The Youngest Son of Sunyang

"Audit? No way. Someone from Oh Sehyun's team will handle it."

"You think they'll keep control of the warehouse keys? Heh heh. Do you really believe those guys who just toyed with calculators can guard the warehouse?"

Damn, why is he so uneasy?

"Do-Jun."

"Yes."

"A guy who can outsmart construction company folks is an artist in itself. Hiring and firing hundreds of day laborers is a piece of cake. It's no big deal to skim around ten million won a day without Oh Se-hyun even noticing."

He isn't joking or trying to make fun of me with his words.

It's not a warning or advice... What is it?

"Do you think that's all? Do you know that you can easily switch out wood worth tens of millions of won with cheap wood? Do you think Oh Se-hyun or his employees would be able to tell the difference? They even tamper with the weight of the reinforced steel, and they've been embezzling cafeteria expenses. Aren't you trembling at the thought of getting caught?"

"Why are you making me so nervous?"

"Don't you still get it? What this old man means?"

I focused all my attention to decipher his meaning while receiving his sharp gaze. I must find the meaning to avoid disappointing him.

"Are you saying that we need to immerse ourselves in the muck to see the real thing?"

The construction industry is the breeding ground for corporate misconduct in South Korea.

Collusion, union leader misconduct, inflating construction costs, subcontractor misconduct, and so on.

The conclusion was to understand all these intricacies.

"If I can manipulate construction company executives as I please, Ive learned how to handle servants. Then those guys will automatically generate the money I need. When I need to use money from an unclear source, there's no safer place than a construction company."

I got about half of it right. Instead of getting dirty in the mud, it means securing a source of off-the-books funds.

Nevertheless, I was relieved to see his approving gaze.

"You mentioned that you'll be reviewing the year-end accounts tomorrow, right?"

"Yes."

"Send a Sunyang Construction audit team with you. Take them along. Oh Sehyun's subpar accountants is nothing compared to them. They're experts who can catch everything, just by roughly skimming through receipts and tax invoices."

"Thank you, Grandfather." I quickly got up and bowed my head.

If I can't swallow Dae-ah Construction whole despite all this help, then I should blame my own incompetence.

"You can thank me later."

"Yes?"

"All of this might be for the benefit of the Sunyang Group. Don't whine and complain after getting a stab in the back from your grandfather. Heh heh."

Oh, really? He's teasing me to the very end.

Seeing my smiling grandfather, I just sighed.

"Do-Jun, who are these people...?"

Oh Se-hyun blinked as he looked at the men who had come with me.

"They are members of the Sunyang Construction accounting audit team. These gentlemen can remember even the product numbers of cement in construction companies. With just a few receipts, they can easily trace embezzlement. So, we should have enough evidence to submit to the prosecutor's office tomorrow."

Oh Se-hyun's expression brightened, as if he had won a great victory.

"Well, I think we should have a good drink tonight. Please take care of it."

"Leave it to us. Before the end of the business day, we'll have stripped everything down to the bone." Seeing the confident audit team members, I felt reassured.

Riding in separate vans, it felt like launching a surprise attack with a special forces unit as we headed to Dae-ah Construction. As we entered the Dae-ah Construction building, Oh Se-hyun took out his mobile phone.

"Oh, Mr. Kang. How did... you find customers willing to buy our shares at a high price?"

"Oh, Mr. Oh. Since we've been diligently asking around, we'll have good news for you soon."

"Oh, I must have misspoken. Or did you misunderstand me? It wasn't until this morning... I mean... Ding! What's that sound...? So, you mean our deal is off?"

"What? What are you saying right now? No, no. Let's meet first. Let's meet and discuss this calmly..."

"Alright, let's do that. We're in the Dae-ah Construction building lobby now. Let's meet in person within 10 minutes to continue our discussion."

Oh Se-hyun gestured to me while holding his mobile phone, and I walked confidently towards the lobby's front desk.

"What floor is the conference room on?"

"It's on the eleventh floor."

With dozens of men in suits taking over the lobby, the female employees at the front desk seemed quite intimidated. I sent a signal indicating the 11th floor on my mobile phone, and Oh Se-hyun spoke into his phone.

"We're heading to the 11th floor right now. We'll see you there."

Closing the flip phone, we entered the elevator. When the elevator stopped on the 11th floor and the doors opened, Kang Mu-jin, the executive vice president, was waiting confidently.

"No, President Oh, what is this? How can you find a buyer overnight? You promised to resolve this today!"

"Hasn't the Vice President in charge not caught on yet? It's over. Now, we're thinking about securing the shareholders' rights."

One of the men who stood right next to Oh Se-hyun spoke up. "Corporate External Audit Act, Article 14. Disclosure and public reporting of audit reports, Paragraph 5. Shareholders or creditors of the company may inspect documents at any time during business hours, and they may request the company to provide the documents by paying the cost set by the company."

After the dry statement was finished, Oh Se-hyun smiled broadly. "Did you hear? Bring all the financial statements and supporting documents from the last two years to this conference room. Shareholders have doubts about the management's capabilities. We need to see what exactly led the company to this point."

Kang Mu-jin, the executive vice president, had to stand there in a daze as he watched the people filing into the conference room without acknowledging him.

"Vice President, do you have time for this? Please quickly bring the documents the shareholders are requesting. If you don't want things to escalate further here, I suggest you act now." I delivered one final blow and entered the conference room.

"Hyung! Those people..."

Kang Mu-jin burst into the Dae-ah Construction CEO's office, throwing the door open. "What? What's going on? Why all the fuss?"

Seeing his younger brother's disheveled state, Kang Mu-seong, the CEO of Dae-ah Construction, sensed that something was amiss.

"Miracle's people have gathered. They've already occupied the conference room, claiming they'll conduct an external audit!"