chapter 142

I stopped Joshua from seeing me off at the airport as he had more important tasks to do. In addition to overhauling Revolucion, he needed to purge his family’s rivals with the old head.

The Karjan family was about to have a bloodbath. Although they wouldn’t behead or give poison to someone like people did in the Middle Ages, they would change personnel based on their current policy and rearrange the board of directors with Joshua at the center.

***

I could vividly imagine how Jonathan was frowning with suspiration.

It was a challenging project for the group’s employees, and they had quite a high possibility of winning. The desk teams and LTCM were excited that they would write a new history with their own hands when more funds from the Isle of Man, London and other speculative forces joined the offensive line. Everyone had gone wild, but their exhilaration died down when I ordered them to step out of the attack line.

The head hunters[1] were the fastest ones on Wall Street. They took thirty percent of the annual salary of their client as a referral fee when they helped them change their careers. Therefore, they snooped around firms like stray cats. When they found a target, they lured it by showing a folder that contained the organizational charts of banks, investment companies, and hedge funds. One of Jonathan’s roles was to prevent his employees from being enticed by head hunters.

Jonathan hung up in a hurry.

***

The reason I returned to Seoul instead of New York was because anthrax terrorism had broken out in North America while I was in London. Since the U.S. had laid strict regulations on entry, it was risky to go through the New York airport screening with a forged passport. Moreover, I had worked nonstop, so I wanted to rest at home with my parents. It was like a vacation for me.

It was already the end of October 2001. Yongsan[2] was crowded due to the launch of Door XP, which Nanosoft had praised for being the perfect operating system. The vans of the computer industry wholesalers were parked on the street, almost blocking the road. There was an apartment reconstruction site in the back, and I saw a familiar name on the information board.

「Construction title: Woo-Hyung Apartment Reconstruction site

Scale: Basement 2/15th-21st floor above ground level

Total floor area: 240,990 ㎡

Estimated construction duration: October 4th, 2001 ― February 28, 2004

Constructor: Il-Ju Construction Co., Ltd 」

Il-Ju was Mr. Choi’s business. Apparently, he had succeeded in taking a leap after getting profits and experience in completing the Pyeonghwa Mental Health Clinic.

Mr. Choi ran while wearing his on-site uniform, and we moved to a nearby cafe. Although Il-Ju had overcome the IMF crisis and was developed to the point where they now built apartments, fifty-one percent of its stake belonged to one of my paper companies. There was something I had to handle for him, especially in a situation where his business was thriving.

Mr. Choi said reluctantly, “…Jeon-il didn’t seem interested in my business.”

“Ah, you must have been embarrassed. As I told you, I’m working right next to the chairman, so you can reach me by directly contacting the chairman’s secretary,” I replied.

“Yes, I remember, but there was no way I could call the higher-ups of Jeon-il with my humble position. I’ve been wandering around and looking for you, sir.”

“Please don’t call me ‘sir.’ It’s quite burdensome to hear, so just call me Mr. Na,” I said.

“…Then, I’ll call you that from now on.”

“Okay.”

He asked, “Do you remember when I told you that I will never forget your kindness until I die, Mr. Na?”

“Of course.”

“I have picked out two of the largest royal floors with a great view from my project, and we are planning to make it into a split-level room. This is nothing compared to what you have done for me, but please take it as my sincerity. We began the construction earlier this month, and it’ll be completed in three years.”

His voice was full of energy.

“I’ll register them if you prepare the necessary documents. It’s up to you whether you want to resell it or keep it until the construction completes, Mr. Na,” he continued.

I said, “The chairman will kill me if he figures this out.”

“Aigo. He’s a busy guy, so he won’t know what his subordinates do behind his back. Don’t worry.”

“…Thank you so much,” I responded.

Mr. Choi smiled brightly as if he had eased a long-standing burden of his.

“Let’s get down to business then,” I said.

“There’s nothing to discuss. When I first shoveled dirt on the site, you popped up in my mind… I realized this was the time to repay your kindness!”

“Haha, I appreciate it. By the way, are you managing your account book well?” I questioned.

“I’m trying my best, but it’s not working well. As you know, the construction industry doesn’t work systematically like a computer. Please don’t get me wrong and listen carefully. About the foreign company that you have connected me to…”

Mr. Choi began using a mixture of dialect and standard Korean as he had become quite excited.

