Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Friends Close, Enemies Closer (3)
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Let's think about this.
How much does Chairman Yoo Seong-pil know... and how did he find out from whom?
How much should I tell him?
'But Chairman Yoo Seong-pil doesn't know the most important fact. Even if everything comes out here, my personal safety is secure.'
The problem is that there's something Yoo Jin-ha must not know, even if the chairman doesn't...
My tongue catches on the edge of my teeth. I carefully composed my words and opened my mouth.
"...Fund? What fund?"
The innocent eyes of a young girl turn toward the old man. Chairman Yoo Seong-pil seems to catch my concern and chuckles softly.
"Hoo, my granddaughter worries too much about nothing. Do you think this old Yoo Seong-pil can't even keep track of his own limbs at my age? No ears around, so speak freely."
His raspy voice pierces my ears.
'This old man lying in bed because he can't even muster the strength in his hands...'
A irreverent thought flashes through my mind. I glance briefly at the bodyguard. Looking closely, something's off about his ear.
Hm. I thought he was just saying his lips are sealed, but it seems he's literally without ears.
I turn my head back casually, as if it's no big deal, and reply innocently.
"You mean the Alpha Fund? Hehe, it did make a lot of money."
Alright, Ha-yeon. Relax your eyes... Let's go cute and lovable.
Yeah, yeah. Got it.
Just like a cute granddaughter.
"Exactly, ten billion dollars is no small sum. A huge amount..."
Chairman Yoo Seong-pil looks at me with eyes tinged with a strange regret.
"... "
Good, I've got some solid info.
There are quite a few facts I can glean from this.
Because the Alpha Fund actually made twenty billion dollars. The other ten billion was siphoned off by Ha Young-il and moved to Eastern Europe.
'He doesn't know about the Eastern European company yet. He knows about the Eastern European bond investments, though... So that rules out the most suspicious option for now. But he definitely knows I created the Alpha Fund. Pretending otherwise would backfire...'
I shrug my shoulders and reply.
"But I didn't get much of it. Hedge funds usually take twenty percent, right? And I had to give a cut to Young-il too..."
Hehe.
I giggle playfully and lightly grasp Grandfather's hand. His rough, old hand—not as cold as I expected—covers my small one.
Chairman Yoo Seong-pil shakes his head.
"Ha-yeon, your grandfather isn't that old yet."
"...You're old, aren't you? Tsk, liar."
"...It's a figure of speech, so get it through your head. This tiny girl talks back so sharply."
-Smack.
Grandfather taps my head once, catches his breath as if winded, then continues.
"You... planning to step outside the Daeha Group?"
"Outside... you mean...?"
"America. Korea's land is narrow, sure, but... I thought the fence I built was pretty big. Too small for you?"
Chairman Yoo Seong-pil's words were simple.
Seeing me secretly hiding and running a fund in America means I want to operate companies freely in the vast U.S., not in our small Daeha Group pond, right?
So I answered honestly.
"No, it's plenty big. But it's not mine. There are already so many others inside the fence... And I'm on the edge, so... it feels a bit cramped."
I let out a quiet sigh of relief inside and gripped my loosening tension tightly.
Chairman Yoo Seong-pil doesn't know I'm aiming to devour the whole fence. Not yet.
'That's right. I've layered smokescreens two or three times deep, and no one knows my real plan.'
Still, Chairman Yoo Seong-pil is the family head who can wield great influence over me. I need to clear this up definitively.
I puff out my cheeks, looking wronged, and stomp my feet as I explain.
"I was just planning to live casually at first, really. But... hehe. Turns out I'm smarter than I thought. When money's right there in front of you, passing it up is a manager's failure... So I just went for it."
I smile innocently and put on a little show right in front of the chairman. Grandfather lets out a sigh.
"Good grief, look at this one. Ha-yeon, do you know this is illegal?"
"If you don't get caught, it's legal... or so I heard!"
"But you got caught by this old man, didn't you?"
Tch.
Chairman Yoo Seong-pil laughs heartily and strokes my head, looking proud.
"Well done, really well done. Finance isn't easy, but you succeeded right under those Western bastards' noses. Would've been perfect if you hadn't gotten caught at the end."
I ask just in case, since his reaction is more favorable than expected. Maybe...
"But how did you find out? I was super careful. I even told President Ha Joo-seong to keep it quiet."
Chairman Yoo Seong-pil points to his eyes with his index finger and grins.
"Do you think your grandfather's blind? Even in bed, I read the news and papers. Then I spotted a familiar name—Ha Young-il—so I looked into it. No secret lasts forever in this world. Got it?"
Straight talk.
It had been a nagging worry from the start. Anyone who knows Ha Young-il would connect the dots to Daeha Group.
'I thought it'd be fine since he's never been affiliated with Daeha...'
Like a kid whose secret hideout got busted, I sulk and press for the remaining questions. Chairman Yoo Seong-pil dismisses it with classic old-school entrepreneur wisdom.
"The family head has to know his family's names, right? I don't track every employee, but for directors and above, I know roughly where they came from, their personality, and who they have under them."
...Daeha Group has over thirty presidents alone.
