#66 It was Hyeon-seong's face, seen for the first time in a year. Our eyes met in the air.
"What? Why are you just standing there blankly. Sit down. I already ordered."
At Myeong-soo's scolding, I took off my coat, hung it on the hanger, and sat down. Since we hadn't contacted each other after parting like that in Busan, I thought it would be awkward to meet Hyeon-seong.
"Have you been well?"
"Yeah, and you?"
"I'm always the same. I heard you visited my grandma every day? Thank you."
"Mhm."
But it was as natural as if we were people who had just met yesterday. This is what true friends are like. Even if we meet after a long time, there's no sense of awkwardness.
"Save the separated family reunion for later between the two of you. I'm the main character today, you punks."
At Myeong-soo's playful words, all three of us laughed for a while. It felt good to meet up and laugh together after such a long time.
"Myeong-soo. It really starts from now on."
"I know. I have to maintain the grades to be appointed as a prosecutor. I'll have to study until my head splits. I can just study with the other guys."
"Still, you won't be lonely since the guys are there."
"Well, I guess so. Anyway, I'm going to think of myself as dead for the next two years."
"Right."
Myeong-soo pointed at Hyeon-seong, who was silently eating his food.
"That guy is going to stay at my house for a while too. He says he'll help me focus on my studies."
Hyeon-seong nodded his head.
"Have things been sorted out a bit now? Are you still scared of me?"
"Sigh, you're talking nonsense. Since when was Kim Mu-hyeok scary? There are plenty of scary things."
Myeong-soo said something, but I silently waited for Hyeon-seong's answer. Hyeon-seong put down his chopsticks.
"I'm sorry."
"What is there to even be sorry for."
"I understand now. Why you went to such lengths..."
"Then that's enough. What are you going to do now?"
"I'm going to stay at Myeong-soo's house for the time being."
"Are you uncomfortable at all?"
"Yeah. I'm all better."
"Think about it slowly. About what you want to do."
It had already been a year since the accident. Just as Hyeon-seong said, there were no signs of aftereffects. Maybe he just wasn't showing it, but...
"I'd like it if you helped me with my work, but this is just my wish. Just tell me if there's anything you want to do. I'll help you with whatever I can."
"Okay."
"Thanks for taking care of my grandma."
"Stop it. I just went there to feel at peace myself."
It would be comfortable if I could leave work to the trustworthy Hyeon-seong, but he was a friend with too many scars for me to just be greedy.
"Let's just eat."
Along with the food that came out just in time, we had a lot of conversations while recalling memories after a long time. The enjoyable mealtime ended quickly. On the way to Pyeongchang District after parting with my friends.
It was when I was leaning my head against the seat and closing my eyes.
"Boss, are you feeling good? You have a good expression."
I opened my eyes at Section Chief Ma's words. It seemed I was smiling without realizing it.
"It always feels good to meet a friend."
I closed my eyes again and leaned against the seat.
In early 1995, the Japanese yen, which had been maintaining the 100-yen range per dollar, began to rapidly strengthen starting from the Kobe earthquake. Hedge funds in America massively purchased the yen and Japanese government bonds, fueling the yen's strength.
Han Gyeong-yeong also bet on the yen's strength, hiding behind the hedge funds using the funds earned in Mexico in January. Now it was time to bet again. I planned to clear all positions and bet my entire fortune on the yen's weakness instead.
The Japanese foreign exchange futures market was on a different scale from Mexico's. It was large enough that transactions could be executed as much as we wanted. During the Mexico incident, we had to create the products, but there was no need to do that for Japan. — Contract complete. Phew~ It's nerve-wracking.
Are you going to go all-in like this every time?
"Good work. I'll tell you the liquidation timing. Stand by." — Understood.
"Don't worry about it for now, and just prepare to establish a corporation in a tax haven." — Okay.
I hung up the phone. The so-called reverse Plaza Accord. The trend of the strong yen that began with the Plaza Accord in 1985 was hit by the natural disaster of the Kobe earthquake and indiscriminate attacks from hedge funds.
Eventually, the 90-yen line against the dollar collapsed. In the end, Japan reached out to America. At the meeting of G7 economic ministers and central bank governors, they agreed to induce a weaker yen.
And this agreement would eventually become the trigger that sparked the Asian financial crisis. The futures market and options market were literally a zero-sum game where one person dies. If there was no one to accept the contract, it would be useless no matter how much you knew the future.
But right now, the Japanese foreign exchange market was a playground for hedge funds from all over the world. There was no shortage of derivative products for us to consume. The dollar, the key currency, and the yen, which holds the position of the second key currency.
The power struggle between the two would bring me astronomical profits. The reason I first went over to America to invest in Netscape and invest in Steve Jobs was to disguise ourselves as an investment firm that invests in stocks. Of course, those investments also brought me a lot of money, but it couldn't be compared to derivative products.
'It's going well according to plan, but...' I don't know how the future will change because of my actions. However, in order to get Korea into my hands, there was no opportunity other than the IMF crisis.
Even if I could lose my entire fortune, I had to take the gamble. Perhaps because I had already confirmed once in Mexico that the future doesn't change, I wasn't nervous even though it was a much larger amount.
Since I had done the work I needed to do in America, it was now time to do the work in Korea.
"Grandfather, it's Mu-hyeok."
"Come in."
I went straight to Grandfather's study.
"I would like to recover the funds that went out to the Hyeonbo Group."
"Hyeonbo? Why there?"
Grandfather asked as if interested by the sudden remark.
"They have too much debt. They are still continuing to borrow money from banks right now. You either have to get the money back or convert it into stocks and throw it onto the market."
Hyeonbo Group.
