The Overly Competent Junior Employee

“CEO, why are we conducting another due diligence?”

A week later, as Heo Jun-soo was pacing around the office muttering to himself with a serious expression, a director from Tribe approached and asked.

“KFSG is saying our financial statements are inadequate,” Heo Jun-soo replied with furrowed brows, stopping in his tracks.

The director wasn’t a team member who had been with the company since its founding. All the early members had left Tribe by now.

The director was a later addition to Tribe who had taken charge of development after Heo Jun-soo himself stepped away from platform development, and had greatly contributed to building Tribe’s current standing.

He was the person Heo Jun-soo trusted most and kept close.

“The financial statements?”

“Yes. They say they need to take us public right after acquisition, and our amateur-like financial statements won’t do.”

As Heo Jun-soo spoke, the director’s expression hardened rapidly.

“Then…”

“KFSG’s accounting experts want to revise our past accounting and then negotiate the sale price.”

“At least it’s not completely off track.”

The director responded as if relieved.

“But it could be a ploy to drive down the price.”

Heo Jun-soo spoke as if displeased with such relief.

“I understand what you’re saying, CEO, but isn’t the mistake on our side after all?”

“Mistake?”

“We did paint a picture on the financial statements, after all.”

At the director’s words, Heo Jun-soo pressed his lips together, furrowing his brow once more.

He had thought professionals like KFSG would naturally notice their financial statements.

After all, they had indeed frozen fixed costs on the statements.

But they weren’t without excuses.

Development costs for IT companies essentially meant labor costs.

They would surely know that most startups compensate their employees with stock options contracts that give company shares.

“Isn’t that why you met with the senior from KFSG?”

“That’s the part I’m not happy about. That senior said he understood financial statements like ours from startups. That they’re buying our company based on business potential alone.”

Heo Jun-soo explained why he was displeased.

“Honestly, aren’t there startups like us everywhere? The whole industry freezes fixed costs, but it feels like they’re being overly harsh on us alone. It’s perplexing.”

“Isn’t it obvious? They actually want to acquire us, so they’re trying to negotiate a more favorable price.”

Heo Jun-soo sighed at the director’s words.

Recently, seniors who had successfully exited their startups had warned him to be most wary of financial industry people, having heard somehow that he was preparing for an exit.

They said these people would fleece you with your eyes wide open.

“I’ve heard such things often, but it’s unsettling to actually face it.”

“But there are things they don’t know, right?”

At the director’s words, Heo Jun-soo put his index finger to his lips with a startled expression, as if to say be quiet.

“Someone might hear.”

“Who would hear? And the development staff from back then were few in number, and none of them are at the company now.”

“The industry is small.”

“We’ll exit before such narrow rumors can spread.”

The director spoke as if their goal was simply to sell off the company, and Heo Jun-soo nodded after a moment’s consideration.

“About stopping…”

“Yes, I’ve erased all traces of the BOTs from the server. Since I managed it personally, no one else will know.”

“That’s a relief. Then…”

Bzzt-

As Heo Jun-soo was in the midst of talking with the director, his mobile phone began to vibrate. Heo Jun-soo raised his hand to the director as if to say be quiet and answered the phone.

“Yes, Manager Han. This is Heo Jun-soo.”

-…

“Oh my… We really need Yuseong’s money as investment, is there any chance you might reconsider…”

-…

“If that’s the client’s decision, there’s nothing we can do. Yes, yes. The opportunity remains open until the end of this month, so please contact us again if the client changes their mind. As I mentioned, the acquisition negotiations are going well. Yes, I understand. Take care.”

As Heo Jun-soo hung up the phone with a sigh, the director asked with a serious expression.

“Was that Yuseong Investment Securities?”

“Yes. It was the asset management manager who came for due diligence last time. He says their client doesn’t want to invest in our company.”

“What should we do? We have to return the initial investment funds at the end of this month.”

At the director’s question, Heo Jun-soo stood still, lost in thought, before looking at the director.

“What can we do? We’ll have to look elsewhere. That’s my job, so you just need to trust me.”

The director nodded at Heo Jun-soo’s words.

After all, whenever Heo Jun-soo had said something like that, he had somehow managed to secure investment funds.

The reason he had joined this place was because of CEO Heo Jun-soo’s almost magical ability to bring in investments.

“For now, leave this matter to me…”

Bzzt-

“Why are there so many calls today…”

Grumbling, Heo Jun-soo checked the caller ID and quickly pressed the answer button.

“Yes, Sunbae. This is Heo Jun-soo.”

Heo Jun-soo answered the phone with a respectful attitude, holding it with both hands even though no one was watching.

“What? Sunbae, what do you mean…”

-…

“We were of course planning to cooperate with the requests regarding the financial statements… Sunbae, Sunbae!”

Heo Jun-soo checked the screen and confirmed that the call had ended.

“What’s the matter?”

The director asked, seeing Heo Jun-soo’s urgent demeanor, but Heo Jun-soo, as if not hearing, dialed a number somewhere.

Ring ring-

The other party seemed unwilling to answer, as the ringing continued.

-The customer cannot take your call…

“Argh!”

Heo Jun-soo threw the phone to a corner of the office and looked at the director, breathing heavily.

“KFSG has informed us that they’re nullifying the acquisition negotiations.”

At Heo Jun-soo’s words, the director’s expression rapidly hardened.

⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱

“The volatility is too high, so it seems best to hold cash and observe the market for now.”

