Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 12

3rd. Commencing Action (5)

After that, Jang Min-jae and I repeatedly filled each other’s glasses with wine and did ‘wine shots’.

This crazy act was something Sohn Je-man, the Vice Chairman of Shinseong Group who was to be Jang Yong-jae’s tutor, used to do to gain the upper hand during business meetings with foreigners.

Thanks to that, ‘wine shots’ two or three times became a basic requirement for the executives of Shinseong Group. However, even Sohn Je-man himself, while drinking with me, covered his mouth and ran to the bathroom when opening the fifth bottle.

Thump!

Jang Min-jae, who had emptied the fourth bottle of wine against me, collapsed on the table as soon as he put down his empty glass.

“You bastard…”

I smiled at him with half-closed eyes. I usually enjoy wine lightly, but when I’m determined to drink, I can put away three bottles without a break, so I was getting a little tipsy.

I put on my jacket and rummaged through my bag to find my phone. I pressed the buttons on the brick-like phone and waited for the call to connect.

“Hyung? It’s Sung-min. I’m with Min-jae right now…”

As soon as I finished the call, Jang Yong-jae came into the restaurant in less than 30 minutes.

“You’re here?”

“Haa…”

Jang Yong-jae sighed as if I, who was waving my hand, didn’t even exist.

My face was red, Jang Min-jae was snoring and grinding his teeth, and there were four empty bottles of wine on the table – a complete mess. He must have been incredibly frustrated.

“How much did you drink…?”

“Min-jae, this bastard, must have really wanted to hear about our family. He asked me to have a wine drinking contest!”

Jang Yong-jae’s eyes flashed, rendered speechless.

“What?”

“Don’t worry. As you can see, I won. I drank wine non-stop to help you, hyung, hic!”

A hiccup came out without me realizing it, but I was rather grateful to my body. Wouldn’t it be a seasoning that makes my acting more convincing? Jang Yong-jae was also smiling at me.

“You bastard, thanks. Hehe.”

“No thanks needed. Take Min-jae away quickly. I need to go home too.”

“It’s okay. Hyung will give you a ride home.”

“Then thank you, hehe.”

No matter how hard you guys try.

Start fighting each other now. Jang Yong-jae, Jang Min-jae.

***

I, who had sown the seeds of discord between the two brothers of Shinseong Group, returned home in Jang Yong-jae’s car. Even after instigating them, he still gave me a ride home. Jang Yong-jae in this era was still a puppy in front of me.

Park Tae-jin, who came out to the gate, supported me and helped me inside. I sat on the sofa and drank the water Park Tae-jin brought me.

“You seem to be in a good mood.”

“Well… not bad, hehe.”

A slight smile appeared on Park Tae-jin’s face. Was it because of my happy appearance after a long time? I blurted out what I wanted to say to Park Tae-jin while drunk.

“Hyung, I’ll make you rich too. Very, very!”

“Haha, yes. I’m in your care, young master.”

Park Tae-jin didn’t take it seriously, thinking I was just drunk. However, saving the Haedong Group from the crisis by preemptively taking out money in anticipation of the real-name financial transaction system [a financial reform in South Korea in 1993 that required all financial transactions to be conducted under real names] is just the beginning.

Now that I’ve saved the group, I’m going to add to that trust and make amazing investments.

‘It’ll be enough to collect from now on. Korea Mobile Telecom [a former South Korean mobile network operator, now part of SK Telecom].’

The privatization of Korea Mobile Telecom, which the general public won’t foresee, will cause the stock to skyrocket, so I need to start as soon as possible. It will be an opportunity to increase my money, keep my promise to my grandfather, and take care of the people I love.

***

A few days later.

“Sigh, a real-name financial transaction system in the middle of the night.”

“I know. I had a feeling since they started stripping the soldiers of their uniforms in March. This president is terrifying.”

Jang Ha-yeon, who was drinking coffee at a cafe in Misari, put down her glass and sighed, and I, who was facing her, drank coffee in tune with her.

“Noona, you didn’t suffer any damage this time, did you?”

“I wish I had money to be damaged. What about you?”

I answered in a voice that was neither excited nor depressed, but it was enough to have the clean assets that my parents left me when they passed away. If anything is lacking, I can continue to increase it in the future.

