The Largest Shareholder
When practice ended, I decided to drive Jack back. He was staying in the staff quarters, and we were headed the same way in any case, so it was no trouble. The ride gave us time for a long talk.
"Get your uniform sorted?"
At the question I rubbed my earlobe. Around the time I started middle school I had been living in such a blur that I forgot the uniform entirely. Grandfather had arranged it then, if I remembered right.
"Did you?"
"No. Not yet."
So I wasn't late after all. That was a relief.
"There's a tailor that handles nothing but Royal School dress. Off-the-rack would be easy enough, but every new student has to have theirs made. I've been putting it off. It's a nuisance."
No ready-made uniforms at all.
"That must cost a fortune."
"Have all four seasons made and it'll clear a working man's yearly salary without any trouble."
Even for a school crawling with rich children. A full year's pay, just to buy a uniform. It was so absurd I nearly laughed.
"They take a good while to make, too. It's the fashion to embroider a family crest, or a title, that sort of thing."
Jack pointed to the left side of his chest. A jacket has that pocket meant for a handkerchief. Gold-thread embroidery, he meant, right there.
"If you're Korean nobility... shouldn't you have something like that put on too?"
"I told you. I'm not nobility."
"Heh heh."
"What about you, then? Shouldn't you at least have your father's party stitched on?"
"Don't say something awful."
"Heh heh heh."
Perhaps because the subject had come up, he was quick to offer an opinion of his own.
"If the rules don't forbid it, there is something I'd like on mine."
I looked at him.
"I want parachute wings. Probably too much to ask."
As if they would ever allow that.
"I've jumped out of a plane more than ten times. I was still a student, so an instructor was always with me, but still."
What kind of life had this boy been living? Trying to imagine it would only wear me out. Better to change the subject, and quickly.
"When do you go back to London?"
"Tomorrow night."
"It's already come around to that?"
"You said you haven't even had your uniform made. Shouldn't you get a move on too?"
I let out a vague hum.
"Since it came up, how about we go together?"
"Together?"
"Yeah. You found me a place to stay and showed me around. The least I can do is scare up a plane ticket."
The moment he said it, he seemed to catch himself.
"You... you don't fly first class, do you?"
I had no wish to trample his innocence, if innocence was even the word.
"Ha ha."
In place of an answer, that awkward little laugh was all I managed.
The next morning was an ordinary meal, the whole family gathered. Once we had eaten, I meant to tell them.
I think I ought to leave for Britain a little earlier than planned.
We were going anyway. It was only a matter of pulling the date forward a few days. They won't object. The meal was just drawing to a close when it happened.
"Father."
For some reason my father, usually so taciturn, opened his mouth with care.
"Next year's results look as if they'll be quite good."
"They had better be."
"...Sir?"
"The greatest investment in our history went into it. Bringing home the finest result is only what's due, isn't it?"
It would have been a fine moment for a simple you worked hard. Grandfather was always stingy with praise. Father, for his part, did not seem to have expected anything else.
"I mention it only because we've begun to see results on the semiconductor side..."
Grandfather waited.
"I would like to try growing the automobile business."
"Oh? Had a little fun with semiconductors, and now you think cars won't even amount to work?"
He needled him, but he was waiting for the next words. Perhaps that was why Father went on with a confident face.
"The further automotive technology advances, the greater our dependence on the ECU becomes."
The ECU—the electronic control unit, by another name. The part that keeps an engine at its best, a car's brain. The core of that brain was the semiconductor, precisely the ground where Hyeon-gang was strongest.
"The more important the ECU becomes, the closer a car comes to being an electronic product. Which is to say that Hyeon-gang, too, can build an excellent car."
He must have turned it over for a long time. The words came without a hitch.
"As environmental problems grow more pressing, what we'll need is not a faster engine but a more efficient one. In the end, an engine's efficiency will be decided by making it lighter and by setting the ECU properly. That, without question, is our engineers' particular field..."
Right then, Grandfather's eyes turned to me.
"Jihun. What do you think?"
The two of them had been talking. Why ask me?
"You're the largest shareholder in the semiconductors, aren't you?"
I said nothing.
"Who else at this table has a stake to match yours?"
I wanted to abstain. A groan caught in my throat. Grandfather's face said he was not going to let it pass.
I looked quietly toward my father.
No need to take my side. Say what you actually think.
His eyes seemed to tell me exactly that.
What I think...
