12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

I buttoned up my shirt and put on my jacket. Ah-young came in with a tie and stood in front of me.

When I lowered my head, she hung it around my neck and said, “Oppa, you are full of spirit today.”

“Really?”

As I answered, she smiled and said, “Yes. I know when I see it.”

I looked at her and nodded. “I’ve been working at an important thing lately.”

“You’re the one that says every day is important to you.”

“Well, that’s true. But this time, it’s really important.”

Her face changed slightly when I spoke a little seriously. “Really? Hmm… Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Would you like to help me?” I thought for a moment what she said that. ‘Do I have to have her go to America for a while?’

I wondered if Tak Mun-su might inflict some strange harm on my acquaintances. I myself had been using People Search every day, so even if it happened, I could prevent it. However, Ah-young and my other family members and acquaintances were not so famous, and even if they were attacked by an unidentified person, they might not appear on the news. Even if I did the People Search, they would not come out on the news.

“Tell me anything. I’ll do anything for you.”

I looked at Ah-young and said, “… Don’t wander around late at night.”

“Eh? Don’t walk around late at night? I’m not a kid!”

Unlike Tak Joon-gi, however, Tak Mun-su was naturally scrupulous. He was not a man to physically attack others when his circumstances were not in his control. She would not have to go to the U.S.

“There’ve been a lot of weird people lately. Don’t go anywhere late at night, stay with me at home.”

“Hmm. Okay. If that’s what you want, I’ll do it for you, Mr. CEO.”

I left home after a slight kiss on her cheek. On the elevator, I looked in the mirror. I remembered her words, ‘Oppa, you are full of spirit today.’ I must have been nervous without realizing it. No matter how strong I was, Suyeon Group and Tak Mun-su were not easy opponents. While its electronic sector was slightly pressured by China’s recent collapse, the group’s market capital exceeded a hundred twenty billion dollars when the chemical sector fared well.

Of course, less than twenty percent of the group’s shares were owned by the family. Still, personal connections and business networks that had been created across Korea for nearly fifty years had spread throughout the country. If we went to an all-out war, I might be damaged too!

‘Should I have gone in with my head down? I could just step on it slowly anyway…’

But if I thought about it, one way or another, the people over there, at KJ, Susung, Mirae, Suyeon, were destined to run into me. The future news wanted me to continuously buy listed companies in the country. If I grew bigger in our country, I would some day run into the chaebols. It was inevitable. Although this happened because of the bad relationship that started with Tak Joon-gi with the Suyeon Group and his fight for pride, it should be said that it only happened a little sooner.

“Are you here?”

I arrived at work with a greeting from Secretay Park. I replied, “Secretary Park.”

“Yes?”

“Shall we choose another secretary?”

“Why…?

“You may find it hard to handle things alone.”

“Yes?”

“You are going to be busy going forward. Think about it.” I came into the president’s office, leaving the words behind me. I then sent a text message to CEO Chung So-young. – When will the article come out?-

As soon as I sent it, I got a reply. – I’ll let it out sometime tomorrow morning, Mr. CEO.-

Checking might be the most important, whether the president was on my side. It was necessary to fight with the Suyeon Group. I got the future news at 8:50 and searched for important names: Han Sang-hoon, Tak Mun-su, and Oh Kyu-seok of Ullim Electronics. There was no other news in 12 Hours After. When I saw 12 Days After, the news showed the competition to acquire Ullim Electronics.

[CEO Han Sang-hoon is taking over Ullim Electronics.]

[Vice Chairman Tak Mun-su reaches out to Ullim Electronics.]

[Chairman Oh Kyu-seok yells for delight at the fight between Invictus Investment and Suyeon Group.]

‘In the end, Tak Mun-su seems to have rushed into the race to acquire Ullim Electronics. In fact, when this happens, the winner becomes Chairman Oh Kyu-seok, as the article suggests; I also have to compete with Tak Mun-su in price. Tak Mun-su offered at 1.652 billion dollars. If I bet more than 1.7 billion dollars, I’ll win.’

I searched the news 12 Weeks After, thinking about that. Along the way, there were articles like this:

[CEO Han Sang-hoon has been pushed out of negotiations with Ullim Electronics, and the purchase has been canceled.]

[Ullim Electronics ended up with 1.9 billion dollars in the arms of Vice Chairman Tak Mun-su.]

[Chair Oh Kyu-seok sits on the money seat at 1.9 billion dollars. We recall the myth of a salaryman.]

‘1.9 billion dollars?’

Tak Mun-su must have been fixated on Ullim Electronics. It was nearly three hundred million dollars more than he had originally intended to spend, yet he still bought it.

‘Then do I have to offer two billion dollars?’ As I was thinking about it, the telephone rang.

“Boss, I got a call from President Woo Hae-jin of Changhae Food.”

‘What’s going on?’

I spoke to him in wonder. “Put me through.”

Soon, I could hear the voice of President Woo Hae-jin. “Boss… I’m Woo Hae-jin.”

