Chapter 152: My Older Brother Has It Tough

Hyeon-seong’s reaction was quite amusing.

“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you answering? Is it real?”

“No.”

“So you do seem a bit interested, huh?”

“…”

Hyeon-seong downed his soju in one go, hesitating for a moment before finally speaking up.

“I do feel something, but… it’s complicated with work and everything. Plus, I’ve never confessed to a girl before…”

He had never given his heart to a girl since childhood.

I poured him more soju, laughing.

“I can’t believe it. The mighty Park Hyeonseong is troubled because of a girl!”

“…”

“I know you’ll figure it out, but if you truly care, don’t hesitate. Just go for it, regardless of the consequences!”

“Do you think that’s alright?”

“The choice is yours, but I think it’s worth a shot.”

“Got it.”

We spent some time talking, reminiscing about old times while sipping our drinks.

The way home.

‘Both Myeong-su and Hyeon-seong are off finding their own partners. Maybe I should try dating too?’

I chuckled softly and shook my head.

“Dating? Not in a million years.”

“Huh?”

Manager Ma turned around, curious.

“It’s nothing. Just talking to myself.”

Kang Mi-jin…

I wondered if Hyeon-seong’s first love would actually come true.

* * *

As soon as Yun & Jang appointed a lawyer, the bail was granted for Cho Seong-hee..

Although he couldn’t leave his residence, he was at least out of the detention center.

On the day Cho Seong-hee was released, Lee SSang-geun visited the Myeong-dong office to inform about negotiations with the Jukryeonbang.

“They mentioned they’ll self-report and enter the country within a few days. A couple of heads from the domestic sales side will come too.”

“Self-report?”

“Yeah.”

I chuckled slightly.

“Once they enter, secure their safety first. No way are we letting such a good opportunity slip away through self-reporting.”

“I’ll talk to the Jukryeonbang and make sure that happens.”

“So, things went smoothly?”

“They did issue a warning, but we managed to get some concessions this time.”

An unpleasant aftertaste remained in my mouth.

“Everything just fell into place too easily this time.”

Lee Sang-geun nodded as he felt the unease too.

“No other country has gang members as deeply involved in drugs as ours. I think they didn’t want to spark disputes with us, fearing damage to their current business.”

“What’s Mr. Yi’s take on this? Does he plan to manage the drug distribution?”

We can’t eradicate drugs completely.

No country has succeeded in that regard.

While countries like China executed drug manufacturers and sellers, drug distribution continued unabated.

I wondered if it might be better to let domestic organizations manage it instead.

“Honestly speaking, from our perspective, nothing pays as well as drug trade. But whether it helps or not is another question.”

“Why’s that?”

Lee Sang-geun let out a small sigh.

“Greed. The profits from drug sales lead to inevitable disputes. No matter how much the Boss tries to prevent it, once they start selling drugs, it’s tough to evade the scrutiny of law enforcement.”

“Still, make sure you get a grasp on all the criminal organizations currently in the country.”

“Understood.”

“You did well on this job.”

“Thank you.”

Lee Sang-geun bowed his head and left the office.

“Manager!”

“Yes, Boss?”

“What’s the current distribution of the Geuksung Group’s power?”

“The majority belongs to the former Park Dong-su faction. Most of the key positions are occupied by Lee Sang-geun’s group.”

“What about the other factions?”

“The Honam faction follows, and then the Seoul faction comes next.”

The current Geuksung Group was a conglomeration of Dong-su’s organization, the Honam faction from Busan, and the existing factions in Seoul.

Though the elders had stepped back due to Lee Sang-geun’s extensive purges, there were too many from the Honam faction to eradicate completely.

There was a need to bolster Lee Sang-geun’s power to an unassailable height.

“We’ll need to connect Mr. Yi with the American and Russian mafia. All right, I got it. Cho Seong-hee is scheduled to be released today, right?”

“Yes, she should have been released by now.”

I decided to use the Cho Seong-hee incident as groundwwork for Myeong-su’s political debut.

I had already begun using media outlets like the Goryeo Daily to report on Cho Seong-hee’s unjust situation..

At the same time, I wanted to imprint Myeong-su’s name by catching drug offenders currently in the country.

The more exposure Myeong-su got in the media, the more established he would become in the public’s minds.

“Today’s schedule is just meeting Yoon Chang-ho, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then don’t make any other appointments.”

“Understood.”

“Good job. I’ll meet Yoon Chang-ho in an hour.”

After Manager Ma left the office, I called Han Gyeong-yeong.

“Hey, you busy?”

— No, since stepping back from Jungwoo Group, I don’t have much to do right now.

“You’re still investing in American IT companies, right?”

— Most acquisitions are completed. But things seem to be getting a bit strange. The stock prices are skyrocketing.

“It’s going to rise even more. Tell them to stop buying for now.”

— Okay, got it.

IT stocks, including Apple, were showing abnormal surges in price.

My first step was to realize profits through stock acquisitions, and secondly, bet on declines in the NASDAQ index to gain profit.

But that was a plan for next year—it wasn’t urgent, and right now, China was the focus.

“What about the trip to China?”

— I’m scheduled to enter next month for a Chinese Communist Party event. I planned to stop in Beijing and tour Shanghai.

“Stick close to Wen Jiabao and build your connections. Remember those companies I mentioned before?”

— Uh… Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent?

