Chapter 87: The Whale Before the Piranha

As soon as he got into the car, Oh Se-hyun opened his notebook.

“That stingy old geezer. Must be hurting him a lot, huh? He even shed tears. Unbelievable.”

Tear stains were scattered across the pages of the notebook.

The thought of the money he’d scraped together so desperately disappearing like this must have been infuriating, so agonizing that the tears he shed were probably in place of blood.

“How much is it in total?”

“Judging roughly, it looks like around 80 billion won?”

“Then, taking half of that, it’s at least 150 billion won.”

“I’d say it’s a minimum of 200 billion. That 80 billion is probably money he’s been stashing away since last year… Who knows how long he’s been siphoning it off?”

Big thief, small thief.

The only difference is scale; the world is full of thieves.

“We have to find it all….”

Hearing Oh Se-hyun’s uncertain words, I offered reassurance.

“We will find it. We can find it. We just need to make that old geezer realize that the rest of his life will be spent turning his ill-gotten gains back over.”

Squeezing the other party to cough up money by exploiting their weaknesses was something I’d witnessed more than once.

Jin Young-ki had done it, and so had Jin Young-jun. Of course, both of them had learned that tactic from Chairman Jin Yang-cheol.

“Let’s secure the shares first.”

“Damn it, the thought of that scumbag enjoying his retirement with the money he made from selling those shares makes my blood boil.”

“That won’t happen. We’ll make sure all the proceeds from the shares go back to the company.”

“Is that even possible?”

Oh Se-hyun asked, his eyes wide. Wasn’t that the same as making him completely destitute?

“This is why it’s important to have good parents, or rather, a good grandfather. Thanks to having someone who can manipulate the law as he pleases as my grandfather, I can talk big like this. Heh.”

Life is truly strange. The world moves according to my will.

The saying that the world is a playground for the haves and hell for the have-nots felt particularly poignant.

* * *

“Now, let’s introduce ourselves. This here is Oh Se-hyun, the CEO of Miracle Investment. And this handsome fellow is my youngest grandson. There might be some people who haven’t met him yet?”

In a spacious detached room of a high-end Korean restaurant, I met the people who would be in charge of Dae-ah Construction for the first time.

We had already rehearsed how I should be introduced, so I could greet them with a light heart.

“This kid has a keen eye for money. That’s why he’s learning about investments under our CEO Oh. Later on, you should entrust your money to him; he’ll multiply it several times over.”

“Ah, you’re the prodigy from Seoul National University’s law school.”

As expected of excellent subordinates. They knew exactly what their superiors liked to hear.

“Yes, you all saw the news. Haha.”

“Being such a brilliant talent, you’ll excel at anything you do.”

Only after a storm of compliments about me subsided could I finally pick up my spoon.

“CEO Oh, how’s the progress going?”

“Yes, the acquisition of the shares owned by Kang Mu-sung’s family only requires the seal on the contract. The payment for the shares will be made in installments.”

“Installments?”

“Yes. We will pay for the shares each time we recover the company funds that President Kang embezzled. We can’t be sure when he might change his mind.”

“Then why isn’t the contract sealed yet?”

“We still need to negotiate with the main creditor banks. It’s unlikely, but if the negotiations with the banks fall through, we plan to give up on Dae-ah Construction.”

The word ‘give up’ caused a low murmur among the people, but the Chairman slapped his knee.

“Of course, that’s how it should be. How can you run a business after giving everything away? You have to reduce the debt and get the interest waived. Only then can you revive a failing company, right?”

That’s my grandfather for you!

He grasps the entire situation in an instant.

“Alright, the acquisition of Dae-ah Construction isn’t a variable. It’s a done deal. That’s why I called you all here. CEO Oh, please explain.”

Oh Se-hyun took out a bound file and passed it around to the people who would become the executives of the new Dae-ah Construction.

“This will be the first project for the new Dae-ah Construction.”

The file he distributed was the DMC project.

“Listen carefully and prepare thoroughly. This will be a grand undertaking. And Do-jun, come see me for a moment.”

I followed my grandfather out of the private room.

The area around the private room was decorated with a small garden, and my grandfather and I strolled slowly through it.

“Did President Kang readily hand over the assets he embezzled?”

“He disclosed 80 billion won himself. And right now, Soonyang’s audit team and accountants from Yeouido are thoroughly examining the past ten years with the help of the prosecution and Dae-ah Construction employees. I believe more will surface.”

“Are you planning to pay for the shares once you receive them? It will be a considerable sum.”

“The fact that he embezzled the funds has already been revealed. We plan to return the share payment to the company as a condition to avoid a prison sentence.”

“Huhu. President Kang is going to end up penniless.”

“I can’t possibly forgive him.”

“What has made our Do-jun so angry?”

My grandfather said with a smile.

“If he had at least taken care of the employees’ overdue salaries, he would have had enough to live on. More than two thousand employees have been twiddling their thumbs for over three months. Since bank loans are currently frozen, many employees have resorted to borrowing from private lenders just to cover living expenses. President Kang needs to experience the despair they felt.”

My grandfather stopped his slow walk.

“Goodness, it’s a mystery. How could you possibly understand the feelings of salarymen?”

Because I was once a salaryman myself. I knew very well that if the salary that briefly passed through the account was cut off for even a month, dark clouds would gather over the family, and they would fall into the swamp of debt.

But contrary to my thoughts, different words came out of my mouth.

“I can’t forget the gloomy expressions of the employees when I first went to Dae-ah Construction.”

My grandfather stared at me for a moment before patting my back.

“Yes. Don’t forget that feeling. No matter what happens, you have to feed your employees. There’s nothing more upsetting than going hungry.”

