Chapter 435: James Is Not My Subordinate

Patrick arrived at the Vice Chairman’s office.

“I’m Patrick from Goldman Sachs.”

“I’m Seo Jae-hoon.”

After shaking hands Patrick and Seo Jae-hoon sat facing each other.

“Too many eyes here. I’d prefer we talk in private.”

Patrick glanced around the office as he spoke and Seo Jae-hoon nodded.

“Fine. Everyone out.”

“Vice Chairman.”

Lee Seok-min called out to Seo Jae-hoon who turned to look at him.

“What? Is there a problem?”

“We need to know what’s discussed so we can plan ahead.”

“Since when are you this diligent? Enough. I’ll brief you later just wait outside.”

When Lee Seok-min hesitated Seo Jae-hoon’s voice turned cold.

“Or do you have other thoughts?”

“N-no sir. I’ll step out.”

Lee Seok-min bowed his head and left the office which quickly fell silent.

Once everyone had cleared out Patrick skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point.

“Dream High asked us to sell or delegate our Ilseong Electronics shares. But we believe in Vice Chairman Seo Jae-hoon’s abilities. We plan to support you at the upcoming shareholders’ meeting.”

“Are you aware of my current situation?”

“Yes I am. You’re under investigation by prosecutors and public opinion isn’t favorable. But don’t worry. We plan to use the U.S. government to negotiate with the Korean government.”

There’s no such thing as kindness without reason. Seo Jae-hoon eyed Patrick with suspicion.

“Why help me?”

“Like I said we believe in you Vice Chairman Seo. As Chairman Seo Yong-geon’s son you must be capable.”

“…”

Empty flattery. What’s more it irritated him greatly that Patrick mentioned his father’s name rather than his own merits.

Seo Jae-hoon shook his head and glared at Patrick.

“Let’s cut the nonsense.”

“Oh my. You’re more aggressive than I’d heard.”

Patrick laughed with exaggerated gestures but Seo Jae-hoon continued undeterred.

“You’ll negotiate with the Korean government and protect our management rights? It’s too late. They’ve secured 48% of friendly shares. With the voting rights of Ilseong Life and Ilseong Fire & Marine Insurance restricted there’s no way to win. Yet you’ll help someone facing certain defeat?”

Patrick shrugged at the sharp tone and replied.

“Sure management rights will transfer to them but the shares you and Chairman Seo hold won’t disappear. You can interfere with any business venture just as they did to you.”

“…”

“Between your family’s shares and ours we have enough. Of course we won’t take the spotlight you’ll have to make the moves but still.”

Seo Jae-hoon let out a deflated laugh. This is ridiculous.

This was practically announcing they wanted to use him as a figurehead.

“Listen Patrick. Do you think I’m that easy to manipulate?”

“Of course not. Everyone knows Seo Jae-hoon is Ilseong’s true owner. You’re just temporarily struggling against Kim Mu-hyeok. But what if he were to disappear? Sometimes you need to know when to step back temporarily.”

“Disappear?”

“Figure of speech. What’s that Eastern saying… lying in wait?”

Patrick’s smooth demeanor didn’t sit well with Seo Jae-hoon.

His eyes turned cold seeing how they planned to use him as a card against Kim Mu-hyeok.

Seo Jae-hoon trusted no one. Not his father not his blood sister and certainly not the man before him.

“Become your puppet to fight Kim Mu-hyeok? Haha this is insane. You don’t know me at all.”

“On the contrary I think we know everything about you. Literally everything.”

Patrick pulled up the corners of his mouth in a sinister smile.

“Strangely Korea doesn’t know much about Kim Mu-hyeok. Wall Street already considers him a person of interest. He’s made up his mind. If you don’t join us you’ll fall. You’ll rot in prison for life. Without Ilseong Group as your shield no one will protect you.”

“And if I work with you you can prevent that?”

Finally Seo Jae-hoon dropped his mask.

His informal speech carried no trace of respect for his counterpart.

“We can’t save Ilseong Group’s management rights but we can keep you out of prison.”

Patrick also switched to informal speech.

Patrick flashed a deep smile at Seo Jae-hoon who still couldn’t hide his suspicious gaze.

Further discussion would be pointless. Patrick stood and delivered his final message.

“You have a week. No exactly six days. We’ll wait for your answer until then. If we don’t hear from you by the shareholders’ meeting we’ll sell all our shares to Kim Mu-hyeok. He never sells shares once he gets them so you’ll never reclaim Ilseong Group.”

“…”

“I’ll take my leave. Think carefully about your answer.”

Patrick turned around. The office door opened and he disappeared.

After glaring at the door for a long while Seo Jae-hoon ground his teeth.

“That bastard…”

Murderous intent flashed in Seo Jae-hoon’s eyes.

* * *

Patrick accepted Han Gyeong-yeong’s proposal and I arrived at the Baekje Hotel where he was staying.

After getting out of the car Han Gyeong-yeong and I went straight up to his room.

“Welcome. I’m Patrick.”

“I’m Kim Mu-hyeok.”

“James.”

Patrick greeted us with a smile.

With an exaggerated gesture he addressed Han Gyeong-yeong.

“Oh James Han! I’ve heard so much about you. They call you the Wall Street legend.”

“Just an empty title. It’s nothing compared to what you’ve done Patrick.”

