Chapter 174: Money Starts Working
Chapter 174: Money Starts Working
“Money starts working.”
“Nurse Jeong In-sook. Long time no see.”
“You even remember my name?”
I exchanged greetings one by one with the doctors and nurses at the gamjatang restaurant.
Was it because of all my recent success? Their envious gazes stung.
“CEO Kim Shin, could you give me an autograph by any chance?”
A dad who’d brought along his cute kindergarten-aged kid came over and asked.
“Sure. Princess, what’s your name?”
I crouched down to talk to the child, but the dad looked sheepish as he said,
“The autograph is for me. I’m a fan.”
“Oh, right.”
Starting with the kid’s dad, I signed autographs for the customers one by one.
“You used to come in before and always have a bowl of bone hangover stew each time.”
“That’s right. You remember.”
I chatted lightly with the restaurant staff while occasionally glancing at Jo Soo-ah.
She’d been sobbing uncontrollably, but she’d been startled to see me and now seemed somewhat calmed.
Even with tears welling up, how could she look so pretty?
‘Come to think of it, I’ve never eaten bone hangover stew with Jo Soo-ah.’
She’d happily eat anything I liked—pork bossam rice bowls, kimchi stew, squid rice bowls, and so on—but she’d always avoided bone hangover stew.
Right after graduating college at 24 and stepping into the real world, she probably couldn’t bring herself to gnaw on pork spine bones in front of someone she liked.
* * *
After greeting the hospital folks, I ate gamjatang with the bodyguards.
If you’ve come all the way to Cheonan, this is one dish you can’t skip.
‘This is the taste.’
There was a special pleasure in carefully stripping the meat from between the bones.
When leaving the restaurant, Jo Soo-ah was naturally with me.
On a Cheonan street with the overpass and E-Mart in view, she said,
“What are we going to do coming all this way? I was crying so hard—what if people think it’s weird…….”
Jo Soo-ah sounded worried.
Just coming this far meant countless words and feelings had already been conveyed.
All that was left was her concern for what others might think.
“I won’t care what anyone thinks.”
“Huh?”
“I asked you to become family. It doesn’t matter what people think.”
I’d thought about it a lot while in America.
I’d made a ton of money—there was no need to live conscious of others’ gazes or popularity.
Jo Soo-ah spoke cautiously, her voice trembling.
“Do you really think of me as family?”
“Yeah. I’d love for you to become my family.”
It wasn’t some super romantic confession, but it was the answer my heart demanded.
“Can’t we just keep liking each other like this? What if you get tired of me and meet someone even prettier?”
“Want me to tell you what the Jo Soo-ah I know feels like?”
“I’m curious.”
I dredged up old memories as I answered.
“The moment I first saw you, when you greeted me as the new hire—it was so pretty. Too pretty; I could barely look you in the face.”
Jo Soo-ah’s face flushed red.
She probably remembered that first day too.
The day I’d been assigned her as a subordinate under Team Leader An Myeong-guk.
We’d stared at each other awkwardly and exchanged greetings.
“As time passed, you seemed to get even prettier. In personality, looks, everything—the longer I looked, the prettier you got. And I’m someone who places a lot of meaning in the time we spend together.”
Whether it was one year, two years, or three, every year we spent together had brought us closer.
The time spent together had deepened our bond.
But Jo Soo-ah’s worries hadn’t fully vanished.
“Oppa, don’t you need to meet a rich woman?”
“Why?”
“That’s what rich people usually do.”
Not just in dramas or novels, but in reality too—chaebols dated other chaebols.
It was natural she’d worry like that.
“But I’m not some middling rich guy.”
I wasn’t the kind of moderate rich person who needed to grow wealth through marriage.
“Doesn’t that erase all your worries?”
“One last thing. What if, like Elon Musk, you start partying with pretty girls?”
“…….”
Ever since becoming a super rich, I’d been compared to Elon Musk in various ways.
“But you know, in America, the only parties I had were pizza, chicken, or burger parties with Oh Myeong-woo.”
“Oh…….”
Jo Soo-ah had seen it herself when she came to America, so she’d know the vibe at my place.
“You really lived so lonely.”
“Yeah. So become my family.”
* * *
At LK Group, expectations were sky-high after the contract with Kim Shin.
Chairman Gu Jin-mo hosted a meeting of the heads of LK Electronics’ business divisions.
“Director Hyun, how’s the Earth console production coming along?”
“The division for console manufacturing will be reorganized within this week.”
He received reports from LK Electronics’ business division heads.
“And the design?”
“The LK Signature development team is fine-tuning the console’s exterior design. We’ll start mold production as soon as the design is finalized.”
Signature was LK Electronics’ luxury flagship brand for TVs, refrigerators, and the like.
A fridge cost 17 million won; the rollable TV, 150 million.
Entrusting the console design to LK Electronics’ top talents showed the chairman’s determination.
―LK will make the most beautiful console.
In the past, Japan’s Sony had led the electronics industry with its simple, elegant designs.
That emotional design philosophy had even been inherited by Apple.
LK Electronics prided itself on recent TV and fridge designs that were no less beautiful.
“Earth Resource products will sell anywhere in the world. It means LK-made products can achieve global popularity. This is a chance to massively boost brand value and sales volume.”
Gu Jin-mo emphasized.
LK Electronics, with a market cap of 13 trillion won.