As soon as I finished answering, regret washed over Jang Ha-yeon’s face.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up unnecessary things…”

“I brought up the money story first. Don’t worry about it.”

I couldn’t live tied to them forever. Having come back from the dead, I didn’t have enough time to look ahead and run, and even for Jang Ha-yeon, who was more worried about me than money.

I said to Jang Ha-yeon, who was drinking coffee silently.

“Noona, do you have cash?”

“Why?”

“I have something to invest in this time, so if you entrust me with money, I’ll increase it for you.”

At that moment, Jang Ha-yeon’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s.

“Invest?”

“I have a sure thing. Since money without a tag flew away, I have to increase money with a tag, what else can I do?”

Jang Ha-yeon’s eyes sparkled. Her position in the family must be precarious, so she must be short of cash. A lot.

“Where is it?”

“It’s a secret. But if you entrust me with 5 billion won [approximately $4.5 million USD in 1990s value, but a much larger sum relative to average wealth], I’ll definitely increase it for you. I guarantee three times the amount within half a year. How about it?”

“5 billion? Three times?”

Jang Ha-yeon’s voice immediately rose.

5 billion at this time is the price of fifteen 35-pyeong [approximately 1240 square feet] Taehyun apartments in Apgujeong [an affluent neighborhood in Seoul]. 15 billion would be more than forty units, so how could she not be surprised?

Embarrassed by the attention of the people around us, I put my index finger on her lips.

‘Shh!’

When I spoke with my expression instead of my voice, Jang Ha-yeon nodded with a red face.

“The size is big. I’m going to invest 20 billion won. When I collect the volume, I’ll increase the volume with stock-backed loans.”

Unlike me, who was speaking calmly, Jang Ha-yeon blocked the exclamation that was about to burst out of her mouth with her own hands again.

I smiled at her and opened the bag next to me.

“Decide after seeing this.”

When I took out the envelope and handed it to her, Jang Ha-yeon blinked.

“What is this?”

“It’s the contract related to this investment and the certified copy of my building in Myeongdong [a bustling shopping district in Seoul]. It’s worth 8 billion won at market price, so it’ll be enough as a loss guarantee, right?”

It’s the most valuable of the real estate I inherited, and it’s the early headquarters of Haedong Merchant Bank that my grandfather passed down to my father and my father passed down to me, but I don’t regret it.

Isn’t it a guarantee to capture the person I want to make my woman? There’s no way I’ll lose it anyway.

Jang Ha-yeon stared at my eyes. Seeing me present such collateral, she must have thought I was really serious. And she also realized that I was really confident.

Jang Ha-yeon released the lips she had been biting.

“I’ll talk to my father and borrow it. Please wait a little bit.”

“Okay. Split the account into several accounts and transfer it. It’ll be better for handling, right?”

Jang Ha-yeon doesn’t know what I’m going to invest in, but she seems to have realized that I need to move quite secretly. Jang Ha-yeon nodded at my words.

“Okay. I’ll give you the password too, so please increase it well. But…”

She hesitated and asked me carefully, looking at me.

“Are you really not going to tell me?”

“I’ll tell you after I collect the volume.”

Even if I like Jang Ha-yeon, I can’t take off my underwear from now on. Not until we share the same bed in the same room.

***

Jang Ha-yeon, who broke up with Lee Sung-min, entered Sunguiwon [likely a traditional Korean house or office]. It was to see Jang Ho-geon, who used this place more often than the main building’s office, which Jang Byung-ho used to use instead of his office.

“What’s going on, Ha-yeon-ah?”

“Please lend me 5 billion won, Father.”

Jang Ho-geon’s eyes widened when she asked for 5 billion without even saying hello. The amount was a lot, but his daughter, who had lived diligently so far, was asking to borrow money?

“5 billion?”

“There’s a good investment, so I’m going to invest in it.”

Jang Ho-geon narrowed his eyes at Jang Ha-yeon’s answer.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. It’s an investment that earns three times the amount in half a year. The person who proposed it is also trustworthy. The real-name financial transaction system cannot be reversed, but we have to make up for it even a little bit.”

Jang Ho-geon saw his eldest daughter in a new light. Haedong Group must have done something, but unlike Jang Yong-jae and Jang Min-jae, who made the wrong guess, Jang Ha-yeon was rather saying that she would earn money?

“Even if I cherish you, 5 billion is a lot of money. Who is the person who proposed the investment, Ha-yeon-ah?”

