nodded and wagged his tail happily.

“He's not even a dog, and yet he wags his tail like one,” I thought.

While I was pondering that, Chairman Park turned to me again.

“So, how about living together with Saho?”

I had absolutely no desire to agree.

During Popchin's lifetime, Saho had been accustomed to running freely through the mountains surrounding the temple. Locking such a freedom-loving creature inside my cramped apartment might cause him to become ill and die from stress. Besides, the endless cat fur floating around the house was troublesome enough.

I honestly shared everything I had thought during the time we had lived together.

“I believe Saho should ultimately be returned to nature.”

“But we can simply arrange things so that he experiences no stress.”

“How?”

“I have an excellent idea. Wait ten days.”

I was curious about his plan, but I didn't ask further. In ten days, everything would become clear anyway.

“Then I'll leave it entirely to you.”

“Good. Now then, what do you think of your appointment as department director?”

“I think it's a fitting position.”

“Glad to hear it. Now let's get down to business.”

This was my very first day at Korea Investment. Shouldn't I first meet the key executives and learn the basics of management? How could I discuss serious business matters with Chairman Park under such circumstances?

I tactfully voiced my concerns.

“I want to talk to you not about Korea Investment itself, but about the joint venture.”

“Ah, I see. Tell me what we need to discuss.”

“Director Cho opposes our company acquiring a 9.5% stake in the joint venture. Try to convince him so that he has no objections left.”

After thinking about how best to approach the matter, I turned to Cho Myeongjeong.

“Director Cho, you're familiar with artificial intelligence, aren't you?”

“Of course.”

“Then this will be easier to explain. Artificial intelligence is penetrating every industry and continues to develop at a rapid pace. It requires highly advanced chips, and currently, the high-bandwidth semiconductors produced by the American company Endivia offer the best performance. However, Endivia has one weakness—they lack sufficient manufacturing capacity.”

I paused briefly before continuing.

“To compensate for this, Endivia plans to establish a joint venture with Hangang Electronics. By combining Hangang Electronics' enormous manufacturing capabilities with Endivia's powerful marketing, conquering the global AI market will only be a matter of time. Personally, I regret that our company can only obtain 9.5% of the shares.”

“Exactly! That's right!” Chairman Park Yeongil enthusiastically agreed.

I continued.

“The venture companies in which we invest will take a long time to generate substantial profits. I believe we must actively invest in industries that will become the cash cows filling Korea Investment's vaults to the brim. And that industry is system semiconductors, which will lead the age of artificial intelligence.”

“Oh, now I understand,” Cho Myeongjeong nodded.

“Since we're discussing this, allow me to add one more thing. We should focus our efforts on finding and funding young venture companies possessing key AI technologies.”

“I will definitely keep your words in mind, Director Cha.”

“I hope you no longer object to our company acquiring a stake in the joint venture?”

“Of course not!” Director Cho waved his hands frantically, decisively abandoning his previous position.

Chairman Park Yeongil observed his reaction with satisfaction and smiled.

“Well, Director Cho, how does it feel to speak with Director Cha in person?”

“It feels as though I'm standing before an enormous mountain whose summit cannot even be seen.”

“Ha-ha-ha!”

The answer pleased Chairman Park immensely, and he burst into booming laughter.

As for me, I sat there with slight embarrassment at such blatant praise.

After laughing his fill, Chairman Park turned to Kang Inhan.

“Director Cha should meet the staff now. Is everything ready?”

“Yes. All employees have gathered in the large auditorium.”

“Well then, shall we head there?”

***

The moment Chairman Park Yeongil entered the auditorium, every employee immediately rose to their feet.

He walked calmly to the head table and sat in the center. I took the seat to his left, while Cho Myeongjeong sat to his right. Kang Inhan stepped onto the podium to act as master of ceremonies.

As soon as he gave an approving nod, the employees of Korea Investment sat down in perfect unison.

Turning on the microphone, Kang Inhan spoke in a calm and confident voice.

“As part of today's gathering, we will conduct the official welcoming ceremony for our new department director, Cha Jiham. I ask Director Cha to step to the center of the stage, and all employees to rise.”

I took a confident step forward and walked to the middle of the stage.

Kang Inhan continued.

“The greeting will be the same for everyone: 'Nice to meet you.' First, we will bow deeply, and as we rise, we will say the words together.”

“Yes, understood!”

“Then let us begin the ceremony. Mutual greetings!”

“Nice to meet you!”

It was the moment I took my first confident step within the walls of Korea Investment.