Chapter 208: A Threat with Actions

“Exactly. Soonyang Electronics, Logistics, you name it—there’s a whole bunch of cash-guzzling companies, isn’t there? Rumor has it their retained earnings are so high, they don’t even know what to do with it.”

He wasn’t listening to me anymore.

“Do-jun, are you playing innocent right now? Or are you trying to make things difficult for me?”

His face flushed crimson, like a flame.

“Uncle, this isn’t the time for a sibling rivalry. You know the card company needs trillions of won to function properly, right? Did you see the government announcement? They’re saying bad debts alone are 90 trillion. What percentage of that do you think Soonyang Card accounts for? You need to start putting out this fire before it gets even bigger.”

“You don’t know your uncle, do you? Do you think my brother would lend me even ten won of the company’s retained earnings? He’s just waiting for me to fall apart.”

“I’m well aware. The whole country knows you two are in a power struggle. Do you think I wouldn’t? That’s why I’m telling you not to ask for a loan.”

“If I don’t ask, what then? Should I just take it? Or maybe steal it?”

“No. Threaten to get a loan.”

“What?”

Seeing Vice-chairman Jin Dong-gi’s jaw drop, his face still red, I scratched an itch on my cheek.

“If Soonyang Card doesn’t weather this crisis, it’s bound to go bankrupt. You said it yourself, Uncle, right? Government support is unlikely. That leaves a self-reliant solution, and this isn’t a complicated issue. It needs to be filled with money. No money, bankruptcy.”

“So? Should we let it go bankrupt?”

“Say you’ll let it go bankrupt. If the card company goes under, Soonyang Group’s core subsidiaries like Heavy Industries and Construction, which lent money to the card company, will be shaken.”

Jin Dong-gi’s eyes flickered first.

His biggest fear was being seen as the less capable second son compared to the eldest. Subsidiary stock prices fluctuate. But if they plummet, he’d have to endure the cold stares of external institutional investors and executives.

Even more dangerous was the overall group stock price.

“I’ve also analyzed it thoroughly. The group’s controlling shares held by you two uncles and my 10% are intricately intertwined. To outsiders, it might look like the subsidiaries are completely separate, but if even one person’s shares leave, the control weakens.”

Internal transactions are fine, but the moment our three blocks of shares go to an outside party, the entire share ratio will start to change.

“To prevent Soonyang Card’s bankruptcy, warn that you have no choice but to sell off the core subsidiaries’ stocks, like Heavy Industries and Construction.”

“You know I won’t sell, right? My brother knows it too. We will never give up Soonyang Group, not even for a moment.”

“What did I say? I said warn. Threats aren’t just words. You have to show it with actions. Enough to make them think, ‘He really has no choice but to sell off the stocks.'”

“Actions, you say?”

“Halt cash advance services.”

“Hey!”

He wasn’t unaware of what it meant for a service company to suspend its services. Surprised, my uncle roared, and I waved my hand dismissively.

“It’s okay. It’s temporary. Once Soonyang Card’s services are suspended, the stock price will plummet from that point. And will only the card company’s stock fall? No. The entire group’s stock price will fall. That’s the threat.”

Vice-chairman Jin Dong-gi was visibly racking his brain.

“If the service suspension happens just twice, everyone’s thinking will change. They’ll start to think Soonyang Card might go bankrupt.”

“To prevent the worst-case scenario, my brother will make a move…?”

“Wouldn’t you say it’s like being forced to eat mustard?”

Suddenly, a small smile appeared on my uncle’s lips.

“What about you?”

“Excuse me?”

“The stock prices of your financial subsidiaries will also fall, won’t they? I hear Soonyang Life Insurance is facing a severe cash crunch? You’re no different from my brother. You’ve just told me how to strangle you.”

My uncle’s smile widened.

“Oh, that’s right. What a stupid thing to do… Haha.”

My burst of laughter made my uncle’s smile vanish.

“You’ve got another angle.”

“Don’t you still see the difference between you two uncles and me? If the future of Soonyang’s financial subsidiaries is bleak, I can just liquidate them all.”

“What?”

“If I were determined to protect the subsidiaries, would I have handed the card company over to you?”

Vice-chairman Jin Dong-gi twitched his eyes, unable to say anything.

“Just assess the asset value of the subsidiaries coldly and sell them off piece by piece at the highest price before the company falls further into the abyss.”

As I said it so casually, he began to fume.

“You bastard! You think so lightly of the company your grandfather built? He persevered through hardship to create the Soonyang Group we have today. If we sold when things got tough, gave up when it was hard, would the name Soonyang even exist today?”

“Times have changed. We can’t protect the name of Soonyang forever with outdated methods.”

“What was that?”

“This credit card crisis, you shouldn’t underestimate it. Domestic demand has completely tanked. And there are no signs of recovery. In times like these, it’s better to get rid of the subsidiaries that are tightening the noose around our necks. And once the economy returns to normal, we can acquire them again.”

“Is this company some corner store? Sell when it’s tough and buy back when things get better?”

“It’s all the same to me. Even though corporate M&A might seem complicated and difficult, the essence of buying and selling commodities is the same. We sell off struggling Soonyang Life Insurance and later buy a good life insurance company and change the signboard. It’ll be a much better company than now, you know?”

I added a word to my uncle, who was speechless in disbelief.

“Don’t blame my choices. This is because of you, Uncle. If you pay back our 800 billion won in bonds when they mature, we wouldn’t have to buy and sell companies. It’s your Soonyang Card that has put the group in danger.”

My uncle, knowing it was his responsibility, remained silent. His mind must be racing.

He’d heard words that could only come from someone who had absolutely no attachment to Soonyang Group.

