Episode 3: Regression and……
“…Just as I have stated, inheriting the late former chairman’s will, I will devote and dedicate my all so that our Hanguk Jeonseon may grow into the greatest enterprise in the Republic of Korea, one that all envy. Thank you.”
[Clap, clap, clap, clap!]
When I came to my senses, thunderous applause was echoing out.
What? Where is this? I had clearly fallen into despair, closed up the cafe, and fallen asleep inside completely drunk, but this isn’t my cafe!
Looking around, countless people sitting in suits. It was a terribly familiar place.
This is… the Hanguk Jeonseon Grand Auditorium?
“Hyung? Why are you looking around like that? Are you looking for someone?”
Moreover, the person speaking to me from right beside me was Seyong! And a young Seyong who looked barely twenty, still awkward in a suit!
What on earth is going on?
I hurriedly turned my head to look at the podium again, and Iseongho’s figure came into view, bowing repeatedly while receiving a barrage of applause.
Mother, wearing a beautiful hanbok, sat in a chair prepared beside him, and on the wall behind the podium hung a large banner.
[Congratulations on Chairwoman Song Oksun’s Inauguration!]
The date written on the banner was 2004!
Mother’s inauguration ceremony as chairman in 2004! And that bastard Iseongho’s inauguration ceremony as president! The clock in my head rewound a full eighteen years.
That’s right! It was at this very place that I had firmly resolved.
To quickly accumulate experience in the company, receive the assistance of Iseongho standing there in front, and make our company the greatest enterprise.
It truly makes no sense and is unbelievable, but if this isn’t a dream, then I have returned to the past, rewinding eighteen years of time.
Is this place where I’m sitting now a dream? Or reality?
Is it a projection of the lingering attachments I couldn’t let go of, wandering lost?
Or is it the final chance given by God to untie the wrong knots?
Glaring at Iseongho, standing on the podium and smiling brightly, I bit my tongue firmly with a desperate heart. A stinging pain and a fishy taste of blood spread through my mouth.
Yes, this isn’t a dream, is it? I don’t know how it happened, but I’ve been given another chance.
If so, I will never let this chance slip away again.
Didn’t they say the God of Opportunity has long bangs, a bald back of the head, and wings on his feet?
The long bangs are so you cannot immediately recognize him, but if you do discover him, you can grab him easily; the bald back of the head is so that once he passes by, you can never catch him again.
And because he has wings on his feet, he disappears as quickly as possible once he passes.
Yes, I can see the God of Opportunity flickering before me.
He hasn’t passed me by yet.
Now what I must do is snatch those bangs before he passes me by.
It would have been much better if it were before Father passed away, but this is still before Iseongho commits his tyranny. I will definitely block him and protect the company.
And just as I resolved eighteen years ago, I will raise Hanguk Jeonseon into the greatest company.
With my own strength, not with Iseongho’s help!
“Hyung? Why are you glaring at that mister like that? Did something happen between you two without me knowing?”
Seyong asks cautiously with a worried voice.
Seyong was close to Iseongho. No, at this point in time, it’s right to say our whole family was close to Iseongho.
Iseongho had faithfully worked for twenty years as Father’s chief secretary and closest aide, so naturally, there were countless points of contact with our family.
In private, we even called him uncle.
Even if I told Seyong or Mother now that Iseongho would betray our family in the future, they naturally wouldn’t believe me.
If I said I regressed from the future, they’d seriously make an appointment with a psychiatrist.
Saying it was because the mental shock from Father’s sudden death was too great.
“Ah… I just suddenly thought of Father who passed away. Since neither Mother nor I have much experience, I was worrying about our group’s future, and my face must have become serious without me realizing.”
“Hyung…….”
“Don’t worry too much. Everything will be fine. You just study hard, finish your studies abroad quickly, and come back to the company to help me and Mother. At least I’m fortunate I already served in the military; if I were in the army right now……. Anyway, I’ll hurry as much as possible and graduate quickly next year to join the company.”
I have to enter the company quickly to keep Iseongho in check. There’s a limit to what I can do as a university student…….
“Don’t worry, Hyung. I’ll work hard too. I’ll study hard and make tons of connections in America before coming back, so look forward to it. Hyung, I’m going to Wharton School~ You know, super elite?”
By my standards, it had been so long, and I was so happy to see Seyong talking so familiarly like this that I unknowingly ruffled his hair.
In reality, it was my younger brother whom I hadn’t seen in nine years. Moreover, his last appearance had been full of resentment, so it was even more endearing.
While receiving Seyong’s complaints about being treated like a child at his age with a smile, Mother and Iseongho, who had finished the inauguration ceremony, approached us before I knew it.
Stay calm. Stay calm. He hasn’t done anything yet.
Right now, he is a capable and promising new president.
If I pick a fight rashly, it will only hurt my reputation, and my position, still too young, will become precarious.
“Congratulations, Mother. No, Chairman. President, congratulations as well. I look forward to your guidance.”
Was my voice trembling by any chance? Was the barely formed smile awkward or natural?
“Why so stiff with Chairman and President? Call me comfortably in private. Seho, you need to graduate quickly and take over the company. This mother bears such a heavy burden. It’s only thanks to President Iseongho; if I were alone, it would have been truly dizzying.”
“Seho, you’ve been famous for being bright since childhood, so if you enter the company and accumulate a little experience, you’ll become an excellent manager. I’ll merely serve as a stepping stone until then.”
Seeing Iseongho’s detestable appearance, chuckling with a kind smile as if to say, “I have no greed whatsoever,” I couldn’t help but smile back on the outside.
