Betting On My Future

"You made it?"

Kim Seok-jun's home in Seongbuk-dong. The moment he saw me, his face lit up with delight.

I gave a light nod and took a seat on the sofa across from him.

"Good. A month's gone by. Did you finish the homework I gave you?"

Curiosity sparkled in Kim Seok-jun's eyes.

Instead of answering, I pulled a white envelope from my jacket and placed it on the table.

"Here it is."

The corners of Kim Seok-jun's mouth lifted as he picked up the envelope.

"Let's see. Cash, or a check?"

He opened the envelope and drew out its contents.

But what he held in his hand was not a stack of bills. It was a single sheet of A4 paper and a bankbook.

"...What is this?"

"One million won."

"This piece of paper?"

"Read it."

With a puzzled look, Kim Seok-jun began scanning the document.

It was a portfolio printout showing the interim standings of the mock investment competition closing tomorrow.

Kim Seok-jun's expression shifted moment by moment — from disbelief, to astonishment, and finally to intrigue.

He set the paper down and looked at me.

"I'll need an explanation."

"It's simple. I formed a team with some friends and entered the competition. We're currently holding an overwhelming first place."

I gave him a brief account of the past month — recruiting my teammates, building the portfolio, cornering the typhoon-related stocks and driving up our returns.

"Once the market closes tomorrow, our victory is assured. The grand prize is three million won. With three teammates, my exact share comes to one million won."

Throughout my explanation, Kim Seok-jun said nothing, resting his chin on his hand and studying me intently.

When I finished—

"Hahaha!"

He threw his head back and let out a hearty laugh.

"Well, well. You haven't actually touched the money yet, but it's as good as earned. Precisely done."

"And behind it is my stock account. I turned five million won of seed capital into nine million. Add the scholarship money, and I've earned five million won in a single month."

At my words, Kim Seok-jun checked the balance in the account book, smiled, and nodded.

"This alone would have sufficed."

"That's because I used my allowance as seed money. I worried you might not accept it otherwise. Call it a form of risk hedging."

"Hahaha! You used joining a competition as a risk hedge?"

Kim Seok-jun laughed for a long while before his amusement faded and his gaze turned sharp.

"Then let me ask you this. Why this method of all things? Straining your brain for a month over a competition just to earn a measly million won? It looks terribly inefficient and exhausting."

"I assumed it was what you wanted."

"What I wanted?"

"Yes. If the goal had simply been to bring you one million won, I could have sold any old thing lying around the house. Or saved up my allowance."

I looked Kim Seok-jun squarely in the eye.

"But what you wanted wasn't for me to hand over money. You wanted me to prove my ability. The process of moving people, creating something from nothing, with my own strength and my own mind."

Kim Seok-jun feigned surprise at my words.

Then he nodded.

"You really are different from the rest. I'll grant you that."

He looked me over with admiration in his eyes.

"You're right. What I wanted wasn't the money itself, but the process of how you earned it. And yet you brought it back on an even higher level than I imagined."

Kim Seok-jun clicked his tongue.

"At best, I expected you to pull some scheme with your friends — buying things cheap and selling them high. I never imagined you'd rig the game itself using the institutional system."

Not a bad route, either.

I smiled to myself.

"Well then, you've exceeded my expectations on the homework, so I suppose I owe you a gift."

Kim Seok-jun straightened in his seat and lowered his voice.

"Things are getting noisy inside Sunjin Group. I've heard rumors that your mother recently acquired ten secondhand vessels."

"Is that so?"

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had dropped hints to her while watching the news, but it seemed she'd caught on after all.

"Because of that, Kang Tae-yong of Sunjin Motors and Kang Byung-chul of Sunjin Aluminum have been meeting with great urgency. Kang Byung-chul needs ships, and Kang Tae-yong needs a pretext. The two of them will join hands and try to tear Sunjin Sangsa apart."

I already knew Kang Byung-chul would soon attack Sunjin. It had happened in my previous life.

So it was Kang Tae-yong who egged him on.

No — more precisely, their interests had simply aligned. Kang Byung-chul wasn't the type to move merely because someone nudged him.

Hearing it confirmed through Kim Seok-jun's mouth made everything clearer.

"Don't worry. I have no informants inside your mother's company. This is just information I pick up from the business figures I've long been acquainted with."

Kim Seok-jun offered the explanation almost apologetically at my troubled expression. When I checked his eyes, it seemed to be true.

"I'm not worried. If anything, the fact that you hold such information makes me trust you more."

Kim Seok-jun nodded, satisfied.

