SK Asset 6
"Oppa, it is you, right? Wow—when did you get this handsome?"
He'd forgotten. Right—Oh Sunyoung was a Seyeon University alum too.
"Yeah. A lot's happened. You've gotten prettier yourself."
Oh Sunyoung looked at Choi Seonggi with her eyes full of longing, and a corner of his heart gave a sharp little twinge. Five years they had been together. She was the woman who had stayed at his side from his mid-to-late twenties into his early thirties, and he had taken it for granted that they would marry. He had dreamed of a life built side by side.
"I'm glad."
"Of what?"
"Oppa, I heard you'd gone bust running some cryptocurrency venture and were on the run. I kept worrying I'd run into you looking wretched, but you seem safe. Healthy."
"Thanks for saying so. Though you seem to have forgotten—I was always handsome. That doesn't change so easily."
"And the bluster's exactly the same... haha."
When Oh Sunyoung laughed, something in his chest went warm and tight.
"Sunyoung, who's this?"
A handsome man about Seonggi's height had appeared behind her. His face was clean-cut enough to put him on a screen, and his build looked solid.
"Ah... from before, we..."
"I was her senior at school. Pleasure to meet you."
Knowing Sunyoung, she had been about to say he was the man she'd dated, so Choi Seonggi got there first. Her eyes flew wide.
"A pleasure. I'm Lee Jeongdo."
The two men were shaking hands when a voice cut in.
"Seonggi!"
He turned. Cha Jiyeon stood there in heels and a skirt, a silk blouse beneath a tailored suit—an office look that all but announced a rising company executive.
"Oh, Jiyeon!"
"You got here before I did. And who might these be?"
"A junior from school. This is her husband."
"Ah, hello."
Cha Jiyeon dipped her head in greeting, but Oh Sunyoung was still staring at her, stunned.
"Th-that's... Cha Jiyeon of Gwangmyeong Group?"
"Cha Jiyeon of Gwangmyeong... the one who got married not long ago..."
Oh Sunyoung and Lee Jeongdo both knew exactly who she was, and their mouths hung open.
"Th-then the two of you are..."
"Yes, that's right. He's my husband. We have something to take care of, so I'll be taking him."
Smiling, Cha Jiyeon caught Choi Seonggi's arm and steered him toward the lobby.
"The way she was looking at you wasn't ordinary... She's not a junior, is she? An ex?"
They said a woman's intuition was a thing of ghosts—and if it was Cha Jiyeon, she was something beyond even that.
"Yeah. But... just pretend she's a junior from school."
"Then that slick-looking man is your ex's husband?!"
"Yeah..."
They walked on, voices low, until Cha Jiyeon stopped.
"What? Seeing the ex leave you all unsettled?"
"I'd be lying if I said no. But I ought to focus. I've got a wife this pretty and this elegant right here beside me."
"I do like how fast you read a room. Let's go."
Pleased, Cha Jiyeon linked her arm through his. He glanced sideways and found her grinning back at him. No question about it—truly, unmistakably—Cha Jiyeon was a beauty who stood apart. Her smile alone was enough to set his heart hammering.
As at any alumni gathering, there were brief greetings before anyone sat. After that the emcee came out, saw to the things worth commemorating, introduced the distinguished guests, and then people drifted into chatter with those they knew.
"Oh my, what a handsome man. So tall, and far too good-looking."
"Ah, yes. Thank you. I hear that a lot."
One of them pouted.
"What do you do, if you don't mind my asking?"
"Oh, a bit of this and that."
"I heard you two met at the Hagia Sophia in Turkey. That's so romantic."
"Haha..."
Cha Jiyeon left Choi Seonggi at her friends' table, saying she had greetings to make, and curious women around thirty sparkled at him and poured out questions. He was doing his earnest best at playing the husband when someone dropped into the seat beside him and tossed out a single line.
"We meet again. A pleasure."
"Ah, yes. Good to see you."
It was Luna Kim, the woman he had seen at the Meeting—CEO of Wonmart's Korea branch.
"Luna! Don't say strange things. A sham marriage, to a pair of newlyweds?"
Another friend took her to task, and Luna only shrugged.
"Pretty much everyone already knows it's a sham... Jiyeon didn't want an arranged marriage with Park Mingi, so she's pretending she got married. Believe whatever you like. I'm not forcing anyone."
