12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

I read the title of the article once again.

[CEO Ahn Yong-kyun of Blue E&M sold his 7% stake in the market.] The content was simple and clear: Ahn Yong-kyun, the head of Blue E&M, Sapphire TV, sold a 7 percent stake.

I clicked on the article. It was quite empty like a public statement. It only included just the title.

[He sold 7% of his shares on Aug. 25, the company said in a regulatory filing.]

‘Sold 7%?’ CEO Ahn Yong-kyun had been invested by our company at that time, and his stake had become very low. He was a CEO, but in fact, he kept his position because I retained it, and his shares were very small.

‘I know his current stake is under 10%.’ I floated another window and quickly saw Blue E&M’s financial statements. It was simple to check the major shareholders’ stakes.

Invictus Investment 34.4%

Ahn Yong-kyun 9.2%

It was as I remembered. CEO Ahn Yong-kyun had only 9.2%. I reflected about back when I had taken over. Blue E&M’s total market value was about sixty million dollars at the time of acquisition. At that time, the company acquired seven and a half million, half of his fifteen-million-dollar stake, from Ahn Yong-kyun, and twenty million was made by a third party-allocated paid-in capital increase to become a major shareholder.

As a result, our company held twenty-seven and a half million of the total market capital of eighty million dollars. Ahn Yong-kyun had about seven and a half million. The share ratio was thus 34.4% and 9.2%, and that was what had been coming down so far.

‘But he sold 7%… If 7% is sold, Ahn Yong-kyun’s stake will sink to 2.2%. Of course, many hired CEOs don’t have even one percent. However, he is a founder, and his stake rate is going down to an embarrassing level. Why the hell…?’

That was what I was curious about. Why did he sell it?

‘Usually, the sale of stakes in major shareholders or CEOs in all companies is bad news. If the owner of the company sells the shares, the individual investors will naturally think, “Do they know it’s going to fall, so are they selling it?” It is common sense to give it a suspicious look.’

I tried to think of other reasons. ‘Maybe he’s selling because he needs quick cash, like Kwon Oh Hyuk, who bought a house in Gangnam.’

But I didn’t think so. Blue E&M’s share price had recently risen so much that its market capital was around a hundred and sixty million. So, Ahn Yong-kyun’s shares were worth roughly fifteen million. Even if he needed quick cash, he could take out a loan against the stock. It wouldn’t have been necessary to sell the shares.

‘He wants to stay out of company management, or… is it because there is a really bad thing coming? … or maybe?…’

There was one more scenario that would create bad news.

CEO Lee Won-jae had warned me, “Tak Joon-gi may go into one of the companies you have.”

And I thought about Ahn Yong-kyun.

‘Would you like to sit here?’

‘Do you have anything to say?’

He was the one who showed a peculiar weakness to strong arming. I thought of the construction company president bowing to Director Tak Joon-gi. ‘Hello, Mr. Tak. Hehe, I used to play golf with your father…’

A scenario popped up. A servile person to a strongman, and a third-generation chaebol of Suyeon Group…

“Umm…” But it was just a hypothesis. So far, nothing was certain. I had a conviction but there was no evidence. I only checked the date he would dispose of his shares. ‘August 25th.’

It was still almost a month away. In the meantime, I had to get more information. If there was something harmful to our company going on, I would block it before then.

——————————–

The next morning. I got ready to go to work and went into Ah-young’s apartment. She prepared breakfast for me as usual. I spent time having breakfast and drinking coffee with her before she would leave for the U.S.

“So what time is the flight?”

“11 A.M.”

“Then there’s not much time left?”

“Yes, I’ll send you off and get my things sorted, and then go out.”

“Really? Um…” I stared at her, in case someone was trying to do something on the way to America. “… Do you want me to give you a ride?”

“No, oppa, didn’t you say you have to go to work today?”

“But I can drive you to Incheon International Airport for a while.”

“It’s okay. The limousine bus is coming right by my door anyway.”

That was right. If she walked about a minute from her apartment, there was a limousine bus stop to Incheon Airport. Considering her movements, Gangnam Station, Limousine Bus and Incheon Airport were all crowded with people. It would be much safer than driving her myself.

“Yes. Then… have a good trip.”

Ah-young didn’t know what the reason was, but she seemed to know that I was worried about her. “Yes. Don’t worry. I’ll stay in touch with you.”

I got a kiss from her and left her house.

‘Yeah, well, if I think about it… Ah-young and I haven’t been together long, and we’ve barely been exposed.’

That was how it was. Even my parents recently called me on the phone and asked, “Have you been seeing anyone lately?”

The only person who saw me with her and knew I was dating her was Secretary Seo, who was on my side. Even if Tak Joon-gi tried to do something strange, it would be difficult to target her.

