Chapter 159: A Gamble on Information

Stressing each word, and making it obvious he wasn’t intimidated, Jin Young-ki frowned.

“Are you trying to play games with me right now?”

“No one’s perfect. That’s why mistakes happen. For large corporations like ours, those mistakes can be fatal. Especially if the National Tax Service starts digging into them. How could I not be scared?”

Jin Young-ki stared at Oh Se-hyun, who spoke so brazenly, then offered a slight smile.

“I thought Yoon-ki’s friends were all cut from the same cloth… I was way off. Yoon-ki, and his friends too… none of you are ordinary.”

Jin Young-ki, his demeanor instantly shifting, displayed the composure befitting a Soonyang Group Vice-chairman.

“Alright. Let’s skip over petty things like stock scraps and focus on the big picture. Bring all the companies Miracle has acquired under the Soonyang umbrella. I’m willing to pay whatever you want.”

“You shouldn’t throw your weight around so carelessly. Do you even know the enterprise value of our HW Group?”

It was hard to watch the arrogant Jin Young-ki, so he interjected sharply, but his words were ignored.

“Isn’t CEO Oh an expert in that area? Let’s do an M&A. We’ll get a cold, hard valuation and I’ll pay whatever it is.”

“Let’s talk big picture after we resolve the small issues. Stop the Financial Supervisory Service from scrutinizing Miracle. Then, I can end this.”

“End what?”

“We can’t just sit idly by, so we’ve been looking into a few things. You’ve been involved in some currency arbitrage.”

Jin Young-ki’s eyebrows twitched, but he quickly regained his composure.

“That’s nothing significant. That level of violation is minor for companies in our country. It’s like CEO Oh occasionally making an illegal U-turn while driving, isn’t it? That’s the extent of it.”

“I might make an illegal U-turn sometimes. But I don’t do it while drunk. This is drunk driving plus crossing the center line.”

“Drunk? What are you talking about?”

“Some of the dollars from the currency arbitrage flowed into a gambling den. We’re in the process of identifying who. Oh, and since that account belongs to a Soonyang affiliate, it’ll be difficult to deny any knowledge.”

Oh Se-hyun didn’t mention his wife’s name to Vice-chairman Jin Young-ki, instead observing his reaction.

He was curious about the reaction to the word ‘gambling den,’ but it was far from what he expected.

It wasn’t the reaction someone would have knowing their wife was involved. He was expressionless, as if hearing it for the first time, or perhaps he hadn’t even heard the word ‘gambling’.

“I need to hear one piece of news by the end of today. The official conclusion of the Financial Supervisory Service’s investigation. If I don’t hear that news, the story of a drunk driver’s illegal U-turn will be plastered everywhere tomorrow.”

“Did you just say gambling? Overseas gambling?”

“Yes. That’s the core of the drunk driving charge. And I’m sure you know who the driver is, even if I don’t say it.”

Oh Se-hyun placed his business card on the table and stood up, leaving Jin Young-ki frozen in place.

“This is my cell phone number. Until today. Remember that.”

Stepping out of the vice-chairman’s office, Oh Se-hyun frowned.

“Does that man not know his wife is a gambling addict?”

* * *

Left alone, Vice-chairman Jin Young-ki pondered over Oh Se-hyun’s words, but grasping the situation was difficult. The problem was there wasn’t just one currency arbitrage account.

The laundered dollars weren’t just being used in the US, but in various countries. Used to buy villas or luxury homes, or to purchase land and buildings in potentially profitable locations.

Of course, some was used for personal entertainment, but gambling!?

If Oh Se-hyun was making such a big deal out of it, it couldn’t just be the occasional roulette spin or a few pulls on a slot machine… A worrisome thought surfaced.

“Call Department Head Choi. Tell him to pull all the foreign exchange accounts and bring them here.”

He shouted into the intercom, then paced around the room.

When Department Head Choi entered with a thick file of documents, Jin Young-ki roared.

“You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?”

“Huh? What are you talking about…?”

Department Head Choi was startled by the sudden accusation, like a bolt from the blue.

“Among the money that’s been withdrawn from the accounts, wasn’t there anything suspicious? Anything you didn’t report to me.”

He could tell from Department Head Choi’s surprised expression that he had made a mistake. Unless it was a particularly significant matter, he hadn’t received separate reports.

“Again, among the large sums of money withdrawn, wasn’t there anything strange? By your standards?”

As someone who had spent his life looking at numbers, he understood easily.

Department Head Choi quickly flipped through the file, pulling out a few pages and handing them over.

“What’s this?”

“This is a list of transactions made by Madam. Among them, the highlighted portions might be what you’re looking for, Vice-chairman. When I asked Madam about it, she told me I didn’t need to know….”

Vice-chairman Jin Young-ki quickly checked the final total, and for a moment, he wondered if he was seeing things correctly.

“T-Thirty billion won?”

Department Head Choi didn’t know what to do in the face of the vice-chairman’s reaction, and simply stood there awkwardly.

He could only guess from his shocked expression that a very serious incident had occurred.

“Are you sure about this? My wife spent this?”

“Yes. She mainly withdrew the funds in the US, and occasionally in Morocco.”

Vice-chairman Jin Young-ki frowned and gestured with his hand, prompting Department Head Choi to flee. He anticipated a commotion at the vice-chairman’s house that day and even sent a polite text to his close colleagues, advising them to postpone approvals regardless of the urgency.

Jin Young-ki’s first thought wasn’t anger towards his wife for drunk driving and making an illegal U-turn, but rather Oh Se-hyun’s warning.

He urgently summoned his chief of staff and took action.

