*Silence*
“…..”
I make my way to my chair.
“What exactly has you all riled up that I can hear you from the other end of the building?”
The room is tense. Glances from each side continues, when finally, they begin speaking up.
“We’ve received calls from some of our investors with concerns of our company image. Some of them are threatening to move their future investments to Triad Co. if we don’t handle it quickly.” says Mr. Kim.
“This could ruin our company image! We need to reach out to our other investors!” says Mr. Hwang.
“I agree. What’s stopping our other investors from jumping ship? They need incentive to stay” says Mrs. Choi.
"How unlike you, Mrs. Choi. To be in agreement with Mr. Hwang? Pigs must be flying right now.” Says Mr. Kim.
Mr. Kim, or John Kim, the Director of Employee Relations. A thorn in my butt usually, but he has a good head on him. He’s been with Parun for the last 15 years.
“What do you mean? Are you implying something Mr. Jung!?”
Dae-Young Hwang, the Dept. Head of Marketing and the youngest board member who has been with the company for 10 and a half years.
Ae-Young Choi, the CFO. A childhood friend and long-time employee of Parun. She’s been with me since the very beginning.
It’s well known within the company that when these two are together, nothing goes well. They both have very different viewpoints. Together, they’re sometimes referred to as, “The Terrible Two.”
While their opinions are right, why are they suddenly in agreement with each other over a couple of investors leaving? They never agree on anything! How unusual.
Mr. Hwang glances over, with his fingers in a heart shape, quickly throwing it down before being seen.
Of course…These old fools. As if we can’t see right through them.
“We don’t need to send unwarranted gifts to our investors. Why feed into the possibility that Triad Co. can steal our people? We can’t acknowledge that. ” I state.
“That could be disastrous for us, don’t you agree Mrs. Choi?” says Mr. Hwang.
“It’s true, if we let them be, what’s to say that the other investors won’t run to Triad Co?”
“We need to acknowledge something.” says Mr. Kim.
“…..”
“Sorry to interrupt, but I’ve received news from the Department Head of In-Game Operations.”
“Thank you, Juno.”
Department of In-game Operations, or DINGO for short. A team created after Parun made its debut overseas and onto the international market.
“While the other issues have been adjusted, the DINGO team mentioned an issue with the rewards system. They’ve sent multiple requests to the Dept. of Development and have been shut down on numerous occasions.”
There we go. I knew something was going on with those stupid rewards. I was right to go into the game myself.
The main purpose of DINGO is to check for in-game issues and reporting them in real time. Their responsibilities include bug verification and working alongside the Dept. of Marketing for community assistance and event hosting. They are Parun’s eyes and ears to the in-game world.
“Why hasn’t it been resolved?”
"Records reflect that this issue has been signed off on numerous occasions by a Mr. Kibong Ho, the Manager of Team 3 in Development.”
“Why is he approving these?”
“Our CDO has given him approval to sign off on lesser documents.”
Our Development Team, run by CDO, Minho Kwon. He’s been out of the office for the last 2 months dealing with our California branch.
“Minho did?”
“It seems so, Sajangnim. Before that, it also looks like Mr. Kwon also approved these findings of the bug as ‘Non-intrusive’ to overall game performance.”
That scumbag. Is that why he asked if he could work at the California office for a bit? Has he been working with Triad Co. this whole time? It’s not possible that I’ve let this go off my radar for so long. How have none of us been able to catch this?
“As you all heard, it seems there’s more awry than we initially assumed. This has nothing to do with our investors.”
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“…..”
“Mr. Kim, I want to ensure that our employees are not spreading unnecessary rumors between our business and Triad Co. Please make sure to send out some correspondence as soon as possible.”
“Got it.”
“Juno, please send word to Lena and her team, make sure they make sure to acknowledge that we found in game issues and are conducting an internal investigation to make things right.”
“On it, Sajangnim.”
Finally, I stare in Ae-Young’s direction with disappointment.
“I want to advise everyone in this room to remember the reason we work at Parun. Not for ourselves, but for our players.”
Mr. Hwang balls his hands into a fist, showing discontent as if I called his name out personally.
“Losing a couple of investors won’t hurt us. But internal discourse will.”
“…..”
The meeting ends with bows from each department head, and Juno and I return to my office.
I lay on one of the lounge chairs, exhausted from the ordeal.
“What a long day… “
“Agreed, Sajangnim. Today has been hectic.”
“Were you able to pull up information on Kibong Ho and Mr. Kwon?
“Mr. Jung is in contact with the managers at our California branch to receive some insight on Mr. Kwon’s recent endeavors in the U.S.”
“Excellent. We need to be prepared. I have a very bad feeling.”
“You’re right to think so, Sajangnim.”
Juno hands me an envelope filled with picture evidence of Mr. Ho entering Triad Co. on numerous occasions. One of these photos show Mr. Ho entering Triad Co. with someone in front of him in a large coat and mask. Although hard to make out his face, I notice his cufflinks.
Mr. Kwon was notorious for his K-branded, custom cufflinks. He was a man of professional fashion and wouldn’t go anywhere in his professional attire without those cufflinks.
