The Game Changer
Kim Ju-seong returned home under Park Jung-hyeon's protection.
"For now, staying home is actually safer. We've thrown their intelligence network into chaos, so they won't dare approach you recklessly."
Kim Ju-seong listened at length to the explanation from the man on the other end of the line.
"So you're saying an unidentified force has been plotting to swallow up LN Media, and anticipating that my safety would be threatened, you deployed agents in advance."
"That's correct."
Kim Ju-seong sank onto the sofa, scrubbing his face with both hands as if washing it dry, then picked up his smartphone again.
"What do you need me to do from here?"
"We don't want anything from you. We stepped in solely to keep you safe. So of course you're free to do as you please, but..."
Yeon-woo, speaking through a voice modulator, stroked his chin as he watched Kim Ju-seong on the feed transmitted from Park Jung-hyeon.
CEO Kim Ju-seong.
In the end it was a relationship forged through business, yet over the years they had spent together a genuine fondness had taken root. Kim had given Yeon-woo his full support for everything he wanted to do and had become a rock-solid ally. He was a man who walked the straight path, running both his agency and production company with policies that treated their artists as people first.
Yeon-woo opened his mouth.
"If Mr. Kim Ju-seong is willing to cooperate, I'd like to try for a three-birds-with-one-stone outcome."
Kim Ju-seong's voice came through the headset.
"Three birds with one stone?"
Yeon-woo grinned.
"A rather heavy blow to that certain force, guaranteed safety for Mr. Kim going forward, and a little incidental profit as a byproduct. Three things in total."
After a long conversation with Kim Ju-seong, Yeon-woo ended the call and activated the channel with Han Hae-un.
"Let's prep the next operation."
"Understood. Ah, and about that person's schedule you asked me to look into last time."
"You got it?"
"I'll send it as an attachment."
Yeon-woo nodded at Hae-un's words and received the file moments later. According to the attached schedule, "that individual" would be staying on Jeju Island for the next several days.
Hmm, Jeju Island...
He absolutely had to meet that person. They would be the game changer who expanded the board of this entire operation.
I'll need to invent a reason to head down to Jeju soon.
In an ordinary office, a man with his hair slicked straight back sat in a chair, squeezing a stress ball. Another man holding a report stood before him and delivered a briefing.
After listening for a long while, the slicked-back man let out a deep sigh and asked in a voice like grinding metal,
"So the Triads stepped in and Hwang-geum got taken out."
"According to the report Hwang-geum filed, yes. They apparently mentioned Cai Hong."
The slicked-back man frowned and scratched his goatee with a fingernail.
Cai Hong—Rainbow. The symbol of the Triads.
"Hmm, the Triads. Not much there for them to sink their teeth into."
"Their underlings might have moved on their own. Word is their succession situation has been messy lately."
"Is that old bastard Li Weifeng already that ancient?"
The reporting man nodded.
"They say it could be any day now."
"...We'll watch the situation for now. No reason to risk anything over one entertainment company. Tell them to keep those directors on a tight leash. As long as we've got those bastards locked down, there's no problem."
"Yes, sir. You don't need to worry about LN's directors."
As the man finished his report and turned to leave, the slicked-back man seemed to remember something and added,
"Ah, what happened to Hwang-geum?"
"His left knee is shattered. The contract killers we put on the op have all been cleaned up and incinerated."
Hearing the answer, the man shook his head and clicked his tongue.
"Tsk. Fine. Get out."
Time passed, and Monday arrived.
Using his cover identity as Terrence Williams, Yeon-woo took out a loan with the Mokhwa Building as collateral. Combined with the second-round settlement profits from White Blood, he assembled the necessary capital.
The moment the stock market opened, CEO Kim Ju-seong began dumping a portion of his holdings exactly as planned, and the investment firm owned by Terrence Williams absorbed every share. Naturally the stock price swung wildly and trading volume surged, drawing in retail buyers. With White Blood's massive success still fresh, short-term traders who had been sitting on the sidelines finally decided to buy.
Because the Netflix-related good news had already been partially priced in, professional investors who had been weighing whether the current price was overvalued relative to actual earnings saw the rising volume and entered the market.
The people coming in right now can hardly be called simple retail. The scale is too small for institutional interest, and the difficulty is too high for ordinary people.
The stock of a production company or entertainment firm rarely rose unconditionally just because one project succeeded. Whether drama or film, a single project tangled together the interests of far too many companies, and from the moment of broadcast the price was already partially priced in—making it hard to judge whether it sat above or below true value.
Yeon-woo sorted through these thoughts as he walked toward the second-floor office of the theater company. When he stepped inside, the members of the troupe were sitting on the sofa chatting.
Wanting to give the members who had worked so hard for over a month both a reward vacation and time to refresh, Yeon-woo had deliberately left this week's performances off the schedule from the planning stage.
"Anyone have plans during the break?"
At Yeon-woo's question everyone shook their heads.
"Nothing special. We kept the schedule clear because we originally had shows."
"Same. I was just going to rest at home or come practice at the theater..."
Yeon-woo looked at the members and grinned.
"Then how about Jeju Island? The company head's treating."
At his words Woo Seong-sik nodded as if he had expected it, while Kim Se-yeong's eyes went round.
"For real?! Jeju?!"
"Our theater company's employee benefits are insane."
"I knew Yeon-woo had something prepared."
Yeon-woo smiled and nodded at their reactions.
"Yu-han can come too, right?"
