A New Beginning (1)
Yes. The moment our government's high-ups declared war on crime—or rather, on drugs—a hurricane must have swept through here as well. I offer my compliments to our loyal man for skillfully navigating those turbulent waters. Luck is a form of skill, after all.
And then I received an invitation—or was it a challenge?—from one of Busan's higher-ups, a senior executive.
Our flashy older brother, the executive, had personally reached out. He said he'd heard about me? I wanted to remain a ghost. This made me uneasy.
Negotiation is the foundation of sales. I'm a man who sticks to the basics.
My lips curled upward. So that's how they saw my position? Heh.
I was deploying every bit of business etiquette I'd learned from Mr. Nakamura. Then I got to the point.
My gut told me this was worth taking.
Sevenstar and I haggled like we were bargaining over flatfish at Jagalchi Market.
I was being very agreeable today. Two days later the product arrived. Testing showed it was on par with the US Army batch—standard grade. Since I was already getting fifty thousand won per gram for the US Army stuff, this seemed like a solid deal. I contacted Sevenstar and confirmed the transaction.
Then he made a new offer.
Oh, thank you. Probably five kilos at most.
I burned through every bit of cash I'd saved. Making money is hard; spending it takes no time at all. After accepting the Busan order and arranging pickup, I carved out time between the chaos to study from my mother of knowledge—books. Today's subject was organizational behavior: the study of how organizations act. Lately I'd been wondering how best to run an organization as its boss, so I decided to learn from the timeless wisdom of past masters recorded in books.
Organizational behavior examines how individuals form organizations and how to manage those individuals. Related fields included motivation theory for individuals, organizational theory on structuring groups, and leadership studies on guiding those groups. I wondered what kind of individual and organization would best suit my business. Was there an answer? My head just hurt.
Maybe I'd gained some operational know-how, because the Busan distribution network proved easier than the capital region. Of course, having the outstanding talent Loyal Man helped a lot. After receiving the special-order product and making payment, Sevenstar sent over his customer list. His customers weren't civilians. Who were they? In a port city, they were sailors. That explained why delivery orders took so long. For example:
Not two days later—twenty days. Because of that, the number of deliveries was far lower than in the capital region, but the quantity per order was five to ten times larger. It suddenly felt like my reach had expanded worldwide. The username suggested an Australian. Or maybe the shipment was coming from Australia? I'd read an article about regular iron-ore carriers arriving from Australia. Was that it?
Since Loyal Man hadn't been working under me long, I told him to handle things alone for now.
An hour later came the reply.
He said many friends around him were only waiting for holidays. Demand would likely rise compared to last year. He wanted every bit of stock I had. I was thrilled. Sevenstar's heavy special order had already created a liquidity crisis, so I boldly requested twenty kilograms. He was shocked and said he didn't have the money. I chuckled to myself and asked if our Vietnamese brother wanted credit.
No reply. He was probably running the translation app again. The next day I received a message.
1,000,000,000 won deposited from Nguyen WW.
Whoa. This brother had serious cash on hand. Thank you! Was the price too low? I leveraged economies of scale and sold at fifty thousand won per gram—the same price as the lower-quality batch he'd given me before. But this was standard grade, so he'd still make good money.
I replenished the cash I'd spent on the emergency purchase and, like a proper bourgeois, lounged by the infinity pool at Ananti Resort in Gijang, Busan, enjoying my vacation. As usual—well, it was my first time. Vietnamese brother had paid for it. Normally this would violate the Kim Young-ran Act, but I came anyway, happily. He thanked me for the cheap price and said it was his way of repaying me.
Our brother had checked in. I'd worried he might get caught after the new government took over, but he'd managed to stay clear.
Probably another Japanese deal. Suggesting Busan meant it involved Nakamura. I'd only done two transactions with Mr. Nakamura, but the export margins were high, so it was worthwhile.
Far away, cargo ships passed under the Busan Port Bridge. How many goods were loaded on those vessels? If I grew big enough to ship a whole container, maybe I'd earn the title of Drug King? Lost in my own delusions, I stepped out of the taxi. Arriving thirty minutes early as usual, I scanned the area for plainclothes detectives and memorized the terrain when a sleek Audi—not the usual heavy Mercedes—pulled up in front of me.
"Get in."
"Yes, sir."
After about twenty minutes we stopped in front of a sashimi restaurant overlooking the sea. He ordered fresh saury in season and poured me a shot of soju.
"Brother, what's the occasion? You don't drink."
"Take the drink."
Conversation was impossible. He only said what he wanted to say, then spent the next thirty minutes drinking alone. Alcohol really didn't agree with me. It raised body temperature, dulled perception, caused addiction, and strained the liver. I couldn't understand why people were so obsessed with it.
"What's going on all of a sudden?"
Emboldened by the alcohol, I asked directly. I was starting to feel more comfortable around him. Before, it had been truly difficult.
"Hmm..."
He looked slightly disheveled, perhaps from the drink.
"Go study abroad for a while."
?? His face was serious—though it always looked serious.
Then he began to explain. He said he'd lost control and was reflecting on it, so I told him it was fine and asked for the exact situation. I hadn't been specifically identified yet, but someone matching my profile had appeared on the prosecution's internal blacklist for the new narcotics task force. Activity period: about one year. Main sales areas: capital region and Gyeongnam. Main products: marijuana and hashish. That sounded like me. Estimated supply volume: around ten kilograms. They described the target as meticulous, eager to avoid leaving traces, and exceptionally skilled at organizing. Was that praise or an insult? The timing of the report coincided with last month's dealings with the police officer. Damn. The reason I hadn't been identified yet was because the products I handled were low-risk and tracing the actual entity was difficult. He believed the report had surfaced while investigating the recent evidence-seizure embezzlement case.
"Go for six months. And get some training to prepare for possible exposure."
"Training? What kind of training?"