〈1〉 Shanghai
…EO. CEO. CEO!
“CEO!”
On the eighth call, Seo Seung-hyun finally took his eyes off his smartphone and raised his head. The candy that filled the 5.8 inch LCD screen was shattered.
Jang Young-hee was looking at him with a wrinkle on his forehead. Seo Seung-hyun clicked his tongue at that wretched face.
“Don’t call me that.”
“If I don’t call the CEO the CEO, then what do I call you?”
“Chief Seo.”
“Why would I call the CEO Chief?”
“You’ve been calling me Chief for six years.”
“Aren’t you the CEO now?”
“Nope. I was the CEO six years ago. I just wore the pants called Chief.”
“Anyway, you’re now the CEO even on your business card, isn’t that so?”
“Put out a new business card right away.”
Seo Seung-hyun pulled out a business card from his vest pocket close to his chest and flicked it with his fingertips. The shiny paper swung through the air and slapped Jang Young-hee’s left cheek. [SH Financial Services Co., Ltd. CEO Seo Seung-hyun] The fluttering business card without a single contact information slid over Jang Young-hee, the corner of his left lip twitched. With a sigh, he bent over and picked up the business card that had fallen in front of his nose. Seo Seung-hyun asked, looking at the top of Jang Young-hee’s head, who had his body bowed deeply.
“And so. Why again today? Who else will come and play?”
“Seoran Executive Director Kwon is here.”
It was obviously a name that Seo Seung-hyun didn’t expect.
“…why is Executive Director Kwon here?”
“Please go and find out for yourself.”
“Don’t I have lunch with Semtech CEO Park later?”
“Executive Director Kwon comes first.”
“That’s true, but still.”
Seo Seung-hyun tilted his head to one side and heavily got up from the chair. A perfectly symmetrical face rose upwards. Long legs stretched under the shirt and vest, which tightly adhered to the shoulders and chest.
“He’s not the kind of person who comes to visit me without an appointment, right?”
Seo Seung-hyun muttered but Jang Young-hee didn’t answer. Seo Seung-hyun wasn’t expecting an answer either. Having spent nearly a decade working with a volatile boss, this conscientious secretary sharply discerned when to answer and when not to.
Seo Seung-hyun left the CEO Office at a leisurely pace. A similarly refined metal nameplate was affixed in front of the stylish CEO’s Office surrounded by opaque glass walls. CEO Seo Seung-hyun.
Shoes silently walked through the thickly carpeted hallway.
On the other side of the white and clean marble wall, the front glass windows let in the bright afternoon sunlight without filters, revealing the spacious hallway and office. A pair of men and women in perfectly conservative suits walking from the opposite side found Seo Seung-hyun and lightly bowed their heads. Seo Seung-hyun smiled at them.
He passed through the hallway to the room used for reception. Like the CEO’s Office, it was a space surrounded by an opaque glass wall. In one corner of the room, bright primary colored bean bags were piled up, and a slippery pea-shaped table occupied the center of the room. The door was a sliding door that cannot be locked. It was the work of an interior designer who used to say that open space was the trend these days.
Seo Seung-hyun pushed the door vigorously and raised a cheerful voice.
“Executive Director Kwon. Long time no see?”
A man sitting on a white mesh chair on one side of the table raised his head.
“CEO Seo.”
He got up from his seat.
His head shot up. The height of his gaze and his physique were similar to Seo Seung-hyun’s. The only stark difference was the faint incomprehensible smile on his straight face.
“How have you been?”
Kwon Shin-woo greeted with a calm and clear voice like a machine, and extended his hand for a handshake. Seo Seung-hyun held his hand with a smile. It was very short. Both hands released at the same time. Jang Young-hee, who was watching, clicked his tongue. Two look-alike alphas. It wouldn’t be a big deal even if they say haha or hoho.
“I am always the same. How have you been lately?”
Seo Seung-hyun replied in a rather cheerful tone, pulling the chair across from Kwon Shin-woo and plopping his butt on it.
