The Return of the Ruined Chaebol's Third-Generation Heir - Chapter 44

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Regression of a Fallen Chaebol’s Third Generation – Episode 44
“Japan?”
Mother’s eyes widened as she repeated the word back to me.
“Yes, I’d like to take a trip with some club friends.”
“Just the four of you?”
“Is that not okay?”
“No, it’s not that it’s not okay, but…….”
Mother couldn’t hide her worry.
Before the Regression, backpacking trips for university students were common enough, but in this era, high school students taking an overseas trip—especially to Japan—was far from ordinary.
The yen exchange rate was steep, and anti-Japanese sentiment over issues like Dokdo ran quite strong at this time.
“Everyone did well on their College Entrance Examination scores, and we’ll be facing university applications and interviews soon. We just want to clear our heads a bit before all that.”
I had the perfect justification: my Perfect SAT Score Report.
Mother smiled even more brightly when she received my score report than when we’d weathered the family crisis. Parents are all the same when it comes to their children’s grades.
‘I wish I’d studied harder in my previous life too.’
They say unfilial children only learn filial piety after regression—I was proof of that.
“Come on, Mom. My brother got a perfect score on the exam this time—you can send him on a trip. He needs to go out and struggle a bit. It’s perfect timing.”
Seon-ah, eating beside me, chimed in and gave me a conspiratorial wink.
‘This brat actually paid for her meal this time,’ I thought, inwardly delighted.
“Alright, I understand. But you have to contact me every single day. And I’ll have Secretary Kim arrange the very best accommodations and flights through my connections…….”
“Mom.”
I gently interrupted her words.
“Secretary Kim is your secretary, not mine. And what’s the charm of travel, anyway? The real fun is booking things yourself, finding accommodations, getting lost on the way. If you do everything for me, what kind of trip is that?”
At my words, Mother’s expression shifted from surprise to something deeply moved.
Usually, children of chaebols never lifted a finger and got imperial tours arranged for them—so the fact that my son wanted to seek out hardship himself seemed to impress her.
After all, there’s no parent who dislikes it when their child wants to challenge themselves.
“That’s right, my son has grown up. Go ahead and do things the way you want. I’ll make sure you don’t lack for money.”
“Thank you.”
Done.
Now I could go to Japan on a business trip freely, peacefully, without anyone watching over me.

* * *
Inside a rental car driving through downtown Osaka.
Choi Seong-hun held the wheel silently from the driver’s seat while I sat in the passenger seat, watching the rear seats through the rearview mirror.
“What? You’re saying Director Jung will go as an attendant?”
Park Jin-hyuk, sitting in the back, asked with wide eyes.
“Yes, I think that’s the right call. If someone too young steps forward as the representative, they’ll smile on the surface but look down on us inside.”
“Looking at how you appear now, I don’t think anyone could possibly look down on you…….”
At Park Jin-hyuk’s comment, I let out a soft laugh.
Certainly, my reflection in the dashboard mirror looked quite convincing.
Dressed in a tailored suit with my hair neatly combed back, though youthfulness still showed through, there was an undeniable atmosphere about me.
“Isn’t that right, Director Jung?”
Park Jin-hyuk sought agreement from Jung Tae-sung sitting beside him.
“Yes, to my eyes you look unmistakably like a chairman. Rather, I feel guilty that someone who should be sitting at the head of the table is in the passenger seat.”
Jung Tae-sung’s playful remark relaxed the atmosphere slightly. Choi Seong-hun also smiled a little while glancing at me beside him.
But I shook my head.
“You two are experiencing a big gap because you’ve seen me in school uniforms and casual clothes normally, but they might perceive things differently. Preconceptions are a dangerous thing.”
I paused to catch my breath and adjusted my tie.
“Most importantly, if I sit at the head of the negotiation table and steer the meeting, I’ll miss things I couldn’t otherwise see.”
“Things you couldn’t see?”
“Their hidden intentions, fleeting expressions—things like that.”
The main player at a negotiation table locks eyes with the opponent and fights for dominance, sometimes losing sight of the overall atmosphere. But an observer standing back is different. A junior attendant sitting in the corner of the table sees the entire board.
“If Director Jung draws their attention from the front and applies pressure, I’ll read the signals they exchange beneath the table from behind. So Director Jung, you’ll need to give your most convincing performance as an arrogant and exacting investment company executive.”