Did my grandfather have this side to him? Wasn’t he known as a cold-blooded person who considered even workers who died on industrial sites as mere expenses?

I never imagined those words would come from his mouth.

“People will betray or defect if they’re hungry and starving. You can see it clearly with Dae-ah, can’t you? All the employees who handled the accounting are now trying to find the money President Kang stashed away, aren’t they?”

Ah, of course.

His words about not letting employees go hungry had a completely different meaning.

“There are only two kinds of people who will betray you. Those who are so hungry they can’t endure it, and those who never know when they’ve had enough, no matter how much they eat. The former is your fault for not providing for them, and the latter is your fault for not knowing how to judge people. Keep that in mind.”

Not compassion, but vigilance.

My grandfather’s starting point was different from ordinary people.

* * *

On February 25, 1998, the President of South Korea was inaugurated.

The voice of the man giving his inaugural address trembled incessantly.

Respected and beloved citizens!

Today, I am being inaugurated as the 15th President of the Republic of Korea.

…However, unfortunately, at this crucial time, we are facing a foreign exchange crisis, which can be described as the greatest national crisis since the Korean War.

…We are faced with the danger of the nation potentially going bankrupt. We are struggling to cope with massive debts and the constant wave of maturing foreign debts.

…Throughout this year, prices will rise, and unemployment will increase. Incomes will fall, and corporate bankruptcies will occur in rapid succession. We are all being asked to shed sweat and tears.

…When I think about the fact that the leaders committed the wrongdoings and the innocent citizens are suffering the pain, I cannot help but feel endless pain and resentment.

“The President’s inaugural address is exactly what we wanted to say.”

Oh Se-hyun said, turning off the TV.

“In what sense are you saying that… ?”

“The innocent employees of Dae-ah Construction. If the creditor banks would show just a little consideration, they wouldn’t be driven out into the streets.”

The bank executives cautiously examined Oh Se-hyun. The person who had appeared to save Dae-ah Construction, a headache for the banks, was none other than the foreign investment firm that had acquired Ajin Group.

Their eyes held a mixture of anticipation and apprehension.

“What kind of consideration are you asking for?”

“First, I would like to show you this.”

The creditor representatives carefully examined the organizational chart we presented.

Looking at the list of about twenty names, from the CEO to the auditors, the creditors were clearly surprised but tried not to show it.

“This is quite unexpected.”

“As you can see from the organizational chart, we have quite a close relationship with Soonyang Group. I believe this should dispel any doubts you may have had about how people who only used to handle money will manage a construction company… Wouldn’t you agree?”

“We agree. The management team is excellent.”

As Oh Se-hyun flashed a confident smile, the creditors nodded.

“Then please tell us frankly what you want from us.”

“Wouldn’t you already guess? First, we would like the loan repayments to be extended for at least a year.”

“And?”

Looking at their expressions, extending the loan seemed to be no problem. If the company went bankrupt, the bad debt would be unrecoverable, so they had nothing to lose.

“Secondly, a reduction in overdue interest, debt forgiveness, and the delegation of voting rights for the Dae-ah Construction shares held by your banks to us.”

The interest and debt forgiveness were customary conditions, so they must have anticipated them. But the voting rights seemed unexpected.

“Shares are the only means to keep the debtor’s management in check. And you want to take that away?”

“What’s the point of checking up on a sick man like Dae-ah Construction? Once it regains its strength, we’ll return the voting rights.”

“We need time to discuss that issue. Is there anything else?”

When Oh Se-hyun shrugged, gesturing that he was done, I spoke up.

“Do you remember what the government announced right after the New Year?”

At my unexpected question, Oh Se-hyun looked more surprised than the bank executives. His worried expression seemed to say, ‘What trouble is he trying to cause now?’

“Well, there were so many announcements….”

“I’m talking about the announcement to sell two commercial banks.”

“Ah, yes, of course. It was a huge shock to the financial sector.”

“In terms of financial soundness, Sungdong Bank is said to be perfectly capable of recovery.”

“That’s right. In fact, there are many places in more precarious situations than Sungdong Bank. Sungdong Bank is just smaller in scale, which is why it was put up for sale.”

“The government is pushing for an overseas sale, so wouldn’t this be a good opportunity?”

“What are you implying?”

This was irrelevant to them.

No, it would be more accurate to say they didn’t have the luxary to consider other banks.

“I’m talking about Miracle Investment. It’s a legitimate foreign investment firm with its headquarters in New York.”

Looking at the people’s expressions, Oh Se-hyun was the first to understand my meaning. He showed his bewilderment through his entire body. He shifted in his seat.

Following him, the bank executives’ eyes widened.

“Are you perhaps considering acquiring Sungdong Bank?”

“Use us. We’ll acquire it and hand it over to you. Or, we could form a consortium with Miracle.”

“Th-that is….”

Having never considered it, he could only stammer without an answer.

“Let’s stop here for today. We hope to hear back from your about our CEO’s proposal soon.”

I nodded to Oh Se-hyun and stood up from my seat.

As expected, Oh Se-hyun started yelling as soon as we left the bank.

“Hey! What was with you suddenly? Acquire a bank?”

“Uncle, when you see a whale in front of you, all other fish look like minnows.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“By suggesting the acquisition of Sungdong Bank, our demands will feel truly insignificant. Wouldn’t they easily grant such trivial requests?”

Oh Se-hyun smacked his forehead.

“Wow, kid. Your tactics are truly on par with Chairman Jin’s. That’s a really good strategy. Haha.”

Watching Oh Se-hyun laugh heartily, I smiled faintly.

What kind of expression would he make if he knew the Sungdong Bank acquisition proposal was genuine?