The Big Picture
Scratch, scratch.
The only sound in the quiet room was the tip of a pen gliding across paper.
With trembling hands, Park Jin-hyuk signed the executive employment contract.
It was the moment his status shifted from owner of Shinhwa Weltech to a hired Chief Technology Officer.
And yet his expression was not that of a man who had something stolen from him, but that of someone setting down a heavy burden with relief.
"I look forward to working with you."
When I extended my hand, he rose from his seat and clasped it in both of his.
"No — the pleasure is mine. Thank you for saving a dying company."
"Show me your gratitude through results. I'm promoting the research team into a full research institute, so I'd like you to devote yourself entirely to technology development."
"Understood."
I sat down and lightened the mood.
"Now that the contract is signed, there are a few things I'd like to ask."
"Please, go ahead."
"About the company's direction. I want to grow Shinhwa Weltech into a comprehensive specialty chemicals company, not just a semiconductor materials supplier. Do you think that's possible?"
"A comprehensive specialty chemicals company...?"
Park Jin-hyuk tilted his head.
Shinhwa Weltech's current mainstays were cleaning chemicals for semiconductor and LCD processes, along with automotive coating chemicals. He was asking what I meant by expanding beyond that.
"I mean expanding into chemicals that go directly into heavy industry or the automotive sector."
"Ah, in that case..."
Park Jin-hyuk pondered for a moment before speaking.
"For automotive or heavy industry — say, shipbuilding — there would be specialty gases for welding and cutting, electrodeposition coatings, flux for zinc galvanizing, things like that."
"Could Shinhwa Weltech manufacture those as well?"
"The manufacturing itself wouldn't be difficult. We already have the know-how from handling ultra-pure chemicals for semiconductors, and those fields have relatively lower purity requirements, so the technical barrier is low."
He added a caveat.
"That said, there are already plenty of excellent, well-established players in the domestic market, so breaking in won't be easy."
"Is their technology that far ahead of yours?"
"No. Like I said, the technology isn't the problem. The difference would be in production lines."
I watched him closely, silently urging him to go on.
"The existing players have mass production lines, so they can drive costs down. For us to enter as a latecomer, we'd need to build even bigger lines than theirs to secure price competitiveness — and that's no small feat."
As expected, he saw it clearly.
The issue wasn't technology. It was economies of scale.
"Personally, I'd like to go two-track. One side focuses on developing and producing ultra-pure materials for semiconductor processes, as we have been. The other builds out mass production lines for the automotive and heavy industry sectors."
"Hmm."
Park Jin-hyuk adjusted his glasses and studied me.
"If I had to guess — since the semiconductor side will take time, you chose that track to secure short-term revenue to keep the company running in the meantime, didn't you?"
The truth was that my real intent was to stick my spoon into my cousins' rice bowls and become a Super-Eul — but there was no need to explain that now. Park Jin-hyuk's interpretation was more than sound from a management standpoint, so I nodded.
"Exactly. You need the stamina to hold out before you can develop technology. Can you do it?"
"If the money's there, technically it's not difficult at all."
"Then I should explain that part as well."
At my glance, Director Jung Tae-sung stepped forward.
"Don't worry about funding. We've agreed to assume the bank debt, and we'll repay the urgent bonds and second-tier financial loans within the week."
"Ah..."
"In particular, the outstanding receivables owed to your suppliers — the thing you worried about most — will be paid 100% in cash upon the acquisition. We'll make sure there's no disruption to your raw material supply."
Park Jin-hyuk's face brightened. It must have felt like a blocked artery suddenly clearing.
"Thank you. Truly. I couldn't even face the owners of our supplier companies."
"From now on, just focus on research and production."
With the business talk settled, I looked at Park Jin-hyuk and said,
"Now, shall we move to your personal questions? Things like my age, or who I really am — you must be curious about something."
A high schooler had walked in with billions of won and bought the company outright.
Any ordinary person would have been consumed by curiosity and asked about that first.
Park Jin-hyuk hesitated for a moment, then spoke carefully.
"Ah... well, about that..."
