The Art of Negotiation: Episodes 7-8 » Dramabeans Kdrama recaps

The Art of Negotiation: Episodes 7-8

by lovepark

The personal bleeds into the professional this week as our M&A team is tasked with another challenge. An expiring debt, an immovable will, and a mounting guilt blur the true intentions of the parties involved in this latest case, but our sharp-eyed leader reads between the lines and understands the crux of the matter.

 
EPISODES 7-8

Averting crisis after crisis, our heroes are met again with another; this time the chairman’s own personal debt. He took out a 50 billion won loan with Sanin stocks as collateral, and while the amount could be seen as small for someone running a conglomerate, the situation is a bit more complicated. Ju-no informs the chairman that Sanin’s stocks will drop if rumors circulate about him struggling to pay off chump change which will, in turn, allow Samoel to swoop in and collect on its loan. As for selling his personal stocks to obtain the funds, the law now dictates that he make a public announcement a month in advance, which he no longer has.

Ju-no believes the only solution is to sell whatever the chairman bought with that money, but Chairman Song refuses. He reveals that he purchased a resort, and while all companies are his children, this one is strictly off-limits. Hearing the chairman’s stance, CFO Ha suggests borrowing from elsewhere to pay off the loan, so the chairman tells both parties to “work together” and solve it. His orders, though, are interpreted as a competition, and the CFO has no intentions of losing again to his arrogant junior.

Despite hearing the chairman’s reprimand, Ju-no pushes ahead with his original plan and figures out that the chairman bought Dado Resort in Jeju Island. In order to evaluate the situation, the M&A team decides on a covert trip over the weekend, and while the boys come in their vacation attire, Min-jung is all business. Ju-no, though, joins the rest a bit later to meet up with Director Kang – the broker who first made the purchase and tried once to resell it.

At the resort, Min-jung runs into her talkative neighbor JI-OH (Kwon Yuri) who invites the group into her suite room which she reserved for a year. She even buys the team lunch, and Soon-young wonders if she is either filthy rich or on her deathbed. Jin-soo dismisses his theories as absurd, but our intern clearly has a lot to learn since the lady is actually Song Ji-oh, the CEO of Dado Resort and the only daughter of Chairman Song. She is, also, the real obstacle deterring the team from selling the company, but Ju-no knew all this and came prepared.

After an initial financial health evaluation, Ju-no and his team approach Dolphin Hotel for a deal, but since negotiations fell through last year because of Ji-oh, the Dolphin CEO is wary of another embarrassment. He is willing to buy for 60 billion won, however, if Ju-no can get a sign-off on a MOU promotion for Sanin employees, which leads the team back to Ji-oh and her unbending will.

Unfortunately, the M&A team’s presence gets leaked to the chairman who collapses in shock. He demands an immediate disbandment as well as resignation from Ju-no, and CCO Lee informs our team leader that if he continues to pursue this contract then he must resign. In truth, the chairman bought Ji-oh the resort as her dying wish, which was why he refused to sell it. Though it breaks his heart to watch his daughter choose death over life, he cannot bear tearing her away from the only thing she wants in her final moments, either.

Meanwhile, CFO Ha meets with Samoel to borrow more money, and the talk goes as Ju-no predicted. They take the request as a sign of Sanin’s financial struggle and offer a loan with a 15% interest (a 5% increase from the current one). Unaware of the hole he dug himself into, CFO Ha continues blabbing about the company’s situation from the chairman’s health to his daughter’s resort, and his inflated sense of self blinds him to the manipulations of his so-called partners.

Back in Jeju, Min-jung answers a call from her mom who has been pestering her since yesterday about letting her brother use her car for his start-up. She tells her mom that he can have it since she no longer needs a car: she was fired from her job. Ji-oh overhears the conversation from her patio, and feeling responsible for this turn of events, invites Min-jung to her room for some tea.

Unable to decline, Min-jung sits for a chat, and Ji-oh immediately clocks the change in behavior from before the former knew of her identity. She guesses that Min-jung is the type that cannot say no but will not say yes, either, and shares that she also has a hard time going against others. Min-jung admits that she is envious of Ji-oh’s cheerful attitude, but her attempts to relate to her rub her the wrong way. Before she leaves, Min-jung tells the rich CEO that some people do not even have hope – oblivious to the other woman’s struggle and the callousness of her words.

As the team packs up to leave, Ji-oh stops them since she was curious about their report. Humoring what seems like a spoiled princess’s hobby, they stay for one last presentation and inform the CEO that while the resort appears well, it will eventually shut down if it does not make a profit soon. Ji-oh smiles at their evaluation since she has no interest in making money as long as everyone at her resort is happy, but Min-jung points out that the employees are part of Dado, too. What about their happiness?

