Treating the Annual Hundreds-of-Billions Business Casually
'It's something I was going to do anyway.'
His grandfather had poured money into public welfare projects, but in truth, he'd been building his own slush funds. It wasn't as if Shin Jaewoo had committed the act himself, but wasn't it a kind of original sin all the same?
'If I've inherited the money, I have to shoulder that original sin too.'
He had no intention of playing the sucker. But as he'd mentioned earlier, this was already part of his plans. Public welfare activities. Charitable endeavors, done right. So all he had to do was reverse what his grandfather had done. He'd use the slush funds his grandfather had created under the guise of public welfare to actually carry out public welfare work.
"Not too excessively... I'll clean up the nominee accounts that need cleaning."
Lee Jinmyeong didn't object unexpectedly to those words.
"That's a relief. I'd been thinking that managing all that would be a bit overwhelming anyway."
Shin Jaewoo stared at him in disbelief.
'Grandpa... just how many nominee accounts did you set up?'
His grandfather's nominee accounts and shell companies. He decided to liquidate most of them—not all, but the majority. Liquidating didn't mean simply erasing them. It was about bringing the money that had flowed into the shadows back into the light. In simple terms, donating the funds that had leaked away back to the foundation.
And this time, for real.
"I want to use that money for actual public welfare."
It was his decision. Lee Jinmyeong nodded.
But when it came to liquidating all the accounts, Lee Jinmyeong offered a negative opinion.
"To sustain public welfare, you need stable revenue streams."
Shin Jaewoo agreed with that.
"For revenue generation, it's best to keep the shell companies operational as they are."
Most of the nominee accounts would be cleaned up, drastically reducing their scale from now on. And that was only natural. From here on, they'd be doing genuine public welfare.
'The reason there were so ridiculously many nominee accounts in the first place... was because he had to split and recover the foundation's massive funds in pieces.'
Now, there'd be no more flows from the foundation into those nominee accounts. Instead, the money would be sent legitimately to Korea. Roughly half or more of the 600 billion won would be invested in Korea annually.
"Keep the funds that were actually going to real public welfare intact, excluding those flowing to nominee accounts."
"Understood. It helps maintain ties with the American political and business elite anyway."
Public welfare. Even if political lobbying was off-limits, the connections from such activities were invaluable. Korea had famous anecdotes like that—students who received scholarships from a certain company growing up to support that same company. The Daniel Foundation was similar.
'The more people who receive our scholarships and grants, the more allies we gain.'
And that became invisible power. He had no plans to cut that budget. But up until now, 70% of the public welfare budget had gone into nominee accounts.
"We'll cut all of that."
And first, they'd expand support programs in the US. Since the foundation was US-based, it wouldn't do to focus only on another country like Korea—it could backfire.
"We'll proceed as you say, Director."
Lee Jinmyeong's response inspired confidence. Still, there was something to handle first.
Hiring people, as a priority.
'Ah.'
Come to think of it, Lee Jinmyeong was similar. He wasn't personal staff so much as foundation personnel. Asking him for foundation-unrelated favors felt awkward.
"...You needn't think of it that way. I'm merely handling foundation duties as well, and I've long been in your grandfather's shadow. Your personal matters are no exception to my responsibilities."
"In that case... there is something I'd like to ask."
Shin Jaewoo hesitated. Even so, was it okay to hand this to him now? In the end, he did.
It was the resumes he'd received from Lee Sooyoung.
"Hiring for household staff?"
"Yes. Is it... too personal a request?"
Shin Jaewoo asked cautiously. Lee Jinmyeong shook his head.
"Not at all. This falls under my duties too."
With him saying that, it eased his mind.
'Still feels a bit much...'
Whatever. Worrying wouldn't help.
"Then, I'll leave it to you."
Lee Jinmyeong nodded at Shin Jaewoo's words.
"Entrust it to me. However..."
He trailed off.
"Why not assign this to someone more suitable than me?"