“What are you saying? I’m only twenty-three and haven’t even graduated yet. Uncle will have to help me a lot.”
“That’s right. Please help our Seho for a long, long time, just as you did for my husband. I only trust President Iseongho.”
“Chairman, I will do my best. Please don’t worry.”
While on the surface a harmonious conversation flowed, I cautiously requested a private audience with Iseongho and Mother.
“Mother, and Uncle, I have something urgent I must tell you both.”
“Oh? What does my son want to say? Hoohut… Then let’s talk in the chairman’s office.”
“Yes, Chairman. I will escort you. Let’s go.”
Iseongho walked proudly ahead toward the chairman’s office. From today, he is the de facto number one of Hanguk Jeonseon.
* * *
“Yes, Seho. What is it you want to say? There are only three of us here, so speak candidly.”
Mother asked with a benevolent smile, as always.
On Iseongho’s face, curiosity was evident, as if wondering what this guy would say.
Curious? Though I’m a twenty-three-year-old brat, I’m still the company’s majority shareholder.
I need to remind Iseongho of that fact at least once.
“No matter how much I’m the majority shareholder, I know it’s not right for me, who isn’t officially affiliated with the company and am still just a college student, to meddle in company affairs like this, but still, something feels uneasy.”
“Uneasy? What do you mean?”
“The year before last, you acquired seventy-five percent of Deokyu Resort for 147 billion won, and this year, you purchased thirty-eight percent of SBU, an underwear company, for thirty-five billion won, but both seem to be companies largely unrelated to our group’s main business.”
“Seho, you must be saying this because you’re still young, but the Deokyu Resort acquisition has its reasons. It was decided after much deliberation by the former chairman. SBU Group invested so heavily in Deokyu Resort over ten years that they nearly went bankrupt, so the facility investment is well in place. One hundred forty-seven billion is truly a bargain. And when the five-day workweek is fully implemented starting next year, demand for weekend leisure will be enormous. Deokyu Resort is top-class domestically, so wouldn’t it benefit from that?”
“That’s not all. I heard through sources tied to the National Assembly and government that next year the government will select various enterprise cities, ease many regulations, and provide all kinds of support. It’s reliable information. The grand goal is to attract government investment this time and develop the Mount Deokyu area where Deokyu Resort is located, and all of Muju, into a tourism-leisure enterprise city. Like Toyotashi in Japan. It was the former chairman’s dream.”
Muju tourism-leisure enterprise city……. The dream was as grand as Iseongho described, but in the end, it couldn’t even get started and was scuttled.
Our company, which exhausted all its capabilities by recklessly pursuing excessive mergers and acquisitions, and was hit by the fatal blow of the 2008 financial crisis, couldn’t bear the business costs of 1.5 trillion won.
Only by preparing well from now can we endure the terribly difficult year of 2008 and leap forward.
“Uncle, do you remember Grandfather’s last will?”
“I know it well. Don’t dabble in politics. Don’t invest in things unrelated to the main business, like real estate investment. Who among Hanguk Jeonseon employees doesn’t know that? But Seho, the world has changed. Our company’s main business, the wire industry, is now a declining industry. We must prepare for the future. Did the former chairman acquire Deokyu Resort because he forgot the founder chairman’s last will? No. It was to avoid becoming obsolete and to advance further. You know well that the former chairman’s goal was to make Korea’s Berkshire Hathaway, don’t you? SBU was also acquired from a business diversification perspective. It has brand value called ‘Churai,’ doesn’t it?”
His words flowed as smoothly as water, but if he was going to acquire something anyway, he should have bought a company that would really make money.
Those two are complete failures in that regard.
“If Deokyu Resort is preliminary work for a tourism-leisure enterprise city, then eventually you’ll have to acquire a construction company for that project, right? We’re a wire company and have absolutely no experience in construction; I’m worried that continuing like this will put the cart before the horse.”
“Don’t worry. The management strategy team is where all the brains of the group are gathered. They’re preparing while predicting and calculating all risk factors.”
Predicting everything, my foot. It must have been hard work to consistently pick only the worst decisions like that.
From my perspective, knowing the future, it was maddening.
“Yes, Seho. Wouldn’t your late father have agonized over and decided this? Isn’t President Iseongho more of an expert in these matters? I understand your worries, but trust President Iseongho and go along. When you graduate next year and enter the company, talk a lot with him.”
Mother, who had been quietly watching because she didn’t know much about the acquisition matters, chimed in as well.
As expected, Mother at this point is a firm supporter of Iseongho.
Deokyu Resort and SBU can somehow be disposed of later, and they aren’t big losses, so there is no need to go deeper here.
It is a success as long as I can give the impression that I don’t prefer mergers and acquisitions.
Before proceeding with anything in the future, he will try to persuade me first, so I can buy time.
The real game begins in 2007, three years from now.
From then on, I’ll really have to stake my life to stop him.
“Yes, I understand, Mother. Uncle, you know I’m not saying you did anything wrong, right? There’s Grandfather’s last will, and Father passed away, and the company is still chaotic, so I just thought fund management is more important than excessive expansion. Please think of it as youthful immaturity.”
“I understand well. Don’t worry; I won’t misunderstand. You’re the majority shareholder now, and you’re already so interested in company affairs—how reassuring. I’ll handle company matters carefully from now on, so don’t worry. The Chairman is here, too.”
“Ah, right. Mother and Uncle, by the way.”
Something far more important remains.
“Before Father passed away earlier this year, I had a drink with him and heard about the group’s slush fund. He said I should know about these things too, now that I’ve grown up.”
Iseongho, where is our group’s slush fund! Hand it over!