‘Yes, I’m sure everything’s okay. My family will leave the day after tomorrow…’ I took the elevator down to the underground parking lot, thinking about it. There were three cars in the parking lot: the Porsche Pana Mera, the Bentley Bentay and the recently bought Lamborghini Aventador, worth over a million dollars in total. I took the Bentley car key out of my pocket and got in.

Lamborghini was not often taken care of, even though I bought it not long ago. Especially when commuting to and from work, our employees came to work and decided to work hard, so they might be a bit disappointed if the owner was riding in a sports car. Bentley was expensive, too, but there was a gentle side to it.

Br-br-br- I started the car and left the parking lot. As I got out, a black Korean-made SUV followed from the parking lot. Normally, I wouldn’t have thought much, but the car caught my eyes. The first was that I hadn’t seen it very often in my parking lot. To be honest, there were few Korean cars in the parking lot. Most of them were large cars. But that was a medium-sized SUV. It was not a car I could see often. The second was that it had a very strong sun-tan. It was broad daylight, but only the shadow of the driver could be seen. Of course, if it were normal,

I would’ve thought, ‘Who’s here to visit?’

But the warning of CEO Lee Won-jae made me a little sensitive.

‘No way, it might not be.’ I drove the car thinking that way. From Gangnam Station to Sinnonhyeon Station, Sinnonhyeon Station to Nonhyeon Station, but the car kept coming into my rearview mirror.

‘… is it the same way to go?’ It was no wonder. The road I was going to work, was the one they would take if they were going to go to Cheongdam-dong or Dongho Bridge or Seongsu Bridge.

“Umm…” I turned my car slowly towards the parking lot of our company but kept an eye on it. But somehow, the car passed behind me rather slowly than the others. It didn’t follow my car to my company, but somehow, I felt like it was watching whether my car went into the company.

“Huh…” I got out of the car, clicking my tongue. This was the first time I’d ever imagined someone would follow me on my way to work. I had thought this could happen when I had fucked up Director Tak, but… I should have finished him with Joo Sung-won last time.

Last time was the problem. The prosecution had only caught people around him. They had not caught the biggest fish.

‘I don’t know if they didn’t catch him or they could not, but…’ Most of the world’s affairs were vaguely bounded by what they did not and what they could not do.

‘It only takes a month to arrive at the final destination…’ Actually, a month was enough. The current situation was a time limit game, on the assumption that Crow was competent.

‘A month…’ I came to the president’s office on the top floor of the company, thinking about that.

Secretary Seo looked at me and stood up to greet me, “Are you here?”

“Yes.”

Suddenly I looked at him and remembered Director Tak Joon-gi and the big man who was guarding him. For some reason, I could imagine a two vs. two tag match between a certain CEO and a secretary, and a director and a secretary.

‘I think I can suppress Tak Joon-gi lightly, but the secretary’s a problem… he’s ten centimeters taller than me. If somehow I took him down and if I use the tightening technique… No, but the strength… his body is too big.’

No matter how hard I tried to calculate, I didn’t get an estimate. And at the heart of the matter, there was this guy with his eyes wide.

“Umm? Aren’t you going in?”

I spoke to him, “Secretary Seo, have you done any physical training lately?”

He smiled at me and said, “Haha, you know, boss. I don’t like that kind of stuff by nature.”

That was right. He was a typical nerd who had been digging books and computers for a long time. His relations to sports and violence was close to zero

“Ha… Okay.”

I walked into the president’s office and looked at my chair for a moment. However, there was someone who came to mind suddenly. I picked up the phone and called my father.

“Yes, son, why did you call me?”

“How are you getting ready for the trip?”

“I am going to be with your mother and sister, like a bodyguard.”

Just in time, that word ‘bodyguard’ came out.

“… I wish you could come with us, by the way.”

“I’m sorry, I’m busy.”

“Well, yeah… I understand. There are hundreds of people who get paid by you, and I can’t help it.”

“Yes… but dad.”

“Yes.”

“You know Jang Geun.”

“Jang Geun? Why?”

“Didn’t you say he quit coming by to be a bodyguard or something?”

“Yes, he’s doing it. Sometimes when he comes home from Seoul, he drops by the training center.”

“Oh, that’s great, dad. You know his number, right?”

“Yes, shall I get it for you?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, just a moment…”

Jang Geun was the best fighter our training center had ever produced. He won a silver medal in the world championships in his early twenties. He was a heavyweight monster. However, a car accident broke one of his hands unfortunately, and he retired.

“If it hadn’t been for the accident, he would have gone to the Olympics.”

He might not be as good as he had been at his peak, but that was a problem at the world-class level, at the Olympic level. I went back to the simulation, ‘Not Secretary Seo… but with him?’

There was no need to stay together. While I was behind him, Jang Geun would blow through Tak Joon-gi’s guard on his own like a sheet of paper, and would easily subdue the magnate standing behind him.

“Yes, here’s his phone number. I’ll tell it to you now.”

I answered with a big smile, “Yes, dad.”