Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 59

59. 18th. You Reap What You Sow (5)

“…Jang Ho-geon’s eldest daughter, Jang Ha-yeon?”

“Yes.”

“Didn’t you two fight like crazy when you were obsessed with cars? I thought you broke up?”

“We made up after I woke up in the hospital, haha.”

I smiled at Sun Hae-cheol’s dumbfounded expression and told him everything that had happened. After hearing the whole story, Sun Hae-cheol looked at me with a bewildered expression.

“So, you made a deal with Shinseong?”

“Yes. My sister and I both gave and took. I don’t know which side will benefit more, though.”

“Still, it feels uneasy that you’re dating Jang Ho-geon’s daughter. That Jang Ho-geon even sent an observer, thinking we’d rip him off. Can you handle having such a person as your father-in-law?”

“I’ll have to try. Our family is growing, so they won’t make me live with them, right?”

I said I would become Jang Ho-geon’s son-in-law, not that I would live with them. Our family is growing rapidly, so why would I willingly subject myself to their world? They’re the kind of people I wouldn’t mind crushing under my feet.

Sun Hae-cheol sighed lightly as he watched me leisurely drink my tea.

“Well, seeing what you’ve done, it doesn’t seem like you’re bluffing, so I can’t say anything… Alright. Good luck with your youth business.”

I have to do well.

I want to do well.

I will do well.

***

After meeting Jang Ha-yeon that afternoon, I started jogging with her near Namsan [a mountain in central Seoul] every morning at 7 AM from the next day.

She said she wanted to see me every morning since we hadn’t seen each other for a while, so I accepted the call, but… even on the morning of April 28th, more than ten days later, I was bitterly regretting this decision.

“Sis, Sister! Please run slower!”

I was chasing after her, completely out of breath, and stopped, gasping for air. I don’t know how she can run so well; she’s not Hwang Young-jo or Lee Bong-ju [famous Korean marathon runners].

Jang Ha-yeon turned around, looked at me, and clicked her tongue.

“Why have you become so weak? Senior, didn’t Sung-min exercise when he was in New York?”

Park Tae-jin, who was behind her, answered and then looked at me with pity. It was because I didn’t have time to exercise while making money in New York.

The international foreign exchange market is a 24-hour battlefield. When would I have time to rest? Park Tae-jin, and all the employees at Standard Capital, had to set up cots in the office and live there semi-compulsorily, buying up yen in foreign exchange markets around the world.

You might ask what we did on weekends, but by using the time difference, we could trade in other regional foreign exchange markets even when the New York and London foreign exchange markets were closed on weekends.

Thanks to that, I turned on my computer from dawn even on Sundays and bought yen in other regional foreign exchange markets, so the only day off was Saturday.

Even Saturday was spent on weekly settlements and planning for the following week, so the schedule for the first quarter of this year was literally murderous. So how much time would I have to exercise properly? All I could manage were some push-ups, squats, and crunches.

After catching my breath, I straightened my back. In my eyes, I saw Jang Ha-yeon looking at me with pity.

“Look at the dark circles under your eyes. Have you been working all the time? Take care of yourself.”

“I even drank broccoli juice every morning, but it’s still like this. Now that the urgent work is over, I should probably start taking care of myself, haha.”

I was smiling because I didn’t want to show weakness to my girl when Park Tae-jin received a phone call.

“Yes, Chairman. I’m jogging right now… Yes? …Yes. I understand.”

Suddenly, his voice became louder and then heavier. Could it be?

“What’s wrong?”

“The Chairman is looking for you, Young Master. It seems you need to go to Samcheong-dong [an affluent district in Seoul] right away.”

Looking at his expression and voice, my hunch seemed to be correct. I nodded to Park Tae-jin and said to Jang Ha-yeon.

“Sister, I’m sorry, but let’s stop jogging here today.”

“Go quickly. The Chairman will be waiting.”

Park Tae-jin also bowed to Jang Ha-yeon.

“I’m sorry, Executive Director. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“It’s okay, Senior. See you tomorrow.”

I got into the car with Park Tae-jin and went to my house in Itaewon [a district in Seoul known for its international atmosphere] to shower at lightning speed, then headed to Samcheong-dong. When I entered the reception room, the three veteran representatives and Go Seung-ju and Lee Myung-jin were sitting on either side of my grandfather in the seat of honor, all with serious expressions.

