My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 707

“Actually, the fight is over, but there are tons of people playing both sides, watching Hong Woo-jong’s every move.”

Hong Woo-jong is a presidential candidate.

Of course, he can’t become chairman due to the prohibition against holding concurrent positions.

Nevertheless, many are watching him, trying to gauge the situation.

“Do you think CEO Hong Geun-jong will just sit back and watch?”

He clearly doesn’t have the necessary votes for the chairman position, but he’s still the CEO. He may not be the chairman, but he’s still in charge of day-to-day operations.

“Um, really?”

“Yeah. And the next chairman is practically a done deal, so wouldn’t he want to fill key positions with his own people?”

“Ah, that’s true.”

“Yeah, it’s all part of the game.”

Deputy Choi chuckled.

“Knowing all that, why aren’t you working?”

“Gasp! Manager Gong!”

Deputy Choi was startled by the voice and turned to see Manager Gong standing there, smiling.

“Wow, Deputy Choi, not busy, huh?”

“No, sir!”

“If you have so much free time, how about a hike this weekend?”

“I’ll get back to work.”

“Get back to what? Do you think this is the army?”

Manager Gong patted Deputy Choi on the back.

“Don’t worry too much about office politics. You’ll just end up not getting your work done.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You guys just need to work hard. The higher-ups will notice.”

“Yes, Manager.”

“Alright, let’s give it our all today!”

“Give it our all!”

Manager Gong encouraged the employees, grabbed his coffee, and left.

Watching him, everyone lowered their voices.

“Manager Gong… must be having a tough time?”

“He must be. His performance isn’t great. Honestly, it’s amazing he even became a manager, considering he joined late.”

“That’s right. It’s going to be rough for him this time.”

“He’s a really good guy, though.”

He’s a good person. But that’s about it.

His performance and results weren’t good. He’s a former soldier, but not even a general, just a major.

He retired and then joined the company, managing to become a manager, but that was it. A major’s connections are limited, and there are no easy wins for him to produce results.

“I feel bad for Manager Gong.”

As the employees looked at him with pity, Manager Gong stood a little further away, holding his coffee and exhaling cigarette smoke.

“Ha, damn it……”

He told his subordinates not to worry about office politics, but he was the one who worried about it the most.

Of course. He finished as a major and somehow joined the company. He clearly lacked experience compared to others.

“Damn it, what am I supposed to do if I end up like that?”

After he left the military, Hong Chang-sik called him.

And said he was looking for someone to secretly handle dirty work.

From the beginning, Manager Gong was used to such things in the military. In fact, given the nature of the military, if you weren’t used to such dirty work, you would have been sidelined long ago.

But he was sidelined not because he couldn’t do such things, but because he chose the wrong side.

The general he was sure would rise to the top was caught raping a female soldier and was ruined.

After he was gone, the opposing faction purged everyone related to him.

Of course, only then did he try to latch onto a new connection to survive, but Manager Gong was already marked as a loyalist to that general, and no one would take him, so he had no choice but to leave.

“Damn it. How can this happen twice……”

He thought he had found a way to live when Hong Chang-sik hired him. So he devoted his loyalty to him. But that was also gone.

Who would have known that Hong Chang-sik would die like that?

He was promoted to manager in exchange for doing dirty work.

So, in terms of actual work, he couldn’t help but lag behind his peers.

In the current situation, it was clear to everyone that he was about to be let go.

“Damn it.”

The money needed for his children was insanely high.

What about his wife?

She was drunk on the manager title and spent money like crazy.

But now he has to go out and start over?

“I’m going crazy.”

Manager Gong was lost in thought.

“Let’s look for another job first.”

Thinking he would try to find another job even now, he went back down to the office and saw people gathered around the bulletin board.

“Hey, Deputy Choi, I told you to get to work, what are you doing?”

“Ah, Manager Gong, look here. They’re creating a new department?”

“A new department?”

“Yes, they’re creating a strategic support team directly under the chairman… no, the CEO.”

“What kind of place is it?”

“I don’t know. They’re just creating it.”

“Directly under the CEO?”

“Yes.”

At those words, Manager Gong blankly checked the notice on the wall. The content was very vague.

-Notice: A strategic support team will be newly established under the CEO. We welcome applications from those with support and experience in business management.

“Isn’t this something the secretary’s office does?”

“Is it a reorganization of the secretary’s office?”

“No, it’s a new establishment, right?”

“What exactly does it do? It’s not even specific… what is it?”

“Really, what is it?”

While everyone was looking at it with puzzled faces, Manager Gong immediately realized what this place was for.

Because he knew this kind of structure well.

CEO. Under the future chairman. A setup that no one outside knows about or is informed about.

Nevertheless, the ambiguous word ‘support’.

