Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 207

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

207. Try to contact them and see if we can meet today.

Two days later.
Manager Choi Bok-rak arrived at the office as usual and went about his work.
Yet no one approached him.
An atmosphere of reluctance hung thick in the air—people hesitated to speak with Manager Choi Bok-rak unless it was absolutely necessary for business.
The employees in the same office cast furtive glances at Manager Choi Bok-rak, who sat rigidly upright like an isolated island, and whispered in hushed tones.

“The person in the Sechang Daily News article… that’s Manager Choi, right?”

A colleague nearby glanced around cautiously before lowering their voice to respond.

“Didn’t you see he was called in by the Audit Department yesterday?”
“So it’s true?”
“Must be.”
“Unbelievable… how could this happen? Manager Choi was always the one who talked about principles and integrity.”

Someone let out a scoff at the incredulous murmur.

“What else? He acted all fastidious, but he was shelling sunflower seeds behind the scenes.”
“Who would’ve thought?”
“I really didn’t see him that way…”

Though they tried to keep their voices down, they were in the same office after all, and every word of gossip reached Manager Choi Bok-rak’s ears clearly.

“….”

As he heard their words of disappointment and disbelief, Manager Choi Bok-rak gripped the Monami ballpoint pen in his hand tightly.
The documents spread across his desk remained on the same page since earlier—he hadn’t turned a single sheet.
Manager Choi Bok-rak bit his lower lip hard, barely suppressing the rage that surged from within.
He was already under audit; there was nothing to gain from causing unnecessary commotion.
Just then, a Female Secretary approached from the side and spoke to him carefully.

“Excuse me, Manager.”

Manager Choi Bok-rak, who had composed his expression, looked up and met the Female Secretary’s gaze.

“What’s going on?”
“The director is looking for you.”
“Did he ask me to come to his office?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm. Understood.”

Manager Choi Bok-rak’s expression darkened noticeably as he watched the Female Secretary return to her desk.
This summons certainly wasn’t for anything good.
Yet since there was no way to avoid it, he exhaled silently and rose from his chair.
He grabbed the jacket draped over his seat and put it on, then stepped out of the office and into the corridor, where countless eyes followed his every move.
Rumors had apparently spread throughout the Securities Supervisory Authority already—as he made his way toward the director’s office on the upper floor, every employee he passed whispered about him or cast sidelong glances.
The unwelcome stares and the way people avoided him as though he were contagious filled him with a profound sense of shame.

“Sigh…”

Upon arriving at the director’s office, marked by a white acrylic nameplate with black lettering, Manager Choi Bok-rak paused to straighten his appearance.
He adjusted his necktie neatly, drew in a deep breath, and knocked cautiously on the door.
Turning the handle and stepping inside, he found Bae Sang-yun, the director of the First Investigation Division, seated at the desk across from him.

“Director, I came as you requested.”

Director Bae Sang-yun, whose bulbous nose and fleshy face were unmistakable, regarded him with an expressionless gaze for a moment before gesturing with his chin toward the sofa in front of him.

“Sit there.”
“Yes, sir.”

The unusually heavy, grave tone of his voice made Manager Choi Bok-rak feel an even deeper sense of foreboding.
Concealing his nervousness, he carefully settled onto the sofa, and Director Bae Sang-yun, who had come around from behind his desk, took the central seat and pulled out a cigarette, placing it between his lips.
Manager Choi Bok-rak reached into his pocket for his lighter to offer a flame, but the director suddenly raised his hand in refusal.

“Never mind.”

Director Bae Sang-yun said nothing more and lit his cigarette with his own lighter.
It was behavior uncharacteristic of Director Bae Sang-yun, who typically enjoyed being waited upon by his subordinates with great ceremony.
A man who took such service for granted and rarely even carried a lighter—surely he wouldn’t refuse to have one lit for him.
Manager Choi Bok-rak swallowed hard and returned his lighter to his pocket.
Director Bae Sang-yun exhaled white cigarette smoke and paused for a moment before finally speaking.