Nevertheless, business is business. 5 billion was a lot in a situation where every penny was precious. Knowing that, Jang Ha-yeon shook her head right away.

“I can’t do that. Not revealing that person’s identity is a condition of the investment.”

Jang Ha-yeon knew very well that she was being unreasonable.

It wasn’t just a penny or two, but she was asking for 5 billion without opening any information, so it was like a child crying.

However, she had no intention of giving Lee Sung-min’s name, who had sold his car, which he cherished as much as his life. Isn’t it a request from someone who gave up something precious for her?

“Hmm…”

“I’m asking because he’s a trustworthy person. I also received a loss guarantee.”

Jang Ho-geon stopped his groaning at Jang Ha-yeon’s earnest request. If his smart daughter had even received a guarantee, there was no need to worry about money. But…

“You’re not going to reveal that guarantee, are you?”

“Yes. If I tell you, you’ll find out who it is, right? I’ll tell you if I lose it.”

Jang Ho-geon smiled awkwardly and looked at his daughter and laughed heartily. Didn’t she accurately understand his intentions?

“Okay. My daughter is going to prepare a slush fund, so I have to give her that much. Where should I create the account?”

“It just can’t be Shinseong Securities. I’ll pay you back in half a year, Father.”

Knowing that there were many eyes watching in the group, Jang Ho-geon nodded at his daughter’s request.

“I’ll do that for you. You’ll have to split the account into several accounts to quietly buy stocks, right?”

“If orders pour out from one window, it’ll stand out.”

While Jang Ha-yeon was grateful for her father’s consideration, Jang Ho-geon picked up the phone.

“Hyungnim, it’s me. Our Ha-yeon is doing well, right?”

[Doesn’t Chairman know better? Haha.]

Jang Ho-geon smiled awkwardly at Jung Chang-ho’s question.

“My daughter seems to be earning her keep properly. So, I was wondering… create Ha-yeon’s accounts in five other securities companies besides Shinseong Securities and send 1 billion each from my account.”

[Chairman?]

“Our Ha-yeon also needs some pocket money. Write a promissory note and tell Director Oh of the National Tax Service that you borrowed it well, haha.”

[I understand, Chairman.]

“Dad?”

Jang Ha-yeon, who was surprised, blurted out a habit from her childhood. She thought it would be difficult, but it would be processed faster than the time it takes for a cup of ramen to cook. She couldn’t even imagine that he would lend her clean money.

“It’s money for our eldest daughter to use, so it can’t be black money [illegally obtained or undeclared funds]. It’s clean money, so you have to succeed, okay?”

Jang Ho-geon looked at Jang Ha-yeon with affectionate and warm eyes because she was the most cherished and most pitiful of his four children.

***

A few days later.

I was sitting in the living room drinking coffee when I handed Park Tae-jin a bankbook.

“What is this, young master?”

“Take a look.”

Park Tae-jin, who received the bankbook with a suspicious expression, widened his eyes as soon as he turned the cover.

“Young master?”

“I’m going to make Ha-yeon noona my woman. Noona hates men without ability, right?”

The woman named Jang Ha-yeon valued appearance and personality, but she hated men without ability even more. Even I wouldn’t be an exception, so I wanted to show her my ability this time.

“Miss was also the top student at Seoul National University, so it’s understandable, haha.”

“So I have to show her my ability even more. Don’t you think so?”

Park Tae-jin only smiled awkwardly at the brazen question. Even Park Tae-jin, who cherishes me, was thorough with public and private matters, so such a reaction was not unreasonable.

“Do you have a place to invest?”

“I’m thinking of investing in Korea Mobile Telecom.”

“Korea Mobile Telecom…”

Instead of Park Tae-jin, who was thinking about something while trailing off, I continued.

“You know that Saekyung Group was selected for the 2nd mobile telecommunications business last year but was dropped, right?”

“That’s right. Wasn’t it because he was related to the former president?”

Saekyung Group, which was ridiculed in the business world as ‘preparing business capital by selling his son to a soldier [a derogatory reference to leveraging political connections for business advantage].’

Even in the bidding for the 2nd mobile telecommunications business operator in the last year of the former president, who was related to him, they had to return the business rights they had won after attacks from the opposition party and the media, saying, ‘He was selected as the operator thanks to his in-laws.’