"Ask away. Whatever you like."
"Then just one question. Why Shinhwa Weltech, of all companies?"
Well, look at that?
I smirked inwardly.
Even though I'd laid out the board for him to ask about my age, he asked about something else first.
For this man, what mattered more than the identity of some rich high schooler was why I had recognized the value of his company.
A man with a clear sense of priorities.
"The reason is simple. I looked at the technology — and at whether there was someone who could develop that technology further. That was Shinhwa Weltech. That was you, President Park."
At my answer, Park Jin-hyuk's face flushed red.
It was the look of a man whose lifelong effort had just been acknowledged as worthwhile. He coughed awkwardly, embarrassed, and only then threw out his next question.
"Then... what exactly does SJ Holdings do?"
"It's a family office. Think of it as a firm that manages and grows the funds of a particular wealthy family."
"Then are you... a scion of that family as well?"
"Let's say that, roughly."
I gave a deliberately vague affirmation.
It wasn't a lie. Though it was disguised as Managing Director Kim Seok-jun's family office, in truth the company was as good as mine.
"Ah! I see. That makes sense, then. You're an agent with decision-making authority over the investments."
"Close enough. But my identity must remain strictly confidential to the outside world."
"Of course. Not that... I'm sure many people would believe me anyway."
At Park Jin-hyuk's half-joking remark, we all burst out laughing.
The tension had melted away completely.
"Still, talking with you, Director Kang, feels like conversing with someone much older. You know so much about our industry, too."
"Thank you."
"And the management side — will you be handling it?"
"No. We'll recruit a professional manager separately and send them to Shinhwa Weltech. You, President Park — no, Director Park, now — you just return to the institute and devote yourself entirely to developing new products."
I pulled a single business card from my wallet and handed it over.
It was a simple card bearing only my name and a personal mobile number.
"If you need anything, go through Director Jung. For anything urgent, contact me directly here."
"Understood."
Park Jin-hyuk took out his own card and offered it with both hands.
"I look forward to working with you."
"No, I look forward to it. And — thank you."
Park Jin-hyuk bowed his head with genuine feeling.
It was his courtesy to the man who had pulled him, and his life's work, back from the edge of a cliff.
A few days later, at the Seongbuk-dong residence once more.
I reported the results of the Shinhwa Weltech acquisition and the recruitment of Park Jin-hyuk.
Throughout my report, Kim Seok-jun's expression shifted with evident fascination.
"15 hundred million won for the acquisition of management rights, 7 hundred million to repay the credit loans in full and the bank's accrued interest, plus the supplier receivables — 2.7 billion won in total."
"Your opening ask was 6 billion, and you brought the company in for less than half of that."
Kim Seok-jun smiled as he continued.
"Park Jin-hyuk, was it? So obsessed with his technology that he handed over management rights for 1.5 billion and bowed his head in gratitude for a researcher's post. A truly singular man."
"I agree. But that's exactly the kind of person we need right now. Director Jung has an excellent eye for people."
I gave credit to Jung Tae-sung, and Kim Seok-jun nodded with a fond smile.
"From your standpoint, your first investment has now concluded successfully. What's the plan from here? You have roughly 2.3 billion in cash remaining. Will you be looking at other companies?"
"No. I'm halting direct corporate investment here."
"Halting it?"
"Yes. There's a great deal of initial capital that has to be poured into Shinhwa Weltech right away. Expanding production lines and bringing in analytical equipment will keep draining funds — to the point that I'll need to feed in profits from stock trading as they come."
Selection and focus.
Rather than sprawling octopus-like expansion, nurturing one thing thoroughly was the right play at this stage.
Kim Seok-jun nodded along, then fixed me with a steady gaze.
"There's something I'd like to ask."
"Please, go ahead."
"Why invest in that particular SME of all things?"
"I'm sorry? I already explained that—"
"Not the obvious talk about the future value of semiconductor materials, parts, and equipment, or its technology."
Kim Seok-jun's eyes sharpened.
