"... Global Hotel is pleased to report that the Crown Prince and Princess of Monaco have had an enjoyable stay with us and we would be happy to welcome them back to any of our hotels and establishments in the near future."
Kim Joonmyeon flung his remote control at the television and it hit the screen with a resounding clang, right smack in the face of the smiling man in the navy blue suit, who was at that point in time shaking hands with the Crown Prince of Monaco, just before the royal couple left the hotel.
"Who the hell is that man! How on earth could he have cleaned up everything within such a short span of time?" Joonmyeon roared angrily at the only other person in the room, who was sitting calmly across the table sipping his whiskey on the rocks. This was not the outcome that Joonmyeon had anticipated. Not only had the food poisoning incidents been smoothed over at the blink of an eye, it was as though they had never happened at all. The bullet he fired had barely left a dent.
The right corner of Kai's lips twitched into a slight smile. "His name is Oh Sehun, the freshly minted head of operations at Global Hotel. Young, isn't he?"
Joonmyeon wasn't amused. "I don't care who he is, all I know is that he just ruined all our plans, and you still have the ability to smile?"
"Just a slight spanner in the works, nothing to worry about. After all, I never said I needed these kind of petty tricks in order to seal the deal. The acquisition will take place as planned."
Joonmyeon scowled and replied, "That had better be the case, or else all that money we're spending on you would be flushed down the drain." He poured himself a glass of whiskey and swallowed it in a single mouthful. "What's the next move?"
Kai shrugged. "I've scheduled a meeting with the CFO of Global Group later this afternoon, I need to assess their terms and conditions first before I can put any plans into action."
"Where's the meeting?"
"Where else? Global Hotel of course."
#
"It's good that we managed to clear your name in the end, I heard from the other staff that you had to endure some difficulties because of the accusations."
Eunjung smiled and shook her head. "It wasn't much sir, but I'm glad it's all over. The restaurant's reputation took quite a beating because of it."
"Call me Sehun. 'Sir' makes me sound twenty years older than I actually am," Sehun laughed, his eyes ironing out into crescent-shaped slits as he did. "The chief pattisiere has nothing but praise for your baking skills, I hope that one day I will have the good fortune of trying your culinary works."
Eunjung blushed a shade of bright pink. "I... It's not really that good... Dok is just exaggerating..."
"You don't have to be humble. If we want our restaurant to be the best in town, then we need talent like you here. Work hard, and I'm sure you'll have a bright future here with Global Group," Sehun placed his hand on her shoulder, giving her an encouraging pat.
"Thank you sir," she replied shyly, "and thank you for helping me to clear my name. If you hadn't found the real culprit, then everyone would still think that I'm the one who did it."
"What's going on here," a familiar cold voice came from behind. Eunjung and Sehun turned to find D.O. standing behind them, his arms folded across his chest.
"Ah, head chef. I was just getting to know the members of my staff. I bumped into Eunjung along the corridor, so I stopped her for a chat. I hope you don't mind?" Sehun responded calmly.
"The members of MY staff are not allowed to dally around during working hours. We have a restaurant to run, if you'll excuse us then," D.O. walked over and grabbed hold of Eunjung's wrist, dragging her away from a bemused Sehun.
It wasn't until she was dragged a good distance away before Eunjung finally registered what was going on. She struggled to get free of D.O.'s grasp, but the more she struggled, the tighter he held on.
"Let go of me! Where are you taking me?" Eunjung shouted.
D.O. stopped in his tracks. He looked back at her, before quickly letting go of her wrist. "Why were you talking to that man? And why did you thank him for helping you clear your name? I'm the one who helped-- Ahh forget it!" he said in annoyance.
He had been on his way out of the restaurant to conduct a food survey outside when he had chanced upon the conversation between Eunjung and Sehun. Ever since the day when Sehun intruded on his territory and dissed him in front of all his staff, D.O. had developed a strong dislike for the man. Hearing Eunjung thank him for something he didn't do just pissed him off even further and right now he felt as though his blood was still boiling.