“But what does that have to do with Korea Mobile Telecom?”

“Isn’t the president’s goal to make Korea an advanced country? Was it called Creating a New Korea? Anyway.”

“That’s right. He’s been doing everything from the Sukgun project [likely a reference to a government initiative] to the real-name financial transaction system, so he has high public support, right?”

Park Tae-jin, who was answering the question as if he was scratching someone else’s leg while sleeping again, looked at me with strange eyes, and I pointed at him with a finger gun after hearing the answer.

“That’s it. To continue to maintain the approval rating, you’ll have to take other actions, right?”

Park Tae-jin’s expression changed as he slowly began to get a sense of it.

“Then…?”

“Korea Mobile Telecom will also be privatized along with the re-selection of the 2nd mobile telecommunications business operator. If you make private operators compete with each other to improve telecommunications services, it’ll look pretty plausible, right?”

“Could it be that… you think Saekyung Group will bet on acquiring Korea Mobile Telecom?”

“Yes. The current president hates the top 5 conglomerates, right?”

The current president, who was a mess when it came to managing his close aides, including his son, but was clean himself, did not like the conglomerates that had been colluding with the military. When I thought of the ending of this regime, which was so obsessed with integrity, I wanted to laugh, but I calmly continued.

“The top 5 conglomerates will be excluded from the 2nd mobile telecommunications business rights. Still, if Saekyung Group wants to do the telecommunications business, they have no choice but to acquire Korea Mobile Telecom’s shares.”

If things go as I know, the 2nd mobile telecommunications business rights will be won by Korea Iron & Steel, which is trying to distance itself from the top 5 conglomerates, even outwardly, and also from Saekyung Group, which is related to the former president from the military.

Because of that, Saekyung Group reluctantly acquires Korea Mobile Telecom at a high price, but doesn’t it become the absolute powerhouse in the mobile telecommunications industry by acquiring and merging New Generation Mobile Communications, which is currently being established by the state-run Korea Iron & Steel?

My goal was to gradually collect Korea Mobile Telecom shares from under the water from now on. Since I know the timing, I will thoroughly earn money by any means when it becomes a decisive phase.

“Are you very surprised?”

Park Tae-jin, who was looking at me with a slightly surprised expression, exclaimed.

“Ah… yes. To be honest, I was a little, no, very surprised, young master. How did you know the contents that were kept strictly secret even in the secretariat…?”

How do I know? I know because I’ve experienced it all.

I would only become a crazy person if I said that, so I changed the subject.

“You’re going to be very surprised in the future, are you okay?”

When I asked Park Tae-jin, who was a little teasing, he smiled.

“I wouldn’t have any regrets even if I died of a heart attack, haha.”

“You weren’t surprised during the real-name financial transaction system, but you’re surprised by this?”

I scolded him for not being surprised where he should have been surprised, but Park Tae-jin’s voice was never light.

“The chairman and the group elders agreed to that, didn’t they? That’s why it passed, young master.”

I nodded and emptied all the remaining coffee.

“Anyway, buy Korea Mobile Telecom shares in my and Ha-yeon noona’s accounts by November. How about you put in about 1 billion too, hyung?”

I didn’t want to keep this opportunity to share alone, but Park Tae-jin shook his head.

“No, young master. It doesn’t matter if it’s Ha-yeon agassi [a respectful term for a young, unmarried woman] because there’s no connection between her and the young master, but if I step in, I’ll be caught by the 5% rule [a regulation requiring disclosure of significant stock ownership].”

“Ah…”

“I can’t leave a stain on your life because of me. I’ll only gratefully accept your heart.”

I could have glossed over it, but the law is an earring if you hang it on your ear, and a nose ring if you hang it on your nose. And when I faced Park Tae-jin’s firm eyes, I had no choice but to nod.

“…Thank you, hyung.”

“Instead, there’s a condition.”

“A condition?”

“Yes. As it is your first time investing in stocks, it seems that you need the advice of a reliable expert.”

I wanted to ask Park Tae-jin to trust me, but it seemed like a forced argument, so I nodded. I, in this era, didn’t even look at stocks, so I must have looked like a child put out on the water in his eyes.

Above all.

I also knew who the expert he was talking about was. I have to meet him for the work I have been preparing for several months apart from stock investment, so I have to meet him as Park Tae-jin said.