Jin Yu-han nodded at the question.
"Of course. I'm a member of Theater Group Saebyeol too."
Yeon-woo nodded at Jin Yu-han's answer and continued.
"I'll make it ultra-luxury. I already asked Director Im—he said he has an ancestral rite and can't go. He was practically beating the floor in frustration."
"Aww, poor lighting director."
"Ultra-luxury! If a rich guy like Yeon-woo says ultra-luxury, how good must it be?"
At the "rich guy" comment Yeon-woo scratched the back of his head. Well, it wasn't exactly wrong. He was still nowhere near enough to face a force like Baeksol, but from an individual standpoint he had become a man of considerable assets.
"Great. I'll post the times in the group chat, so pack light and meet at Gimpo Airport tomorrow. Anyone late gets left behind."
"Okay!"
The next day the members boarded the plane with fluttering hearts and landed at Jeju Airport.
As they exited the gate Woo Seong-sik stretched.
"Aah. Thanks to Yeon-woo I even got to fly busine—mph!"
"Shh! Don't say Yeon-woo or Yu-han's names."
Kim Se-yeong hurriedly covered Woo Seong-sik's mouth.
"Ah, right. I keep forgetting."
Woo Seong-sik scratched his head. Of course he knew they were celebrities, but they had been familiar faces since student days, so the idea that merely speaking their names could paralyze an airport—that they were world stars—never quite sank in.
Yeon-woo snorted a quiet laugh at him.
"Business class to Jeju barely costs more anyway. Let's head to the parking lot. The driver's waiting."
"Driver? We have a driver too?"
"I told you. Ultra-luxury."
"Let's go! Let's go!"
At Yeon-woo's words the members excitedly cut across the airport. They loaded the luggage into the car and set off; when they arrived at the hotel their eyes went round once more.
He had rented an entire detached villa at a luxury hotel overlooking Jungmun Beach. Privacy for Yeon-woo was one issue, but with Jin Yu-han in the party it was the only sensible choice.
Watching his friends race ahead dragging their suitcases, a smile found its way onto Yeon-woo's lips. Seeing them from behind reminded him of the school-lunch expedition team arriving at Bernard Fenton's hotel in LA.
I wonder if this is how Mr. Fenton felt back then. Of course this hotel isn't mine.
Once this operation was over, he decided, he would have to give the agents a proper luxury vacation as well.
In the meantime the members each claimed a room they liked and unpacked.
"Yo! The water's heated! Get in!"
Woo Seong-sik dipped a foot into the infinity pool and shouted; Kim Jun-su stripped off his shirt at light speed. Kim Se-yeong covered her eyes.
"Hey! Show your noona some consideration!"
"Huh. I forgot our troupe even had a woman."
"What did you just say, you little—!"
Counting from the rehearsal period they had already shared months of hardship together; the easy, unguarded closeness among the members was plain to see.
Watching them play in the pool, Yeon-woo sat on a sun lounger and checked his phone. He nodded as he read Han Hae-un's real-time reports.
While Yeon-woo and the members vacationed on Jeju, LN Media's stock continued to thrash about. The investment firm owned by Terrence Williams scooped up the shares Kim Ju-seong dumped onto the market, purchasing a total of 1.6 million shares at an average of around 18,000 won. Baeksol stirred.
This is why we dumped during market hours and bought at a loss.
Ordinarily, trades of this volume were done after the close in after-hours sessions. Dumping or buying large blocks during regular hours could move the price. By having Kim Ju-seong unload his holdings during market hours, they had deliberately shown Baeksol that this was no pre-arranged deal.
Once Terrence's stake reached seven percent, Baeksol sensed something off and began to move. Whenever Kim Ju-seong put up a sell wall to keep more shares from being taken, Baeksol immediately swallowed it whole and bought aggressively. Yeon-woo had already spent every won on the initial purchases, so Baeksol's buying was nothing more than shadow-boxing with no opponent.
And so LN Media's share price kept climbing.
Throughout the week of the Jeju vacation the pattern repeated, and LN's stock finally hit the 28,000-won target price the securities firms had set—the projected target after the earnings announcement. In other words, the target had already been reached before earnings were even released; unless further good news appeared, there was no longer any reason to buy.
Most investment houses revised their ratings to Sell. The stock that had been rising without pause began to show mixed signals, and retail investors started dumping.
Yeon-woo scanned the stock community reactions and nodded. So far not a single retail investor had lost money. Of course they hadn't—the price had climbed at a terrifying pace day after day. But when it fell, it would shatter like a highway pile-up.
The ordinary retail has to get out here. Baeksol needs to swallow that volume too.
Kim Ju-seong's remaining stake plus the shares Yeon-woo had absorbed from the market still totaled more than ten percent. Yeon-woo alone held seven percent under the Terrence Williams corporate name. But this was not the moment to liquidate.
To deal Baeksol a heavier blow and let both Yeon-woo and Kim Ju-seong profit, one more big strike was still needed.
"We need more fuel."
"Huh? What fuel?"
At Woo Seong-sik's question Yeon-woo grinned.
"I've got a quick schedule today, so I'm heading out alone for a bit."
"What? Alone? Isn't that dangerous?"
Yeon-woo shook his head.
"They'll probably come pick me up."
He drew a single business card from his wallet.
Time to use this.
According to the schedule, the person currently on Jeju Island. The game changer who would expand this board.
On the elegant card only a simple name was printed.
Ihan Group
Chairman Seo Tae-gwang