Rehearsal (1)
"Phew."
I finished my quick shower and stared intently at Seo Ji-yeon.
"...I hate you, miss."
Why was she acting like that? I'd personally made her take a shower too. Was it really that hard for a genius like me to understand the mind of an ordinary person...?
"Let's eat first. I usually don't waste time on restaurants like this, but I went all out this time."
"Sigh, fine. Got it..."
Seo Ji-yeon pouted as she cut into her steak, looking a bit down.
"..."
"The food's pretty good."
"...I'm sure it is for you."
"Come on, why so glum? Food not to your taste?"
"Everyone's staring like this—only you'd have an appetite."
The waitstaff were whispering, and some folks at nearby tables were openly gawking... but so what? That's what made it great. People watched me eat and marveled. I wanted a life where just breathing earned me praise and adoration. I wasn't addicted to wielding power like that Soviet secretary-general, to the point of carving away at my own lifeline—but I did want to savor it to the fullest.
I've got to be careful, though.
I'd mentioned that Soviet figure, but really, almost every dictator suffered from power addiction. They grew paranoid, purging anyone too competent... I didn't want to turn into something that ugly.
"Ji-yeon, once we get to the villa, you can crash hard. Hang in there just a bit longer. Or skip school Monday—no big deal. That's what power's for, right?"
This was the sweet spot, exactly this line.
"...Ah. Yeah, got it, miss. But you know I don't skip school. Unlike you, I'm a model student..."
"Sure, but your grades are still lower than mine."
"Th-that's because the competition's insane! And you always borrow my notes to copy..."
Not power-tripping or anything. I paid top dollar for them. About a million won per page... Peanuts to me, but a fortune for her. Come to think of it, among my cousins, only Yoo Sun-jun could blow cash like that without blinking. Made me a little annoyed. I paid her so damn well.
"You know what? Changed my mind. You like movies, right, Ji-yeon?"
"...Sorry! Please, miss... Ugh, if you make me work in Hollywood too, I'll drop dead for sure."
"I'd do the work? You'd handle it? Ridiculous. But you're cute, so I'll let it slide."
"..."
Seo Ji-yeon glanced at me cautiously, then whispered,
"So... why are we going this time?"
I whispered back.
"Yeah, the flight's got some extra time before takeoff, so I figured why not. Wanted to go for a wild drive in the rain."
"Don't copy my whisper! And no more lies—seriously. What kind of lunatic wants to shower naked in public, skip sleep, and do reckless driving in a storm?"
We had dividers up, at least. Still, her taking my half-joke so seriously, piecing together the details like it was legit... kinda hurt.
"That road we passed earlier—know what it was?"
"What the hell was it?"
"Where my dad died. Reckless driving in the rain, just like that. He'd been drinking a bit."
I nonchalantly speared some salad with my fork.
"...Ugh, don't say it like that. Puts me in a tough spot."
Good, feel awkward. I shrugged and flashed a grin.
"Kidding. Like I'd go down some ominous road? Besides, not like I miss the guy."
"..."
"...We guarantee client confidentiality. Yes, of course. CL forced the unfair contract, but keep it secret for now... Hmm, that's how I'll remember it."
Maybe the joke went too far—Seo Ji-yeon's face stiffened, and she quietly ate in silence.
Tick-tock.
After some time, with no sign of her speaking up, I broke the ice.
"Crédit Lyonnais—know it?"
She flinched slightly but nodded.
"Yes? Oh, yeah. You mentioned it clashed with the MGM acquisition last time. Ended up buying somewhere else... France's biggest bank, right?"
"Yep. Bigger than all our Korean banks combined. And Bearings-Berlin Bank's still got a ways to go."
BBB had just finished restructuring and was starting to pull in investor cash. Kept things mostly legal and stable, so growth was steady but modest. Could go aggressive, but I'd leave that to Alpha Fund—BBB was Yoo Sun-jun's baby.
I hadn't spelled out investment policies much, but he'd managed fine.
Seo Ji-yeon eyed me suspiciously.
"Gonna fleece them this time? Hmm... Do we have a bank in France?"
"We do. About a hundred million in clean, laundered cash. Speaking of, you should learn money laundering first..."
Get caught, and it's jail. Plus risks of them running off or snitching—so outsource to someone trustworthy. Ji-yeon would do. Even if she slipped up and did a stint, she'd be young enough to bounce back.
"...You're thinking something weird again, aren't you?"
"Nope? Totally normal thoughts. Anyway, this time it's not Crédit Lyonnais acquisition—unlike what you think. Their debt's on another level."
"Figured you'd buy 'em out, bulk up, then borrow big. That bad?"
Yep. Normally, eat first, risks be damned—like with Bearings. But... Bearings' debt I could handle. Crédit Lyonnais? No way. Gains would be huge, but acquisition could rip me apart.
"Yeah, insanely bad. Easily over ten billion dollars."
"...How much?"
CL's bad loans were massive—outlined in '94, but estimates kept ballooning. Initial loss: ten billion. After years of French government digging, final bailout tab... twenty-five billion.
Strictly speaking, Alpha Fund—barely scraping seventeen billion—couldn't cover it. Even with interest, lawsuits, extras... insane. My whole fortune poured in wouldn't plug it.
"M-makes sense? Even bailout cash wouldn't cut it? Our companies go bust, government pays... but France? Isn't that not how advanced countries work?"
I nodded, arms crossed.
"Ji-yeon, all humans are the same everywhere. Homo sapiens have barely any genetic diversity. Think 'advanced country' folks are different? Nah—except me, of course."
And the ending was predictable. Those billions in losses? Paid by French taxpayers. Someone loses, someone wins—that's the world. Probably divvied up among bank brass and cronies.
I got a bite during MGM, though.
So a little more shorting—say, a billion dollars—should be fine, right? Conscience clear.
That afternoon in Hollywood, after unearthing Crédit Lyonnais's corruption traces, I handed them proudly to my lawyer there—Queen Emanuel, you remember, from the MGM acquisition.
I'd recalled her dubious look. LA riots, Madoff Fund, now this—what kind of mess magnet was I? Fair, things piled up. Fixated on Madoff, 1993 flew by.
Ah, memories of last year. '92—crashing Bearings Bank, shorting the pound...
Fun times.
Yes, pure thrill.
"...So why'd you call me? What now?"
Yoo Sun-jun looked annoyed, probably yanked from kid duty.
"What else? For a little gamble."
Figured he'd love it. Still showed for hwatu at Daeha third-gen meets.
But tepid response.
"Gambling's... getting old."
"...?"
What'd he eat? He chewed gum sloppily, incredulous. Quit smoking too, huh.
"Why that face? Think I'd ditch my kids for games?"
True, but...
"Why go full dad mode...? Ugh, Seo Joo-eun, give back my brother! Hey, Yoo Sun-jun! Where's that fire from nickel-chasing beatdowns?"
I pouted, grabbed his shoulders, and shook wildly.