Well, unlike me who was born into it, Chairman Yoo Seong-pil built it from nothing. Most directors were probably recruited or vetted by him personally.
'I need to memorize more diligently too.'
I have perfect memory, after all. I should know way more than a sixty-something grandfather. With that idle thought, I resolve anew.
-Cough, cough.
Then, perhaps from talking too long, Chairman Yoo Seong-pil coughs harshly and gasps for breath.
"Oh, Grandfather. Are you okay?"
"Kuh, hu... No. Just a cough. Anyway... I called you to hear your thoughts."
"Ah, I—"
Chairman Yoo Seong-pil grimaces and waves me off.
"Enough. I've heard plenty, so say no more."
"Yes?"
"Don't make promises you can't keep. Especially not in front of the powerful. If I weren't sick, I'd have given you a real scolding. Understand?"
"...I'm sorry."
His expression softens a bit as he continues slowly.
"And you're still young. I made a mistake last time. You can't assume childhood thoughts last forever... Anyway, that's why I'm telling you not to speak. You don't even know your own mind.
...I don't know my own thoughts.
It's true to an extent. I hadn't expected to grow attached to my secretary or subordinates either.
"Then, I'll think it over carefully and tell you later, Grandfather."
"Good. At my age, I've seen it—people are like that. They don't change; they just didn't realize that's who they were. Gain enough experience before you decide, Ha-yeon. I'll hold off until then."
I bow my head in thanks, then ask with a slightly awkward expression.
"But Grandfather, what if someone else finds out? The legal issues..."
"That's for you to handle. If you get caught, I won't let you go to prison, but don't expect more than that."
No free rides, huh. Disappointing.
"...Yes."
"Alright, off you go."
Leaving Chairman Yoo Seong-pil, who keeps coughing softly as if unwell, I back out of the room slowly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After leaving Chairman Yoo Seong-pil's room, the New Year's event fizzled out uneventfully.
It dragged on too long, and without Grandfather as the center, there wasn't much to talk about.
'For Yoo Jin-ha's sake, I need to proceed with the project.'
Good thing preparations were nearly done.
-Beep beep.
I stopped by a payphone midway to contact Seo Joo-eun, then got back in the car.
With time to kill before arriving, I pondered deeply in the car.
Actually, there was one gap in Chairman Yoo Seong-pil's explanation. Foreign media like the Wall Street Journal didn't even mention Ha Young-il's name during Japan's bubble collapse.
Ha Young-il had only used the fake name 'Young.' Of course, anyone who knows him could connect the dots instantly upon hearing about a Korean named 'Young' working at the Alpha Fund.
But that wouldn't be Chairman Yoo Seong-pil. Just from the news, he wouldn't even suspect I founded it. That's how I set it up.
So... there's someone.
A variable outside my control. Someone who told Chairman Yoo Seong-pil that Ha Young-il works at the Alpha Fund.
A traitor.
'Who?'
Let's sort through possibilities inductively, eliminating the impossible. Whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth...
First premise: Yoo Seon-jun is not the traitor.
He doesn't even know the Alpha Fund exists.
'Good thing I hid it on purpose. I can trust and rely on him more from now on.'
I'd worried a lot about leaks since he's Yoo Jin-seok's son, but he's proven more capable than expected.
Second premise: The directors are not traitors.
If a Daeha Securities director or someone like Ha Joo-seong betrayed me, they'd have leaked more info.
Well, this logic wouldn't hold if Chairman Yoo Seong-pil grilled each one personally... Luckily, he didn't have the physical time, bedridden in the hospital.
Final third premise... Lee Si-hyeon is not the traitor.
Time to confirm that now.
I was accelerating the project anyway, so today it is.
'Shinsegae Project.' A witty name for this era—no one would get it, which is a shame.
-Scrrch.
The car stops.
"Huh? Miss, I think we took a wrong turn here."
Lee Si-hyeon, sitting beside me, tilts her head. She shoots a reprimanding glance at the driver, of course.
Naturally, I use a separate driver. Lee Si-hyeon only drives me in very special cases.
Chaebol drivers need special skills.
Like driving with ears plugged.
"Si-hyeon, get out first."
I call for my secretary. Gacha time with a pounding heart.
"Pardon?"
The naive secretary steps out puzzled, opening the door. It was still the 20th century, so Seoul had plenty of undeveloped ruins.
-Click.
A metallic sound echoes behind Lee Si-hyeon.
"... "
A pistol, extremely hard to obtain in Korea. I hid it in the car while she was abroad.
Is the card I drew a dud... or...?
A success?
I know the result vaguely, but I can't help chuckling a little.
Too bad. I was planning to marathon The Godfather series with Si-hyeon in December, watching the serene sunset and delivering a cool line.
"Si-hyeon, Si-hyeon! Did you think I wouldn't know?"
"Right now, this... wh-what... "
Lee Si-hyeon's face pales and stiffens. Seo Joo-eun, who was waiting after my call, slowly forces her to her knees from the side and binds her hands tightly.
"Hear that brain churning? Ha, our Si-hyeon. Answer well. What did Lee Hak-cheol say? You know your uncle."
I wonder if she really thinks she hasn't been caught yet.
I already know she's been the Secretary General's mole, after all.