The other friends scowled at that.
"Am I wrong, Mr. Choi?"
Luna Kim stared straight at him as she asked. Large eyes, full lips, eyeshadow that lifted the outer corners—a face that left an overall impression of a fox.
"I have a feeling you'll interpret whatever I say however you please. If I told you it was real, would you believe me?"
"Of course I wouldn't. Hahaha."
"Try believing me anyway. Rumors drifting around are usually nonsense."
"Be honest with me. I'm saying this because I like you. Admit it's a sham marriage, and I'll go out with you."
"Luna!"
"What is she even saying?"
She was beautiful enough that an ordinary man would have fallen for it on the spot. But that particular brand of bluff already had its specialist. Choi Seonggi looked at Luna Kim and let out a short laugh.
Once she pushed the provocation past the line, every woman at the table was watching him with bright, fascinated eyes.
"Sorry, but you're wrong. We really are married."
He had taken the money, so he had better be worth it. Cha Jiyeon had gone to his family's home and played the devoted daughter-in-law with everything she had. If she had come that far, there ought to be something given in return.
"What a shame. I offered you a chance."
Luna Kim shook her head, drew a few fifty-thousand-won notes from her wallet, and held them out. The woman seated behind her took the money.
"I'll put it to good use, Luna."
So she had made a bet on him with the woman at her back.
"You should have come on a little stronger..."
"I told you he wouldn't admit it!"
"He's denying it to the bitter end."
The women glanced at one another and muttered. They had plainly cooked this up among themselves before he ever arrived. Women were a frightening breed, honestly. A moment ago they had played perfectly innocent, eyes shining, asking how the two of them had met—and it turned out every one of them already knew that he and Cha Jiyeon were supposed to be in a sham marriage.
"I will collect on this debt, Mr. Choi!"
Luna Kim smiled as she said it. An interesting woman. Interesting enough that, if not for Cha Jiyeon, he might truly have wanted to see her once. But this was not the time. He had come to play the husband, and he needed to stay in character.
"Why don't you focus on something a little more meaningful? Whether Wonmart's cloud service can actually take root in Korea, for instance."
Luna Kim's eyes went round as billiard balls.
America's largest retailer, jumping into Korea's logistics and distribution market? Because if it works in Korea, it works anywhere in the world? Where is he getting this ridiculous nonsense?
Wonmart might once have been a distribution company, but the Wonmart of today was an AI company, a robotics company, and a technology firm that provided cloud services.
"How do you know that?"
"Common sense. I'd been hoping to see you soon anyway, and here you are."
"Why... did you want to see me? A man insisting his marriage is real surely didn't want to meet me because he likes me."
"A collaboration, obviously."
"A collaboration..."
"Your card, please. I'll be in touch soon."
Luna Kim hesitated a moment, then took a business card from her bag and handed it over.
"Well, then."
Choi Seonggi rose, swept his eyes over the women seated at the table, and grinned.
"Ladies, it was a pleasure meeting you. I should go find my wife for a moment... I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening."
With that, he headed for where Cha Jiyeon was.
Some people sat and talked, some stood; in that easy atmosphere Cha Jiyeon was ringed by a crowd, deep in some animated discussion. He had meant to tell her he would be going on ahead, but catching the moment was not easy.
"While I'm here, maybe I should gather a little investment intel."
Champagne in hand, Choi Seonggi lingered near the people drinking wine and beer. Those who had driven themselves stuck to juice or coffee; those with chauffeurs drank champagne, wine, or beer. He figured the chauffeur crowd was where the talk worth something to an investor would be.
"We meet again. Holding up all right?"
He turned at the voice and found Yoo Segyeong, Cha Jiyeon's friend.
"It's fun enough. It's been a while."
"A lot of men are in despair because of you, Mr. Choi. More than half the single men here were quietly hoping they'd end up paired with Jiyeon."
Yoo Segyeong jerked her chin toward Cha Jiyeon. Every time Jiyeon moved through the room offering greetings, more than a few men watched her go. Seeing those wistful looks directed at her, Choi Seonggi felt oddly sorry.
If this were a real marriage, I'd have felt even worse.
Looking around, quite a few faces overlapped with people he had seen at the last Meeting. Ten percent, give or take? People who had reached the very top seemed to cross paths one way or another.