"That's the gift out of the way."

He leaned toward me.

His eyes turned serious.

"Now, to the real business. You passed the homework, so I have to keep my promise. Tell me what you want. What should I help you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with?"

The original condition was, after all, Kim Seok-jun's assistance.

I answered without hesitation.

"Build me a company."

"...What?"

Kim Seok-jun's eyes went round.

Calmly, but with conviction, I repeated myself.

"I need an investment company — one where my name never appears."

"You called for me, Managing Director."

The study door opened and a man in a crisp suit entered.

He was the private asset manager who had overseen Kim Seok-jun's personal wealth for more than a decade.

Kim Seok-jun closed the newspaper he'd been reading and asked.

"What does it take these days to set up an investment company?"

"...An investment company, sir?"

The asset manager's eyes widened.

Kim Seok-jun had long since withdrawn from active business after retirement. For a man whose interests had extended no further than safely growing his assets through bonds and real estate to suddenly announce he would build a company—

"Why? Any objection?"

"No, no. It's only... rather sudden, that's all."

The asset manager hurriedly collected his thoughts.

"It depends on the purpose, but if you intend to manage your personal funds, a Family Office structure would be ideal."

"A family office, hmm."

"Yes. The incorporation process is relatively simple, and above all, it manages ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠only your family's assets free of outside interference — which is a distinct advantage for maintaining confidentiality."

Kim Seok-jun stroked his chin.

"Confidentiality. I like that. Then listen here."

Kim Seok-jun leaned forward and lowered his voice.

"Suppose — just suppose — that I don't want anyone to know who the true owner of this company is. What then?"

"The owner... you say?"

"That's right. To put it precisely: on the outside, it must look like Kim Seok-jun's family office. But on the inside, it must have a different owner. Both on paper and in substance."

The asset manager pondered briefly, then spoke carefully.

"...If that's the structure you want, the standard approach is to use a tax haven."

"Explain."

"You first establish a paper company somewhere like the Cayman Islands. Then the investment company you set up in Korea is structured so that the paper company holds 51% of the shares, while you hold 49%."

The asset manager traced an imaginary circle with his finger.

"Under this arrangement, it appears externally to be your company as the second-largest shareholder — but actual control rests with the paper company holding 51%. If you conceal who owns that paper company, no one in Korea can ever trace the real owner."

It was perfect.

Exactly the company Seon-woo wanted — one that would never bear his name.

"Not bad. Proceed that way. Build the company."

"Understood. Although... if I may."

The asset manager looked at Kim Seok-jun with cautious eyes.

"Is this for your son?"

"My son?"

Kim Seok-jun stared blankly for a moment, then burst into a belly laugh.

"Hahaha! A son. Yes, let's call him a son."

He'd been asked to serve as the boy's guardian, so it wasn't far from the truth. And it spared him the trouble of explaining the whole story to the asset manager.

"In any case, how long will it take?"

"Including the overseas incorporation... you should allow roughly two months."

"Too slow. One month."

"One month? Sir, one month is extremely tight. There are document reviews, and—"

"With your abilities? I'm sure you can manage. Cost is no object, so finish it in the shortest possible time."

At Kim Seok-jun's firm tone, the asset manager swallowed dryly.

"...I'll see to it. I'll move as quickly as I can."

"Good. One more thing."

Kim Seok-jun opened a drawer, pulled out a bankbook, and tossed it across the desk.

"That money I set aside separately. Liquidate the whole of it into cash and have it ready."

"You mean those funds? That's quite a substantial sum."

"No matter. It's ammunition for that boy to spend. It should be stocked deep and heavy."

"Yes, sir."

The asset manager bowed and left the room.

Quiet returned to the study.

Kim Seok-jun swiveled his chair toward the window.

Below the Seongbuk-dong hill, the whole of Seoul spread out before his eyes.

— Why do you want to build an investment company? Sunjin will hold on fine even if you just sit still.

— By the time I'm grown, all that will be left of Sunjin is what others have gnawed apart and broken. That's why I have to start moving now — and moving means I need money to defend.

— Are you confident you can succeed? Investment isn't easy.

— I don't take it lightly. Which is exactly why I need you, Managing Director.

He thought back on Seon-woo, who had blurted out his demands with such audacity.

He had the same decisiveness as Kang Man-ho, who had once walked into Kim Seok-jun's life out of nowhere and demanded to be hired on the spot.

'This will be interesting.'

He'd assumed he was simply an old man now, doomed to while away his days fretting over this and that in a corner of his home — but at last, something had come along that made his heart race again.