If Father took the headache called Hyeon-gang Motors off my hands, my own life would be easier, and better for it. But a few years from now, in the wake of the IMF, Hyeon-gang Motors would file for court receivership, and after that would come the path to closure. How many people would lose their livelihoods then? I could hardly speak only to suit myself.
I chose my words as carefully as I could, and then I spoke.
"You're right, Father. The development of engine technology ended long ago. These days the most anyone does is change the settings. Cars like that, we could make as many as we pleased."
They must have thought the real opinion was still to come. Both of them waited, calm, for whatever I would say next.
"But that is all. Once the technology has finished advancing, we have no way whatsoever to beat the great German marques. However hard we try, we cannot overcome the heritage they have built. All that remains is making compact cars and aiming at a niche, and even then..."
I shook my head and went on.
"Suppose we happened to succeed. Thinking of the company's image, I don't believe it's a strategy worth recommending."
And why would it be? Even if we succeeded with compact cars in the American and European markets, when people thought of Hyeon-gang they would remember a company that made cheap cars.
A son sitting in judgment on his father's plan, merely because he happened to be a shareholder—it was not a handsome picture. But if I thought of what would follow the IMF, then the right thing was to give my view without letting go of courtesy.
Fortunately, Father's expression was not a bad one. Grandfather's was much the same.
"Jongin."
"Yes, Father."
"A great sum went into semiconductors, I'll grant. But you brought it up to a proper altitude, and the results are real."
Father went still.
"What's more, you were the one who said we ought to grow them. That a large share of the credit is yours, Jongin, is plain fact."
"It isn't, Father..."
"Even so."
Father waited.
"Is it all right to go glancing off at other things this early?"
It was not the tone of a scolding, but Father bowed his head all the same.
"When a man is mad for his work, he lies down to sleep and the business is still the only thing that comes to him."
"I'm sorry, Father. I won't let it go to my head. I'll be careful in everything."
As if he did not dislike the situation, Grandfather picked up his spoon again.
After the meal, I went quietly to my father's room.
Knock, knock.
The door was open, but I knocked lightly all the same.
"Are you busy?"
Seeing me, he smiled a little.
"What is it? Fretting over what you said earlier?"
"A little, yes."
Largest shareholder or not, it had ended up looking as though a son had stepped forward to oppose his father's work. Apologizing was only decent. But his reaction was different.
"Your grandfather was right. The largest shareholder has rights. I skipped over that and went straight to asking the Chairman, so the order was wrong."
Father was the head of Hyeon-gang Electronics. Semiconductors were producing results, but for now the company was still only a major affiliate. If he wished, he sat where he could force through any decision at all. He showed no intention of doing so.
"Speaking your mind as the major shareholder is a right you're entitled to, and here you come scurrying after me because you feel bad."
"I'm sorry."
"I made my own son say he was sorry... If anything, I'm the one who ought to apologize."
He wore that usual gentle smile. Today's business was not worth dwelling on. That was what he meant. In his eyes I read a confidence with deep roots. Perhaps it was only because he had just set semiconductors on their course, but even if the automobile business were put off, he did not seem to mind.
That's a relief.
I had barely let the breath out when he spoke.
"Anyway. You'll have to leave for Britain soon, won't you?"
"Ah, about that..."
I told him I thought the schedule ought to be moved up. There was a great deal to prepare, and more than anything, going with a friend would probably help me settle in.
"If it's all right with you... I was thinking of taking a flight tonight."
"Do you have a ticket?"
"If you'll allow it, I'll look into one right away."
The moment the answer left me, he picked up the receiver.
"Would you look into a flight to London for tonight?"
Finding a ticket a few hours out is never easy. Japan, perhaps. Britain—London—even less so. Of course, there are exceptions.
"Good. Two seats, first class, please."
He hung up and turned to me.
"It's British Airways. Will that do?"
"Of course."
"All right. Eight o'clock."
At that, I bowed my head.
"Thank you, Father."
"You've studied enough. Go and enjoy yourself."
"I'm a filial son, so I'll do exactly as I'm told."
"Only the part about not studying?"
"Yes, Dad."
Perhaps the word Dad pleased him. He came toward me in long strides. Leave today, and who knew when we would see each other again. He must have meant to pull me into a tight embrace, but up close my size was considerable. At this rate, rather than hugging me, he would be the one being hugged. He looked flustered. Ahem.
"How tall are you?"
"When I measured last year, a hundred and seventy-eight centimeters."
"And now?"
"I've probably grown another five, haven't I?"
And so, instead of an embrace, Father gave my shoulder a quiet pat.