"I thought the same thing at the Meeting last time, though. It's strange—why do you feel like someone who was always here, Mr. Choi?"
"What makes you think that?"
"I'm only saying it because it's curious. Oh, Jimin! I'll see you later, Mr. Choi."
Yoo Segyeong left the greeting behind and waved someone over as she went.
Glass in hand, Choi Seonggi drifted very slowly through the crowd, collecting what he could.
"I'm thinking about changing jobs! The game side is completely dead."
"If MC is that bad, that says everything about the other game companies."
A little farther on, another conversation drifted past.
"Robotec's been hitting its upper limit lately... Did they lock in a supply deal with Wonmart?"
"That rumor is driving me crazy as it is. Wonmart wants humanoids, and we specialize in industrial robots. Where on earth did a rumor like that even start?"
He had only just moved on when another voice stopped him cold.
"Miradam still hasn't gotten FDA approval? That was supposed to clear six months ago."
Miradam—a rejuvenation injection that used stem cells. Like the weight-loss shots, you could get a prescription at a clinic and inject it yourself, and there was no shortage of talk surrounding it. Some called it an unverified fake. Others said that the moment the FDA signed off, it would out-explode even a weight-loss drug like Wegovy. Aging was accelerating these days, and this went past looking young to actually becoming young. Youth for the elderly, vitality for the middle-aged—that was the pitch, as he remembered it.
"I'm losing my mind over exactly that. They're blocking it, saying the paracrine effect hasn't been verified. We've submitted the results proven in the clinical trials how many times, and they won't budge."
"And if the company goes under first? I heard you're short on funds."
"We're always in emergency-management mode. I've lost count of how many times. The company's been sold off here and there, and the office is a wreck. They say we'll just hold out until FDA approval comes through, but I'm wondering if I should start looking elsewhere."
Well now. Would you look at that.
Choi Seonggi's interest in Miradam was not because it was a new drug that would change the future of humanity. Some people called it a scam. Others called it a miracle drug of rejuvenation.
Developing a new drug usually took ten to twenty years at the minimum. Making it was not the end; it still had to pass three phases of clinical trials. The money poured in ran from hundreds of billions of won at the low end to several trillion at the high. Which was why ownership of Daemang Pharm, the company developing Miradam, had changed hands several times.
At the start, the largest shareholder had gotten greedy and scooped up shares in bulk. Liquidity dried up, the company was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy, and Daedong Bio—a pharmaceutical giant—acquired Daemang Pharm. When even Daedong Bio could no longer stomach the vast sums swallowed by the trials and put Daemang Pharm on the block, something calling itself the Daemang Pharm Consortium was assembled, took over the management rights, and had been hanging on ever since. That was where things stood.
The share price had started around its usual 2,500 won, swung wildly as high as 50,000, and now sat in the 1,400s. In a word, the market was betting that Daemang Pharm's future was dark.
This is worth a proper look.
Coming to the alumni gathering had meant something. The regret was that, at this stage, his ability to tell truth from lies could not settle an investment. He would have to meet someone from the Daemang Pharm Consortium, whoever was responsible for management, or the person leading Miradam's development.
Just then the crowd around Cha Jiyeon surged off somewhere, opening a gap to speak.
"Your friends are entertaining."
"Were they messing with you? Don't tell me there was a bet."
"You're not heading home? We've been here quite a while."
Instead of answering, Choi Seonggi signaled that it was time to go.
"Ah... you should get going. I came with Uncle Terry today, so don't worry and head in first."
Cha Jiyeon seemed to be enjoying her classmates after so long.
"Then I'll go ahead... Get home safe!"
He left the farewell and turned away.
Arriving separately, leaving separately—what kind of married couple is this? Anyone looking would take it for a sham marriage.
Heading toward the entrance, he saw Oh Sunyoung and her husband, Lee Jeongdo, champagne glasses in hand, laughing and talking with a group. Their eyes met. Sunyoung smiled at him and gave a small nod, and Choi Seonggi smiled and nodded back.
The woman he had once loved, truly, for five whole years now belonged to another man. A few steps and he could have spoken to her, and yet she might as well have stood an impossible distance away. He had put everything on the line for Oh Sunyoung... The drama called life never did stick to the script.
The feeling was bitter, but Choi Seonggi passed her by as if it were nothing at all...
And as he made his way toward the parking lot, someone far off was glaring at him.