‘It’s a new organization.’

If you think about it, it’s obvious.

There’s no way there wouldn’t be a department in charge of all sorts of dirty work, such as bribes to the military or influencing politicians.

The only question is who controls it.

And Hong Chang-sik, who controlled it, was dead.

Then someone has to take over.

‘But…….’

Hong Chang-sik was a man who didn’t even trust his own children, so he kept these activities secret from Hong Woo-jong and Hong Geun-jong.

He believed that if they meddled with the secret organization, he would instantly become irrelevant.

‘If so…’

And what Hong Geun-jong learned under such a father was exactly that.

It’s highly likely that he’ll try to create a new organization.

No, he’ll definitely try to create one.

‘It’s a signal to come forward.’

You can’t just bring anyone to such a position.

The people giving and receiving bribes need to know each other well.

If someone they’ve never seen before comes to give a bribe, almost everyone will freak out, even if they belong to the Daeguk Group.

“……Hahaha.”

Seeing that, Manager Gong laughed without realizing it.

“Manager?”

“Huh? It’s nothing. Hahaha.”

‘That’s right!’

Manager Gong let out a sigh of relief.

Because he saw a way to survive.

‘I can live. I can live.’

He tried to hold back the giggles that were leaking out.

Hong Geun-jong was working as usual.

And his intercom rang.

-CEO, Manager Gong Chang-won is here to see you.

Hong Geun-jong pondered for a moment, then chuckled.

“Did he finally bite?”

Park Do-joon said so.

If a new department is created, they will come.

If they simply don’t want to be fired, they won’t just come, they’ll apply.

Because there aren’t many gutsy guys who would rashly go to the CEO and ask to be put there.

Rather, if they come and ask to be put there, they might get on his bad side and get fired without even seeing what’s coming, so they usually just end up applying.

In fact, there were a lot of applicants after the announcement.

But Park Do-joon said that those who secretly worked in the shadows would come instead of awkwardly applying.

Because they have something to negotiate with Hong Geun-jong, unlike those who are just in danger of being fired.

That’s connections.

“Indeed, connections can’t be ignored.”

In fact, in the United States, the chairman of a large corporation unfairly fired a secretary who had worked under him for a long time.

Then, instead of quietly being fired, the secretary notified the chairman that he would send his resume to other people.

And hearing that, the chairman withdrew his dismissal and even raised his salary to keep him.

The reason was simple.

The secretary had worked under the chairman for 10 years and knew a lot about the chairman’s habits, weaknesses, and business information.

And the other chairmen of his competitors or cooperating conglomerates would try to get that information even if they had to pay several times the amount.

Business secrets cannot be disclosed after changing jobs, but personal weaknesses, privacy, and connections are not considered such secrets, and using them is not legally problematic.

Even if it’s a company secret, if you don’t submit it in writing, you can’t prove it.

‘And knowing that, he’ll come to negotiate.’

Because there’s no trust between them, the best option at this point is negotiation.

And if they’re at the manager level, they can have a private meeting depending on the situation.

“Tell him to come in.”

Hong Geun-jong nodded. And Gong Chang-won, who came inside, bowed his head and greeted him.

“Hello, CEO.”

“Yes, Manager Gong. What brings you here?”

“I’m going to apply for the strategic support office.”

“The strategic support office?”

“Yes.”

Hong Geun-jong chuckled.

“Do you know what kind of place that is?”

“I have a general idea.”

“Generally…….”

Hong Geun-jong put the pen he was holding down on the table.

“I don’t like doing things in a general way, you know?”

“Sometimes there are things that can’t be revealed in detail.”

Gong Chang-won said confidently.

Hong Geun-jong stared at Gong Chang-won.

“How much should I trust Manager Gong?”

“Just trust me as much as the CEO trusted me before.”

“Has there ever been a problem?”

“There has never been a problem, and there will be no problem.”

It was like a riddle, but if you add one thing, everything becomes clear.

The premise that he’s someone who works secretly.

‘Manager Gong… certainly.’

As he became the CEO, he heard some things about manager-level personnel.

Gong Chang-won wasn’t particularly skilled, nor was he particularly outstanding.

He was a quiet worker.

His performance was insignificant, and he joined the company late as a former soldier.

‘He somehow became a manager, but he’s someone who doesn’t know when he’ll be laid off.’

That was Manager Gong Chang-won as analyzed by the people working under him.

In fact, his performance was clearly in the bottom 10% even among managers of the same level, so there was a very high possibility that he would be laid off.

‘But the fact that he became a manager means that my father used his influence.’

There’s no way that someone currently in the bottom 10% was in the top 10% when he was a deputy.

In fact, the records show that he was in the bottom 10% back then too.

But he became a manager.

‘He’s coming out easier than I thought.’