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It was different from what Joshua once told Gillian. Back then, Joshua spoke as if Na Seon-Hu, the real owner of Jonathan Group, was even under Odin. However, Na Seon-Hu was Odin, and Odin was Ethan according to Jonathan. If that was true, Ethan was only twelve years old when Gillian first met him. It had been a long time, but Gillian could still remember his first impression of Odin.
He was twelve years old? Only twelve? How…
Gillian blinked quickly. The real identity of Na Seon-Hu and Odin didn’t matter much to him. The reason he had always hoped to meet Odin was because of the directing department, which had maintained its genius status for a long period of time. He wanted to ask Odin for a favor to let him meet the directing department.
“Seon-Hu is worried in case you feel cheated or betrayed. Does he have a reason to be concerned?” Jonathan asked anxiously.
“I kind of guessed it. Is the headquarters in Seoul? Or at Jonathan Group headquarters? I’m talking about the directing department.”
Jonathan figured out at once that Gillian was under a misunderstanding. The other man was thinking that there was a separate command headquarters that controlled their super-large capital, but there was no such thing. Seon-Hu himself was the command headquarters and commandant. Jonathan thought Gillian’s misunderstanding was natural as the long-term draft that predicted the subprime crisis and the short-term proposals published every year were by no means a result that an individual could draft alone.
“Are you talking about the proposals?” Jonathan asked.
Gillian replied, “Yes.”
“Seon-Hu is the one who wrote them. It’s hard to believe, though.”
“...Could you repeat that again, please?”
Jonathan’s face stiffened because Gillian’s reaction was very different from what he expected. Gillian wasn’t just struggling to keep his mouth shut, admiring Seon-Hu’s genius. Instead, his entire body, even his pupils, were shaking. The tremor was like a convulsion, and it seemed like his world had collapsed.
Jessica hurriedly intervened between the two since Gillian had become so pale to the point that her heart sank. She hugged him tight and stroked his head. She was also shocked, but it didn’t matter much to her. She was aware that Gillian had long been obsessed with the genius of the directing department. His praise for them often turned into self-reproach, and it turned into jealousy, then back to praise again. The directing department was a double-edged sword for her husband as they were the main spring of his life and the origin of his shame. Jessica had been telling him to stop thinking in that way.
Jonathan asked out of concern, “Does Gillian have epilepsy? I’ll get the medical staff.”
“You don’t need to. He is… It’s not something like that.”
Jessica stopped talking and grabbed Gillian’s face with her hands.
“Take a deep breath. Look me in the eye. Look at me.”
“...Jessica.”
Gillian’s eyes were still shaking.
“I know, but there really can be a person like that in the world. Since he’s such a genius, he could have made this much capital. Our boss is that kind of person.”
Jonathan was bewildered because the scene in front of him was hard to understand.
I expected him to be impressed, but why did he get so shocked?
Then, Jonathan remembered Seon-Hu’s request to explain everything very carefully to Gillian.
Ah, I made a mistake. He was right.
Jonathan watched Jessica lead Gillian to the bed before going over to help them. Gillian was still out of his mind even after sitting on the bed, and his empty eyes showed how he was rummaging through his past memories.
Jonathan nodded to Jessica, then put Gillian’s arm around his shoulder. Gillian suddenly snapped his arm away and said while turning his gaze to the invitation letter, “So next year, I’ll be able to see the real Odin?”
“Yes.”
“At the time when the order gets restructured… right?”
***
In the first meeting of the Bilderberg Club conference in 2008, the only people sitting still were Na Seon-Hu’s group. The abusive language that had been wrapped in economic terms filled the space as everyone else started pointing fingers and aggressively staring at each other. The atmosphere was more intense than when the American members had broken the club’s resolution and launched the Iraq War. Here, the conference hall was a warzone. On that day, even documents flew around the air.
Even the chairman, who had to calm things down, couldn’t afford to as he was one of the people screaming. Eventually, members began to leave the room, and Isaac returned to his room with a flushed face.
The United States interest rates were determined by the FED[1] through a system in which the central bank, the board of directors, the Federal Open Market Committee, and the Federal Reserve Bank gathered to carry out monetary and financial policies of the U.S. The Rothschild family had the greatest influence in the federal reserve system. They owned a stake in the central bank that printed dollars, and their subordinates were assigned to each board and committee.
Therefore, Isaac had a hard time swallowing his anger. The North American members that his family took care of were more worried about the U.S.’s economic status than his family’s position. He even wanted to take out a gun and shoot them when they pointed fingers at him. Well, he wanted to shoot the Rothschild’s subordinates who had been placed in committees and boards more. It was fortunate that he didn’t have a gun. He couldn’t even mention bringing Na Seon-Hu out of the world.
“What if the interest rate increases?”
“There is a high chance that the percentage of the family retrieving subprime mortgage money would decrease.”
It meant that profits would be reduced.
“Even a child knows that. I’m asking about the CDO[2] based on subprime MBS[3].”