Ji-oh looks struck as if she never contemplated what would happen afterwards, and Ju-no asks if she is well, too. He reveals all the signs that indicate her poor health – the late-night ambulance, the patch on her arm – and Ji-oh drops the ruse, confessing that she has cancer and may not live for very long. She asks what they would choose if they were in her position: risk a second surgery with a 50% success rate or continue living as now with no hope for tomorrow?

Of course, no one can decide what Ji-oh should do, not even her father, but Ju-no tells her that she does look happy at Dado. With that, they take their leave, but before they head out, Min-jung informs Ji-oh that she left behind the gift she gave her earlier – a summer dress the CEO bought but believed she could not wear next season. Not only is our accountant able to say “no” this time, it is also an indirect answer to the CEO’s earlier question: Min-jung wants her to live.

Come Monday morning, Ju-no enters Chairman Song’s office to tender his resignation, and CFO Ha is already there presenting the chairman with a new contract from Samoel (they agreed to a 10% interest rate in exchange for double the amount of stocks as collateral). Before the chairman can accept Ju-no’s resignation, though, he receives a call from his daughter telling him to sell the resort. She has decided to have the surgery and thanks the M&A team for changing her mind.

Along with the dress and letter Min-jung left behind, she also gave Ji-oh a revised contract, which included a special clause: the suite room would be rented to CEO Song for an indefinite period as long as she lived. Realizing that she could strive for both – her happiness and a future – Ji-oh decided to have hope and continue living at Dado rather than die here. After hearing his daughter’s words, Chairman Song takes back Ju-no’s resignation and instead offers him a position on the board.

Things are going to really shake at Sanin if the chairman keeps his promise since this is what everyone feared when they heard of Ju-no’s return. The best case scenario is that CCO Lee really does retire as he wants, but even then, it would only maintain the current precarious in-fighting between factions. In reality, the politicking will only get worse as the various board members will try to maintain their seats. Out of everyone, CFO Ha is clearly at a disadvantage having lost to Ju-no on multiple occasions, and while I can see how he earned his current position (he’s knowledgeable and well connected), the show also makes it clear why he remains stuck in the number two position. He doesn’t have the foresight or gumption to run Sanin, and I think Chairman Song knows this, too.

I mentioned this last week, but the writing really shines in the little details. Ji-oh’s cancer reveal wasn’t too surprising because the show kept foreshadowing her secret, so rather than the twist itself, it was the clues leading up to it that were more interesting. The chairman’s behavior in the first week with the doctor’s daughter wasn’t hinting at anything nefarious as I feared but stemmed from his own complicated relationship with Ji-oh. In addition, Sanin spearheads philanthropic endeavors into research for incurable diseases in children because of the chairman’s own love for his child. It’s also probably why the chairman refused to pass on his company to his next of kin, though, if my theory is correct, there’s more to this story than revealed thus far. The family portrait in the chairman’s home showed Ji-oh as well as another man who looks suspiciously like the director of Samoel – Director Teo, to be exact. My guess is that the chairman has one daughter and one son, and Teo is unhappy with his father for ignoring him in the line of succession. A hidden prince fighting for the throne fits right in with the sageuk vibes, and it would make sense why Samoel seems interested in taking over Sanin.

Besides the chairman-related plots, I enjoyed having the spotlight on Min-jung and the show’s emphasis on both her strengths and weaknesses. She can be a bit rigid which makes her seem impersonal, but that very nature is what drew Ji-oh to her. Min-jung isn’t unfeeling, simply reserved, and it is her ability to remain neutral that instills trust and credibility to her words. Ji-oh mentions how Min-jung views her without pity, and I love how both women understood each other because of a shared empathy. While others viewed Ji-oh as a spoiled rich girl playing CEO or a poor lady on her deathbed after the reveal, Min-jung doesn’t necessarily view her that way. In spite of the social and economic differences between them, Min-jung notices Ji-oh’s genuine concern for others and hospitality which is why she tells her to consider her employees. If she thought Ji-oh was spoiled like Soon-young and Jin-soo believed, there would be no need to remind the CEO that her actions have consequences to those who work for her. It’s also why, at the end, Min-jung gives her honest opinion about Ji-oh, and the latter takes it to heart, calling it advice from a friend. Their meeting may have been short, but the connection was deep because they found a kindred spirit in the other that helped them realize that hope was still there.

 
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