“……My shoulders feel heavy now.”
I turned my body around to look at Jung Tae-sung and extracted the information I had in my head. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you’ll never lose.
“What kind of person is Nakamura Kenji?”
Jung Tae-sung answered immediately to my question.
“The third-generation president of Shinei. The founder was his grandfather, and his father ran the company until two years ago, when he retired early due to health issues.”
“The succession happened faster than expected.”
“Yes, because of that he became president at a remarkably young age—early forties. Recently he’s been evaluated in Japanese business circles as a young and capable executive, but…….”
“In other words, he’s under scrutiny.”
“Exactly. The prevailing assessment is that he’s under pressure to grow the company more than his predecessor did. He’s particularly showing aggressive moves to narrow the gap with major corporations.”
I nodded.
Pressure.
There’s no one more anxious than a young owner who needs to prove his worth. That anxiety had led to this unorthodox joint venture proposal.
He was capable, but at the same time hunted. Like me in my previous life.
“You’ll do well. You just need to exploit the other side’s anxiety.”
The car smoothly began to slow.
Beyond the window, Osaka’s skyline came into view, and soon a grand building revealed itself.
The building housing Shinei Chemical Headquarters.
Choi Seong-hun gently pulled the car up before the lobby.
“We’ve arrived.”
At Choi Seong-hun’s words, I opened the car door and stepped out first.
Then I quickly opened the rear door and helped Jung Tae-sung and Park Jin-hyuk out.
It was the practiced movement of a true attendant.
“Please step out, Director.”
Jung Tae-sung, striking an appropriately dignified pose, got out of the car, and Park Jin-hyuk also tidied his clothes with a nervous expression.
Choi Seong-hun had agreed to wait in the car.
As we passed through the revolving doors and into the lobby, a group of Japanese men waiting there approached us.
A middle-aged man standing at the front caught my eye.
Solid frame, sharp but somehow kind-looking features. Nakamura Kenji, CEO of Shinei Chemical.
Nakamura walked precisely toward Jung Tae-sung and extended his hand.
“Thank you for coming such a long way. I’m Nakamura Kenji of Shinei Chemical.”
His Korean was fluent.
It seemed he’d practiced quite a bit.
Jung Tae-sung showed no surprise and smiled with ease, taking his hand.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Director Jung Tae-sung of SJ Holdings. This is Park Jin-hyuk, CTO of Sinhwa Welltech and our research director, and this is my attendant.”
At Jung Tae-sung’s introduction, Nakamura’s gaze swept over Park Jin-hyuk and me.
And for just a moment, he gave me the polite but indifferent look one might reserve for a young attendant carrying luggage, before turning his attention back to Jung Tae-sung.
“It’s an honor to receive such distinguished guests. I’ll show you to the conference room.”
Nakamura guided us courteously down the hallway.
Walking at the very back, I began to study Nakamura Kenji carefully.

* * *
About twenty minutes had passed since the meeting began.
After some light probing and introductions, a thick Proposal Document lay open on the table.
Nakamura Kenji continued his presentation with fluid rhetoric. His voice brimmed with the confidence of an irrefutable offer.
“The structure we propose is simple: Sinhwa Welltech and Shinei Chemical establish a Joint Venture in the Ulsan Petrochemical Complex.”
At Nakamura’s gesture, an employee seated behind him displayed a diagram on the screen.
“The goal is joint development and production of High-Purity Wet Chemicals and related specialty gases. In particular, the first objective will be to scale up that revolutionary process detailed in Director Park’s paper.”
“What’s your thinking on the Equity Structure?”
Jung Tae-sung leaned back in his chair in an ostentatiously arrogant posture as he asked.
“We’re prepared to make a striking concession. Sinhwa Welltech 51, Shinei 49. We’ll also hand over Management Rights and the authority to recommend the CEO to the Korean side. We want to create a picture where the Korean company leads in both form and substance.”
’51 to 49.’
I, who had been taking notes in a notebook from the back, paused my pen.
The terms were too good. Normally, whichever side provides technology and capital holds management rights, but they were offering to relinquish their majority stake.
“For the Board of Directors, we suggest an equal composition, with major matters decided by consensus. It’s our way of showing mutual respect.”