Twenty years ago, it hadn’t lagged far behind Isung Electronics in company value.
Earth console and rollable phone production could be LK Electronics’ chance to leap forward again.
“Make sure there are no production hiccups. Earth Resource should feel lucky to have contracted with us.”
“Yes. We’re preparing to shorten the schedule far beyond the contract timeline.”
“And the rollable phones?”
“We’ve instructed the Vietnam and Brazil factories to retool production lines. We’ve placed orders with parts suppliers and are airlifting stockpiles as much as possible.”
“Don’t worry about margins—push it as fast as possible. Airlift parts; if there’s no line, do hand assembly. Of course, quality control is a given.”
Korean conglomerates had that unique “get it done, no matter what” organizational culture alive and well.
* * *
In the early morning, I came to the Seoul apartment with Jo Soo-ah and spent the night together.
“Don’t you have to go to work today?”
“Yeah. I need to head into the office.”
After a quick sandwich breakfast, she headed to Arcor.
Since I was in Korea, I checked the local news articles first.
[“KOSPI could hit 3,700 by year-end……” Basis for Korean securities firms’ outlook]
[Chemical stocks: Q2 earnings + big attractions forecast to raise target prices]
[Export results rise despite Delta variant fears]
[Stock market battles COVID; real estate has plenty of upside fuel]
[LK Group stocks, Isung Group stocks: All affiliates rise on Kim Shin effect]
As always, Korean media was filled with positive outlooks.
With KOSPI over 3,300, broadcasts and papers made it feel like not investing meant being out of touch with the times.
They eagerly tossed around sensational terms like “overnight rags” and “all-in leverage,” while U.S. media told a whole different story.
[U.S. inflation warning lights flashing]
[N.Y. stocks: Investment sentiment freezes on inflation fears]
[St. Louis Fed President: “First rate hike expected by end of 2022.”]
[McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, 3M, Hilton successively raise prices]
Fear was spreading through the stock market.
All eyes were on New York, the center of global finance, and me, who’d warned of bubbles worldwide.
―Ellie: Rumors about Investor A are everywhere. Lots of industry folks asking me directly.
―Ellie: Not enough basis for reporters to run stories, but Wall Street’s probably guessing who it is.
That was probably because of last year’s enormous gains and the rumors surrounding Investor A.
‘The fear is intensifying.’
Many had sensed the bubble before, but greed creates even bigger ones.
That’s why I’d forcibly held back every time impatience hit.
‘Time to move soon.’
When bubbles grow too big to sustain, they burst.
Over $150 billion was sitting idle in bank accounts.
The sheer amount demanded caution, but now it really felt like time to start.
―Kim Shin: Proceed with the portfolio as planned.
―Ellie: Really?
―Kim Shin: Yeah. Now.
The sleeping money would start working.
We began buying put options and short-selling stocks that we expected to fall during the recession.
‘Just the Tesla short alone is $20 billion.’
It felt like dropping a massive bomb in Korea, but this investment had been prepared bit by bit over a long time.
Despite personal ties with Elon Musk, the Tesla short was purely business.
‘Business is business, after all.’
In the midst of this huge move, the business idea from yesterday’s coffee shop kept popping into my head.
“Put wheels on a cellphone and it’s a car.”
Korea’s core industries included smartphones, automobiles, and electric-vehicle batteries.
LK Group was pushing automotive EV components as next-gen strategy too.
‘EVs are way pricier than combustion engines. Need a few years for price competitiveness, but people love new things more than you’d think.’
Silicon Valley sees new companies launch daily.
“Kim Shin, if you have spare cash, there’s an amazing company.”
“Amazing company? Where?”
“SES. Know it?”
“Not really. Sounds like that old Korean girl group.”
“Haha. Solid Energy Systems. Battery company.”
I got investment advice from Chris, who was developing truck autonomous systems.
The target was a company developing lithium-metal batteries that could outperform conventional lithium-ion cells.
If EVs are the core of future mobility, batteries are the heart.
“Tech’s solid. All-solid-state batteries aren’t commercial-ready yet, and the company’s big. But this won’t be a failed investment.”
“Why?”
“Too many companies drooling over battery businesses.”
I’d invested in Silicon Valley battery tech firms and gained more EV market insight.
While resting in Korea, I texted Lee Jong-yeop.
―Kim Shin: Jong-yeop.
―Lee Jong-yeop: Yes, hyung.
―Kim Shin: All the EVs from Mirae Motors. Borrow every one and bring them.
* * *
I test-drove several electric vehicles from Mirae Motors’ lineup.
Korea and the U.S. had subsidies, but test-driving the ones starting at 30 million won in Seoul, I could feel it.
‘Plenty of buyers for these.’
Actually driving them, they were worth owning.
Tesla gave novel experiences, but interior materials and ride comfort were downright poor.
These had hardly any such flaws.
“Range is 15% to 20% less than Tesla.”
Less battery tech limits and more like EV efficiency limits from Mirae Motors, I thought.
There was still a large gap between Mirae Motors and Tesla, but its progress was impressive for such a late entrant to the EV market.
‘This is worth a shot.’
Decision made, I sent a text.
―Kim Shin: Any chance I could meet Chairman Jin Myeong-il?
―Jin Yoo-kyung: Dad?
―Kim Shin: Got some business to discuss.