“I’m sorry for being late, Grandfather.”

“It’s alright. Sit down, both of you.”

Seeing my grandfather waving his hand, we both sat facing each other in the lowest seats.

“Representative Tae, begin.”

“Yes, Chairman. Just now, there was a gas explosion accident at the Daegu Subway Line 1 construction site.”

Everyone sighed or closed their eyes upon hearing Tae Jae-ho’s statement, and the atmosphere became heavy.

“The person in charge of the store development department who was dispatched to the site has confirmed the scene and reported that there will be hundreds of deaths. Also…”

After Tae Jae-ho’s report on the local situation, my grandfather sighed.

“Human affairs are like a blessing in disguise; it feels strange.”

Everyone must feel the same way. Aren’t the people in this room all leaders of the Haedong Group, who have suffered all kinds of disadvantages under the Yeongnam [region in Korea] military dictatorship as a company from Jeolla Province [another region in Korea]? There’s no reason to cry, but we can’t laugh either.

“Donate 30 billion won in the group’s name. We may still be considered ‘those Jeolla people’ to them, but we must do our duty as human beings. Let’s think of it as greasing the wheels for doing business in that neighborhood from next year.”

My grandfather ordered ‘humanitarian measures related to business’ and tapped the desk with his other hand while resting his chin on his hand. What is he going to say now?

“The public sentiment in Daegu and Gyeongbuk [regions in Korea] will become fierce. Those ruling party guys will be very nervous.”

“That’s right, Chairman. Facility accidents that never happened in the Seoul metropolitan area, Honam [region in Korea], or Chungcheong [region in Korea] thanks to President Lee Myung-jin have occurred in the ruling party’s stronghold, so there will be talk of discrimination in the election.”

Go Seung-ju’s prediction was accurate. In my past life, the independent candidates from the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, who failed to receive nominations from the ruling party due to this incident, sold the ‘discrimination theory’ and were largely elected in this local election. History will repeat itself.

My grandfather nodded and opened his mouth.

“Meet with those Yeouido [political center in Korea] guys right away, negotiate the sale of government bonds, and distribute election funds, Chief Go. If you give those guys coins now, they’ll bow so low their foreheads will touch the ground.”

It was an opportunity to gain profit, but because that opportunity stemmed from tragedy, everyone nodded with stiff expressions. And that pathetic conscience rubbed my heart like sandpaper. Damn it.

***

As soon as the meeting ended, I asked Park Tae-jin to take me to the church where Father Im Su-woong was.

“Is it because of what happened in Tokyo, Young Master?”

Park Tae-jin still seemed to think that I felt guilty about making money because of the Kobe earthquake. I just gave a bitter smile, got out of the car alone, and entered the main hall.

“Brother John?”

“Hello, Sister. It’s been a while.”

Looking at my stiff face, the nun looked at me with a worried expression.

“You don’t look well, Brother. Are you… not feeling well?”

“…I would like to see the priest in the confessional. Please, Sister.”

I felt like I couldn’t endure the sandpapering of my conscience if I didn’t do this. The nun looked at my face and nodded.

“Alright. I will tell him since it’s a request from Marco’s eldest grandson.”

While the nun was gone, I sighed and soon saw Father Im Su-woong, who had entered the main hall, and greeted him.

“It’s been a while, Father.”

“Brother John wants to make a confession to me?”

“Yes. Please.”

Looking at my earnest eyes, Father Im Su-woong nodded.

“Your grandfather, Brother Marco, also came to me in the past and asked for confession.”

“Grandfather did?”

Looking at me with wide eyes, Father Im Su-woong gave a kind smile.

“Don’t you know better? The work of cultivating both the shaded land and the sunny land.”

“Ah…”

I exclaimed and realized once again that my grandfather was also human. He may be the head of a conglomerate in the sunny land, but he is the head of the country’s largest loan shark organization in the shaded land, so how severe would his internal conflict be with that dual life?

Looking at me nodding with my mouth shut, Father Im Su-woong smiled.

“Brother Marco’s work is not honorable. But shouldn’t we give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s? He is always keeping a certain line of good in the shaded land with a repentant heart, so I think that’s enough. Let’s go in.”

