Holding Company Shares Passed Down Through Generations (4)
So that method isn't exactly a secret, but explaining it is rather tricky. According to my memories before regressing into Kwon Ho-gyun's body, one of the worst stock manipulation scandals in Korean history is about to unfold. Daebong Bio, a penny stock that could barely hold above a thousand won per share, will surge seventy-one times over the next three months starting roughly a month from now. Back when I was a prosecutor, I paid close attention to it. Every imaginable manipulation technique was deployed. The usual practice of pumping massive funds into the market to artificially inflate prices—what people in the stock world call an "operation"—was just the beginning. On top of that came fake news about successful new drug developments tailored for a bio stock, along with rumors linking the company to a powerful politician. Then came the self-fulfilling prophecy effect, which capped the explosive rise with a final flourish. The politician mentioned in the rumors really did collude with Daebong Bio, pressuring the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to approve clinical trials for a fake new drug. And as always happens with stock manipulation schemes, once the truth came out, Daebong Bio was delisted. Its CEO, the influential politician, and everyone else involved in the scheme were all dragged off to prison in a neat line, like dried fish on a string.
Since I know the exact schedule of this manipulation, all I have to do is quietly invest a few billion won and pull out right before the delisting. That simple move will net me hundreds of billions, which will then be injected into Law Firm Seungbaek as capital to acquire the QS Life Insurance stake. The problem is how to explain any of this to Chairman Kwon Byung-do, who has no idea I regained my memories through regression.
In the end, I decided to use the same skill I'd once used to convince him in this very room. When he doubted my passing the bar exam, I told him I would answer with results.
"If I fail to secure the funds by the scheduled sale date, you may proceed with acquiring the QS Life Insurance treasury shares through (Co.) QS as originally planned."
"Then you'll have cleanly resolved this entire incident without receiving a single won in legal fees. Are you really all right with that?"
Of course I was. It wasn't going to happen. I gave a short reply and nodded firmly.
"Yes."
Just as the late-night meeting with Chairman Kwon Byung-do seemed to be wrapping up, a single thought suddenly tore through both temples like a storm inside my skull.
Does Chairman Kwon Byung-do truly not know about my regression?
A few months ago, such a thought would have made me laugh at myself. But not long ago, I had heard something unexpected from Chief Han Seung-woo. He said Chairman Kwon Byung-do knew the name Kang Min-chan. Recalling the exact conversation with Han Seung-woo only intensified the storm raging inside my skull, sending my thoughts chasing one another in circles.
I still know very little about the regression I experienced.
Chairman Kwon Byung-do might know other aspects of this phenomenon that I don't.
Perhaps—just perhaps—the man sitting before me holds the only key to answering the questions I have about my regression.
The curiosity was overwhelming, yet I couldn't simply blurt out that I was actually Kang Min-chan, not Kwon Ho-gyun. Doing so would likely ruin everything I'd built so far, including the QS Life Insurance stake. No matter how brilliantly I performed, there was no way he would hand the succession to someone named Kang when two perfectly capable Kwon sons already existed.
At the same time, letting the opportunity slip without asking felt like too great a waste. Once my mind settled, a question formed—one that could satisfy my curiosity while avoiding direct risk.
"Father, there's something I'd like to ask."
"What is it?"
"Do you happen to know someone named Kang Min-chan?"
If Chairman Kwon Byung-do knew anything about my regression, he would recognize the question's significance. If not, it would simply pass as an odd, harmless remark.
The next moment, all expression vanished from his face. Then came the loudest, most explosive laugh I had ever heard from him.
"Puhahaha! I don't know him, you fool."
So did he know or not?
"Haha, of course. I must have asked something unnecessary."
Since it seemed Chairman Kwon Byung-do had no intention of discussing Kang Min-chan further, I was about to end the meeting there when he suddenly stood up from the sofa, retrieved a decanter of whiskey and two glasses from the study cabinet, and set them down.
"Have a drink before you go."
"Yes, Father."
I accepted the glass, wondering if he might say something more, but he simply smiled to himself as if genuinely pleased and emptied his own glass without a word. Then he glanced at my still-full glass and asked,
"Not drinking?"
"I drove here, so I shouldn't."
"Pfft. A man who claims he'll buy QS Life Insurance with his own money doesn't even have enough for a designated driver? Shall I call one for you?"
I sighed. There was no refusing after that. I downed the glass in two gulps. Then another. Only after emptying the entire decanter without any snacks did I finally call for a driver and head home.
He never did explain what had amused him so much. Was this his way of getting back at me for hiding how I planned to raise the acquisition funds?
While Ho-gyun leaned his exhausted body against the car seat, Chairman Kwon Byung-do in the study picked up his phone and made a call. It was late, but as always, the other party answered before the ringtone had a chance to repeat.
"Chairman. What brings you to call at this hour?"
"Oh Il-mu. No, I suppose I should call you Attorney Oh now. Getting old makes it hard to break old habits."
