Private Equity Fund
Consulting.
It was part of the private equity work.
Literally just a part of it, that is.
The main purpose was never to save the restaurant. It was to steer the flow of money exactly where I wanted it to go.
"Has anything changed in the business environment?"
"It's going well! Almost too well, to the point that it's becoming a problem…"
"What kind of problem?"
"The number of Tokyo Pocha locations shutting down keeps climbing. We're reaping the windfall benefits from that."
Same as investing. Manipulating an individual stock is only ever a fragment of the larger movement.
Well, of course it would turn out that way.
I was meeting again with Baek Hwa-seon, the representative of Food Market. These things never resolve overnight. Post-event follow-up. Even if a place has a few good days, a few weeks later restaurant work can still go either way.
"And lately everyone's raising prices…"
"That was inevitable."
"Yes. Cost increases are the biggest topic in the industry right now. Everyone was watching each other, but once one or two raised prices, the rest started following."
It was going well. No—it couldn't possibly fail. I wasn't some random restaurant consultant.
I factor in the entire economic climate when I do this.
PPI is the price index producers feel. It serves as a leading indicator for CPI. Producers were already feeling the pressure. Labor costs were up. Raw material prices were up.
"With the exchange rate collapsing on top of everything, they say they have no choice."
"The real question is whether they can pass that on to the consumer."
"Exactly! It almost became a real headache."
They would pass it on to the consumer. That was the process by which CPI—the price index consumers feel—rises.
Then consumers lock their wallets shut.
It was also the process by which a recession arrives. The economy is connected like interlocking gears. I had turned those gears by force. Tokyo Pocha's price hikes had rippled out to the surrounding shops.
"Every place around us raised prices, so as a counter-effect we've started looking cheap by comparison."
"And you're still doing unlimited refills."
"Yes! Lately we're even trending on social media as a good place for company dinners."
While consumer sentiment was freezing over, Kotolizake had become an excellent alternative. At the very least, it would not go under.
A place that should have gone under, really.
A premium izakaya. It was not a business suited to the current economy. Without serious competitive strength, it was destined to collapse. He knew that. From the first meeting, the CEO had already been thinking about pruning underperforming branches.
"So for now we plan to keep the current pricing policy, including the unlimited refills."
"You should."
"There was some internal debate about whether it would damage the premium image. But the consensus was that this isn't the time to be picky about hot rice versus cold rice."
"Good."
Work only has value when someone recognizes it. Even a goose that lays golden eggs is just a goose to someone who doesn't understand.
Like the companies that tried to work me for a mere salary.
By that measure, he was scoring a passing grade. He understood, at least a little, how important and valuable this job was.
"Shall we get to the real point, then?"
"Excuse me?"
"I've already been looking at what comes next. If you haven't, CEO, I'll be a little disappointed."
"Hahaha…"
A little. I hadn't gone to all this trouble just to help one restaurant. From the beginning the real objective had been something else entirely.
Would a private equity fund bother with the restaurant business just to skim a little sales profit?
The return relative to the effort simply wasn't enough. The cost of moving high-caliber talent like this didn't justify it. Compensation. From the start we had signed an incentive contract. A capitalist system where you take what you earn.
"From what I investigated, Hales Food locations are clustered unusually heavily around your franchise sites."
"I… have had that feeling, yes."
"The Tokyo Pocha closures alone will hit them hard. If more bad news piles on, even a solid company would struggle to hold out."
That volume could be scaled exponentially. For example, when a stock you've shorted falls—
Price-difference profit is the least of it.
What if it gets delisted entirely? The gains become enormous. It is a strategy commonly used on Wall Street. U.S. stocks that stay below one dollar for thirty days are delisted. The point is to force that outcome deliberately.
"I'm sure it will."
"You already knew?"
"Ah, yes… I used to be vice president at Hales Food."
You short it so it never climbs back above a dollar. You pin it down for thirty days and detonate it.
The company.
Of course it is difficult. Institutions stake their lives on it. Unlike Korea, short selling is not unlimited. In the real economy, however, the risk can be lowered. When two restaurant chains are competing, the odds of some random third party suddenly inserting itself are extremely low.
"Then you must know their internal situation well."
"Yes…"
"Any lingering affection left?"
"Affection… I'm not even sure myself."
He probably didn't have the luxury for it. Few places expand their business in a climate this bad.
Personal circumstances, is it…
If he put his mind to it, he could smash them thoroughly. There had been an obstacle to moving his heart that way.
"The previous chairman was someone I served with genuine loyalty, but his son…"
"No talent for management?"
"If that were all, I might still be at that company."