I entered the confessional, offered a prayer with a partition between us, and then revealed my sins.

“…If I had told the adults even once, this accident would not have happened. I confess the sin of knowing and not acting.”

I confessed the sin of not informing about this disaster, but I could not reveal the original sin as a regressor, the original sin of hiding my true self. Damn it.

Just as I felt like vomiting at my own hypocrisy, I heard Father Im Su-woong’s voice from beyond the partition.

“Brother, you are only a young man of twenty-five. Do not try to bear all the worries and concerns of the world. That is imitating God, in other words, committing the seven deadly sins of pride.”

“I will keep that in mind, Father.”

“If I may give you one piece of advice, I hope you will set and keep your own line of good in this reality. Unless you solve that problem, you will not be able to escape from that sin.”

With the end of the admonition and penance, Father Im Su-woong had me offer a contrite prayer, and as soon as the prayer was over, he opened the curtain and gave me the prayer of absolution.

This will not wash away my sin of neglecting to prevent people from getting hurt and dying.

I can only find comfort in the fact that I have received a small indulgence in that I have confessed my sin to someone and received my own solution to alleviate that sin.

***

That day, at lunch.

Go Seung-ju was meeting with two influential senior lawmakers from the ruling party, who were close aides to the President, at a garden restaurant on the outskirts of the city.

“F, thirty billion won?”

“Yes. I know you are very troubled by this recent disaster. The Chairman said he hoped it would be of some help, however small.”

“Haha, well, this is…”

Thirty billion won was not a small help, but a big one. It was worth as much as sixty Taehyun Apartments in Apgujeong [a very expensive area in Seoul]!

For the ruling party, whose stronghold public sentiment had turned sour due to the chaos in Daegu, 30 billion won was a headache pill with immediate effect.

Unlike the politicians who were busy trying to manage their expressions, emptying their ginseng wine glasses, or chewing on grilled Korean beef, Go Seung-ju calmly emptied his glass.

Normally, politicians are the ‘eul’ [the weaker party in a relationship], and the chaebols [large family-owned conglomerates] who hold the purse strings are the ‘gap’ [the stronger party in a relationship], but the election season is different. The ruling party was in a pinch more than ever, so Go Seung-ju was enjoying the ‘gap’ position even more.

One of the ruling party lawmakers, a four-term congressman, sighed after emptying his glass. Loosening his tie seemed to indicate that he was ready to get serious about drinking or talking.

“I can’t believe that Chief Go or Chairman Lee are helping us. Even with the last matter, we asked for your help shamelessly.”

“Don’t mention it. Wasn’t that just a give and take? Haha.”

Go Seung-ju laughed outwardly, but he was grinding his teeth inwardly.

There is no way to recover the 200 billion won that was used to forcibly cover up the accounting fraud even after selling government bonds. The only opportunity to extract more than the 200 billion won he had lost from those Yeouido guys was now.

“So, I’m telling you this… We would like to sell the government bonds held by our group overseas.”

The eyes of the two congressmen lit up at Go Seung-ju’s suggestion. Selling government bonds overseas, of all things, smelled like a good deal.

“I know the volume is quite large… Can you do it?”

“Fortunately, Triumph Capital, which traded with our group last time, has shown interest. They say that Korean government bonds have enough investment value.”

“Hoo…”

Go Seung-ju continued, watching the lawmakers who were muttering in low voices.

“After selling the bonds, the after-tax profit will be about 100 billion won. It will be the first case of a merchant bank selling bonds overseas and earning more than 100 million dollars, and we will also pay a lot of taxes, so I think it will be helpful for the election.”

“Oh my, I didn’t know you would consider that far.”

“I’m sorry for always being indebted to you, haha.”

Even though they were painting Go Seung-ju’s face with gold, the eyes of the two congressmen were shining sharply. They had provided 30 billion won in election funds and even achievements to use in the election campaign, so what would they ask for?

The four-term congressman among the two ruling party lawmakers opened his mouth.

“Since you’re helping us this much, I think we should help the Haedong Group with something. Tell us without reservation.”

Go Seung-ju smiled inwardly, but after hesitating for a moment, he opened his mouth.