“It’s creepy that the company is so quiet. I’ve tried to look into them, but there’s a limit to what I can find as it’s located abroad. They haven’t replied to me, so I don’t know how I should contact them. All I know about them is their account so that I can pay dividends,” he continued.

“What’s the big deal if you keep it clean?” I asked.

“It’s not like a computer, so foreigners won’t understand the way we keep our ledgers in Korea. I can’t even sleep well when I think about them coming here and trying to take away my business even though they know nothing.”

I nodded and followed up with another question, “Have you paid the dividends yet?”

“Yes, because the accountant said it’s okay to do so. Was I not supposed to?”

Mr. Choi’s face became rigid.

“No, it’s only possible with a board’s resolution as a problem might occur in the future. So how much did you pay?”

“Around two billion won, but it’ll become four billion if we include the land we saved to build a small building.”

“You made a lot of money,” I said.

“I owe my success to you. But, what’s the matter…?”

“You need consent from all of the auditors, but they are foreigners,” I explained.

Mr. Choi gasped.

He asked, “Wouldn’t this be a huge issue?”

“I think it will be fine since they have been quiet,” I replied.

“Ah… I have no idea about the money part since my accountant is in charge of it. I tried to learn it, but it’s so complicated. She told me Il-Ju is owned by both the foreigners’ and myself, but it’s not ‘ours.’ She also said the money Il-Ju makes is mine, but not mine at the same time. This is all nonsense to me,” Mr. Choi quickly remarked and scratched his nose nervously.

“You should study from now on. You don’t need to if your business is small, but if you continue leaving it to the bookkeeper and accountant like this, you’ll be betrayed one day. Be careful,” I said.

“Okay, sure. I’ll do that. Do you still contact those foreigners nowadays?”

I nodded.

He asked, “Then, could you speak to them about my situation?”

“I understand what you’re thinking. You want to purchase a stake in Il-Ju Construction, right?” I questioned.

“Yes. The stress is killing me nowadays. My business is thriving, but I’m worried that those foreigners will drop in without notice and take it all away… Isn’t there a high possibility that they would do such a thing? The accountant has been telling me to buy the stake and gain authority to manage my own business.”

“That’s the scary thing about foreign firms. Why do you think they have been quiet? Why do you think they have poured money into your business and enlarged it into Il-Ju Construction? They are not doing charity work. Also, what kind of foreign company would have invested in your firm at that time?” I said.

“Yes, yes. I’ll repay your kindness to the death. But, I would need to talk to the foreigners to do something…”

“You have independent voting rights in a general meeting of shareholders and have more than 1.1 percent of shares. But I guess that’s not enough?” I asked.

“No.”

“Yeah, 1.1 percent would be quite small. Your company would need to make lots of money for you to have enough profit for that 1.1 percent,” I said.

“I had nothing to worry about at the time… but, I cannot do anything with that 1.1 percent now as my business has expanded. Or, I at least need to get in touch with foreigners to discuss. It’s really frustrating.”

My fifty-one percent stake in Il-Ju Construction was only one grain of sand compared to my entire fortune. It wouldn’t be noticeable if the one grain disappeared. However, that didn’t mean I could freely give it away to Mr. Choi, and I had to demand fair compensation in that case. Il-Ju had just begun getting bigger, so it would flourish at an alarming rate through reconstruction boom and new town development.

Then, how much would the 1.1 percent stake become? What about the value of the remaining shares? For now, I could guarantee that the 1.1 percent of the four billion that Mr. Choi earned would be too little for him to do anything.

“Then, Mr.Choi…”

“Yes?”

“I can’t guarantee anything, but I’ll try bringing in the power of attorney so you don’t encounter any problems with your business. They wouldn’t want to stop a big business either. Since they are not showing any interest in management, I’ll be able to do so. Is that all you need?” I asked.

“Oh, gosh… Of course! I’d like to help you talk to the shareholders of the Il-Ju since I’ve never met them before.” He smiled brightly.

“I don’t recommend that. If the chairman attends the meeting, he’s going to talk about obvious things.”

“About what…?”

“He’ll take this opportunity to look at the ledger and ask you to calculate again,” I replied.

Mr.Choi looked stressed.

“Instead, I’ll give you an email address to contact them. Well, it’s better to keep things as it is now,” I said.

I took out some paper and a pen, then wrote an email address. Mr. Choi carefully put the paper inside his wallet, behind his family picture as if he was handling a lottery ticket. I really liked his harmonious family relationship more than his prosperous business.