“I received a call from the Audit Department just a moment ago.”
“….”
“I had my suspicions, but it turns out they confirmed that your cousin got a job at Saebit Bank through your request.”

Manager Choi Bok-rak straightened his posture and immediately protested.

“It’s true that my cousin works at Saebit Bank, but there was absolutely no improper solicitation in the hiring process.”
“After the application deadline, you submitted a separate application through the head of Saebit Bank’s Personnel Department, who was your senior from university.”

At the question posed with narrowed eyes, Manager Choi Bok-rak clenched his teeth and countered.

“That was only because the document preparation was delayed, causing me to miss the deadline, so I had no choice but to receive some assistance.”
“Tsk, tsk.”

Director Bae Sang-yun clicked his tongue while holding a cigarette between his fingers.

“The principle is that we don’t accept hiring documents after the deadline. By breaking that rule and accepting your cousin’s documents, isn’t that preferential treatment?”
“….”

Manager Choi Bok-rak couldn’t respond and closed his mouth.
Director Bae Sang-yun, leaning back in his chair, looked at Manager Choi Bok-rak and spoke with a mocking tone.

“And if you weren’t a manager at the Securities Supervisory Authority, would the head of Saebit Bank’s Personnel Department have done you such a favor?”

Since it wasn’t an unfair statement, Manager Choi Bok-rak quietly lowered his head.

“Honestly, I could have covered up something of this level on my end, but now that Sechang Daily News has made a big story out of it and caused an uproar, that’s become difficult.”
“….”
“Once the audit is completely finished and the punishment is decided, step back from your current duties and remain on suspension.”

He had braced himself somewhat since the exposé article first came out, but now that he was being removed from his duties, Manager Choi Bok-rak involuntarily squeezed his eyes shut.
Through Seok-won, he had grasped a solid lifeline in Vice Minister Choi Jin-woo, and just as he was about to spread his wings, this had to happen—he felt both deeply wronged and furious.
But since the incident had already occurred, he asked with a resigned tone.

“How severe will the punishment be?”
“Well, normally it would end with a salary cut or suspension, but as I mentioned, because the media has made such a fuss about it, a severe disciplinary action could be imposed.”
“A severe disciplinary action means….”

Director Bae Sang-yun looked at Manager Choi Bok-rak, whose face had hardened, and spoke.

“Be prepared for dismissal.”
“!”
Manager Choi Bok-rak’s eyebrows shot up reflexively as he protested that this was absurd.

“Dismissal over something like this? Isn’t that too harsh!”
“Well, if you’d conducted yourself properly from the start, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

Director Bae Sang-yun, cigarette dangling from his lips, furrowed his brow with an expression full of irritation.
Aware of his own guilt, Manager Choi Bok-rak couldn’t muster a single word of rebuttal and merely clenched his lower lip.
Then Director Bae Sang-yun swept one arm dismissively and spoke curtly.

“I’ve said all I need to say. Now get out.”

Manager Choi Bok-rak, who had been about to ask for help in reducing the punishment, fell silent at the sight of the coldly turned head.
He then rose weakly, bowed his head briefly, straightened up, and left the room.
At the sound of the door closing with a click, Director Bae Sang-yun straightened his head and stubbed out the nearly spent cigarette in the ashtray.

“If only he’d been less rigid, shown proper deference to his seniors, and handled matters with some flexibility, none of this would have happened. It’s all self-inflicted.”

Manager Choi Bok-rak, who had always carried himself with such stiffness, was quietly disliked by many within the organization.
Director Bae Sang-yun, muttering gruffly, rose from the sofa, picked up the telephone on his desk, and made a call.
After several rings, the other party answered.

“Hello?”

The owner of that deep voice was none other than Manager Oh Sang-hyun.

“It’s me. Bae Sang-yun.”
“I was expecting your call. How did it go?”

Director Bae Sang-yun held the receiver to his ear and glanced briefly at the door through which Manager Choi Bok-rak had just exited.

“I’ve removed him from all duties, and once the ongoing audit concludes, we’ve made an internal decision to hold a disciplinary committee meeting and proceed with dismissal immediately.”