"Is there a problem with me talking to Chief Oh? He seems like a nice person," Eunjung replied, unsure of why D.O. was having an outburst now.
"A nice person?!" D.O. spluttered, not quite sure if he just heard things right. "Look at the way he smiles! He looks like a hypocrite through and throug. How is that a 'nice person'?"
"At least he's not unreasonable and grumpy half the time..." she mumbled.
"Did you say something?"
"No," Eunjung quickly replied.
D.O. glanced at her sideways, certain that she was lying through her teeth. He sighed and turned on his heels, heading towards the exit.
"Where are you going?" Eunjung called out after him.
"I'm going to Hongdae to do a survey of the restaurants there. Our food is of the highest standard but we're still not getting the right amount of crowd. I'm going to do a market survey to see what we can do about our restaurant's marketing strategies."
"Can I come?" Eunjung's eyes lit up. The restaurants in Hongdae were known to be eclectic and highly varied, serving food of all sort of flavours and colours that appealed greatly to the youth. If there was one place to go in Seoul to do research on highly successful marketing strategies of restaurants, Hongdae would be in.
D.O. paused, the corners of lips turning upwards slightly. "Fine, but don't get in my way," he said without turning around to look at her.
#
At the very same time that D.O. and Eunjung stepped out through the revolving doors of the hotel's lobby to head on their market survey outing, someone else walked in right the opposite direction through the neighbouring set of doors.
Kai strolled into the hotel lobby, looking around to take in the sights.
A pretty snazzy hotel, no wonder they call this one the crown jewel of Global Group. Too bad it won't belong to Global for long...
He made his way to the hotel's cafe cum bar, where he was due to meet with the CFO of Global Group to discuss details of any possible merger between Alpha and Global. CFO Seo of Global Group was an old dog in this field and Kai knew he wouldn't be an easy nut to crack - but then again, there was no challenge that was too great for him to take up. He was five minutes early, so he found a seat by the window with plenty of natural lighting and ordered himself a whiskey on the rocks.
"A little early to be drinking isn't it?" a mellow voice echoed from behind him.
Kai turned around to find an elderly gentleman standing behind him, suited up in an Armani suit. The man walked over and sat down opposite him.
"It's never too early for a whiskey," Kai replied, smiling politely at the newcomer. They had both already checked out each other's profiles, so there was really no need for introductions. Kai stretched out his hand anyway. "I'm Kim Kai. It's nice to meet you."
The other man returned his handshake, but did not smile in return. "Seo Man Soo. Chief financial officer of Global Group."
"Can I get you something to drink?" Kai offered.
CFO Seo shook his head. "Let's get down to business shall we? We've already been having this same old discussion back and forth for a long time and I don't know what President Kim hopes to achieve by sending a young man like yourself here as his new representative, but I have a feeling we won't come to much of a different conclusion from what we've already discussed before."
Kai laughed. "I wouldn't be so quick to judge if I were you, but by all means, let's begin."
The CFO took out a file from his briefcase and placed it in front of Kai. "I trust you have already seen this before. These are the terms and conditions we offered to Alpha Enterprises before, with minor modifications based on what your side fed back to us. I trust it will be satisfactory this time round. If possible, we hope to close the deal by the end of this month."
Oh we'll be closing a deal alright, but not by the end of this month, and definitely not the deal you were hoping for...
Kai's lips curled upwards in a sly smile, glancing through the documents cursorily before shutting the file again. "I'm afraid there's been some change of plans. These won't nearly be enough."
"What do you mean?"The older man's face suddenly flashed with anger. "This was all agreed on before!"
"I'm the one in charge of the negotiations now and I'm afraid these terms simply won't suffice. I'm sure you've heard the buzz about Global Hotel and the latest... scandal. Even though your side managed to cover up the situation pretty well, word still managed to leak out about the food poisoning incident, and your stocks have fallen quite significantly over the past couple of days."