“I knew it, I just knew he was up to no good.”
“Yes, it does look like Mr. Kwon. You can’t get those at a regular department store.”
“How far back do these images go?”
“Photos with Mr. Ho entering Triad Co. began about 2 months ago after Mr. Kwon went to America, Sajangnim.”
“So, he’s been at it for at least that long?”
“Yes, it seems so.”
“But there’s no telling for sure, how long Mr. Kwon has been with them…”
“Correct. It’s even possible that he’s been working with them since the very beginning, Sajangnim.”
Not something I was happy to hear.
Triad Co. was a fairly new competitor in the gaming and entertainment industry. They first launched Triangle Dimensions, about 5 years ago. They were instantly praised for their likeness to Parun, but with constant updates and more.
I always thought the company had some similarities with mine, but to what degree? I never saw them as a direct competitor, but if they’ve had help in development from my CDO… It’s highly likely that they have the capabilities to even surpass mine.
I use both hands to smack my cheeks to put me back into reality.
I shouldn’t think like that.
“We need to head to the Development Team, right now. I need to see Mr. Ho.”
“Understood.”
We make our way to the Department of Development and find ourselves at the entrance to Team 3’s office.
As we enter, the employees of Team 3 line up.
They all shout, “Welcome, Sajangnim!”
“How enthusiastic! You may all go back to what you were doing.”
I see Kibong Ho in the corner of my eye.
“Mr. Ho, could we have a quick word?”
“Of course, Sajangnim!”
We enter Mr. Ho’s office.
“I see you do a lot for your juniors, and you make them feel comfortable. Yes?”
“You’re right! I love my team and the company.”
I look at Juno and nod my head. Juno places several photos on the table that show Mr. Ho meeting with members of Triad Co.
His smile immediately shifts away, as his face darkens in panic.
“Sajangnim, what’s this?”
“I’ve been alerted that you’ve been in contact with Triad Co. and have even gone into their office. Can you explain?”
He’s silent, until finally he gets out of his chair and quickly grovels on the ground.
“I am so sorry, Sajangnim.”
“What are you sorry for?”
“I’ve been meeting with Triad Co. for a few months on the command of Mr. Kwon.”
He begins to cry.
“I never mentioned Mr. Kwon, are you sure?”
“Yes Sajangnim, I am positive. He told me that as a Senior, I need to remember who my allies are, and that if I didn’t assist him with his dealings at Triad Co. while he was gone, he’d have me demoted.”
I’m absolutely terrified of all of this.
“Please, get up, my child.”
Mr. Ho gets up, unable to hold his own. Juno assists him back into the chair.
“It was not my intention to come here to interrogate you, but the current matters were urgent. Are you certain you had nothing to do with this?”
“Yes, Sajangnim. I was just delivering documents from our CDO to a Triad Co. employee every other week and signing off as he normally did on similar documents.”
“…..”
I was livid.
“Thank you for being honest with me.”
“After meeting you in person, you remind me a lot of my grandmother, Sajangnim. I wouldn’t dare lie to you.”
How funny. A grandma? It’s been a while since I’ve heard anyone call me that, even from my family!
A flashback begins with her grandchildren looking to her with arms open, waiting to receive a hug from the little babies. “Sajangnim!” They call out. Their parents panic, while Yuna’s face shows a combination of displeasure and embarrassment.
On the other hand, her husband, Mr. Ho is seen laughing maniacally from a distance, in fear of being smacked. “Hohoho, honey look at that, you’re even a boss at your grandchild’s house!” he says to Yuna. The grandchildren run towards her again and say “Grandma Sajangnim!” She gives up and begins laughing at the situation too.
“I’m glad to hear that. It’s been a while since anyone has called me a grandmother! Hohoho!”
I laugh uncontrollably, while desperately attempting to cover my mouth.
“I hope that doesn’t offend you, Sajangnim!”
“Not at all, Kibong! I’m quite pleased! Maybe I should tell people to call me Grandma Yuna!”
“I’m not sure how people at the company would react, but I love it!”
“Juno, please make sure you send a gift to him and his team. I wouldn’t want our senior-most developer to feel unneeded, especially right now.”
Juno smiles, “Of course, Sajangnim.”
“Thank you, Grandma Yuna!” says Kibong.
“Hohoho, what a treat.”
“Kibong, while I have you here, could you make sure you approve of those fixes with our DINGO team? They should have sent another request.”
“Of course! I’ll have it approved as we soon as we wrap up this meeting!”
“Perfect, thank you, Kibong. Glad to have you with us!”
“No, thank you for believing in me and allowing me to continue to work under your care!”
We bow towards each other and make our leave to the exit.
What a drawn-out day.
“What time is it, Juno?”
“It’s about 3PM, Sajangnim.”
“Only three!?”
“Yes, Sajangnim. We’ve had a very dramatic day.”
"You don’t say… So, what’s next on the list?”
"Well, besides missing your lunch, you have dinner at home with Mr. Park at 8PM."
“Maybe we should test out the game features now that we’ve fixed some of those issues, shall we? But maybe first, a quick lunch! How about ramen?”
“That's not good for you, Sajangnim!”