The three major IT companies in China to come into prominence later, known as BAT.

At present, these three companies had either been established or were in the process of being set up.

“Baidu probably isn’t up yet. The other two have launched, but they won’t have much influence yet.”

— How do you know about those companies?”

“Baidu will become China’s Yahoo. Alibaba will dominate electronic commerce in China, and Tencent will become a comprehensive IT firm.”

— Sure, I’ll arrange to meet them. But wouldn’t a good venture company attract investors?”

“Not yet. Meet them and focus on securing as much equity as you can, don’t worry about the investment amount. I believe in your capabilities.”

— I can’t tell if you’re piling on pressure or just showing trust.

Though Han Gyeong-yeong grumbled, I felt confident he would succeed in obtaining investments.

Moreover, Han Gyeong-yeong’s name held weight even in China.

When Son Jeong-gi invested in Alibaba, even those hesitant about his investment took the plunge considering his reputation.

“Oh, by the way, what about Google?”

I instructed him to invest in Google, established by Larry Page and Sergey Brin last year.

— I checked it out, but it seems to be just a college club level? How can such a company beat Yahoo?”

“Did you invest?”

— I got 30% for 20 million dollars, but they said no more investors due to management rights issues.”

A broad smile broke across my face.

“Good job. How much do we own in Yahoo?”

— About 10%? Why?”

“Connect Google with Yahoo. Jerry Yang and Larry Page know each other, so it shouldn’t be hard. Yahoo is probably struggling with their search engine right now.”

Though Yahoo was developing their next-generation search engine, they couldn’t complete it in a short time and had to rely on Google’s engine temporarily.

— I’ll let the headquarters know.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

Yahoo’s use of Google’s search engine eventually led to Google’s meteoric rise.

Ultimately, in 2004, Yahoo would hastily switch to another search engine as Google was poised to dominate the U.S. portal market.

Soon, Google would rise to the top of market share across all countries, becoming a multinational company.

The countries that Google failed to conquer were China with Baidu, Korea with Chogok.com, Russia with Yandex, and Japan with Yahoo Japan.

— I told you to go back to the U.S. after visiting China?”

“Leave Korea to Eva and focus on the U.S. until next year. Starting this year-end, we will gradually liquidate all our American corporate stocks without affecting stock prices too much.”

It was wise to sort out stocks before engaging in options trading.

After finishing my call with Han Gyeong-yeong, I checked the time and realized it was time to meet Yoon Chang-ho.

Just then, Manager Ma entered the office.

“Time flies! Let’s go!”

Yoon Chang-ho had to be more cautious when meeting me now.

Instead of the usual traditional Korean restaurant, I set the meeting in a secretive place.

“Were you already here?”

Upon arriving, I found Yoon Chang-ho had come early and was waiting.

“I just got here too. I heard of places like this but it’s my first time actually visiting.”

“You’ll be coming here often from now on.”

Yoon Chang-ho nodded at my words.

“Let’s sit down for now.”

“Sure.”

We sat facing each other and started our conversation.

“I’ve heard the news. You’re giving lectures at universities now?”

“That’s right. Didn’t you say so? I should reach out to the younger generation.”

“That’s great. How have you been? I’m sure that’s not all you’re doing.”

“I’m building connections with politicians along the way.”

“You’ve become a full-fledged politician now.”

Soon, the food arrived.

After instructing Manager Ma to keep anyone away from this room, I picked up my chopsticks.

“Go ahead and eat. The food here is pretty good.”

“Sure.”

Small talk about recent happenings continued through the meal.

Conversations with Yoon Chang-ho typically begin after finishing meals and enjoying tea.

“Now, let me know what I should do.”

“If you were to start a party, how many sitting National Assembly members could you bring along?”

“Between 5 and 10.”

That was more than I had anticipated.

“They’d all be members of the Conservative Party, right?”

The infighting within the Conservative Party had reached a critical level. Although they had previously split and reunited with Cheongpung Group’s mediation, the rift remained unhealed.

The recent parliamentary by-election defeat was ample fuel to bring underlying conflicts to the surface.

Media outlets were busy reporting the feuds within the Conservative Party.

“Given your popularity with the public, forming a new party shouldn’t be hard if you gather support. Once sitting National Assembly members join, their influential organizations will undoubtedly follow.”

“It might be best to start by forming a negotiation group.”

“Focus on the Conservative Party. I’ll make some efforts with the Progressive Party.”

“Understood. I plan to advocate for a centrist party.”

A centrist party that had never succeeded in the past or the future.

However, with the two major parties firmly established in the current landscape, the only choice was centrist.

“I’ll cover all the founding expenses.”

“That won’t create any issues, will it?”

“I’ll distribute it among hundreds of people while laundering donations. There shouldn’t be a major problem from that. But you’ll have to contribute a lot too, Chairman.”

Politics boils down to money.

While we couldn’t run an election driven by cash like before, significant funds were still necessary to rally people.

“I have that covered already.”

“Make sure not to accept any money from anyone besides me. You need to have no weaknesses.”

This man had to become a president for my sake.

I had no intention of sharing Yoon Chang-ho’s power with anyone else.

“If you ever change your mind… I’ll also do my part.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Yoon Chang-ho at all.

But those who became politicians often changed.

Tiny, dry pieces of tea leaves sank beneath the pale green tea.

I felt his scrutinizing gaze and flashed a faint smile.