It was a conglomerate specialized in construction and manufacturing, centered around Hyeonbo Corporation. Eunmi Apartments, located in Daechi District, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, was also built by them. It was a large corporate group ranked 18th in the business world, but it was an empty shell.
They faced the crisis of the group being dismantled due to the Suseo District housing site preferential treatment scandal, which was famous as the biggest power-related corruption case during the Sixth Republic. It only ended with Chairman Jang stepping down from the front lines of management through his specialty of a bribery offensive, but...
"Chairman Jang is ultimately nothing more and nothing less than a real estate speculator. He has too much greed. Eventually, that will return like a boomerang. I think it is right to recover the funds before then."
Grandfather stared intently at my face and didn't say anything. The rhythmic sound of his fingers tapping the sofa's armrest filled the study. After waiting silently under Grandfather's gaze for a moment, Grandfather soon nodded his head.
"I don't quite understand your words yet, but I will trust you. You take the lead on this matter yourself. Should I lend you Myeong-hun?"
It meant for me to go and recover money from a conglomerate chairman. This was a sort of test. A sense of anticipation could be felt from Grandfather's face as he spoke.
I smiled relaxedly and shook my head.
"No. I will prepare and make the move directly with Section Chief Ma."
Perhaps he liked my answer, because Grandfather called Manager Ha with a smile on his face.
"Hand over all the Hyeonbo bonds to Mu-hyeok."
"Do you mean the Hyeonbo Group?"
"Yes. Hand them all over."
Grandfather looked my way once again.
"Are you sure you don't need Myeong-hun's help?"
"If Manager Ha makes a move, then that wouldn't be me recovering it, would it? The work Manager Ha does is essentially the work Grandfather does. Everyone knows it that way."
"Hahaha. Good, give it a try."
I bowed to Grandfather, who had a satisfied expression, and came outside.
"How is the Hyeonbo Group's financial status?"
"There's no big difference from other conglomerates. If Hyeonbo is in danger, then it is correct to think that all conglomerates are in danger as well."
Inside the study where Mu-hyeok had left. The smile had disappeared from Chairman Cheon's face at some point.
"There must be a reason why that boy Mu-hyeok keeps talking about recovering all the bonds. You said we've recovered most of them from those outside the top 20, right?"
"Yes. We recovered all the funds, but for a few companies, instead of recovering, we bought more convertible bonds."
"I wonder what on earth that boy is thinking."
"Since you're already trusting and leaving it to him, how about you continue to watch over him?"
Chairman Cheon nodded his head, but his brow furrowed. It was already a decided matter, but he couldn't help his feelings of worrying about his grandson.
"The losses aren't that important. A person who constantly runs on success often crumbles from just a single mistake."
"He is someone who always overflows with confidence."
"That's why I'm more worried. If you overflow with confidence, it becomes arrogance. Then eventually, you become haughty."
Chairman Cheon already trusted Mu-hyeok. A successor who hadn't made a wrong judgment even once in the path he had shown so far. He had faith in Mu-hyeok, but he was worried that it might actually turn into poison.
"Keep an eye on him. By the way, what are the movements of the Blue Wind Association?"
"Right now, they probably don't have the leeway to pay attention to us. Since the current president is so single-minded..."
"True, that guy Yong-hyun must be out of his mind right now too."
A hint of a smile lingered in Chairman Cheon's voice. The Blue Wind Association mobilized politicians and bureaucrats to apply pressure, but the president pushed forward with his own stubbornness. It was a state of uproar because of the president, who, not satisfied with just the real-name financial system, had even announced the real-name real estate system this time.
"You've transferred the names for all the real estates, right?"
"We've transferred all the real estates held under name trusts to the Young Master."
"Good job. Eliminate any room for problems to arise later on. Even after I die."
"...Chairman."
Manager Ha looked at him with a complicated gaze. Chuckling, Chairman Cheon waved his hand.
"You punk. I'm not dying yet. There's no need to look at me with those eyes."
"..."
No abnormalities were found in the health checkup a while ago, but Chairman Cheon knew. That his stamina was gradually declining. After sending Manager Ha out, Chairman Cheon looked out the window and muttered.
"Mi-sook, I'm sorry. Your father will come visit soon."
After receiving the bonds and financial statements from Manager Ha, I began to review them. I had separately entrusted Section Chief Ma with a background check. There were no major issues on the financial statements.
The debt ratio was quite high, but this level was not much different from other conglomerates. However, I knew that their insides were rotting as much as they could rot. They had a lot of short-term loans.
A corporate group that was a mass of bad debt, ready to collapse exactly as it is if they failed to block it just once. The bonds Grandfather held were convertible bonds of the unlisted Hyeonbo Corporation. If I used this and pushed things a bit, I could swallow the Hyeonbo Group, but...
'There's no real need to do that.' Later on, much more appetizing companies would come out on the market, so I didn't want to go out of my way to eat such a poisoned apple.
"Excessive financial costs are definitely occurring due to excessive external borrowing. They are continuing to get loans by giving bribes, but I don't know how long that will last."
After hearing Section Chief Ma's report, it became even clearer. Now it was time to go settle the score.
"Let's go. To collect the money."
The headquarters of the conglomerate ranked 18th in the business world, which we arrived at under Section Chief Ma's guidance, was in a truly absurd place. It was a fact I simply hadn't known in the past.
"Are you sure this is the right place?"
Looking up at the commercial building of Eunmi Apartments, I asked with a dumbfounded feeling.
"Yes."
The answer that came back did not change. A hollow laugh slipped out.
"This guy is really not an ordinary person."
To think that the Hyeonbo Group headquarters was located on the third floor of an apartment commercial building.
"This won't be easy."
It was something that brought out an automatic sigh.
The End.