“Young-hee, bring me something to drink.”
“What would you like?”
“Anything.”
“I’d like a bottled water, Chief Secretary Jang.”
A meaningless conversation continued until Jang Young-hee left the room and returned. The nonsense that started with what the weather was like and what the business trip was like ended with the reappearance of Jang Young-hee, so the two of them, who didn’t want to talk about each other’s personal affairs, shut up because they had nothing more to say.
Both were given bottled water, orange juice and a cup of ice.
Jang Young-hee left the room again.
Seo Seung-hyun twisted the lid of the orange juice and opened it. The silence was short. Neither of them were the type to prolong their introductions by spinning their words round and round.
“Executive Director. It hasn’t been long since we sold 12 billion last quarter. It’s hard to move again now. There are a lot of eyes watching. Well, since the Executive Director came to me like this, I won’t say no. Let’s see. New York will bring in some paintings next month. I think it’ll be a bit difficult to buy a large one because there are some that have to be returned to other places. If you mix the pieces together and bring it, I think about 4 billion would be okay. Take this opportunity to take over an art gallery.”
Kwon Shin-woo, who had been silently listening to Seo Seung-hyun, waited for his words to end before slowly opening his mouth.
“CEO. That’s not why I came here today.”
“Hmm?”
Seo Seung-hyun narrowed his left eye.
A few seconds later, the corners of his lips curled up.
“Aiya. This is rare. How much do you need? Honestly, what we can do for you is like a chimney, Executive Director, as you know, we have little margin. Seoran has few debts and has solid internal stability…I guess it’s a litle hard for the financial sector to handle? Or is it for your personal use?”
“CEO Seo. It’s not like that. I came here because I have a request for you today.”
“…request? From Executive Director? To me?”
Seo Seun-hyun laughed. It was brief. The mocking smile on the face of the young Executive Director didn’t change either.
Seo Seung-hyun’s head turned quickly.
It’s been four years since the two of them coexisted under the name of a trading relationship. The Seoran Group, or to put it more clearly, Kwon Shin-woo, was a great trading partner. All the more because it’s not a company that sells cell phones in a sloppy way. Even if only one fighter jet was brought to Africa and sold, the margin falling to Seo Seung-hyun was hundreds of millions of dollars. Arms trade was done in the form of the highest bidder, and once the goods were transferred confidentially to the military of foreign countries, others couldn’t investigate whether they actually sold one or a hundred, so if they wanted to launder money, any amount is possible.
Contrary to the fact that the National Tax Service and the prosecutor’s office were eager to dig out the close relationship between the two while grinding their teeth, the relationship between them was so cold that it’s plain. For four years, they only had a few meals together. The two 34 year old alphas didn’t even meet over liquor bottles or women. Just looking at the robot-like face of Executive Director Kwon, the back of the head would get cold and even a standing d*ck would get cold, so what the hell would they do? Just give me some f*cking money, whether it’s fighter jets or missiles, Africa or the Middle East, I’ll sell them, hell, even my sister and brother-in-law.
While such beautiful friendship lasted for more than four years, it was definitely the first time Kwon Shin-woo came to ask for a favor, not a transaction.
The corner of Seo Seung-hyun’s elongated eyes folded gently again.
“Let’s hear it.”
“I would like you to buy something in Shanghai?”
“What item?”
“It can be a brand named car or anything. After that, I want CEO to sell it back to me. Of course, I’ll give you a generous brokerage fee.”
“Hmm.”
Seo Seung-hyun’s feet gently pushed the floor. The wheels of the chair jerked backwards and the backrest recline deeply. Seo Seung-hyun looked at Kwon Shin-woo with his legs crossed and one side of his body leaning on his armrest.
“Executive Director. It’s not like we’ve been working together for a year or two. I know and you know, but let’s be clear one more time. I decided not to do anything that would step on my tail. Executive Director is like that, and so am I.”
“I know.”
“I don’t know what it is, but if it’s not a big deal, Executive Director can buy it himself, or if you’re busy, you can ask your secretary to buy it…”
“Huu.”