Unlike what he’d told Manager Choi Bok-rak, the dismissal decision had already been made.
Of course, such a decision had been possible only because Woo Yong-gap had pulled strings behind the scenes through Manager Oh Sang-hyun.

“Once everything is settled, I’ll have a box of apples sent to your home.”

Of course, the box was filled with stacks of cash instead of an apology.
Director Bae Sang-yun held the receiver to his ear, his face breaking into a broad smile.

* * *

Seok-won sat alone at his office desk, leaning back in his chair as his mind churned with thought.

“No matter how much I think about it, something feels off.”

While there was certainly some unfairness to it, the fact remained that Manager Choi Bok-rak’s cousin had received considerable preferential treatment in being hired at Saebit Bank.
And whether intentional or not, Manager Choi Bok-rak’s position at the Securities Supervisory Authority must have influenced the outcome, so punishment was inevitable.
But what troubled me was what had unfolded after the exposé article was published.
The moment the article broke, the Securities Supervisory Authority launched an internal audit and began their investigation in less than half a day, and Manager Choi Bok-rak was immediately suspended from his duties and placed under disciplinary review.

“It all unfolded as smoothly as if someone had orchestrated it from the start.”

It wasn’t an enormous scandal—in fact, it was merely a minor corruption case—yet the response had been disproportionate.
Considering the Securities Supervisory Authority’s historical pattern of being closed-off and sluggish, and typically protecting their own with token punishments even when such incidents surfaced, this was decidedly unusual.
What made it even more suspicious was that Sechang Daily News, which had published the story with such fanfare as if breaking major news, had made no follow-up reports and hadn’t mentioned the case again.

“There’s definitely something going on here.”

I tapped my fingers against the desk, then reached over and pressed the intercom button.

[Yes, Director.]
“Tell Team Leader Choi Ho-geun to come up to my office right now.”
[Understood.]

I crossed my arms, my expression growing slightly tense as I murmured to myself.

“This won’t do.”

From my experience, whenever I felt this nagging unease, there was always trouble later. So whenever I sensed something amiss, it was best to get to the bottom of it right away.
Soon came a knock at the door, and Team Leader Choi Ho-geun entered.
He approached and bowed respectfully.

“You called for me.”
“I’m sorry for calling you up during lunch.”
“Not at all.”

Seok-won interlaced his fingers and rested both arms on the desk, his expression turning notably serious.

“There’s something I wanted to ask you.”
“Please, go ahead.”
“Manager Choi has been working in Yeouido for quite a long time, hasn’t he?”
“Yes. Now that you mention it, next year will mark nearly ten years.”
“Then you must know some places that produce underground newsletters.”

Manager Choi Ho-geun’s expression grew puzzled at the sudden question.

“Why are you asking about that…?”
“I need to look into something quietly, and I need someone to handle it.”

Manager Choi Ho-geun, quick to read between the lines, asked back.

“Is this related to the Securities Supervisory Authority Manager Choi Bok-rak incident?”

Seok-won nodded without answering.

“Hmm… ah!”

After a moment of thought, Manager Choi Ho-geun snapped his fingers and spoke.

“Then I know just the right person.”
“Who would that be?”
“Lee Chul-gyun—he’s a former police intelligence officer who retired for certain reasons and now works as a professional at a private newsletter firm.”

Someone from the police intelligence division, accustomed to covertly gathering and analyzing information, would be perfectly suited for this kind of work.

“He’ll be discreet, won’t he?”
“Of course. If he weren’t someone I could trust, I wouldn’t have mentioned him to you in the first place.”

Seok-won nodded slightly and spoke.

“Then reach out and see if we can meet him today.”
“Right now, sir?”
“Yes. The sooner, the better.”

Sensing the gravity of the situation, Manager Choi Ho-geun responded immediately.

“Understood.”

Once Choi Ho-geun left the room, Seok-won found himself alone. He tilted his head back, gazing up at the ceiling as he murmured to himself.

“I could ask Manager Gil for help, but that would inevitably reach Father’s ears. This might be a good opportunity to cultivate people I can rely on myself.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————