Chairman Do It All Himself, Chapter 12
Manager Oh Handong thought it over for a while.
"Well now... I’m sorry, sir."
Unlike me, who waited leisurely for Manager Oh Handong’s answer, Branch Manager Lee Jeongrok was unable to sit still.
He probably wanted to bark at Oh Handong, but with me, the customer, sitting right in front of him, he couldn’t very well do that.
"It seems that way."
Oh Handong spoke at last, his tone heavy. Then he bowed politely toward the branch manager.
"Manager Oh Handong. You, right now..."
The branch manager’s eyes darted wildly from side to side.
Purchasing more than 5 percent of Ilseong Investment Securities shares. On top of that, a fund contract worth another 10 billion won. Add the resulting commissions and next year’s branch performance, and all of it was about to vanish with a single line from Oh Handong. The branch manager’s frustration showed on his face without the slightest restraint.
"I’m not foolish enough to let an opportunity like this slip right in front of me. Thank you for your approval, Branch Manager. Branch performance matters, of course, but as Mr. Do Jaehyun’s investment consultant and financial planner, I’ll do my utmost to manage Mr. Do Jaehyun’s assets properly."
"Ha-ha, you really caught me off guard. This one here knows how to toss a man around."
Branch Manager Lee’s face brightened at once.
It was as if I were watching someone cross from hell to heaven in three seconds flat.
"Please take care of me, Mr. Do Jaehyun."
Manager Oh Handong held out his hand to me.
"That’s exactly what I wanted to say."
Good.
The third and most important piece of the puzzle had fallen into place.
Shin Gilwoo, indispensable for protecting me and my family, and for handling the power struggles and violence that played out in the dark.
The overall operation and fund management of the company.
And Kim Museong, who could willingly shoulder the blame if my company or I ever needed to take legal responsibility for something.
Then...
Oh Handong, the country’s best investment specialist, who could multiply the wealth of me and my company tenfold, no, a hundredfold.
In my previous life, I had spent nearly ten years painstakingly recruiting each of them one by one. Now, in less than three days, they had all become mine.
"Branch Manager Lee."
"Yes, sir."
"Since we’re going to work well together from here on out, I think I can tell you a little more now."
"Pardon? Tell me what, exactly?"
"Discretion will be guaranteed, of course?"
"Heh..."
Instead of answering, Branch Manager Lee burst into a hearty laugh and lowered the blinds over the office window.
To be honest, he was trustworthy enough. Provided the price was right.
Someone a little more capable than average, with some sales skill to boot. And most importantly, someone with the title of securities branch manager.
But he wasn’t someone I needed directly right now.
For the time being, it was enough if he simply served as a screen to conceal me and Manager Oh Handong.
"Let’s use your branch’s performance."
"Pardon?"
"You were the one who gave the order to Manager Oh Handong, and Manager Oh Handong simply followed your instructions faithfully."
"That isn’t very difficult, but..."
Branch Manager Lee’s eyelids fluttered rapidly. He was doing complicated calculations in his head.
Even if something went wrong, the branch manager or the securities firm wouldn’t suffer major losses.
At worst, the expected performance target would come up short. The probability of ending up in the red was almost nonexistent.
But when profits like this actually came in, the upside was enormous.
It meant a fat bonus and a raise, of course, but more than that, it was no different from being promoted from a mere branch manager to the level of a regional director overseeing an entire district, and passing the first gate on the road to becoming an executive.
Still, he had just agreed to the quiet understanding that he could snatch the achievement of a lowly employee right out from under him, so he was clearly calculating how the result would come back to him.
Then, a moment later,
"Branch Manager."
"Hmm?"
"I think it would be best if you handled this exactly as Mr. Do Jaehyun said. And it’s true, isn’t it? Yesterday, while I was on duty, I reported Mr. Do Jaehyun’s investment matter directly to you as an exception, and you were the one who approved it."
"Mm..."
Approved? More like tacitly allowed.
At Oh Handong’s words, I almost laughed at the sight of Branch Manager Lee folding his arms and trying to look imposing.
"Understood. I’ll do it that way."
"Much appreciated. And I trust you’ll keep doing things as you have been."
"Yes, of course."
Branch Manager Lee took my hand and bowed his waist.
"Ah, and..."
I reached into my coat and pulled out a thick white envelope.
"Th-this is?"
Seeing the ten-thousand-won bills poking out through the gap in the envelope, Branch Manager Lee swallowed hard. In 1998, a salaried worker’s annual income was barely half of what it was now. That was true even for people in finance, who were considered high earners.
"Please donate half of it under my name. Consider the other half a small token of my appreciation."
"Sir, even so, this is..."
Branch Manager Lee glanced back and forth between me and Manager Oh Handong.
"I’m blatantly bribing you to ask you to take good care of Manager Oh Handong from now on. I’ve also taken care of Manager Oh separately, so don’t worry about it."
"?!"
Manager Oh Handong, who had received nothing from me himself, widened his eyes in disbelief.
"Ha-ha, so you were already looking after Manager Oh Handong. I’ll make sure it gets delivered somewhere worthwhile. The two of you seem to have something to discuss, so I’ll excuse myself first."
The branch manager stood up.