Nakamura’s explanation flowed without hesitation.
“And most importantly, the technical R&D aspect. We’ll establish a Joint R&D Center within the JV and immediately dispatch twelve veteran engineers and researchers from our headquarters. We’ll cover their salaries for the first year.”
“What about production line construction?”
“We’ll transfer Shinei’s standard process system intact. And to control the initial defect rate, we’ll support sourcing of critical raw materials through supply chains we’ve already verified.”
‘Support, they say…….’
I tried hard not to furrow my brow.
Every condition seemed favorable to Sinhwa Welltech. They were giving more equity stake, sending people for free, even offering to provide access to their raw material supply chain. In the business world, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
‘This is too perfect. Which is exactly why it’s suspicious. They must have set plenty of traps. I just can’t see where they are yet.’
What was Shinei really trying to gain by conceding so much equity?
Simple market entry into Korea? Or indirect profit recovery through exclusive supply rights for raw materials? Or perhaps technology dependency disguised as technical personnel dispatch?
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t shake an overall sense of unease.
This was bait you couldn’t bite into blindly.
“How long are you thinking for the raw material supply period?”
Then Park Jin-hyuk, who had been listening quietly until now, spoke for the first time, and Nakamura turned his head toward him.
“We’ll take responsibility for the first three years. Think of it as a quality stabilization period.”
“Three years is quite a while.”
Park Jin-hyuk’s voice was calm, but there was a subtle hint of something catching in his tone.
Nakamura smiled as he replied.
“For High-Purity Chemicals, the purity of the raw materials directly determines quality. If we use unverified materials and the yield falls apart, we both lose. Think of it as a trust-building period.”
Park Jin-hyuk nodded, but his eyes still seemed to be mulling over something.
Park Jin-hyuk appeared to share my sense that something felt off.
“And finally, sales. Products manufactured by the JV will be supplied first to Korean semiconductor and display customers. Combining Shinei’s brand power with Sinhwa Welltech’s local responsiveness, market domination is just a matter of time.”
Nakamura’s explanation concluded.
He looked at Jung Tae-sung with an expression full of confidence.
“What do you think, Director? We’ve set aside our pride and conceded everything. There couldn’t be better terms than these for a partner to dominate the Korean market together.”
Jung Tae-sung put on a contemplative expression and leaned toward Park Jin-hyuk sitting beside him.
The two began exchanging urgent whispers with serious faces.
“…….”
“…….”
Nakamura and the Shinei executives watched intently, holding their breath.
They clearly hoped for a positive answer.
That’s when it happened.
I, sitting in the corner, quietly rose from my seat and approached behind Jung Tae-sung.
And deliberately speaking clearly enough for Shinei’s translator to hear, I said:
“Director.”
Jung Tae-sung turned his head and looked up at me.
“Pardon the interruption, but you’ll soon have your appointment with Otsu Industrial. I think it’s time we were getting up so as not to be late.”
In an instant, the air in the conference room froze.
Nakamura’s eyes widened.
He hurriedly turned his gaze to the translator sitting beside him.
“What did he say?”
“That is…… he said there’s an appointment with Otsu Industrial…….”
The translator’s flustered whisper barely reached us.
Otsu Industrial.
Another chemical company competing with Shinei within Japan. When the name of that company, which had recently announced Korean market entry, came up, Nakamura’s expression visibly hardened.
Jung Tae-sung had caught my signal perfectly.
He checked his watch with an expression of mild surprise and nodded.
“Oh, has it gotten that late already?”
Jung Tae-sung stood and adjusted his clothes.
“I appreciate the proposal, President. Thank you for such generous terms. However, this is such an important matter that I’m afraid I can’t give you an answer right here and now. We’ll need internal review.”
“No, Director. Just a moment…….”
Nakamura rose from his seat urgently. The easy smile was gone entirely.
“How long do you plan to stay in Japan?”
“We’re expecting around a week. We’ll complete our review within that time and contact you.”
Jung Tae-sung offered a business-like smile and extended his hand for a handshake.
Nakamura grasped it somewhat bewilderedly, but his gaze seemed fixed on me standing behind Jung Tae-sung, and on where we were about to head next.
“Well then, we’ll be in touch within a few days.”
We left the Shinei executives standing there in stunned silence and exited the conference room.

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