The Butterfly's Dream (2)
Lee Jaseung returned to reality. As if on cue, Seo Minjae arrived.
“Product design’s all done. Want to take a look?”
“Sure.”
A languid smile on his face, Lee Jaseung accepted the documents. He looked to be in excellent spirits.
Seo Minjae now understood the meaning of that smile. It meant everything was unfolding exactly according to plan.
Seo Minjae took a sip of coffee and began to explain.
“I structured it using embedded leverage, just like you said. On the surface it looks like a safe product with tenfold leverage, but in reality a fiftyfold leverage engine is running underneath. Packaged clean enough that even the financial authorities won’t bat an eye.”
“Yield simulation?”
“If the yen drops twenty percent, the return is one thousand percent. To hit the five trillion won you’re targeting, you’ll need at least five hundred billion in principal.”
The market was ready. The product was finished.
All that remained was to raise the money.
Jaseung felt the anticipation build.
If we pull in the exporters as well, just how far will the yen fall?
“Shall we start raising capital in earnest?”
“How much?”
“Two trillion won.”
“Pffft!”
Seo Minjae nearly sprayed the coffee he had just sipped. Jaseung fixed him with a murderous glare that promised death if so much as a single droplet landed on the desk.
Seo Minjae grabbed a tissue and wiped his mouth.
“Hey, hey—none of it hit. And the fault’s entirely yours, by the way. Two trillion at fiftyfold leverage? That’s a hundred trillion in actual exposure!”
“Why the shock? The dollar-yen market turns over a thousand trillion a day. The position we’d take is barely ten percent of daily volume.”
Seo Minjae stared at him in disbelief.
“Is that even a valid comparison? People normally compare funds to other funds. Who the hell compares a fund to the entire foreign-exchange market?”
Jaseung pretended not to hear.
Again. Just ignore any logic that works against you.
Seo Minjae decided to start with the practical problem.
“Fine, let’s say we build a two-trillion fund. How exactly do you raise two trillion? High-net-worth individuals top out at maybe ten billion. Even if every single one of them puts in the maximum ten billion, you’d still need two hundred of them.”
He was right.
Han Juhyeong borrowing five hundred billion against his Hanyeong Auto shares, Gil Donggyu dumping a full trillion because he needed cash yesterday—those had been exceptional cases.
To raise two trillion, institutions would have to move.
Corporations that could wire several hundred billion in a single transfer.
“That’s why I’m bringing in the exporters. The stated purpose of this fund is currency hedging.”
“A currency-hedge fund, huh.”
The pretext was airtight.
A short position.
It had become the very symbol of the speculator, yet for exporters it was simply ordinary risk management.
Exporting was, at its core, a long foreign-currency position; you had to balance it with shorts.
And when exchange rates were riding a roller coaster the way they were now, companies were more than happy to outsource the job to an external manager.
Of course, because the purpose was “risk management,” the normal approach was conservative.
“What kind of lunatic company would green-light leverage like this for a hedge? Fiftyfold? It’ll never even clear the audit committee.”
“That’s why we dressed it up to look safe.”
“…….”
In a forex market where hundredfold and two-hundredfold leverage was commonplace, they had deliberately cut it to fifty, wrapped it in a structured product, and then further reduced the documented leverage to roughly ten times.
All of it for the companies that still had to convince their audit committees and boards.
“We’ve been considerate enough, don’t you think?”
Seo Minjae muttered in pure disbelief.
“I almost felt moved for a second there.”
Hanyeong Auto Group.
Hanyeong Auto was currently preparing a massive project that would decide the fate of the entire group.
The Xenon Project.
An ambitious plan to spin the premium sedan lineup off into an independent brand called Xenon and challenge the luxury market head-on.
True to form, Han Juhyeong—who charged into any new business like a bull—stepped forward.
“Father, let me take the Xenon Project!”
“No.”
Chairman Han didn’t even look up as he refused. He had clearly expected this.
