My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 52

‘Why that guy?’

If his memory was correct, Kang Do-wook was a key figure at one of Jindo Energy’s main affiliates, making him a strong contender for the next vice chairman from within the company.

However, Park Do-joon’s death meant he never knew the outcome.

‘Why is someone like that here?’

Of course, that future is still a long way off.

But even so, seniority matters in the business world.

Even if Kang Do-wook left Hyunseong and succeeded at Jindo Group, he wouldn’t easily jump ahead of those who had been there longer to become the next vice chairman.

‘Besides, there’s no way Jindo would value someone from Hyunseong, right?’

Hyunseong is destined to fail in the future.

He could move to another company after that.

However, companies rarely place former high-level managers from other companies into key executive positions.

If a company goes bankrupt, it’s hard enough for ordinary employees to find new jobs, so who would offer a former chief of staff a president position?

“Why? Is something wrong?”

“No, I just thought I’d seen you somewhere before.”

“I hear I have a pretty common face, hahahaha.”

Kang Do-wook laughed cheerfully, but Park Do-joon wasn’t in the mood to laugh.

‘There’s always a reason for the things you didn’t imagine.’

Park Do-joon didn’t like Kang Do-wook, who was smiling so kindly.

***

Kang Do-wook… Kang Do-wook….

Park Do-joon returned to his small studio apartment.

He opened his notebook and began to cross-reference it with the timeline he knew.

His memories from before his regression were inevitably fading, so he had already documented important events in his notebook.

With that, it wasn’t difficult to piece together Kang Do-wook’s actions according to the timeline.

“Okay, Kang Do-wook is appointed as the head of the energy division of Jindo Group in 15 years. And around that time, Hyunseong Group is almost bankrupt.”

In fact, only the name of the group remained; it was in the process of being dismantled.

“Then that doesn’t make sense, does it?”

He didn’t know exactly when Kang Do-wook moved, but internally, Hyunseong Group would appear to be running normally for the next 10 years.

Various problems would arise, but even if it was decaying, it was still Hyunseong, so nothing would have a fatal impact on the company.

“So, I think he’ll be with Hyunseong Group for at least 10 more years, but suddenly he becomes a key executive at Jindo Energy? No way……”

If he joined after Hyunseong went bankrupt, he’d be lucky to get a manager position, let alone a president position.

“Moreover, if he’s in the president’s secretariat, he’s a key figure. So, that means he’s the one who has to take direct responsibility if the company goes bankrupt.”

In other words, he would have to demonstrate such incompetence that the company went bankrupt, and then they would use such a person as president in the future?

“There’s no way Jindo Group would do that unless they were crazy.”

Park Do-joon looked at the narrow ceiling and muttered.

No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t understand.

“Besides, if he’s coming into the secretariat, that means he’s a Hyunseong man.”

Unless someone is exceptionally talented, the secretariat never hires from outside.

That’s obvious.

If he is a spy, information will leak out.

So, the secretariat places people who have been working within the group from the beginning.

In particular, the Hyunseong chairman’s secretariat is a truly core workforce.

“In Jindo Group’s terms, it’s like the Future Planning Team.”

Jindo Group doesn’t have a secretariat.

Instead, a team called the Future Planning Team plays that role.

In other words, it’s a kind of brain trust there.

In fact, entering the Future Planning Team guarantees success at Jindo Group.

“Right. But why in the secretariat… wait a minute.”

Park Do-joon frowned.

Then, he reorganized the timeline once again.

And he tried to remember something else.

“Hyunseong definitely collapsed. That’s for sure. But why?”

Before the regression, he thought it would be good if it went bankrupt, and when it finally did, he cheered.

But he doesn’t know the details well.

He still knows some fragmented information.

That’s because it wasn’t a subject of complete indifference.

There is a saying that the opposite of love is not hatred but indifference.

Hyunseong was the object of hatred, but that’s why he was interested in their story.

‘Right, they were always defeated by Jindo Group, weren’t they?’

Hyunseong was strangely defeated by Jindo Group every time they bid on national projects.

They narrowly missed out on overseas projects every time.

“Then the last thing that happened was the scholarship student incident, right?”

Each company cultivates individuals who receive money from them, called scholarship students [individuals financially supported by a company, often with the expectation of future loyalty or influence].

They can be politicians, prosecutors, or judges.

They may be in a relationship where they give and receive bribes, or they may be people who have been given scholarships after seeing their potential.

Such people are commonly called scholarship students.

And each company keeps those scholarship students strictly secret.

That’s because they can get help from them later.

However, an incident occurred in which information was revealed about how much money Hyunseong Group gave to scholarship students and who received how much.

The bribes Hyunseong had spread over the decades exceeded hundreds of billions of won, and a bloodbath raged in the political and business circles as a result.

“I cursed at them back then……”

But realistically, it is impossible to do business in Korea without giving it [referring to bribes or political contributions].

In fact, it is common for companies to disappear without a trace after refusing to give bribes.

Isn’t Shinsegi Group, one of Korea’s famous groups, a company that went bankrupt because it didn’t give bribes to the political world?

“But when that happened, so many heads were cut off.”