"I'm asking about your long-term plan — the big picture you see. If the goal were simply making money, there were easier and safer paths. What's your real reason for buying a failing factory and choosing a road of hardship?"
I fell silent for a moment.
"...Is that something I can't share?"
"It isn't. But I was afraid that if I told you how far I'm looking ahead, you might not believe me."
At my words, Kim Seok-jun folded his arms.
"Then let's hear it. Whether to believe or not is my judgment to make."
I steadied my breath and opened my mouth slowly.
"Honestly, you might think it would be wiser to simply park the 20 billion won safely in stocks and bonds, growing it steadily, and then deploy it as a war chest once my relatives begin their attacks."
"..."
"But would that truly be the right answer?"
I shook my head.
"The attacks won't end after one round. If we repel them, they'll find another weakness and sink their teeth into it. Patching every hole with money is pouring water into a bottomless jar. It's nothing but a war of attrition, and in the end we bleed out."
"I suppose so. But couldn't you argue that money should instead be invested in Sunjin Group — your mother's trading company or the resort — to build up its size?"
Kim Seok-jun's counterargument was sound. But I was resolute.
"It's not that I haven't considered it. But let's look at this coldly."
I counted on my fingers.
"All that remains of Sunjin Group is the resort and the trading company. Granted, the trading company's prospects have brightened since the fleet expansion — but in scale, could it ever catch up to the relatives who own automobile and heavy industry businesses?"
"..."
"It's impossible."
I laid out the brutal reality.
"They've been running those businesses for decades, and they've all but monopolized the domestic market. For Sunjin Group to now fight them on the same playing field — a war of sheer size? That's an egg against a rock. We can't win on capital."
"That's true."
"Which means we need a point of difference."
"How?"
My eyes gleamed.
"We do what they don't. No — to put it precisely, we do what they can't do, but what they need most."
I tapped the table lightly with my finger.
"We build a business that can grip not merely their throats, but the throats of the entire world's manufacturing industry. The kinds of things they'd dismiss as tedious, beneath them — things they'd never bother to touch."
"...!"
"The bigger they grow, the more of our products they're forced to buy. If they ever try to attack me, all I have to do is cut the supply, and their factories grind to a halt. That is the picture I'm painting."
The vision of Sunjin Group building cars and semiconductors to compete head-to-head with them had never been on my drawing board.
In my previous life I'd considered that path too — and it had been impossible.
So I had to invest in what was possible. I had to target the markets they'd left empty.
Kim Seok-jun was unable to speak for a long while. His eyes wavered deeply.
"My goodness..."
He let out a long sigh and dragged a hand down his face.
"You really are... astonishing. It's like watching your grandfather all over again."
"My grandfather?"
"Yes. Chairman Kang Man-ho was the same way. He'd say: whatever the competitors throw away because it's rough, thankless work — that's exactly what we should be doing. Feeding on oil, wrestling with steel..."
A flicker of longing crossed Kim Seok-jun's eyes.
I found myself thinking of my grandfather as well.
Those rough, calloused hands ruffling my hair as a child, as he talked to me about business, about a merchant's duty to his trade.
I still remembered how he'd talk about the company even with his young grandson before him.
Come to think of it...
Perhaps the reason I fought so desperately in my previous life to protect the name of Sunjin Group wasn't simply because I thought of it as mine.
Perhaps it was because I loved the name Sunjin — the company my grandfather had founded and raised with his own hands — far too much to let it die.
"Now I believe in you."
Kim Seok-jun's weighty voice pulled me from my thoughts.
"Then is the evaluation over?"
"No, the evaluation continues. Until the day you take the chairman's seat."
He smiled faintly.
"But this is me saying I'll treat you as a man, not a child. And as a man, you have no shortcomings."
I smiled.
It felt like I had gained ten thousand troops.
"You truly do carry Chairman Kang Man-ho's blood. Where you'll go from here — even this old man's heart is pounding."
"I won't give you cause for disappointment."
I rose from my seat and bowed respectfully.
"And I'll show you results — so that I can be acknowledged beyond all doubt."
At my confident reply, Kim Seok-jun laughed aloud and nodded.