“As you may know, Haedong Merchant Bank has been focusing on capital expansion without paying dividends, even while working hard to attract deposits at the group level. Thanks to this, the accumulated equity capital is worth hundreds of billions of won.”

“I know. It’s more than ten times that of other merchant banks, isn’t it? That’s why I shamelessly asked you to take over the government bonds, haha.”

Go Seung-ju almost choked for a moment at the mention of the government bond takeover again. He wanted to grab the Korean beef grilling on the grill with chopsticks and throw it at those shameless bastards’ faces, but he barely held back and opened his mouth.

“Yes. I’m embarrassed to say this, but I hope you will approve the additional branches for such a Haedong Merchant Bank.”

“Hmm…”

The congressman who was listening to the story crossed his arms and made a humming sound.

He knew very well that Haedong Merchant Bank’s capital was solid. That’s why he received political funds from Han Go Group’s Jung Taek-ju and suggested that the government bonds be passed on to Haedong Merchant Bank.

With his power as the chairman of the Administrative Committee, it would be the end of the matter with a single word to the relevant agencies, including the Securities Management Commission.

But the problem was the number of branches to be opened. It would be okay if it was about 10, but it would be difficult if they asked to open dozens of stores at once.

“How many are you thinking of?”

“The more, the better, but I would like to open branches in Goyang, Seongnam, Incheon, Suwon, Hwaseong, Pyeongtaek, Daejeon, Jeonju, Gwangju, Mokpo, Yeosu, Changwon, and Busan.”

As soon as Go Seung-ju finished speaking, he took out a notebook, wrote down the names of the cities he had mentioned, neatly tore it off, and handed it to the congressman. The congressman looked at the note for a moment, pondered, and then nodded.

“Alright. It’s a matter of course that we should help a model company like Haedong Merchant Bank grow, haha. Is there anything else?”

“I would also like Haedong Construction to participate in the construction of Daegu Subway Line 2, which will be opened in the future.”

The four-term congressman’s expression hardened at the mention of subway construction.

“Public works are not easy, Chief Go. I know that Haedong Construction is a solid company, but you know that it is basically about coexisting with companies that contribute to the region, right?”

“I am grateful that you have sponsored the election funds and even provided materials that will help with the campaign, but I don’t think that will be possible.”

The three-term congressman next to him also trailed off and showed a difficult expression.

Go Seung-ju knew very well that he had received a lot of money from local construction companies from the last bidding for the construction and the current bidding for Line 2 because he was a member of the Construction and Transportation Committee. So he took out his trump card.

“I know how much effort you two have put in. I have filled four apple boxes in each of your trunks, so please take good care of me, haha.”

The two men’s mouths dropped open. Did that mean they each received 1 billion won in four apple boxes?

No construction company had ever filled their car trunks with more than two apple boxes, unlike the money they gave to the party, so the corners of their mouths were turning upwards.

“Oh my, I think we have underestimated the capabilities of Haedong Construction, no, the Haedong Group, haha.”

“The capabilities have been sufficiently proven, so you just need to enter the bidding for Line 2, haha.”

“I can only be truly grateful that the congressmen have evaluated us that way. Instead.”

As the politicians changed their attitude in the blink of an eye, Go Seung-ju stopped talking and smiled at the two men who were staring at him.

“I will do the construction solidly. The President has given Haedong a chance to erase the stains, so I must contribute to the creation of a new Korea while doing business cleanly, haha.”

“Ahahaha… That’s right.”

Disappointment flashed in the eyes of the two congressmen, who laughed awkwardly and raised their glasses. Did that mean there would be no crumbs falling from the construction? Go Seung-ju was ready to throw them a new crumb.

“Apart from that, whenever Haedong Construction wins a good construction project in Gyeongsang Province, your car trunks will be full of delicious apples. Here! Let’s eat.”

“I think we have misunderstood the deep intentions of Chief Go and Chairman Lee, haha.”

“Of course. Isn’t the Haedong Group a place as wide and deep as the sea? Haha.”

The congressmen, whose faces had brightened again, clinked glasses with Go Seung-ju and emptied their glasses with a tilt of their heads.

Go Seung-ju had to smile and empty his glass while despising them inwardly. Until the Haedong Group grew bigger.