Everyone from prosecutors and judges to politicians and public officials had to tremble in fear.

Naturally, Hyunseong’s decline, which had lost power in the political, economic, and legal circles, was bound to accelerate.

“So…… but why did it leak out back then?”

That kind of information is really core information.

It’s not something that even the president of an affiliate would know.

Because it is information managed at the group level.

In other words, there is no way to know unless you are a key figure in the group.

“A key figure……”

The reason why the secretariat raises people internally is to prevent industrial espionage.

But what if they are already inside?

“It’s not impossible, but.”

It’s not impossible.

Hasn’t a movie been made several times on a similar topic?

From the beginning, people are sent to plant spies inside.

In fact, there are quite a few such cases.

“Is Kang Do-wook using that method?”

If that’s not the case, there’s realistically no way Kang Do-wook can later go to Jindo Group and become the president of an affiliate.

First of all, the other presidents won’t just let it happen.

And the chairman has to suppress the backlash against it, but that’s not easy.

“Industrial spy……”

Of course, he wouldn’t have been aiming for the secretariat from the beginning.

But realistically, it’s not impossible.

There is a joke in some cartoon that he became the president because he worked hard to reach a position where he could access information as an industrial spy.

If an industrial spy does a sloppy job, he will end up doing only odd jobs and leaving the company.

And the company that sent such a person will not protect him.

Because he is officially a retired person, there is no reason to protect him.

In other words, spies have no choice but to work hard in order to be protected in the future.

“Hmm……”

Park Do-joon got up from his seat.

It’s uncertain information.

But one thing is certain: if Kang Do-wook is really an industrial spy, he should never be left alone.

‘Hyunseong must continue to be our company’s shield.’

Sky is still a small company.

It has started to grow, but it still has a lot of debt and only about a hundred employees, so it is a small company.

In order for such a place to grow, it needs a shield called Hyunseong.

Of course, Hyunseong cannot be allowed to collapse.

Park Do-joon immediately got up and called Chief Choi.

He knows Chairman Bae Deok-gi’s phone number, but he is cautious about saying things that are not certain.

-Do-joon, what’s going on at this hour?

“I’m calling because I have something to confirm.”

-What do you need to confirm?

“It’s about Kang Do-wook. Is he definitely a Hyunseong man?”

-Yes? What do you mean?

“No, I have a bad feeling about him.”

-A bad feeling?

“I suspect he might be an industrial spy.”

-…….

At those words, Chief Choi didn’t say anything for a long time.

About 5 minutes later, he opened his mouth with difficulty.

-Could we possibly meet?

“Are you okay?”

-It’s still stage 1 [referring to the early stage of an illness]. I’m not going to be hospitalized right away. I was planning to hand over the work and leave… but I can’t ignore what you’re saying.

As the chief of staff, he also knows how dangerous a spy can be.

And the chairman’s secretary has access to all the group’s information.

“Let’s keep it a secret from the chairman for now, since it’s not certain.”

Park Do-joon said that and got up from his seat.

It was time to move now, just in case.

-Yes? Is there any reason to do that? If you tell him, it will be resolved, right? Is it because there is a possibility that it is not?

“That’s not it.”

In the circumstances, there is a high possibility that Kang Do-wook is a definite spy for Jindo Group.

In fact, the solution itself is simple.

If you tell the chairman, Kang Do-wook will be transferred to the provinces that day.

But the reason why Park Do-joon doesn’t tell the chairman that is simple.

“Let’s meet and talk about it first.”

And security was essential for that.

***

“So, there is a high possibility that there is an industrial spy organization from Jindo Group within the company?”

“Yes, I think there is a very high possibility.”

“Why do you think so?”

“You wouldn’t have appointed that person as the chief of staff, would you, Chief Choi?”

At Park Do-joon’s words, Chief Choi had a strange expression.

That’s something he never said.

But how did he know that?

“How did you know that?”

“It’s simple. I’ve never seen Kang Do-wook in the secretariat before.”

The chairman’s secretariat is not very big.

At best, about twenty people.

Even then, there are fewer than five people who are closest, that is, who do close work.

Through several visits, Park Do-joon knows the faces of the people inside.

“But I’ve never seen Kang Do-wook inside. That means he’s an outside recommendation. But I don’t think Chief Choi would be likely to recommend someone from outside.”

Suddenly bringing in a complete stranger as the chief of staff?

Of course, that may be the case if there is no suitable person in the secretariat.

“But even so, in terms of continuity of work, a suitable person is from the secretariat.”

At Park Do-joon’s words, Chief Choi had a strange expression.

“The chairman’s style is to listen to the chief of staff and use him importantly. Of course, it is natural for powerful people to try to plant someone who will be helpful to them as the chief of staff next to him. There is also a suitable excuse.”

The current chairman’s secretariat has been reorganized once.

The secretariat must work only for the chairman.

However, it was revealed in the last incident that some of the senior secretaries were attached to the directors and were all dismissed.

‘That’s natural.’

The most feared opponent of those who commit crimes is Chairman Bae Deok-gi.

So, it was natural for them to try to create a line inside the secretariat in order to obtain information about him.

It was Park Do-joon who warned them about that.