“You don’t have to worry about that. All the products we bought from the Jonathan Group are super-class AAA. If you are concerned, I’ll ask to find out more.”
Of course, the issue had been reviewed several times. The worst-case scenario was that only the earnings would change when the interest rates continued to rise. The scale of the Jonathan Group’s dominance of the mortgage market was indeed huge, and it was still a goose that laid the golden eggs.
Isaac was filled with rage in the meeting hall, but he calmed down a bit when thought of what he had brought from the Jonathan Group. He remembered the faces of Na Seon-Hu’s group who were sitting stupidly, especially Jonathan’s, as the corners of his mouth was trembling. Since they were out of the oil and mortgage markets, they had lost their biggest cash cows.
He must be mad. Come to think of it, I didn’t even mention Na Seon-Hu.
Unfortunately, it seemed difficult to bring up the conversation about Na Seon-Hu again. Similar to what happened in 2003, this meeting was likely about to fizzle out and break.
However, Isaac had a last resort. It did not rely on him raising his voice. Instead, he planned on drawing his steel toward the North American members. They would bleed, but it was an opportunity to teach them who their real master was. He already had power and just got a pretext to use it.
In fact, the U.S. interest rate hike had been going on for several years, and his family had approved every single one. However, things had changed now. It was time to inflate the bubble but maintain it as much as possible, and earn much more than what the Jonathan Group had gained from the mortgage market.
Isaac invited members of FED to his room. The traditional North Americans were still fuming, and the Rothschild’s subordinates looked troubled. This was a small meeting held inside the Bilderberg Club, and the situation was the same. No, actually…the hostility that people had towards each other had reached an extreme.
Isaac had a hunch. The Bilderberg Club won’t be able to hold another conference next year.
The Bilderberg Club had been created by the former head of the Rothschilds, but the profit was too large to be bound by its history.
Isaac shouted, “I have warned you, and you guys abandoned me! Keep your eyes wide open to what will happen from now on!”
Buzz, buzz…
The phones in their pockets started to vibrate aggressively. One of the North American members checked the text and burst into a scream toward Isaac.
“Isaac! Are you crazy? Do you know what you are doing right now?”
Someone else covered his face with one hand.
“No matter how much you wanted. How could you…”
Another person yelled at Isaac while glaring at him as if he wanted to kill him.
“Fine! We won’t just stand by either!”
Amid the noise, Isaac also checked the message, which was short but shocking.
[Bear Stearns. File for bankruptcy protection.]
One of Wall Street’s top five investment banks was collapsing out of blue. They were the third largest securities firm in North America, and a global commission broker that couldn’t fall even if they wanted to.
No, it’s not me. I haven’t even started yet.
Isaac murmured inwardly. When the North American members walked away at a brisk pace, the subordinates of Rothschilds looked at Isaac with reproachful eyes.
“You have crossed the line. You should know we wouldn’t be able to handle it. This bomb, which you exploded before the Pray crisis settled down, will be big trouble not only to North American members but also to yourself.”
“Go back.”
Isaac kicked everyone out. The Bear Stearns’ bankruptcy wasn’t a trivial matter.
Then, one name passed by Isaac’s mind which was Na Seon-Hu. That Asian must have gone mad because he had lost two of his core businesses. He was the only one with enough power to burst a sound bank in an instant.
When Isaac was about to run toward Jonathan’s room, his secretary shouted at him, “Subprime! There is a problem with subprime!”
“What do you mean? Subprime out of nowhere?” Isaac shouted back.
“Bear…Bear Stearns confirmed it…”
“What the fuck!”
“Subprime… Subprime mortgage products… all exploded…”
The vein on Isaac’s forehead swelled. It was visibly firm, and it looked like it would burst at a pinch. Isaac frowned and wrapped a hand around his head as he had a terrible headache.
“Idiots. They must have dealt with the low-quality products as they were blinded by immediate profits. Don’t you think so?”
Isaac had asked a leading question, so all his secretary had to do was to agree with it, but he didn’t reply. The secretary seemed to barely stand on his feet. When Isaac touched his shoulder in anger, his legs weakly bent.
“I’m so sorry…”
“Don’t be. No. This can’t be happening. Get up, now!”
The secretary stuttered, “It’s subprime. Like products from the Jonathan Group… A problem that started from the super-class AAA products.”
Isaac felt like time had stopped, and the world surrounding him had stopped. Then, he felt something break in his head.
“Argh!”
Isaac widened his eyes as he felt an intense pain in the back of his head. He couldn’t see anything for a while. When his vision returned to normal, he realized his secretary was embracing him. His legs were trembling, and he couldn’t manage to say anything. He repeatedly gasped in a very hoarse voice, and he was barely able to add one word after another to complete a sentence.
“Mo… mortgage… loan. Business… S..s…sell… Hurry… up…”
1. Federal Reserve System. ☜
2. Collateralized Debt Organization. ☜
3. Mortgage-backed Securities. ☜