Chapter 88
Chapter 88
I slipped out during the afternoon class.
One small mercy was that I no longer had to worry that Ha-neul would face physical harassment because I was a little late. By now, most of the class had come to outright fear Ha-neul, and So-hee, who had added serious fuel to that fire, was also present.
Behind me, So-hee rose from her seat as I was heading for the door, and I quickly placed a hand on her arm.
"It doesn't affect my grades no matter how many times I leave, but it'll affect yours."
"So what if it does?"
She genuinely meant it, so I let out a quiet breath.
"No, it does matter. If you mess up, you might not advance to the next grade. Or the school might bring disciplinary action."
Whether bribery could make that slide, I couldn't say. But people obsessed with money are usually just as obsessed with staying alive, which is to say, they're obsessed with life in general.
Once the Chairwoman decides to switch sides, she might genuinely take steps to separate me from So-hee. If she has a legitimate reason, we'll get hit no matter how many palms we've greased. And that one hit could split our class apart. In the worst case, it might even split our grade apart.
For now, caution is the better play.
I also wanted the others not to follow me. This was a conversation I'd rather have without an audience, if I could.
"......."
When I looked So-hee straight in the eye and spoke firmly, she hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.
As I turned toward the classroom door, I heard a chair scrape back.
I glanced back, half-expecting her to follow me despite the risk, and found So-hee bowing deeply toward me.
"Take care, my lady."
"......."
Just in case the sheer naturalness of her entrance and exit causes any confusion: I was currently walking out of the classroom in the middle of a lesson.
Which meant that right now, this girl had just jumped out of her seat during class to offer me a perfectly polite farewell.
Every student's attention swiveled our way. Even the teacher stopped writing on the board and stared at us blankly.
When So-hee straightened up, her face wore a sloppy smirk, and I knew it was So-hee's idea of a joke.
...Please tell me she isn't enjoying this enough to pull that every time I leave the room.
*
"Oh, honored customer."
Team Leader Han Ga-ram, seated on the bench exactly as always, greeted me warmly.
"......You really are always here, no matter when I come."
"It may not look it, but this is the best spot. I never know when you'll appear, so I wait right here."
The weather was gradually warming up, admittedly.
Still a little chilly, though.
"Ah, were you thinking I've been given a sinecure?"
"Well......."
Honestly, yes. Isn't a banker supposed to be busy? Busy means a lot of customers.
"Come on. What kind of bank sticks a banker in a school like this just to sit around? Besides, I'm a Hwayeong High School grad myself. There's always a reason you assign someone with connections to a school instead of a proper branch."
"......Is that so?"
"Absolutely."
Han Ga-ram nodded cheerfully.
"There are more ways to step out during class than you might think. A student's parents might have phoned in with an urgent request, or she suddenly needs the restroom, or she's not feeling well—all sorts of reasons."
Ah.
She was right. It wasn't as if leaving was absolutely impossible.
And the faculty at this school had a rough idea of which families their students came from. Yujin Group couldn't be the only ones greasing palms.
I nodded and approached the bench where Han Ga-ram sat. She shifted aside to make room, and I settled in at a comfortable distance from her.
"So, what opinion did you come to discuss this time?"
"......You look rather pleased about it."
"Of course I'm pleased. A conversation with you tends to involve sums of money I never even dream about otherwise."
I looked at her a little oddly as she added, "I'm quite fond of money, you see." Seeing my expression, Team Leader Han Ga-ram elaborated.
"I like money."
......Is there anyone who dislikes money?
And besides, wasn't this other people's money?
"You know how some people love cars, so they play racing games? They can't actually buy every supercar, might struggle to afford even one, but the racing game satisfies them. In real life, even if you own a car, you hardly ever get to drive it that hard. That's why I enjoy this work so much."
That kind of feeling, huh?
I suppose if you dismissed everything that belongs to someone else or is ultimately fake, nearly all games and films in the world would become useless.
"Right, then. Honored customer—what can I assist you with today?"
She had abruptly shifted into a banker's tone, so I skipped the preamble and got straight to the point.
"This is a follow-up to what we discussed regarding the 15 trillion won."
"Yes."