"Huh?"
Suitable?
"If I've assisted your grandfather with external affairs, she learned household management at his side. For home matters, she'd be better than me."
"A butler...?"
"A bit young to call her that yet."
His words made Shin Jaewoo's eyes light up. And so, he met her.
"We... spoke on the phone, right? I'm Lee Jinshil."
She was a woman with a neat, crisp impression. Shin Jaewoo knew it the moment they met.
'Siblings...'
She was the spitting image of Lee Jinmyeong. The difference was their builds. Lee Jinmyeong had a sturdy, healthy frame even for a man. But Lee Jinshil had a feminine figure—petite yet nicely fleshed out.
"Don't let the looks fool you—I've worked as a maid by your grandfather's side for over 20 years. I handled his finicky demands, so I'm confident in my skills."
"20 years?"
He echoed in surprise.
"What? You think I'm lying?"
Confidence radiated from her face. It didn't seem like a lie. But for 20 years... 'She looks mid-30s at most...?'
Early 30s, tops. She chuckled as if reading his thoughts and added,
"Officially employed? About 15 years. But... my mother worked in his household too. I helped her with the chores."
"Ah."
It made sense. He'd acquired the new penthouse in Jamsil, but that was for work. He could use it occasionally, but he'd mainly live in the Seongbuk-dong Mansion. It was his first purchase, after all—he had an attachment to it.
And the house on the mansion's first floor.
"I can use this from now on, right?"
Lee Jinshil and Lee Jinmyeong would move there. His hunch about them being siblings was spot on.
"...Of course."
She was taking on the headache he'd been agonizing over. No reason to treat her poorly. He was just grateful she'd come.
"For the staff... please select them yourself, Jinshil-ssi."
"Hehe. Will do."
Lee Jinshil laughed. Was it because she'd come from the US? (Probably not specifically.) She brimmed with self-assurance.
'...Even the seemingly strict Chief Secretary approves of her, and she has confidence, so I can trust her.'
As that thought crossed his mind, Shin Jaewoo paused. Just the other day, Lee Jinmyeong had been someone to watch warily, not fully trustworthy. Yet now, he'd come to rely on him like this.
'Must be because of that feeling I got back then.'
In any case, he'd dumped an absurd level of responsibility on Lee Jinmyeong. Foundation operations. From now on, he'd be in the position of casually approving and executing hundreds of billions annually. And related to that, Lee Jinmyeong had departed for the US again in his stead.
'Sorry about this...'
Normally, he'd go himself. But Lee Jinmyeong had volunteered. Honestly, he wasn't ready to bring him to the US yet—trust wasn't fully there.
'Especially in a country where carrying guns is legal...'
Who knew what could happen? And while he was at it, he needed more people for the work ahead.
"...I'll need an interpreter."
Lee Jinmyeong would handle it usually, but not always.
Of course, Lee Jinmyeong had arranged that too. He'd bring secretaries prepared for him while heading to the US.
—Your grandfather already prepared secretaries as well.
His own grandfather. He'd prepared everything.
'If it was that thorough... why not come meet me once?'
The grandfather who'd never shown his face until the end. There was resentment there. Preparing all this meant he'd known of Shin Jaewoo's existence. Then why skip his only son's funeral?
"Haa."
Shin Jaewoo sighed. For now, Lee Jinmyeong would register him as a foundation director in the US, schedule the first board meeting, and handle the nominee fund cleanup as instructed.
'Busy man.'
In the meantime, he had his own tasks. With the funds to nominee accounts cut, deciding the new directions for those resources. It wasn't enough to vaguely say welfare for orphans in Korea. He needed concrete plans.
"Hmm."
What business would be best? Honestly, he'd thought vaguely before. I've got money, so why not try some good deeds? But now it was real business scale.
"An annual hundreds-of-billions operation..."
As he pondered, a KakaoTalk popped up.
It was Kim Minseo. She'd messaged him.