“Oh, yes. How have you been?”

“I’m doing well, but I’ve got a business problem, and I’m calling you.”

“What is it?”

“Well, Elmart has suddenly canceled its dumpling contract.”

Elmart was, needless to say, one of the subsidiaries of Suyeon Group. I put my hands on my forehead.

“Really?”

“Yes… they’ve been getting dumplings from our company for a few years since they found our company. They suddenly canceled the contract this time, saying that it was an agreement between the representatives. So, I asked who the representatives were and what kind of agreement the representative did not know could be… And then the name, Invictus Investment came up…”

“Ha…” I laughed for a moment because I was dumbfounded. But I soon hardened my voice. President Woo Hae-jin was serious, and I could not laugh. “How much in sales do you deliver to that Elmart?”

“It’s about seven percent, if we add the Elmarts nationwide and its small supermarkets.”

‘They are trying to abuse their power.’ I told him, thinking so. “… yes. Don’t worry too much, and just calm down and try to cushion the impact by securing online shopping or sales channels. I’ll try to do something about it.”

“Oh, yes, please, Mr. CEO.”

After I finished the phone call, I bit it in, pulling my lower lip.

‘He is doing something worse than I thought. He didn’t seem like that.’ But this wasn’t all. There was a call from Kwon Oh-hyuk, president of OH Entertainment, around 11 a.m.

“Mr. CEO, I… I’ve had a strange experience.”

“What happened?”

“Do you know Nine Tails of Jiwoo Entertainment?”

“Yes, of course.” Nine Tails was a group of girls who were exclusive to Jiwoo Entertainment alone when I was an ordinary office worker.

“The Nine Tails recently signed a school uniform commercial contract and were supposed to stamp it next week. However, I suddenly got a notice that they would cancel the contract. So I asked them why… They tried not to give me an answer, but they finally answered, ‘You should ask your CEO. If you call Invictus Investment and you’ll find out.'”

I asked without further notice. “Is the school uniform company a subsidiary of Suyeon Group?”

“Ah… yes. Winner School Uniform is a brand under the Suyeon Group.”

“… I see.”

“Do you have any idea about this?”

Of course, I had. Tak Mun-su must have ordered the whole group to cut off all contracts with our subsidiaries. I told him calmly, “President Kwon. Listen to me. I think there may be a couple of things like this in the future.”

President Kwon Oh-hyuk seemed quite surprised. “Yes?”

“I can’t tell you everything that’s going on right now, but… anyway, that’s what’s going on. So, if there’s one or two of these things going forward, don’t worry too much, stay calm and be patient.”

“Oh, yes, I see…”

But when he said that, I felt a little uneasy about Kwon’s words. So I said one more word to him. “President Kwon.”

“Yes?”

“You believe me, don’t you?”

“Sure, I do. Well… I’ve been with you for a long time.”

“Yes. Then trust me, and don’t worry too much. I’m not going to go very long on this one. Our Invictus Investment and I are strong.”

At that, the tone of President Kwon Oh-hyuk’s voice became lighter. “Oh, I see. I’ll know and act like that.”

“Yes.”

After the phone conversation, I thought with my fingers tapping on the table. ‘This is happening faster than I thought.’

It was just yesterday that I spoke to Tak Mun-su, and this pressure came in just one day. I could see how well the Suyeon Group was arranged.

‘What a 50-year chaebol it is! It has a great power to control. Even though there are so many companies in it and it is so big… The group runs very well like that.’

Korea’s octopus-style chaebol structure started from the time it was in the military, so it was definitely elaborate. With a small amount of money, it extracted maximum efficiency, gained the influence of the owner, and at the same time the employees would give the owner a profit. That was how it was designed.

‘But I can’t lose, either. If Suyeon’s strengths are in size and connections, my company has strength in money. It has forty-five billion dollars in cash that can be used immediately. It’s hard for Suyeon, or precisely for Tak Mun-su. The Tak family is the owner of Suyeon Group, but not all of it belongs to the Tak family. If I look into the Suyeon Group, they are divided along 30% foreigners, 20% institutional investors, 10% national pension funds, 20% ants, and so on. No matter if they are owners of a hundred twenty billion dollars of assets, there are limits to what they can do, especially since under the current state Tak Woo-kyung is unconscious.

‘All right, let’s start slowly.’ I called in Vice President Jang, as we needed to bring weapons to war.

—

“Are you calling, sir?”

I spoke to him with my hands together on the table, “We have foreign money collected after investing in China, don’t we?”

“Yes, boss.”

“I think we need to exchange the money to Korean won slowly now.”

“Are you trying now? You said that we would hold on to a little bit more for the original foreign exchange gains.”

“That’s what I said. But this time, I think a war is going to happen inside, not outside the country.”

“War…?”

Vice President Jang didn’t know that I had started a war with the Suyeon Group yesterday. I put my hands together and said to him, “It’s war. Call up all the directors. We’ll be a little busy from now on.”