Upon hearing this, CFO Seo's face became as black as thunder. He had been hoping that Alpha would not have picked up on this piece of news, because there was no doubt they would twist things to their advantage of they did.
"Alpha Enterprises is a well-established company in the tourism industry and considering your current situation, I believe you know that you need Alpha more than ever in order to bring Global back up to its original standing. In such a situation, do you think that we would let go at such a measly price?" Kai smiled sweetly as he pointed his finger at the set of terms and conditions that had been placed in front of him.
"How much more do you want?"
Kai raised one finger.
"10% more?"
Kai shook his head. "Do you take me for a greenhorn Mr Seo? One hundred percent more. Alpha Enterprises is yours for double the price you have quoted in this file. Take it or leave it."
"What?!" the elderly man's eyes bulged out of their sockets. "That's daylight robbery!" As far as he was concerned, the price that they had offered was already more than generous, yet this kid here was demanding two times the going rate? It was preposterous!
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Kai said in all seriousness. "Let's be honest right now. You need us more than we need you. At the rate Alpha Enterprises is progressing, it'll overtake Global Group in the tourism and hospitality industry within the next couple of years. If I were you, I'd just cough up the money and complete the acquisition before that day comes."
Although even if you are willing to cough up all that money, you might not get what you were hoping for...
Kai never came into a battle unprepared, and he still had a couple of cards up his sleeve that he wasn't about to play just yet.
"You bloody prick," CFO Seo cursed, "who are you to waltz into here thinking you can demand the sky! Alpha Enterprises isn't worth that much!"
"Really? In that case, I don't see what we're discussing here," Kai replied calmly as he downed the remains of his glass of whiskey. "I'll be taking my leave." He pushed his chair back and stood up, giving the old man a polite bow before immediately walking away.
"Come back here you!" the elderly man shouted after Kai's receding figure. "We're not done!" The more he thought about the ridiculousness of the meeting and what Kai had proposed, the more angry he got. In all his years in the field, Seo Man Soo had never been this ridiculed, and by a young twit no less. He clutched his chest as a throbbing sensation of pain shot through his heart.
"Father, what's wrong!" a girl's voice came shouting across the hall as she watched Seo Man Soo collapse into his chair, his face turning a shade of red and his hand still clutching onto his chest.
Seo Chaekyung ran across the hallway from the reception, brushing past Kai as she ran. She had just been familiarising herself with the routines at the concierge when she had noticed her father's presence in the cafe across the hall.
"Are you ok? Where's your medicine?" she said urgently, searching through her father's briefcase for the medicine for his heart condition. The white bottle was at the bottom of his bag, and thankfully there were still a couple of pills left. She quickly poured out two pills and placed them in her father's mouth, letting him swallow them down with some water. "What happened!" she asked. Her father had a chronic heart condition, but he rarely had attacks.
"Stop... Stop him..." Seo Man Soo pointed in Kai's direction, still gasping for breath. By now, Kai was almost at the revolving doors of the hotel's exit.
"Who?" Chaekyung asked, confused at her father's actions. She squinted into the distance, spying the sillouhette of a young man in a sharp grey suit pushing through the revolving door.
"Stop him... Kai... Kim Kai..."
"Kai? Who's Kai?" Chaekyung turned to her father and asked out of curiosity.
Watching Kai disappear out of the door and out of sight, CFO Seo sighed and collapsed back against the backrest of the chair, resigned to the fact that the matter of the acquisition would yet drag on for another day. He waved his hand, signalling to his daughter that the matter was no longer of any consequence.
Chaekyung turned back to the revolving doors. The door was still in motion, but the man had disappeared. Whoever he was, he must have been the one responsible for landing her father into this state.
Kim Kai... Whoever you are, don't let me see you step foot into this hotel again, or else...