Oh Il-mu gave an awkward laugh on the other end.
"Haha, the title doesn't matter. No matter where I am, I'm still working for you, Chairman."
"Right. You still have that will of mine you're keeping, don't you? Bring it to the chairman's office tomorrow. I need to make some changes."
"Understood, Chairman."
The line went quiet for a moment. Just as Oh Il-mu seemed unsure how to end the call, Chairman Kwon Byung-do spoke again.
"By the way, Ho-gyun was just here."
"The third young master hit another grand slam, I hear. As expected of the chairman's bloodline—he's remarkable every time."
"I didn't bring it up to hear flattery."
"Haha. Yes, Chairman."
"He said you forged my will?"
Oh Il-mu's voice trembled as if he would have dropped to his knees had they been face to face.
"Oh dear, Chairman. I'm truly sorry. The retrial case never surfaced, so I thought it best not to burden you unnecessarily. Attorney Yu Hwan-il and I planned to take it to our graves."
"Never do anything like that with my will again."
"Of course not. The right of first refusal for the QS Life Insurance shares that I added was simply reflecting Chairman Kwon Seong-uk's clear intention during his lifetime to pass QS Life Insurance to you, Chairman Kwon Byung-do. It wasn't because I had any ulterior motives. Truly."
Chairman Kwon Byung-do let out a small chuckle at how much more flustered Oh Il-mu sounded than expected.
"All right, I understand. As you said, everything worked out in the end, so there's no need for long excuses. But there's one thing I'm curious about."
"Yes, yes, Chairman. Ask me anything."
"If you were going to forge it anyway, why only grant the right of first refusal instead of simply gifting QS Life Insurance to me? That forced him to scramble for the purchase funds."
This was the real reason Chairman Kwon Byung-do had called Oh Il-mu in the middle of the night. Everything else could wait until morning, but without this answer, he knew he wouldn't sleep.
"Ah, about that… I suggested just writing it as a gift, but Attorney Yu Hwan-il, who had notarized the original will, insisted it couldn't be done that way."
"Why?"
"He said that even though the forgery was illegal, it still had to reflect Chairman Kwon Seong-uk's expressed intentions while he was alive. So while the management rights of the QS Group would go to you, Chairman, the assets should be distributed evenly among the other brothers as well. Therefore, he suggested giving you only the right of first refusal and using the cash from that purchase to give to your brothers, Kwon Gap-do and Kwon Eul-do."
"Hah. Yu Hwan-il was always like that."
"If I had pushed a little harder back then, we might have been able to write it as a gift, but since Attorney Yu Hwan-il held the notarized original, there was a limit. I'm sorry."
"No need to apologize. I just called because I got curious after hearing Ho-gyun talk about it. Get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yes, Chairman. Sleep well."
After ending the call with Oh Il-mu, Chairman Kwon Byung-do clicked his tongue. That was just like Attorney Yu Hwan-il. Even if it created enormous practical problems, if something satisfied a certain principle, he would stick to it. If not for that stubborn streak, Chairman Kwon Byung-do would never have let Attorney Yu Hwan-il leave the QS Group. The question had been answered, yet the reason felt so trivial compared to the hardship of raising the funds back then that all his energy drained away. Combined with the alcohol he had shared with Ho-gyun earlier, his eyes slowly closed.
These days, I was going to QS Tower more often than to Seungbaek. Though work was piling up at both places, when I thought about what was coming, the group's affairs felt more urgent. Matching my pre-regression memories with the current calendar, I knew the Korean stock market would suffer repeated sharp declines over the next several months. Most such crashes are triggered by bad news crossing the ocean from abroad, but this one—remembered as the "Black Autumn"—was different. It was caused entirely by domestic factors, one of which was the Daebong Bio stock manipulation scandal. That was a matter of simply watching the show and collecting the money afterward, so I didn't need to pay it much attention. What I needed to focus on was the second factor. Because it concerned the QS Group, which would soon become my company.
Before long, the entire QS Group would enter emergency management mode, and the stocks of nearly all its affiliates would plummet by as much as twenty percent. The bigger problem was that, unlike the Daebong Bio incident, I had no idea why the QS Group would enter emergency management in the first place. At this point in my previous life, I had been a prosecutor and made the mistake of only digging into the criminal case of Daebong Bio. Back then, I never imagined QS would become my company, so even when the news covered it extensively, I dismissed it as someone else's problem. The few article headlines I remembered went something like this:
— QS Group enters emergency mode; even experts don't know the cause
— QS tightening internal discipline? Regular press conferences canceled
From that, all I could tell was that the crisis originated from within the group and that the group was thoroughly covering it up. If I had known, I would have paid more attention to securities industry rumors. Well, I would only allow myself this regret once. When information is lacking, there is still work to be done. A crisis for the group is certain, and the flip side of crisis is opportunity. In preparation for that time, I would seize control of the Central Management Headquarters—the control tower of the entire group.