“Haha typical Korean modesty. Come let’s sit. I’ve been curious about this Kim Mu-hyeok who commands even James.”

Patrick led us inside.

Before starting our conversation I corrected his words.

“James is not my subordinate.”

“I understand 99% of Dream High’s shares belong to you Kim Mu-hyeok. James only has 1%.”

“He’s a friend a brother and a partner. The word subordinate can’t describe what he means to me. I find that term offensive.”

“Ah that’s what you meant. My mistake. I apologize.”

Patrick gave a slight bow to Han Gyeong-yeong who accepted it.

Han Gyeong-yeong looked at me with fresh eyes but I ignored it and spoke to Patrick.

“I found the Argentina and Brazil situation quite interesting.”

“Haha it was easier than what Dream High did. They say there isn’t a bank on Wall Street that hasn’t been hit by Dream High.”

“They made money thanks to us too.”

“True. Since you helped them earn more than they lost Wall Street has no reason to view Dream High negatively.”

Patrick poured whiskey from the bottle on the table.

He added ice to the glasses of whiskey and slid one toward each of us.

“Let’s talk over drinks.”

Patrick took the first sip and Han Gyeong-yeong and I followed suit.

After setting down my glass I pointed out something that bothered me in his words.

“You say Wall Street views Dream High favorably?”

“Yes. No reason not to.”

“Then why did you ignore our request to sell the Ilseong Group shares?”

Patrick shrugged.

“Because selling now would be stupid. Ilseong Group is a rare company in Korea. We’re not looking for short-term investment but long-term.”

“…You must know my relationship with Ilseong Group. We offered twice the current stock price. No matter how strong Ilseong Group’s growth might be no one knows how long it’ll take for the stock price to double. Yet you say this? Even a child wouldn’t believe it.”

Patrick answered with a relaxed expression.

“Every company you’ve touched has grown. Just look at Apple – its stock price has already tripled. You bought Apple stocks when everyone else was selling. Same with Amazon. We don’t even need to look as far as America – Korea has a good model in Jungwoo Group. It would’ve been a great investment for us if only it were listed but sadly it’s not.”

Due to the NASDAQ crash and the U.S. terror attacks Apple’s stock had fallen 90% from its peak.

I had been buying Apple stock all along and Dream High became Apple’s largest shareholder.

“Dream High goes against the times. I hear you’ve invested heavily in oil futures even now. I’ve followed Dream High’s moves and invested in oil futures myself making a profit.”

Patrick took a small sip of whiskey with a slight smile. Then he continued.

“We know about your bad blood with Ilseong Group. Ah! And about what you did in Japan too.”

What happened in Japan… This wasn’t something Wall Street’s intelligence could possibly know.

Thanks to his own words I could be certain someone stood behind Patrick.

“What would it take to transfer the shares?”

“How about exchanging them for Apple shares?”

Nonsense.

Apple would become the world’s greatest company after the iPhone’s release. Beyond that I couldn’t sell because of my friendship with Jobs.

Jobs didn’t have many Apple shares. Having been kicked out of the company he built he was obsessively afraid of that happening again.

So I promised him. Until his death I would never sell the Apple shares I held.

“I can’t sell Apple shares because of my promise to Jobs.”

“Then we have no intention of selling our Ilseong Group shares either.”

“…”

Is he deliberately provoking me? He must know about my relationship with Jobs.

After studying my hardened expression Patrick raised the corner of his mouth and said.

“Or maybe exchange them for Yahoo shares?”

“Yahoo? You think that’s a fair trade?”

I planned to sell all Yahoo shares soon. But there was no reason to tell that to someone testing me.

“Dream High holds 7.8% of Yahoo shares right? That’s what I understand. That’s worth exactly three times the value of the Ilseong Group affiliate shares I have proxy for.”

“Looks like you’re not interested in negotiating.”

“Haha that’s right. We won’t sell our Ilseong Group shares no matter what. We’ll interfere with everything you do.”

As I was about to speak Han Gyeong-yeong cut in.

“Vice President Patrick. Should we take this as a declaration of war against Dream High?”

“War?”

Patrick burst out laughing. After laughing until tears formed in his eyes he spoke in an icy voice.

“James. Having never failed you overvalue yourself. Do you think Dream High alone can face all of Wall Street?”

“Why not? Dream High turned those stuffy old Wall Street geezers. Who says we can’t do it twice?”

“One lucky win doesn’t count as victory. If Wall Street decides to ostracize Dream High even you won’t survive.”

Seeing Patrick’s mocking attitude Han Gyeong-yeong seemed to flare up and opened his mouth.

I poked his thigh with my finger and slightly shook my head.

It was unlike him to get angry. Further discussion would only give them ammunition.

Seeing my head shake Han Gyeong-yeong let out a small sigh and closed his mouth.

“Patrick. Let’s stop playing with words.”

“Haha you asked to meet. But now…”

“Hey Patrick. I’ve been quietly watching to see how long Valtiche’s dog would keep barking but you’re going too far. Am I that amusing to you? Should I properly show you what real madness looks like?”

The smile vanished from Patrick’s face. Now that’s more like it.

I met his eyes with a sinister smile. I could see bewilderment in Patrick’s eyes.

Perfect. I’d been wondering how to find Valtiche’s dog on Wall Street and here he appears.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know? What you’re doing now is practically a declaration. Should I take it that Valtiche wants war with me? You just declared war on me. Can you take responsibility?”