He was desperately trying to figure out if I was serious, or if this was another threat—that if he didn’t repay the money, Soonyang’s financial sector would disappear.

The more you dwell on complex thoughts, the more you get lost in the fog. I stood up before he could decipher my intentions any further.

# # #

Vice-chairman Jin Dong-gi stared at the empty space Jin Do-jun had left for a long time before muttering.

“I pretend to be fooled even though I know that guy’s dark intentions… or, should I just play along with what he wants….”

He couldn’t hide his bitter expression, feeling pathetic for being led around by his young nephew.

* * *

『As of midnight today, Soonyang Card’s cash advance service has been suspended. This marks the second card company service suspension, following K Card’s temporary suspension.

Soonyang Card has stated that they will spare no effort to resume services as soon as possible. However, there has been no official announcement from Soonyang Group.』

The place where the evening news was playing on TV had been empty for a while, but it was the always impeccably maintained chairman’s office of Soonyang Group.

Neither of Soonyang’s two vice-chairmen dared to sit in the chairman’s chair. Instead, they sat side-by-side on the sofa, staring at their father’s portrait hanging on the wall for a while.

“What are we going to do now? Can we resolve this soon, like the news says?”

“No, we can’t.”

“Quit talking nonsense. Is that something to be proud of?”

The two men didn’t look at each other, their eyes fixed on their father’s portrait. But they exchanged words in a nonchalant tone, as if it were nothing.

Anyone who didn’t know the context would think they were just discussing the portrait.

“The money we owe Do-jun, the money to keep the card company running—it’s all adding up to 1.3 or 1.4 trillion won. Where are we going to get that? Even after excluding the money we’ve already lost, it comes out to that much.”

“Looks like you got played hard by your nephew. Serves you right. Hehe.”

“It’s not exactly getting played… I had some fun for about a year. And to think Do-jun predicted this situation is a bit far-fetched, don’t you think?”

“It’s too spot-on not to be.”

Vice-chairman Jin Young-gi didn’t want to believe it either. If his nephew had sold off the card company with such chillingly accurate foresight, he would be a formidable opponent.

“Coincidence piled upon coincidence becomes fate, but this is just a coincidence. More importantly, we need to secure 60 billion won before the day is over. Only then can we resume normal services from tomorrow.”

“You’re asking for a loan?”

“I wish you would.”

“How shameless….”

Jin Young-gi knew why his younger brother was being so brazen. With the suspension of Soonyang Card’s cash advance services today, the stock prices of all Soonyang subsidiaries had fallen.

It meant that distrust was beginning to spread—that even the seemingly impregnable Soonyang could crumble. Distrust chips away at Soonyang’s power.

“If I don’t lend you the money, Soonyang Card becomes just a useless piece of plastic?”

“Worse than that. Bankruptcy is just a matter of time.”

“Prevent it, then. Stop exaggerating.”

“I’m not exaggerating. We’re really out of cash.”

Jin Dong-gi turned his head to look at his older brother’s face as he spoke.

“The best I can do is abandon the card company. Abandoning a company riddled with debt is okay, but the problem is… Do-jun.”

“Do-jun?”

“Yeah. The Heavy Industries and Construction stocks we put up as collateral. They’ll end up in Do-jun’s hands.”

“That’s your problem, not mine.”

Ultimately, it’s a transfer of the group’s controlling shares. Whether those shares are in his younger brother’s hands or his nephew’s, it makes no difference to Jin Young-gi.

“Soon the sparks will fly to our brother here as well. Then it becomes our problem.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He said if we don’t repay the 800 billion won to Soonyang Life Insurance, he’ll sell off all his shares and wash his hands of it. Liquidate everything and then buy back when spring comes again? That’s just like him.”

“What? Sell off all his shares?”

Only then did Jin Young-gi start to look at his younger brother’s face.

“Is the bastard crazy? Saying such things!”

“Is he crazy? No. He’s the smartest one in our family. You know. He knows this kind of threat works on us, so he says it. He’s the kind of guy who would do it if it meant getting his money back.”

Jin Young-gi quickly calculated in his head.

His nephew’s 10%, and with 800 billion won as collateral, that’s at least 7% of Jin Dong-gi’s 33% stake. In an instant, 17% of the shares would be gone.

If these shares were to go to Miracle, Miracle would hold 33% of the group’s controlling shares.

They would immediately become the second-largest shareholder of Soonyang Group. If they secured friendly shares, Miracle could swallow Soonyang whole.

Jin Young-gi glared at Jin Dong-gi, biting his lip.

He didn’t yet know who this threat came from.

Was it his nephew’s threat?

Or was his younger brother using his nephew’s name to make the threat?

Whoever it came from, it was a legitimate threat.

But Jin Young-gi’s pride was too strong to succumb to threats. He wanted to turn the threat into a deal.

“I’ll give you 1.5 trillion won. But in return….”

“You want Do-jun to hand over the Heavy Industries and Construction stocks he has as collateral?”

“Our brother here is really sharp… Even as you get older, you haven’t lost your edge.”

Jin Young-gi smiled and nodded.

“That won’t work. If I hand over 7% of the shares, I’ll miss my chance to even sit under that portrait. I’d rather we all die together.”

“You ruthless bastard….”

Jin Young-gi clicked his tongue as he watched his younger brother point to their father’s portrait.

“You seem smart at times like this, but you have your flaws.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. According to you, if I take 1.5 trillion won and go to Do-jun, he’ll readily hand over the Heavy Industries and Construction stocks he has as collateral? Whether Soonyang Card goes bankrupt or not, it’s none of my business… If Do-jun and I make a deal in this room without you, what will you do?”

Jin Dong-gi’s eyebrows twitched at Jin Young-gi’s words.

It was an unexpected counterattack.