Absinthe novel Chapter 59

"I'll be straight-to-the-point," Vice Chairman Lee spoke, "We need you."

"Who's in charge of the project?" I asked, ignoring his comment.

"It's Cho Hanbi, Jaeyi." Gunho-hyung answered.

"Jaeyi," I repeated. "That name feels like it belongs to a different lifetime."

Minsu and Gunho-hyung exchanged looks.

"Cho Hanbi," I continued. "The guy who forced me to go and relieve myself inside the lady's room. On my last day."

"Don't worry, Bi-Kwajang. That issue will be dealt with accordingly."

"Bi-Kwajang?" I asked. "In case you forgot, I'm no longer working for you."

"What title should we call you then?"

It really does feel like a lifetime since I last had this kind of word games with people from the corporate world.

"Ms. Twinkle Little Star." I said. "I go by the name Twinkle now. You know, gay guys like me have fab names like that."

Faye laughed so hard it made people from the nearby tables give us weird looks. But none of the three gentlemen in front of us did.

"Jaeyi," Minsu-hyung said appealingly. "It's us. Your hyungs! We tried reaching you for months but you couldn't be reached!"

"Hyung, I just told you I don't go by that name anymore. There wasn't anyone named Bee Jae Yi in the first place. It's always been BJ Alvarez. I don't really know why I let Samsong Group dictate that much of my life... that I actually made a new name just to fit in."

"BJ," It was Gunho-hyung this time. And although he tried pronouncing my name well, it still carried traces of Bee Jae Yi with it. I guess that can't be helped since I've been called that more a decade.

"Ms. Twinkle," Vice Chairman Lee said, cutting Gunho-hyung short. "We need you. Let us know your terms."

My terms? Samsong Group must be really desperate. Let's try playing his game for just a little bit longer.

"Let's see..." I said, pretending to be deep in thought. "Fire that asshole of a CEO for what he did to me. And fire Cho Hanbi."

"Agreed. What are your other terms?"

Wow. Let's take it up a notch, then.

"You will hire an expert from McKinney Group to restructure Samsong Holdings."

"In other words, get rid of the useless people on top?" Mr. Lee asked.

"I'm surprised that you know and have done nothing about it until now." I answered back.

I could see Minsu and Gunho hyung clenching their fists in anxiety.

"I am just the Vice Chairman of Samsong Group," he finally answered after a few minutes of silence. "And these people that you want removed have strong ties with my father."

"And your Harvard Education also taught you that a company's workforce should look like a pyramid, where there's a healthy ratio of people who set the company's direction at the top, to the people who push through with the company's projects at the bottom..."

"Not a jar, where a small number of people at the bottom carry the full weight of useless men at the top," Vice Chairman Lee said.

"Yes," I answered. "I want you to clean up Samsong Group's corporate ladder and increase the hiring of competent female and non-heterosexual talents up to 30%."

The Vice Chairman looked deep in thought. "And what about our subsidiaries?"

"Everything else will follow, Mr. Lee." I answered. "Once it's started at the head."

"I am not my father, Ms. Twinkle. I agree to your terms. But don't expect it to happen immediately. I require 5 years—,"

"Three." I said, cutting Mr. Lee short. "Three years. That's my condition."

Vice Chairman Lee gave out a heavy sigh. "Agreed."

Whoa. Things seem pretty shitty for him to agree to that. I need to know what exactly I'm up against before I tell him my final condition.

"Before I tell you my final condition," I started before any of them could even begin talking. "I need to see this new investment's FS."