“Give a firm warning to the Strategic Public Relations Office. If any media outlet publishes even a single line of unfavorable articles in the future, tell them I will personally hold them accountable.”

Sensing that there was trouble within the family, the chief of staff hastily convened a meeting and rushed out. Only by mobilizing all the company’s connections could they prevent a storm.

Left alone again, Jin Young-ki tried to calm himself.

“Oh Se-hyun, that bastard….”

The corners of his mouth slightly turned up. No matter how much Oh Se-hyun tried to imitate a rising tycoon, South Korea was in Soonyang’s grasp.

He would make sure every media outlet knew that no one could publish an article without Soonyang’s permission.

* * *

As if proving Soonyang’s power, the next morning’s newspapers and TV news didn’t mention a single word about gambling, overseas accounts, or foreign currency outflow.

Jin Young-ki confirmed the media’s silence once more and felt relieved. Now, he had to make Oh Se-hyun, who dared to resort to such threats, shed tears of blood. How dare he…!

He pressed the Financial Supervisory Service to expedite their investigation. As soon as they found a useful lead, he would mobilize the National Tax Service to thoroughly audit Miracle.

When they were screaming and begging for mercy, he would re-enter M&A negotiations.

Having eased his worries somewhat, Jin Young-ki planned to start managing his household. Before disciplining his damned wife and troublesome son, he decided to enjoy his current peace of mind by calling some executives for drinks.

However, while enjoying drinks with attractive women that evening, the expression on his chief of staff’s face as he rushed in made him realize something had gone wrong.

“What is it?”

“Vice-chairman. Please take a look at this….”

The paper the chief of staff handed him was a printout of an online article, and his face contorted as soon as he read the first sentence.

『Land of Ruinous Gambling』

― A figure everyone would recognize.

― Spotted enjoying millions of dollars in gambling at a famous Las Vegas casino.

― Extravagant shopping spree by a chaebol family member.

― Las Vegas casinos are reportedly hiring Korean gambling hosts to provide services to their regular Korean customers.

― Citing sources within the casino, it is estimated that Madam P, the eldest daughter-in-law of S Group, has squandered hundreds of billions of Korean won at local US casinos.

― 3 million dollars were lost over three days and covered by slush funds withdrawn from the branch office’s foreign exchange account.

― Local casinos have been known to send private jets for some customers and provide free suites and golf courses.

“This article was published in the US this morning, local time. It’s from the ‘Korea Times Journal,’ the most influential Korean-American media outlet.”

“This just broke?”

“Yes. If S Group’s Madam P is the subject….”

“I know, you bastard! You don’t need to confirm it!”

“S-Sorry.”

The chief of staff bowed deeply and backed away.

The executives at the table exchanged glances, staring at the table without saying a word.

A chilling silence descended upon the drinking session, and Vice-chairman Jin Young-ki slowly opened his mouth.

“What are you all doing?”

The executives quickly raised their heads.

“You all know what’s going on, right? Do you want to keep drinking and goofing off here? We need to come up with a plan!”

“Ah! Yes. Sorry.”

As the executives scrambled to their feet, Vice-chairman Jin didn’t forget to issue a warning.

“This article needs to end in the US. It absolutely cannot come to Korea. And ground all the heads of our US branches and put them on standby. What the hell are these bastards spending money on? They can’t even stop an article like this!”

In the empty bar, the women having left, Vice-chairman Jin Young-ki fiddled with his cell phone.

He hesitated for a long time, wondering whether to call Oh Se-hyun.

* * *

“You don’t seem like someone who lacks drinking buddies for a good time….”

Oh Se-hyun sat across from Jin Young-ki, speaking playfully.

“How many morning papers did you manage to silence?”

“About two, for now?”

“For now?”

“By the day after tomorrow, all the media outlets will be reporting it. Ah, except for Hanseong Ilbo.”

Jin Young-ki filled Oh Se-hyun’s glass.

“You want to see this through to the end?”

“Isn’t it the same for you? You started it, Vice-chairman.”

A vein started throbbing on Jin Young-ki’s forehead. Oh Se-hyun would never act like this unless he had something backing him up. What could it be?

“This… it’s becoming hard for me to stop now too. If rumors spread that I was bullied by CEO Oh, I won’t even be able to show my face at the Federation of Korean Industries meetings.”

“Should a businessman make decisions based on saving face, even if it means taking a loss?”

“You can say that so easily because you haven’t grown beyond a small business, CEO Oh. Once your company is four or five times bigger than it is now, you’ll realize that saving face is the most important thing.”

Jin Young-ki drained his glass and stood up.

“I doubt the National Tax Service can take you down, right? Take good care of your company. It will become part of the Soonyang Group someday.”

“Stop worrying about me and pay for the drinks. I’m broke.”

Jin Young-ki glared at Oh Se-hyun, who was still joking around, and disappeared.

“He’s the type to lose all sense when he’s agitated. It’s fascinating how different they all are, even with the same blood running through their veins….”

Oh Se-hyun thought of Jin Do-jun as he began to empty the dishes on the table one by one.

Tomorrow, he would see just how bold Vice-chairman Jin Young-ki truly was.

* * *

The dozen or so people standing rigidly in the conference room were hoping Vice-chairman Jin Young-ki wouldn’t appear, but that didn’t happen.

The vice-chairman entered the conference room and immediately threw the newspaper he was holding.

“What the hell are you all doing? You knew the article was coming out and couldn’t stop it? Is it because it’s not your wives’ mess, so you don’t care?”

They would have to endure at least an hour of the vice-chairman’s harsh words. That was the value of their salaries.

But it didn’t even last a full minute.

A secretariat staff member burst into the conference room, gasping for breath.