As soon as he stepped out the door, he gathered the team leaders and took them outside with him. I didn’t need to watch the rest to know exactly how it would go.
He’d warn the team leaders not to interfere with anything Oh Handong did from now on.
"Did I receive something?"
After the branch manager left, Oh Handong looked baffled and shrugged, both palms turned up.
"You just did."
Without a word, I handed him a bankbook and a thin envelope. The bankbook held 100 million won in cash, and the envelope contained a 100 million won cashier’s check.
"What is this...?"
"You don’t need to glare at me like that. Manager, I know your family is well off. I’m just asking you to invest a little for me."
"Is this a borrowed-name account?"
"A legally clean borrowed-name account."
"Is that even possible?"
"It’s in my son’s name."
"Ah..."
Manager Oh Handong gave a wry smile and tucked the bankbook and envelope inside his coat.
"Someone else could easily be found to handle this sort of thing. I don’t see why you need me at all, sir."
"You’ll understand soon enough. And keep 10 percent separate."
"Pardon?"
"Ten percent of the money I give you can be invested under your name, or someone else’s. Or you can just take 10 percent of the profits as a dividend."
"...That’s quite a lot of money."
"But only as a private deal."
"Good. I’d much rather do this than waste time buying and selling stocks for nothing but commissions."
"One month at the shortest. Six months at the longest."
"...Are you already telling me to prepare for a job change?"
"You already thought that far ahead?"
"If you expect this sort of thing to happen often, and you’re not the type to skimp on compensation, then you’d scout me outright, wouldn’t you? I don’t know why you need a low-level employee like me, though."
Smart, and quick on the uptake too.
"Exactly that kind of thing is why I like you. I think you’ll be good at the work too."
"Anything else you need?"
"No. That’s perfect."
Manager Oh Handong took a cigarette and lighter from his inner pocket. He took out just one cigarette and handed it to me.
"I carry them for business purposes..."
When I put the cigarette to my lips, he lit it for me.
"I’m not a smoker."
* * *
May 3, 1998, 4:00 p.m.
I wrapped things up with Manager Oh Handong and returned to the Red Dog Faction’s office at Yeonhui Credit Union.
"This is a sight."
Just as I was about to open the office door, I caught sight of Gilwoo sitting on the sofa through the crack, pressing hard at his temples.
Beside him sat a mountain of ledgers and assorted documents.
"This part is a little different. It’s called a pledge of rights, and..."
"A pledge of rights?"
"Yes, it’s a kind of possessory lien. Think of it like a lien at a pawnshop. But when it comes to lending money..."
"Ah... I’m going insane. When the hell is Jaehyun hyung coming back?"
As Choi Hwangyeol explained the loan contract for a monetary loan and the various derivative documents related to private lending, Gilwoo looked like a man ready to run out at any second.
Choi Hwangyeol.
He hadn’t been by my side in my previous life. He was probably the one who had handled finances under Kim Museong, but for whatever reason, when I met Kim Museong in that life, Choi Hwangyeol had not existed.
And a little farther away, at a large desk, Kim Museong was chewing nervously on his fingernail, his face tense.
"Hyung, where the hell did you go without saying a word and only come back now?"
"You’ve arrived, Chairman."
The moment I opened the door and stepped inside, Kim Museong and Gilwoo brightened and got to their feet like believers greeting a savior.
"Deputy Choi Hwangyeol."
"Yes."
"I’d like you to keep supporting Representative Shin Gilwoo the way you have been."
"Understood, Chairman. I’ll do my best."
"Good. Could you step out for a moment?"
"Yes."
After Choi Hwangyeol left, only the three of us remained in the office: me, Kim Museong, and Gilwoo.
"Chairman, the movements up in Gangbuk are not ordinary. The Kim Hasa Faction in Gangbuk has started moving. It doesn’t look like it’s because of the incident with Boss Baekho and Director Han Suyeong. And it’s not like they’re trying to start a war over Myeongdong and Yeongdeungpo at a time like this either..."
Kim Museong’s expression darkened slightly.
"What about the Red Dog Faction?"
"Our people are gathered within a 30-meter radius of the office, just as you ordered. The weapons are ready too, and we can move at any time. As for the Baekho Faction, if the Gangbuk Kim Hasa Faction comes in, they’ll hit back without hesitation."
"The important thing right now isn’t the Kim Hasa Faction. Gilwoo."
"Yes, hyung."
"Do you want to keep staring at this pile of paperwork, or do you want to take the Red Dog guys and clean up the Kim Hasa Faction?"
"That’s obvious. The latter, of course. What’s there to even ask? We go straight into tactical strike."
Gilwoo, who had only been looking at documents a moment ago, clenched and unclenched his fists like a fish finally back in water, his body bouncing with the urge to rush out immediately.
"Representative Kim."
"Choi Hwangyeol looks pretty decent. What do you think?"
"He’s smart. He doesn’t make mistakes when handling work, and though he ended up in this line because his home situation wasn’t great, to be honest, he’s too good for a place like this."
"For cleaning up the Kim Hasa Faction, send Choi Hwangyeol with Gilwoo. And Representative Kim..."
I let the end of the sentence trail off on purpose, and Kim Museong, quick as ever, gave a heavy nod before answering.
"I’ll head to Gangwon Province immediately."