Personal circumstances. One thing or another had clearly happened. Circumstances are best left for when you're spreading rice cakes.
No point obsessing over useless things and blowing an investment opportunity.
Affection, especially, is a nuisance. People get ruined co-signing loans for exactly that reason. Fortunately, it wasn't the direction I had been worried about.
"The way they run things now is completely different from the previous generation. That was why I went independent, and some of the staff followed me out."
"A legitimacy contest, then?"
"Pardon?"
"It seems the time has come to decide which side truly carries on the previous chairman's will."
"I-is that so?"
Then he could be persuaded. The other side must have been enough of a bastard for him to leave and start his own company.
And it looks like that was actually the case.
The way Food Market and Hales Food locations sat right next to each other was far too precise to be coincidence. I had investigated in advance. One of the two sides had done it on purpose. If it wasn't the CEO, it was the other side. With a grudge already in the mix, the conversation became easy.
Private equity. It has a completely different business structure from ordinary funds.
Even the market conditions where you make money are different.
Normally you make money in a rising market. Stocks climb more, liquidity is abundant, and profits are easy to take. Private equity is the complete opposite. It is a strange fund that makes money when the economy is at its worst.
"I've confirmed the CEO's location. I'll give you the details after the site survey."
"Yes, I'll be waiting."
It was possible. I wasn't even talking about shorting, strictly speaking. If anything, it was closer to buying the bottom.
The methods are just a little more aggressive.
You use every tool available. Lending money to a distressed company, then calling the loan during a rate-hike cycle. Intentionally collapsing the firm. What I was about to do was similar. Target Hales Food's main funding lines. Among the various franchises, the one I had chosen was—
"Just state your business."
Rachel. I had called her over, and this was the reception I got. She kept her head turned about forty-five degrees, face blank, and snapped the words at me.
Well, of course she'd react like this.
Resentment remained. No—I had made sure it remained. I had given her a memory she would never forget for the rest of her life.
"Why are you so angry?"
"Business."
"Hm?"
"I said state your business only."
She was completely frozen over. Cold air practically dripped off her; her expression said she didn't even want to speak.
She doesn't want to talk, sure.
But the body can be a different story. I coaxed the hopelessly naive Rachel.
"Then shall we step somewhere without people for a moment?"
"Why?"
"It's an extremely important matter. One minute is enough."
"One minute is… fine, I suppose."
I took her hand and led her into a secluded alley. The moment she followed so innocently, I slammed her against the wall.
Thud!
Against the wall. Both arms and legs pinned so she couldn't move. Eyes filled with fear and disgust glared up at me.
"You don't know that if you just trot along after someone like that, bad things happen? Do you?"
"You tricked me!"
"Are you an idiot?"
A flower raised in a greenhouse. Even after I had taught her properly once, she was falling for the exact same method again.
Schlick!
But her mind had not broken. Those tightly sealed lips refused to open no matter what.
Doesn't matter.
I had already imprinted it. In this position she could not refuse the fingertips heading for her most precious place.
Squelch! Squelch!
A body that had already learned pleasure played along with my fingers. Her honest flesh knew.
"Ah! Ah!"
That it felt good. Moans spilled out as sobs, and the mouth that had been locked tight finally opened.
She must still remember her first performer.
Even the woman once called the Witch of Wall Street was still a woman. At this young age, even more so. One round of training had already been completed. She recognized and accepted the pleasure almost immediately, without much movement needed.
Schlick! Schlick!
Those fierce eyes were already collapsing. She might have been shocked by the way her body reacted differently from her mind. She could not refuse my moving tongue and fingers. I freely toyed with her body, frozen in a completely different sense.
She's cute when she stays still.
If only that aggressive, competitive personality could be fixed. I wanted to make her exactly that way.
"That's it."
"Ah!"
"Right here, isn't it? Come on~ surrender your body. You'll feel good soon enough."
Our temperaments were polar opposites. If words wouldn't persuade her, I would make her body listen instead.
Squelch! Squelch!
My fingertips grew stickier. Even under this coercive situation, her flesh honestly felt pleasure. She trembled. Her roughening breath announced that orgasm had sunk into every corner of her body.
"Did you come?"
"……"
"Cute. So cute. Acting all prim while your body is this honest."
A body still riding the afterglow. I held her close and stroked her shimmering golden hair.
She's so cute I want to kill her.
I held her because I felt affection. The various grudges between us still hadn't been fully settled. How much would I have to give back before I felt satisfied? Even I hadn't decided the standard yet.
"What exactly do you want to do with me…"
Rachel burst into tears.