The Life of a Servant 2
Mr. Kim, the plaything, flashed a sly smile as he slipped into the fitting room.
Almost immediately, the lady of the house’s playful voice drifted out.
“Oh, stop it! That tickles!”
The store staff began to giggle, and the secretary’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
The situation was becoming more and more absurd.
The playful voice from the fitting room faded, replaced by more suggestive sounds.
“Hmm… Ah! Oh…”
The thin partition of the fitting room began to creak and sway slightly.
This crazy old woman! Could it be?
But it was clear that the lustful old lady and her young toy were getting it on in that cramped fitting room.
Now I understood why the lady of the house had suddenly decided to make a surprise visit to a different department store.
Normally, if a luxury brand released something new, she would have it brought to her home. The company would load all the clothes into a car, display them in her grand living room, and she would choose while lounging in her robe.
Today, however, she visited the store in person for the thrill of it.
She must have had a sudden urge to enjoy some illicit fun with her new boy toy in a public place, and now she was making that fantasy a reality.
Damn it, having to witness such a sordid scene on my wife’s birthday!
Sunyang Group
With annual sales nearing 400 trillion won and operating profits exceeding 30 trillion, Sunyang Group is a behemoth. The combined market capitalization of its listed subsidiaries surpasses the national budget at 440.7 trillion won, and it holds a 27% share of the stock market.
From automobiles and electronics to telecommunications, heavy industry, chemicals, distribution, fashion, and food, there’s no sector untouched by the group.
Even the local markets, from convenience stores to tteokbokki and kimbap shops, are being taken over, leading to long-standing concerns that the Korean economy and Sunyang Group are inextricably linked.
Yet, Sunyang Group’s origins are humble, starting with two impoverished brothers learning gold and silver crafting.
In the early 1920s, during the Japanese occupation, brothers Jin Soon-chul and Jin Yang-chul learned the craft from a Japanese-run jewelry shop to support their family.
The elder brother, Jin Soon-chul, was skilled with his hands, while the younger, Jin Yang-chul, was quick-witted and shrewd—a perfect team.
Once Jin Soon-chul mastered the craft, he began to secretly siphon off small amounts of gold dust, which Jin Yang-chul then found ways to sell.
With the money they saved, they were looking to buy farmland when liberation came.
Had they bought land before liberation, Sunyang Group might never have existed, and they would have lived out their days as ordinary farmers.
But upon hearing about the sale of enemy property after liberation, Jin Yang-chul abandoned his dream of becoming a self-sufficient farmer.
Enemy property referred to assets left behind by the Japanese after liberation.
The U.S. military government and the Korean government sold these assets to civilians, with Japanese houses being particularly popular due to their large plots and luxurious buildings.
However, Jin Yang-chul acquired not a house but a warehouse—the Joseon Rice Warehouse.
Instead of farming rice, he began storing it.
When he acquired the warehouse, it held 1.5 million seok of rice, but the exact inventory was unknown.
After liberation, Koreans raided the warehouse for rice, and fleeing Japanese burned the inventory records to hide their illicit sales.
Jin Yang-chul’s target was that rice.
Before the government could assess the exact amount, the brothers quickly sold it off, amassing a fortune.
With that money, they bought back enemy properties and companies, laying the foundation for Sunyang Group.
Jin Yang-chul, with his keen business sense, borrowed U.S. aid money at low interest rates and monopolized relief supplies like sugar.
His brother began building the foundation for heavy industry with the machinery company they acquired.
Thanks to their complementary skills, Sunyang Group grew rapidly. But just as power isn’t shared between father and son, the brothers didn’t share their wealth amicably.
When a craftsman and a businessman fought over a company, the outcome was inevitable.
Jin Yang-chul, who managed all of Sunyang Group’s finances, manipulated the accounts of the company run by his brother, Jin Soon-chul, leading to his arrest as a corrupt businessman by the military regime.
Afterward, Jin Yang-chul became the chairman of Sunyang Group, ending the brothers’ feud.
Jin Soon-chul died in prison, unable to clear his name, and his children became forgotten figures, their whereabouts unknown.
Chairman Jin Yang-chul grew Sunyang Group into Korea’s leading company and passed away at 78, leaving behind four sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren. The current chairman is his eldest son, Jin Young-ki, aged 76.
The vice-chairman is Jin Young-ki’s eldest son, Jin Young-jun, aged 50, and I am one of the seven directors in the Future Strategy Planning Division, assisting the vice-chairman.
Though I hold a significant position, as you’ve likely guessed, my main job is to quietly handle the family’s dirty work, the so-called “cleaning up the mess.”