Kwon Shin-woo’s sigh interrupted Seo Seung-hyun’s low monologue. Seo Seung-hyun stopped talking. In his thin eyes, the narrow pupils stared at Kwon Shin-woo tenaciously. It was the first time the young Executive Director, who was as unemotional as a piece of stone, had reacted in this way. Even in front of Seo Seung-hyun.
“The thing I want CEO Seo to buy is our company product.”
Words were spoken slowly.
Seo Seung-hyun realized everything at that moment.
Seoran Group, which had Kwon Shin-woo as the Executive Director, was the world’s leading arms company. Its leading industry is its fighter jet and missile warhead development, but it also had a significant stake in the conventional and chemical weapons markets.
First, buy something.
Second, it’s a company product.
Third, it’s in Shanghai.
Fourth, Executive Director Kwon Shin-woo cannot go there directly.
Fifth, he needs a so-called “broker” like Seo Seung-hyun.
Aha.
Seo Seung-hyun’s eyes narrowed. His lips slanted.
“Which bastard dared to steal Executive Director Kwon’s stuff? Is it a new product? Haha. This is really. Well, fine. Instead, I want a few shares of defense stocks as brokerage fees, nothing else.”
“This is a new product that hasn’t been listed yet. You’d better get something other than shares.”
Kwon Shin-woo responded in a dry voice.
“It’s a chemical weapon, CEO. A new variety not banned in The Hague, Geneva, CWC, or anywhere else. If it’s used somewhere, and it’s known that the developer is this side, even if you receive the share, it’ll be a piece of toilet paper.”
“Haha…f*ck. Why did you develop something like that again? Wasn’t it enough with the d*mn thing when you tripped over the NPT at the Security Council last time?”
“What do I know what scientists think? Anyway. It’s a coincidence. Just like all other chemical weapons, CEO.”
There was no life in Kwon Shin-woo’s eyes, contrary to the painted smile hanging on his straight face. His face was perfectly normal even though they’re talking about a chemical weapon that’s completely new, unbanned by any treaty, completely free to use, and equally threatening. If you think about it, it might look like they’re talking about choosing the lunch menu with that face… Seo Seung-hyun’s thoughts were interrupted by Kwon Shin-woo’s continued words.
“Anyway, CEO Seo. We have no intention of exporting that weapon. We plan to dispose of it.”
“Well, that’s good for The Hague, Geneva, CWC, NPT, BWC. Long live world peace.”
Seo Seung-hyun, who cheered for world peace without being impressed, pushed the table leg with his foot and pulled himself up from his chair. Even though it was a leisurely move, it felt menacing because of his size. It’s just that Kwon Shin-woo, who had almost the same physique as him, felt unpleasant rather than threatened by him.
“Thank you for letting me know in advance about the expected increase in the number of toilet paper I’d have, so I can’t refuse. Let’s move and talk about the details. How about lunch? It’s been a while since I’ve had a meal with Executive Director.”
After briefly checking his watch, Seo Seung-hyun grinned at Kwon Shin-woo. Their gazes and smiles collided for a moment. In any case, it wasn’t an encounter full of goodwill and pleasantness.
“There’s a quiet place nearby. Is Japanese food okay?”
“It’s fine.”
Kwon Shin-woo replied with the exact same expression as when he was talking about the NBCR weapon.
Notes:
Hague Convention – agreement to abstain from the use of projectiles, the sole object of which is the diffusion of asphyxiating or deleterious gases. A second Hague Convention reiterated earlier bans on employing poison or poisoned weapons.
1925 Geneva Protocol – prohibits the use of chemical and biological weapons in war
CWC – chemical weapons convention – multilateral treaty that bans chemical weapons and requires their destruction within a specified period of time
NPT – non proliferation of nuclear weapons treaty – landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote the cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.
BWC – biological weapons convention – prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological and toxin weapons.
NBCR – nuclear, biological, chemical – weapons of mass destruction
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