A week later, Dokyung was briefing clients about the market over the phone after the market close, as usual.

“Yes, yes, I’ll contact you when there’s a clear momentum and it’s okay to buy.”

Recently, as the pace of U.S. monetary tightening accelerated, it was having a tremendous impact on emerging markets like Korea.

“Ah, I’m not saying we’ll catch the bottom. It’s just that the market direction is too chaotic right now. It doesn’t seem like the right timing to invest.”

Dokyung’s recent routine involved persuading clients that it would be better to invest after the market direction became somewhat clearer.

“Yes, yes. I’ll do that. Yes, take care.”

Having finished today’s tasks, Dokyung let out a long sigh and looked around the office.

Everything was the same as usual.

No, just one thing.

Since that day, the relationship between Dokyung and Han Dahyun wasn’t the same as before.

‘My job ends here. The rest is up to your choice, Dahyun-ssi.’

From the day after he had said those words and left, Han Dahyun seemed to be avoiding him.

Dokyung had blamed himself, wondering if he had meddled unnecessarily, but concluded that he had only done what he needed to do.

‘In the end, I protected the assets of clients who trusted us with their money.’

Han Dahyun seemed to have understood Dokyung’s words well, as she had persuaded the client to withdraw the investment in Tribe.

And fortunately, the client followed Han Dahyun’s advice and withdrew their intention to invest in Tribe.

‘That’s a relief.’

He felt relieved not only for the client but also because it seemed to prove that his judgment of Han Dahyun hadn’t been wrong.

As Dokyung had told Han Dahyun that day, he believed that anyone could make mistakes.

However, he believed that a person’s true nature is determined in the process of dealing with that mistake.

Just like how Lee Donghyuk from Seonjin Securities, who had clashed with Dokyung, acknowledged that his judgment had been wrong and conceded to Dokyung.

In the end, subsequent actions were no different from indicating a person’s true nature itself.

‘Dahyun-ssi also…’

Han Dahyun, too, had made the right choice before greater damage could occur. She had clearly shown Dokyung what kind of person she was.

“Let’s head home.”

As Dokyung was lost in various thoughts, it was already time to leave work, and Team Leader Seo Jeonghwan stood up from his seat and left the office.

As team members left one by one, Dokyung sighed and got up from his seat.

Then he looked at Han Dahyun’s desk in one corner of the office. She also seemed to be preparing to leave.

“Dahyun-ssi, good work today.”

Dokyung knew the greeting wouldn’t be returned, but he said it anyway and turned around.

“Dokyung-ssi.”

Just then, Han Dahyun’s voice struck Dokyung’s ears, and he looked at her with a surprised expression.

“Would you like to have a coffee?”

Dokyung smiled at Han Dahyun’s words.

“Sure.”

As Dokyung agreed, the two entered the break room in a corner of the center.

Han Dahyun brewed two cups of coffee, placed one in front of Dokyung, and sat down.

“I understand everything. How difficult it must have been for you, Dahyun-ssi… But still, you made the right choice. I think that’s really fortunate…”

Dokyung poured out words as if making excuses even though Han Dahyun hadn’t said anything, and she laughed with a “pfft” at his behavior.

“Dokyung-ssi, you’re funny.”

“Pardon?”

“You’re really sharp when it comes to work-related matters. But outside of work, you flounder so much.”

Dokyung rubbed his nose awkwardly at Han Dahyun’s words.

“Even now, I’m really not bothered at all…”

“Then why have you been avoiding my greetings for the past few days?”

Dokyung asked Han Dahyun as if he had made up his mind.

“…Well.”

“I thought you might be angry.”

“No. I was embarrassed.”

“What?”

Dokyung asked again, seemingly bewildered.

“I said I was embarrassed.”

“No, that’s not something to be embarrassed about…”

“I was embarrassed. A colleague should be somewhat impressive.”

Dokyung pressed his lips together at Han Dahyun’s words.

“Because Dokyung-ssi is so outstanding. I always felt like I needed to do something too.”

Dokyung couldn’t say anything in response to her words, which she had never shown before. If he were in the same situation, he thought he might have felt pressured on his own.

“But in the area of startups, which I boasted about knowing well, it was you, not me, who noticed such a problem…”

“That’s…”

“I tried to brush it off as a natural practice in the industry. I think that itself showed how ridiculous my confidence was.”

Han Dahyun thought her vision had narrowed due to thoughts like ‘because it’s a field I know well’ and ‘because such issues are common in the industry.’

“But my essence wasn’t being a startup expert, it was being an asset management manager taking care of clients’ money.”

“……”

“When I thought about it that way, the things that had been blinding me started to become visible one by one.”

Dokyung nodded and listened to her words.

“I only called myself a professional in words. In reality, I was someone who didn’t even know what I was supposed to be doing.”

“That’s not true. Dahyun-ssi, you’ve shown me sufficiently what kind of person you are this time. I respect you.”

Admitting one’s mistakes takes more courage than one might think.

Dokyung thought Han Dahyun deserved respect because she didn’t deny reality but had the courage to correct it.

“Respect is too much… I’m really grateful to you, Dokyung-ssi.”

Han Dahyun chuckled and started talking to Dokyung.

“I was embarrassed, and it took me time to realize what kind of person I am. Thank you.”

“Not at all. As I said before, I think you really did something great…”

“So, I’m planning to leave the company now.”

At Han Dahyun’s following words, Dokyung stopped mid-sentence and stared at her with wide eyes.