“Why not? I’ve been taking the management lessons seriously. Ever since I became CEO of Hanyeong Steel I’ve pushed into the specialty-steel market, grown our share by fifteen percent, and kept operating margins rising. You saw this quarter’s numbers, right?”
“This is a project the entire Hanyeong Auto Group will throw itself into. Engines, design, marketing—every affiliate will be fully mobilized. Do you really think you can take the helm? It’s still too big for you.”
“I can do it. The core of the Xenon Project is body weight reduction anyway. That means Hanyeong Steel’s new materials technology is absolutely essential. I’ve already met with the research team and—”
Juhyeong had prepared thoroughly. His argument actually held water, and the chairman nodded.
“If you want it that badly, I’ll let you join the project.”
“Really?”
Juhyeong’s face lit up.
“As CEO of Hanyeong Steel, in a supporting role only.”
“Father!”
Father and son both froze mid-argument. A strange sense of déjà vu washed over them.
I’ve had this exact conversation before…
During the Yuseong Steel acquisition this kid also insisted he would handle it himself…
At that precise moment—
Vrrr!
Juhyeong’s phone buzzed. It was Lee Jaseung.
Lee Jaseung called Han Juhyeong first.
As a Black member, Juhyeong received investment opportunities ahead of everyone else; more importantly, Hanyeong Auto competed head-to-head with Japanese automakers.
No company would react more sensitively to a yen decline, making him the perfect anchor investor.
But Jaseung’s real objective lay elsewhere.
Hanyeong Auto is pushing the Xenon Project.
They intended to launch Xenon as a premium brand.
What if we make AI technology the key differentiator at launch?
There was a reason Jaseung had acquired DeepMind.
He could never own Hanyeong Auto outright, yet as the indispensable AI technology partner he could still occupy a critical axis.
That was the power of a network.
You didn’t need to own everything. Secure one vital connection point and your influence radiated through the entire system.
Which means I need to embed myself as strategic advisor to the Xenon Project.
Fortunately, Juhyeong himself was desperate to command the project. The moment he arrived at Makers he flopped onto a lounge sofa and heaved dramatic sighs.
“I’ve run Hanyeong Steel steadily for two whole years and Father still doesn’t trust me.”
“Can you blame him?”
“……Hey.”
Jaseung looked at him with pure pity.
“Expanding a company you inherited is the bare minimum. Xenon is a new business. You’re supposed to create something from nothing and carve out a premium market. Have you ever actually delivered results on a green-field project like that?”
Juhyeong wilted and began reviewing his own track record.
The autonomous-driving startup he had acquired in college and then tanked. The digital business he had tried to push right after joining Hanyeong Auto, only to watch it crash and burn.
“……No. So that’s why the old man doesn’t trust me?”
“He may not trust you yet, but deep down the chairman wants you to take operational control.”
“Seriously?”
“The narrative is perfect. The heir who was CEO of Hanyeong Steel takes full field command of a major project, posts results, then gets promoted to Hanyeong Auto headquarters. That’s the classic succession path, isn’t it?”
“Well, it is the classic path, but…”
It was also an extremely difficult path.
Taking operational command of the Xenon Project while still at Hanyeong Steel, then succeeding so spectacularly that he earned a transfer to Hanyeong Auto proper—neither step happened through mere seniority.
The light died in Juhyeong’s eyes again.
“So what do I do? Start stacking small wins at Hanyeong Steel and climb from there?”
“How long do you think that would take? You need one big score that blows the doors open.”
“A big score?”
The implication that a method existed reignited the spark in Juhyeong’s eyes.
Right. I have Lee Jaseung!
That was Juhyeong’s personal creed.
If life presented a problem, it was because you didn’t have enough money.
If Hanyeong Auto lacked a technology, buy the company that owned it. If your own brain lacked capacity, hire someone brilliant.
That’s why I paid three hundred billion to become a Black member!
“You know something, don’t you? What’s the big score?”
The corner of Jaseung’s mouth lifted.