Team Leader Han Ga-ram produced a notepad and an expensive pen from her bag. I was fairly sure she'd done the same last time and written nothing down, but... no harm in being well-prepared.
"If the current Yujin Group chairwoman attacks another group, what would be the optimal defense?"
"Given you said this relates to the 15 trillion, I take it this also involves your friend?"
"It does."
I nodded, and Han Ga-ram answered at once.
"The best defense is to secure a certain amount of shares in the company that's attacking you. Or, if possible, join hands with someone who already holds a large stake in that company."
All very basic stuff.
The problem was how to lay that groundwork.
"Still, I'd suggest you abandon any idea of simply handing over your Yujin Electronics shares. Those shares are the best countermeasure you own. Simply holding them is a weapon in itself—there's no reason to dilute your power by sharing them with someone else. On top of that, the value of Yujin Electronics stock is astronomical. Even if you tried to convert that into equivalent shares of another company, the target company might end up having to issue far too many shares to you."
"So what would be the best approach?"
"There are many ways to hold stock. Did you know? The National Pension Service is one of Yujin Group's major shareholders."
Han Ga-ram grinned at me.
"And as a single entity, Yujin Life Insurance holds the largest block of Yujin Electronics stock. About 13 percent, all by itself. And to my knowledge, you are also a major shareholder of Yujin Life Insurance."
"......."
That was news to me.
Ah, I did know I held shares in other Yujin Group affiliates. But I hadn't understood how the group's companies were positioned relative to one another.
"Of course, the current chairwoman also holds Yujin Life Insurance stock. But compared to your stake, hers is less than half. Your father truly took care of you in the fine details. The asset distribution was drawn up strictly in monetary terms, but he gave weight to kinds of power that aren't visible on the surface."
"......."
"And the share price of Yujin Life Insurance is... not as large as you might think. Though it's quite expensive by domestic standards. Those shares could probably be exchanged on reasonably even terms with whichever company you have in mind. Provided, of course, that the person receiving the shares is firmly on your side. Otherwise, that person might turn around and join hands with the chairwoman instead. Although, if you're clutching a large enough stake in their company, they won't be able to ignore you even if they want to."
In other words, the crucial question was whether I could trust Su-a's father.
......I should meet him face-to-face sometime soon.
Though, I suppose it would have come to that eventually. Sending Su-a back home made it unavoidable.
"To be candid, I don't think that idea is especially good. There's a saying: you can see ten fathoms into the water, but not one fathom into a person's heart."
Yet even as she said that, Team Leader Han Ga-ram's expression remained utterly delighted.
She really must like money. Not the type who merely likes accumulating it—she's the type who enjoys watching money move, watching how people act around it, watching the incidents and accidents it generates. At least, that was how she struck me. This was probably someone who'd be thrilled even if she lost a fortune playing the stock market.
......I mentally filed Team Leader Han Ga-ram under "People Who Might Be a Little Dangerous."
For reference, Choi Na-kyung was filed under "Extremely Dangerous Human Beings."
"The ideal course would be to keep buying stock so the chairwoman can't attack you carelessly. Naturally, Yujin Electronics keeps buying back treasury stock to maintain and raise its share price, so it would be enormously expensive."
True. A dividend barely above 20 won per share was remarkably stingy, considering the company's operating profit and stock price.
Yujin Electronics kept dividends tight and used the money for relentless buybacks instead. That created a market where you could always sell, and it steadily pushed the price up. Even with paltry dividends, investors seemed satisfied because their asset value climbed by just as much.
"......Could I ask you to handle it?"
Well, a higher stock price worked in my favor.
It wasn't as if I couldn't afford to buy. As long as my holdings weren't being drained, I could acquire shares freely.
Team Leader Han Ga-ram's eyes flew wide open.
"Truly? You're entrusting this to me?"
"I'm not in a position to visit the bank in person. Please purchase Yujin Electronics stock within the limits of what's feasible, using the portion of the trust assets I'm entitled to."
"An excellent decision! It also makes for a fine diversion."
......Her sheer enthusiasm was a little unnerving.
But it seemed her claim about working at a bank because she loved money was, after all, the honest truth.