The protector

Hostile Takeover (flashback)

2021, Spring

The bag rang for the third time. Well, the phone inside it did. And for the third time, Yoon Se-ri ignored the call.

Eyes fixed on the road in front of her, some side glance from time to time, and a smile in doing it that only the woman knew the real reason of.

Waiting for the green light while observing a boy playing with his kite, she heard the beep of an incoming text.

Old fox, are you telling me that you've learnt how to write texts now?

It was nothing personal. It was just due to a lack of time which was becoming chronic if she was postponing that conversation.

Her job – gratifying as well as draining –, the informal responsibility to check her family's company, because the manager wasn't a member of the family and the President, her brother, was yes a member of the family, yet not exactly business reliable.

And now the scholarship program, which would have been held that summer for the first time.

Se-ri would have never imagined how much effort it would have cost. Apparently, charity was not an appealing topic, so that she had had to ask and promise a lot to all the journalists she knew to obtain the news to be published. She needed as much coverage as possible if she wanted to have a chance for the news to reach the North.

To reach Ri Jeong Hyeok.

Hence, that short trip from her penthouse to the company had become her only free time. And it was her "dream time," the only time within which she allowed herself to fantasize about their reunion. The woman wondered what he was doing at that moment, and if he was thinking of her like she was thinking of him.

"Se-ri-ya, call me, it's important."

Se-ri-ya. She was his friend's daughter, not his daughter. Couldn't he make an effort? That was why she hated having in her board members who were older than her. And men. They always felt entitled to talk to her informally and treat her like a girl who only was playing with a toy she would have got bored of soon.

"Advisor Kim? I'm sorry, I was driving."

Se-ri tried to remember if she had ever had a private dinner with Kim Soo-min, long time friend of her parents and one of the most influent members of her board. Mhm. Parties at the Yoon's mansion, yes. Business lunches, yes. But never a dinner, no. So it had to be something he considered important. Did the man want to announce his resignation? If only! The evening immediately took a delightful touch.

"Se-ri-ya, I'm worried," Advisor Kim spoke up the way he was used to, straight to the point when they still were waiting for the appetizer to be served. Well, at least he had had the compassion to wait for the wine.

"During the last weeks, there has been a massive acquisition of stocks without any apparent reason. No price fluctuation, no leaks. I don't like it, there's something fishy. Of course, it could be an emir with a spoiled daughter... "

During the 90', a rich emir bought the entire Donna Karan fashion company just because his daughter was a fan of the brand. With the Korean beauty routine gaining new appeal every day, many companies – Se-ri's choice included – had received international orders the amount of which they would have never expected, numbers like the 10% of the annual revenue in ten minutes.