“You know Prime Minister Sato’s election is changing monetary policy, right?”
“Satonomics, yeah? The whole group’s paying attention to that.”
Hanyeong Auto competed with Japanese cars in the North American market.
In a landscape dominated by Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, Hanyeong Auto had been clawing for every inch of share.
Satonomics, however, would hand Japanese exporters a massive competitive advantage.
If the yen depreciated?
If a thirty-thousand-dollar Japanese car suddenly became twenty-seven thousand?
Where would consumers flock?
Hanyeong Auto’s North American sales would collapse overnight.
“Finance said they’re going to focus on currency hedging this time.”
“Are they preparing for a twenty-percent drop scenario?”
“Huh? Twenty percent? You think it’ll fall that far?”
Jaseung laid out the same logic he had given Seo Minjae. Even to Juhyeong it sounded plausible. That was exactly the problem.
If it really drops twenty percent, ordinary hedges won’t cover it…
Most companies only hedged against five-percent swings.
There was no reason to constantly prepare for an extreme twenty-percent scenario.
Then Jaseung casually let another line drop.
“It’s not just Hanyeong Auto that gets hit. Hanyeong Steel too.”
“Gah!”
Juhyeong was CEO of Hanyeong Steel.
Its core business was specialty steel—another market where Japan was the direct competitor.
If Japanese makers’ prices suddenly dropped twenty percent overnight?
He could already picture the earnings massacre.
The light in Juhyeong’s eyes died once more.
“Damn it. If Hanyeong Steel’s numbers tank, my position gets even weaker, doesn’t it? The Xenon Project will be dead in the water.”
“No. This is the opportunity. The chance for you to become operational head of the Xenon Project.”
“This? How?”
Jaseung smiled.
He was taking the bait beautifully. Through this crisis Jaseung planned to pull the entire Hanyeong Auto Group in as a client while simultaneously locking himself in as the core technology partner for Xenon.
“This requires a group-level integrated response.”
“Integrated response?”
“Think about it. Hanyeong Auto takes a hit. Hanyeong Steel takes a hit. You’ll also need a financial affiliate to backstop everything. So you form a group-wide task force and you become its leader.”
Juhyeong’s ears pricked up.
“Step forward as the leader who steers the group through crisis?”
“Then leverage that experience straight into the Xenon Project.”
The idea was getting more attractive by the second.
It actually sounds solid!
Succeed at a small group-level project, then graduate to the big group-level project.
A crisis-response project should be easy enough to win!
Especially since Lee Jaseung had suggested it!
Jaseung never floated ideas without a method already prepared.
Eyes bright again, Juhyeong asked,
“So how do we actually respond to the crisis? We can’t stop the exchange rate from falling. If it really drops twenty percent like you say, earnings will tank immediately—people will just start questioning my leadership.”
Jaseung nodded.
For once, a valid point.
“That’s why you start with a ‘Quick Win’ strategy that delivers fast results and builds trust, then move into the medium- and long-term strategy.”
“Fast results?”
“Cover the operating losses with financial gains. Hedge currency aggressively.”
Exporters maintained trading desks precisely to manage exchange-rate risk.
But that was pure risk management—defensive, designed to minimize losses, not to make money.
And he’s telling me to turn it into financial profit?
Even Juhyeong understood now.
“You crazy bastard! That’s currency speculation!”
“Of course it can’t look like currency speculation. That’s why the medium- and long-term strategy exists.”
Yes. The medium- and long-term strategy.
That phrase alone sounded strategic and impressive.
“What’s the strategy?”
“Eliminate the root cause of the problem.”
“Eliminate… the root cause?”
Juhyeong blinked and tilted his head.
What was the root cause again? The yen falling. And the cause of the yen falling was… wait… surely not…?
“We eliminate Satonomics.”
“……You absolute maniac!”
This work is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, place names, and events appearing herein are entirely fictional and bear no relation to any real persons or entities. Specialized knowledge presented has been reconstructed and adapted for narrative purposes and may differ from actual information.