Kim Seok-jun smiled at the thought of Seon-woo.

Fifteen days later. Seongbuk-dong, Kim Seok-jun's home.

"Welcome. I called because I have something to give you."

"I've been waiting."

"Hahaha, you don't have much patience, do you?"

Kim Seok-jun laughed heartily, but I swallowed a wry smile.

How could I possibly have patience?

For the past fifteen days, I'd been pretending to attend school while burning through my nights drafting plans and blueprints for the businesses I intended to launch. I hadn't slept properly at all.

"Now, take a look at this."

Kim Seok-jun tossed a document envelope onto the table.

"May I read it?"

"Of course."

I opened the envelope and drew out the papers.

At the very front of the thick bundle was an explanatory sheet outlining the various arrangements.

"It's proceeding along the plan we discussed. Incorporation isn't fully finalized yet, and the name is..."

"It stands for Sunjin Holdings — but SJ happens to be my own initials, so outsiders will draw all the wrong conclusions. All the better."

As I turned the pages, I marveled inwardly.

A family office. An excellent choice.

A family office.

A private investment firm dedicated exclusively to managing the assets of an ultra-wealthy family.

Unlike ordinary funds or venture capital firms, it operated free of financial regulators' oversight and had almost no disclosure obligations. Best of all, since it moved entirely on its own capital without taking outside money, the identity of its owner could be kept thoroughly hidden.

"The ownership structure will tell you — I hold 49%, and the remaining 51% sits with a paper company incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Well, if you'd like, I could hand my own shares over to them as well."

"No, thank you. This structure suits me better. You should have something to gain from it too, Managing Director."

At my words, Kim Seok-jun smiled with evident interest.

"You really are a strange one. How does your mind even travel that far?"

"..."

"You're right, though. Whatever you do from here on, you'll need arrangements like this. If someone helps you while gaining nothing themselves, sooner or later they'll come for your back with a knife. A community of interest gives you a rationale — and safety."

I nodded.

There is no free lunch in this world. The deeper Kim Seok-jun immersed himself in this game, the more powerful an ally he became to me.

"The paper company to be created in the Caymans will be 100% yours. I need your personal details for the paperwork, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so write them in there. What do you want to call it?"

"May I name it myself?"

"Go ahead."

I took out a pen and wrote the company name on the documents. Reborn Capital.

It meant reborn — and I thought it suited the man I was now perfectly.

"That said, you have a family office — but how do you plan to run it? An empty shell can't do anything."

"That's actually what I was about to bring up."

I swallowed hard and got to the point.

"Lend me money."

"Hahaha."

Kim Seok-jun erupted in laughter, as if he'd been expecting it.

"Forgive me. Conversations with you are so gloriously without rhyme or reason that the laughter comes first. You want to borrow money?"

"I need seed capital to run the company."

"Then what's the collateral? Even banks won't lend a won without security. What could you possibly pledge to me?"

"My future."

At my answer, Kim Seok-jun's eyebrows twitched.

"Your future?"

"Yes. If my future unfolds as it should, you'll earn a fortune through this company as well. And if I go under, you'll have lost the chance to earn it. Either way, my future is your stake."

"Hah."

"Bet on my potential."

Kim Seok-jun clicked his tongue in exasperation.

"You complete one little homework assignment and demand the world."

Even as he said it, his expression wasn't bad at all. He seemed to find the audacious boy endearing.

"So you're saying: lend me the money, and I'll guide you down the proper path — is that it?"

"That's right."

"The logic is sound, but I can't lend you the money."

Kim Seok-jun drew a firm line.

"Collateral doesn't look at the future. It looks at present value. However bright your future may be, if it can't be converted to cash right now, its value as security is exactly zero."

His words made my head throb.

As expected — smooth talk alone won't get past this man.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire. I had a company now, but no money to run it with.

One million won from the competition prize. Whatever assets I'd quietly grown on the side.

Nowhere near enough.

What do I do?

Keep rolling the snowball of seed capital? That would take far too long.

And then—

"Instead."

Kim Seok-jun opened a drawer, drew out a single document, and slid it across the table.

"I'll give you this money."

"...I'm sorry?"

I picked up the document in a daze.

It was a bank balance certificate.

The moment I saw the number printed there, I doubted my own eyes.

One, ten, hundred, thousand... ten-million, hundred-million.

"Twenty billion won?"

My breath caught in my throat.

He wasn't lending it. He was giving it?

I raised my head and looked at Kim Seok-jun, and he nodded before speaking.

"It's the money your grandfather entrusted to me."