But don’t underestimate me.
Though I may be no more than a servant now, all 70,000 Sunyang employees envy my position and duties.
They are lower-ranked servants, or rather, slaves.
They will live as slaves until they are eventually forced out under the guise of retirement, but at least I have a chance to rise from servant to steward.
And I will become a steward.
Despite being a graduate of a provincial university, I caught the eye of Sunyang Group with a presentation on human resource management at a competition they hosted.
When I received the acceptance letter from Sunyang Group, my father threw a modest celebration with our relatives.
Born and educated in the provinces, I expected to be assigned to a regional office. But to my surprise, I was placed in the Future Strategy Planning Division, the control tower of the vast Sunyang Group.
My father, with our limited means, threw another celebration.
“Sunyang Group knows talent when they see it, even if it’s a country bumpkin. You all know, right? The Future Strategy Planning Division is where only the best of the best gather. You can’t even show your face there unless you’re from Seoul National University. Ha ha.”
Unable to hide his pride, my father boasted to our relatives, thoroughly enjoying his drinks.
But I learned on my first day why a provincial university graduate like me was brought into the control tower.
Even the control tower needs janitors.
The work was too demeaning for those with prestigious academic backgrounds. So they selected only those who would be grateful for any job, and that was the General Affairs Office of the Future Strategy Planning Division.
My first task was…
“Hey! Can’t you tell the difference between grass and weeds? And make sure to pull out the dandelions! They spread like wildfire!”
The one barking orders at me wasn’t a manager or a director, but the gardener of the chairman’s mansion.
The gardener constantly nagged the three new hires from the General Affairs Team, and I had to pull weeds in a suit and dress shoes, sweating profusely.
In the end, the two other provincial university graduates who joined with me couldn’t last six months and resigned.
But I gritted my teeth.
I studied harder than a high school senior preparing for college entrance exams, taking on menial tasks until I could transition from physical labor to using my brain.
When I could understand the English spoken by the foreign-educated elites and quickly grasp the mountain of business plans, I finally started using my head for work.
That’s when the people around me began to look at me differently.
The condescending expressions now held a hint of wariness.
They realized I had a weapon they didn’t.
I was a familiar face in the chairman’s household.
There wasn’t a member of the royal family who didn’t know my name, Yoon Hyun-woo, and they always sought me out when they needed something. Few knew the true nature of the royal family as well as I did.
Eight years after joining, I earned the title of director, and now, twelve years in, I’m one of the few trusted enough to sit next to the vice-chairman when he wants to enjoy chicken gizzards and soju at a street stall.
At forty, my goal of rising from servant to steward within ten years isn’t a pipe dream.
And finally, the moment came when I realized I was a candidate for steward.
“Director Yoon, you’ll need to go on a business trip. It’s sudden, but get ready.”
“Yes, Vice-Chairman. But I’m not sure what it’s about. I apologize.”
“Moldova.”
It’s about slush funds.
Though I’ve never handled the money directly, I know the numbers on paper inside out.
“Ah, understood.”
“The prosecution will start investigating overseas funds in a week. We got word. Open an account and transfer all the funds to their account.”
“Me, sir?”
I couldn’t believe it. They wanted me to handle astronomical sums, not just pass along documents.
The money hidden in Moldova is in the billions. The numbers I remember approach a billion dollars. Over a trillion won. In my name?
“I may not trust my wife, but I trust you, Hyun-woo. You’re the only one who can temporarily hold that fund.”
The vice-chairman looked at me intently and then smiled.
“Why? Planning to run off with the money? Change the account to your name, hide out in some obscure corner of Europe, and live like a nobleman?”
“Of course not. You’re taking this joke too far.”
“Anyway, once you withdraw the funds, take a good rest. When I give the word, transfer it to my account in the Virgin Islands. The prosecution’s investigation will conclude with the missing funds.”
“Understood. I’ll take care of it.”
“Oh, and don’t breathe a word of this to anyone. Not even your family. Just say it’s a business trip. You know not to mention Moldova, right?”
“Of course.”
As he stepped out of the vice president’s office, a woman as lovely as a flower handed him an envelope.
“Everything you need for the trip is in here. Ah, I’m so jealous. Moldova!”
“Want to come along? You’re always welcome…”
“Pfft. Dream on. I don’t do first class. Unless it’s a private jet.”
Right, she’s the kind of woman who flies around in private jets with the vice president.
Hyun-woo, wake up from your dream.
The next day, he confidently boarded a Korean Air first-class flight bound for Moldova.